Near video-on-demand system and broadcasting method therefor

• US 6,233,735 B1
• Filed: 07/10/1997
• Issued: 05/15/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ebihara, Norio
• Primary Examiner(s): Faile, Andrew I.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BUI, KIEU OANH T
• Application Number:
  US08/902,604
• Time in Patent Office: 1,405 Days
• Field of Search: 348/7, 348/12, 348/13, 455/5.1, 709/217, 709/219, 725/101
• US Class Current: 725/101
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8227 the additional signal being at least another television signal

Abstract

A near video-on-demand (NVOD) system and method for incorporating and/or updating a commercial (CM) or promotion video program or the like in a video program. The NVOD system may include a controller, a high-speed digital reproducing device for reproducing at a high rate a plurality of video-on-demand system recording data divided from digital data of a main program and recorded at discrete areas, an additional information program data server for reproducing data of an additional information program such as data of a CM video program, a promotion video program, or like, a buffer device for selectively writing the video-on-demand system recording data from the high-speed digital reproducing device and reading the video-on-demand system recording data, and matrix switcher for selectively outputting main program data from the buffer device and additional information data from the additional information program data server, and sequentially transmitting the main program data with the additional information data incorporated at M locations therein to a number of channels.

Claims

1. A near video-on-demand system comprising:

control means;

high-speed digital reproducing means responsive to a control signal from said control means, for reproducing at a high rate a plurality of video-on-demand system recording data divided from digital data of a main program and recorded at discrete areas;

an additional information program data server for reproducing data of an additional information program in response to a control signal from said control means;

buffer means responsive to a control signal from said control means, for selectively writing the video-on-demand system recording data from said high-speed digital reproducing means and reading the video-on-demand system recording data; and

matrix switcher means responsive to a control signal from said control means, for selectively outputting main program data from said buffer means and additional information data from said additional information program data server, and sequentially transmitting the main program data with the additional information data incorporated at M locations therein to a number of channels,

wherein the number of channels to which the matrix switcher means transmits the main program data and the additional information data in predetermined time intervals is (N+M), in which N represents the number of channels to which the main program data without the additional information data would be transmitted to in the predetermined time intervals.

2. A near video-on-demand system according to claim 1, wherein said main program comprises a video movie, and said additional information program comprises a commercial video program or a promotion program.

3. A near video-on-demand system according to claim 1, wherein said high-speed digital reproducing means comprises a magnetooptical disk drive or a hard disk drive.

4. A near video-on-demand system according to claim 1, wherein if said main program is T_VIDEO. long, then said video-on-demand system recording data are produced by dividing the digital data of the main program into a number of blocks related to the number N of the channels, and the data of the blocks are further divided and discretely recorded, and wherein said high-speed digital reproducing means successively reproduces at a high rate said video-on-demand system recording data to reproduce all the data of the main program at time intervals of T_VIDEO./N.

5. A near video-on-demand system according to claim 1, wherein said video-on-demand system recording data are recorded in a compressed state.

6. A near video-on-demand system comprising:

control means;

high-speed digital reproducing means responsive to a control signal from said control means, for reproducing at a high rate a plurality of video-on-demand system recording data divided from digital data of a main program and recorded at discrete areas;

an additional information program data server for reproducing data of an additional information program in response to a control signal from said control means;

buffer means including a number of first in, first out memory means responsive to a control signal from said control means for selectively writing the video-on-demand system recording data from said high-speed digital reproducing means and reading the video-on-demand system recording data; and

matrix switcher means responsive to a control signal from said control means, for selectively outputting main program data from said buffer means and additional information data from said additional information program data server, and sequentially transmitting the main program data with the additional information data incorporating therein in a plurality of channels,

wherein if the number of said first-in, first-out memory means is N and said additional information program is incorporated at M locations, then the number of the channels is N+M.

7. A near video-on-demand system comprising:

control means;

high-speed digital reproducing means responsive to a control signal from said control means for reproducing at a high rate a plurality of video-on-demand system recording data divided from digital data of a main program and recorded at discrete areas;

an additional information program data server for reproducing data of an additional information program in response to a control signal from said control means;

buffer means including a number of first in, first out memory means responsive to a control signal from said control means for selectively writing the video-on-demand system recording data from said high-speed digital reproducing means and reading the video-on-demand system recording data; and

matrix switcher means responsive to a control signal from said control means, for selectively outputting main program data from said buffer means and additional information data from said additional information program data server, and sequentially transmitting the main program data with the additional information data incorporating therein in a plurality of channels,

wherein said matrix switcher means receives the data of the additional information program from said additional information program data server and video data from said N first-in, first-out memory means, and transmits the received data to the channels.

8. A method of broadcasting a main program whose net time is T_VIDEO. with an additional information program incorporated at M locations therein, using a near video-on-demand system, comprising the step of:

increasing the number of channels from the conventional number N of channels to N+M in order to insert the additional information program in the M locations, so that the main program with the additional information program incorporated therein will sequentially be broadcast at the same time intervals as when the main program with the additional information program not incorporated therein is broadcast.