Method and apparatus for providing a menu structure for an interactive information distribution system

A system for providing menu structures for interactive information distribution systems, comprising:

• a video layer forming background video of guide page and comprising a plurality of title objects, wherein the video layer is derived from a video stream received from a transmission source;
• a graphics layer comprising a plurality of overlay objects selectively overlaying said video layer, wherein each of the overlay objects is associated with a respective title object in the video layer and is selectively controlled to visually emphasize or de-emphasize a title object in the video layer of said guide page;
• and
• a control layer for controlling generation of the video and graphics layers, said video, graphics, and control layers being defined by an applet originating at said transmission source, and said overlay objects of said graphics layer being logically associated with another applet at said transmission source.

A system for providing menu structures for interactive information distribution systems, comprising:

• a video layer comprising a plurality of title objects, wherein each title object is associated with a particular channel and time slot, and wherein the video layer is derived from a video stream received from a service provider transmission source;
• a graphics layer comprising a plurality of overlay objects selectively overlaying said video layer, wherein each overlay object is associated with a respective title object in the video layer and is selectively controlled to hide or reveal the associated title object;
• and
• a control layer for controlling generation of the video and graphics layers, said video, graphics, and control layers being defined by an applet originating at said transmission source, and said overlay objects of said graphics layer being logically associated with another applet at said transmission source.

A system for providing menu structures for interactive information distribution systems, comprising:

• a video layer comprising a guide region and a video region, wherein the guide region includes a plurality of title objects, and wherein each title object is associated with a particular channel and time slot;
• a graphics layer comprising a plurality of overlay objects selectively overlaying said video layer, wherein each overlay object is associated with a respective title object in the video layer and is selectively controlled to emphasize or de-emphasize the associated title object shown in an interactive program guide(IPG) page;
• and
• a control layer for controlling generation of the video and graphics layers, said video, graphics, and control layers being defined by an applet originating at a transmission source, and said overlay objects of said graphics layer being logically associated with another applet at said transmission source.

A method for providing an interactive program guide (IPG) page at a set top terminal, the method comprising:

• receiving a video stream comprising a control layer and a video layer defined by an applet originating from a transmission source;
• executing the received control layer for controlling presentation of said video layer and a graphics layer;
• processing the received video stream to provide a video layer for the IPG page, wherein the video layer includes a plurality of title objects, and wherein each title object is associated with a respective channel and time slot;
• presenting said graphics layer having included therein a plurality of overlay objects displayed over said video layer, wherein each overlay object is associated with a respective title object in the video layer and is selectively controlled to visually emphasize or de-emphasize the associated title object;
• and
• associating a selected overlay object of said graphics layer to another applet at said transmission source.

A method for providing a guide page at a set top terminal, the method comprising:

• receiving a first stream comprising a control layer and a video layer defined by an applet originating from a transmission source;
• executing the received control layer for controlling presentation of said video layer and a graphics layer;
• processing the first stream to provide said video layer for the guide page, wherein the video layer includes a plurality of title objects;
• receiving a second stream from the transmission source;
• processing the second stream to provide said graphics layer for the guide page, wherein the graphics layer includes therein a plurality of overlay objects that are displayed over said video layer, and wherein each overlay object is associated with a respective title object in the video layer and is selectively controlled to visually emphasize or de-emphasize the associated title object;
• and
• associating a selected overlay object of said graphics layer to another applet at said transmission source.

A set top terminal (STT) operative to provide an interactive program guide (IPG) page, comprising:

• a demodulator operative to receive a modulated signal including a control layer and a video layer of the IPG page, and provide a transport stream;
• a transport de-multiplexer coupled to the demodulator and operative to receive and process the transport stream to provide a plurality of elementary streams;
• a video decoder coupled to the transport de-multiplexer and operative to decode a first elementary stream to provide the video layer for the IPG page, wherein the video layer includes a plurality of title objects, and wherein each title object is associated with a respective channel and time slot in a program guide listing;
• an on-screen display (OSD) processor operative to provide a graphics layer having included therein a plurality of overlay objects for display over said video layer, wherein each overlay object is associated with a respective title object in the video layer and is selectively controlled to visually emphasize or de-emphasize the associated title object;
• a controller coupled to said video decoder and the OSD processor, and operative to process said control layer to define presentation of the video layer and the graphics layer displayed over the video layer, said video, graphics, and control layers being defined by an applet originating at a transmission source, and said overlay objects of said graphics layer being logically associated with another applet at said transmission source;
• and
• a compositor coupled to the video decoder and the OSD processor and operative to combine the video layer with the graphics layer to provide the IPG page.