Apparatus and method for providing and obtaining product information through a broadcast signal

• US 7,827,577 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2006
• Issued: 11/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Ryu, Han Seop, Kim, Young Kuk, Pack, Bok Hyun, Yun, Yeo Han, Ahn, Hyun
• Primary Examiner(s): Lonsberry; Hunter B.
• Application Number:
  US11/415,172
• Publication Number:
  US 20060195878A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,645 Days
• Field of Search: 725/112, 725/44, 725/47, 725/60, 725/51, 725/52
• US Class Current: 725/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2542 for selling goods, e.g. TV shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• 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 21/4381 Recovering the multiplex stream from a specific network, e.g. recovering MPEG packets from ATM cells transmission of MPEG streams over ATM H04L12/5601
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44012 involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4725 using interactive regions of the image, e.g. hot spots details of information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]
• 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 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing and obtaining product information through a broadcast signal. In this present invention, information identifying a product item, which is in a scene to be presented from a broadcast signal, is provided together with a broadcast signal, then a signal receiving terminal stores the product information for a new product item and displays the stored information to a viewer to select one product item while or after watching an interesting broadcast program, and transmits data identifying a selected product item to a predetermined web site and receives web site address for the selected item from that site. As a result, derailed information for the selected item is acquired from a server addressed by the received web site address.

Claims

1. An internet protocol television (IPTV) of processing both service information and audio/video (AV) data, the IPTV comprising:

a tuner configured to receive both service information and A/V data from a digital broadcasting network, wherein the service information includes a uniform resource locator (URL) information and the service information further includes both a first information on an icon image and a second information on an icon position;

a section filter configured to collect sections on the service information using a section filtering process;

a frame composer configured to display an icon informing a user that an additional information is available while displaying the A/V data and to further display a selection list identifying a plurality of the additional information, wherein the URL information is used to retrieve the additional information, the selection list includes a scroll bar to select each of the plurality of the additional information and the icon is bounded to the A/V data or is unbounded to the A/V data;

a network interface configured to access the URL information via an internet network when the icon is selected, and to receive the additional information.

2. A method of processing both service information and audio/video (AV) data in an internet protocol television (IPTV), the method comprising:

receiving both service information and A/V data from a digital broadcasting network, wherein the service information includes a uniform resource locator (URL) information;

collecting sections on the service information using a section filtering process;

firstly displaying an icon informing a user that an additional information is available while displaying the A/V data, wherein the URL information is used to retrieve the additional information and the icon is bounded to the A/V data or is unbounded to the A/V data;

secondly displaying a selection list identifying a plurality of the additional information, wherein the selection list includes a scroll bar to select each of the plurality of the additional information;

accessing the URL information via an internet network when the icon is selected; and

receiving the additional information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein firstly displaying the icon comprises:

displaying multiple icons, wherein each of the multiple icons is mapped to a product in the video data among the A/V data and is further located in the product.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein accessing the URL information comprises:

determining whether a distance between a displayed pointer and the icon is shorter than a threshold value; and

accessing the URL information via the internet network when the distance is shorter than the threshold value.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

storing the received additional information to a memory; and

displaying a stored additional information when receiving an additional request.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the additional information includes at least one of product information and weather information.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the service information further includes both a first information on an icon image and a second information on an icon position.

8. An internet protocol television (IPTV) of processing both service information and audio/video (A/V) data, the IPTV comprising:

a tuner configured to receive both service information and A/V data from a digital broadcasting network, wherein the service information includes a uniform resource locator (URL) information and the service information further includes both a first information on an icon image and a second information on an icon position;

a section filter configured to collect sections on the service information using a section filtering process;

a frame composer configured to display an icon informing a user that an additional information is available while displaying the A/V data, wherein the URL information is used to retrieve the additional information and the icon is bounded to the A/V data or is unbounded to the A/V data; and

a network interface configured to access the URL information via an internet network when the icon is selected, and to receive the additional information.

9. A method of processing both service information and audio/video (A/V) data in an internet protocol television (IPTV), the method comprising:

receiving both service information and A/V data from a digital broadcasting network, wherein the service information includes a uniform resource locator (URL) information;

collecting sections on the service information using a section filtering process;

displaying an icon informing a user that an additional information is available while displaying the A/V data, wherein the URL information is used to retrieve the additional information and the icon is bounded to the A/V data or is unbounded to the A/V data;

accessing the URL information via an internet network when the icon is selected; and

receiving the additional information.