System and method for inserting interactive program content within a television signal originating at a remote network
First Claim
1. An interactive television system comprising:
- a remote network including;
a television signal source for providing a television signal;
a trigger generator configured to generate an interactive command to control an interactive program associated with said television signal;
a trigger insertion unit coupled to said television signal source and to said trigger generator, wherein said trigger insertion unit is configured to generate a combined signal including said television signal and said interactive command; and
a transmitter coupled to receive said combined signal and configured to convey said combined signal; and
a broadcast station including;
a receiver configured to receive said combined signal;
a trigger extraction unit coupled to said receiver and configured to extract said interactive command from said combined signal;
an interactive program source coupled to receive said interactive command from said trigger extraction unit, wherein said interactive program source is configured to control said interactive program in response to said interactive command; and
an interactive TV signal generation unit coupled to said trigger extraction unit and to said interactive program source, wherein said interactive TV signal generation unit is configured to combine said television signal with said interactive program to form an audio-video-interactive output signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A digital broadcast station is configured to "turn around" and add interactive programming to a television signal conveyed by a remote network. Prior to conveying the television signal, the remote network inserts a trigger within the vertical blanking interval of the signal. The trigger contains command information to control the loading and/or playing of a designated interactive program. After the trigger is combined with the television signal, the combined signal is modulated and transmitted from the remote network via a satellite uplink. This combined signal is correspondingly received at the digital broadcast station where it is digitized and routed through a video network for channel assignment and other processing. From the video network, the digitized television signal is provided to a VBI decoder which extracts the trigger. The extracted trigger is provided to an interactive flow manager and server to control the loading or playing of an interactive program identified by the trigger. The remainder of the digitized television signal is provided to a video encoder where it is compressed. An AVI generation unit of the digital broadcast station then combines the compressed television signal and the interactive program to form an AVI signal to be broadcast to end users via a satellite uplink.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. An interactive television system comprising:
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a remote network including; a television signal source for providing a television signal; a trigger generator configured to generate an interactive command to control an interactive program associated with said television signal; a trigger insertion unit coupled to said television signal source and to said trigger generator, wherein said trigger insertion unit is configured to generate a combined signal including said television signal and said interactive command; and a transmitter coupled to receive said combined signal and configured to convey said combined signal; and a broadcast station including; a receiver configured to receive said combined signal; a trigger extraction unit coupled to said receiver and configured to extract said interactive command from said combined signal; an interactive program source coupled to receive said interactive command from said trigger extraction unit, wherein said interactive program source is configured to control said interactive program in response to said interactive command; and an interactive TV signal generation unit coupled to said trigger extraction unit and to said interactive program source, wherein said interactive TV signal generation unit is configured to combine said television signal with said interactive program to form an audio-video-interactive output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A remote network for an interactive television system comprising:
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a trigger generator configured to generate an interactive command to control an interactive program source to correspondingly control an interactive program associated with a video signal; a trigger insertion unit coupled to said trigger generator, wherein said trigger insertion unit is configured to generate a combined signal including said video signal and said interactive command; and a transmitter coupled to receive said combined signal and configured to convey said combined signal. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A broadcast station for an interactive television system comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive a combined signal including a video signal and an interactive command; a trigger extraction unit coupled to said receiver and configured to extract said interactive command from said combined signal; and an interactive program source coupled to receive said interactive command from said trigger extraction unit, wherein said interactive program source is configured to control said interactive program in response to said interactive command. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method for providing interactive program content with a video signal originating at a remote network comprising:
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generating an interactive command at said remote network to control an interactive program associated with said video signal; combining said video signal with said interactive command to form a combined signal; transmitting said combined signal from said remote network; receiving said combined signal at a broadcast station; extracting said interactive command from said combined signal; and controlling an interactive program source in response to said interactive command extracted from said combined signal. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
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Specification