Distributed, interactive television program guide; system and method
First Claim
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1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps comprising:
- periodically receiving, at a device, program guide information from at least one server;
wherein the device is in periodic communication with at least one server;
for each periodically received program guide information, the device;
extracting text from fields in the program guide information;
processing the extracted text to create keys, each created key is associated with a program identifier;
sorting the created keys;
eliminating redundant keys from the created keys to create a set of unique keys so that each unique key is paired with a list of program identifiers corresponding to each occurrence of the unique key in the created keys before the elimination of redundant keys; and
sorting the unique keys;
accepting viewer alphanumeric input via a viewer interface on the device; and
searching, by the device, the program guide information by comparing the unique keys to a viewer'"'"'s alphanumeric input.
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Abstract
In an interactive network-based personal video recording system, a user interface is provided that allows viewers to search a database of program guide information according to program title, indexed program attributes such as actor and director, and key word. Viewer interaction is by way of a remote control unit.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps comprising:
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periodically receiving, at a device, program guide information from at least one server; wherein the device is in periodic communication with at least one server; for each periodically received program guide information, the device; extracting text from fields in the program guide information; processing the extracted text to create keys, each created key is associated with a program identifier; sorting the created keys; eliminating redundant keys from the created keys to create a set of unique keys so that each unique key is paired with a list of program identifiers corresponding to each occurrence of the unique key in the created keys before the elimination of redundant keys; and sorting the unique keys; accepting viewer alphanumeric input via a viewer interface on the device; and searching, by the device, the program guide information by comparing the unique keys to a viewer'"'"'s alphanumeric input. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification