U.S. patent application number 11/158895 was filed with the patent office on 2006-06-01 for interactive cable television system without a return path.
This patent application is currently assigned to ICTV, Inc.. Invention is credited to Robert Johnson, Amos Kohn, Airan Landau, Lena Pavlovskaia.
Application Number | 20060117340 11/158895 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37199982 |
Filed Date | 2006-06-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060117340 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Pavlovskaia; Lena ; et
al. |
June 1, 2006 |
Interactive cable television system without a return path
Abstract
A method for providing interactive information content in an
analog cable system having only a one-way communication path from a
cable head end to a communication device, such as a set-top box
that is associated with a television is disclosed. A set-top box
receives a plurality of interactive information content signals on
at least one analog channel from the cable head end. In certain
embodiments the interactive information content signals are data
streams that sent over an analog carrier channel. The set-top box
provides a selection screen to the television for display. A user
can then use a user-input device, such as, a remote control to make
a selection. In general, the user will select a key, such as a
directional key and the remote control will provide the
selection/directional signal to the set-top box. The set-top box
then outputs a new information content signal based the received
selection signal without having to transmit to the head end.
Inventors: |
Pavlovskaia; Lena;
(Cupertino, CA) ; Johnson; Robert; (San Jose,
CA) ; Landau; Airan; (San Jose, CA) ; Kohn;
Amos; (US) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BROMBERG & SUNSTEIN LLP
125 SUMMER STREET
BOSTON
MA
02110-1618
US
|
Assignee: |
ICTV, Inc.
Los Gatos
CA
|
Family ID: |
37199982 |
Appl. No.: |
11/158895 |
Filed: |
June 22, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09848812 |
May 4, 2001 |
|
|
|
11158895 |
Jun 22, 2005 |
|
|
|
60202338 |
May 5, 2000 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
725/34 ;
348/E7.061; 725/25 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/4622 20130101;
H04N 21/4782 20130101; H04N 21/482 20130101; H04N 7/163 20130101;
H04N 21/6125 20130101; H04N 21/4331 20130101; H04N 21/6118
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/034 ;
725/025 |
International
Class: |
H04N 7/025 20060101
H04N007/025 |
Claims
1. A method for providing interactive information content in an
analog cable system having only a one way communication path from a
cable headend, the method comprising: receiving at a set-top box a
plurality of interactive information content signals on at least
one analog channel from the cable headend; the set-top box sending
to a television for display a selection screen for selection of at
least one of the plurality of interactive information content
signals; and based on a received selection signal at the set-top
box, outputting an interactive information content signal
associated with the selection signal to the television.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the interactive
information content signal is a data stream.
3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: receiving a
map from the cable head end for at least a plurality of interactive
information content streams usable by the set-top box for
determining a next stream of information content based upon a
received selection signal.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein interactive information
content is representative of a web page.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the web page is encoded
as an MPEG stream.
6. The method according to claim 5 wherein the set-top box decodes
MPEG streams.
7. The method according to claim 3 wherein the map is a coordinate
map that relates locations of web links associated with interactive
information content streams with selection signals from a user
input device.
8. The method according to claim 2 wherein a stream may be data
representative of a web page.
9. The method according to claim 8 wherein a stream may
periodically have data updated for the web page.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein all of the interactive
information content signals are on one analog channel.
11. The method according to claim 1 wherein the interactive
information content signals are digital data.
12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the selection screen is
interactive information content.
13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selection screen
is representative of a web page.
14. A computer program product on a computer readable medium having
computer code thereon for operation with a set-top box for
providing interactive information content in an analog cable system
having only a one way communication path from a cable headend, the
computer code comprising: computer code for receiving a plurality
of interactive information content signals on at least one analog
channel from the cable headend; computer code for sending to a
television for display a selection screen for selection of at least
one of the plurality of interactive information content signals;
and computer code for outputting to the television an interactive
information content signal associated with a received selection
signal.
15. The computer program product according to claim 14, wherein
each interactive information content signal is a data stream.
16. The computer program product according to claim 15, further
comprising: computer code for receiving a map from the cable head
end for at least a plurality of interactive information content
streams; and computer code for determining a next stream of
information content based upon a received selection signal and the
map.
17. The computer program product according to claim 14, wherein
interactive information content is representative of a web
page.
18. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein the
web page is encoded as an MPEG stream.
19. The computer program product according to claim 18 further
comprising: computer code for decoding MPEG streams.
20. The computer program product according to claim 17 wherein the
map is a coordinate map that relates locations of web links
associated with interactive information content streams with
selection signals from a user input device.
21. The computer program product according to claim 15 wherein a
stream may be data representative of a web page.
22. The computer program product according to claim 21 wherein a
stream may periodically have data updated.
23. The computer program product according to claim 14, wherein all
of the interactive information content is on one analog
channel.
24. The computer program product according to claim 14 wherein the
interactive information content is digital data.
25. The computer program product according to claim 14 wherein the
selection screen is interactive information content.
26. The computer program product according to claim 14, wherein the
selection screen is representative of a web page.
Description
PRIORITY
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part ("CIP") of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 09/848,812 filed on May 4, 2001 that
claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application 60/202,338 filed
on May 5, 2000, both of which are incorporated herein by reference
in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND ART
[0002] The invention pertains to television systems, particularly
digital headend content distribution systems.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
[0003] Cable television systems have not yet achieved the promise
of the 500 channel TV set, largely due to bandwidth constraints for
delivering the channels to the subscribers over cable plant.
Although a coaxial cable system may permit a cable system operator
to provide, for example, 50 television channels, each 6 MHz wide,
with a total bandwidth of 300 MHz, this total bandwidth is
insufficient to permit an arrangement wherein each subscriber may
have, in addition to these 50 channels, an additional 50 to 450
channels. Communication with a subscriber begins at the headend and
proceeds over a communication path that involves one of a number of
trunks, and then over one of a number of feeders, then over one of
a number of taps. Each feeder may have, for example, fifty or more
subscribers, and each trunk might serve a hundred or more feeders.
The result is that 500 subscribers per trunk are not atypical. Thus
merely to provide a private one-way information service, and
nothing else, to each of these 5000 subscribers would require the
trunk to carry 5000 different signals, each using about 6 MHz of
bandwidth, and would alone require a trunk bandwidth of 30 (biz,
which is nearly two orders of magnitude greater than provided by a
typical coaxial cable system.
[0004] What is needed is a low cost, low bandwidth means for
delivering content to cable television subscribers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention provides a method and apparatus for
providing low bandwidth and low cost content to cable television
subscribers. The apparatus involves an inexpensive web content
server which can be integrated with existing cable headends and
which can deliver up to 50 discrete digital channels on a single 6
MHz bandwidth slot. The web content server includes an
administrative tool which allows quick provisioning and configuring
of existing channels. The web content server generates a set of
browser instances with each browser instance cycl.sup.ing through
its own unique set of web pages. The web pages may be stored
locally on the web content server or located globally on the
Internet or other wide area network (WAN) or local area network
(LAN). The web server periodically captures digital images
corresponding with the web pages displayed by each browser instance
and individually processes each as a discrete digital channel. The
digital channels are multiplexed onto a single 6 MHz analog
channel. At the set top box or the TV itself each image stream
corresponding with each browser instance is presented to the
subscriber as a separately selectable channel. The content may be
used to deliver any information currently available on the
Internet, or generated locally as Web pages.
[0006] An embodiment of the invention teaches a method for
providing interactive information content in an analog cable system
having only a one-way communication path from a cable head end to a
communication device, such as a set-top box that is associated with
a television. A set-top box receives a plurality of interactive
information content signals on at least one analog channel from the
cable head end. In certain embodiments the interactive information
content signals are data streams that sent over an analog carrier
channel. The set-top box provides one of the interactive
information content signals to the television for display. The
interactive information content signal is a selection screen. A
user can then use a user-input device, such as, a remote control to
make a selection. In general, the user will select a key, such as a
directional key and the remote control will provide the
selection/directional signal to the set-top box. The set-top box
then outputs a new information content signal based the received
selection signal. In certain embodiments a map is sent from the
cable head end to the set-top box and the set-top box uses the map
to determine the next interactive information content signal to
provide to the television. The interactive information content
signals may be MPEG data streams and the set-top box may decode the
data stream prior to providing the information content to the
television. In one embodiment, the interactive information content
is representative of a web page.
[0007] The map that is provided by the cable head end may be a
coordinate map that relates locations of web links from displayed
versions of the interactive information content streams with
selection signals from a user input device. Thus, the set-top box
can receive a directional signal and can determine which data
stream should be decoded and displayed on the television. In
embodiments, a stream may periodically have data updated for the
web page wherein the data is sent from the head end.
[0008] In certain embodiments, all of the interactive information
content signals are sent on a single analog channel in the cable
television network. The selection screen may be one of the
interactive information content signals wherein the set-top box
will access the selection screen first.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] These and other features and advantages of the present
invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art
from the following detailed description in conjunction with the
appended drawings in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 shows the overall system environment showing a
plurality of Cable TV subscribers coupled across a cable plant to a
cable headend which includes a web content server for delivery of a
plurality of low bandwidth digital channels to the user on a single
selected analog channel.
[0011] FIG. 1A shows an example of the digital transport
streams.
[0012] FIG. 1B shows an indicator superimposed on a television.
[0013] FIG. 1C shows the various modules that are included inside
of the set-top box.
[0014] FIG. 1D shows an example of a selection screen provided on a
television of a user.
[0015] FIG. 1E shows an example of a screen that is presented on a
user's television if the user selects News.
[0016] FIG. 1F shows a flow chart of the steps that are performed
by the set-top box when a request is made for interactive content
in a cable system that provides only one-way transmission of
information content.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a hardware block diagram of a computer suitable
for implementing the web content server shown in FIG. 1.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a software block diagram of the web content server
shown in FIG. 2.
[0019] FIGS. 4A-C show the graphical user interfaces associated
with administrative 30 setup of the web content server shown in
FIGS. 1-3.
[0020] FIGS. 4D-E show the graphical user interfaces associated
with viewing, inserting, and modifying selected ones of the content
carousels associated with each low bandwidth digital channel
provided by the web content server shown in FIGS. 1-3.
[0021] FIG. 5 shows a master web page for a channel. The master web
page is generated in a markup language for defining content
associated with a single digital channel.
[0022] FIGS. 6A-B show the channel and system setup tables
respectively.
[0023] FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram for the web content server
shown in FIGS. 1-3.
[0024] FIG. 8 is a detailed process flow diagram of the bandwidth
regulating and multiplexer processes performed in the bandwidth
controller and the multiplexer shown in FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
[0025] The term "information content" shall refer to data that is
displayable on a display device, such as, but not limited to web
pages, and video content. The term "digital transport stream"
refers to digital data that is transmitted from a head end to a
set-top box for decoding and display. The digital transport stream
may contain static content that is non-dynamic data, such as images
or HTML pages that is broadcast either continually or periodically.
Displayable data need not be included in the transmitted digital
transport stream at all times.
[0026] The present invention provides a method and apparatus for
providing low bandwidth and low cost content to cable television
subscribers. The apparatus involves an inexpensive web content
server which can be integrated with existing cable headends and
which can deliver up to 50 discrete digital channels on a single 6
MHz bandwidth slot. The web content server includes an
administrative tool which allows quick provisioning and configuring
of existing channels. The web content server generates set of
browser instances with each browser instance cycling through its
own unique set of web pages. The web pages may be stored locally on
the web content server or located globally on the Internet or other
wide area network (WAN) or local area network (LAN). The web server
periodically captures digital images corresponding with each of the
browser images and individually processes each as a discrete
digital channel. Each digital channel is multiplexed onto a single
6 MHz analog channel. At the set top box or the TV itself each
image stream corresponding with each browser instance is presented
to the subscriber as a separately selectable channel. The content
may be used to deliver any information currently available on the
Internet.
[0027] FIG. 1 shows the overall system environment showing a
plurality of Cable TV subscribers coupled across a cable plant to a
cable headend which includes a web content server for delivery of a
plurality of low bandwidth digital channels to the subscriber's TV
on a single selected analog channel. The cable head end facilities
include a plurality of broadcast TV receivers accepting a downlink
from satellite 144 via receiver 146. The "N" broadcast channels are
each delivered in an corresponding analog 6 MHz channel along
signal line 150 to a directional coupler 154 where they are
inserted into the cable plant 166 via a forward laser 160 and a
circulator 164. The circulator may provide a return path 162 from
the subscribers. In addition to this traditional headend structure
the current invention provides for the utilization of at least one
additional 6 MHz bandwidth slot for the injection of 50 or more
additional channels. The channels are generated by the web content
server a.k.a. carousel server 100. The carousel server allows the
authoring, setup, generation, control and injection of 50 or more
discrete digital channels into the broadcast stream from the
headend.
[0028] Block 102 shows the basic software modules which make up the
carousel server. The carousel core 104 handles the authoring, setup
generation and control of a plurality of instances 108, 122 of a
browser application, such as Internet Explorer.RTM., Microsoft
Corp. Redmond Wash. Each browser application follows its own
"slide" carousel format as governed by an associated HTML master
page (See FIG. 5). The "slides" of each carousel are the web pages
displayed by each carousel. The carousel server 100 is coupled to
the Internet 134. The web pages which provide the content for the
"slide carousel" provided by each browser instance may be stored
locally or accessed, as in the case of web pages 136, over the
Internet. There is one browser instance with its corresponding
individual carousel per channel.
[0029] Browser instance 108 cycles through a carousel of web
page(s) which includes web page 110 which displays snow and slope
conditions from the home page of a ski resort selected by the
content provider to be part of this channel, e.g. the "Snow Report"
channel 150. This browser instance provides the content for digital
channel 150.
[0030] Browser instance 122 generates a carousel of web page(s)
which includes web page 124 which displays streaming video clips of
the latest movie releases. The web page 124 is selected by the
content provider to be part of this channel, e.g. the "Movie
Review" channel 149. The images from each browser instance are
captured by the carousel core at intervals which are programmed for
each channel during channel authoring or setup. The carousel core
provides compression of each image in a suitable image compression
format. In an embodiment of the invention compression follows the
Motion Picture Expert Group compression standard MPEG2. Each
channel is output by the carousel core in compressed form as an
elementary stream.
[0031] Typically the reload, capture or refresh interval for each
channel is one or two orders of magnitude less than the image
capture rate for a normal video stream in which 30 frames are
captured every second. This greatly reduces the bandwidth
requirements and allows more channels to be carried on a 6 MHz
analog channel. In MPEG terminology, the MPEG compressor will
typically only output "I" frames for each channel and will avoid
creation of "B" or "P" frames. Elementary streams 112 and 126
corresponding with browser instances 108 and 122 respectively are
shown.
[0032] In an embodiment of the invention each browser uses its own
compressor component. In another embodiment of the invention a
single compressor component constructs separate elementary streams
from the encoded "I" frames corresponding to the images from each
browser. This works because the encoded "I" frame are independent
of adjacent "P" frames from the other channels.
[0033] The multiplexer 106 receives these elementary streams and
converts them to transport streams which are subject to modulation
in quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) module 140 and
upconversion to radio frequency (Rf) in Rf uplink module 142. This
multiplexed digital transport streams are injected via signal line
152 into the to directional coupler 154 with the "N" analog
broadcast TV channels and are then inserted into the cable plant
166 via the forward laser 160 and circulator 164. The transport
stream (TS) includes TS packets for each digital channel. The TS
packets 114 and 120 are shown with payload corresponding with
channel 150, the "Snow Report" channel. The TS packets 128, 130 are
shown with payload corresponding with channel 149, the "Movie
Review" channel. Each packet has a 4-byte header that includes a
packet identification code (PID) and a payload. For packet 114 the
header 116 and payload 118 are shown. The packets are of
fixed-length, i.e. 188 bytes long. All packets carrying the same
elementary stream have the same PID. A sequence number in the
packet header ensures that the packets are decoded in the
associated set top box.
[0034] Each transport stream also includes other TS packets that
contain the program mapping table (PMT) for each program and the
program association table (PAT) for the entire stream. The payload
of the PAT packet contains the service numbers and corresponding
PMT PID numbers for each program. The payload of the PMT packet
contains the program clock reference (PCR) PID and elementary
stream (ES) PID for the corresponding program (See FIG. 4A). In an
embodiment of the invention the programs use a common PCR stream
which contains timing information for all the programs in the
TS.
[0035] The subscriber side shows three subscribers each with an
associated TV, remote control, and set top box combination which
are coupled via node 168 to the cable plant. TV 182 couples to the
cable plant via set top box 186. Remote control 184 is used to set
the set top box 186 to the appropriate selection of either a
digital or analog channel. In the example shown the user has
selected the "Movie Review" channel 149. The set top box 186
periodically refreshes its image buffer with the "I" frames
contained in the corresponding TS packets. One of those I frames
corresponds with image 124 originally generated by the browser
instance 122 in the carousel server on the cable headend. The
contents of the image buffer of the set top box 186 are
decompressed and displayed on the subscribers TV 182.
[0036] TV 176 couples to the cable plant via set top box 180.
Remote control 178 is used to set the set top box 180 to the
appropriate selection of either a digital or analog channel. In the
example shown the user has selected the "Snow Report" channel 150.
The set top box 180 periodically refreshes its image buffer with
the "I" frames contained in the corresponding TS packets. One of
those I frames corresponds with image 110 originally generated by
the browser instance 108 in the carousel server on the cable
headend. The contents of the image buffer of the set top box 180
are decompressed and displayed on the subscribers TV 176.
[0037] TV 170 couples to the cable plant via set top box 174.
Remote control 172 is used to set the set top box 174 to the
appropriate selection of either a digital or analog channel.
[0038] The practice of the current invention is not limited to a
cable plant distribution 20 medium. Distribution from headend to
subscriber could alternately be made by alternate wired mediums
such as XDSL or via wireless mediums such as satellite.
[0039] FIG. 1A shows an example of the digital transport streams
100A as they are sent to the set-top box 105A. The digital
transport streams 100A are sent over an analog broadcast channel
110A. On the analog channel 110A are a series of digital transport
streams 100A containing data 115A. Data may be continually
transmitted in the digital stream to the set-top box, the digital
data may be periodically sent to the set-top box on the analog
channel for static content, or the digital data stream may be sent
only when content information is updated. As shown in FIG. 1A there
are five digital data streams 100A transmitted on a single analog
broadcast channel 110A. It should be understood that more than five
digital data streams may be included and that five digital data
streams are shown simply for exemplary purposes. Each digital
transport stream 100A represents a separate page of information
content for display on a television screen. Associated with each
digital transport stream is an identifier, such as PID 01, PID 02
etc. Thus, if a user tunes into an interactive television station,
the user will be presented with a first page (first stream) of
information content (PID 01). The user can then switch from one
stream to another by highlighting an on screen selection indicator
and pressing a selection button, such as `OK` on a remote control.
Navigation between icons is accomplished by the set-top box which
superimposes the selection indicator onto the displayed content and
responds to commands, such as directional commands, from the user
input device.
[0040] In certain embodiments, the interactive information content
115A in the digital transport streams 100A may be
subscription-based and therefore the digital transport streams 100A
are encrypted. In such an embodiment, the set-top box 105A that is
associated with a user's television 107A is at least capable of
decrypting the digital data in the digital transport streams and
decompressing the MPEG stream. The environment shown in FIG. 1 is
capable of providing an interactive experience for a user that is
associated with a television. In one interactive embodiment, the
set-top box includes a processor and associated computer program
for receiving requests for new information content that is not
included in the digital transport streams. In this embodiment, the
request is sent from the set-top box to the headend. The headend
facility can access the new desired information content and can
process the information content as an MPEG stream which is then
transmitted on an analog carrier to the requesting set-top box.
This analog carrier may be different than the original analog
carrier. In such an embodiment, the head end would send a control
signal to the set-top box, instructing the set-top box to change
channels. The set-top box would then change the channel and present
the new information content/web page. The set-top box decodes the
MPEG stream and displays the information content on the user's
television. In certain embodiments, the information content may be
web pages from the Internet. A user can employ a user input device,
such as a keyboard or a remote control to traverse the web page and
select links that are highlighted. The user transmits a directional
command and the set-top box determines the link that is being
selected. The set-top box then checks to see if the link is in one
of the digital streams. For example, a user may select a link on a
web page (PID 01) that requests page 4 (PID 04). The set-top box
can then switch to the requested digital stream and provide the
requested web page to the user. If the link is not part of the
digital transport streams, and if the cable system is so equipped,
a request will be sent upstream to the head end. The head end will
then retrieve the page and format the page as a digital transport
stream. The webpage associated with the selected channel link will
be transmitted to the set-top box on an analog channel. In order to
maximize bandwidth, links that are located on the requested webpage
may be accessed and requested by the web content server. Each of
these links and links to links may also be encoded as digital
transport streams and transmitted on the analog carrier as a
separate digital transport stream. Thus, in such an embodiment,
there may be interactivity between a user and the information
content. The ability to provide two-way interactive content is only
limited by the number of digital transport streams that are
associated with each analog channel and the number of available
analog channels. By decreasing the time between the encoding of and
the transmission of, a separate webpage, the cable system can
include more web pages on a single analog channel.
[0041] In certain embodiments, web content or other information
content may be presented in a predefined format rather than as an
instance of the web page in a web browser. For example, information
from a web page may be acquired by the headend facility and
formatted for display. This may be useful for providing access to
news, sports, weather and other general information. Different
content may be sent as different digital transport streams. In such
an embodiment, a user would be limited to switching between the
pages that are within the digital transport streams. As shown in
FIG. 1A, the user would only be able to traverse the five pages
(PID 01-PID 05). It should be understood that each category may
also be provided on a separate analog channel or all of the content
could be provided on a single analog channel.
[0042] In other embodiments, the digital transport streams are
associated with one of the analog channels that are broadcasting TV
content. For example, while watching a football game, a trigger may
be sent from the head end indicating that there is additional
information content. When the set-top box receives this command,
the set-top box overlays an indicator on the broadcast TV content
indicating that there is additional information content, such as,
team statistics. If the user sends a signal from the user input
device indicating that the user would like to view the content, the
set-top box will switch to the appropriate analog channel and
decode the digital transport stream associated with the team
statistics. In certain embodiments, the set-top box may not need to
switch analog channels as the digital transport streams may be
transmitted on the analog channel carrying the broadcast
information. Thus, information content may be associated with
television content. The set-top box determines which digital stream
to switch to by mapping data that is provided to the set-top box by
the headend. This mapping data is a look-up table that maps
broadcast channels to digital transport streams.
[0043] In certain analog cable systems, the headend only transmits
information content and does not receive upstream data from the
set-top box of a user. In these analog cable systems, interactivity
can still be achieved such that a user may make a selection based
upon information displayed on the user's television and as a result
of that selection, a new display screen with information content is
presented on the television. As already suggested, the information
content that is provided as digital transport streams to the
set-top box may be web pages from the Internet or other
pre-formatted information content. In the following discussion, the
information content will be assumed to be web page, however it
should be understood that this is done for convenience to the
reader and other information content may also be used with this
system for interactivity in a one-way cable system without
deviating from the scope of the invention.
[0044] In order to provide interactivity in these analog cable
systems, the interactive content is limited to the information
content in the multiple digital transport streams broadcast on one
or more analog channels. A user selects one of the 6 Mhz analog
channels that have been assigned by the cable provider as an
interactive channel. The user is then provided with a selection
screen that allows the user to select information content. For
example, the user may be capable of selecting between information
content, such as news, sports, weather and traffic. This selection
screen is included as one of the digital streams in the digital
transport streams.
[0045] The set-top box is equipped with a processor that is capable
of receiving commands from a user input device and for selecting
one of the digital transport streams for decoding based on the
selected command. Additionally, the processor includes code that
allows for superimposing an indicator on the television 132B as
shown in FIG. 1B wherein the indicator 130B is a rectangular box
that outlines a selection 133B. Using the received directional
command, the processor moves the indicator from one location on the
television screen to another location and allows the user to select
new information content by using a `selection` key 138B on the
remote control 137B. As such, the processor has an instruction set
for deciding on the appropriate digital transport stream to decode.
In certain embodiments, the head end sends mapping data (including
PMT, PAT) to the set-top box 134B allowing the set-top box to
determine which link (133B, 135B, 136B, 139B, 140B) has been
selected by as the result of a received selection signal from a
user input device 137B. This is especially useful if actual web
pages are displayed that do not have links arranged in a grid like
pattern. The set-top box access the mapping data which is a look-up
table and determines based upon directional commands received where
the indicator should be drawn on the screen as well as which
digital transport stream to switch to if a `select` signal is
subsequently received. In other embodiments, in which the content
is preformatted, the set-top box has a mapping program already
preconfigured, such that when a directional command is received
from a user device the set-top box can access the mapping program
and will know where to place a selection indicator or which new
page of information content should be displayed from the digital
transport streams if a `select` signal is received.
[0046] FIG. 1C shows the various modules that are included inside
of the set-top box 142C for allowing interactive content to be
selected without an upstream channel. The set-top box 142C contains
one or more processors 143C. Each module that is shown in FIG. 1C
may be computer code that is executable on a processor or each
module may be a separate processor. Additionally, it should be
understood that the functionality of multiple modules may be
combined together.
[0047] The set-top box 142C receives a command from a user input
device. For example, a remote control may transmit an IR
(infra-red) signal to a sensor on the set-top box. A selection
receiver module 144C, receives this signal and passes the signal on
to a selection module 145C. The selection module 145C executes code
that determines the digital transport stream to decode and forward
to the user's television. After the digital transport stream is
selected, the digital data from the stream is sent to memory 146C
prior to providing the data to the decryption module (if
applicable) 147C and the MPEG decoder 148C. The memory provides a
buffer for the streaming data. The encryption module 147C and the
MPEG decoder module 148C can use the memory 146C to store data
through the decryption and decoding processes.
[0048] The selection module 145C also determines if a selection
indicator needs to be superimposed on the image to be displayed of
the digital transport stream. For example, as shown in FIG. 1D a
selection screen 150D is provided on the television 151D of a user.
A rectangular indicator 152D is provided around the selectable
content for `sports.`
[0049] When the user changes the television to the interactive
channel 153D, the selection module selects the digital transport
stream containing the selection screen 150D and then the selection
module either superimposes the rectangular indicator 152D or
replaces code in the NIPEG stream so that the indicator will appear
on the television at a known location around a possible selection.
The user can then move between the various selections by using the
directional keys 154D on the input device 155D. The selection
module receives these commands and causes the indicator to be
redrawn on the television screen so that it appears to the user as
if the user has moved the indicator from one possible selection to
the next.
[0050] In one embodiment, information about the initial position of
the selection indicator and the possible locations for the
selection indicator are provided by the headend in one of the
digital transport streams. Thus, the selection module receives data
that provides mapping information and allows the selection module
to determine where to place the rectangular indicator based on the
commands forwarded from the selection receiver. In other
embodiments, the position of possible selections on all of the
screens is predetermined by the cable company, and therefore, the
mapping information is stored in the set-top box and is accessed by
the selection module. Mapping information may include coordinates
on a television screen indicative of possible selections. For
example, the mapping information may indicate that a rectangle
should be initially drawn at position 100, 0 where the rectangle
has a length of 40 and a width of 20 pixels with a line width of 2.
The mapping information would also indicate that if a `select`
command is received, the set-top box should select digital
transport stream 1. There would be similar information (location
and associated digital transport stream) for each of the possible
selections presented on the television. As shown in FIG. 1D, there
are six possible selections (News, Sports, Weather, Movie Previews,
Finance, and Entertainment). Each selection is associated with a
first digital transport stream (News 1, Sports 11, Weather 17
etc.). Each of the selections may also be associated with
additional digital transport streams (News 1-10, Sports 11-16,
Weather 17-18 etc.). As a result, News would have a tree of
possible screens of information that is 10 screens deep.
[0051] FIG. 1E shows a possible screen 160E that may be presented
if a user selects News. The user would then be able to move
forwards and backwards between news pages/digital transport streams
1-10. A directional key on a remote, could be used such that if a
right key were selected, the next sequential digital transport
stream would be decoded. Similarly, if a left key was selected the
previous digital transport stream would be selected. Additionally,
the user would be able to return to the initial selection screen by
selecting the selection screen button.
[0052] When a user causes a `selection` to be made by pressing a
button (e.g. "enter`) on a remote control and the selection module
determines which digital stream to decode, the selection module
then accesses the decryption module. As the data from the selected
digital transport stream is streamed into the memory, the
decryption module will begin the decryption process. The decryption
module performs the decryption algorithm on the data. Each set-top
box may be provided with its own private key which is stored in
non-volatile memory. Any known type of encryption and decryption
scheme that is compatible with packetized data, such as an MPEG
stream can be used (for example, asymmetrical key encryption). Once
the data is decrypted the data is passed to the MPEG decoder. The
MPEG decoder looks for a marker that indicates the beginning of a
video frame, such as an I-frame. When the marker is found in a
header, the decoder can begin decoding the video frames using
standard MPEG decoding. The decoded video is then output to the
television. The video may undergo a digital to analog conversion in
a digital to analog converter prior to its transfer to the
television. It should be understood that the digital data streams
may not be encrypted and therefore the decryption module may not be
necessary.
[0053] As previously stated, the digital video streams may be
associated with a regular broadcast analog channel. When
information content is associated with a broadcast, a trigger must
be sent from the head end to the set-top box announcing that there
is enhanced content. The set-top box is equipped to monitor a
digital image stream associated with the analog channel of the
broadcast for a trigger signal. When the trigger signal is
identified by the set-top box, the set-top box makes an
announcement to the television viewer indicating that there is
enhanced information content. The announcement may come in the form
of an overlay if the broadcast television signal is analog or
replacement of a portion of data in a decoded MPEG I-frame if the
broadcast television signal is composed of digital data broadcast
on the analog channel frequency. For example, once the data of the
MPEG I-frame is decoded, the upper right hand pixel data may be
replaced by an indicator that there is enhanced data. The indicator
may simply be a box that states "enhanced content available." The
enhanced content may include notification of upcoming events or
programs, interactive advertising, news associated with the
program, or even additional video content. The user may then select
the enhanced content by pressing a request key and the set-top box
will switch to the appropriate analog channel and decode the
appropriate digital transport stream associated with the enhanced
content associated with the broadcast channel.
[0054] In a different embodiment, a multi-angle video service may
be provided. In this embodiment, only one-way communication is
necessary. The multi-angle service is based on a one quarter of a
screen resolution at a low frame rate, such as, 8 frames per
second. The multi-angle views are provided as enhanced content,
where each view is provided on a different digital transport
stream. A user of such a system is notified by the set-top box that
multi-angle viewing is available for a program. If the user selects
multi-angle viewing by pressing a `select` key on the user input
device, the set-top box switches to a selection screen that allows
the user to select between one of the four available views. Based
upon the selected view, the set-top box switches to the appropriate
digital transport stream and decodes and presents the digital
transport stream on the user's television.
[0055] FIG. 1F is a flow chart of the steps that are performed by
the set-top box when a request is made for interactive content in a
cable system that provides only one-way transmission of information
content. A signal generated by a user input device is received by
the set-top box. The set-top box responds by changing the tuner
from the presently received channel to an interactive channel that
has been assigned by the cable system. The set-top box then
receives the corresponding analog signal for the interactive
channel including the channel's associated digital transport
streams (190F). The set-top box decodes a first digital transport
stream including mapping data and a selection screen. The mapping
data associates an identifier for a digital transport stream with a
screen location or directional command for the selection screen.
The mapping data may be in a look-up table. For example, mapping
data may indicate that the first digital transport stream has an
identifier of PID01 and is selected if a `selection signal` is
received from the user input device. The second digital transport
stream may have an identifier of PID02 and is selected if a right
directional signal is followed by a selection signal from the user
input device, and so on for each digital transport stream. The
set-top box decodes and possibly decrypts the selection screen and
outputs the selection screen in either digital or analog format to
the television set of the user (191F). Additionally, the set-top
box will superimpose a selection indicator on one of the possible
selections. In the mapping data provided from the headend is
coordinate locations for drawing a rectangular box around a
selection. In certain embodiments, after the selection screen has
been decoded, the set-top box substitutes pixel data into the
selection screen data and the proper positions for creating an
indicator around a first selection. The set-top box will then
receive one or more command signals from the user input. Referring
to FIG. 1D, the set-top box receives a down directional command
signal followed by a selection signal. As shown in FIG. 1D, the
set-top box first moves the selection indicator around the
selection "sports" after receiving the down directional command.
When the set-top box receives the selection command, the set-top
box consults the look-up table and determines that the digital data
stream for `sports` should be displayed. The set-top box then
decodes and outputs, the digital transport stream containing the
interactive information content to the user's television for
display (192F).
[0056] FIG. 2 is a hardware block diagram of a server suitable for
implementing the web content server shown in FIG. 1. The server 100
includes at least one processor 210 for processing information. The
processor couples via a bus 212 with Input/Output (I/O) devices
214, network device 216, uplink device 218, main and read only
memories 220-222 and mass storage device 224. The I/O device 214
may include keyboard and display. The network device 216, wired or
wireless, couples the server with the Internet 134, or other wide
area network (WAN) or local area network (LAN). The uplink device
couples to the uplink module 138 for modulating the transport
streams onto the analog TV channel. The main memory 220 stores
information and instructions for the processor. The read only
memory 222 stores static information and boot instructions for the
server. The mass storage device 224, such as magnetic disk and
associated disk drive, couples with the bus 200 for storing
information and instructions on the storage medium 200. The storage
medium contains: program code 202, setup tables 204, administrative
web pages 206 and may also include content pages 208. Content pages
136 may alternately be found on the Internet 134.
[0057] FIG. 3 is a software block diagram of the web content server
shown in FIG. 2. The carousel server 102 includes: core module 104,
multiplexer 106, a database server 316 and the various data
structures. The data structures include administrative web pages
206, program code 202, setup table 204 and content web pages 208.
The core includes a network interface 300, an administrative module
302, a carousel generator 304, a carousel controller 306, and a
digital image processing portion comprising the image capture and
conversion module 308 and MPEG compressor 310.
[0058] The MC 300 couples to the Internet 134, to provide an
alternate source for channel content. The multiplexer 106 couples
with the uplink module 138 shown in FIG. 1. During an
administrative phase of operation the administrative module 302
controls user login and access to one or more of the administrative
web pages 206. These pages (See FIGS. 4A-E) include forms for the
input and update of the setup and channel parameters for the
carousel server. As the user enters the data the administrative
server writes the data to the appropriate table and record within
the setup tables, e.g. the channel table 600 and the setup table
602 shown in FIGS. 6A-B. For each new channel a corresponding
master HTML page is defined. That page may be stored locally as one
of the content pages 208 or may be located on the web as indicated
by web pages 136 shown on the Internet.
[0059] At the completion of the administrative phase the generation
module 304 generates a number of browser instances 108, 122 and
334, corresponding to the number of channel records in the channel
control table 600. Each browser is initialized at its own
corresponding master HTML page (See FIG. 5 for example) indicated
in the starting URL field 470 of the associated record in the
channel table 600 (See FIG. 6A).
[0060] In the example shown browser instance 108 is initialized at
HTML master page 208 shown in FIG. 5. This page has its own URL.
Pages which are subsequently displayed in the I-frame structure
within the corresponding HTML master page 208 may themselves be
stored on the server of may be found on the Internet. A browser
instance 108 is shown displaying web page 110 within the I-frame
element. The page displayed includes URL 332. That URL will not
provide an active link when it is displayed on the users screen A
browser instance 122 is shown generated by the generation and
control module 304. That browser instance displays page 124 within
the browsers view window. Within the I-frame element of that page a
streaming video 344 is shown displaying film clips. The generation
module has also spawned a third browser instance 334 the content of
which is controlled by the associated one of the HTML master pages
208. The controller 306 maintains active API links with each
browser instance. Through these links the controller is able to
determine when a particular browser instance has finished loading a
new web page. The timing of these page loads may be determined by a
program written in a script language and made part of the master
page (See FIG. 5) which the corresponding browser instance then
executes to cyclically display pages in the I-frame. Alternately,
for other browser instances such as browser instance 122 the
controller determines the appropriate reload or capture intervals
for the channel from the corresponding record in the channel table
600 (See FIG. 6A). The controller causes the digital processing
stage to periodically capture each browser instance's associated
carousel images at time intervals determined either by the script
in the master page or by the reload or capture parameters for the
associated channel.
[0061] The digital processing stage includes the image capture and
conversion module 308 and MPEG compressor 310. The image capture
and conversion module is directed by the controller to periodically
capture each browser instance's associated carousel images and to
convert these from RGB format to a YUV image which is the preferred
image format for MPEG2 compression. The MPEG2 compression is the
next phase of operation and is performed successively for each
browser instance by the MPEG compressor 310. The bandwidth accorded
to each browser instance is governed under the direction of the
controller by the encode bitrate parameters 480 and channel bitrate
parameters 478 for the corresponding channel which are stored in
the channel table 600 (See FIG. 6). The MPEG compressor outputs
elementary streams for each browser instance. These elementary
streams consist largely of "I" frames since the image update
frequency for any channel is so slow in comparison to a normal
video stream with 30 frames per second per channel being the norm.
Here seconds may elapse before a subsequent image is processed for
any channel. Each compressed image out of the MPEG compressor forms
part of an elementary stream for the corresponding channel. The
elementary streams 112 and 126 for channels 150 and 149
respectively are shown. These elementary streams are assigned a
corresponding transport control protocol internet protocol (TCP/IP)
port number which is the manner in which they are presented to the
input of the multiplexer, i.e. as a inputs on a plurality of ports
314. Each port is associated with a corresponding channel, a
corresponding browser instance. The output of the multiplexer is a
transport stream with includes TS packets for each of the active
channels. These are passed to the uplink module 138.
[0062] In an alternate embodiment of the invention the carousel
server may be coupled with alternate communication mediums wired
and wireless to deliver TV channels to subscribers. Alternate
communication mediums include: subscriber line direct to the home
or satellite direct to the home for example. In these embodiments
the multiplexer output would be passed to the appropriate modulator
for transport on the wired or wireless communication medium.
[0063] FIGS. 4A-E show several of the web pages presented by the
administrative module 302. The administrative module 302 provides
administrative web pages 206 to configure the system and
information channels a.k.a. "carousels". In an embodiment of the
invention the module may additionally provide for: machine view;
status; modification and addition of users and content providers
and help.
[0064] FIGS. 4A-C show the graphical user interfaces associated
with administrative setup of the web content server shown in FIGS.
1-3. FIGS. 4D-E show the graphical user interfaces associated with
viewing, inserting, and modifying selected ones of the content
carousels associated with each low bandwidth digital channel
provided by the web content server shown in FIGS. 1-3. Each screen
is shown as a browser based graphical user interface with a menu
frame 404 on the left and a main frame on the right. The page
displayed in the main frame depends on the user menu selection. In
an alternate embodiment of the invention user interfaces would be
windows based rather than browser based. The pages shown in the
following FIGS. 4A-E are presented to an administrator after a
successful user login from a login screen (Not shown).
[0065] In FIG. 4A the administrator has selected menu choice 420
which is the channel map. This selection results in the display of
page 402 in the right hand frame of the browser 400 view area. The
channel map handles input and update of channel map parameters in a
form with input fields for the: virtual channel 430, the program
mapping table packet identification code (PMT PID) 432, the service
number 434, the maximum number of channels 436, the PID increment
438, the video PID 440 and the transport control protocol (TCP)
port offset 442. A submit element 416 on the page 402 allows for
input or update of the values of these fields and entry of the
associated field of information into the system setup table 602
(See FIG. 6B). This table is part of the setup tables 204 which are
accessible by the carousel module 104 via the database server 316
shown in FIG. 3. The virtual channel field 430 identifies the first
virtual channel number for the range used by the carousel server.
The virtual channels will be numbered from the first virtual
channel to the first virtual channel plus the maximum number of
channels minus one. The virtual channel numbers are assigned by
local or national cable plant personnel. The virtual channel number
is part of the channel map which is downloaded to every one of the
set top boxes 174, 180 and 186 shown in FIG. 1. The virtual channel
number is the number displayed to the user by the set-top box or
channel guide. The program mapping table packet identification code
(PMT PID) 432 is the MPEG stream number for the PMT for the first
virtual channel. The PMT PID for the remaining virtual channels are
incremented by the PID increment 438. All PMT PIDs must be in the
range 17-8190. Each PMT PID must be different for each of the video
PIDs. The value is usually 17. The service number 434 gives the
service number or MPEG program number for the first virtual
channel. This number is local to the MPEG transport stream for a
given analog carrier frequency. The remaining virtual channels use
the next higher service numbers. All service numbers must be in the
range 1-65535. The value is usually set to 1. The maximum number of
channels field 436 indicates the maximum number of channels which
will be supported in the MPEG transport stream. Each of these
possible channels will be given an equal share of the available
bandwidth This value is typically 30. The PID increment 438
indicates the change in PMT PID values for increasing virtual
channels and also the change in video PIDs. The value is typically
4. The video PID 440 is the MPEG stream number for the video data
for the first video channel. The video PIDs for the remaining
virtual channels are incremented by PID increment. All video PIDs
must be in the range 17-8190. This value is typically 18. The
transport control protocol (TCP) port offset 442 is the number
added to the virtual channel number to determine the TCP socket
used by the MPEG digital multiplexer 106 to receive MPEG data from
the MPEG compressor 310 in the carousel.
[0066] In FIG. 4B the administrator has selected menu choice 422
which is the channel format. This selection results in the display
of page 406 in the right hand frame of the browser 400 view area.
The channel format page handles input and update of channel format
parameters in a form with input fields for the aspect ratio and
margins of the screen image. Fields 448-454 accept the user inputs
for the left, right, top and bottom screen margins respectively.
Fields 444-446 accept user inputs for the width and height
respectively of the actual image displayed on the TV. The values
are in multiples of 16 with a recommended value of 640 for the
width and 480 for height. The submit element 416 on the page 406
allows for input or update of the values of these fields and entry
of the associated field of information into the system setup table
602 (See FIG. 6B).
[0067] In FIG. 4C the administrator has selected menu choice 424
which is the setup parameters for the multiplexer 106 (See FIG. 3).
This selection results in the display of page 408 in the right hand
frame of the browser 400 view area. The multiplexer setup page
handles input and update of multiplexer parameters in a form with
input fields for the: transport stream ID 456, total bandwidth 458
and available bandwidth 460. The transport stream ID provides the
MPEG stream ID number. The value is typically in the range of 1 to
65535. The total bandwidth is the analog carrier bandwidth in MHz.
For the United States this value should be 6. The available
bandwidth is the amount of analog carrier bandwidth that may be
used for the various carousels controlled by the carousel core 104
(See FIG. 1). The submit element 416 on the page 408 allows for
input or update of the values of these fields and entry of the
associated field of information into the system setup table 602
(See FIG. 6B).
[0068] In FIG. 4D the administrator has selected menu choice 426
which is the carousel view. This selection results in the display
of page 410 in the right hand frame of the browser 400 view area.
This page provides information on each carousel/channel that the
user is allowed to access. Each screen displays a predefined number
of carousels. The information is dynamically updated. The defined
carousel statuses are as follows: Inactive, Active, Crashed, Bad
URL, Pending and Unknown. For each carousel, the status, channel
number, channel name and URL currently displayed on the channel are
displayed. The <backward> and <forward> buttons allow
the user to page backward and forwards through the various
channels.
[0069] If a particular Channel Number (a.k.a. Carousel) is selected
while within the Carousel View page 410, the Modify/Input Carousel
page 412 is displayed. This page is the substantially the same page
displayed when a user selects insert channel menu item 428 from the
menu page 404. The difference between the two access paths to this
page is that in the modify case the page form input elements
display the parameters currently in the associated record in the
channel table 600 (See FIG. 6A) and may additionally include
current status information for the carousel. In the insert carousel
case the form input elements contain null entries initially and no
status information since the channel is not yet established.
[0070] The Modify/Input Carousel page is shown in FIG. 4E. The
channel number field 464 allows entry of the channel number
assigned to the carousel. This value is typically from 1-4095. The
channel name field 466 allows entry of the channel name assigned to
the selected channel/carousel. The starting uniform resource
locator (URL) field 470 allows entry of the start up path or web
address for the master HfML, page 208 (See FIG. 5) of which there
is one for each channel. The URL that is loaded when the carousel
starts. The program ID field 482 allows user input of the program
ID for the associated channel. The program ID has a typical value
from 1-65535. The PID field 484 allows user entry of a value
corresponding with the PMT rate in the transport stream output of
the multiplexer 106 (See FIG. 3). The PMT field 486 allows user
entry of the program mapping table ID. The channel bit rate field
478 allows user input of a value which controls the image quality
and refresh frequency of the MPEG frames. Values typically range
from 10,000-10,000,000 bps. The encoding bit rate field 480 allows
user input of a value which controls the maximum amount of data,
typically 1,000,000-10,000,000 bps that is sent out per second. The
reload interval field 474 allows user input of a value
corresponding with the time period, typically 2,000-3,600,000 mSec
at which the URL is reloaded. This field is not used if the HTML
field 472 is set to TRUE, because the HTML script will control the
update parameters. The capture interval field 476 allows user input
of a value corresponding with the time period, typically
2,000-3,600,000 mSec at which the URL is captured without having to
reload the web page. This field is not used if the HTML field 472
is set to TRUE, because the HTML script will control the update
parameters. The HTML field 472 allows user selection of Boolean
"TRUE" or "FALSE" values.
[0071] These values define how the carousel core 104 will process
the start URL field 470. If the HTML field 472 is TRUE, then the
start URL field must contain a web page that defines which web
pages are displayed and at what rate pages are updated and changed.
If the field is FALSE, then the start URL field contains a web page
that is updated or reloaded as defined by the reload and capture
interval fields. Typically the reload, capture or refresh interval
is one or two orders of magnitude less than the image capture rate
for a normal video stream in which 30 frames are captured every
second. This greatly reduces the bandwidth requirements and allows
more channels to be carried on a 6 MHz analog channel. In MPEG
terminology, the MPEG compressor will typically only output "I"
frames for each channel and will avoid creation of "B" or "P"
frames.
[0072] Where the page 412 is for an existing channel which is being
modified the following information may additionally be provided:
the current state of the carousel; the URL currently displayed, the
# of unsuccessful loads of the URL, the time at which the carousel
was started and the last refresh, capture and load times.
Additionally, where more than one carousel is being operated in a
clustered format the IP address of the master carousel may also be
displayed. The Carousel status is updated at the bottom of screen
for each command. The supported carousel States are as follows:
[0073] Inactive, Active, Crashed, Bad URL, Pending and Unknown. The
submit icon 416 allows user entry of the parameters in the form 412
to the associated record in the channel table 600 shown in FIG. 6A.
Additional interfaces may be added to reset, start, stop, remove or
refresh the associated carousel/channel.
[0074] In alternate embodiments of the invention additional
administrative screens may be added for setting up various accounts
and privileges to each of the above mentioned screens for users
including content providers. Screens may also be added to handle
multiple servers working in a clustered arrangement.
[0075] FIG. 5 shows a master web page 208 for a channel (See FIG.
2). The master web page defines content associated with a single
digital channel. There is one master web page for each channel. The
master page may be formatted in several different ways depending on
the channel to be displayed. In FIG. 5 the master page for the
"Ski" channel associated with the browser instance 330 in FIG. 3 is
shown. That page to include a persistent portion and a cyclic
portion. The cyclic portion is defined by the embedded floating
frame in which a slide carousel of additional web page(s) may be
displayed. The persistent portion is the remainder of the page
which remains in the browsers view window throughout the session.
Within the cyclic portion the set of web pages defined in array 500
are cyclically displayed, for time intervals determined by the
script embedded in the persistent portion of the page.
[0076] The embedded cyclic frame portion is formed from an HTML
element identified as an "Iame" which is currently specifically
supported by Internet Explorer.RTM. Microsoft Corporation Redmond,
Wash. This element departs from the standard FRAME structure
syntax. This in-line framing method (also called "floating frames")
is basically a method to embed other HTML documents within the
framework of a regular HTML document structure with the level of
placement control allowed by the MG element. In implementation and
display it is created and treated much like the OBJECT element. The
hypertext markup language (HTML) floating frame element 508 is
embedded in the master page. The contents of the floating frame are
cycled at a predefined time interval in round robin fashion between
the web sites of the various ski areas selected by the content
provider. The pages displayed list among other information the snow
levels and ski conditions at each ski resort. The URLs for the web
pages to be displayed sequentially are contained in a carousel
array 500 which may contain any number 1-N of URLs. The page also
includes three functions 502, 504, 506 written in a script language
for cycling the URLS in the array 500 within the frame element 508.
The script language shown is JavaScript.RTM. Netscape N.Y., N.Y.
Other script languages may be used. The browser instance for the
corresponding channel executes the script in the master HTML page
208 when the page is loaded thus cycling the image displayed in the
I-frame portion 508 of the page 208 in round robin fashion among
the various web sites represented by the URLS in the carousel array
500. This type of master HTML page allows controls the timing of
uploading and display of each URL. As the corresponding URL is
uploaded the generator and control module 304 of the carousel core
104 (See FIG. 3) is notified via an associated API of the browser
instance. When the channel record for which this page is the
starting URL is established the value of to HTML field 472 would be
set to Boolean "TRUE" indicating that the master page is to control
the timing of page update and change. Other HTML master pages for
other channels could follow the same or a different format. In an
alternate embodiment of the invention a master page may in fact
include both a persistent parent frame set, and associated
persistent and cyclic child frame pages. In this embodiment of the
invention the persistent one of the child frame pages contains the
script referred to above the effect of which is to change the page
displayed in the therefore cyclic child frame.
[0077] The master page for the "Movie Review" channel shown in the
browser instance 342 in FIG. 3 might show a single page in which
the page or a frame element thereof would display an active
graphical element, e.g. a streaming video of various movie
previews. The sequencing from one preview clip to another would be
provided by the content provider as part of the streaming video.
For this type of master page there would be no page cycling. Thus
in the associated channel record the value of the HTML field 472
would be set to Boolean "FALSE" indicating that the master page
does not control the timing of page update and change. Instead the
user would setup the channel record with the appropriate value for
the capture interval in field 476. At the end of each capture
interval the generator and control module 304 would cause the image
grabber 306 to capture the page.
[0078] In other embodiments of the invention the HTML master page
might be a persistent page with no cyclic page. Such a page might
for example contain stock market data updated from time to time by
the content provider. For the channel corresponding with this type
of master HTML page the channel record value of HTML field 472
would also be set to Boolean "FALSE" indicating that the master
page does not control the timing of page update and change. Instead
the user would setup the channel record with the appropriate value
for the reload interval in field 474. At the end of each reload
interval the generator and control module 304 would cause the
browser instance to reload the page and the image capture and
converter 308 to capture the page after reloading.
[0079] FIGS. 6A-B show the channel and system setup tables
respectively. These individual. tables are part of the set of setup
tables 204 shown in FIGS. 2-3. The channel table 600 shown in FIG.
6A contains individual setup records for each of the channels. Each
record contains a plurality of setup parameter fields, e.g. fields
462-486 for identifying the channel name, starting URL,
refresh/reload/capture interval, bandwidth requirements and various
elementary stream and transport stream identifiers. These records
were input by the administrator/user via input pages shown in FIGS.
4D-E. The system setup table 602 shown in FIG. 6B contains the
system parameters for each analog channel including: channel
mapping, channel format, and bandwidth allocation for the combined
channels as input by the user via input pages shown in FIGS.
4A-C.
[0080] FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram for the web carousel server
shown in FIGS. 1-3. Processing begins at start block 700 in which
system initialization is performed.
[0081] Next in decision process 702 a determination is made as to
whether a successful administrative login has taken place. This
determination is made by the administrative module 302 (See FIG. 3)
using user name and password information. If an administrative
login has taken place then control passes to process 704 in which
the administrator may select among the administrative Web pages
402,406-412 shown in FIGS. 4A-E to set system parameters or to add
or update parameters for existing channels. In process 706 the
parameters updated or entered by the user via the forms on any of
the administrative web pages are written to either the channel or
system set up tables 600-602 respectively shown in FIGS. 6A-B.
Control is then passed to process 708. Process 708 is the same
process reached directly from decision process 702 when there is no
administrative login.
[0082] In process the 708 the generator 304 of the carousel server
102 determines which channels are to be activated from the
parameters stored in the channel set up table 600 shown in FIG. 6A.
These parameters were loaded into the channel set up table during
the administrative access in processes 704-706. The generator then
initializes a browser instance for each channel in the channel
setup table. An associated interval timer or similar software
construct is initialized in main memory 220 (See FIG. 52) for each
channel for which the "HTML" field parameter is FALSE. These timers
allow the reload or capture interval to be determined for the
associated channel In process 710 each browser is initialized with
a respective starting URL 470 for that channel as indicated in each
channels record in channel table 600. The starting URL points to
the master HTML page 208 for each corresponding channel. The master
page for each channel may be stored on the carousel server or may
be available over the Internet 134. Each channel will independently
begin cycling through the one or more HTML pages indicated in the
Carousel list in the master HTML page 208 for each channel (See
FIG. 5). These pages will be cyclically displayed in the cyclic
portion of the master page, e.g. the I-frame structure.
[0083] Next in decision process 712 the processes associated with
image capture and compression are commenced. In decision process
712 a determination is made by the controller as to whether the
next channel, i.e. the next active browser, is to be serviced. This
decision can be made on the basis of interrupts generated by the
browser instances running as independent "threads" or processes,
when a new or refreshed HTML page is present in the corresponding
browser or the decision can be made on the basis of a fixed
round-robin sequence in which the controller services each of the
browser instances. Next in process 714 the parameters for the
channel to be serviced are obtained from the associated record in
the channel setup table 600 shown in FIG. 6A.
[0084] Then in decision process 716 a determination is made as to
whether the parameter in HTML field 472 of the associated channel
record in table 600 is Boolean "TRUE" or "FALSE". If the Boolean
value is TRUE control is passed to decision process 730. In
decision process 730 a determination is made by the controller 304
as to whether the browser instance which is being serviced has
generated an interrupt or other indication that a new page has been
loaded. If not, control passes to decision process 712 for the
servicing of the next channel If however the channel being serviced
has indicated via interrupt, or other application interface that a
new page has been loaded then the control is passed to process 740
for capture of the image displayed in the inline frame element 508
of the corresponding master HTML page 208 (See FIG. 5).
[0085] If alternately in decision process 716 a determination is
made that parameter in the HTML field 472 of the corresponding
channel record is Boolean "FALSE" then control is passed to process
718. In process 718 the value of the interval timer for the
associated channel is determined. The timer allows the reload or
capture interval for the associated channel to be continuously
tracked. The simplest form of timer is a count down timer with the
count down value re-initialized with each frame grab at the value
for whichever of a reload or capture parameter for the associated
channel is to indicated in fields 474-476 of the associated channel
record (See FIG. 6A). Next in decision process 720 a determination
is made as to whether the reload or capture interval for the
associated timer has elapsed. If not control returns to decision
process 712 for the servicing of the next channel. If the
associated countdown timer has elapsed than control passes to
decision process 722.
[0086] In decision process 722 a determination is made as to
whether the record for the associated channel is one which calls
for a reload interval in field 474 or a capture interval in field
476. If the channel is one which calls for a capture control is
passed to process 728. A channel that requires a capture at a given
interval is a channel which does not require reloading of the web
page. This type of channel is appropriate where the corresponding
web page(s) embed streaming video, Active X.RTM. or Power Point
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond Wash., presentations. In process 728
the interval timer for the corresponding channel is reset with the
capture interval value stored in capture field 474 of the channel
record. Control is then passed to process 740 in which the image
capture, i.e. frame grab for the associated channel is effected by
the frame grabber 306 under the direction of the controller 304
(See FIG. 3).
[0087] Alternately, if it is determined in decision process 722
that the associated channel is set up for reloading at a reload
interval then control is passed to process 724. In process 724 the
browser that is being serviced is directed by an API initiated by
the controller 304 to reload the current page. Control is then
passed to process 726 in which the interval timer for the
corresponding channel is reset with the capture interval value
stored in the capture field 476 of the channel's associated record
in channel table 600 (See FIG. 6A). Control is then also passed to
process 740.
[0088] In process 740 the image capture for the associated channel
is affected by the image capture and conversion module 308 under
the direction of the controller 306 (See FIG. 3). Control is then
passed to, process 742 in which the RGB digital image captured by
the image capture and conversion module is converted to YUV format
which is the input format used by MPEG2 compression systems.
Control next passes to process 744 in which the converted image is
subject to MPEG compression in the MPEG compressor 310 shown in
FIG. 3. Next in process 746 the images for each channel are
assigned a corresponding elementary stream and port number. Then
they are passed to the bandwidth control 312 and the multiplexer
106. (See FIGS. 1,3). The processes including bandwidth control in
the multiplexer are set forth in greater detail in the following
FIG. 8. Control then returns to decision process 712 for the
servicing of the next browser instance, i.e. the next channel.
[0089] FIG. 8 is a detailed process flow diagram of the bandwidth
regulating and multiplexer processes performed in the bandwidth
controller 312 and the multiplexer 106 shown in FIG. 3. Processing
begins in start block 800 in which the system is initialized.
Control then passes to process 802 which clears the bandwidth
budget for all channels. Control then passes to process 804 in
which the number of bits for each channel in a relevant measuring
period is calculated. The National Television Standards Committee
(NTSC) proscribes a frame rate of 29.97 frames per second for a
broadcast television channel. This is the interval chosen to
regulate bandwidth for each channel on the transport stream. The
total usable bitrate is derived from field 460 of system table 602
(See FIGS. 4C-6B) by subtracting the bitrate required for PMT, PAT,
PCR packets and a small reserve. The bitrate for one channel is
determined by dividing the total usable bitrate by the product of
the number of channels times the frame rate. Control is then passed
to process 806 in which the next frame period is awaited. At the
start of the next frame period control is passed to process 808 in
which the channel is chosen. Control is then passed to process 812
in which the bit budget increment per frame period calculated in
process 804 is added to the bandwidth budget for this channel.
Control is then passed to decision process 814. In decision process
814 a determination is made for this channel as to whether there is
a new PES packet. If there is not, control passes to decision
process 818. If there is a new PES packet control passes to process
816 in which the new PES packet is saved in a channel buffer which
is kept for this and every other channel by the multiplexer, after
which buffering control is also passed to decision process 818. In
decision process 818 a determination is made as to whether there is
a saved PES packet stored in the corresponding buffer and whether
the current bandwidth budget for the channel being processed is
greater than or equal to the size of the PES packet. If it is, then
in process 820 the bandwidth budget for this channel is decremented
by the size of the packet, and then in process 830 the
corresponding PES packet is sent and control is passed to decision
process 832.
[0090] Alternately, if in decision process 818 the current
bandwidth budget for the channel does not exceed the size of the
PES packet in the corresponding buffer then control is passed to
decision process 822, in which a determination is made as to
whether a dummy "P" frame needs to be sent. That determination
itself rests on one of two conditions: a) if a PES packet was sent
in the previous frame interval a dummy "P" frame is sent or b) if
the time elapsed since the last packet was sent for this channel
exceeds that required for proper performance of the set top box
then a dummy "P" frame is sent to keep the communication stream to
the set top box or TV active for this channel. If a determination
is made that no dummy "P" frame needs to be sent then in process
828 nothing is sent and control passes directly to decision process
832. Alternately, if a "P" frame is to be sent then in process 824
the bit budget for the channel is decremented by the size of the
dummy "P" frame and control is passed to process 826 in which the
corresponding dummy "P" frame is sent. Subsequently control is
passed to decision process 832. In decision process 832 a
determination is made as to whether more channels remain to be
processed in this frame period. If so control passes to process 810
for selection of the next channel and subsequent processing in
process 812. If no more channels remain to be processed in this
interval then control returns to process 806 to await the start of
the next frame period.
[0091] In multiplexor 106 (See FIG. 3), the PES packets sent in
process 830 and the dummy P-frames sent in process 826 are combined
with PAT, PMT and PCR streams to create an MPEG2 transport stream.
The data from each stream is broken up and stored in the payload of
188-byte TS packets. All the TS packets are queued and the
transport stream is constructed by taking TS packets out of the
queues. The queuing provides a buffering function to handle short
bursts where TS packets arrive faster than they can be output to
the transport stream. The bandwidth regulation ensures that the
average data rate is less than the output rate.
[0092] The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the
invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and
description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously many
modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners
skilled in this art. It is intended that the scope of the invention
be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *