Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Remote data accessing
Patent
1997-12-24
2000-07-11
Miller, John W.
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Remote data accessing
348 1, 348 7, 348 10, 348 12, 455 2, 455 51, 455 62, H04N 710, H04N 714, H04N 7173, H04H 102
Patent
active
060887222
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for controlling broadcast of and/or customer access to data such as video programs in accordance with objective profile data indicative of the customer's preferences for that data. More particularly, a preferred embodiment of the invention relates to a system and method for determining from objective profile data of the customers which data or video programming is most desired by each customer so that the customers may receive data or video programming customized to their objective preferences. The objective profile data is updated on a continuing basis to reflect each customer's changing preferences so that the content of the data channels or video programming may be updated accordingly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The so-called "Information Super Highway" is expected to bring wondrous technological changes to society. Data of all kinds will become readily available to the public in quantities never before imaginable. Recent breakthroughs in video compression technologies are expected to extend the "Information Super Highway" right into the video realm by allowing customers to receive literally hundreds of video channels in their homes. While the prospects of opening a whole new world of information to the average person are exciting, there is much concern that the average person will simply be overwhelmed by the quantity of data piped into their homes. Some techniques must be developed which permit the travelers of the Information Super Highway to navigate through the plethora of available information sources without getting hopelessly lost.
For example, in the home video context, it is desired to provide mechanisms which present the available video information to the customers in a comprehensible way. Such mechanisms should eliminate the necessity of "channel surfing" to find a program suitable for viewing out of the hundreds of video programming alternatives which are expected to be made available. The present invention is thus designed to help the customer of video and other data services to receive, with minimal effort, the information he or she is most interested in.
Numerous systems are available which assist customers in determining which video programs to watch. For example, electronic program guides and the like are available which give customers on-screen access to the upcoming programming whereby the desired programming may be selected in advance for later recording. An early system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,782 to Miller allows the viewer to preselect a television viewing schedule of desired television channels to be viewed during subsequent time periods. Miller also monitors the television programs actually watched by the television viewer and relays this information to a central data processing center over a communication link. Subsequent interactive cable systems, such as that described by Freeman in U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,924, permit the viewer to select the information to be received on particular channels. The cable system described by Freeman also provides individually tailored messages to the individual viewers. Similarly, Young disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,121 a system which permits the viewer to select programs from schedule information by controlling a programmable television tuner to provide the broadcast signals for the selected programs to the television receiver at the time of broadcast. This system can also be used to control a VCR for unattended recording of the selected programs. Further details of such a VCR recording system is provided by Young in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,977,455 and 5,151,789. Other systems, such as that described by Reiter et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,578, provide updatable television programming information via telephone link, magnetic cards, floppy disks, television or radio sub-carrier, and the like, to the viewer's television screen in such a manner that the viewer may selectively search this information.
Unfortunately, in each of the afor
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Herz Frederick
Salganicoff Marcos
Ungar Lyle
Wachob David
Zhang Jian
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