Apparatus and method for blocking television commercials with a content interrogation program
First Claim
1. A method for displaying a television segment in place of a blocked television commercial based on interrogation of a television signal comprising:
- receiving a first television signal;
recognizing said first television signal in a logical unit;
wherein said first television signal is recognized by a cumulative digital signature;
wherein the cumulative digital signature is the aggregation of at least one selected characteristic of a data sequence to provide a unique number for identification of the complete data sequence;
blocking said first television signal by to logical unit;
buffering a second television signal;
specifying a search parameter;
searching said second television signal for a data that matches said search parameter;
responsive to finding the data that matches said search parameter, identifying a contingent television segment as a third television signal; and
displaying the third television signal in plane of the first television signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method is disclosed for blocking specific television commercials from the viewer'"'"'s television based upon the characteristics of the television commercial and replacing the commercial with television content located by a content interrogation program. The content interrogation program seeks out television content based upon a user search term specifically for use as contingent programming to replace the blocked commercial. The content interrogation program can have multiple search terms and provide prioritized multiple searches to identify multiple segments to play in spaces created by blocked commercials.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method for displaying a television segment in place of a blocked television commercial based on interrogation of a television signal comprising:
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receiving a first television signal; recognizing said first television signal in a logical unit; wherein said first television signal is recognized by a cumulative digital signature; wherein the cumulative digital signature is the aggregation of at least one selected characteristic of a data sequence to provide a unique number for identification of the complete data sequence; blocking said first television signal by to logical unit; buffering a second television signal; specifying a search parameter; searching said second television signal for a data that matches said search parameter; responsive to finding the data that matches said search parameter, identifying a contingent television segment as a third television signal; and displaying the third television signal in plane of the first television signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for identifying an alternate viewing segment to replace a blocked television commercial comprising:
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a logical unit with a memory; a program stored in said memory; said memory, so configured by said program, causes said logical unit perform operations comprising; receiving a first television signal; recognizing said first television signal in the logical unit; wherein said first television signal is recognized by a unique digital identifying tag; wherein the unique digital identifying tag is a number sequence before a header and after a trailer of the first television signal; blocking said first television signal by the logical unit; buffering a second television signal; specifying a search parameter; searching said second television signal for data that matches said search parameter; responsive to finding a data that matches said search parameter, identifying a contingent television segment as a third television signal; displaying the third television signal in place of the first television signal. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. An apparatus for identifying an alternate viewing segment to replace a blocked television commercial comprising:
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means for receiving a first television signal; means for recognizing said first television signal in the logical unit; wherein said first television signal is recognized by a component signature; wherein the component signature is a group of variables, based on a time component, an X video component, a Y video component, and an audio component, that are used to identify a commercial from all other commercials when a cumulative digital signature is not available; means for blocking said first television signal by the logical unit; means for buffering a second television signal; means for specifying a search parameter; means for searching said second television signal for data that matches said search parameter; means for responsive to finding a data that matches said search parameter, identifying a contingent television segment as a third television signal; and means for displaying the third television signal in place of the first television signal. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
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Specification