Patent · US Expired

Combining real-time and batch mode logical address links

US6215483A · kind A · utility

188Cited by
11References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJun 17, 1998
Grant dateApr 10, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 17, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N21/4884
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for receiving logical address links in advance of a television program and combining such links with those that may be received in real-time during a television broadcast are provided. According to one aspect of the present invention, content associated with a television (TV) program may be automatically displayed by a client system, such as an Internet terminal or a computer equipped with a TV tuner. Prior to broadcast of a TV program, TV listing information is stored in the client system. The TV listing information includes one or more batch mode logical addresses, e.g., Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), that identify content, such as Internet content. The client system alerts the viewer of the existence of an active logical address associated with the current TV program by providing a visual indication. After the visual indication has been selected by the viewer, the client system displays the content identified by the logical address. Additionally, one or more real-time logical addresses may be received by the client system embedded in a video signal associated with the TV program. The real-time logical addresses may be embedded in either a text service c…

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