Multi-regional interactive program guide for television
US6160545A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 15, 1997 |
| Grant date | Dec 12, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 15, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N21/812
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Interactive Program Guide (IPG) data for television is delivered to integrated receiver-decoders (IRDs) in a decoder population via, for example, a satellite network. The IPG data provides scheduling information for global and local programming services which are carried via the satellite network as well as another network such as a CATV network or a terrestrial broadcast network. Each IRD is assigned to an IPG region using unit addressing. At the IRD, IPG data is filtered so that only the global data and the region-specific data for the IRD's IPG region is retained and processed by the IRD. Channel map data is also delivered to the IRDs so that bundles of IRD data can be filtered out using firmware filtering to discard program sources that are not present in the channel map. The IRD data which is retained after filtering is used to provide scheduling information via an on-screen display. A preferred source may be designated when there are duplicative channels on the different networks.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.