U.S. patent application number 11/447621 was filed with the patent office on 2006-10-12 for method and apparatus for internet tv.
Invention is credited to Robert Freidson, David Kunin, Sergey Tolkachev, Boaz Vinogradov.
Application Number | 20060230422 11/447621 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26863229 |
Filed Date | 2006-10-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060230422 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kunin; David ; et
al. |
October 12, 2006 |
Method and apparatus for Internet TV
Abstract
A telephone interface and voice recognition driven Internet
browser system and method for accessing/browsing the Internet or
other remote computing services on a cable or satellite television
includes a phone for receiving a voice signal from a user. The
voice signal controls a telephone interface, which displays
Internet contents or other computing services on the television via
a cable or satellite television channel/media. The system also
includes a voice recognizer, preferably operated on a supercomputer
or located in the phone, for recognizing/interpreting/analyzing a
plurality of voice signals and generating command signals to
access/browse the Internet or other computer services. The voice
recognizer is capable of recognizing/interpreting/analyzing voice
signals transmitted from a plurality of users in real time. The
system further includes a stack of computers and an Internet
browser. Each of the stack of computers is capable of
accessing/browsing the Internet and retrieving/organizing requested
Internet contents via the Internet browser. The requested Internet
contents are sent to the user via a cable or satellite television
channel/media with a frame grabber, an intelligent router, or a
pre-downloaded system.
Inventors: |
Kunin; David; (Minneapolis,
MN) ; Tolkachev; Sergey; (Bloomington, MN) ;
Freidson; Robert; (Bloomington, MN) ; Vinogradov;
Boaz; (Scottsdale, AZ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
COOLEY GODWARD LLP
THE BROWN BUILDING - 875 15TH STREET, NW
SUITE 800
WASHINGTON
DC
20005-2221
US
|
Family ID: |
26863229 |
Appl. No.: |
11/447621 |
Filed: |
June 6, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09717931 |
Nov 21, 2000 |
7086079 |
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11447621 |
Jun 6, 2006 |
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09686114 |
Oct 11, 2000 |
6978475 |
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11447621 |
Jun 6, 2006 |
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60167505 |
Nov 24, 1999 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
725/106 ;
348/E7.071; 725/109; 725/110; 725/112; 725/122 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/6143 20130101;
H04M 3/4938 20130101; H04N 21/6187 20130101; H04N 21/233 20130101;
H04N 21/6118 20130101; H04N 21/42203 20130101; H04N 21/4782
20130101; H04N 7/17318 20130101; H04N 21/6581 20130101; H04N
21/4227 20130101; H04M 7/0027 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/106 ;
725/122; 725/112; 725/109; 725/110 |
International
Class: |
H04N 7/173 20060101
H04N007/173 |
Claims
1. A system for accessing/browsing the Internet on a television,
comprising: a phone for receiving a voice signal from a user, the
voice signal controlling a television display, which is capable of
displaying Internet contents via a television channel; a voice
recognizer for recognizing/interpreting/analyzing the voice signal
and generating a command signal, the voice recognizer being capable
of recognizing/interpreting/analyzing voice signals transmitted
from a plurality of users; an Internet browser for
accessing/browsing the Internet and retrieving/organizing requested
Internet contents; and a stack of computers, each of the stack of
computers operable to access/browse the Internet and
retrieve/organize requested Internet contents based on the command
signal and the requested Internet contents being sent from at least
one of the stack of computers to the television via the television
channel.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the television channel is a cable
television channel.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the television channel is a
satellite television channel.
4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a filter having an
identification, wherein the phone has an identification, if the
identification of the phone does not match with the identification
of the filter, the filter filters out the requested Internet
contents, and if the identification of the phone matches with the
identification of the filter, the filter lets the requested
Internet contents pass through such that the requested Internet
contents are displayed on the television.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a frame grabber, the
frame grabber locally refreshes the Internet contents on the
television until a subsequent user request being made.
6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a frame grabber, the
frame grabber locally refreshes the Internet contents on the
television for a period of time.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the voice recognizer is operated
by a supercomputer coupled to a phone switching network.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the stack of computers and the
Internet browser are disposed in a cable system.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein the phone switching network is
coupled to a plurality of phones for routing corresponding voice
signals from the plurality of users to the voice recognizer for
recognizing/interpreting/analyzing the corresponding voice signal
and generating command signals to access/browse the Internet.
10. A method of accessing/browsing the Internet on a television,
comprising: receiving a voice signal from a user, the voice signal
controlling a television display, which is capable of displaying,
requested Internet contents via a television channel; routing the
voice signal to a voice recognizer;
recognizing/interpreting/analyzing the voice signal and generating
command signals, the voice recognizer being capable of
recognizing/interpreting/analyzing voice signals transmitted from a
plurality of users; accessing/browsing the requested Internet
contents; and presenting accessed/browsed Internet contents on the
television via the television channel.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the television channel is a
cable television channel.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the television channel is a
satellite television channel.
13. The method of claim 10, further comprising filtering out the
requested Internet contents by a filter if an identification of the
phone does not match with an identification of the filter, the
filter letting the requested Internet contents pass through if the
identification of the phone matches with the identification of the
filter.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising locally refreshing
the Internet contents on the television until a subsequent user
request being made.
15. The method of claim 10, further comprising locally refreshing
the Internet contents on the television for a period of time.
16. A computer program storage medium readable by a computing
system and encoding a computer program of instructions for
executing a computer process for accessing/browsing the Internet on
a television, the computer process comprising: receiving a voice
signal from a user, the voice signal controlling a television
display, which is capable of displaying, requested Internet
contents via a television channel; routing the voice signal to a
voice recognizer; recognizing/interpreting/analyzing the voice
signal and generating command signals, the voice recognizer being
capable of recognizing/interpreting/analyzing voice signals
transmitted from a plurality of users; accessing/browsing the
requested Internet contents; and presenting accessed/browsed
Internet contents on the television via the television channel.
17. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave readable by a
computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions
for executing a computer process for accessing/browsing the
Internet on a television, the computer process comprising:
receiving a voice signal from a user, the voice signal controlling
a television display, which is capable of displaying, requested
Internet contents via a television channel; routing the voice
signal to a voice recognizer; recognizing/interpreting/analyzing
the voice signal and generating command signals, the voice
recognizer being capable of recognizing/interpreting/analyzing
voice signals transmitted from a plurality of users;
accessing/browsing the requested Internet contents; and presenting
accessed/browsed Internet contents on the television via the
television channel.
18. A system for requesting Internet access/browsing via a
narrowband medium and displaying requested information via a
broadband medium, comprising: a control device for uploading a
user's request via the narrowband medium; a stack of computers for
receiving and processing the user's request from the control
device, each of the stack of computers operable to access/browse
the Internet and retrieve Internet contents based on the user's
request; an Internet browser, operated by at least one of the
computers, being arranged and configured to access/browse the
Internet and retrieve the requested Internet contents; and a
receiving device for receiving and displaying the Internet contents
from the stack of computers, the Internet contents being downloaded
to the receiving device via the broadband medium.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the narrowband medium includes
a phone line.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the broadband medium includes a
cable line.
21. The system of claim 18, wherein the broadband medium includes a
satellite signal wave.
22. The system of claim 18, wherein the control device includes a
phone, and the receiving device includes a television.
23. A system for requesting a computing service provided at a
remote site via a narrowband medium and displaying requested
computing service at a local site via a broadband medium,
comprising: a control device for uploading the computing service
request via the narrowband medium, the control device being located
at the local site; a computer for receiving and processing the
computing service request from the control device; and a receiving
device for receiving and displaying a processed result from the
computer, the processed result being downloaded to the receiving
device via the broadband medium.
24. The system of claim 23, wherein the narrowband medium includes
a phone line.
25. The system of claim 23, wherein the broadband medium includes a
cable line.
26. The system of claim 23, wherein the broadband medium includes a
satellite wave.
27. The system of claim 23, wherein the control device includes a
phone, and the receiving device includes a television.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a Continuation-In-Part application of
U.S. patent application, U.S. Ser. No. 09/686,114, filed on Oct.
11, 2000, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTERNET TV", by David
Kunin, Sergey Tolkachev, Robert Freidson, and Boaz Vinogradov;
which claims the benefit of Provisional Application, U.S. Ser. No.
60/167,505, filed on Nov. 24, 1999, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS
FOR INTERNET TV", by David Kunin, Sergey Tolkachev, Robert
Freidson, and Boaz Vinogradov.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a remote-controlled
television Internet system and method, and more particularly, to a
telephone interface and voice recognition driven Internet browser
system and method for Internet accessing and browsing as well as
other remote computing services on a cable or satellite
television.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] In entering into the twenty-first century, Internet business
or e-commerce has become one of the largest industries and
continues its growth exponentially. Many people's daily lives are
closely related to the Internet business and are significantly
impacted by the Internet technology's evolution and revolution.
More and more people have used the Internet and even
accessed/browsed the Internet in their daily lives, whether for
work, entertainment, shopping, or education, etc. The Internet is
creating a new economy, which is competing with people's
traditional way of living.
[0006] Like many other new technology, Internet technology is
facing many challenges and problems, particularly when Internet
technology is penetrating into the general public. One of the main
problems is that Internet accessing/browsing often requires one to
know how to use a personal computer. At present, still the majority
of the general public is not computer literate or may not care to
be computer literate. Many people have found that a personal
computer is clumsy, expensive to maintain and/or upgrade, and often
not reliable. As a result, many people still avoid using a personal
computer.
[0007] Further, even if one uses a personal computer, to
access/browse the Internet is often problematic. For example, the
Internet connection between a computer and Internet providers is
often denied during a peak time, and the Internet connection is
generally very slow in uploading/downloading Internet information.
People have to pay much more monthly fees to obtain a relatively
higher speed access to the Internet. Such fees put the access to
the Internet out of reach of most people.
[0008] In addition, a personal computer is usually used for a lot
of different applications, such as word processing, imaging
designing, networking, email, Internet accessing/browsing web
sites, etc. These applications and the computer itself are
co-existed and generally operated by a complicated software
operating system, thereby significantly slowing down the operations
of the applications. The more applications are operated by an
operating system, the slower the operation speed is. This
significantly slows down the performance of the Internet
accessing/browsing. The operation overhead of most personal
computers is not optimized for advanced Internet performance like
streaming video or other high volume data transmission
applications.
[0009] Also, a personal computer does not provide a comfortable
setting for people to surf the Internet for entertainment,
shopping, education, etc. As a result, many people, even if they
own a personal computer, have been looking for other alternatives
to access the Internet.
[0010] Some recent Internet technology has demonstrated its ability
to access/browse the Internet without a personal computer by using
new types of devices broadly called "information
appliance"--essentially, they are digital gadgets of various sizes
and shapes, which are dedicated to surfing the Internet. Some
devices resemble cable TV boxes, and some others look like small
laptops, mobile phones, etc. Some devices are used to surf the
Internet and access e-mails, and some others are strictly used to
surf the Internet. While people have saved money from buying a
personal computer, they are forced to purchase as well as maintain
a new line of "information appliance" for different purposes.
Furthermore, these new devices are basically small sized computers
for different specific purposes. However, many people still are not
interested in buying a new device just to surf the Internet.
[0011] The general public is used to conventional devices, such as
televisions, phones, etc. Also, the majority of the general public
has already owned these conventional devices. They are easy to
operate and relatively reliable in performance. Therefore, there is
a desire for the general public to access/browse the Internet via
these conventional devices without using a personal computer, or
other hardware equipment, such as modem, "information appliance",
etc. Just like many people have quit buying an answering machine
for storing phone messages--instead, using a "hardware-less" voice
messaging service--, there is a need to have a "hardware-less"
Internet service to access/browse the Internet via conventional
televisions and phones.
[0012] Most of the homes or offices have recently been wired for
cable broadcast, which may hook to a set top box and a cable ready
television, or wired for a satellite receiver to receive multiple
television channels. It is desirable to use the existing cable
wiring or satellite receiver to receive Internet information. More
importantly, cables or satellite channels have much wider bandwidth
to serve the general public than phone lines which computers are
generally connected to. It is desirable to use the existing wide
band cable or satellite systems to receive volumetric Internet
information, such as streaming video, etc.
[0013] Internet TVs were proposed several years ago. Internet TVs
were proposed to provide people the possibility of obtaining
Internet access at a location, such as at home, by using only a
regular cable TV set and an easy-to-use control device, such as a
phone. For example, a concept of a telephone remote-controlled
cable television Internet was once introduced, in which button keys
of a push button-type telephone at a cable television subscriber's
end are used to simulate functions of a computer mouse or a
computer keyboard to remote-control, via a telephone network, an
Internet main unit at a cable television provider's end, so as to
acquire Internet resources around the world.
[0014] However, the proposed Internet TVs are very primitive and
immature. Due to the communication channel band limitation, the
proposed Internet TVs cannot serve multiple users or a large amount
of users at the same time. In addition, there are privacy or other
security concerns, which have not been addressed, in the proposed
Internet TVs. Further, the push button-type telephone interface is
not user-friendly. People are not used to relate the button keys or
their corresponding English letters on a telephone to the
represented functions or modes. Also, different telephones may have
a different arrangement for the button keys. These make surfing the
Internet very time consuming and uncomfortable. Furthermore, the
button keys on a telephone may malfunction after a period of use.
Moreover, quite a few people are still using conventional rotary
telephones, which do not have push button keys.
[0015] The Internet TVs were proposed to allow a user to surf the
Internet on TV. However, the proposed Internet TVs mainly provide a
bridge between the Internet URL sources and the cable TV systems by
stream downloading whatever the URL sources present. Users may not
very easily browse Internet contents to find what they are looking
for because the stream-downloaded Internet contents are merely
related to certain URL sources or destinations. Many users have
wasted a lot of time in looking for URL sources and/or in browsing
Internet contents. Users often desire assistance in an interactive
manner to not only find a URL source for certain Internet contents,
but also have a user-friendly interface to find the URL source and
go through the Internet contents. Also, the users would often like
to organize Internet contents in a specific fashion.
[0016] It is with respect to these or other considerations that the
present invention has been made.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] To overcome the limitations in the prior art described
above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent
upon reading and understanding the present specification, the
present invention discloses a telephone controlled cable or
satellite television Internet system and method and remote
computing service systems and methods.
[0018] The present invention solves the above-described problems by
using a telephone interface and voice recognition driven Internet
browser system and method for Internet accessing/browsing on a
cable or satellite television. One of the cable or satellite
channels is designated for the Internet accessing/browsing.
[0019] In one embodiment of the present invention, a system for
accessing/browsing the Internet on a cable or satellite television,
includes: a phone for receiving a voice signal from a user, the
voice signal controlling an Internet interface which displays
Internet content on the television via a cable or satellite
channel; a voice recognizer, operated on a supercomputer or other
computer platforms (e.g. CPU platforms),
recognizing/interpreting/analyzing the voice signal and generating
command signals to access/browse the Internet, the voice recognizer
being capable of simultaneously recognizing voice signals
transmitted from a plurality of users and generating command
signals for accessing/browsing the Internet; and a stack of
computers (or like devices optimized for Internet
accessing/browsing) and an Internet browser, each of the stack of
computers, based on the command signals from the voice recognizer,
accessing/browsing the Internet and retrieving/organizing Internet
content via the Internet browser, the Internet content being sent
to the cable or satellite television via cable or satellite
media.
[0020] Further in one embodiment of the present invention, the
voice recognizer operated on the supercomputer or other computer
platforms is disposed in a phone switching network. In another
embodiment, the voice recognizer operated on the supercomputer or
other computer platforms is disposed in a cable or satellite
system. In a further embodiment, the voice recognizer can be
installed in a phone or any other parts of the system.
[0021] Still in one embodiment of the present invention, the
accessed, browsed, or organized Internet content is presented on
the cable or satellite television and interactive with the user's
voice signal.
[0022] Additional in one embodiment of the present invention, the
cable or satellite television further includes a set top box/filter
having identification. If an identification of the phone does not
match with the identification of the set top box/filter, the
Internet content is filtered out. If the identification of the
phone matches with the identification of the set top box/filter,
the Internet content is presented on the television.
[0023] Yet in one embodiment of the present invention, the cable or
satellite television further includes a frame grabber device for
locally refreshing the content of the Internet information
presented on the television until a subsequent request being made
by a user via the phone.
[0024] Yet in one embodiment of the present invention, the voice
signal may include a plurality of instructions of
accessing/browsing the Internet content, and/or a plurality of menu
instructions, such as "go back" to the previous frame, "go to" the
main page, etc.
[0025] Still in one embodiment of the present invention, the phone
switching network is coupled to a plurality of users' phones for
routing corresponding plurality of voice signals from the plurality
of users to the voice recognizer for
recognizing/interpreting/analyzing the corresponding voice signals
and generating command signals to access/browse the Internet on the
cable or satellite system. The system includes at least one
Internet browser. The Internet browser can be run on a computer or
a stack of computers, for accessing, browsing, and/or organizing
Internet contents based on the command signals from the voice
recognizer and presenting accessed, browsed, and/or organized
Internet contents or user instructions from the cable or satellite
system to the cable or satellite television.
[0026] In one embodiment of the present invention, a method of
accessing/browsing the Internet via a cable or satellite television
includes: receiving a voice signal from a user, the voice signal
controlling an Internet interface which displays the Internet
content on the cable or satellite television via a cable or
satellite channel; routing the voice signal to a voice recognizer;
recognizing/interpreting/analyzing the voice signal and generating
command signals to access/browse the Internet contents on a cable
or satellite system by a supercomputer, the voice recognizer being
capable of simultaneously recognizing/interpreting/analyzing a
plurality of voice signals transmitted from a plurality of users
and generating the command signals for accessing/browsing the
Internet; accessing, browsing, and/or organizing Internet contents
based on the command signals from the voice recognizer; and
presenting accessed, browsed, and/or organized Internet content
from the cable or satellite system to the cable or satellite
television via a cable or satellite channel or medium.
[0027] Additionally in one embodiment, the method further includes
the step of receiving a second voice signal, which is interactive
to the Internet content presented on the cable or satellite
television.
[0028] Further in one embodiment of the present invention, the
operation of the voice recognizer on the supercomputer is in the
phone switching network. In an alternative embodiment, the
operation of the voice recognizer on the supercomputer is in the
cable or satellite system.
[0029] Still in one embodiment of the present invention, the method
further includes the step of filtering out the signals received
from the cable or satellite channel if an identification of the
phone does not match with an identification of a filter, and
passing through the signals if the identification of the phone
matches with the identification of the filter.
[0030] Yet in one embodiment of the present invention, the method
further includes the step of locally refreshing the content of the
Internet information presented on the television until a subsequent
request being made by a user via the phone.
[0031] Additionally in one embodiment of the present invention, the
method further includes the step of downloading information, such
as movies, music, or other services, etc., at a local site, e.g. at
the set top box of the television or the like, for a user to make
subsequent uses.
[0032] The present invention provides a system capable of uploading
voice signals via a narrowband wire or medium, such as a phone line
or a data port line (or referred to as the smaller wire), and
downloading the Internet information via a broadband wire or
medium, such as cables or satellite receiver (or referred to as the
larger wire). The larger wire is well suited to receive a large
amount of data efficiently. Accordingly, the present invention uses
voice recognition to upload a request via a telephone wire and
download the requested data via a cable or satellite channel.
[0033] One advantage of the present invention is that it provides a
user friendly interface such that a user does not have to be a
computer literate to access/browse the Internet. Also, a computer
does not have to be maintained and/or upgraded on an individual
user basis.
[0034] These and various other advantages and features of novelty
which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity
in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a
better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the
objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the
drawings which form a further part hereof, and to accompanying
descriptive matter, in which there are illustrated and described
specific examples of an apparatus in accordance with the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0035] Referring now to the drawings in which like reference
numbers represent corresponding parts throughout:
[0036] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of one embodiment of
a system for accessing/browsing the Internet via a cable television
in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
[0037] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a
telephone interface and a voice recognition driven Internet browser
system for Internet accessing/browsing on a cable television in
accordance with the principles of the present invention.
[0038] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of the
telephone interface and voice recognition driven Internet browser
system implemented for a plurality of users to access/browse the
Internet on their respective cable televisions in accordance with
the principles of the present invention.
[0039] FIG. 4 illustrates one implementation of an operational flow
of a method of a telephone interface and voice recognition driven
accessing/browsing Internet contents on a cable television in
accordance with the principles of the present invention.
[0040] FIG. 5 illustrates one implementation of an operational flow
of a voice recognition driven Internet browsing system in
accordance with the principles of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0041] In the following description of the exemplary embodiment,
reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part
hereof, and in which it is shown by way of illustration the
specific embodiment in which the invention may be practiced. It is
to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized as
structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of
the present invention.
[0042] The present invention discloses a telephone controlled
television Internet system and method and remote computing service
systems and methods. The present invention uses a telephone
interface and voice recognition driven Internet browser system and
method for Internet accessing/browsing on a cable or satellite
television.
[0043] It is appreciated that the present invention is not limited
to an embodiment of an Internet TV system where a transmitting
device is a telephone, and a receiving device is a television via a
cable or satellite channel or medium. The present invention applies
to many other embodiments and/or configurations of an Internet TV
system where a transmitting device can be any types of voice
related devices, such as a touch tone phone, a rotary phone, a cell
phone, a voice conference phone, a headset phone, etc., and a
receiving device can be any types of viewing devices, such as a
television, a portable personal communication device, e.g. a palm
pilot, or a receiving screen mounted in a vehicle, etc. The media
for transmitting or broadcasting high volume information, such as
streaming video, etc., can be any types of media, such as fiber or
copper cables, satellites, or other broadcasting media, etc.
[0044] As an example, a system and method of accessing/browsing the
Internet via a cable environment and a cable ready television are
discussed below. It is appreciated that the system and method of
accessing/browsing the Internet via a satellite television or any
other broad band receivers can be implemented within the scope of
the present invention.
[0045] In FIG. 1, a telephone controlled cable television Internet
system 100 is illustrated. A user's request for accessing/browsing
the Internet or other menu instructions are keyed-in via a phone
102 with unique caller identification (ID). Such request and caller
ID are routed to a phone switching network 104 or referred to as a
phone hub, such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or a
Private Switched Telephone Network, etc. The request and caller ID
are processed and sent to a cable TV network 106 or referred to as
a cable hub system. The cable TV network 106 includes a stack of
computers or CPUs as shown in FIGS. 2-3, each of which can be used
to access/browse the Internet via an Internet browser. The stack of
computers or CPUs can be arranged and configured to receive and
process a number of command signals corresponding to users'
requests. It is appreciated to a person skilled in the art that the
capability of a computer would allow the stack of computers to
process essentially a virtual amount of requests in real time.
Computers can be upgraded or replaced at the cable TV network end
106 as opposed to at a user end. Accordingly, one of the advantages
of the present invention is that a user does not have to be
computer literate and/or maintain/upgrade a computer on an
individual user basis.
[0046] The stack of computers access/browse the Internet 107 based
on the respective command signals, and retrieve/organize the
Internet contents and/or telephone interface command menu based on
the Internet browser. The signals carrying the Internet contents
and ID are then sent to cable subscribers to be viewed on a cable
TV 108 via cable media 124. The cable TV 108 is coupled to a cable
box 110, which includes a filter 131 (in FIG. 2). The filter
filters out the Internet contents if the ID of the phone does not
match with an identification of the filter (in FIG. 2). Thus, only
the requester's television displays the requested contents and/or
telephone interface command menu.
[0047] The cable box 110 also includes a frame grabber 132, which
locally refreshes the Internet contents and/or telephone interface
command menu until a subsequent request is made. The Internet
contents and/or telephone interface command menu are presented on
the cable TV to be viewed by the user.
[0048] Since the speed of making the subsequent request is much
slower than the speed of cable TV transmission, the real time use
of an Internet designated cable channel is significantly reduced.
Accordingly, a virtual number of users can subscribe to such
Internet designated cable channel without losing privacy of
Internet contents that each of the user's is viewing. It will be
appreciated that the Internet browser is customized and is
interactive between the requester and the contents displayed.
[0049] The phone 102 is preferably coupled to a voice recognizer
114 (in FIG. 2) such that the requester may simply make a request
by talking to the phone 102 without the necessity of entering keys
or buttons on the phone. It is appreciated that the phone can be in
a variety of forms, for example, a touch tone phone, a rotary
phone, a cellular phone, a mobile phone, a speaker phone, a
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) phone, etc. It is also appreciated
that the requester sometimes may merely make a request by entering
the keys or buttons on the phone. It is further appreciated that
other types of control devices can be used in combination of the
phone within the scope of the present invention.
[0050] In FIG. 2, a telephone interface and voice recognition
driven Internet browser system 112 for Internet accessing/browsing
on the cable TV 108 is illustrated. The phone 102 receives voice
signals from a user or requester. The voice signals control display
content, for example, the Internet contents and/or other telephone
interface command/instruction menus, on the cable TV 108 via cable
media or channels. The phone switching network or phone hub 104 is
coupled to the phone 102 via a switch unit 105 for routing the
voice signals to the voice recognizer 114. The voice recognizer 114
recognizes/interprets/analyzes the voice signals and generates
command signals to access/browse the Internet. The voice recognizer
114 may be operated on a phone hub computer 116, for example, a
supercomputer, such that the voice recognizer 114 is capable of
simultaneously recognizing a plurality of voice signals transmitted
from a plurality of users or requesters and generating a plurality
of command signals to access/browse the Internet. The supercomputer
may be defined as a computer having a calculating speed of at least
1 billion times per second. The phone hub computer 116 can be
implemented in many other computer platforms, e.g. CPU platforms,
etc. It is appreciated that any other fast computer, such as
parallel-processing computers, may be used within the scope of the
present invention. Also, it is appreciated that the present
invention does not limit to operating the voice recognizer 114 on a
computer. The voice recognizer 114 may be operated on a voice card
with DSP (Digital Signal Processing) and AgT with a memory,
etc.
[0051] The command signals are then sent to the cable system 106.
It is appreciated that the computer 116, which operates the voice
recognizer 114, may also be implemented in the cable system 106
within the scope of the present invention.
[0052] In FIG. 2, the cable system 106 includes a cable hub
computer or CPU 118 to access/browse the Internet 107. An Internet
browser 120 is run on the cable hub computer or CPU 118 to
retrieve/organize Internet contents from the Internet 107. The
cable system 106 also includes a stack of computers or CPUs 122,
each of which is operable with the cable hub computer or CPU 118 to
access, browse, and/or organize the Internet contents and/or
telephone interface command menu. It is appreciated that the
Internet browser 120 may be run on the stack of computers or CPUs
122 directly to access, browse, and/or organize the Internet
contents and/or telephone interface command menu to be subsequently
presented on the respective cable TV 108. It is also appreciated
that the voice recognizer 114 can be installed in any part of the
system, for example, in the phone 102, on the CPU stacks 122, or on
a remote network computer, within the scope of the present
invention. It is further appreciated that Internet contents can be
organized at Internet providers' site with a format comparable to
the Internet browser 120 and presentable on a television or the
like, such that the user is able to browse the contents in a
standardized user friendly fashion.
[0053] In FIG. 2, the cable system 106 may also include a data
storage unit 126 for storing data or information, such as
previously retrieved/organized Internet contents, telephone
interface menu, etc. Accordingly, if the user only makes a request
with a minor change to the previous Internet contents and/or
telephone interface menu, the data or information stored in the
data storage unit 106 may be used without the necessity of
re-retrieving/re-organizing the Internet contents, thereby
increasing the speed for processing the request.
[0054] In FIG. 2, the cable system 106 includes an Internet Service
Provider (ISP) 28 or referred to as Cable/Internet Service
Provider. The ISP 128 routes the cable signals to the cable box 110
of cable user/subscriber 130 via cable media or channel 124. The
cable signals are received by the intended user 130, via a filter
131. The filter 131 preferably has a predetermined identification.
If the predetermined identification of the filter 131 matches with
the phone ID carried with the cable signals, the filter 131 allows
the cable signals to be presented on the respective TV 108. If the
phone ID does not match with the ID of the filter 131, the filter
131 filters out the cable signals downloaded from the channel 124.
Accordingly, the other cable TV subscribers will not be able to
view the requester/subscriber's Internet contents and/or telephone
interface menu on their TVs 108. Thus, each user can have
essentially his/her own Internet TV channel without losing privacy
in viewing his/her individually requested Internet contents.
[0055] Further, the cable box 110 includes the frame grabber 132.
The frame grabber 132 is used to locally refresh the Internet
contents and/or telephone interface menu displayed on the user
television until a subsequent request is made to change the
Internet contents. Since the changes from one Internet content
frame to the next Internet content frame are generally small and
made in slow speed, e.g. one's speaking speed, the system can be
adapted to be used by a virtual number of users, as opposed to a
limited number of users in a typical video-on-demand circuit
system. It is also noted that the ISP may be a part of a cable
operator (not shown) without departing from the present
invention.
[0056] FIG. 3 illustrates the telephone interface and voice
recognition driven Internet browser system 112 implemented for a
plurality of users/subscribers 130 to access/browse the Internet on
their respective TVs 108 in accordance with the principles of the
present invention. It is appreciated that the system may include an
intelligent router to send a subscriber requested Internet contents
directly to that subscriber without broadcasting the requested
Internet contents to all of the other subscribers before filtering
out.
[0057] FIG. 4 illustrates one implementation of an operational flow
134 of a method of telephone interface and voice recognition driven
accessing/browsing Internet contents on a cable TV in accordance
with the principles of the present invention. The operational flow
134 starts with user requesting via a phone in an operation 135.
The voice signals of the user are received and are used to control
the display on the user's cable TV in an operation 136. Then, the
voice signals are recognized/interpreted/analyzed at the voice
recognizer, which may be run on a supercomputer in an operation
138. The voice recognizer generates command signals corresponding
to the voice signals to access/browse the Internet. Next, the
Internet contents are accessed, browsed, and/or organized based on
the command signals from the voice recognizer in an operation 140.
Then, the data or information, such as the Internet contents and/or
telephone interface menu, are processed and presented on the user's
cable TV via cable media/cable box in an operation 142. The user
may make a further request to interact with the data or information
presented on the cable TV in the operation 135. It is appreciated
that the operational flow 134 may terminate, pause, or continue at
any time by the user. It is also appreciated that the operational
flow 134 may include a timing function to ensure that the
operational flow 134 will be terminated if the user does not pause
or continue the operation 135 within a predetermined period of
time.
[0058] It is appreciated that the telephone interface command menu
can be in a variety of forms. The interface may include commands
such as edit, exit, show previous, show next, etc.
[0059] FIG. 5 illustrates one implementation of an operational flow
of a voice recognition driven Internet browsing system in
accordance with the principles of the present invention. A voice
signal is input into a voice recognition system 144, which
recognizes the voice signal and generates a text. The text is then
input into a natural language representation system 146 to be
interpreted, and then into a semantic natural language knowledge
representation system 148 to be analyzed. The natural language
representation system and the semantic natural language
representation system are often referred to as a voice recognition
system, which are able to translate from a stream of sounds into a
stream of words. The words are then interpreted by an expert
system, such as a natural language processor or a neural network
processor, to create semantic network support, a knowledge
representation system, or some other stream of command signals
and/or text. The command signals are used to access/browse the
Internet via an Internet browser 150. The resulting information is
sent to an identified receiver 154 via cable boxes, satellite
receiver, or other similar broadcasting devices 152.
[0060] It is noted that the voice recognition system can be
implemented in conjunction with a control device. It is also noted
that the present invention may be operated with or without the
voice recognition system. In one embodiment, the control device
drives a stream of commands to a stack of computer processors, a
supercomputer, or the like. The control device may be a mouse,
keyboard, joystick, or simple play station type device, television
remote control, or the keypad of the phone, in addition to controls
that are driven through a voice recognition configuration.
[0061] It is further noted that a phone line or voice line can be
implemented in conjunction with a cable line or satellite signal
wave. In one embodiment, phone lines or voice lines can be
configured and arranged as a part of a cable or satellite hookup to
a home or other receiving destinations.
[0062] In addition, the Internet TV system of the present invention
can be used in association with a security system, which is based
on individual characteristics of each user's voice. Voice is as
individual as a fingerprint. The voice recognizer can be arranged
or configured to screen out other voices or noises received at the
voice recognizer, such as ambient noise, or to only
recognize/interpret/analyze a specific user's voice profile in
performing a specific Internet browsing request. For example, a
teen may not be able to request a certain Internet browsing
requests, etc., while parents' voice profiles would be accepted for
these requests.
[0063] It is further noted that in the present invention,
computers, supercomputer, or stacks of computers, which are used to
process a voice mode or other modes of instruction request, are
provided to the users as a service. They are generally located in a
remote site from a user's transmitting or control device. One
advantage of this is that users do not have to purchase upgraded
computers or other "information appliance" every time when there is
an advance or improvement in computing technology that improves
processing functionality. The processing functionality can be added
to the system by upgrading the service to the users without
disrupting their current service or forcing them to buy new
equipment. Further, it is appreciated that processing power of
these computers can be used for other types of personal computing
functions. A remote personal computer type service can be offered
on the present system as well as Internet access as described
above. For example, a word processor or a database management
program can be offered as a service on the present system, as
opposed to a product that a user often has to buy. These services
can be offered to a user in a similar fashion as a voice messaging
service offered by telephone companies.
[0064] It is also appreciated that the services offered the
Internet can be downloaded at a local site, e.g. at a set top box
of the television, etc., for a user to make subsequent uses. This
is similar to the movie menu services offered in hotels.
[0065] Further, instead of a frame grabber as described above, an
intelligent router can be implemented within the scope of the
present invention. Typically, a frame grabber can be used to
refresh a static image or low speed video clips, whereas an
intelligent router can be used for transmitting high speed
streaming video type of data. One way of describing the difference
of the two is to introduce the processes of addressing packets of
information, reading and routing the packages as well as opening
the package envelopes. In the case of a frame grabber, a full
address of packages of information is read at an individual
recipient or local site, and a static image is refreshed on a
screen at that location until a new packet is opened up to replace
it. In the case of an intelligent router, a partial address read at
trunks or branches of a media system, e.g. a cable system, allows
for package delivery in a more sophisticated way and thereby
creating enough capacity to provide streaming video to an
individual recipient or local site at, e.g. thirty-two new frame
packages of information per second. An alternative way of providing
such capacity may be to create a massive number of new channels,
one for each specific household or user, which relies significantly
on advancement of channel bandwidth technology.
[0066] Accordingly, the present invention provides a system in
which voice and an instruction stream come from a control device in
a user's location and are sent upstream to a computer or a stack of
computers at a remote site. In the case of voice, a translation is
made from sounds to a stream of text and processing commands. A
stack of computers process requested functions upon receiving the
commands, for example, accessing/browsing the Internet interface
and/or performing other computing functions. The requested
information is then displayed on a television type of receiving
device. The present system is arranged and configured in a loop
between the control device at a local site, such as home, where
requests are sent to a computer at a remote site via a narrowband
medium, such as a phone line, and a display at the local site for
displaying requested information from the computer via a broadband
medium, such as a cable or satellite channel or medium.
[0067] The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiment of the
invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and
description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and
variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is
intended that the scope of the invention be limited not with this
detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.
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