Process for displaying broadcast and recorded transmissions possessing a common characteristic and associated receiver

• US 7,167,632 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2001
• Issued: 01/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Madison Patent Holdings (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Houeix, Pierre, Chevallier, Louis, Cosmao, Michel
• Primary Examiner(s): Groody; James J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ONUAKU, CHRISTOPHER O
• Application Number:
  US09/808,327
• Publication Number:
  US 20010023498A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,141 Days
• Field of Search: 386/1, 386/46, 386/45, 386/52, 386/125, 386/126, 725/34, 725/35, 725/42, 725/131, 725/132, 725/134, 725/139, 725/140, 725/142, 725/151, 725/152, 725/136, 348/460, 348/565
• US Class Current: 386/296
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape

Abstract

A broadcast network sends audiovisual transmissions to a plurality of receivers. The transmissions contain also short audiovisual transmissions, typically advertising spots and information for triggering the displaying of an advertisement page. The receivers are furnished with a large recording capacity that allows the recording of several short audiovisual transmissions. At a time defined by the information transmitted in the audiovisual transmissions, the short audiovisual transmissions are, upon reception in the receiver, automatically replaced by transmissions of the same type previously recorded in the receiver. The receiver resumes normal displaying of the transmissions at the end of the broadcasting of the audiovisual transmissions of a certain type. According to an improvement, the recording of the transmissions can be performed according to the preferences of the user. The preferences of the user are defined during a configuration phase.

Claims

1. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions in a digital television receiver, including first transmissions being broadcast from a broadcasting center and displayed by a receiver, wherein said process comprises:

a step of receiving at least a first audiovisual transmission and at least one service information item defining a temporal interlude within the first transmission, which are broadcast by the broadcasting center,

a first step of displaying the first audiovisual transmission until a moment defined by a beginning of the interlude,

a step of reading a second recorded audiovisual transmission,

a second step of displaying the second read audiovisual transmission triggered at a moment defined by the beginning of the interlude,

a step of recording in a memory of the receiver the first transmission at a moment defined by an end of the interlude,

a third step of displaying the recorded first transmission triggered further to the second step of displaying of the second transmission, the displaying and the receiving of the first transmission being shifted by a certain time.

2. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to claim 1, further comprising a step of recording in a nonvolatile storage means at least one second transmission broadcast prior to the second displaying step, said second transmission possessing a characteristic in common with the transmission or transmission part replaced in the second displaying step.

3. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to claim 2, wherein the recording of the second transmissions is conditioned by the result of a comparison between a criterion written in the memory of the receiver and a data item broadcast in a service information item characterizing the transmission to be recorded.

4. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to claim 3, wherein the recorded second transmissions are identified by a topic, the written criterion corresponds to a user profile, and that the condition of recording of the second transmissions is the correspondence between the topic and the written data.

5. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to claim 4, further comprising a prior step of selecting a user profile from among a plurality of specified profiles.

6. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to claim 2, further comprising a prior step of recording a minimum specified quantity of recordable second transmissions, before the execution of the second step of displaying.

7. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to claim 2, wherein new recordings are prohibited as long as none of the current recordings has been read, the reading of a recording giving rise to its erasure from the nonvolatile storage means.

8. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to claim 1, wherein the second transmission is composed of a plurality of recorded sequences, each sequence being fully displayed during the second step of displaying as long as the interlude is not ended.

9. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions comprising a means of receiving transmissions transmitted from a broadcasting center, a memory containing at least one audiovisual transmission and a means of displaying the transmissions, wherein

said means for receiving receives at least a first audiovisual transmission and one service information item defining a temporal interlude within the first transmission,

said means for displaying displays the first audiovisual transmission until a moment defined by a beginning of the interlude;

said means for displaying displays a second audiovisual transmission recorded in the memory triggered at a moment defined by the beginning of the interlude,

said memory records the first transmission at a moment defined by an end of the interlude,

said means for displaying displays the recorded first transmission triggered further to the displaying of the second transmission, the displaying and the receiving of the first transmission being shifted by a certain time.

10. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions according to claim 9, further comprising means for recording in the memory at least one broadcast audiovisual transmission, wherein said recording means comprises a first detecting means authorizing the recording in the memory of a second transmission upon the detection of the broadcasting of the second transmission.

11. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions according to claim 10, further comprising means for selecting the second transmissions broadcast according to criteria stored in the receiver, only the selected transmissions are recorded in the memory.

12. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions according to claim 11, wherein the memory of the receiver includes profile data entered by at least one user, the second transmission comprises topic identification data for the transmission and a filter comprising a comparator for comparing the profile data and the topic identification of the transmission, the second transmissions being recorded if the topic data item of the transmission corresponds to the profile data.

13. Reciever of audiovisual transmissions according to claim 10, wherein the second transmissions are broadcast on a different communication channel from the first transmissions and the receiver further comprises a second reception means for receiving transmissions from the communication channel broadcasting the second transmissions of the second type.

14. Receiver of audiovisual transmissions according to claim 9, wherein a second transmission is composed of a plurality of recorded sequences, each sequence being fully displayed by the means of displaying as long as the interlude is not ended.