U.S. patent application number 13/795792 was filed with the patent office on 2013-07-25 for channel family surf control.
This patent application is currently assigned to TVWORKS, LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Don Ahrens, John Carney, David de Andrade, Georgia Gibbs, Samuel Moreau. Invention is credited to Don Ahrens, John Carney, David de Andrade, Georgia Gibbs, Samuel Moreau.
Application Number | 20130191863 13/795792 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47999292 |
Filed Date | 2013-07-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130191863 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Moreau; Samuel ; et
al. |
July 25, 2013 |
Channel Family Surf Control
Abstract
An interface for an interactive television application includes
a graphical representation of a channel changing apparatus and is
configured such that in response to a channel change request a
channel change event limited to a channel change within a
designated family of television channels is initiated. The
graphical element may be labeled so as to indicate the presently
viewed family of television channels. In various embodiment, the
channel content may be scaled to fit within a window or may be full
screen, in which latter case the interface may be overlaid on top
of the full screen video. In one example, the graphical
representation of the channel changing apparatus resembles a pair
of channel up/down buttons.
Inventors: |
Moreau; Samuel; (Mill
Valley, CA) ; Ahrens; Don; (Mill Valley, CA) ;
Gibbs; Georgia; (Mill Valley, CA) ; Carney; John;
(Corte Madera, CA) ; de Andrade; David; (San
Anselmo, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Moreau; Samuel
Ahrens; Don
Gibbs; Georgia
Carney; John
de Andrade; David |
Mill Valley
Mill Valley
Mill Valley
Corte Madera
San Anselmo |
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA |
US
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
TVWORKS, LLC
Philadelphia
PA
|
Family ID: |
47999292 |
Appl. No.: |
13/795792 |
Filed: |
March 12, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10894740 |
Jul 19, 2004 |
8416952 |
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13795792 |
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|
10672983 |
Sep 25, 2003 |
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10894740 |
|
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60486568 |
Jul 11, 2003 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
725/34 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/454 20130101;
H04N 21/4826 20130101; H04N 21/4312 20130101; H04N 21/482
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/34 |
International
Class: |
H04N 21/482 20060101
H04N021/482 |
Claims
1-15. (canceled)
16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing
executable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to:
display identifiers for a plurality of channel families, wherein
each of the plurality of channel families is assigned one or more
channels and corresponds to at least one a plurality of branded
content creators; responsive to receiving a selection of a first
channel family of the plurality of channel families, display video
of a first channel assigned to the first channel family and display
advertisement content that identifies a first branded content
creator of the plurality of branded content creators; and
responsive to one or more channel change requests received after
selection of the first channel family, display video of a different
channel assigned to the first channel family while continuing to
display the advertisement content that identifies the first branded
content creator.
17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, cause the
processor to present a label for a graphical element indicating the
first channel family has been selected.
18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein video of a selected channel assigned to the first
channel family is scaled to fit within a video display window, and
wherein the advertisement content that identifies the first branded
content creator surrounds the video display window.
19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, cause the
processor to cause presentation of an overlay on top of full screen
video.
20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, cause the
processor to cause presentation of a pair of channel up/down
buttons.
21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, cause the
processor to: receive a selection of a second channel family of the
plurality of channel families, wherein the second channel family
corresponds to content provided by a second branded content
creator; and responsive to receiving the selection of the second
channel family, display video of a channel assigned to the second
channel family and display advertisement content that identifies
the second branded content creator.
22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, cause the
processor to: process channel identifiers that indicate a
relationship between individual ones of a plurality of channels and
the plurality of channel families, and wherein each channel family
of the plurality of channel families corresponds to content
provided by a respective one of the plurality of branded content
creators.
23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim
22, wherein the first channel family corresponds to content
provided by the first branded content creator.
24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, cause the
processor to: receive a second channel change request; in response
responsive to determining that the first channel family has been
selected and responsive to the second channel change request, limit
channel change to only channels assigned to the first channel
family and display the first channel; and responsive to determining
that a channel family has not been selected and responsive to the
second channel change request, display a new channel different than
the first channel.
25. A method comprising: displaying identifiers for a plurality of
channel families, wherein each of the plurality of channel families
is assigned one or more channels and corresponds to at least one a
plurality of branded content creators; responsive to receiving a
selection of a first channel family of the plurality of channel
families, displaying video of a first channel assigned to the first
channel family and displaying advertisement content that identifies
a first branded content creator of the plurality of branded content
creators; and responsive to one or more channel change requests
received after selection of the first channel family, displaying
video of a different channel assigned to the first channel family
while continuing to display the advertisement content that
identifies the first branded content creator.
26. The method of claim 25, further comprising causing presentation
of a pair of channel up/down buttons.
27. The method of claim 25, wherein video of a selected channel
assigned to the first channel family is scaled to fit within a
video display window, and wherein the advertisement content that
identifies the first branded content creator surrounds the video
display window.
28. The method of claim 25, further comprising: receiving a
selection of a second channel family of the plurality of channel
families, wherein the second channel family corresponds to content
provided by a second branded content creator; and responsive to
receiving the selection of the second channel family, displaying
video of a channel assigned to the second channel family and
displaying advertisement content that identifies the second branded
content creator.
29. The method of claim 25, further comprising: processing channel
identifiers that indicate a relationship between individual ones of
a plurality of channels and the plurality of channel families, and
wherein each channel family of the plurality of channel families
corresponds to content provided by a respective one of the
plurality of branded content creators.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the first channel family
corresponds to content provided by the first branded content
creator.
31. The method of claim 25, further comprising: receiving a second
channel change request; responsive to determining that the first
channel family has been selected and responsive to the second
channel change request, limiting channel change to only channels
assigned to the first channel family and displaying the first
channel; and responsive to determining that a channel family has
not been selected and responsive to the second channel change
request, displaying a new channel different than the first
channel.
32. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and memory storing
executable instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus
to: display identifiers for a plurality of channel families,
wherein each of the plurality of channel families is assigned one
or more channels and corresponds to at least one a plurality of
branded content creators; responsive to receiving a selection of a
first channel family of the plurality of channel families, display
video of a first channel assigned to the first channel family and
display advertisement content that identifies a first branded
content creator of the plurality of branded content creators; and
responsive to one or more channel change requests received after
selection of the first channel family, display video of a different
channel assigned to the first channel family while continuing to
display the advertisement content that identifies the first branded
content creator.
33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the memory further stores
executable instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus
to: receive a selection of a second channel family of the plurality
of channel families, wherein the second channel family corresponds
to content provided by a second branded content creator; and
responsive to receiving the selection of the second channel family,
display video of a channel assigned to the second channel family
and display advertisement content that identifies the second
branded content creator.
34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the memory further stores
executable instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus
to: process channel identifiers that indicate a relationship
between individual ones of a plurality of channels and the
plurality of channel families, wherein each channel family of the
plurality of channel families corresponds to content provided by a
respective one of the plurality of branded content creators, and
wherein the first channel family corresponds to content provided by
the first branded content creator.
35. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the memory further stores
executable instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus
to: receive a second channel change request; responsive to
determining that the first channel family has been selected and
responsive to the second channel change request, limit channel
change to only channels assigned to the first channel family and
display the first channel; and responsive to determining that a
channel family has not been selected and responsive to the second
channel change request, display a new channel different than the
first channel.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application hereby incorporates by reference and
claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application
60/488,560, filed Jul. 18, 2003. The present application is also a
Continuation-in-Part of and incorporates by reference U.S.
Provisional Patent Application No. 60/486,568, entitled System and
Method for Controlling iTV Application Behaviors Through the Use of
Application Profile Filters, filed Jul. 11, 2003 and U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/672,983 entitled System and Method for
Controlling iTV Application Behaviors Through the Use of
Application Profile Filters, filed Sep. 25, 2003.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to systems and methods for
presenting navigation options and controls for television
services.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Interactive television (iTV) is currently available in
varying forms. At the core of iTV applications are the navigation
applications provided to subscribers to assist in the discovery and
selection of television programming. Current methods for browsing
and selecting broadcast (linear) television programming involve the
use of interactive program guides (IPGs)--also known as electronic
program guides (EPGs). Current IPGs allow subscribers to browse and
select broadcast programming and also provide for the ability to
subset the broadcast program listings by subject or type of
programming.
[0004] In addition to broadcast television, subscribers may now
also be given opportunities to select from a list of programs that
are not linear, but instead are provided on demand. Such content is
generally referred to as Video on Demand (VOD). Current systems for
browsing and selecting VOD programs include the ability to select
such programming from categories of programs.
[0005] With the aid of advancing technologies, such as video
compression, cable and satellite television system operators are
able to send more and more broadcast channels over their systems.
This, in turn, has prompted broadcast content providers to develop
more channel offerings. Thus one content provider, or content
provider holding company, may have multiple channel offerings.
These offerings are often marketed or grouped under a single
channel family brand, but each individual channel within the group
usually provides different content at different times. An example
of such a channel family is the Discovery Channel.TM. network,
which began as a single channel and then added additional channels
such as Discovery Wings.TM., Discovery Health.TM., and Discovery
Science.TM..
[0006] Because channels of a family are often added to cable and
satellite system line-ups over time and often have different
carriage agreements, they usually have non-sequential channel
numbers within a cable or satellite television service. Even where
the channels are grouped as sequential access numbers, one must
still first find the start of the channel family in a potentially
large line up of channels. The result is that one cannot easily
surf through the broadcast offerings for a given channel family
provider.
[0007] Current technology for surfing television channels includes
the ability to surf (navigate) up and down through channel numbers,
generally through up and down arrow keys (or "+/-" keys) on a
remote control and also allows for keying in a specific channel
numbers and then advancing directly to that channel. The channel
surfing up and down through channels may be filtered by genre, so
as to enable surfing through content of specific genres: e.g., only
movie content or only sports content. The channel surfing may also
be restricted by what the television viewer has determined as their
favorite channels. In that instance the surfing will only navigate
through channels that have been pre-selected by the viewer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In one embodiment, an interface for an interactive
television application includes a graphical representation of a
channel changing apparatus and the interface is configured such
that in response to a channel change request a channel change event
limited to a channel change within a designated family of
television channels is initiated. The graphical element may be
labeled so as to indicate the presently viewed family of television
channels. In various embodiment, the channel content may be scaled
to fit within a window or may be full screen, in which latter case
the interface may be overlaid on top of the full screen video. In
one example, the graphical representation of the channel changing
apparatus resembles a pair of channel up/down buttons.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and
not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in
which:
[0010] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate examples of channel home pages for
use with a Channel Family Surf Control configured in accordance
with embodiments of the present invention.
[0011] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate embodiments for delivering a
Channel Family Surf Control in a mode with scaled video according
to aspects of the present invention.
[0012] FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 illustrate embodiments for delivering a
Channel Family Surf Control in a mode where an iTV application is
an overlay on top of full-screen video according to aspects of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] Described herein are interfaces and methods by which
television viewers are presented with means for navigating a set of
television channels (which may be linear, non-linear or both) that
belong to a channel family, or share some other affinity. As
discussed further below, the present invention may be implemented
in several different ways. Two examples of such implementations
are: (i) a Channel Family Surf Control using a scaled video window
with an iTV application sharing the screen with the video; and (2)
a Channel Family Surf Control using a full-screen broadcast with an
iTV application overlaying the video.
[0014] In the following description, for purposes of explanation,
some specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough
understanding of the present television navigation controls. It
will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the
present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
In some instances, well-known structures and devices are not shown
or described in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present
invention. For example, it is presumed that the reader is familiar
with iTV applications in general and so the detailed nature of
these applications and the manner of their creation and delivery
will not be discussed herein. Readers not familiar with such
specifics may refer to the above-cited U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 10/672,983, incorporated herein by reference and also to U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/390,064, also incorporated herein by
reference. These co-pending patent applications provide numerous
details regarding the creation and deployment of iTV
applications.
[0015] Notwithstanding the above, the embodiments of the present
invention that are described herein are presented with sufficient
detail so as to allow those of ordinary skill in the art to
practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other
embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical,
electrical, and other changes may be made without departing from
the scope of the present invention. Some portions of the detailed
descriptions that follow are presented in terms of functional
operations of a computer system (e.g., as deployed in the form of a
set-top box). These descriptions are generally understood as the
means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most
effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in
the art. It should be appreciated that these functional
descriptions concern various computer algorithms, which are
generally understood to be a self-consistent sequence of acts
leading to a desired result. The acts are those requiring physical
manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not
necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or
magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,
compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at
times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these
signals as bits, values, signals, datum, elements, symbols,
characters, terms, numbers, or the like.
[0016] It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and
similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical
quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these
quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from
the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the
description, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing" or
"computing" or "calculating" or "determining" or "displaying" or
the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system,
or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and
transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities
within the computer system's registers and memories into other data
similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer
system memories or registers or other such information storage,
transmission or display devices.
[0017] The present invention can be implemented by an apparatus for
performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially
constructed for the required purposes (e.g., as is the case with a
set-top box implementation), or it may comprise a general-purpose
computer, selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer
program stored therein. Such a computer program may be stored in a
computer readable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any
type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and
magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access
memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any
type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and
each coupled to a computer system bus.
[0018] The methods presented herein are not inherently related to
any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose
systems may be used with programs configured in accordance with the
teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more
specialized apparatus to perform the required method. For example,
any of the methods according to the present invention can be
implemented in hard-wired circuitry, by programming a
general-purpose processor or by any combination of hardware and
software. Those who practice in the field will immediately
appreciate that the invention can be implemented with computer
system configurations other than those described below, including
set-top boxes, hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, DSP
devices, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the
like. The invention can also be practiced in distributed computing
environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices
that are linked through a communications network. The required
configuration for such systems will be apparent from the
description below.
[0019] The methods of the invention may be implemented using
computer software. If written in a programming language conforming
to a recognized standard, sequences of instructions designed to
implement the methods can be compiled for execution on a variety of
hardware platforms and for interface to a variety of operating
systems. The present invention is not described with reference to
any particular programming language as it should be appreciated
that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement
the teachings of the invention as described herein. Furthermore, it
is common in the art to speak of software, in one form or another
(e.g., program, procedure, application, etc.), as taking an action
or causing a result. Such expressions are merely a shorthand way of
saying that execution of the software by a computer causes the
processor of the computer to perform an action or produce a
result.
[0020] The term Channel Family Surf Control is used herein to
describe a mechanism for controlling navigation between multiple
channels that belong to a single channel family, or a set of
channels that form a single brand or business association, or other
affinity, such as by way of example a channel holding company or
niche focus such as all women's channels or all channels currently
showing a football game. The present invention differs, in part,
from current channel navigation schemes in that the present
invention provides for surfing through a family of related
channels. This may be independent of genre, or may all be of a like
genre where the channel family represents only a subset of that
genre. The channel relationships may be configured by: a network
operator, a content owner or distributor, and/or an end user.
[0021] An example of this concept (which in no way should be read
as limiting the broader notion of a channel family as discussed
above) is the HBO.TM. family of channels. Within a given cable or
satellite television system, HBO television services may span
multiple channels and all of those channels may, at any given time,
be carrying different movies or other content. Creating a surf
navigation filter for the HBO channel family in accordance with the
present invention will provide a unique navigation tool that will
allow a user to browse through all HBO channel content, but only
that content. This is particularly valuable if the television
viewer is only subscribed to HBO services (and not, for example,
other movie channel service providers) and wants to get a quick
view of the content offered through the HBO provider. Another
example of an affinity which may define a channel family is an iTV
application centered on football, where the Channel Family Surf
Control provides for navigation through all of the football games
currently being broadcast, or the subset of those games for which
the viewer has access rights.
[0022] The Channel Family Surf Control also provides a unique
control for the benefit of the channel family provider. With
current state of the art digital set-top box technology, one may
create interactive applications (iTV applications) for use by the
television viewer. One such implementation of an iTV application in
accordance with the present invention is the notion of a home page
for channel families. Examples of such a home page for use with the
Channel Family Surf Control are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0023] In each of these examples the viewer is provided with a home
page 10 and 10' for a particular content provider (Discovery in
FIG. 1 and HBO in FIG. 2). Within a channel family home page the
Channel Family Surf Control 12 and 12' is displayed to assist the
viewer in surfing through the channels that belong to the specific
provider. In the illustrated examples, a small viewing window 14
and 14' in which the channel content is displayed as the viewer
surfs through the channels is provided. In other embodiments the
Channel Family Surf Control may be provided as an on-screen overlay
where the channel content is presented in the background in
full-screen mode.
[0024] The Channel Family Surf Control is displayed on the
television screen and within the home pages 10 and 10' as a
graphical representation of a conventional set of channel change
buttons separated by a center button. Center button 16 and 16' may
be branded so as to reflect the channel family being surfed. This
serves as a reminder to the user of the content being browsed. The
up/down channel button pairs 18 and 18' may be icons within the iTV
application that can be selected by the user using a conventional
television remote control. Alternatively, these graphical elements
may represent the functionality now assigned to various buttons of
a conventional remote control, such as channel up/down buttons,
such that operation of thee buttons will activate the associated
feature (e.g., a channel change operation) within the iTV
application. The remaining elements of the home pages 10 and 10'
are not critical to the present invention and are provided merely
for illustration purposes. As shown in the figures, various forms
of content may be provided, including advertisements, etc. Also,
buttons or other selectable elements that allow viewers to access
other features of the iTV applications may be provided.
[0025] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate embodiments for delivering the
Channel Family Surf Control in a mode with scaled video. In FIG. 3
an on-screen display 20 is shown. Within on-screen display 20, the
Channel Family Surf Control functionality is provided via a channel
selection interface 22. Within this interface, the viewer is given
on-screen up and down arrow buttons 24 and 26, respectively, that,
when clicked (e.g., using appropriate remote control or set-top box
selection mechanisms), will shift the broadcast video shown in the
scaled video window 28 to different broadcast channels within the
given broadcast family. Here the channel affinity is given by the
"XYZ" label which is displayed within a channel family identifier
30, associated with the channel selection interface 22. One
embodiment of this solution will allow for navigation through the
channels to be looped such that when the viewer reaches the highest
channel number for the given family, then the next channel up
request will loop the video window back to the lowest channel
number for that given family. Other elements of the on-screen
display 20 are not critical to the present invention and are
provided for illustration purposes only.
[0026] In the example of an on-screen display 20' shown in FIG. 4,
the viewer is given no specific on-screen buttons but is instead
advised via text 32 to use the channel buttons on the set-top box
or television remote control to surf through the channel family
broadcast channels. In one embodiment of this implementation, the
viewer will understand the channel family context from the
surrounding iTV application content and/or branding. This is
further illustrated in FIG. 2 where the HBO branding in the widget
control is not necessarily required since the HBO branding is found
below in the general iTV application. As was the case for the
previous example, a scaled video window 28' is available for the
viewer to preview the content offered at the channel being
browsed
[0027] FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 illustrate examples of on-screen displays
34, 34' and 34'', respectively, for delivering the Channel Family
Surf Control in a mode where the iTV application is an overlay on
top of full-screen video 36, 36' and 36''. In such embodiments,
when the viewer navigates through the channel family broadcast
channels, the iTV application will stay present but the background
video will switch to that of the selected channel in the channel
family. As shown, the Channel Family Surf Control 22 may be
overlaid to the side of the video in a separate window (FIG. 5), at
the edge of the screen in the iTV application window (FIG. 6), or
directly over the video (FIG. 7). Of course, other display
configurations are also possible.
[0028] When a viewer uses the Channel Family Surf Control, the
navigation clicks (i.e., channel change requests) may be delivered
using the on-screen buttons or television/set-top box remote
control and the corresponding channel change requests may be
captured by the iTV application in the conventional fashion. The
iTV application is, in accordance with the present invention,
provided with a list of channel identifiers that describe the
relationship of individual channels to channel families. Such a
list may be configured by a network operator, a content owner or
distributor, and/or a viewer. Depending on the implementation, a
single channel may belong to more than one channel family. For
example, an HBO channel may belong to the family of HBO channels
and also to a family of movie channels, etc. Upon receipt of a
navigation request, the iTV application determines if an up or down
channel request was made (i.e., determines the direction to tune to
the next channel in the selected family) and then selects the next
or previous channel in the channel list as appropriate. The iTV
application then calls a set-top box function to cause the tuner to
tune to the specific channel retrieved from the list. Such tuning
operations are conventional in nature with the exception that the
Channel Family Surf Control list is used to provide the information
regarding the next channel to tune to.
[0029] Thus, systems and methods to control and facilitate surfing
among related channels of a channel family have been described. It
should be noted that the iTV applications and on-screen displays
described above may be implemented using conventional iTV
application methods and systems. The present Channel Family Surf
Control, however, has not previously been a part of such methods or
systems. Therefore, even though discussed with reference to certain
illustrated examples, the present invention should not be limited
thereby and should only be measured in terms of the claims, which
follow.
* * * * *