Nec Home Electronics, Inc.

Evolve Products, Inc.

Prevue Interactive, Inc.

Logitech Europe S.a.

United Video Properties, Inc.

Payview Limited

Trakker, Inc.

John R Thompson

Philip H Rittmueller

Steven J Raynesford

William L Phipps

C J Hunting

Paul V Darbee

Craig Evan Trivelpiece

Steve E Trivelpiece

Brandt J Thompson

Frank A O'Donnell

Curtis J Hunting

Ronald K Masson

Michael Hanafee

Craig E Trivelpiece

A remote control for operating a consumer electronic device. The remote control device may comprise a housing providing a mounting for a visual display and a keyboard including a plurality of keys; electrical circuitry in the housing including a microprocessor, at least one of an IR or RF receiver circuit coupled to the microprocessor, keyboard circuitry coupled between the microprocessor and the keyboard, a memory coupled to the microprocessor, and at least one of an IR or RF transmitter circuit coupled to the microprocessor. Program guide software is stored in the memory and executable by the microprocessor for causing to be displayed on the visual display, upon actuation of one or more of the keys, a program guide, advertising and/or other content contained in a data set received by the receiver.

Program guide on a remote control

An interactive video system transmits a composite digital information signal consisting of a winnowed generic information signal and a local information signal manipulated to produce an output signal including both data code and object code. This output signal is formatted and transmitted via modulator cards at the system head end to decoders located at the individual users' television sets. Each card uses a dynamic gate array having a configuration sequence determined by a resident configuration EPROM which can be changed in the field. Data is fed to the configured array under the control of a control data EPROM also resident in the modulator card. A transmission modulator in the modulator card receives the data from the dynamic gate array for transmission via any selected medium to the user's location.

Systems and methods for continually updating and retrieving interactive video information

The tap antenna unit includes signal splitting circuitry, coupled to a coaxial cable which is servicing a consumer electronic device, such as a television set, for splitting off a signal from the coaxial cable; a filter coupled to an output of the signal splitting circuitry for selecting a low-level sharp frequency band in the energy spectrum of the coaxial cable; circuitry for demodulating a signal carried by the low-level frequency band; circuitry for modulating the output signal onto a carrier in an unlicensed frequency band; and an output antenna which is coupled to the modulating circuitry and which is capable of transmitting the output modulated signal over a limited transmitting-receiving area.

Tap antenna unit

Program guide on a remote control display

An interactive video guide system is provided in which nationally generic guide data, local guide data, and interactive video guide object code are transmitted to set-top decoder units located in customers' homes. Initially, nationally generic data or program information from a variety of sources is gathered together via modem at a central processing unit, and then manipulated, parsed and formatted into a national database compatible for use by a head end computer. This information is typically collected and updated on a daily basis. The manipulated nationally generic data is then transferred via modem to a transmitter for uplink to a selected telecommunications satellite. The satellite signal is then received by one or more local satellite CATV head end receivers which then forward a video base band signal carrying the nationally generic data to associated local head end computers. At the local head end computer, the nationally generic data is again manipulated, winnowed, parsed and processed to suit the requirements of the particular local market. Local guide data and interactive video guide object code may then be added to the nationally generic data and then the combined data and object code is transmitted over the CATV system to one or more decoder units in the consumers' homes.

System and method for communicating data and objective code for an

A method of transmitting data for video display in which a composite digital information signal is manipulated to produce an output signal including data code and object code, separately storing the data code and control data, processing the stored data in a dynamic gate array in response to the stored control data to provide a formatted signal that is transmitted to a receiver where the transmitted signal is decoded and passed to a video display in response to satisfaction of one or more predetermined conditions.

Interactive video system

An audiovisual subscription system includes means for aperiodically inverting the lines of a transmitted video signal on a frame-by-frame basis and for decrypting encrypted PCM audio information which is transmitted along with the aperiodically inverted video information.

Digital data cryptographic system

A connector for interfacing a circuit resident on a printed circuit board having rows of externally accessible contact pads on a face of the board with a circuit resident on a portable card having rows of externally accessible contact pads on a face of the card has independently biased ball bearing contacts which assure positive, self-cleaning, self-sealing, self-adjusting electrical contact between the circuits. A flat base has rows of apertures therethrough spaced for alignment with the pads of the board when the base is laminarly juxtaposed on the face of the board. Sinks connect the apertures in rows and the conductive ball bearings are retained in each of the apertures by annular shoulders on the apertures. Strips of elastomer formed of layers of conductive and dielectric materials are snugly seated in each sink with the layers transverse to the rows. The strips bias the ball bearings against the shoulders when the base is laminarly juxtaposed on the face of the board. Feet and bosses on the connector engage with sockets and dimples on the board to rigidly connect the base to the board with the strips in abutment with the rows of pads on the board. A housing fixed to the base receives, aligns and holds the card in laminar juxtaposition against the ball bearings so that discrete conductive paths are defined by aligned card pads, ball bearings, elastomer layers and board pads.

Electrical circuit card connector

Audio signal cryptographic system

System and method for scrambling and/or descrambling a video signal

An audiovisual subscription system includes means for aperiodically inverting the lines of a transmitted video signal of a frame-by-frame basis and for decrypting encrypted PCM audio information which is transmitted along with the aperiodically inverted video information.

System and method for detection of a pulse within a video signal

System and method for transmitting entertainment information to

A multimode scrambling system for video signal transmission systems is described. The system provides for baseband video scrambling controlled by a central originating computer facility. The scrambling of each field of a video changes on a per field basis. The video signal is scrambled in several modes including vertical interval scrambling, alternate line inversion, bogus sync pulse generation, video compression and video offset techniques. A scrambling sequence is sent by a unique algorithm, sent during the vertical interval to each system decoder. The algorithm is reordered for each of a plurality of fields of the video signal and the reordering position is identified by a unique synchronization pulse transmitted during the vertical interval of the video signal. Additional security measures are provided to inhibit a subscriber from avoiding a transmitted disable command, or an attempt to invade the subscriber decoder mechanical packaging security.

Growing community of inventors

La Quinta, CA, United States of America

John R Thompson