Method and system of displaying teletext information on mobile devices

• US 6,766,163 B1
• Filed: 12/09/1999
• Issued: 07/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Sharma, Dipanshu
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): LY, NGHI H
• Application Number:
  US09/458,261
• Time in Patent Office: 1,685 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412.1, 455/3.01, 455/557, 455/552.1, 455/566, 455/552, 455/232, 455/455, 455/454.1, 455/414.4, 395/200.78, 382/232, 370/261, 348/432.1, 348/435.1, 348/473, 348/478, 348/460, 348/461, 348/468
• US Class Current: 455/412.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/085 specially adapted for interworking of IP-based networks with other networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0882 for the transmission of character code signals, e.g. for teletext circuits for the digital non-picture data signal H04N7/035

Abstract

A communication system and method for communicating teletext information to mobile stations. A wireless access protocol (WAP) server is coupled to a television station and receives a signal which includes teletext information from the station. The WAP server includes a teletext decoder which decodes the teletext information in the transmitted signal. The decoded information is stored in memory using a server controller. The controller receives information requests from a network interface coupled to the mobile stations. The controller accesses the teletext information stored in memory and transmits the information to the mobile station through the network interface.

Claims

1. A communication system operable to communicate teletext information to a mobile station operable in a cellular communication network, the teletext information contained in a vertical blanking interval of at least one broadcast-station television signal, the system comprising:

a server including;

at least one teletext decoder coupled to the at least one television signal and operable to continually decode the teletext information encoded within the vertical blanking interval of the at least one television signal;

a controller coupled to the teletext decoder;

formatting means for formatting the decoded teletext information such that it can be communicated to the mobile station via the cellular communication network;

a memory unit coupled to the controller and adapted to store the decoded and formatted teletext information such that the stored teletext information is continually updated; and

a cellular network interface coupled to the controller and adapted to receive and transmit cellular network communications; and

a cellular network infrastructure coupled to the network interface and the mobile station, the cellular network infrastructure adapted to transmit the decoded teletext information to the mobile station and to receive information requests from the mobile station.

2. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the cellular communications network supports Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) telecommunication services.

3. The communication system of claim 1, wherein transmitted teletext information from the network interface is formatted according to eXtensible Markup Language (XML) specifications.

4. The communication system of claim 1, wherein transmitted teletext information from the network interface is formatted according to Wireless Markup Language (WML) specifications.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a mobile-station memory unit coupled to the controller, wherein the mobile-station memory unit stores an historical listing of received teletext information.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to update the teletext information on a periodic basis.

7. The mobile station of claim 6, wherein the periodic basis is determined by a mobile station user.

8. A method for communicating teletext information to a mobile station, the method comprising the operations of:

receiving in a server, a data signal formed of at least one broadcast-station television signal including a teletext message encoded within the vertical blanking interval thereof;

decoding the teletext message received during the receiving operation at the server;

formatting the decoded teletext message;

storing the decoded and formatted teletext message in a server memory unit such that at least the most current version of the teletext message is stored;

receiving a message request by the server from the mobile station;

accessing the most recent version of the decoded and formatted teletext message stored in the server memory during the storing operation according to the message request received during the receiving operation;

transmitting the decoded teletext message accessed during the accessing operation to the mobile station; and

displaying at the mobile station the decoded teletext message transmitted during the transmitting operation.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the transmitting operation further comprises transmitting the decoded and formatted teletext message over a cellular communications network.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of updating the server memory unit on a periodic basis.

11. A server configured to communicate current teletext information encoded in at least one broadcast-station television signal to a mobile station over a communication system, the server comprising:

a teletext decoder coupled to the at least one broadcast-station television signal and the teletext information encoded within a vertical blanking interval thereof, the teletext decoder configured to continually decode the teletext information in the at least one data signal;

a controller coupled to the teletext decoder, the controller receiving the teletext information from the teletext decoder;

a formatter for formatting the teletext information received from the teletext decoder;

a memory unit coupled to the controller, the memory unit storing at least the most current version of the decoded and formatted teletext information; and

a network interface unit coupled to the controller, the network interface unit for receiving requests from the mobile station and transmitting the decoded and formatted teletext information to the mobile station.

12. The server of claim 11, wherein the communication system comprises a cellular communication system, and wherein the requests received by the network interface unit are generated during operation of the cellular communication system.