Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for receiving customized television programming information by transmitting geographic location to a service provider through a wide-area network

US5988078A · kind A · utility

312Cited by
14References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 9, 1997
Grant dateNov 23, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 9, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N5/765
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A personal computer is used to assist in the selection of television programs to be recorded at future times and to control a video tape recorder to implement the selected recordings. An application program allows the computer to receive data representing a schedule of future programs. The operator can perform data base operations on the data to obtain listings of programs of particular interest. A program to be recorded is selected by moving a cursor into position with the display of the program listing on the computer. An output device generates infrared signals to control the video tape recorder and a cable box to tune and record a selected program.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.