Active frame scroll interface

• US 6,072,483 A
• Filed: 06/02/1997
• Issued: 06/06/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakano, Hiroaki, Niijima, Makoto, Rosin, Robert, Sonoda, Yumie, Hsu, P. Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): dela Torre, Crescelle N.
• Application Number:
  US08/867,543
• Time in Patent Office: 1,100 Days
• Field of Search: 345/335, 345/327, 345/339, 345/329, 345/341, 345/352, 345/353, 345/354, 345/355, 345/356, 345/357, 395/200.33, 395/200.47, 395/200.49, 348/7, 348/12, 348/13, 348/569, 348/906, 709/203, 709/217, 709/219
• US Class Current: 715/716
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4786 e-mailing message switching systems, e.g. electronic mail systems H04L51/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/643 Communication protocols network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP], H04L65/65
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An internet on-demand system for television presents internet content and traditional television programming as part of a single coherent interface. The system can display an internet gateway interface which actively scrolls through and highlights links to selected web pages which are organized according to templates corresponding to their content. The links are highlighted in a dynamic revolving sequence with associated graphics and sounds. The system includes a server and a client capable of providing a dynamic graphical user interface. The web pages are presented on the graphical user interface as channels as part of the same milieu as channels of traditional television programming. The user can select a channel from a rotary menu wheel. An intelligent agent passively filters selected web pages for a user to explore based on the user'"'"'s past pattern of usage of the client. The server queries the client regarding its available data stream connections, including telephone modems, cable modems, and digital satellite broadcasting, in order to determine the most efficient delivery of different types of data through all of the available bandwidth connections. The efficient delivery of data allows the client to present text, graphics, video, audio and other multimedia information from a web page over the internet as a coordinated presentation.

Claims

1. A system for selectively displaying internet content and television programming on a display, the system comprising:

a client, including a display, and channels separately representing individual television content and individual internet content;

means for selecting between the channels and accessing the selected channel content, wherein when an individual television content channel or an individual internet content channel is selected the client presents the content associated with the selected channel on the display;

means for presenting on the display an internet gateway interface which selectively scrolls through links to selected web pages organized according to templates corresponding to web page content displayed on internet content channels comprising a dynamic interface including means for scrolling through selected topics of a first set, links of a second set associated with each selected topic, and objects associated with each link;

a server, including means for establishing a data connection with the client and downloading data along the data connection to the client; and

a menu for providing a single uniform interface to enable the user to navigate among the channels of internet sites and television stations, comprising a rotary wheel menu, wherein the rotary wheel menu comprises a series of panels which appear to occupy three-dimensional space including extending behind the display, wherein the panels on the front side of the rotary wheel menu can be viewed on the display and the distance between adjacent panels decreases and eventually overlaps towards the zenith and nadir of the rotary wheel, whereby the extreme panels displayed on the display appear to move behind other displayed panels.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the series of panels of the rotary wheel menu are adapted to appear to be suspended from the rotary wheel menu.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the series of panels visible in the display includes alphanumeric symbols thereon representing the channel accessible through selection of the panel, and wherein the alphanumeric symbols on each of the series of panels visible in the display are substantially displayed and readable therein.

4. A method of selectively displaying internet content and television programming on a display, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a connection between a client and a server for downloading data from the server along a data connection to the client;

displaying an internet gateway interface which actively scrolls though links to selected web pages organized according to templates corresponding to web page content displayed on internet content channels including scrolling through selected topics of a first set, links of a second set associated with each selected topic, and objects associated with each link comprising displaying a rotary wheel menu comprising a series of panels which appear to occupy three-dimensional space including extending behind the display wherein the panels on the front side of the rotary wheel menu can be viewed on the display and the distance between adjacent panels decreases and eventually overlap towards the zenith and nadir of the rotary wheel, and the extreme panels displayed on the display appear to move behind other displayed panels for providing a single uniform interface to enable the user to navigate among the channels of internet sites and television stations;

selecting between channels separately representing individual television content and individual internet content, in the client which includes a display, and

accessing the selected channel content,

wherein when an individual television content channel or an individual internet content channel is selected the client presents the content associated with the selected channel on the display.