Method and apparatus for limiting access to signals delivered via the internet
First Claim
1. An apparatus for regulating access to electronic digital communication signals comprising:
- means for locating latitude and longitude coordinate for a particular location on the surface of the earth, and generating a location signal in response thereto;
means, responsive to said location signal, for generating a signal strength signal which is representative of a strength of a terrestrially broadcast television signal at said particular location; and
means for manipulating a combination of a receiver and a transmitter in response to said signal strength signal, so that access to a predetermined electronic digital signal can be alternatively enabled and disabled for said particular location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for controlling the reception of electronic digital signals, which could include internet signals as a function of the location of a receiver for receiving said internet signals and further as a function of the signal strength of a terrestrially broadcast television signal at said location of the internet receiver is disclosed. In one embodiment, a GPS receiver and a radio receiver are utilized to control the reception at the location. In another embodiment, a distributed approach is utilized which uses at least two separated servers in which one is used for inputting information relating to a location of the internet receiver, and another server is utilized for determining the relationship of the signal strength of that position to a predetermined threshold and either directly through a hardware connection or indirectly through a display terminal providing for manipulation of the internet receiver and internet transmitter combination so as to restrict access to signal reception by said internet receiver at the location if a strength of a terrestrially broadcast television signal exceeds a predetermined threshold.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for regulating access to electronic digital communication signals comprising:
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means for locating latitude and longitude coordinate for a particular location on the surface of the earth, and generating a location signal in response thereto;
means, responsive to said location signal, for generating a signal strength signal which is representative of a strength of a terrestrially broadcast television signal at said particular location; and
means for manipulating a combination of a receiver and a transmitter in response to said signal strength signal, so that access to a predetermined electronic digital signal can be alternatively enabled and disabled for said particular location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17)
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11. A method of regulating electronic digital communication signals comprising the steps of:
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receiving an address of a predetermined location and generating a geographic reference signal having a predetermined signal format in response thereto;
determining a signal strength signal representative of a strength of a terrestrially broadcast signal received at said predetermined location; and
comparing said signal strength signal to a predetermined threshold and generating in response thereto an electronic digital signal control signal for regulating access to electronic digital signals received at said predetermined location. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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12. An apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving an address of a predetermined location and generating a geographic reference signal having a predetermined signal format in response thereto;
means for determining a signal strength signal representative of a strength of a terrestrially broadcast signal received at said predetermined location; and
means for comparing said signal strength signal to a predetermined threshold and generating in response thereto an internet signal control signal for regulating access to internet signals received at said predetermined location. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. An internet signal control apparatus comprising:
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a browser means at a first location for receiving information relating to a street address of a second location, a geocoding means for generating a latitude and longitude reference signal corresponding to said street address for said second location;
a processor based means, disposed at a third location and coupled to said first location via a computer network, said processor based means for generating a signal strength signal representative of a strength of a terrestrially broadcast signal at said second location, where said processor based means for generating utilizes a point-in-polygon approach and a Longley-Rice signal strength calculator to generate said signal strength signal;
said processor based means for generating further for comparing said signal strength signal with a predetermined reference level and generating in response thereto an internet signal control signal.
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Specification