Digital video converter box for subscriber/home with multiple television sets
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A digital video conversion system comprising:
- a chassis having a plurality of outputs, each output being adapted to provide a decrypted television signal for delivery to an individual television set;
a plurality of converter chains housed within said chassis, each chain including at least a tuner and a demodulator;
at least one conditional access unit, housed within said chassis, connected to said plurality of converter chains and having an authorization input, for decrypting digital demodulated signals from said plurality of converter chains upon receiving an authorized input through the authorization input; and
at least one remote control receiver unit, housed within said chassis, responsive to commands from individual remote controls associated with the individual television sets for controlling said converter chains and said at least one conditional access unit.
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Abstract
A digital video conversion system housing multiple converter chains of units in a single main box chassis. A preferred embodiment uses only a single conditional access unit to authorize decryption of premium channels in response to a smartcard. The conversion system allows a single converter box sharing consolidated decryption (access control) circuitry and a single remote control receiver to provide video output for multiple television sets on the subscriber'"'"'s premises. In addition to reducing the subscriber'"'"'s hardware costs per television set, a common access control allows the video service provider to grant a multiple-set discount on a single smartcard.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A digital video conversion system comprising:
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a chassis having a plurality of outputs, each output being adapted to provide a decrypted television signal for delivery to an individual television set; a plurality of converter chains housed within said chassis, each chain including at least a tuner and a demodulator; at least one conditional access unit, housed within said chassis, connected to said plurality of converter chains and having an authorization input, for decrypting digital demodulated signals from said plurality of converter chains upon receiving an authorized input through the authorization input; and at least one remote control receiver unit, housed within said chassis, responsive to commands from individual remote controls associated with the individual television sets for controlling said converter chains and said at least one conditional access unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A digital video conversion system connected to a cable drop, said system comprising:
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a splitter connected to said cable drop for simultaneously generating a plurality of frequency division multiplexed 6 MHZ QAM signals; a plurality of converter chains, each chain including at least a tuner and a demodulator for receiving one of the frequency division multiplexed 6 MHZ QAM signals; a single conditional access unit, connected to said plurality of converter chains and having an authorization input, for decrypting demodulated QAM signals from said plurality of converter chains upon receiving an authorized input through the authorization input and said single conditional access unit individually outputting a plurality of decrypted signals simultaneously, each decrypted signal being associated with one of a plurality of individual television sets; and at least one remote control receiver unit responsive to commands from individual remote controls associated with the individual television sets for controlling said converter chains and said single conditional access unit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A digital video conversion system connected to a television signal source, said system comprising:
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a splitter connected to said signal source for simultaneously generating a plurality of copies of television signals received from said signal source; a plurality of converter chains, each chain connected to receive one of the copies of the television signals and including at least a tuner for tuning to a selected digitally modulated video channel and a demodulator for demodulating digital video data on the selected video channel; a single conditional access unit, connected to said plurality of converter chains and having an authorization input, for decrypting the demodulated digital video data from said plurality of converter chains upon receiving an authorized input through the authorization input and said single conditional access unit individually outputting a plurality of decrypted baseband video signals simultaneously, each decrypted baseband video signal being associated with one of a plurality of individual television sets; and at least one remote control receiver unit responsive to commands from individual remote controls associated with the individual television sets for controlling said converter chains and said single conditional access unit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification