Videophone over cable networks
First Claim
1. A videophone system for receiving and providing a plurality of signals, the videophone system comprising:
- a cable set top box including videophone functionality integrated as a card for concurrently receiving and processing a broadcasted television signal comprising video and audio signals and a singlecasted videophone signal;
a display device for displaying the broadcasted television signal in a first portion of a display and for displaying the singlecasted videophone signal on a second portion of the display over the broadcasted television signal; and
a stand-alone videophone wirelessly connected to the cable set top box, wherein the stand-alone videophone has a different IP address than the cable set top box.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a videophone system implemented over a cable television network. The instant invention provides a videophone comprising a camera for capturing images associated with a videophone signal, a videophone unit and a set top terminal or cable modem connecting the videophone to a cable television network. Videophone signals created at the call origination site are encoded and transported to a predetermined destination over an existing cable television network. The system uses IP addresses as phone number on the network. Additionally, transport of videophone signals between different cable systems is accomplished via a high-speed long distance data network, such as, for example, a satellite network, that provides communication between the headends of the different cable television systems. The set top terminal may be a conventional subscriber terminal, a cable modem or a subscriber terminal configured to operate as a cable modem. The set top terminal provides the interface between the videophone and the cable television system. More than one videophone may be connected to a single set top terminal. Display of videophone data may be achieved using any conventional display device, including a television set or a personal computer monitor. Accordingly, the videophone system described herein takes advantage of increased bandwidth and lower cost realized by using existing cable television infrastructure and technology.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A videophone system for receiving and providing a plurality of signals, the videophone system comprising:
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a cable set top box including videophone functionality integrated as a card for concurrently receiving and processing a broadcasted television signal comprising video and audio signals and a singlecasted videophone signal; a display device for displaying the broadcasted television signal in a first portion of a display and for displaying the singlecasted videophone signal on a second portion of the display over the broadcasted television signal; and a stand-alone videophone wirelessly connected to the cable set top box, wherein the stand-alone videophone has a different IP address than the cable set top box. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A communications system for transmitting and receiving a plurality of signals, the communications system comprising:
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a plurality of set top boxes each for concurrently receiving from the communications system a broadcasted television signal and a singlecasted videophone signal, wherein the singlecasted videophone signal is received by a set top box based on a set top box IP address, and wherein each set top box transmits a reverse singlecasted videophone signal, wherein at least one of the plurality of set top boxes is a self-contained device comprising an integrated videophone device and a stand-alone videophone wirelessly connected to the set top box, wherein the stand-alone videophone has a different IP address than the cable set top box; and a control system for receiving a videophone request from a first set top box to transmit a reverse singlecasted videophone signal to a second set top box, and for assigning reverse path bandwidth on one of a plurality of demodulators between the first and second set top boxes. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification