Multimedia time warping system

Abstract

A multimedia time warping system allows the user to store selected television broadcast programs while the user is simultaneously watching or reviewing another program. The system accepts television (TV) input streams in a multitude of forms that are converted to an encoded formatted stream for internal transfer and manipulation and are parsed. Events are recorded that indicate the type of component that has been found, where it is located, and when it occurred. The program logic is notified that an event has occurred and the data is extracted from the buffers. The encoded streams are stored on a storage device and a decoder converts the encoded stream into TV output signals. User control commands affect the flow of the encoded stream.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY AND RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of and claims benefit to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 827,029 (Attorney Docket No. 60097-0026), filed Apr. 5, 2001, entitled “Multimedia Time Warping System”, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,389 B1, (Attorney Docket No. 60097-0025), issued on May 15, 2001, entitled “Multimedia Time Warping System”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein; and is further related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 935,426 (Attorney Docket No. 60097-0027), filed Aug. 22, 2001, entitled “Multimedia Signal Processing System” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 081,776 (Attorney Docket No. 60097-0029), filed Feb. 20, 2002, entitled “Multimedia Time Warping System”.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Technical Field [0003] The invention relates to the time shifting of television broadcast signals. More particularly, the invention relates to the ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] The invention provides a multimedia time warping system. The invention utilizes an easily manipulated, low cost multimedia storage and display system that allows the user to view a television broadcast program with the option of instantly reviewing previous scenes within the program. In addition, the invention allows the user to store selected television broadcast programs while the user is simultaneously watching or reviewing another program.

[0013] The parser and event buffer decouple the CPU from having to parse the MPEG stream and from the real time nature of the data streams. This decoupling allows for slower CPU and bus speeds which translate to lower system costs.

Problems solved by technology

However, a VCR cannot both capture and play back information at the same time.

Continuing this exercise, one can quickly see that the equipment becomes unwieldy, unreliable, expensive, and hard to operate, while never supporting all desired functions.

In addition, tapes are of finite length, and may potentially end at inconvenient times, drastically lowering the value of the solution.

However, this approach is difficult to implement because the processor requirements for keeping up with the high video rates makes the device expensive and problematic.

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