Interactivity enhancement apparatus for consumer electronics products

• US 6,052,556 A
• Filed: 09/27/1996
• Issued: 04/18/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sampsell, Jeffrey B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, Chris
• Application Number:
  US08/720,115
• Time in Patent Office: 1,299 Days
• Field of Search: 348/12, 348/13, 348/7, 348/6, 455/5.1, 455/6.1, 455/4.2, 455/3.1, 455/6.2, 455/6.3
• US Class Current: 725/133
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

Apparatus for enhancing the interactivity of a consumer electronic product in the home. The invented apparatus includes an electronic product typically located in a user'"'"'s home, e.g. a television (TV), equipped with an input/output (I/O) port that permits an external device to be operatively connected thereto for interacting with the TV, wherein the external device receives and optionally transmits user information over an existing paging network. The external device may itself be a pager, or it may be any device capable of receiving useful user information from a remote source and formatting it for porting to a memory buffer within the home electronic product via the I/O port. In response to receipt of such information and an appropriate command, the electronic product such as a TV may display the information in a window created within the TV screen or may overlay the information in such manner that it is visible to the TV viewer without interrupting regular broadcast or cable TV reception. Information received from the remote source may include weather warnings, sports scores, stock exchanges, news reports or other information. Preferably, the electronic product is a TV, the embedded microprocessor and memory of which are programmed with a soft ICAP emulator that establishes a handshake and protocol with the I/O port and is responsive to data and commands that are received thereat from an external device. Preferably also, the external device includes a programmed microcontroller or processor emulating the ICAP protocol and capable of receiving information from a remote source such as the paging network, establishing a handshake with the TV'"'"'s emulator software, conveying data into the TV'"'"'s memory and issuing display or other commands to the TV based in part upon user inputs or programmed preferences, etc.

Claims

1. An electronics system comprising:

an electronics product including an operatively connected display screen and a digital processor and a memory device for storage of a software driver, said processor providing a data and an address bus operatively connected with a bi-directional input and/or output (I/O) port accessible from an exterior of said product, said driver causing said processor to communicate with said product and an external device operatively connected to said I/O port, said driver enabling such an external device to convey information from such external device to said display screen for viewing thereon of such information supplied by such external device, wherein said information is conveyed as an overlay to any other information displayed on said display screen; and

an external device operatively connectable to said I/O port for communicating such information to said product in accordance with a defined protocol, said external device being operatively linked to a remote messaging network which provides said information to be communicated.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said product is a television set.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said product is a videocassette player.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said product is a videocassette recorder.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said remote messaging service network is a paging network.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said external device includes a pager operatively connectable to said paging network.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said I/O port includes an electro-mechanical docking structure that is plug compatible with said external device, operable to provide two-way communication.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said I/O port includes a wireless communication link to said external device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said wireless communication link is electro-optical.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said wireless communication link utilizes infrared light.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said data contains commands for interpreting data and data to be interpreted.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said data contains commands for interpreting code and code to be executed by said in-home electronics product.

13. A communications system comprising:

an in-home consumer electronics product including a storage buffer, a display, a controller and an input and/or output I/O port;

a first electronic device operatively connectable to said I/O port of said in-home consumer electronics product; and

at least one additional external device in communication with said first electronic device, wherein said first electronic device establishes communication and exchanges data with said at least one additional external device and provides information derived from said data to a user, thereby enabling the user to respond to said information, and conveys any such response as data back to said at least one additional external device collocated in a structure with said first electronic device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said consumer electronics product is a television.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein said consumer electronics product is a personal computer.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein said data contains commands for interpreting data and data to be interpreted.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein said data contains commands for interpreting code and code to be executed by said in-home electronics product.