Method and apparatus for controlling video/audio and channel selection for a communication signal based on channel data indicative of channel contents of a signal

A computer system having a bus for communicating information, and a signal processing unit coupled to said bus for processing a signal having a plurality of channels, said signal processing unit comprising:

• (a) at least one analyzer for receiving channel data indicative of channel contents of said signal, and responsive thereto, analyzing said received channel data to determine if channel contents of said channels are among channel contents defined by selection data;
• and
• (b) an arbitration unit coupled to said at least one analyzer for arbitrating for display and/or record resource conflicts among said channels having channel contents defined by said selection data.

A method for controlling rendering of a signal having a plurality of channels, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) analyzing channel data indicative of channel contents of the channels to determine whether channel contents of said channels are among channel contents defined by selection data;
• and
• (b) arbitrating display and/or recording resource contentions among said channels having channel contents that are defined by the selection data.

An apparatus comprising:

• (a) one or more decoders for receiving a signal having a plurality of channels and generating channel data representing channel contents of the channels, including decoding uniform resource locators (URLs) included in some of said channels;
• and
• (b) at least one analyzer coupled to the one or more decoders for analyzing said channel data to determine if said represented channel contents are among channel contents defined by selection data, including analyzing corresponding web pages of channel data that are URLs.

A computer system comprising:

• (a) at least one analyzer for analyzing channel data representing channel contents of channels of a signal to determine if channel contents of said channels are among channel contents defined by selection data, including analyzing corresponding web pages of said channel data that are uniform resource locators (URLs);
• and
• (b) a display/recording unit coupled to the at least one analyzer for displaying and/or recording channel contents of said channels that are among channel contents defined by the selection data.

A method comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving a signal having a plurality of channels, and generating channel data representing channel contents of the channels, including decoding uniform resource locators (URLs) included in some of said channels;
• and
• (b) analyzing said channel data to determine if channel contents of said channels are among channel contents defined by selection data, including analyzing corresponding web pages of channel data that are URLs.

An apparatus comprising:

• (a) one or more decoders for receiving a signal having a plurality of channels and generating channel data representing channel contents of the channels, including taking snapshots of video images of said channels;
• and
• (b) at least one analyzer coupled to the one or more decoders for analyzing said channel data to determine if said represented channel contents are among channel contents defined by selection data, including analyzing said video image snapshots taken.

A computer system comprising:

• (a) at least one analyzer for analyzing channel data representing channel contents of channels of a signal to determine if channel contents of said channels are among channel contents defined by selection data, including analyzing video image snapshots taken of said channels;
• and
• (b) a display/recording unit coupled to the at least one analyzer for displaying and/or recording channel contents of said channels that are among channel contents defined by the selection data.

A method comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving a signal having a plurality of channels, and generating channel data representing channel contents of the channels, including taking snapshot of video images of said channels;
• and
• (b) analyzing said channel data to determine if channel contents of said channels are among channel contents defined by selection data, including analyzing said video image snapshots taken.

An apparatus comprising:

• (a) one or more decoders for receiving a signal having a plurality of channels and generating channel data representing channel contents of the channels, including decoding numeric data included in some of said channels;
• and
• (b) at least one analyzer coupled to the one or more decoders for analyzing said channel data to determine if said represented channel contents are among channel contents defined by selection data, including evaluating numerical expressions of said selection data using said decoded numeric data.

A computer system comprising:

• (a) at least one analyzer for analyzing channel data representing channel contents of channels of a signal to determine if channel contents of said channels are among channel contents defined by selection data, including evaluating numeric expressions of said selection data for channel data that are numeric;
• and
• (b) a display/recording unit coupled to the at least one analyzer for displaying and/or recording channel contents of said channels that are among channel contents defined by the selection data.

A method comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving a signal having a plurality of channels, and generating channel data representing channel contents of the channels, including decoding numeric data included for some of said channels;
• and
• (b) analyzing said channel data to determine if channel contents of said channels are among channel contents defined by selection data, including evaluating numeric expressions of said selection data for said channel data that are numeric.