The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 08, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 15, 1997
Nizar Allibhoy, Northridge, CA (US);
Joseph George Buehl, Van Nuys, CA (US);
Joe Edmonds, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Time Warner Entertainment Co. L.P. Time Warner Cable, Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
An interactive cable TV system includes a large number of set-top terminals that are connected to a system headend by way of a low-speed, time division multiplexed, channel. The headend includes the mass storage of multimedia data-assets that each contain a large number of individual data-items that may be of interest to various set-top users. A set-top user initiates an inquiry to the data-asset storage by way of an item-descriptor comprising a word-picture of the item. When this set-top query is received at the headend, a table or list is established whereby the query and its set-top ID are associated with related data assets. As the headend's data-asset storage is changed from time to time, the changes that relate to listed set-top queries result in an update of the query list. This updated data-asset information is sent to the related set-tops immediately, or is sent only when the headend receives a request from the related set-top.