Transmitting and receiving apparatus for permitting the transmission and reception of multi-tier subscription programs
US4430669A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 29, 1981 |
| Grant date | Feb 7, 1984 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 29, 2001 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03J5/0263
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
During non-program hours, a subscription broadcast television station broadcasts in place of programming the time of a future special broadcast as well as other information to enable decoding circuitry of subscribers. The receiver at the subscriber's residence tunes during non-broadcast hours all subscription television broadcast frequencies, and compares the subscriber's identification number with information being broadcast. When a coincidence between the received identification number being broadcast, and a stored identification number is obtained, the time of the future special broadcast is stored in a memory. At the time of a subscription broadcast identified in the memory, tuning data is recalled from a memory for tuning the receiver to receive the special broadcast. The subscriber's decoding apparatus is also activated permitting descrambling of the special program broadcast.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.