Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02391859 2002-02-08
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METHOD AND DEVICE FOR FILTERING INFORMATION
This invention refers to the field of Pay-TV, and in particular concerns a
filtering
method of the data to be transmitted for displaying.
In the field of Pay-TV, electronic program guides are known which propose to a
user the possibility to display all the programs proposed for all pay or free
channels, that one can receive and where one can choose to watch free of
charge
or to pay a program, also called event. Such an event can be a competition or
sporting event, an animal documentary, an episode of a TV series, a newscast,
a
thriller, t-his list-beiflg evidently not exhaustive. However, these
electronic program
guides oblige the user to zap through the channels, multichannel TV, and
throughout the day to make one's choice. Their use is thus fastidious for the
user
who already knows to a great extent what he is looking for.
Enterprises such as IMDB (Internet Movie Dated Base) provide information to
the
public (such as the names of the actors, the placard, the signature tune...)
for a
great number of films proposed on the screen. Characteristics of the offer of
such
enterprises are available on the internet site http://www.imdb.com. However,
they
do not inform the television viewer who wants to view a film on the available
offer
at a given moment, for the hours which follow, on his television set.
There remains thus a problem not resolved in a satisfactory way up to now for
the
television viewer who desires, with the help of his remote-control, to find
his way in
the many programs proposed, and in particular to make his choice in these
data.
The aim of this invention is reached by an information management method
designed for screening TV program schedules on a Pay-TV receiver, comprising a
text video decoder, control inputs and a memory of user parameters, a method
consisting in recognizing the code of the program to be displayed, comparing
this
code with the parameters of the user and in displaying or suppressing the data
of
this event according to the content of the parameters of the user.
Each event includes a code in which its important characteristics are
described
such as the channel on which it will be shown, the subscription type to which
it is
CA 02391859 2002-02-08
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connected, the recommended minimum age and the date and hour of the
transmission.
With parameters of the user is meant the whole of parameters which allow to
define a user such as the subscription type to which he subscribed, the
minimum
age category/ies of the programs that he wishes to see, as well as parameters
which allow to define the profile of the user based on his previous purchases.
Consequently, the more the user will use his system, the more the navigator
will
be able to propose him the programs in advance.
The _ i-nform.ation presented b-y the navigator is filtered so that the user
saves. an
important amount of time compared to the example of an electronic program
guide. In a first example there are only the programs to which he has an
access
possibility. The channels or multichannel TV to which he has not subscribed do
not appear on the display and do not disturb his choice process. Similarly,
the
navigator takes into account the concern about saving money of the user who
would for example like to take advantage of special offers valid in the
subsequent
TV hours.
In a first embodiment of the invention, the navigator operates in full screen
mode,
being disconnected from a program being viewed by the user. In this form, the
user is mainly occupied in choosing the program that he will prefer within an
offer
presented by the intermediate of the navigator. An important information for
the
user concerns programs that start later, that is to say a film of a duration
for
example of an hour.and a half, starts every quarter of an hour according to a
passage cycle, each passage cycle being separated from the other passage
cycles (in a number of five in this example) by a multiple of 15 minutes.
According
to the time available, the duration of the proposed films, their price, and
the
immediacy of the start of the next cycle, the user can make his choice and sit
down comfortably to have a nice evening.
On the base of the user parameters, the navigator selects the different
special
offers according to the favourite sector of the user. In fact, if sports
programs have
not been used frequently, the odds are that the user will be receptive to a
transmission offer of a football match.
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In a particular mode related to this first form, the navigator proposes, in
the form of
a menu, elements such as a list of the programs starting shortly, a list
complete
with the films available to voluntary purchase, a list of special offers at
reduced
price at the moment of the consultation, a list of the films already bought by
the
user, a parents' control, the possibility to read system information as well
as the
choice of the language in which these elements are proposed.
The list of the programs starting soon is currently called "beginning soon".
The
information presented includes especially the time remaining until the
beginning of
the program, generally indicated in minutes.
The complete list of films proposed for voluntary purchase is generally called
"All
the movies". It includes above all films, that is to say programs whose
interest
persists after a certain time, unlike the newscasts or the courses of the
stock
exchange for example which age badly, in the sense that after some days their
interest is minimal. This list is retouched and in general does not include
the films
whose vision is forbidden to the user for certain reasons. These reasons can
have
their origin in national laws of certain countries, in which the transmission
of a
sporting event is forbidden in a defined area around the stadium where it is
taking
place, this in order not to unduly divert the potential clients of the
organizers of this
event in this stadium.
The list "all the movies" can be presented either by films (by movies mode),
in
which case the list is a list of occurrences of a film transmitted on
different
channels and in the subsequent days, or by days (by days mode), in the manner
of a classic television program guide on paper support in which only certain
programs or films would be selected.
In order to tempt the user by flashing him the possibility to view for example
a film
much praised and recently released in the cinemas, but for a special price,
the
navigator according to the invention proposes in the menu a list of the
special
offers, currently called "Big deals", accompanied by their special price, and
eventually of the duration of the offer.
The scope of the list of the films already bought, currently called "purchased
movies", is to inform the user on his latest purchases, so as to allow him to
follow
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the state of his account and eventually to curb an eventual television mania.
In the
case of a family TV set, it can be useful to the parents for controlling the
television
viewing of their children.
The scope of the parents' control proposed by the navigator according to the
invention is to allow the parents to refine the choice of the films proposed
for
voluntary purchase, according to their rating, eventually by means of an
access
code. Rating means a qualification of the proposed films by official or semi-
public
institutions that have the scope to protect youth against certain types of
films. In
this context, parents who want can for example limit the offer to 12+, that is
to say
authorize only the presentation and the purchase of films or programs
authorized
for persons over the age of twelve. If the parents have among their children
an
adolescent who they allow to view certain films, the rest of the brothers and
sisters
being considered as too young, they can trust this eldest one by allowing him
to
view a film of his choice when the younger ones are in bed, entrusting him the
access code. They can also allow a certain liberty to this adolescent in
choosing
films within a budget, by means of a specific access code for this adolescent.
The
knowledge of the code allows in fact to trace back easily the total cost of
the
purchases carried out by means of this code.
The parents' control can also, in a particular embodiment of the invention, be
realized by a programmed filtering by the parents themselves. This is useful
for
example when the parents do not want to follow the rating recommendation of
the
above mentioned institutions, for example for a certain film on which they
have
made a judgement by themselves.
The possibility to read system information is useful for restarting the system
in the
case of an accident. A simple reading of this information allows to inform an
attendant to the maintenance of the system on the identifying of the
subscriber,
and this from a distance.
The choice of the language is particularly useful when the television market
is
multi-ethnic or multilingual.
In a particular realization form of the invention, the navigator allows the
user to
define the type of reminder. The reminder is to be interpreted in the sense of
the
CA 02391859 2002-02-08
English "reminder". A first type of reminder is a reminder some seconds before
the
start of the foreseen transmission of .the film, the user having then still
the choice
not to view the film that he bought some time before. One of the functions of
the
navigator according to the invention can then cancel the debit of the account
if the
5 program has in fact not been viewed, in the case where the user changes his
mind.
Another type of reminder consists of forcing the use of the screen in advance.
This type can be chosen by the user when he is certain, at the moment of the
purchase, that the program bought will have priority on any other that he
might be
watching when it starts.
These characteristics allow the user to program a television evening, this
program
or this draft of program being freely interrupted in the case of the
unexpected
proposition of a new release, for example just on in town.
In a second embodiment of the invention, the navigator operates during a
transmission going on, being watched by the television viewer. This form is
more
suitable to the users tending to "zapping", that is to say to the users always
hunting for a transmission that is more interesting than the one they are
watching.
In this form, called "Present/Following", the information presented by the
navigator
occupies only a part of the screen of the television set, for example the
lower part.
It especially concerns the transmission going on the channel watched, the next
transmission on on the same channel, chronological data such as the time
remaining till the end of the program and the total duration of the
transmission, as
well as the programs going on the other channels, paying or not. For these
programs, the information given may concern the above mentioned chronological
data, the name or the mark of the channel, as well as a description of the
favorite
program preferably chosen in the language of the transmission. This
description
can mention all the characteristics of the program capable of thrilling the
user. For
example, if the transmission is a documentary on a production machine, the
nature of this production may be mentioned.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the program can present a
supplementary interest for the user if specific data are shown on the screen
at the
~ CA 02391859 2002-02-08
6
same time as the representation of the action. So, in a sport speed
competition,
the present speed of the competitor filmed is calculated on the venue of the
competition and is thus technically available for a message. This message can
be
activated only if the user has chosen the corresponding version "with data" of
that
sports transmission, by means of a different price perceived by the supplier
of
program package in the case of a payment offer. In this case, the synthetic
information can comprise an indication as what can be bought with the version
"with data". This can be done by masking, by deliberate scrambling, a part not
central of the screen where these interesting supplementary data would be
shown.
As one will have understood, this invention allows to favor the voluntary
purchase
of telev[sion programs.
It is known that in the case of a overabundant offer of television programs,
the
video decoder cannot treat all the information on the description of each
program
if one desires to introduce elaborated criteria of sorting. The capacities of
video
transmissions allow to transmit more than one hundred channels simultaneously.
For each channel, the programs shown on the electronic program guide can
represent about fifty entries for a period of 12 hours. The ideal sorting
should be
carried out through more than 5000 information messages on the programs. In
practice, the present decoders are not equipped for sorting in a convenient
time
such a mass of information and this is why the video decoder disposes of a
filter
to carry out a first selection of this information.
The invention will be better understood with the help of the following
detailed
description which refers to the annexed drawing which is given as an example
not
restrictive, in which the single figure represents the system according to the
invention.
In the annexed figure, the flow of data DATA includes audio, video and control
information. In these control data are added the FT data comprising the table
of
index which allow a fast access to the sorting information.
In reception, the STB decoder includes a first level which acts as a
"hardware"
filter, that is to say it allows to pass only the messages corresponding to
the profile
loaded in this filter. The configuration of this filter is defined by the
control unit
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MPU of the decoder STB. The information containing the FT index table can pass
the filter to be directiy memorized for that purpose in an MFT memory.
The central MPU unit processes the different parameters of the electronic
guide
which are sent to the TV set.
What is currently used as filter criteria is simply the descriptor of the
channel. In
fact, on an offer of 130 programs, only twenty will be of interest to the user
because of the language. One will accordingly program one's filter in function
of
the channels whose it can understand the content.
This has nevertheless the drawback of depriving_ one of programs which would
be
transmitted on a channel, mainly in Finnish for example, but in the
multilingual
mode, amongst which is the language of the user.
This is why, according to the invention, the system, on the emitting side,
prepares
the FT index table of the programs corresponding to selected criteria,
according to
the preferences of the users in the respective region.
These criteria concern for example the language, a category much asked for
(sports for example) or a speciai offer.
For each chosen criterion, one disposes of a table identifying in a unique way
the
transmission concerned during the time concerned.
This table is transmitted with the audio/video data and stored by the decoder
in
the MFT memory.
When the user wants to introduce the sorting criterion as defined by the
control
center, the data of the table of this criterion is transmitted to the hardware
filter
which will allow to pass only those transmitted messages which fulfil the
condition.
Thanks to this structure, the access to the programs that fulfil this
condition is
immediate and without supplementary charge for the central unit of the
decoder.
In the example which interests us, the system at the transmission side,
disposes
of sufficient capacities to compose such a table taking account of parameters
such as the language, be it the main language or secondary (multilingual
mode).
" . ~ CA 02391859 2002-02-08
8 Another use of this type of table is the proposal of a particular offer. The
operator
can thus prepare a certain number of programs which are of a particular
quality
and recommended by a group of experts. This type of selection can be bound to
a
promotional purchase offer.
The invention also concerns a Pay-TV receiver comprising a video decoder for
television program schedules, control inputs such as the remote control of the
user, a memory of user parameters and a text modulation output, this receiver
comprising a text filtering module authorizing or suppressing the text towards
the
output modulator according to the parameters of the user. Furthermore, this
receiver contains a memory for events previously viewed and which determines
the user profile so as to filter the information according to this user
profile.
