Thx Ltd.

Thomson Licensing

Thomson Licensing S.a.

Peter Polit

Robert C Carroll

Thomas Anthony Stahl

Brian Albert Wittman

David Emery Virag

Mark Ryan Mayernick

Wenhua Li

Srinivasa Rao Datari

Suresh Natarajan

A method and system according to the disclosure facilitates subscription based access to services for image systems including an image acquisition device configured to generate image data describing a target object in a target area of the image acquisition device and an image display device configured to generate a human perceptible rendering of the target object based on the image data.

Method and system for providing access to image system services

A system including a modem locally generates a web page based graphical User interface for display to a user on a PC using different standardized browser applications and enabling a User to control or configure system functions. A processing system supports Internet compatible bi-directional communication and employs a method for providing local access to processing system parameters. The method involves receiving a locally initiated User command requesting access to a web page and validating authorization of the User command. The method also involves generating an Internet compatible web page for display containing a system parameter associated with the bi-directional communication in response to the validated User command. The generated web page is locally accessible via a web browser resident in the processing system and supports interactive functions such as, (a) configuring the processing system, (b) requesting display of system parameters, (c) selecting a service billing option, and (d) assigning Internet addresses.

User interface for a bi-directional communication system

A method for setting up a voice call over an IP network is described. The method first initiates an IP voice call to a called device connected to a telephone line. The method then determines whether the called device is already connected to the IP network. If the called device is not already connected to the IP network based on the determining step, the method will initiate a telephone call with an associated telephone signal through the telephone line to the called device, to alert the called device that an IP voice call is pending.

Call setup for IP/Internet telephony

A method for automatically defining or learning the configuration of a television interconnected with a plurality of peripheral devices utilizes a digital control channel to define the analog interconnections. This method does not require the consumer to know the specific configuration of the system. The system functions properly whether peripheral devices are in the video chain path or not. This method enables a suser to simply connect peripheral devices to any one of the multiple inputs of the video processing apparatus. The video processing apparatus employs a systematic process of (1) commanding each of said peripheral devices via a digital bus, such as an IEEE 1394 serial bus, to transmit a signal from its analog output, (2) monitoring the analog inputs of the video processing apparatus to determine which of the inputs receives the transmitted signal, and (3) constructing a map of the analog interconnectivity of each peripheral device connected to said video processing device.

Method for automatically determining the configuration of a multi-input video processing apparatus

A multimedia decoder supports a plurality of functions and communicates on at least one physical communication link. The decoder includes a first processor for decoding data packetized according to an Internet protocol data format to provide a first decoded output. The decoder also includes a second processor for encoding data according to the Internet protocol data format for return communication to a broadcast source. The decoder prioritizes received data for processing by the first processor and prioritizes data for encoding for return communication by the second processor. The received data and the data for encoding are allocated a desired hierarchical data output priority based on a function or a protocol characteristic of the data to be prioritized.

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Indianapolis, IN, United States of America

Peter Polit