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Having thus described the preferred embodiments of the present invention,
the following is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters
Patent:
1. A method of operating a television transmission system using land lines
for transmitting television programs for reception by a plurality of
receivers coupled with land lines for viewing the programs on the
receivers by viewers respectively associated therewith, the system
including means for selectively preventing intelligible viewing of certain
programs by certain receivers, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a collection of stored programs stored on a medium allowing
selective reproduction and real-time transmission of said stored programs
over the land lines;
selecting a prospective chosen program from said collection for
transmission at a requested time in response to a request therefor from a
requesting viewer;
transmitting said chosen program in real-time over the land lines at said
requested time for reception by and viewing on a receiver associated with
said requested viewer;
preventing intelligible viewing of said chosen program at said requested
time on receivers other than said receiver associated with said requesting
viewer;
identifying a section of the land lines having a subset of receivers
operably coupled thereto wherein said subset includes a plurality of
receivers less than the total number of receivers included in the system,
and remaining portions of the land lines having a plurality of receivers
other than said subset coupled thereto,
transmitting said chosen program over said section of the land lines,
identifying a juncture between said section and said remaining portion, and
preventing transmission of said chosen program beyond the juncture from
said section to said remaining portion by use of a blocking device located
at said juncture.
2. A method of operating a television transmission system using land lines
for transmitting television programs for reception by a plurality of
receivers coupled with land lines for viewing the programs on the
receivers by viewers respectively associated therewith, the system
including means for selectively preventing intelligible viewing of certain
programs by certain receivers, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a collection of stored programs stored in a medium allowing
selective reproduction and real-time transmission of said stored programs
over the land lines;
selecting a prospective chosen program from said collection for
transmission at a requested time in response to a request therefor from a
requesting viewer;
transmitting said chosen program in real-time over the land lines at said
requested time for reception by and viewing on a receiver associated with
said requested viewer;
preventing intelligible viewing of said chosen program at said requested
time on receivers other than said receiver associated with said requesting
viewer;
said receiver associated with said requesting viewer being distinguishable
from other receivers in said system by an identifier,
providing computer means operable for receiving from said requesting viewer
encoded signals representative of said chosen program, said requested
time, and the identifier of said receiver associated with said requesting
viewer,
said selecting step including the step of selecting said chosen program
from said collection in response to said encoded signals from said
requesting viewer.
3. The method as set forth in claim 2, further including the step of
providing said computer means with voice interaction capability and using
said computer for providing voice communication to said requesting viewer.
4. In a television transmission system using land lines for transmitting
programs for reception by a plurality of television receivers coupled with
the land lines for viewing of the programs on the receivers by viewers
respectively associated therewith, and including communicating means for
communicating information as encoded signals over the land lines from said
viewers, the improvement comprising:
a collection of stored programs stored on a medium allowing selective
reproduction and real-time transmission over the land lines for reception
and viewing thereof by selected receivers;
computer means operably coupled with the communicating means for receiving
encoded signals from a requesting viewer, said encoded signals being
representative of a requesting viewer's choice of a program chosen from
said collection and said requesting viewer's requested time for viewing of
said chosen program on a receiver associated with said requesting viewer
and for providing output information representative thereof;
selecting means operably associated with said collection and said computer
means and responsive to said output information for selecting said chosen
program from said collection; and
transmitting means operably associated with and responsive to said
selecting means for transmitting said chosen program over the land lines
at said requested time for reception by and viewing on said requesting
viewer's receiver.
5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4, the communicating means including
telephone lines, the encoded signals including touch-tone signals, said
computer means including means for providing voice communication to said
requesting viewer over the telephone lines.
6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5, the system including means for
transmitting programs on a respective plurality of channels,
said computer means including means for scheduling one of the channels for
transmission of said chosen program thereon and including means for
providing voice communication over the telephone lines identifying the
channel on which said chosen program is to be transmitted to the
requesting viewer.
7. In a television transmission system using land lines for transmitting
programs for reception by a plurality of television receivers coupled with
land lines for viewing of the programs on the receivers by viewers
respectively associated therewith, the system further including
communicating means for receiving information over land lines from the
viewers, the land lines including a section thereof having a subset of the
receivers coupled therewith wherein said subset includes a plurality of
receivers less than the total number of receivers included in the system,
the remaining portion of the land lines having a plurality of receivers
other than the subset coupled therewith, the section and the remaining
portion being coupled with one another at a juncture, the improvement
comprising:
a collection of stored programs stored on a medium allowing selective
reproduction and real-time transmission thereof over the land lines for
reception and viewing thereof by selected receivers;
receiving means operably associated with the communicating means for
receiving information from a requesting viewer, said information including
a requesting viewer's choice of a program chosen from said collection and
a requested time for viewing of said program on a receiver associated with
said requesting viewer, said associated receiver being included in the
subset of receivers;
selecting means operably associated with said collection and operably
associated with and responsive to said receiving means for selecting said
chosen program from said collection;
transmitting means operably associated said selecting means and coupled
with the section of the land lines for transmission of said chosen program
at said requested time for reception by and viewing on said receiver
associated with said requesting viewer; and
blocking means located in the vicinity of the juncture for preventing
transmission of the chosen program therebeyond from the section into the
remaining portion of the land lines.
8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 7, the system including means for
simultaneously transmitting selected programs over a respective plurality
of channels included in a specified group of channels,
said transmitting means including means for transmitting said chosen
program on a selected channel other than the channel included in said
selected group of channels,
said blocking means including structure allowing passage of programs being
transmitted on the channels included in the selected group and structure
for preventing passage of transmissions on said selected channel from the
section to the remaining portion of the system.
9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 8, said selected channel being at a
higher frequency than the channels in the specified group.
10. A method of operating a television transmission system for transmitting
programs thereover for reception by a plurality of receivers coupled with
the system for viewing of the programs by viewers associated with the
receivers, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a central unit having a collection of stored programs stored on a
medium allowing selective reproduction and real-time transmission of said
programs over the system;
transmitting to said central unit a viewer's request of a viewer-chosen
program chosen from said collection and of a viewer-requested time for
viewing said chosen program;
responding in said central unit to said viewer's request by selecting said
viewer-chosen program from said collection and by transmitting in real
time over the system said viewer-chosen program at said viewer-requested
time for reception by the receiver associated with said requesting viewer;
and
preventing intelligible viewing of said viewer-chosen program at said
viewer-requested time on receivers other than said receiver associated
with said requested viewer.
11. The method as set forth in claim 10, said system including land lines
for transmission of the programs.
12. The method as set forth in claim 11, said land lines including coaxial
cables.
13. The method as set forth in claim 11, said land lines including fiber
optic cables.
14. The method as set forth in claim 10, said transmitting step including
the step of transmitting said viewer's request by way of telephone lines.
15. The method as set forth in claim 10, said receivers including means for
decoding a scrambled program, said preventing step including the step of
scrambling the transmission of said viewer-chosen program at said
viewer-requested time and decoding said program by said receiver
associated with said requesting viewer.
16. The method as set forth in claim 10, said program including a
full-length motion picture. |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a community antenna television (CATV)
system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system in
which a viewer can choose a program and request a time for viewing of the
chosen program on the viewer's television receiver.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With over half the homes in the United States now equipped with video
cassette recorders, a major industry has developed which includes
thousands of video stores for renting movies and other programs on video
cassettes in order to satisfy a demand for over three billion rentals a
year. One of the reasons video tape cassette rentals have become so
popular is that the viewer can rent a desired program cassette from the
video store's assortment and then view that program whenever desired. This
is in contrast to conventional broadcast television or premium cable
television in which the viewer neither chooses the program being
transmitted nor the time at which it is transmitted.
Even with the advantages of cassette rental, certain problems are apparent.
For example, the viewer must make a first round-trip to the video store to
pick up the desired program cassette and then make a second round-trip to
return the cassette. Additionally, the viewer may make a trip to the video
store only to find that the movie is unavailable either because all of the
available copies have already been rented, or that particular video store
does not stock the desired movie. If such occurs, not only is the viewer
inconvenienced, but the video store also loses potential rental revenue.
Furthermore, the existing system for renting video cassettes presents some
inherent inefficiencies. For example, in order to minimize inconvenience
to the customer, the video store must be located at a premium, high rent,
location such as a corner intersection or a shopping mall and pay the high
rent associated with the premium location.
Second, each video store must carry a complete library of video taped
programs most of which are unused at any given time. For example, it a
video tape store may carry an inventory of over 5,000 program titles
representing thousands more video cassettes owing to the duplication of
many of the titles. The inventory problem is magnified if duplicate
cassettes are stocked in VHS and BETA formats. At any given time, however,
only a relatively small percentage of the titles will be rented which are
typically the currently most popular programs. Even with such a large
inventory, the video store can satisfy relatively few requests for the
most popular programs. That is to say, even if a number of copies of a
currently popular program are in stock, the demand for this program may
far exceed this number of copies and potential revenue is lost while other
titles lie idle.
Third, the inventory problem for video rental stores is a growing one in
that new titles are released to the video market each month with the
result that the number of titles in a video store's inventory grows by at
least this amount each month. The physical space required to store these
additional titles may grow at an even faster rate because more than one
copy of each title may be purchased. In order to handle the ever
increasing number of cassettes, the video store must increase its storage
capacity for which it must pay a higher rent because of the store's
premium location.
In order to solve some of the problems associated with the video cassette
rental industry, various prior art solutions have been proposed. For
example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,387 which is hereby incorporated by reference
discloses a system in which a cable television system (CATV) may download
a recording from a central location over its cable trunk to a memory
module included in the viewer's television receiver. The program is
downloaded in non-real time, typically in about 30 seconds, and the viewer
then activates the memory module to view the program stored therein. The
'387 patent presents some disadvantages, however, in that the central
location must be equipped to download the program in non-real time.
Additionally, each viewer's receiver must be equipped with a memory module
to store the downloaded program. Such equipment may be prohibitively
expensive and may be also inefficient in that a viewer's receiver must be
properly equipped even though a particular viewer may seldom, if ever,
desire to take advantage of the capability.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,522 which is hereby incorporated by reference
discloses a system which a viewer can telephone the cable company's
central location and electronically select a specialized recording such as
a commercial advertisement for broadcast over one of the unused channels
of the cable television system. A computer then schedules the program,
transmits it at the scheduled time, and separately transmits a directory
of all of the scheduled programs on another unused channel. The viewer
then observes the directory channel to see when the requested recording is
scheduled, and then turns to the channel indicated at the scheduled time
to view the program. The provision of the directory channel encourages
other viewers to view one of the scheduled recordings also. The system as
disclosed in the '522 patent does not allow the viewer to determine when
the program is to be scheduled and furthermore provides no means by which
receivers other than the one of the requesting viewer are prevented from
viewing the scheduled program.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves the problems as outlined above. The invention
hereof allows a viewer to choose a program from a collection and to view
that program at a viewer-requested time on the viewer's receiver for which
the viewer is billed and which also prevents non-requesting viewers from
intelligible viewing of the chosen program on their associated receivers.
This allows a viewer to "rent" a program without the need for a VCR.
The present invention is advantageously and preferably implemented in the
context of a television transmission system, typically a CATV system,
which uses land lines such as coaxial cables or fiber optic cables for
transmitting programs to a plurality of subscriber's receivers.
Preferably, the television transmission system is an "addressable" system
in which selected programs are scrambled to prevent intelligible viewing
thereof and in which a descrambling signal can then be addressed to the
receiver associated with the requesting viewer which in turn prompts the
included control unit to descramble the program transmission for viewing
on that receiver.
The preferred method of the present invention involves the steps of
providing a collection of stored programs, selecting a program chosen from
the collection for transmission at a requested time in response to a
request from a viewer, transmitting the chosen program in real-time over
the system's land lines at the requested time, and preventing intelligible
viewing of the chosen program at the requested time by receivers other
than the requesting viewer's receiver. More particularly, the preferred
method includes the steps of scrambling the transmission of the chosen
program and transmitting decoder signals to the requesting viewer's
receiver in order to allow intelligible viewing of the chosen program
thereon only by the requesting viewer and thereby preventing intelligible
viewing by others.
Additionally, the preferred method also includes the steps of transmitting
the chosen program at the requested time over a selected channel and
communicating the identity of the selected channel only to the requesting
viewer.
In preferred forms, the method hereof includes the steps of transmitting
address signals specific to the control unit associated with the
requesting viewer and transmitting associated descrambler signals specific
to the selected channel over which the chosen program is being
transmitted.
Advantageously, the preferred method includes the steps of identifying a
section of the land lines having a subset of receivers operably coupled
thereto, transmitting the chosen program over the section of the land
lines, identifying a juncture between the section and the remaining
portion of the land lines, and preventing transmission of the chosen
program therebeyond by use of a blocking device located at the juncture.
The preferred apparatus includes a collection of stored programs, means for
selectively choosing certain ones of the programs for transmission, means
for transmitting a chosen program at a requested time, and a scheduling
computer for scheduling program choices and requested times. The preferred
apparatus also includes computer means for receiving information from the
requesting viewer as encoded signals preferably over telephone lines using
telephone touch-tones. In especially preferred forms, the computer means
is equipped for voice communication with the requesting viewer either in
the form of synthetically generated voice signals or prerecorded selected
messages.
Other preferred aspects of the present invention are explained hereinbelow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
FIG. 1 is schematic illustration of the preferred configuration of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration showing the preferred interconnection
between the configuration of FIG. 1 and sections of the transmission
system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention is preferably implemented in the context of a
conventional community antenna television (CATV) system, the equipment and
operation of which are well understood by those skilled in the art and
which are explained in part in the Electronics Engineer's Handbook, Second
Edition, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Preferred system 10 (FIG. 1) includes central unit 12, land lines 14, a
plurality of viewer-associated receivers 16, and a plurality of
viewer-associated telephone handsets 18.
Central unit 12 includes program collection 20, a plurality of signal
transmitters 22, signal combiner 24, billing and address computer 26,
scheduling computer 28, a plurality of input data computer terminals 30
having associated telephone units 32, and output schedule computer
terminal 34.
Program collection 20 includes a plurality of programs stored on a medium
allowing selective reproduction and real-time transmission thereof over
land lines 14 for reception by and viewing on receiver 16 by an associated
viewer. Preferably, the programs stored in collection 20 are stored on
3/4" video tape which allows for higher fidelity reproduction than
conventional 1/2" video tape. Each program is preferably assigned and
labeled with a catalog number, a list of which is stored in scheduling
computer 28. Preferably, up to three copies of selected programs are
included in collection 20 which to allow continuous transmission of
ninety-minute programs at half-hour intervals if desired for currently
popular programs.
As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the programs in collection 20
can be stored on a variety of media including compact disks, floppy disks,
hard disks, conventional magnetic tape, electronic memory such as that
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,387, or the like. While storage on video
tape is preferred, available technology and economic factors may dictate
an alternative storage medium.
Signal transmitters 22 are conventional units commonly found in the "head
end" of a typical CATV system. Signal transmitter 22 includes signal
source 36 and converter/scrambler unit 38.
Signal source 36 in a typical CATV system is the origination point for
signals received by way of antenna, microwave, land lines from a local
television station, or a video cassette recorder (VCR). Preferred signal
source 36 includes a 3/4" video cassette recorder (VCR) operable to
receive and play video cassettes selected from collection 20 and to
produce signals representative thereof for presentation to
converter/scrambler unit 38.
Conventional converter/scrambler unit 38 receives signals from signal
source 36 and converts those signals for output on a predetermined
frequency channel. In a conventional system, these channels include low
band, mid-band, high band, super band, and hyper band, which, depending
upon the design of the system, may allow selection of up to seventy
different channels for program transmission on a single coaxial cable
trunk line. In the preferred system, unit 38 is operable to selectively
scramble program transmissions.
Conventional signal combiner 24 receives the output signals from
transmitters 22 on the various channels and combines those signals for
transmission over land lines 14. Signal combiner 24 is also typically
coupled with conventional billing and address computer 26.
Computer 26 is operable to transmit decoder signals by way of signal
combiner 24 onto land lines 14 and thereby to receivers 16 which allows
intelligible viewing of scrambled program transmission on selected ones of
receivers 16 and prevents intelligible viewing on others. That is to say,
computer 16 keeps track of which viewers which have subscribed to certain
premium channels such HBO, and periodically transmits decoder signals
which include address signals specific to receivers 16. Descrambling
signals are typically associated with the address signals which prompts
the addressed receiver 16 to descramble the transmissions identified by
the associated descrambler signals. Receivers 16 which do not receive
descrambling signals associated with their respective address signals
prevent intelligible viewing of the scrambled program transmission.
Computer 26 is also operable for producing billing information as
appropriate for the services to which the individual viewers have
subscribed. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the various
functions performed by computer 26 may be performed by separate computers.
Scheduling computer 28 is preferably a minicomputer and is operably coupled
with terminals 30, with computer 26, and with terminal 34. As will be
explained further hereinbelow, computer 28 receives data representative of
the program choices and requested times for viewing thereof and presents
outputs at terminal 34 whereby the chosen program can be selected from
collection 20 for transmission by the respective signal transmitter 22 at
the requested time.
In one embodiment, viewers communicate their program choices and requested
viewing times by way of conventional telephone handsets 18 connected
through the local telephone network. Respective customer service
representatives answer the incoming calls over phone units 32 and then
enter the information communicated from the viewers into scheduling
computer 28 by way of respective terminals 30, each of which includes a
conventional data entry keyboard and monitor.
Land lines 14 typically include coaxial cables which transmit the programs
from program unit 12 to receivers 16. Receivers 16 are conventionally
coupled with land lines 14 by way of respective cable taps 40.
Receivers 16 each include control unit 42 and television 44. Control unit
42 converts a program transmission received from land lines 14 on one of
the various transmission channels to an output on a preselected channel
for reception by television 24.
Control unit 42 is also operable to selectively descramble certain of the
transmissions received by way of land lines 14 from central unit 12. Each
control unit 42 is equipped to receive decoder signals to detect its
specific address signal from computer 26 and in response to descramble the
transmission identified by the descrambling signals associated with the
address signals.
In the preferred method of operating system 10, each subscribing household
is provided with a catalog of the programs included in collection 20 along
with the associated program identification number by which scheduling
computer 28 identifies the program and by which they are labeled and
stored in collection 20. Preferably, monthly supplements to the program
catalog are provided as new programs are added to collection 20 and new
catalogs are periodically issued incorporating the previous supplements as
needed. The program listings in the catalog are preferably arranged
alphabetically and also by subject category to facilitate selection of a
desired type of program. Collection 20 includes full-length movies,
recordings of previously transmitted regularly scheduled commercial
broadcasts and other programs of interest to the subscribers. Each
subscribing household is preferably provided with a confidential
identification number in order to prevent unauthorized ordering and
thereby billing of a program.
After a viewer has chosen a program, the viewer then uses telephone handset
18 to place a telephone call over the conventional telephone network to
the telephone number associated with central unit 12. Customer service
representatives answer the incoming telephone calls to whom the viewer
communicates the program choice and requested time along with the viewer's
name and confidential identification number. The customer service
representative then enters this information by way of terminal 30 into
computer 28.
In accordance with conventional computer programming techniques well known
to those skilled in the art, computer 28 first determines whether the
viewer's name and identification number match. If not, this fact is
communicated to the representative who informs the viewer that the request
cannot be satisfied without a correct match. If the customer name and
identification number do match, computer 28 then determines whether the
chosen program has been already previously scheduled at the requested
time. If such is the case, computer 28 need not reschedule the chosen
program, but rather needs only prompt address computer 26 to transmit
proper decoding signals to the viewer's control unit 16 at the requested
time to allow the viewer's receiver to descramble the program and to enter
the billing information.
If the chosen movie has not been previously scheduled at the requested
time, computer 28 determines whether a channel is available at the
requested time. If yes, computer 28 selects an available channel and
schedules this channel for transmission of the chosen program at the
requested time. Computer 28 then presents confirmation of this to the
customer service representative on the monitor associated with terminal 30
along with the channel number which is then communicated to the viewer.
Computer 28 provides scheduling information as output by way of terminal
34. In the preferred form, an operator reads the output from terminal 34
either presented on an associated monitor or as a hard copy print out. In
response, the operator selects the chosen program from collection 20 and
inserts into the appropriate VCR included in signal source 36 which is
associated with the scheduled channel. That is to say, each transmitter 22
is associated with a specific output channel and the information provided
from computer 28 by way of terminal 34 instructs the operator which VCR is
to be used for transmitting the chosen program at the requested time. In
the alternative, system 10 could be arranged such that any unused signal
transmitter 22 can be selected and then adjusted to transmit on the
scheduled channel. At the requested time the operator activates the
appropriate VCR in order to transmit the program which is scrambled and
converted by unit 38 and presented on the selected channel to signal
combiner 24 and onto land lines 14.
Computer 28, upon scheduling the chosen program at the requested time, also
interacts with computer 26 so that computer 26 sends appropriate decoder
signals at the requested time and during transmission of the program to
receiver 16 associated with the requesting viewer. The decoder signals
include address signals specific to control unit 16 associated with the
requesting viewer and prompts control unit 42 to descramble the chosen
program in accordance with the descrambler signals associated with the
address signal. In this way, the requesting viewer can view the program on
the viewer-associated television 44. By scrambling the transmission, and
by not providing a descrambling signal to other receivers, subscribers
other than the requesting viewer are prevented from intelligible viewing
of the chosen program.
Upon transmission of the chosen program at the requested time, billing and
address computer 26 is programmed to automatically add the specified
program charge to the requesting viewer's monthly bill.
If there are no available channels at the requested time, computer 28 is
preferably programmed to determine the nearest available time frame during
which a channel is available or to determine the nearest available time
when the chosen program is already scheduled for transmission. This
information is then presented to the customer service representative on
terminal 30 who in turn communicates this information to the requesting
viewer who may thereupon select one of the alternative times. For example,
if the requesting viewer wishes to see a very popular program at a certain
time, and all of the channels are already scheduled for that time, none of
which include that chosen program, an unused channel may be available
shortly before or after the requested time or the chosen program may be
already be rescheduled at a nearby time whereupon the requesting viewer
can select one of these.
As discussed above, scheduling computer 28 is programmed to ensure that the
viewer's identification number matches the name of the requesting viewer,
or the requesting viewer's address, and so forth. As a further check,
computer 28 can be programmed to also include the requesting viewer's
telephone number, and upon being provided with this information, can
double check this against the confidential identification number and the
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