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:
Nov. 07, 2000
Filed:
Jul. 08, 1997
John P Norsworthy, Lucas, TX (US);
Jay A Thompson, Prosper, TX (US);
Microtune, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Abstract
The invention is a multiple mode transmission system that interconnects the computer of a user with the Internet. The system has a first link that is a relatively low bandwidth telephone system. The system also has a second link that is a relatively high bandwidth television system. The television link can be either terrestrial or cable. The user would send an information request to the Internet across the telephone system. The actual information would be sent to the user via the television system. Scheduling data that informs the user of the time, channel, and exact location of the information in the television signal is sent to the user across the telephone system. The scheduling data is used by the inventive system to program the TV tuner that is used by the computer to receive the TV signal. The information can be encrypted, and the key would be included with the scheduling data. The channels can be dedicated data channels. A plurality of users would share the television system, and each user is only temporarily assigned a portion of the channel.