Thomson Licensing

Michel Cosmao

Louis Chevallier

Jean-Baptiste Henry

Jean-Ronan Vigouroux

Pierre Houeix

Willem Lubbers

The present invention concerns a method of receiving audiovisual programs transmitted to terminals. The users of the terminals choose a program from a catalogue and make a proposition to a server to download it to their terminals. The proposition is accompanied by a price and/or deadline. The server analyzes the propositions it receives and, taking account of its profitability constraints, decides whether or not it will transmit the program. Depending on the case, it sends the acceptance to each user who has made a proposition with profitable parameters for the transmission of the program and gives the users the means of receiving the program for viewing. The decision to transmit the program is determined according to various strategies the common criterion of which is profitability. The invention also concerns a terminal and a server for the implementation of the method.

Method for transmitting audi-visual programs proposed by users, terminal and server

The invention relates to a method of controlling devices linked by a digital communication network, a device having a control device&#x2014;typically a remote control&#x2014;that is dedicated to it; the control device comprising command input means&#x2014;typically keys&#x2014;for entering commands. The method consists initially in running on each device to be controlled a step for configuring the associations between network device functions and command input means, then, when a means is activated, in sending a message including the code corresponding to the device associated with this key. A refinement consists in associating a number of devices with one and the same key, and in sending as many messages as there are associated devices when the key is activated. The invention also relates to a device provided with a remote control and an interface for implementing the method.

Method for controlling devices within a network by dedicated remote control and devices for carrying out said method

The invention can be used to play back an audiovisual or audio document received in a first encoding format within a local area network. A first device plays back the document in the received format, then a user decides to play back the document on a device having a second encoding format. Playback is first stopped on the first device and the document is stored. The user starts playing back the document on the second device at the moment at which playback of it was stopped on the first device. Depending on the decoding means of the second device, the document is transcoded from the first encoding format to the second encoding format. The invention also relates to a management device for issuing storage and transcoding requests so that a document played back from a first device can be transferred to a second device regardless of the capabilities for playing back encoded documents on the first and second devices.

Method of encoding and playing back audiovisual or audio documents and device for implementing the method

A broadcast network sends audiovisual transmissions to a plurality of receivers. The transmissions contain also short audiovisual transmissions, typically advertising spots and information for triggering the displaying of an advertisement page. The receivers are furnished with a large recording capacity that allows the recording of several short audiovisual transmissions. At a time defined by the information transmitted in the audiovisual transmissions, the short audiovisual transmissions are, upon reception in the receiver, automatically replaced by transmissions of the same type previously recorded in the receiver. The receiver resumes normal displaying of the transmissions at the end of the broadcasting of the audiovisual transmissions of a certain type. According to an improvement, the recording of the transmissions can be performed according to the preferences of the user. The preferences of the user are defined during a configuration phase.

Growing community of inventors

Liffre, France

Michel Cosmao