Method of displaying internet signal on TV

• US 9,794,621 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2015
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TVnGO Ltd. (BVI)
• Original Assignee: TVnGO Ltd. (Israel) (TVnGO Ltd. (BVI))
• Inventors: MERLIN, Yaakov
• Primary Examiner(s): Marandi, James R
• Application Number:
  US14/951,990
• Publication Number:
  US 20160261910A1
• Time in Patent Office: 692 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• 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 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6118 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6143 involving transmission via a satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/854 Content authoring

Abstract

A TV-Internet Integration Box allows display of first data broadcast over a TV subscriber channel simultaneously together with second data broadcast over a digital data communications network has respective first and second inputs for receiving at a user premises the first data and the second data according to a user-profile associated with the second data. A combiner unit combines the first data and second data to form a combined video signal; and a video output coupled to the combiner unit conveys the combined video signal to a TV set in a user premises for displaying a first image corresponding to a first data and having a superimposed thereon a second image corresponding to the second data. A user at the user premises may interact with the second image for redirecting to the digital data communications network and displaying a program broadcast thereby is a least a portion of the TV set.

Claims

1. A TV-Internet Integration process to combine, at a user'"'"'s premises, TV channel video with Internet Protocol (IP) material, comprising:

receiving the TV channel video at a first input at the user'"'"'s premises, receiving the IP material at a second input at the user'"'"'s premises, and outputting display drive signals to a TV screen at the user'"'"'s premises;

wherein (i) as received at the user'"'"'s premises, the TV channel video conforms to a TV broadcast format standard;

(ii) as received at the user'"'"'s premises, the IP format material conforms to an IP format standard that is different from the TV broadcast format standard and (iii) the IP material is received via a path different from that for the TV channel video at least in part;

storing, in a memory, one or more overlays each identifying a respective source of IP format material;

selectively generating display drive signals that cause the TV screen to display the TV channel video received at the first input;

responding to an overlay activation signal by reading out the one or more overlays from the memory and generating display drive signals that cause the TV screen to display the one or more overlays; and

responding to a user'"'"'s selection of one of the displayed overlays by generating display drive signals that cause the TV screen to display the IP material associated with the selected overlay and received at the second input;

wherein, depending on the user'"'"'s selection at the user'"'"'s premises, the TV screen displays, at respective times, the TV channel video received at the first input, the one or more overlays, and the IP material associated with the selected overlay and received at the second input.

2. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 in which the display drive signals that cause the TV screen to display the one or more overlays cause the screen to display the one or more overlays over a concurrent display of the TV channel video on the screen.

3. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 in which the display drive signals that cause the TV screen to display the one or more overlays cause the screen to display the one or more overlays in respective windows on the TV screen while the screen is displaying the TV channel video.

4. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 in which the overlay activation signal is generated as a function of testing if specified conditions at the user'"'"'s premises match contents of the memory.

5. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 including pre-fetching one or more overlays and storing the one or more pre-fetched overlays in a memory at the user'"'"'s premises for subsequent display on the TV screen.

6. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 including pre-fetching IP material and storing the pre-fetched IP material in a memory at the user'"'"'s premises for subsequent display on the TV screen.

7. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 including providing a set top box decoding TV channel video and supplying the resulting decoded TV channel video to said first input.

8. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 7 in which the IP material path bypasses the set top box.

9. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 in which the TV screen displays at least one of the one or more overlays in response to a special overlay activation signal from an external source timed relative to an event in the TV channel video displayed on the TV screen.

10. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 in which the TV screen displays one or more overlays that point to sources of IP material but not to specific IP material.

11. The TV-Internet Integration process of claim 1 including selectively processing, at the user'"'"'s premises, an overlay activation signal per input from the user.