Infrastructure for interactive television applications
First Claim
1. A method for selectively executing an interactive application associated with a stream of a program comprising at least one of a video stream and an audio stream transmitted on at least one of a plurality of channels, comprising:
- receiving a tuning command at a receiver to tune to the at least one of the plurality of channels;
intercepting the tuning command with an Application Programming Interface (API);
determining an interactive application type of the interactive application, the interactive application type including a first interactive application type and a second interactive application type;
if the determined interactive application type is the first interactive application type;
providing the program of the stream to an output of the receiver before executing the interactive application and without inhibition by the interactive application; and
executing the interactive application;
if the determined interactive application is the second interactive application type;
executing the interactive application;
querying the API with the executing interactive application, the query comprising at least an authorization status query related to the executing interactive application;
determining the authorization status of the stream based at least in part on a result of the query; and
selectively providing the program of the stream to the output of the receiver based at least in part on the authorization status.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for selectively displaying a video program are disclosed. A system for selectively displaying a video program in accordance with the present invention comprises a transmission station, including a server for attaching information to the video program, a plurality of satellites receiving at least an uplink signal which includes the information and the video program from the transmission station and producing a downlink signal based on the uplink signal, an antenna, the antenna receiving the downlink signal, and at least one receiver, coupled to the antenna, for receiving the downlink signal and interpreting the information in the downlink signal, wherein the at least one receiver selectively displays the video program based on at least the interpreted information.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for selectively executing an interactive application associated with a stream of a program comprising at least one of a video stream and an audio stream transmitted on at least one of a plurality of channels, comprising:
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receiving a tuning command at a receiver to tune to the at least one of the plurality of channels; intercepting the tuning command with an Application Programming Interface (API); determining an interactive application type of the interactive application, the interactive application type including a first interactive application type and a second interactive application type; if the determined interactive application type is the first interactive application type; providing the program of the stream to an output of the receiver before executing the interactive application and without inhibition by the interactive application; and executing the interactive application; if the determined interactive application is the second interactive application type; executing the interactive application; querying the API with the executing interactive application, the query comprising at least an authorization status query related to the executing interactive application; determining the authorization status of the stream based at least in part on a result of the query; and selectively providing the program of the stream to the output of the receiver based at least in part on the authorization status. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 15)
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8. An apparatus for selectively executing an interactive application associated with a stream of a program comprising at least one of a video stream and an audio stream transmitted on at least one of a plurality of channels, comprising:
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a receiver, comprising; a tuner, for receiving a tuning command to tune the at least one of the plurality of channels; and an application programming interface (API) for intercepting the tuning command, for determining an interactive application type of the interactive application and for providing the stream according to the interactive application type, the API permitting provision the program of the stream to an output of the receiver before execution of the interactive application and without inhibition by the interactive application if the interactive application type is the first application type and executing the interactive application before provision of the program of the stream to the output of the receiver if the interactive application is the second application type; wherein the executed interactive application queries the API for an authorization result related to the executing interactive application, determines the authorization status of the stream based at least in part on the authorization result, and selectively provides the stream based at least in part on the authorization result. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16)
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Specification