Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc

Sharp Laboratories, Inc.

Eddie M Schwalb

Lee M Chen

A method and system are described that enable the construction of declarative applications, such as XDML, that can access DASE System services. DASE System services include among other things, channel switching and electronic program guide application within a broadcast environment established under the standards of Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC). For example, when a Program and System Information (PSI) application is stored in a Document Object Model (DOM) data structure or database, an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) application can be automatically generated using an EPG-transform method in accordance with the present invention. This method would: 1) Convert DOM structure into an XML document; 2) Apply an XML Style Sheet Transformation (XSLT) to the XML document; and 3) Render the resulting XML document using a conventional web-browser or XML renderer.

Method and system for accessing and implementing declarative applications used within digital multi-media broadcast

The present invention describes and claims a new system and technique or method for decoupling the interpretation of broadcast content information from the display of this information. The information may exist in any of the available types, such as audio, video, or data. In addition, the information may be received in any form, such as streaming or non-streaming, combinations of the two, or even parts thereof. The decoupling and encapsulating of the broadcast content information is accomplished using a content proxy. All content information in the content proxy is accessed via an Application Program Interface. The content proxy employs a hierarchical Document Object Model (DOM) that contains Program and System Information Protocol ('PSIP') data, that has been converted to an eXtendible Markup Language format using a conversion algorithm, broadcast content data, as well as content data or information about all of the hardware, software, and appliances connected within the networked environment. The proxy concept is applicable to the design and implementation of a Digital TV broadcast rendering device within a Digital TV Application Software Environment framework.

Content proxy method and apparatus for digital television environment

A software system for use with a Digital Television set-top box. The system uses a software bus application programming interface (API) that is specially designed to make the set-top box compatible with two standard DASE architectures: (1) the architecture wherein the procedural application engine contains the declarative application engine, and (2) the architecture wherein the declarative application engine contains the procedural. An application engine manager uses a function call router to intercept all DASE infrastructure APIs incoming from software applications downloaded by the set-top box from a DTV broadcast. All APIs are routed through the application manager, and all application engines are required to implement the software bus API. A specially-designed software interface also enables the convenient installation of additional applications by simply changing one line of software code.

Software bus and interface for digital television application software environments

Methods and systems for the mass customization of Digital Television broadcasts through the broadcasting of commercials in the form of software applications. Ad-applications are injected into various sub-streams of the transport stream and received in a dormant state by the client-side set-top box. When a commercial is to be shown, a broadcaster broadcasts a generic time-stamped trigger to a dispatching application that performs a keyword matching algorithm to decide which ad-application among those received at the receiver is to be executed. The dispatching application uses the results of the latter comparison to decide which specific dormant ad-application to route to; it then converts the generic trigger into a chosen-ad trigger that is routed to the chosen ad-application. Upon receipt of the chosen-ad trigger, the chosen ad-application executes, thereby displaying an ad customized to the individual viewer's interests.

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Irvine, CA, United States of America

Eddie M Schwalb