Method and apparatus for transmitting and downloading setup information

An apparatus for processing data embedded in a television transmission, said television transmission comprising a plurality of television channels, and wherein the data is transmitted on one of the television channels, the data comprising a plurality of channel maps, each channel maps having a channel map identifier associated therewith, comprising:

• a tuner for tuning a television channel of the television transmission, said tuner having a control input for tuning the television channel;
• and
• a microcontroller having an output coupled to the control input of the tuner for causing the tuner to tune the television channel having the data, said microcontroller comprising means for selecting one of the channel map identifiers based on a user inputted geographic identifier, and means for extracting from the television channel having the data one of the channel maps corresponding to the selected channel map identifier;
• wherein each of the channel maps comprises mapping between at least a portion of the television channels and a plurality of reference numbers, each reference number corresponding to one of a plurality of television stations.

A method for creating a channel map from data embedded in a television transmission, said television transmission comprising a plurality of television channels having a host channel, comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a plurality of channel maps on the host channel, each channel map having a channel map identifier associated therewith;
• tuning to the host channel;
• entering a user zip code;
• selecting a channel map identifier based on the user entered zip code;
• and
• extracting from the host channel one of the channel maps corresponding to the selected channel map identifier.

A method for creating a channel map from data embedded in a television transmission, said television transmission comprising a plurality of television channels having a host channel, comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a plurality of channel maps on the host channel, each channel map having a channel map identifier associated therewith;
• tuning to the host channel;
• entering a user zip code;
• selecting a channel man identifier based on the user entered geographic identifier;
• and
• extracting from the host channel one of the channel maps corresponding to the selected channel map identifier;
• wherein each of the channel maps comprises mapping between at least a portion of the television channels and a plurality of reference numbers, each reference number corresponding to one of a plurality of television stations.

An apparatus for processing a television transmission, said television transmission including a plurality of television stations, each television station being allocated to a different channel of a radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, and wherein a channel map is transmitted on one of the channels, the apparatus, comprising:

• a tuner for passing a selected channel of the television transmission, said tuner having a control input for selecting the channel;
• a detector for detecting whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the selected channel and generating an output representative of said detection;
• and
• a microcontroller having an output coupled to the control input of the tuner for commanding the tuner to select the channel, said microcontroller including means for determining the source of the television signal based on the detector output, and means for extracting the channel map from said one of the channels.

A method for creating a channel map from data embedded in a television transmission, said television transmission comprising a plurality of television channels having a host channel, comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a plurality of channel maps on the host channel, each channel map having a channel map identifier associated therewith;
• tuning to the host channel;
• entering a user geographic identifier;
• selecting at least two of the channel map identifiers based on the user entered geographic identifier;
• discriminating between the selected channel map identifiers;
• and
• extracting from the host channel one of the channel maps as a function of the discrimination between the selected channel map identifiers.