System and method for transmitting and utilizing electronic programs guide information

• US 7,210,159 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2000
• Issued: 04/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Starsight Telecast Incorporated (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Starsight Telecast Incorporated (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Ebright, Alan R., Roop, John H., Warden, David P., Alegiani, Giambattista A., Kochy, Jeffrey J., Sokolik, Konstantine
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoye; Michael W.
• Application Number:
  US09/741,301
• Publication Number:
  US 20010014976A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,317 Days
• Field of Search: 725/40, 725/44, 725/48, 725/50, 725/54, 348/467, 348/473, 348/734
• US Class Current: 725/54
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 15/006 for operating at a number of different times cigar or cigarette receptacles or boxes with means for limiting the frequency of smoking A24F15/005
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 15/023 remotely controlled
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/41 Flat as opposed to hierarchical combination, e.g. library of tapes or discs, CD changer, or groups of record carriers that together store one title
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/10 Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/107 of operating tapes
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/3054 Vertical Interval Time code [VITC]
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/324 Duty cycle modulation of control pulses, e.g. VHS-CTL-coding systems, RAPID-time code, VASS- or VISS-cue signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4353 involving decryption of additional data arrangements using cryptography for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/23
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4586 Content update operation triggered locally, e.g. by comparing the version of software modules in a DVB carousel to the version stored locally deployment, distribution, installation, update of software G06F8/65; error detection or correction of the data by redundancy during software upgrading G06F11/1433; arrangements for updating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/25
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/475 : End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 : End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 : involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 : specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 : Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 : Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 : on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/025 : Systems for the transmission of digital non-picture data, e.g. of text during the active part of a television frame transmission of digital non-picture data during the vertical blanking interval only H04N7/088
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/088 : the inserted signal being digital
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0884 : for the transmission of additional display-information, e.g. menu for programme or channel selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 : for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0888 : Subscription systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 : Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 : Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

Television schedule information transmission and utilization systems transmit TV schedule data and associated network control messages provided by computer as packets via the Video Blanking Interval (VBI) lines in the TV signal from various television program providers. This data is acquired by regional data processing systems and forwarded by the regional data processing systems to subscriber units and used to construct an internal database. This internal database can be accessed by the subscriber unit to display a TV schedule for the channels that are received by the user'"'"'s TV.

Claims

1. A method of displaying and updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving via a television telecast signal commands that instruct the plurality of subscriber systems and which include command data and the television schedule information data used by the commands;

responsive to receiving a command, reading the command data from the command to determine the instructions of the command;

responsive to the command instructions, extracting a portion of the television schedule information data included in the command from the television telecast signal;

responsive to the command instructions, storing the portion of the television schedule information data in a memory at the plurality of subscriber systems;

responsive to the command instructions, preparing portions of the television schedule information data; and

displaying the portions of the television schedule information data on a display monitor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the television schedule information data is received by a subscriber system if the commands are addressed to that subscriber system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a batch number as part of a command is used as a group address to send the command to at least one subscriber system sharing the same batch number.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the command instructions contain an authorization command authorizing the subscriber system to begin collecting and displaying the television schedule information data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the commands received is private to at least one of the subscriber systems.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the television schedule information data is received in the blanking interval of the television telecast signal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving step comprises the step of decrypting an encrypted command.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the preparing step comprises the steps of:

executing at least one command instruction of the command;

determining if certain of the television schedule information has already been received by the subscriber system; and

receiving the certain of the television schedule information if it has not already been received.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a daylight change command instruction defining when a next daylight change will occur; and

adding a time-zone offset to a local time to show the correct adjusted local time when the next daylight change occurs.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the preparing step comprises the steps of:

receiving a command including channel ID numbers and television scheduling information;

matching the received channel ID numbers to a list of channel ID numbers stored in the memory representing the valid channels in the subscriber system; and

compiling the television scheduling information on the channels for which the channel ID number in the list stored in the memory representing the valid channel matches that of the received channel ID number.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a second command providing at least 24 hours of television scheduling information data.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a show title command containing a name of a television program;

comparing the name of the television program to a show list maintained in the memory;

saving the show title command in the database if there is a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list; and

ignoring the show title command in the memory if there is not a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the name of a television program is compressed text.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing step comprises the steps of:

periodically running a garbage collection process to collect unused memory blocks;

recombining the unused memory blocks into larger memory blocks; and

making the larger memory blocks accessible by the computer program.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the television schedule information data is stored in a database as database items in the memory.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the database items are arranged hierarchically in descending order as a list of channels and a list of show titles, show description, show start time and show durations for each channel.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the database items are further arranged hierarchically in descending order as a theme table defining theme categories, theme sub-table defining theme sub-categories, and theme show table defining themes of a selected list of shows.

18. A system for displaying and updating television schedule information data in a subscriber system included in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, comprising of:

a microprocessor at each of the plurality of subscriber systems;

a decoder at each of the plurality of subscriber systems for receiving via a television telecast signal commands that instruct the microprocessor and which include command data and the television schedule information data used by the commands;

means for reading the command data from a command to determine the instructions of the command responsive to receiving the command;

means for extracting at least a portion of the television schedule information data included in the command from the television telecast signal responsive to the command instructions;

a memory for storing the at least a portion of the television schedule information data responsive to the command instructions;

code for the microprocessor for preparing portions of the television schedule information data responsive to the command instructions; and

a display for displaying the portions of the television schedule information data on the display monitor.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the television schedule information data is received by a subscriber system if the commands are directed to that subscriber system.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising a batch number as part of a command for a group address to direct the command to at least one subscriber system sharing the same batch number.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the command instructions contain an authorization command authorizing the subscriber system to begin collecting and displaying the television schedule information data.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein at least one of the commands received is private to at least one of the subscriber system.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein the television schedule information data is received in the blanking interval of the television telecast signal.

24. The system of claim 18, wherein at least one of the received commands is an encrypted command.