US 6,674,460 B1 · Television system distributing a dynamically varying number of concurrent video presentations over a single television channel · patentgrep

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Abstract

A method and system for providing, in a television system, the combination, transmission, and reception of multiple video presentations over a single channel of a television distribution system. Presentations may be concurrently broadcast for viewing by many users, as well as interactively requested for display by many (potentially a thousand or more) individual users. A presentation consists of a sequence of images which reproduce a full motion, reduced motion, or a still image video presentation for the user when displayed. The signal is transmitted in a standard television format, and consists of a sequence of video images from the various presentations being transmitted. A user terminal receiving the transmitted signal is selectably operable to display one of the multiple transmitted presentations with accompanying audio. The terminal identifies the video images of the selected presentation, stores and displays the images on an associated television receiver. The number of concurrent presentations, and the degree of motion in the presentations are dynamically variable. Interactive instructions between a user at the terminal end and the presentation system are transmitted by an associated telephone line or other communications link.

Claims32

Dependent claims

A television system, comprising:

a television distribution network for transmitting multiple video presentations over at least one channel to a plurality of remotely located terminals each having at least one television receiver associated therewith;
a centrally located presentation system for assembling video presentations to be transmitted by said television distribution network, said presentation system comprising:
(1) at least one video presentation source, producing video image sequences corresponding to respective video presentations, said video image sequences each having a plurality of images;
(2) a multiplexer which receives at least one of said video image sequences and combines it with other images to produce a transmission image sequence having a number of images, said transmission image sequence comprising a plurality of interleaved images from different video image sources;
(3) means for labelling at least some of said images with respective addresses which identify remotely located terminals;
(4) signal encoding means to encode said transmission image sequence into a television signal complying with the television signal format of said television distribution network;
and
(5) transmitting means for transmitting said television signal over said television distribution network such that the rate of image transmission of any video presentation over the television system is less than the image rate capacity of the television signal;
said plurality of remotely located terminals each comprising:
(1) receiving means for receiving said television signal from said television distribution network,
(2) decoding means to decode said television signal into said transmission image sequence,
(3) identification means for determining whether a received image in said transmission image sequence is labeled with an address which identifies the terminal;
(4) selection means which detects the absence of an address label in a received image and which is responsive to said identification means for alternatively selecting video images which are labelled with an address that identifies the terminal or images without address labels in accordance with user input, and
(5) capture means to store video images selected by said selection means and display means to continuously retransmit said selected images to said associated television receiver at the standard television rate of the receiver so that the selected images are presented for continual display while non-selected images are inhibited from being displayed at the receiver.

11 more elements

A television system comprising:

a television distribution network for transmitting multiple video presentations over at least one channel to a plurality of remotely located terminals each having at least one television receiver associated therewith;
a centrally located presentation system for assembling video presentations to be transmitted by said television distribution network, said presentation system comprising:
(1) at least one video presentation source, producing video image sequences corresponding to respective video presentations, said video image sequences each having a plurality of images;
(2) a multiplexer which receives at least one of said video image sequences and combines it with other images to produce a transmission image sequence having a number of images, said transmission image sequence comprising a plurality of interleaved images from different video image sources;
(3) means for labelling at least some of said images with respective addresses which identify remotely located terminals;
(4) signal encoding means to encode said transmission image sequence into a television signal complying with the television signal format of said television distribution network;
and
(5) transmitting means for transmitting said television signal over said television distribution network:
said plurality of remotely located terminals each comprising:
(1) receiving means for receiving said television signal from said television distribution network,
(2) decoding means to decode said television signal into said transmission image sequence,
(3) identification means for determining whether a received image in said transmission image sequence is labelled with an address which identifies the terminal;
(4) selection means for selecting video images which are labelled with an address that identifies the terminal, and
(5) capture means to store video images selected by said selection means and display means to continuously retransmit said selection images to said associated television receiver at the standard television rate of the receiver;
and
(6) means responsive to presentation system commands accompanying an image to cause the terminal to switch channels to select a different television signal to receive from the television network.

13 more elements

A television system, comprising:

a television distribution network for transmitting multiple video presentations over multiple channels to a plurality of remotely located terminals each having at least one television receiver associated therewith;
a centrally located presentation system for assembling video presentations to be transmitted by said television distribution network, said presentation system comprising:
(1) at least one video presentation source, producing video image sequences corresponding to respective video presentations, said video image sequences each having a plurality of images;
(2) a multiplexer which receives at least one of said video image sequences and combines it with other images to produce a transmission image sequence having a number of images, said transmission image sequence comprising a plurality of interleaved images from different video image sources;
(3) means for adding commands to at least some of the images contained in a transmission image sequence;
(4) signal encoding means to encode said transmission image sequence into a television signal complying with the television signal format of said television distribution network;
and
(5) transmitting means for transmitting said television signal via a first channel on said television distribution network;
said plurality of remotely located terminals each comprising:
(1) receiving means for receiving said television signal transmitted via said first channel on said television distribution network,
(2) decoding means to decode said television signal into said transmission image sequence,
(3) identification means for determining whether a received image in said transmission image sequence is associated with a predetermined video presentation,
(4) selection means for selecting video images associated with said predetermined video presentation,
(5) capture means to store video images selected by said selection means and display means to continuously retransmit stored images to said associated television receiver at the standard television rate of the receiver, and
(6) means responsive to commands in a received transmission image sequence for causing said terminal to forward to the television receiver a television signal transmitted over a second channel on said television distribution network.

12 more elements

A television system, comprising:

a television distribution network for transmitting multiple video presentations over at least one channel to a plurality of remotely located terminals each having at least one television receiver associated therewith;
a centrally located presentation system for assembling video presentations to be transmitted by said television distribution network, said presentation system comprising:
(1) at least one video presentation source, producing video image sequences corresponding to respective video presentations, said video image sequences each having a plurality of images;
(2) a multiplexer having a plurality of input ports at least one of which receives said video image sequences, an output port at which a transmission image sequence comprising a plurality of interleaved images from different video image sources is produced, and selection means for selectively connecting said output port to individual ones of said input ports according to determination strategies which dynamically vary between two or more of the following:
(a) assign equally to each input port,
(b) assign in proportion to specified degree of motion required in a transmission image sequence,
(c) assign in proportion to degree of motion present in a video image sequence,
(d) use preemption of assigned image capacity by higher priority still-frame requests, and
(e) assign based on a time schedule;
(3) signal encoding means to encode said transmission image sequence into a television signal complying with the television signal format of said television distribution network;
and
(4) transmitting means for transmitting said television signal over said television distribution network;
said plurality of remotely located terminals each comprising:
(1) receiving means for receiving said television signal from said television distribution network,
(2) decoding means to decode said television signal into said transmission image sequence,
(3) identification means for determining whether a received image in said transmission image sequence is associated with one of said video presentations,
(4) selection means for selecting video images associated with a specified video presentation to be displayed, and
(5) capture means to store video image selected by said selection means and display means to continuously retransmit stored images to said associated television receiver at the standard television rate of the receiver.

15 more elements

A television system, comprising:

a television distribution network for transmitting multiple video presentations over at least one channel to a plurality of remotely located terminals each having at least one television receiver associated therewith;
a centrally located presentation system for assembling video presentations to be transmitted by said television distribution network and for generating commands to control remotely located terminals, said presentation system comprising:
(1) at least one video presentation source, producing video image sequences corresponding to respective video presentations, said video image sequences each having a plurality of images;
(2) a multiplexer which receives at least one of said video image sequences and combines it with other images to produce a transmission image sequence having a number of images, said transmission image sequence comprising a plurality of interleaved images from different video image sources;
(3) means for labeling at least some of said images to distinguish the images from the different video image sources from one another;
(4) signal encoding means to encode said transmission image sequence into a television signal complying with the television signal format of said television distribution network;
and
(5) transmitting means for transmitting said television signal over said television distribution network such that the rate of image transmission of any video presentation over the television system is less than the image rate capacity of the television signal, and for transmitting presentation system commands with at least some of said images;
said plurality of remotely located terminals each comprising:
(1) receiving means for receiving said television signal from said television distribution network,
(2) decoding means to decode said television signal into said transmission image sequence,
(3) identification means for determining whether a received image in said transmission image sequence is associated with a particular video image source;
(4) selection means responsive to user input for alternatively selecting video images from different ones of said video image sources, and responsive to presentation system commands transmitted with an image to select a subsequently transmitted image;
and
(5) capture means to store video images selected by said selection means and display means to continuously retransmit said selected images to said associated television receiver at the standard television rate of the receiver so that the selected images are presented for continual display while images from non-selected video image sources are inhibited from being displayed at the receiver.

12 more elements

A television system, comprising:

a television distribution network for transmitting multiple video presentations over at least one channel to a plurality of remotely located terminals each having at least one television receiver associated therewith;
a centrally located presentation system for assembling video presentations to be transmitted by said television distribution network, said presentation system comprising:
(1) at least one video presentation source, producing video image sequences corresponding to respective video presentations, said video image sequences each having a plurality of images;
(2) a multiplexer which receives at least one of said video image sequences and combines it with other images to produce a transmission image sequence having a number of images, said transmission image sequence comprising a plurality of interleaved images from different video image sources;
(3) means for labeling at least some of said images to distinguish the images from the different video image sources from one another;
(4) signal encoding means to encode said transmission image sequence into a television signal complying with the television signal format of said television distribution network;
(5) transmitting means for transmitting said television signal over said television distribution network such that images of a first video image sequence are transmitted at a predetermined fixed rate less than the image rate capacity of the television signal, and the remainder of said capacity is comprised of images from a second video image sequence and other images;
and
(6) means for dynamically varying the respective transmission rates of the images from said second video image sequence and said other images;
said plurality of remotely located terminals each comprising:
(1) receiving means for receiving said television signal from said television distribution network,
(2) decoding means to decode said television signal into said transmission image sequence,
(3) identification means for determining whether a received image in said transmission image sequence is associated with a particular video image source;
(4) selection means responsive to user input for alternatively selecting video images from different ones of said video image sources, and
(5) capture means to store video images selected by said selection means and display means to continuously retransmit said selected images to said associated television receiver at the standard television rate of the receiver so that the selected images are presented for continual display while images from non-selected video image sources are inhibited from being displayed at the receiver.

12 more elements

A television system, comprising:

a television distribution network for transmitting multiple video presentations over at least one channel to a plurality of remotely located terminals each having at least one television receiver associated therewith;
a centrally located presentation system for assembling video presentations to be transmitted by said television distribution network, said presentation system comprising:
(1) at least one video presentation source, producing video image sequences corresponding to respective video presentations, said video image sequences each having a plurality of images;
(2) a multiplexer which receives at least one of said video image sequences and combines it with other images to produce a transmission image sequence having a number of images, said transmission image sequence comprising a plurality of interleaved images from different video image sources wherein said video image sequence comprises a presentation which prompts viewers to make selections, and said other images comprise still-frame images which respectively correspond to different selections that can be made by the viewers;
(3) means for labeling at least some of said images to distinguish the images from the different video image sources from one another;
(4) signal encoding means to encode said transmission image sequence into a television signal complying with the television signal format of said television distribution network;
and
(5) transmitting means for transmitting said television signal over said television distribution network such that the rate of image transmission of any video presentation over the television system is less than the image rate capacity of the television signal;
said plurality of remotely located terminals each comprising:
(1) receiving means for receiving said television signal from said television distribution network,
(2) decoding means to decode said television signal into said transmission image sequence,
(3) identification means for determining whether a received image in said transmission image sequence is associated with a particular video image source;
(4) selection means responsive to user input for alternatively selecting video images from different ones of said video image sources, and
(5) capture means to store video images selected by said selection means and display means to continuously retransmit said selected images to said associated television receiver at the standard television rate of the receiver so that the selected images are presented for continual display while images from non-selected video image sources are inhibited from being displayed at the receiver.

11 more elements

A television system, comprising:

a television distribution network for transmitting multiple video presentations over at least one channel to a plurality of remotely located terminals each having at least one television receiver associated therewith;
a centrally located presentation system for assembling video presentations to be transmitted by said television distribution network, said presentation system comprising:
(1) at least one video presentation source, producing video image sequences corresponding to respective video presentations, said video image sequences each having a plurality of images;
(2) a multiplexer which receives at least one of said video image sequences and interleaves it with other images which comprise reduced-motion versions of the video image sequence to produce a transmission image sequence having a number of images;
(3) means for labeling at least some of said images to distinguish the images from the different video image sources from one another;
(4) signal encoding means to encode said transmission image sequence into a television signal complying with the television signal format of said television distribution network;
and
(5) transmitting means for transmitting said television signal over said television distribution network such that the rate of image transmission of any video presentation over the television system is less than the image rate capacity of the television signal;
said plurality of remotely located terminals each comprising:
(1) receiving means for receiving said television signal from said television distribution network,
(2) decoding means to decode said television signal into said transmission image sequence,
(3) identification means for determining whether a received image in said transmission image sequence is associated with a particular video image source;
(4) selection means responsive to user input for alternatively selecting video images from different ones of said video image sources, and
(5) capture means to store video images selected by said selection means and display means to continuously retransmit said selected images to said associated television receiver at the standard television rate of the receiver so that the selected images are presented for continual display while images from non-selected video image sources are inhibited from being displayed at the receiver.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/206,342Filed 7 Dec 1998 · division
Priority: 20 Oct 1993
Granted: 6 Jan 2004
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification21 codes

H04N 7/17318
Transmission or handling of upstream communications: direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
H04N 7/0806
Systems for the simultaneous or sequential transmission of more than one television signal, e.g. additional information signals, the signals…: the…
H04N 7/17336
Transmission or handling of upstream communications: handling of requests in head-ends
H04N 21/23418
Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs: involving operations for…

Family

Application08/138,108Parent of this division · filed 20 Oct 1993
US 5,949,476 AParent of this division
US 6,674,460 B1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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