Restricted information distribution system apparatus and methods

Claims

I claim:

1. A system for distributing signals containing display information, said system including an encoder for transmitting particular portions of display information, a plurality of decoders for receiving the display information and generating the particular portions of display information, and a transmission channel connecting the encoder to the plurality of decoders, wherein the system further comprises:

means for comparing received display information to previously received display information and for determining relative changes in display information, said means including a memory containing previously received display information and a comparator responsive to the memory and received display information so that the update data corresponds to the determined changes in display information; and is characterized in that the encoder comprises:

means for providing encoded update data for particular portions of display information to be positioned in a relevant video screen;

a signal generator having a first message stream followed by a second message stream,

the first message stream including a plurality of first information identification codes corresponding to update data for each portion of display information and a plurality of display identification codes each corresponding to one of the plurality of decoders, each of the first information identification codes being associated with at least one display identification code thereby to form information identification code - display identification code sets indicative of the particular portions of display information each decoder is authorized to receive,

the second message stream including associated sets of first information identification codes and the corresponding update data;

and wherein each decoder is further characterized by:

a memory device for storing transmitted display information capable of being displayed on a video screen;

means for associating the decoder with one of the display identification codes;

first means for recognizing the one display identification code in a first message stream and for storing in the memory device each first information identification code associated with the one recognized display identification code; and

second means for recognizing a first information identification code in a second message stream corresponding to a stored first information identification code and for receiving and storing the update data associated with the recognized first information identification code, thereby to update the stored portion of display information in the memory device corresponding to the recognized first information identification code.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each decoder further comprises a video screen, wherein the associating means associates the video screen with the one display identification code, further comprising a decoder signal generator for generating a visual display on the video screen of the stored portion of display information.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the particular portions of display information include a first portion that further comprises television program information and a second portion that further comprises financial marker information, said first and second portions having unique first information identification codes.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the system distributes securely restricted display information signals, the encoder providing means is further characterized by:

means for providing update data corresponding to changes in particular portions of display information and a display coordinates for positioning the update data in a relevant location in the corresponding particular portion of display information;

wherein the encoder signal generator has a third message stream and a following fourth message stream, the third message stream including a plurality of first information identification codes corresponding to update data for a particular portion of display information, a plurality of display coordinates corresponding to positioning each update data in a relevant location for a particular portion of display information, and a plurality of the display identification codes each of the first information identification codes being associated with at least one display identification code and display coordinate thereby to form first information identification code - display identification code - display coordinate sets indicative of the relevant display location of the update data for particular portions of display information each decoder is authorized to receive, and the fourth message stream including associated sets of first information identification codes and the corresponding update data;

wherein each decoder first recognizing means further comprises means for storing any display coordinates for update data and any first information identification codes associated with the one recognized first display identification code in a third message stream; and

wherein each decoder is further characterized by third means for recognizing a first information identification code in a fourth message stream corresponding to a stored first information identification code and for receiving and storing the update data associated with the recognized first information identification code in the memory device using the previously received display coordinates for that update data.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising means for selecting the display coordinates associated with each first information identification code, wherein each decoder first recognizing means further comprises means for storing the received update data associated with the recognized first information identification code using the selected display coordinates for that update data.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the system distributes securely restricted display information signals, the encoder providing means is further characterized by:

means for providing update data corresponding to changes in the particular portions of display information and display coordinates for positioning the update data in a relevant location in the corresponding particular portion of display information;

wherein the encoder signal generator has a third message stream and a fourth message stream, the third message stream including a plurality of the first information identification codes, a plurality of second information identification codes corresponding to update data for a particular portion of display information having a first information identification code, and a plurality of display coordinates corresponding to positioning each update data in a relevant location for the particular portion of display information, each of the second information identification codes being associated with one first information identification code thereby to form first information identification code - second information identification code - display coordinate sets indicative of the relevant display location of the update data for particular portions of display information each decoder video screen is authorized to receive, the fourth message stream including associated sets of the second information identification codes and the corresponding update data;

and wherein each decoder is further characterized by:

third means for recognizing a first information identification code in a third message stream corresponding to a stored first information identification code and for storing the second information identification code and the display coordinates associated with the recognized first information identification code in the third message stream; and

fourth means for recognizing a second information identification code in a fourth message stream corresponding to a stored second information identification code and for receiving the update data associated with the recognized second information identification code and storing the retrieved update data in the memory device using the previously received display coordinates for that update data.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising means for selecting the display coordinates associated with each said second information identification code wherein each decoder fourth recognizing means stores the received update data associated with the recognized second information identification code using the selected display coordinates for that update data.

8. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the encoder signal generator further has a fifth message stream including a plurality of the first information identification codes, a plurality of second information identification codes corresponding to update data for particular portions of display information having a first information identification code, and a plurality of display coordinates corresponding to positioning each update data in a relevant location of a particular portion of display information, each of the second information identification codes being associated with one first information identification code thereby to form first information identification code - second information identification code - display coordinate sets indicative of the relevant display location of the update data for each particular portion of display information each decoder video screen is authorized to receive;

wherein each decoder is further characterized by:

fourth means for recognizing a first information identification code in a fifth message stream corresponding to a stored first information identification code and for storing the second information identification code and the display coordinates associated with the recognized first information identification code in the fifth message stream, and

wherein each decoder third recognizing means further comprises means for recognizing a first information identification code in the fourth message stream corresponding to a stored second information identification code and for receiving and storing the update data associated with the recognized first information identification code in the memory device using the display coordinates associated with the corresponding stored second information identification code.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the encoder signal generator has a sixth message stream including associated sets of the second information identification codes and the corresponding update data, and wherein each decoder is further characterized by fifth means for recognizing a second information identification code in a sixth message stream corresponding to a stored second information identification code and for receiving the update data associated with the recognized second information identification code and storing the received update data in the memory device using the previously received display coordinates for that update data.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising means for selecting the display coordinates associated with each said second information identification code wherein each decoder fifth recognizing means stores the received update data associated with the recognized second information identification code using the selected display coordinates for that update data.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the encoder signal generator further comprises a seventh message stream including a plurality of the information identification codes corresponding to previously stored first and second information identification codes and a plurality of display coordinates corresponding to positioning each update data in a relevant location for a particular portion of display information, one of the information identification codes and one of the display coordinates being associated thereby to form information identification code - display coordinate sets indicative of the relevant display location of the update data for each said stored information identification code.

12. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein each decoder further comprises a plurality of video screens and the third message stream forms second information identification code - display coordinate - display identification code sets indicative of the relevant display location of the said particular portion of display information each video screen is authorized to receive and display, and wherein for each decoder:

the associating means associates each of the plurality of video screens with one of the display identification codes, and

the first, second and third recognizing means separately recognize those first information identification codes and second information identification codes associated with each one display identification code, and separately store first and second information identification codes, update data and display coordinates for each of the plurality of video screens.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the restricted signals comprise video signals.

14. A system for distributing securely signals containing restricted display information, said system including an encoder for transmitting particular portions of display information, a .plurality of decoders for receiving the display information and generating the particular portions of display information, and a transmission channel connecting the encoder to the plurality of decoders, characterized in that the encoder comprises:

means for comparing display information to previously received display information and for determining changes in display information;

means for providing update data corresponding to the determined changes in a particular portion of the display information and display coordinates for positioning the update data in a relevant display location for the particular portion of display information;

a signal generator having a first message stream and a second message stream, the first message stream including a plurality of information identification codes corresponding to update data for each portion of display information, a plurality of display coordinates corresponding to positioning each update data in the relevant display location for the portion of display information, and a plurality of display identification codes each corresponding to one of the plurality of decoders, each of the information identification codes being associated with at least one display identification code and display coordinates thereby to form information identification code - display identification code - display coordinate sets indicative of the relevant display location of the update data for a particular portion of display information each decoder video screen is authorized to receive, the second message stream including associated sets of information identification codes and the corresponding update data; and wherein each decoder is further characterized by:

a memory device for storing the transmitted display information capable of being displayed on a video screen;

means for associating the decoder with one of the display identification codes;

first means for recognizing the one display identification code in a first message stream and for storing in the memory device each information identification code and display coordinate associated with the one recognized display identification code; and

second means for recognizing an information identification code in a second message stream corresponding to a stored information identification code and for receiving and storing the update data associated with the recognized information identification code in the memory using the previously received display coordinates for that update data, thereby to update the stored portion of display information.

15. The apparatus claim 14 wherein each decoder further comprises a video screen, wherein the associating means associates the video screen with the one display identification code, further comprising a decoder signal generator for generating a visual display of the stored portion of display information on the video screen.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising means for selecting the display coordinates associated with the information identification code for each update data, wherein each decoder first recognizing means further comprises means for storing the received update data corresponding to the recognized information identification code using the selected display coordinates.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the display coordinates associated with each display identification code provide for positioning the display information of the associated information identification code in different relative locations at different decoders.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein each portion of display information associated with the same information identification code is updated by one second message stream.

19. A system for distributing securely signals containing restricted display information, said system including an encoder for transmitting particular portions of display information, a plurality of decoders for receiving the display information and generating the particular portions of display information, and a transmission channel connecting the encoder to the plurality of decoders, characterized in that the encoder comprises:

means for comparing display information to previously received display information and for determining changes in display information;

means for providing update data corresponding to the determined changes in a particular portion of the display information and display coordinates for positioning the update data in a relevant display location for the particular portion of display information;

a signal generator having a first message stream, a second message stream, and a third message stream, the first message stream including a plurality of first information identification codes corresponding to each portion of display information and a plurality of display identification codes each