A novel network controller for use with a digital cable headend capable of monitoring and controlling set top terminals in a television program delivery system is described. The invention relates to methods and apparatus for a network controller that manages a configuration of set top terminals in a program delivery system. The invention is particularly useful in program delivery systems with hundreds of channels of programming, a menu driven program selection system, and a program control information signal that carries data and identifies available program choices. Specifically, the invention modifies a program control information signal at the cable headend before the modified signal is transmitted to each set top terminal. This signal is used with polling methods to receive upstream data from the set top terminals. The invention initiates such upstream data retrieval, gathers all data received and compiles viewer demographics information and programs watched information. The invention processes this data and information to generate packages of advertisements, as well as account and billing reports, targeted towards each set top terminal. The invention uses upstream data reception hardware, databases and processing hardware and software to accomplish these functions.

Network controller for cable television delivery systems

A novel multiple channel architecture (265) is designed to allow targeted advertising directed to television terminals (220) connected to an operations center (202) or a cable headend (208). Program channels carry television programs. The invention uses upstream data reception hardware (262, 275, 297), databases (301) and processing hardware (285, 293) and software to accomplish these functions. During commercial breaks in the television programs, advertisements, which are also broadcast on the program channel, are displayed. However, additional feeder channels carry alternate advertising that may be better suited for certain viewing audiences. The operations center (202) or the cable headend (208) generate a group assignment plan (293, 299) that assigns the television terminals (220) to groups, based on factors such as area of dominant influence and household income. A switching plan (291) is then generated that instructs the television terminals (220) to remain with the program channel or to switch to one of the alternate feeder channels during the program breaks. The television terminals (220) record which channels were viewed during the program breaks, and report this information to the cable headend (208) and the operations center (202). The reported information is used to generate billing for commercial advertisers, and to analyze viewer watching habits.

Targeted advertisement using television delivery systems

A system in some embodiments achieves distribution of conventional cable services in traditional manners while providing interactive television information services on a demand basis using a switching arrangement, and it does so while permitting both types of service to be accessed, as in the past, by the single action of channel selection. In a preferred embodiment, an interactive television information system, providing interactive cable television service when coupled to a cable television system, has (i) an information source available at a headend (11) for supplying a plurality of information services and (ii) an information service distribution (68b) network for delivering the information services to subscriber televisions. Various architectures are provided.

Interactive home information system

An Operations Center (202) for television entertainment systems that provide television programming to consumer homes is disclosed. The Operations Center (202) organizes and packages television programming and program information for delivery to and from consumer homes. The Operations Center (202) includes a computerized packaging system (260) for creating a program control information signal.

An operation center for a television program packaging and delivery system

The present invention is an operations center (202) that organizes and packages television programs for transmission in a television delivery system (200) The center is capable of receiving, storing, packaging and delivering countless programs in various signal formats The center's primary components are a receiver (300), system controller (312), video storage (308), computer assisted packaging system (316), and output equipment (320) The components can receive, convert, store, select, retrieve, encode and otherwise process multiple program signals, gather program identities of analog and/or digital programs, generate menus, package programs efficiently based on subscriber needs and the available bandwidth, and output packaged program products to multiple remote sites (208) To perform these functions, the CAP (316) creates program lineups, menus, instructions on the packaging of programs, and/or allocates available bandwidth In the preferred embodiment, the packaged program products contain programs, control information, and menus

An operations center with video storage for a television program packaging and delivery system

A non-adaptive predictor, a nonuniform quantizer and a multi-level Huffman coder are incorporated into a differential pulse code modulation system for coding and decoding broadcast video signals in real time.

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Wayne A. Whyte

Papers

Real-time data compression of broadcast video signals