Interactive electronic television program guide with database configurability
First Claim
1. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
- memory in the user television equipment, in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored;
means for determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
means for determining the amount of memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
means for receiving information from a remote source on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data; and
means for adjusting the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive television program guide system is provided in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment containing a memory. The system allocates the memory among different categories of program guide data used by the program guide. When new channels are added to the channel line-up, the program guide adjusts its memory allocation accordingly. When it is desired to install a new non-program-guide application on the user television equipment in addition to the program guide, memory can be reallocated to accommodate the new application.
222 Citations
61 Claims
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1. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment, in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored;
means for determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
means for determining the amount of memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
means for receiving information from a remote source on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data; and
means for adjusting the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored;
means for determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
means for determining the amount of memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
means for receiving information on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
means for adjusting the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory;
means for reallocating the memory among the different categories of program guide data when the amount of memory used to store the program guide data is adjusted; and
means for reallocating the memory based on information in a database configuration record. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored;
means for determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
means for determining the amount of memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
means for receiving information on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
means for adjusting the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the new non-program guide application on the user television equipment, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory and wherein the program guide data stored in the memory corresponds to a given television channel line-up; and
means for determining an amount of memory available for each of the different categories of program guide data after the addition of new channels, wherein the means for adjusting the memory adjusts based on the amounts of memory that are determined to be available for each of the different categories.
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20. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored;
means for determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
means for determining the amount of memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
means for receiving information on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
means for adjusting the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application, wherein the program guide data stored in the memory corresponds to a given television channel line-up; and
means for detecting a change in the amount of channels offered in the television channel line-up.
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21. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for a given memory configuration for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored;
means for determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
means for determining the amount of memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
means for receiving program guide data for a new memory configuration;
means for reconfiguring the memory to accommodate the program guide data for the new memory configuration, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory, the means for reconfiguring further comprising means for reallocating the memory among the different categories of program guide data; and
means for reallocating the memory based on information in a database configuration record and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A memory adjustment method for use in an interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment that has memory, comprising:
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determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determining the amount of the memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
storing program guide data in the memory for use by the interactive television program guide;
receiving information from a remote source on the amount of memory available for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data; and
adjusting the amount of memory used for storing the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. A memory adjustment method for use in an interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment that has memory, comprising:
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determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determining the amount of the memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the new non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
storing program guide data in the memory for use by the interactive television program guide;
receiving information on the amount of memory available for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
adjusting the amount of memory used for storing the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory;
reallocating the memory among different categories of program guide data; and
reallocating the memory based on information in a database configuration record. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A memory adjustment method for use in an interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment that has memory, comprising:
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determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determining the amount of memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
storing program guide data in the memory for use by the interactive television program guide;
receiving information on the amount of memory available for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
adjusting the amount of memory used for storing the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory; and
detecting the addition of at least one new channel to a given television channel line-up and allocating the memory among the different categories of program guide data when the amount of memory used for stored program guide data is adjusted in response to an addition of at least one new channel to the given television channel line-up.
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48. A memory adjustment method for use in an interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment that has memory, comprising:
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determining the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determining the amount of the memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
storing program guide data in the memory for use by the interactive television program guide;
receiving information on the amount of memory available for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
adjusting the amount of memory used for storing the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory; and
determining an amount of memory available for each of the different categories of program guide data after the addition of new channels, wherein the adjusting the memory adjusts based on the amounts of memory that are determined to be available for each of the different categories.
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49. A memory reconfiguration method for use in an interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment that has memory in which program guide data for a given memory configuration is stored, comprising:
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determining the memory requirements of a new non-program guide application;
determining the amount of the memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after the new non-program-guide application has been installed on the user television equipment;
receiving program guide data for a new memory configuration;
reconfiguring the memory to accommodate the program guide data for the new memory configuration, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory, reconfiguring further comprising reallocating the memory among the different categories of program guide data; and
reallocating memory based on information in a database configuration record and the amount of memory available after the installation of the new non-program guide application. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored; and
control circuitry in the user television equipment, wherein the control circuitry is configured to;
determine the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determine the amount of memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
receive information from a remote source on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data; and
adjust the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment.
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58. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored; and
control circuitry in the user television equipment, wherein the control circuitry is configured to;
determine the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determine the amount of the memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
receive information on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
adjust the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory;
reallocate the memory among the different categories of program guide data when the amount of memory used to store the program guide data is adjusted; and
reallocate the memory based on information in a database configuration record.
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59. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored; and
control circuitry in the user television equipment, wherein the control circuitry is configured to;
determine the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determine the amount of the memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
receive information on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
adjust the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory and wherein the program guide data stored in the memory corresponds to a given television channel line-up; and
determine an amount of memory available for each of the different categories of program guide data after the addition of new channels, wherein the control circuitry configured to adjust the memory adjusts based on the amounts of memory that are determined to be available for each of the different categories.
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60. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored; and
control circuitry in the user television equipment, wherein the control circuitry is configured to;
determine the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determine the amount of the memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
receive information on the amount of memory for the interactive television program guide to use to store the program guide data;
adjust the amount of memory used by the interactive television program guide to store the program guide data based at least in part on the received information and the amount of memory available after storing the new non-program guide application on the user television equipment, wherein the program guide data stored in the memory corresponds to a given television channel line-up; and
detect a change in the amount of channels offered in the television channel line-up.
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61. An interactive television program guide system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment, comprising:
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memory in the user television equipment in which program guide data for a given memory configuration for use by the interactive television program guide and non-program guide applications are stored; and
control circuitry in the user television equipment, wherein the control circuitry is configured to;
determine the memory requirements of a non-program guide application that is not currently stored on the user television equipment;
determine the amount of the memory that will be available to the interactive television program guide after storing the non-program-guide application on the user television equipment;
receive program guide data for a new memory configuration;
reconfigure the memory to accommodate the program guide data for the new memory configuration, wherein different categories of program guide data are stored in the memory, the control circuitry configured to reconfigure is further configured to reallocate the memory among the different categories of program guide data; and
reallocate the memory based on information in a database configuration record and the amount of memory available after storing the non-program guide application on the user television equipment.
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Specification