Nds Corporation

Cisco Technology, Inc.

Nicholas Thexton

James Geoffrey Walker

Ian R Shelton

Neil Cormican

Michael B Costello

Nicholas Ashton Hall

Stuart P Ashby

Ronnie Israel Dan

Rahul Chakkara

Colin John Davies

Simon John Parnall

Martin Gold

Yorai Feldman

Ronnie Dan

A method of providing information about video content to a client is disclosed. The method includes: receiving a request from a client requesting information about video content, the request including an internet protocol address of the client; establishing (a) a geographic location of the client from the internet protocol address; and (b) a time of the request; identifying one or more content providers available in the geographic location; in dependence on the one or more content providers and the time, retrieving information about the video content from a database; and providing the information to the client. Related apparatus and methods are also disclosed.

Providing information about video content

An interactive method includes receiving background video including a multiplicity of video frames, at least one of the multiplicity of video frames include a plurality of sub-pictures, each of the plurality of sub-pictures representing an alternative background (), and switching between a first sub-picture of the plurality of sub-pictures and a second sub-picture of the plurality of sub-pictures ().

Apparatus and methods for handling interactive applications in broadcast networks

An interactive method includes receiving, at a display device, background video including a multiplicity of video frames, at least one of the multiplicity of video frames including a plurality of sub-pictures, each of the plurality of sub-pictures representing an alternative background, and switching, at the display device, between a first sub-picture of the plurality of sub-pictures and a second sub-picture of the plurality of sub-pictures. Related apparatus and methods are also disclosed.

Transmission synchronization and bandwidth adjustment in a broadcast system are described. At least one service tool in the broadcast system supplies service information useful for selecting, from a series of broadcast events, broadcast events to be viewed by subscribers of the broadcast system. A conditional access (CA) unit in the broadcast system applies conditional access attributes to the series of broadcast events. Transmission synchronizing apparatus in the broadcast system synchronizes the CA unit and the at least one service tool by instructing the CA unit to blackout a particular event from the series of broadcast events to subscribers that are refused access to the particular event and instructing the at least one service tool to provide a replacement service to the subscribers that are refused access to the particular event. Alternatively or additionally, the transmission synchronizing apparatus adjusts transmission bandwidth allocated to the series of broadcast events in response to instructing the CA unit to blackout the particular event to subscribers that are refused access to the particular event and instructing the at least one service tool to provide the replacement service to the subscribers that are refused access to the particular event. Related apparatus and method are also described.

Digital video broadcast system

Growing community of inventors

London, United Kingdom

Nicholas Thexton