System and method for remotely selecting subscribers and controlling messages to subscribers in a cable television system

A system for selecting cable television terminals and transmitting an on-screen message to a group of one or more of said cable television terminals, comprising:

• a first computer including a subscriber database comprising information which relates subscribers to terminal identifiers;
• and
• a system control computer, coupled to said first computer and including a system control database comprising information which relates said terminal identifiers to physical device information for each terminal;
• wherein said first computer comprises means for selecting a group of said subscribers from said subscriber database, creating a subscriber list comprising a group of selected terminal identifiers, where said terminal identifiers satisfy the application of logical operators for combining desired values and for identifying said subscriber list, and transmitting said subscriber list and information identifying said on-screen message to said system control computer;
• and
• wherein said system control computer comprises interface means for receiving said transmitted subscriber list and said information identifying said on-screen message, retrieval means for retrieving physical device information from said system control database corresponding to said selected terminal identifiers contained in said transmitted subscriber list, and cable transmission means for transmitting said on-screen message to terminals corresponding to said selected terminal identifiers.

A method for creating an on-screen message and specifying recipients for the on-screen message from a first computer, comprising the steps of:

• generating at said first computer a selection criteria statement which specifies a group of subscribers using criteria stored in a database residing on a system control computer coupled to said first computer, wherein said generating step comprises the step of using logical operators to combine desired values for terminal characteristics stored in said database residing on said system control computer to generate said selection criteria statement;
• creating at said first computer an on-screen message intended for display to said group of subscribers;
• and
• transmitting said selection criteria statement and said on-screen message to said system control computer.

Apparatus for controlling the transmission of addressed messages to groups of subscribers of a subscription television system, said apparatus comprising:

• a database comprising information which relates terminal characteristics to terminal identifiers;
• computer interface means for receiving from another computer a message and a selection criteria statement comprising desired values for one or more of said terminal characteristics;
• group management means, coupled to said computer interface means and to said database, for converting said selection criteria statement into a list of said terminal identifiers through the application of logical operators drawn from said selection criteria statement as applied to said database to generate said list;
• system event scheduler means for scheduling said message at a future time;
• and device management means, coupled to and responsive to said system event scheduler means, for transmitting said message to terminals identified in said list of terminal identifiers.

Apparatus for controlling the transmission of a message to a plurality of terminals in a subscription television system, said apparatus comprising:

• a database comprising information which relates terminal characteristics to terminal identifiers;
• computer interface means for receiving from another computer said message and a list of terminal identifiers constituting a group to which said message is to be transmitted, said group identified by a group code;
• group management means, coupled to said computer interface means and to said database, for storing group information regarding said list of terminal identifiers as said group as identified by said group code into said database;
• system event scheduler means for scheduling said message;
• and
• device management means, coupled to and responsive to said system event scheduler means, for transmitting said message to said terminal identifiers constituting said group.

Apparatus for selecting cable television terminals, comprising:

• a subscriber database comprising information which relates subscribers to terminal identifiers;
• and
• computer means, coupled to said database, for selecting a group of said subscribers from said subscriber database, creating a subscriber list comprising a corresponding group of selected terminal identifiers, creating an on-screen message for display to members of said group of subscribers, transmitting said subscriber list and said on-screen message to a system control computer which is coupled to said apparatus, storing said group of subscribers as a group retrievable by a group code and retrieving said group by said group code;
• and
• memory means, responsive to said computer means, for storing said group retrievable by said group code,
• wherein said selected terminal identifiers coincide with terminal identifiers stored in a separate database in said system control computer;
• and
• wherein said subscriber database further comprises information which relates demographic data concerning said subscribers to said terminal identifiers, and wherein said computer means comprises means for creating said subscriber list on the basis of demographic criteria specified in relation to said demographic data stored in said subscriber database.

Apparatus for selecting cable television terminals from a first computer coupled to a system control computer, the system control computer having a database comprising stored terminal identifiers for the cable television terminals, the apparatus comprising:

• a subscriber database comprising information relating subscriber information to said terminal identifiers stored in said system control computer database;
• means for generating a computer message comprising said list group, said list group comprising a list of said terminal identifiers corresponding to subscriber data selected from said subscriber database in accordance with a desired grouping of subscribers, said desired grouping previously selected and stored as said list group in said database in said system control computer and retrievable with a group code, said computer message including said group code for identifying said list group on said system control computer;
• and
• means for transmitting said computer message to said system control computer over a link.