201results about "Broadcast information relaying" patented technology

A television message system is provided that allows users at user television equipment devices that are connected to a television distribution facility to transmit messages to each other relating to a television program or other suitable subject. The television message system permits users to participate in evaluations, contests, promotions, and surveys related to a television program while watching that television program. The television message system also permits users to compose and send a message to a television program entity. Users can send messages through the television message system to users at personal computers who are connected to the user's television distribution facility through a communications network. The television message system also allows a user to purchase a gift related to television programming for a recipient. The gift may be an electronic gift certificate for pay-per-view programming. The television message system may be based on an interactive television program guide or a set-top box application implemented on a set-top box.

A method and an apparatus suggests programs for viewing by a subscriber. Terminals installed at a subscriber's home and at central locations, such as bookstores, video rental stores and libraries, provide responsive or intelligent search functions to suggest programs for viewing according to a subscriber's viewing preferences. Responsive searching includes posing questions to and receiving answers from the subscribers. Intelligent searching includes gathering historical data, such as the subscriber's history of programs watched. The programs include videotapes, videodiscs, television programs and electronic books. Subscribers indicate their selection and order the programs using a menu system. An automated billing system tracks the programs ordered.

This invention is a method of allocating bandwidth for a television program delivery system. This method selects specific programs from a plurality of programs, allocates the selected programs to a segment of bandwidth, and continues to allocate the programs until all the programs are allocated or all of the available bandwidth is allocated. The programs may be selected based on a variety of different factors or combination of factors. The selected programs may also be prioritized so that higher priority programs are distributed before lower priority programs in case there is not enough bandwidth to transmit all of the programs. This invention allows a television program delivery system to prioritize a large number of television programs and distribute these programs based on their priority levels. The invention also permits a television program delivery system to dynamically allocate bandwidth over time or based on marketing information, such as consumer demand.

The present invention provides a radio communication device, a transmitter and a receiver capable of handling a plurality of signal waves. A radio communication device has a millimeter-wave transmitter (15) and a millimeter-wave receiver (29). Millimeter-wave transmitter (15) includes a multiplexing circuit (1), a millimeter-wave up-converter (4) and an antenna (3), and the millimeter-receiver includes an antenna (31), a millimeter-wave down-converter (32) and an output processing circuit (45). The signal waves dedicated to the user are modulated by a modulation circuit (121 to 124) so as to be allocated between the ground broadcast waves and satellite broadcast waves. The frequencies are multiplexed in an intermediate frequency band, after that, the multiplexed frequencies are converted into a millimeter-wave band and the resultant is transmitted. On the reception side, the multiplexed waves are down-converted, separated to signal waves and demodulated.

A program guide system is provided in which local advertisements may be distributed to interactive television program guides implemented on the user television equipment associated with a television distribution facility such as a cable system headend. The local advertisements contain information that is directed toward the particular users in a local area. The local advertisements may be displayed when a user selects a related global advertisement. The local advertisements may also be displayed automatically by cycling global advertisements and local advertisements. Advertisements may be blocked based on content or time shifted. Policies regarding advertisement usage may be enforced.

Redistribution of multimedia signals or the like within a service area is performed by identifying one or more pieces of white space in the VHF/UHF spectrum, selecting a carrier frequency for each piece of white space spectrum, parsing the signal into a like number of components and modulating each component over a carrier frequency. The receiving device performs the reverse operation for reconstructing the signal.

A viewer for displaying electronic books and having various features for restricting access to their content. A user may assign ratings to stored electronic books, or use standard ratings, and assign access levels to potential users. The ratings and access levels determine which electronic books, or portions of the electronic books, a particular user may access on the viewer.

Music is blanket transmitted (for example, via satellite downlink transmission) to each customer's user station where selected music files are recorded. Customers preselect from a list of available music in advance using an interactive screen selector, and pay only for music that they choose to playback for their enjoyment. An antipiracy WID tag” is woven into the recorded music so that any illegal copies therefrom may be traced to the purchase transaction. Music is transmitted on a fixed schedule or through an active scheduling process that monitors music requests from all or a subset of satellite receivers and adjust scheduling according to demand for various CD's. Receivers store selections that are likely to be preferred by a specific customer. In those instances where weather conditions, motion of atmospheric layers or dish obstructions result in data loss, the system downloads the next transmission of the requested CD and uses both transmissions to produce a “good copy”. In conjunction 20 with the blanket transmission of more popular music, an automated CD manufacturing facility may be provided to manufacture CD's that are not frequently requested and distribute them by ground transportation.

An apparatus, method, and system for providing a broadcasting service in a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) system with a Single Frequency Network (SFN). Networks of shadow and non-shadow regions can be distinguished in the digital broadcasting system. A conditional access system can be used in the shadow region. A terminal can select a service network. A broadcasting providing server encrypts broadcasting service data, generates private and public keys into which predetermined encryption keys are divided to decrypt the encrypted broadcasting service data, sets at least one broadcasting transmitter for transmitting the private key and/or at least one broadcasting transmitter for transmitting the public key, and provides the encryption keys along with the encrypted broadcasting service data. Broadcasting transmitters transmit the encrypted broadcasting service data received from the broadcasting providing server and the private key using the SFN. At least one of the broadcasting transmitters further transmits the public key.

A solution for allowing conditional access to IP-based broadcast services in a passive optical network is disclosed. When a subscriber requests broadcast services by selecting a broadcast channel, an IP set-top converts the request into an IGMP join message and forwards the message to an ONU/ONT, a unit on the subscriber's side. The ONU/ONT delivers the message to an OLT interworking with a router while storing mapping information of the port that received the message and a MAC address of the selected channel. Thereafter, the OLT extracts information on MAC address of the IP set-top box and the requested broadcast data. The OLT compares the extracted information to the subscriber's subscription information and determines whether to provide the requested broadcast services. If the broadcast services may be provided, the broadcast data provided from the broadcast server is transmitted to the IP set-top box via ONU/ONT based on the stored mapping information.

A relay device and a communication device capable of realizing the contents protection procedure between devices that are not connected to the same network are disclosed. A relay device and a communication device are so configured that between a device/service/sub-unit on the second network and a device on the first network which are a pair that is carrying out transmission or reception of contents to be protected, a device on the first network or a device/service/sub-unit on the second network can carry out the contents protection procedure while recognizing the target of the contents protection procedure as the relay device, so that there is no need for a device on the first network or a device/service/sub-unit on the second network to account for the other network that is connected via the relay device.

Current radio broadcast stations have limited geographic coverage. We provide system and method to access real-time world broadcast radio transmission. The system is capable of creating a simplex conference bridge with the desired destination radio station either upon demand by the subscriber or auto scheduled by the system as programmed by the subscriber. The concept is expanded to retrieve commercial promotional multimedia clips of advertisers either upon demand by the subscriber or as if pre-initialized by the subscriber, the system sends alert when such promotion occurs. We find good use of these features during free allocated time by carrier access operators.

A tuner included in a digital broadcast receiver tunes a broadcast signal from a transmitter via a re-transmitter. A demodulator demodulates the broadcast signal, and an identification information detector detects identification information of a re-transmission service provided by the re-transmitter from the demodulated broadcast signal. A decoder arranged to decode the modulated broadcast signal, and a controller controls operation of the decoder based upon the identification information detected by the identification information detector. The identification information of the re-transmitter may directly include information identifying a type of the re-transmission service (e.g., a free or charged service) or may include a unique ID number of the re-transmission service, which could be used by the broadcast receiver to determine service type.

A mobile communication terminal for receiving a multimedia broadcast signal comprises a controlling unit adapted to extract channel information associated with a first mobile communication terminal location from a signal at the first mobile communication terminal location. The mobile communication terminal also comprises a comparing unit adapted to compare extracted channel information associated with the first mobile communication terminal location against channnel information associated with a second mobile communication terminal location in response to movement of the mobile communication terminal from the first mobile communication terminal location to the second mobile communication terminal location. The mobile communication terminal may further comprise a memory adapted to store channel information received from a base station and a broadcasting network.

The present invention provides a wireless redistribution system for terrestrial digital TV broadcasting applied to a TV receiver capable of receiving signals of a VHF band in addition to signals of a UHF band as a frequency band of terrestrial digital TV broadcast signals. The system comprises: a transmitter, into which terrestrial digital TV broadcast signals received by an outdoor antenna are inputted, for converting the frequency of the inputted terrestrial digital TV broadcast signals to a frequency of an unused channel of the VHF band collectively, and then amplifying and transmitting them wirelessly; and a receiver for receiving and amplifying signals transmitted from the transmitter, and then supplying them to the TV receiver.

An audio transmission method and system. The method includes detecting by a computing system, a wireless device belonging to a user. The computing system enables a connection between the wireless device and the computing system. The computing system receives from the wireless device, a request for receiving an audio broadcast. The computing system transmits to the wireless device, a language list comprising different languages for the audio broadcast. The computing system receives from the wireless device, a selection for a first language from the language list. The computing system transmits a message indicating the selection to the wireless device. The computing system requests the audio broadcast. The computing system receives the audio broadcast. The computing system transmits the audio broadcast comprising the first language to the wireless device.

Disclosed are a method for broadcasting signal transmission in a wireless communication system providing a broadcasting service and a corresponding wireless communication system. In such a method and a system, a terminal receives a signal transmitted from a repeater to calculate received performance information of the signal and then transmits the received performance information to an administration center if the received performance information is equal to or greater than a reference error value. The administration center controls the repeater based on the received performance information transmitted from the terminal. The repeater adjusts transmission signal intensity or a transmission angle based on a control signal transmitted from the administration center.

The invention relates to a method for realizing live broadcast of television news by using a wireless communication network. The method comprises the following steps of: establishing wireless connection with a media server by dialing; acquiring images and sound; encoding audio and video data; loading destination address information into the encoded data information to generate an IP data packet; performing real-time transmission through the wireless communication network; decoding the audio and video data information received by the media server; and converting the decoded information into an SDI signal and outputting the signal to a studio for playing. Compared with the prior art, the method has the advantages of replacing the majority of the functions of a satellite broadcasting vehicle and breaking through the limitation of time and region, along with low live broadcast cost and less limitation, and the method has the advantages that: no matter where and when a news event occurs, journalists can immediately rush to the field to carry out live video broadcast; and by the method, audiences can very easily participate in television media propagation, the television media has obvious propagation advantage, and the audiences can participate in the live program broadcast by using mobile phones, so that the video propagation advantages of the television media and the interaction of the audiences for immediately participating in the programs are shown.