TVScript Virtual Machine for Interactive Television
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Legacy digital television receivers lack the memory and CPU capabilities to support complex software languages like Java, making it difficult to develop and deploy interactive television applications, while future platforms may not utilize these languages effectively, leading to a need for a language and environment that supports both legacy and future platforms without minimum service level limitations.
Innovation Solution
A simplified virtual machine called TVScript, an object-based language with standardized objects and system functions, along with a development environment that validates and manages platform variations, ensuring applications execute without errors on diverse platforms by identifying unsupported features and adjusting behavior accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a complex software language like Java is used, then application functionality and interactivity are improved, but memory and CPU requirements increase beyond legacy STB capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified virtual machine language (TVScript) that is intentionally less complex than Java, designed specifically to run on resource-constrained legacy STBs. This simplified language acts as a disposable alternative that doesn't require the heavy memory and CPU resources of full Java, enabling application execution on legacy hardware while maintaining adequate functionality for ITV applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the complexity parameter of the virtual machine language from full Java to a simplified version (TVScript) with reduced memory and CPU requirements. This parameter change allows the language to be executed on legacy STBs while still providing sufficient functionality for interactive television applications, effectively resolving the contradiction between functionality and resource requirements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a simplified virtual machine language is used, then compatibility with legacy platforms is improved, but application complexity and development capability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the virtual machine language into two versions: a simplified version (TVScript) for legacy STBs and a more capable version for future platforms. This segmentation allows each version to be optimized for its target platform, with the simplified version providing adequate functionality for legacy hardware while the full version can leverage future platform capabilities, thus resolving the contradiction between compatibility and capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal application development environment that can compile and validate applications for multiple platform types (legacy and future) using the same TVScript language. This multi-functionality allows developers to write applications once and deploy them across different platform generations, maintaining platform compatibility while preserving adequate application complexity for development.
3Reliability
If platform-specific validation is performed, then application reliability on target platforms is improved, but development time and validation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary validation during the application development phase, where the development environment checks application code against the specific capabilities and constraints of target platforms before deployment. This preliminary action identifies and corrects platform-specific issues early in the development process, ensuring execution reliability on legacy STBs without requiring extensive post-deployment testing or validation time.
Data Source
AI summary
The current invention describes a virtual machine designed to run on a variety of platforms of varied capabilities, and in particular describes support in the coding and development environment for assessing and managing the variation in capability and performance among the platforms.