CATV systems - Patent Review 5414773

I claim:

1. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units; and

apparatus for transmitting over said CATV network individually addressed voice-mail information individually addressed to a subscriber unit,

wherein each subscriber unit includes:

a receiver for receiving the individually addressed voice-mail information addressed thereto;

a memory for storing said individually addressed voice-mail information; and

a display for displaying at least part of said individually addressed voice-mail information retrieved from said memory.

2. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units each including a television and a CATV converter;

apparatus for transmitting facsimile information over said CATV network, wherein

at least some of said multiplicity of subscriber units include:

apparatus for receiving said facsimile information over said CATV network;

a memory for storing said facsimile information; and

a retrieval Unit associated with said memory for retrieving said facsimile information from said memory whereby said facsimile information from said memory passes through said CATV converter and is at least partially displayed on said television.

3. A CATV system according to claim 2 and wherein said facsimile information is encrypted.

4. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units; and

apparatus for transmitting over said CATV network individually addressed information individually addressed to a subscriber unit,

wherein each subscriber unit includes:

a receiver for receiving the individually addressed information addressed thereto via a telephone link;

a memory for storing said individually addressed information; and

a display for displaying at least part of said individually addressed information retrieved from said memory.

5. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting over said CATV network individually addressed information individually addressed subscriber unit,

wherein each subscriber Unit includes:

a receiver for receiving the individually addressed information addressed thereto;

a memory for storing said individually addressed information; and

a display for displaying at least part of said individually addressed information retrieved from said memory; said CATV system further comprising:

a keyboard for entering information to be transmitted via a telephone link;

a processor for preparing said information to be transmitted via a telephone link in a format suitable for transmission over said telephone link; and

a unit for transmitting over said telephone link at least one of mail, facsimile, electronic-mail and voice-mail information.

6. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting facsimile information over said CATV network, wherein

at least some of said multiplicity of subscriber units include:

apparatus for receiving said facsimile information over said CATV network;

a memory for storing said facsimile information; and

a retrieval unit associated with said memory for retrieving said facsimile information from said memory and for providing an output of said facsimile information to an external output device; said CATV system further comprising:

a keyboard for entering information to be transmitted via a telephone link;

a processor for preparing said information to be transmitted via a telephone link in a format suitable for transmission over said telephone link; and

a unit for transmitting over said telephone link at least one of mail, facsimile, electronic-mail and voice-mail information.

7. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting information over said CATV network to at least some of said multiplicity of subscriber units,

wherein at least some of said multiplicity of subscriber units comprise:

a display;

a hard copy output unit for providing a hard copy output of information .received via the CATV network; and

a subscriber operated selector for selectably directing information received at a subscriber unit to at least one of said display and said hard copy output unit; said CATV system further comprising:

a keyboard for entering information to be transmitted via a telephone link;

a processor for preparing said information to be transmitted via a telephone link in a format suitable for transmission over said telephone link; and

a unit for transmitting over said telephone link at least one of mail, facsimile, electronic-mail and voice-mail information.

8. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting mail over said CATV network addressed to at least one subscriber unit, wherein

at least some of said multiplicity of subscriber units include:

apparatus for receiving the mail addressed thereto;

a memory for storing said mail; and

a retrieval unit associated with said memory for retrieving said mail from said memory and for providing an output of said mail to an external output device; said CATV system further comprising:

a keyboard for entering information to be transmitted via a telephone link;

a processor for preparing said information in a format suitable for transmission over said telephone link; and

a unit for transmitting over said telephone link at least one of mail, facsimile, electronic-mail and voice-mail information.

9. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting over said CATV network individually addressed information individually addressed to a subscriber unit,

wherein each subscriber unit includes:

a receiver for receiving the individually addressed information addressed thereto;

a memory for storing said individually addressed information;

a display for displaying at least part of said individually addressed information retrieved from said memory; and

a processor for receiving said information in a format suitable for transmission over a telephone link, said processor includes a converter for converting said information to a form suitable for display on a television receiver.

10. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting over said CATV network individually addressed information individually addressed to a subscriber unit,

wherein each subscriber unit includes:

a receiver for receiving the individually addressed information addressed thereto;

a memory for storing said individually addressed information;

a display for displaying at least part of said individually addressed information retrieved from said memory; and

a processor for receiving said information in a format suitable for transmission over a telephone link, said processor includes a memory for storing information received via said telephone link.

11. A CATV method for use with a CATV network and a multiplicity of subscriber units comprising:

transmitting facsimile information over said CATV network;

receiving facsimile information over said CATV network at at least one of said multiplicity of subscriber units via a telephone link in a format suitable for transmission over said telephone link and converting said facsimile information to a form suitable for display on a television receiver.

12. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for compressing information;

apparatus for transmitting over said CATV network individually addressed information individually addressed to a subscriber unit, said individually addressed information being compressed in said apparatus for compressing information prior to transmitting thereof,

wherein at least one of said multiplicity of subscriber units comprises:

a receiver for receiving the individually addressed information addressed thereto;

a memory for storing said individually addressed information;

a decompressor for decompressing said individually addressed information received thereof; and

a display for displaying at least part of said individually addressed information retrieved from said memory.

13. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for compressing information;

apparatus for transmitting facsimile information over said CATV network, said facsimile information being compressed in said apparatus for compressing information prior to transmitting thereof,

wherein at least one of said multiplicity of subscriber units comprises:

apparatus for receiving said facsimile information over said CATV network;

a memory for Storing said facsimile information;

a decompressor for decompressing said received facsimile information; and

a retrieval unit associated with said memory for retrieving said facsimile information from said memory and for providing an output of said facsimile information to an external output device.

14. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units; and

apparatus for transmitting over said CATV network individually addressed information individually addressed to a subscriber unit,

wherein each subscriber unit includes:

a receiver for receiving the individually addressed information addressed thereto;

a memory for storing said individually addressed information;

a display for displaying at least part of said individually addressed information retrieved from said memory; and

an on-screen display circuit for preparing said information in a format suitable for displaying on said display.

15. A CATV system comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscribers units; and

apparatus for transmitting over said CATV network individually addressed information individually addressed to a subscriber unit,

wherein each subscriber unit includes:

a receiver for receiving the individually addressed information addressed thereto;

an external removable memory for storing said individually addressed information; and

a display for displaying at least part of said individually addressed information retrieved from said memory.

16. A CATV system and wherein comprising:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting facsimile information over said CATV network, wherein

at least some of said multiplicity of subscriber units include:

apparatus for receiving said facsimile information over said CATV network;

an external removable memory for storing said facsimile information; and

a retrieval unit associated with said memory for retrieving said facsimile information from said memory and for providing an output of said facsimile information to an external output device.

Description Submit all comments and votes

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to CATV systems generally and more particularly to CATV systems which provide additional services to subscribers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Existing CATV systems employ radio-frequency (RF) links, such as cable and satellite links, or optical links using fiber-optic cables for transmission of TV program material. CATV systems which provide transmissions only from a headend to a plurality of subscribers are called one-way systems. CATV systems which additionally involve transmissions from subscribers' units are called two-way systems.

Some of the one-way systems also employ a telephone link for transmission of management data to the subscribers, while others transmit the management data via the RF or optical links.

Current two-way CATV systems transmit TV and audio programs via cable or satellite and receive data from subscriber units via telephone links. Such systems are hereinafter termed "combination telephone-radio frequency CATV" systems. The data received is mainly CATV subscriber viewing data, subscriber program ratings and the like.

In order to enable telephonic communications, the available CATV converters incorporate modem units which are directly coupled to existing telephone links.

Descriptions of prior art telephonic transponders which are also suitable for CATV systems may be found in several patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,492 to Lumsden describes a remote meter reading transponder which includes a modem. U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,640 to Binnie et al. describes a system for interrogating remote stations via an automatic dialer.

Neither the existing one-way CATV systems nor the two-way systems available today are used to provide services to subscribers. Although existing two-way systems employ telephonic modems, they are mainly used for communication management and for subscriber viewing data readout. Today, telephonic communication via a modem is mostly done at low data rates and for short periods over long intervals, thus leaving the telephonic modems unexploited for long periods.

In an article named "An Evolutionary Approach to the Development of Two-Way Cable Technology Communication" by J.B. Wright, M.P. Block and D.S. McVoy in IEEE Transactions on Cable Television, Vol. CATV-2, No. 1, Jan. 1977, mention is made of proposed two-way CATV systems in which electronic automated newspaper, second class mail and on demand catalogs will be distributed to subscribers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide CATV systems having significant additional applications such as facsimile, electronic-mail (E-mail), voice-mail and mail. The term "CATV" is used throughout the specification and claims in an unusually broad sense to include cable television networks as well as satellite television and pay television generally. The term "mail" is used throughout the specification and claims in a broad sense to include any written or printed material such as the type which is usually delivered to households such as bills, credit card statements, advertising, messages from institutions etc. The term "mail" does not include CATV programming billing data and messages related to programming from CATV operators.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term "encrypt" in all of its forms will be used in a broader than usual sense to cover all forms of data encoding, ranging from simple scrambling or encoding to hard encryption.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a CATV system including:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting over the CATV network encrypted information individually addressed to a subscriber unit; and

apparatus associated with each of the multiplicity of subscriber units for decoding the encrypted information addressed thereto.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a CATV system including:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting facsimile information over the CATV network; and

a facsimile unit associated with at least one of the multiplicity of subscriber units for receiving facsimile information over the CATV network.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a CATV system including:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting information over the CATV network; and

a hard copy output unit for providing a hard copy output of information received via the CATV network.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a CATV system including:

a CATV network;

a multiplicity of subscriber units;

apparatus for transmitting mail over the CATV network addressed to at least one subscriber unit; and

apparatus associated with each of the multiplicity of subscriber units for receiving the mail addressed thereto.

Preferably each of the multiplicity of subscriber units includes a television and a CATV converter.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the CATV converter has associated therewith the apparatus for decoding the coded information addressed thereto.

Preferably the encrypted information includes scrambled information, which may be, for example, facsimile information, E-mail information, voice-mail information and mail.

It is appreciated that the features of the various embodiments described above may be combined in any suitable useful combination.

Preferably, the CATV system further includes:

a keyboard for entering information to be transmitted via a telephone link;

a processor for preparing the information in a format suitable for transmission over the telephone link; and

a unit for transmitting over the telephone link at least one of mail, facsimile, electronic-mail and voice-mail information.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the CATV system further includes a memory unit for storing at least one of mail, facsimile, electronic-mail and voice-mail information.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the CATV system additionally includes at each subscriber unit a processor for receiving the information in a format suitable for transmission over the telephone link and converting the information to a form which is suitable for output to a user.

Preferably, the processor includes a converter for converting the information to a form suitable for display on a television receiver. Additionally or alternatively, the processor includes a converter for converting the information to a form suitable for hard copy output.

Preferably, the processor includes a memory for storing information received via the telephone link.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a CATV transmission method for use with a CATV network and a multiplicity of subscriber units including the steps of:

transmitting over the CATV network encrypted information individually addressed to at least one subscriber unit; and

at each of the multiplicity of subscriber units decoding the encrypted information addressed thereto.

Preferably the method also includes the step of decoding the encrypted information addressed to the subscriber unit.

Preferably the encrypted information includes scrambled information, which may be, for example, facsimile information, E-mail information, voice-mail information and mail.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a CATV transmission method for use with a CATV network and a multiplicity of subscriber units including:

transmitting facsimile information over the CATV network; and

receiving facsimile information over the CATV network at at least one of the multiplicity of subscriber units.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a CATV transmission method for use with a CATV network and a multiplicity of subscriber units including:

transmitting information over the CATV network; and

providing a hard copy output of information received via the CATV network.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a CATV method for use with a CATV network and a multiplicity of subscriber units including:

transmitting mail over the CATV network addressed to at least one subscriber unit; and

at each of the multiplicity of subscriber units receiving the mail addressed thereto.

It is appreciated that the features of the various methods described above may be combined in any suitable useful combination.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the CATV network is a combination telephone-radio frequency CATV network.

Preferably, the CATV network is a two-way CATV network.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information is received via a telephone link. Preferably, the telephone link is the telephone link of the CATV network.

Preferably, the above methods also include the step of storing received information.

Preferably each subscriber unit receives the information in a format suitable for transmission over the telephone link and converts the information to a form which is suitable for output to a user.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, each subscriber unit converts the information to a form suitable for display on a television receiver. Alternatively or additionally, each subscriber unit converts the information to a form suitable for hard copy output.

Preferably, each subscriber unit stores information received via the telephone link.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a generalized block diagram illustration of a CATV system constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a generalized block diagram illustration of part of a subscriber unit constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B together provide a flow-chart description of the functionality of the apparatus of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a generalized block diagram illustration of a CATV system constructed and operative in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a generalized block diagram illustration of part of a subscriber unit constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C together provide a flow-chart description of the functionality of the apparatus of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a generalized block diagram illustration of a CATV system constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The CATV system includes or is used with a CATV network 10 which is typically, but not necessarily, a radio frequency (RF) network including a program transmitter 11 coupled through a satellite communication link 12 with a multiplicity of subscriber units 14. Alternatively, communication link 12 may be either a cable or a fiber-optic communication link.

Preferably, each of the multiplicity of subscriber units 14 includes a television 16 and a CATV interface unit 18. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, each subscriber unit may also include a hard copy output device 20. Preferably, hard copy output device 20 may be any suitable printer, such as a laser printer or thermal printer having graphics capability. The hard copy output device may be integrally formed as part of interface unit 18 or may be a stand-alone device connected thereto by a cable or wireless link.

The CATV interface unit 18 may include a conventional decoder which is commercially available from multiple vendors.

Conventional CATV data such as authorizations, program viewing data, etc. may be communicated to and from subscriber units 14 in a conventional manner. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a coded addressed information generator 22 for transmitting encrypted information to subscribers via the CATV system.

Coded addressed information generator 22 may comprise a fax generator, E-mail generator, voice mail generator, mail generator, or any other suitable information generator which is capable of providing information suitable for broadcast via the CATV system to subscribers. Generator 22 may include a scanner for inputting written or printed material and may receive information for broadcast directly form a computer or other data source. Generator 22 may comprise a facsimile machine. Generator 22 preferably provides the information in an encrypted form together with an address or addresses which identify one or more subscribers who are the intended recipients of the information.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the CATV interface unit 18 at each subscriber unit 14 includes an information decoder which is operative to decrypt only that information from generator 22 which is addressed thereto. It is to be noted that the addressing may be individual, i.e. to individual subscribers, or alternatively grouped, i.e. to subscribers fitting certain criteria, such as demographic or geographic criteria.

It is to be appreciated that the system of FIG. 1 may be provided without a hard copy output device 20 or alternatively without the coded addressed information generator 22 and corresponding decoder in the CATV interface unit.

One possible application of the system of FIG. 1 is in the transmission of bank statements or credit card statements. Instead of transmitting such statements by mail, as is common practice, such statements can be transmitted via the CATV systems at off-peak times, each addressed to a given subscriber, and each decrypted by the CATV interface unit 18 of the appropriate subscriber unit 14. The decrypted information may be stored in a suitable memory, which is either part of the subscriber unit 14 or attached thereto, and then viewed at will by the subscriber and/or produced in a hard copy form by means of the hard copy output device 20.

Another possible application of the system of FIG. 1 is in the transmission of "junk mail" such as grocery store advertisements. Instead of transmitting such material by mail or hand delivery, as is common practice, such material can be transmitted via the CATV systems at off-peak times, addressed to subscribers within a given geographical area, who may be further selected by demographic criteria.

In cases where the hard copy output device 20 is not provided, all of the above-mentioned functionalities operate with the exception of the provision of a hard copy output at the subscriber unit.

In cases where the encrypted addressed information generator 22 and corresponding decoder are not provided, but the hard copy output device is provided, the hard copy output device may be used to provide a hard copy output of any information received via the CATV network, using suitable