Near video-on-demand signal receiver

• US 7,607,157 B1
• Filed: 11/01/1999
• Issued: 10/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Inoue, Hajime, Kanota, Keiji, Shimazu, Akira, Kubota, Yukio, Nagashima, Toshimichi
• Primary Examiner(s): SHELEHEDA, JAMES R
• Application Number:
  US09/430,950
• Time in Patent Office: 3,641 Days
• Field of Search: 725/88, 725/89, 725/93, 725/94, 725/101, 725/100, 725/102
• US Class Current: 725/102
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26275 for distributing content or additional data in a staggered manner, e.g. repeating movies on different channels in a time-staggered manner in a near video on demand system
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4333 Processing operations in response to a pause request
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47208 for requesting near-video-on-demand content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47211 for requesting pay-per-view content payment schemes payment architectures or payment protocols G06Q20/00, G07F
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44 Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards H04N5/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/4448 for frame-grabbing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 Transmission or handling of upstream communications

Abstract

A video signal receiver receives a plurality of video channels simultaneously carrying, offset by a transmission interval, a single video program, selects one channel from which to obtain the program for display to a user, and achieves a pause function in the display of the transmitted video program by temporarily storing a segment of the video program equal to the length of the transmission interval and obtaining the remainder of the program at a later time from the same or another channel.

Claims

1. A method of receiving program information supplied on plural time-offset channels in a near video-on-demand system, comprising the steps of:

storing a segment of the program information supplied on one of said channels in a buffer memory of a receiver in the near video-on-demand system;

selecting a particular channel;

receiving the program information supplied on said particular channel; and

reading said stored segment of program information while buffering the program information supplied on said particular channel in response to the selection of said particular channel,

wherein reading of said stored segment is paused in response to a pause command while the program information continues buffering, and whereafter reading of said stored segment is resumed in response to a resume command,

wherein a second channel, time-offset from said particular channel, is selected to supply the program information if a time difference between the pause command and the resume command is greater than said time-offset, and

wherein when display of the program information is resumed after the resume command, an overlap portion is provided.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said time-offset is equal to the difference between a start-time at which said program information is transmitted on one channel and the start-time at which the same said program information is next transmitted on another channel.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said program information supplied on said particular channel is buffered by writing said program information into a storage device and reading said program information from said storage device, said reading of said program information commencing after said stored segment of said program information has been substantially fully read, thereby seamlessly reading said program information.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein said stored segment exhibits a time duration substantially equal to the duration of said time offset.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein said one channel over which said segment is supplied and said particular channel over which the buffered program information is supplied are the same.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the same program information is supplied simultaneously on said plural time-offset channels, and wherein the program information that is supplied on said one channel commencing at the start time of said program information and continuing until said particular channel is selected constitutes said segment that is stored.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said stored segment of said program information is read out when said one channel is selected as said particular channel.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said program information is a video program.

9. An apparatus for receiving program information supplied on plural time-offset channels in a near video-on-demand system, comprising:

a storage device for storing a segment of the program information supplied on one of said channels;

a channel selector for selecting a particular channel and for receiving the program information supplied on said particular channel;

a buffer for buffering the program information received on said particular channel in the apparatus; and

a read out device for reading out said stored segment of program information while said buffer is buffering said received program information in response to the selection of said particular channel,

wherein reading out of said stored segment is paused in response to a pause command while the program information continues buffering, and whereafter reading out of said stored segment is resumed in response to a resume command,

wherein a second channel, time-offset from said particular channel, is selected to supply the program information if a time difference between the pause command and the resume command is greater than said time-offset, and

wherein when display of the program information is resumed after the resume command, an over lap portion is provided.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said time-offset is equal to the difference between a start-time at which said program information is transmitted on one channel and the start-time at which the same said program information is next transmitted on another channel.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said buffer buffers the program information received on said particular channel by writing the received program information into a memory and thereafter reading said received program information from said memory, the received program information being read from said memory once said stored segment of program information has been substantially fully read out from said storage device, thereby seamlessly recovering substantially all of said program information regardless of when said particular channel is selected.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said buffer includes a hard disk drive.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said storage device includes said hard disk drive.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said hard disk drive includes write and read circuits operable at the same time to write to and read from the hard disk drive concurrently.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said stored segment exhibits a time duration substantially equal to the duration of said time offset.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said one channel on which said segment is supplied and said particular channel on which said program information is received are the same.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the same program information is supplied simultaneously on said plural channels, and said segment is formed by storing said program information on one channel commencing at said start time and then, if said particular channel is not selected by the time the start time of said program information on said another channel is reached, replacing the stored segment of program information in said storage device with the program information supplied on said another channel.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said readout device commences the read out of said stored segment of program information when said particular channel is selected.

19. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said program information is a video program.

20. A method of receiving program information in a near video-on-demand system, comprising the steps of:

storing a segment of the received program information in a buffer memory of a receiver in the near video-on-demand system; and

reading said stored segment of program information while buffering the program information which continues to be received,

wherein reading of said stored segment is paused in response to a pause command while the program information continues buffering, and whereafter reading of said stored segment is resumed in response to a resume command,

wherein a second channel, time-offset from said particular channel, is selected to supply the program information if a time difference between the pause command and the resume command is greater than said time-offset, and

wherein when display of the program information is resumed after the resume command, an overlap portion is provided.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the received program information is buffered by writing said program information into a storage device and reading said program information from said storage device, said reading of said program information commencing after said stored segment of said program information has been substantially fully read, thereby seamlessly reading said program information.

22. Apparatus for receiving program information in a near video-on-demand system, comprising:

a storage device for storing a segment of the received program information;

a buffer for buffering the program information which continues to be received in the apparatus; and

a read out device for reading out said stored segment of program information while said buffer is buffering said received program information,

wherein reading out of said stored segment is paused in response to a pause command while the program information continues buffering, and whereafter reading out of said stored segment is resumed in response to a resume command,

wherein a second channel, time-offset from said particular channel, is selected to supply the program information if a time difference between the pause command and the resume command is greater than said time-offset, and

wherein when display of the program information is resumed after the resume command, an overlap portion is provided.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said buffer buffers the received program information by writing the received program information into a memory and thereafter reading said received program information from said memory, the received program information being read from said memory once said stored segment of program information has been substantially fully read out from said storage device, thereby seamlessly recovering substantially all of said program information.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said buffer includes a hard disk drive.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein said storage device includes said hard disk drive.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein said hard disk drive includes write and read circuits operable at the same time to write to and read from the hard disk drive concurrently.

27. A method of supplying program information in a near video-on-demand system, comprising the steps of:

providing the same program information on time offset channels, said time offset being the same from channel to channel so that the start time of said program information on one channel differs from the start time of said program information on another channel by said time offset; and

transmitting said program information simultaneously on a plurality of said time offset channels to a receiving station so as to permit the recording of a segment of the transmitted program information in a buffer of the receiving station commencing from said start time and lasting no more than a predetermined duration that is less than the duration of said program information, and reading the recorded segment of program information while buffering the program information that is transmitted on the same channel as the segment of program information or on any other of said time offset channels,

wherein reading of said stored segment is paused in response to a pause command while the program information continues buffering, and whereafter reading of said stored segment is resumed in response to a resume command,

wherein a second channel, time-offset from said particular channel, is selected to supply the program information if a time difference between the pause command and the resume command is greater than said time-offset, and

wherein when display of the program information is resumed after the resume command, an overlap portion is provided.