Method of automatic execution receiving station

• US 7,600,239 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2001
• Issued: 10/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Top Victory Investments Limited (TPV Technology Co., Ltd. (f/k/a Nanjing Huadong Electronics Information & Technology))
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Wijma, Abel Koenraad, De Lange, Alphonsius Anthonius Jozef, Schlueper, Marcus Franciscus Maria
• Primary Examiner(s): Shang; Annan Q
• Application Number:
  US09/883,440
• Publication Number:
  US 20020062484A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,032 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32- 61, 725106-142, 709217-223
• US Class Current: 725/36
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4424 Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the client device, e.g. CPU or memory load, processing speed, timer, counter or percentage of the hard disk space used error monitoring in general G06F11/30; arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/32; diagnosis, testing or measuring for television receivers H04N17/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8166 involving executable data, e.g. software arrangements for executing specific programs G06F9/44; broadcasting computer programmes in broadcast systems H04H20/91; involving the movement of software or configuration parameters H04L67/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A method and system are provided which allow for automatic execution of applications on a receiving station (109). As applications may provide their own interface, this interferes with the desired consistent interface a user has when “zapping” from channel to channel. Therefore, execution of applications is disabled when a user selects a channel, and enabled whenever it is determined that the user is actively viewing the selected channel. This happens when, for example, the channel identifier (202) is removed from the screen, or the last element of a menu bar (203) or other on-screen display element is erased. A timer, reset whenever the user provides input, and increased every second, can also be used. When the timer exceeds a certain value, it can be assumed the user wants to view the selected channel, and application execution can be enabled.

Claims

1. A method of automatic execution of an application on a receiving station, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a signal comprising a plurality of streams, each stream being associated with a channel on the receiving station and comprising a content portion and zero or more application portions;

receiving a channel selection from a user;

displaying the content portion of the stream associated with the selected channel; and

when execution of applications is enabled, executing an application present in the application portion, if any, of the stream associated with the selected channel, characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of;

disabling execution of the application of the stream associated with the channel in response to the user selecting the channel; and

enabling execution of the application of the stream associated with the channel in response to the occurrence of an enabling event indicating that the user is actively viewing the selected channel.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a timer is reset in response to any user interaction with the receiving station, and the enabling event comprises the timer reaching a predetermined timeout value.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the enabling event comprises the erasing of an on-screen display element from a display system.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the on-screen display element is an identifier for the current channel.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the on-screen display element is the last of a plurality of on-screen display elements being displayed.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein execution of all applications is disabled in response to the user selecting the channel.

7. A receiving station comprising:

a receiving unit for receiving a signal comprising a plurality of streams, each stream being associated with a channel on the receiving station and comprising a content portion and zero or more application portions;

a selection unit for receiving a channel selection from a user;

a display control unit for displaying the content portion of the stream associated with the selected channel; and

an execution unit for determining if execution of applications is enabled, and if so, executing an application present in the application portion, if any, of the stream associated with the selected channel,

characterized in that

the execution unit disables execution of the application of the stream associated with the channel in response to the user selecting the channel, and

the execution unit enables execution of the application of the stream associated with the channel in response to the occurrence of an enabling event indicating that the user is actively viewing the selected channel.

8. The receiving station as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the receiving station further comprises a timer arranged to be reset in response to any user interaction with the receiving station, and the enabling event comprises the timer reaching a predetermined timeout value.

9. The receiving station as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the receiving station further comprises an on-screen display unit, and the enabling event comprises the on-screen display unit erasing an on-screen display element from a display system.

10. The receiving station as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the on-screen display element is an identifier for the current channel.

11. The receiving station as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the on-screen display element is the last of a plurality of on-screen display elements being displayed by the on-screen display unit.

12. The receiving station as claimed in claim 7, wherein the execution unit disables execution of all applications in response to the user selecting the channel.