Apparatus and method for interfacing between set-top box and point of deployment for pay-per-view service
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorJae-Jin Shin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for providing pay-per-view service while observing an OpenCable standard in realization of bi-directional digital cable broadcasting includes a method for interfacing between a set-top box and a point of deployment (POD), the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at the set-top box, an arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction inputted by a user, generating an object based on the arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction, and transmitting the arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction object to the POD; and receiving, at the POD, the object transmitted by the set-top box, generating an answer object based on the reception, and transmitting the answer object to the set-top box.
Claims20
A method for interfacing between a set-top box and a point of deployment (POD), the method comprising:
- receiving, at the set-top box, an arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction inputted by a user, generating a purchase-related instruction object, and transmitting the purchase-related instruction object to the POD, said purchase-related instruction object comprising a purchasable inquiry object in response to a first input arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction, a purchase request object in response to a second input arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction, a purchase cancellation request object in response to a third input arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction, and a phone service inquiry object in response to a fourth input arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction;
- and
- receiving, at the POD, the purchase-related instruction object transmitted by the set-top box, generating an answer object based on the received purchase-related instruction object, and transmitting the answer object to the set-top box.
A digital cable broadcasting system, comprising:
- a set-top box configured to receive an arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction inputted by a user, and to generate and transmit a purchase-related instruction object, said purchase-related instruction object comprising a purchasable inquiry object in response to a first input arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction, a purchase request object in response to a second input arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction, a purchase cancellation request object in response to a third input arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction, and a phone service inquiry object in response to a fourth input arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction;
- and
- a point of deployment (POD) configured to receive the purchase-related instruction object transmitted by the set-top box, to generate an answer object based on the received purchase-related instruction object, and to transmit the answer object to the set-top box.
A set-top box of a digital broadcasting system, the set-top box configured to receive an arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction inputted by a user, and to generate, on the basis of the arbitrary program event purchase-related instruction, all of a purchasable inquiry object to inquire as to whether a program that is recently tuned can be purchased, a purchase request object to request purchase of the program that is recently tuned, a purchase cancellation request object to request cancellation of purchase of the program that has been already requested for purchase, and a phone service inquiry object to request service of a phone number of a local call center which a point of deployment (POD) recognizes, and to transmit the generated object to the POD.
A point of deployment (POD) of a digital broadcasting system, the POD configured to generate all of a purchasable inquiry answer object corresponding to a purchase inquiry, a purchase request answer object corresponding to a purchase request, a purchase cancellation answer object corresponding to a purchase cancellation request, and a phone service inquiry answer object corresponding to a phone service inquiry on the basis of a purchase-related request of one of a pay-per-view and a pay-per-day event which a set-top box transmits, and to transmit the generated object to the set-top box.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.