Television – Two-way video and voice communication – User positioning
Patent
1997-03-21
2000-07-11
Kostak, Victor R.
Television
Two-way video and voice communication
User positioning
709217, 455 31, H04N 710
Patent
active
060880511
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for telecommunication, specifically interactive telecommunication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication between the user apparatus and the server is often not possible as a result of differences in the ways the apparatuses communicate.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide means enabling interactive communication along any chosen transmission medium between user apparatuses of various kinds and a server apparatus.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide means performing a minimum number of functions to enable communication between the user apparatus and the server apparatus.
According to the present invention a system is provided, characterized in that the coupling means comprise means for controlling the user apparatus based on information from the server apparatus and for controlling the server apparatus based on information from the user apparatus; and means for creating and for performing communication with the server apparatus and the user apparatus.
Furthermore, said system according to the present invention is characterized in that the coupling means comprises a Set-Top Unit (Set-Top Unit) and a physical medium converter, in that the means for controlling the user apparatus are present in the Set-Top Unit and comprise mainly a program for a dynamic process down-loaded from the server apparatus and stored in a RAM memory and in that means for creating communicating is a program for a static process stored in a ROM memory of the Set-Top Unit.
As a result of the above-mentioned characteristic properties of the system according to the invention, adjustment is achieved in two levels, namely adjustment of the Set-Top Unit to the transmission medium by the physical medium converter and adjustment of the communication between the Set-Top Unit and the server apparatus by programs in the Set-Top Unit originating from the server apparatus.
According to the present invention, a number of Set-Top Units can be provided as commercial products. Also in order to promote the development of interactive digital audio-video services, Set-Top Unit manufacturers will be left as free as possible to compete in the supply of these Set-Top Units. Therefore, only a minimal set of functionalities is defined in order to be incorporated in a standard. This set can be viewed as a "smart gateway" to interactive digital audio-video services.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
This invention will now be explained in detail with the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the configuration of elements in the system on both sides of a transmission medium;
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the Set-Top Unit shown in FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the physical medium converter shown in FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The portion of a telecommunications system according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1.
The coupling means are formed by the Set-Top Unit 1, together with the connection channel 9 and the physical medium converter 3, the coupling means forming a connection between the user apparatus 10 and the transmission medium 4. The transmission medium 4 is a connection between the coupling means and the server apparatus 2, the server apparatus 2 may have a similar configuration as the Set-Top Unit 1, which is emphasized with the mirror-line 5 and the representation of the physical medium converter 3 by a dashed line.
The Set-Top Unit 1 contains memory space divided mainly into three parts. The "Operating System" which is located in the first part 6 of the memory space controls communication between the physical apparatus of the Set-Top Unit 1 and the programs for static or dynamic processes running in the Set-Top Unit 1. It should be noted that an application program i
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Frommer William S.
Kostak Victor R.
Sony Europa B.V.
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