System and method for subscriber controlled signal blocking
First Claim
1. A method for blocking a signal, the method comprising the steps of:
- generating a plurality of program identifiers, the plurality of program identifiers being visually imperceptible and generated using amplitude shift keying encoding, each program identifier being associated with a particular one program of a plurality of programs transmitted in the signal;
inserting at least one program identifier of the plurality of program identifiers into the signal;
generating at least one content identifier, the content identifier identifying a particular portion of a second program of the plurality of programs, the content identifier being visually imperceptible and generated using amplitude shift keying encoding;
inserting the at least one content identifier into the signal;
blocking a viewing of a first program of the plurality of programs as a function of the program identifier associated therewith, the program identifier being recovered from the signal as function of a signal strength of the signal, the signal comprising a plurality of frames and the signal strength being a measure of a amplitude difference in successive frames of the signal; and
blocking a viewing of the particular portion of the second program as a function of the content identifier, the content identifier being recovered from the signal as function of the signal strength of the signal.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A technique for the blocking of individual programs and/or portions of programs transmitted in a source signal, e.g., a cable television signal. In particular, individual programs and/or portions of programs within a class of programs are blocked, while allowing for the viewing of certain other programs even within the same programming class. The transmitted source signal contains individual programs having a transparent program identifier and/or transparent content identifier associated with individual programs in the source signal transmission. As the source signal enters, e.g., a particular subscriber location, the source signal is monitored in accordance with a program viewing profile defined by the subscriber. That is, particular ones of the programs and/or portion thereof available in the source signal transmission supplied to the subscriber can either be unblocked, i.e., viewable, or blocked, i.e., unviewable, at the discretion of the subscriber. The blocking of particular ones of the programs and/or portion thereof is accomplished as a function of the transparent program identifier and/or transparent content identifier associated with a program which is embedded in the video and/or audio component of the source signal. The transparent identifiers are transmitted concurrently with the individual program as the source signal is received at the subscriber location. Advantageously, the subscriber is given complete control and selectivity over which programs and/or portions thereof are viewed, e.g., by children of the subscriber.
115 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for blocking a signal, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating a plurality of program identifiers, the plurality of program identifiers being visually imperceptible and generated using amplitude shift keying encoding, each program identifier being associated with a particular one program of a plurality of programs transmitted in the signal; inserting at least one program identifier of the plurality of program identifiers into the signal; generating at least one content identifier, the content identifier identifying a particular portion of a second program of the plurality of programs, the content identifier being visually imperceptible and generated using amplitude shift keying encoding; inserting the at least one content identifier into the signal; blocking a viewing of a first program of the plurality of programs as a function of the program identifier associated therewith, the program identifier being recovered from the signal as function of a signal strength of the signal, the signal comprising a plurality of frames and the signal strength being a measure of a amplitude difference in successive frames of the signal; and blocking a viewing of the particular portion of the second program as a function of the content identifier, the content identifier being recovered from the signal as function of the signal strength of the signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A signal blocking method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a signal containing a plurality of programs; identifying at least one program identifier encoded within the signal, the at least one program identifier encoded using amplitude shift keying, the at least one program identifier identifying a particular program of the plurality of programs destined for a subscriber location, the program identifier being perceptually invisible; identifying at least one content identifier encoded within the signal, the at least one content identifier being associated with a particular portion of at least one program of the plurality of programs, the content identifier being perceptually invisible and encoded using amplitude shift keying; blocking a viewing of the particular program at the subscriber location as a function of the program identifier, the program identifier being recovered from the signal as function of a signal strength difference of the signal, the signal strength determined as a function of a signal amplitude difference between a first frame and a second frame of the signal; and blocking a viewing of the particular portion of the at least one program as a function of the content identifier, the content identifier being recovered from the signal as function of the signal strength difference of the signal. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for blocking a television signal, the method
comprising the steps of: -
receiving a television signal, the television signal including a plurality of programs; identifying a plurality of program identifiers encoded within the television signal, the plurality of program identifiers encoded using amplitude shift keying, each one of the encoded program identifiers corresponding to a different program of the plurality programs; identifying a plurality of content identifiers encoded within the television signal, the plurality of content identifiers encoded using amplitude shift keying, each one of the encoded content identifiers corresponding to a particular portion of a different program of the plurality of programs; selectively blocking a viewing of particular ones of the plurality of programs as a function of their corresponding program identifier, the program identifier being recovered from the encoded television signal as function of a signal strength of the television signal, the signal strength determined as a function of a signal amplitude difference between a first frame and a second frame of the television signal; and selectively blocking the viewing of at least one of the particular portions of the different programs as function of the corresponding content identifier, the content identifier being recovered from the television signal as function of the signal strength of the television signal. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A television signal receiving apparatus comprising:
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a receiver for receiving a television signal having a plurality of frames, the television signal containing a plurality of programs, a plurality of encoded program identifiers and a plurality of encoded content identifiers, the plurality of encoded program identifiers and the plurality of encoded content identifiers encoded using amplitude shift keying, each program identifier identifying a particular one program of the plurality of programs, and each content identifier being associated with a particular portion of a different program of the plurality of programs; a decoder for decoding the plurality of program identifiers and the plurality of content identifiers encoded within the television signal, the decoding of the program identifiers and the content identifiers being performed as a function of a signal difference between successive frames of the television signal, the signal difference determined as a function of a signal amplitude difference between the successive frames of the television signal; and a signal blocker for selectively blocking a viewing of particular ones of the plurality of programs by a subscriber as a function of comparing the decoded plurality of program identifiers and the decoded plurality of content identifiers to a set of viewing preferences defined by the subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. An apparatus for processing a encoded television signal, the encoded television signal being produced by encoding, using amplitude shift keying, a plurality of program identifiers and a plurality of content identifiers, each program identifier being associated with a particular one program of a plurality of programs transmitted in a source signal, each content identifier being associated with a particular portion of a program of the plurality of programs, and inserting at least one program identifier and at least one content identifier into the source signal to produce the encoded television signal, and transmitting the encoded television signal to a communications channel, the apparatus comprising:
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a receiver for receiving the encoded television signal from the communications channel; a decoder for decoding the encoded television signal and recovering the source signal; and a signal blocker for selectively blocking a viewing of particular ones of the programs of the source signal as a function of the at least one program identifier and the at least one content identifier, the at least one program identifier and the at least one content identifier being recovered from the encoded television signal as a function of a signal difference between a first frame and a second frame in the television signal, the signal difference determined as a function of a signal amplitude difference between the first frame and the second frame. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A signal blocking apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving a signal containing a plurality of programs, the signal having a plurality of frames; means for identifying at least one program identifier encoded within the signal, the at lease one program identifier encoded using amplitude shift keying, the at least one program identifier identifying a particular program of the plurality of programs destined for a subscriber location, the program identifier being perceptually invisible and identified by detecting a signal strength difference between successive frames of the signal, the signal strength difference determined as a function of a signal amplitude difference between the successive frames of the signal; means for identifying at least one content identifier encoded within the signal, the at least one content identifier encoded using amplitude shift keying, the at least one content identifier being associated with a particular portion of at least one program of the plurality of programs destined for a subscriber location, the content identifier being perceptually invisible and identified as a function of the signal strength difference; and means for selectively blocking a viewing of the particular program at the subscriber location as a function of the program identifier and the content identifier. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification