Patent · US Expired

Remote control program selection by genre

US6445306B1 · kind B1 · utility

163Cited by
4References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 31, 1999
Grant dateSep 3, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 31, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N21/42213
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A remote control system in which a program-up or program-down activation on a control remote device effects the selection of the next or prior available channel that is likely to contain a program of a particular selected genre, or category. The system includes an identification of those programs that are likely to relate to each particular category. When the user selects a category, the user incrementally selects from the programs contained within the selected category. In the system, a list builder includes a number of capabilities for improving the selective quality of the program selection, having access, for example, to an information source that provides the time of each scheduled program on each channel, and an indication of each program's genre, rating, and other related items.

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