Client and server system

Abstract

An internet on-demand system for television presents internet content and traditional television programming as part of a single coherent interface. The system includes a server and a client capable of providing a dynamic graphical user interface. The system can display an internet gateway interface which actively scrolls through and highlights links to selected web pages which are organized according to templates corresponding to their content. The web pages are presented on the graphical user interface as channels as part of the same milieu as channels of traditional television programming. The user can select a channel from a rotary menu wheel or via channel-up, channel-down buttons on the remote control device. An intelligent agent passively filters selected web pages for a user to explore based on the user's past pattern of usage of the client. The server queries the client regarding its available data stream connections, including telephone modems, cable modems, wireless telecommunications and digital satellite broadcasting, regarding its ability to detect embedded data in TV signals, in order to determine the most efficient delivery of different types of data through all of the available bandwidth connections for both directions of data flow. The efficient delivery of data allows the client to present text, graphics, video, audio and other multimedia information from a web page over the internet as a coordinated presentation.

Description

[0001]This patent application is a continuation application of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 948,401, filed on Sep. 6, 2001, and entitled “Client and Server System” which is a continuation application of U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,387, filed on Jun. 2, 1997, and entitled “Client and Server System.” The application Ser. No. 09 / 948,401, filed on Sep. 6, 2001, and entitled “Client and Server System” and the U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,387, filed on Jun. 2, 1997, and entitled “Client and Server System,” are both hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates generally to a client and server system for presenting multimedia information and, more particularly, to an integrated internet on-demand system for television.[0003]The internet is a collection of networks, including those maintained by commercial backbone providers such as MCI, PSINet, UUNET, and Sprint. The term “internet” applies to this entire set of interconnecting networks. D...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The system enables efficient navigation and fast delivery of multimedia content, providing a dynamic and intuitive interface that maximizes available bandwidth, allowing users to seamlessly access internet content and television programming akin to traditional TV viewing.

Problems solved by technology

However, these links are presented to the user in a static manner, often with little guiding information.

Even with data compression techniques, graphical files are notoriously large and slow to download given the limited bandwidth available over existing telephone modem connections.

A web page having a large number of graphical images can take several minutes to retrieve.

Audio and video files are typically very large, and can take even longer to completely download.

This can result in long and frequent delays in retrieving and using such files.

Although off-line browsing allows a client user to view pages already stored in cache memory from previously visited web sites, these documents are often not meaningfully organized, such as by topical subject matter for easy assimilation by the client user.

However, such attempts suffer from delays in accessing the graphics of the web, and the lack of experience in the mass-market with regard to the internet, especially in regard to finding and accessing relevant web pages of interest.

However, users may find such questionnaires to be burdensome, and may not completely and accurately complete the questionnaire.

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