Mobile Satellite TV Location-Based Channel Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current satellite television systems lack the ability to determine and comply with federal regulations regarding the display of local channels based on designated market areas, leading to complex and often overlapping or non-intersecting boundaries.
Innovation Solution
A method for operating a mobile satellite television system that determines the device's location using GPS or cellular tower-based systems, allowing it to tune into the appropriate local television signals for the designated market area, ensuring compliance with federal regulations by selecting the correct local channel based on the device's location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a mobile satellite television system displays local channels without location determination, then the system can provide entertainment programming, but it cannot comply with federal regulations regarding designated market areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces GPS location determination as an intermediary component between the satellite television system and the local channel selection. The GPS receiver provides location data that enables the system to identify the correct designated market area and select appropriate local channels, thereby achieving regulatory compliance without requiring complex manual configuration or hard-coded geographic boundaries
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary location determination and market area identification before channel selection. By continuously monitoring GPS coordinates and pre-establishing the relationship between locations and designated market areas, the system proactively determines which local channels should be displayed, ensuring compliance is maintained automatically as the vehicle moves across different geographic boundaries
2Reliability
If the system determines location and selects local channels based on designated market areas, then federal regulations are complied with, but the device complexity increases due to additional location determination and channel selection logic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the channel selection process into distinct functional modules: GPS location determination, market area identification based on location, and local channel selection based on market area. This modular segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, making the overall complex system more manageable and maintainable while ensuring regulatory compliance
3Reliability
If the system continuously monitors location to maintain correct local channel display, then compliance is maintained across moving boundaries, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs periodic location monitoring rather than continuous monitoring, checking GPS coordinates at intervals sufficient to detect movement across designated market area boundaries. This periodic action maintains compliance by detecting boundary crossings while consuming significantly less energy than continuous location tracking would require
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a mobile device includes determining a location of the mobile device, determining a local market area for the mobile device in response to the location. The method further includes broadcasting a local market signal for a first network in a first market and a second local market signal for the first network in a first market. The mobile device selects one of the first local market signal and the second local market signal in response to the local market for the mobile device.