USP 7508789
`U.S. Application No. 08/279,424 INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
`Description
`
`This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/073,124, filed Feb. 9,
`2002 now abandoned; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/812,003, filed Mar. 19,
`2001 (now U.S. Pat No. 6,349,409); which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/434,413,
`filed Nov. 4, 1999 (now U.S. Pat No. 6,317,785); which is a continuation of application Ser. No.
`08/939,368, filed Sep. 29, 1997 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,307); which is a continuation in part of
`application Ser. No. 08/644,838, filed May 10, 1996 (now abandoned); which is a continuation
`in part of application Ser. No. 08/279,424, filed Jul. 25, 1994 (now abandoned); and application
`Ser. No. 08/255,649, filed Jun. 8, 1994 (now abandoned); which is a continuation in part of
`application Ser. No. 08/224,280, filed Apr. 7, 1994 (now abandoned); all of which are
`incorporated herein by reference.
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`This invention relates generally to information distribution and processing, and more particularly
`to distributing information using a broadcast channel and a bi-directional communication
`channel.
`
`Background2. Description of the InventionPrior Art
`
`Recent advancementsadvances in modem and computer technology allow large amount of digital
`data to be transmitted electronically. A number of information providers (such as newspaper and
`magazine publishers) and on-line information distributors (such as America Online, Dialog and
`Nexis) have formed partnerships to deliver newspaper and other information on-line. In this
`system, a subscriber uses a computer and a modem to connect (e.g., through a regular phone
`line,) to the computer of an on- lineon-line information providerdistributor. The subscriber can
`retrieve information, including newspaper articles, stored in the computer of the information
`providerdistributor.
`
`On-line delivery of newspaper has many advantages. For example, the information can be
`updated throughout the day while the printed version is printed only once or twice a day. Further,
`it is possible to do text-based searches on the information. However, it is found that on-line
`deliver of newspaper and other information is slow. For example, a subscriber has to wait many
`seconds for a newspaper article to be delivered. The quality of the electronic newspaper is low.
`For example, in order to reduce storage and communication requirements, graphic images
`appeared in the printed version are not universally supplied in the on-line version of newspaper.
`One of the reasons for such poor performance is the limited bandwidth of communication
`channels used by on-line information distributors. Another reason is that information is centrally
`processed by the computer at the site of the information distributor, with the result that each
`subscriber only gets a small slice of the time of the computer.
`
`Another way to communication information on-line is through the Internet, which is a worldwide
`interconnection of millions of computers, from low end personal computers to high-end
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`Ex. 1031 - Page 1 of 10
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`Groupon, Inc.
`Exhibit 1031
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`

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`mainframes. An important development in the Internet is the World Wide Web (the “Web”). The
`Web is a wide-area hypermedia information delivery and retrieval system aimed to give
`universal access to a large universe of documents. When the Web was first developed around
`1989, it was known to and used by the academic/research community only as a means for fast
`disseminating of information. There was no easily available tool which allows a technically
`untrained person to access the Web. An important development is the release of a Web
`“browser” around 1993. It has a simple but powerful graphic interface. The browser allows a
`user to retrieve web documents and navigate the Web using simple commands and popular tools
`such as point-and-click. Because the user does not have to be technically trained and the browser
`is easy to use, it has the potential of opening up the Internet to the masses.
`
`A document designed to be accessed and read over the web is called a web page. Each web page
`must have an address in a recognized format—the URL, or Uniform Resource Locator—that
`enables computers all over the world to access it. Each web page has an unique URL. A web
`page typically contains both text and images. It is also possible to include audio and movie data.
`
`The Web faces the same problem as the regular on-line delivery of information. This is because
`most people use the above described modem to access the Internet. Thus, the data transfer rate of
`the Web is also limited. Because multimedia data (comprising a combination of text, graphic,
`video and/or audio) has a large data size, even when compressed, it could take a long time to
`retrieve a document from the Web. Further, it is difficult to prevent unauthorized persons from
`access a web page because more than 20 million people in the world has access to the Internet.
`
`Consequently, there is a need to have an improved system for distributing information
`electronically.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention uses two channels to deliver digital information: a broadcast channel and a
`bi-directional channel. The broadcast channel is used to deliver the bulb of the digital
`information to subscribers. The amount of information delivered is preferably sufficient to
`satisfy the needs of a large number of subscribers so that they do not have to obtain additional
`information using the bi-directional channel. The broadcastedbroadcast information is stored on
`fast storage media located at subscriber sites. As a result, search and retrieval of the
`broadcastedbroadcast information is quick. Further, the broadcastedbroadcast information is
`processed locally using a dedicated on-site processor instead of relying on the computers of the
`information distributors. As a result, the load on the computers of the information distributors is
`reduced. If the subscribers desire to receive additional information relating to the
`broadcastedbroadcast information, the bi-directional communication channel is used to transmit
`the request and the requested information.
`
`The distribution costs of broadcast channels are typically much lower than that of a bi-directional
`communication channel. Consequently, the major portion of information is delivered using low
`cost distribution channels. For a large number of subscribers, the broadcastedbroadcast
`information will provide all the information they normally need. Thus, expensive
`bi·directionalbi-directional communication channels are used only occasionally.
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`These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be fully understood by
`referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing an embodiment of an information distribution system of
`the present invention.
`
`FIG. 2A shows a newspaper article as displayed on a monitor of the information distribution
`system shown in FIG. 1.
`
`FIG. 2B shows the contents of the broadcast information which corresponds to the newspaper
`article of FIG. 2A.
`
`FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the information distribution system of the present
`invention.
`
`FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention used in a data communication network.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE InventionPREFERRED EMBODIMENT
`The present invention comprises a novel information distribution and processing system and
`related methods. The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to
`make and use the invention. Descriptions of specific applications are provided only as examples.
`Various modifications to the preferred embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in
`the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and
`applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present
`invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the
`widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
`
`The present invention can be used to solve the above described problem of digital information
`delivery. It uses two channels to deliver digital information: a broadcast channel and a bi-
`directional channel. The broadcast channel is used to deliver the bulb of the digital information
`from a source to subscribers. The time for broadcasting is preferably during a time of low
`communication load (e.g., off-peak hours). Upon receiving, the broadcast information is stored
`on storage media located at subscriber sites. If the subscribers desire to receive additional
`information relating to the broadcast information, the bi-directional communication channel is
`used to transmit the request and the requested information.
`
`The data transfer rate of the storage media (more than a million bytes per second) could be
`hundreds of times faster than that of a modem. As a result, search and retrieval of the broadcast
`information is quick. Further, the broadcast information is processed locally using a dedicated
`on-site processor instead of relying on the computers of the information distributors. As a result,
`the load on the computers of the information distributors is reduced. Even though the requested
`information is delivered using a regular low bandwidth communication channel, the performance
`of the system would not be severely affected because the requested information is only a small
`fraction of the broadcast information.
`
`In one embodiment of the present invention, the broadcast information can be sent in the clear
`while the requested information (which may contain commercially valuable information) is
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`encrypted. Because the amount of requested information is a small fraction of the broadcast
`information, there is no need to use much computer resource to process the requested (and
`encrypted) information. In a different embodiment of the invention, the broadcast information is
`encrypted using a simple algorithm while the requested information is encrypted using a
`complex algorithm. Even though extra computer resource is used to decrypt the broadcast
`information, this embodiment may be useful for the case where it is not desirable for the public
`to view the broadcast information.
`
`It should be noted that the word “channel” is not limited to a specific kind of physical
`communication link. The word “channel” merely means a path for communicating information.
`The term “broadcast channel” means a path allowing an information source to deliver digital
`information to many recipients almost simultaneously. The term “bi-directional channel” means
`a path allowing one-to-one interactive communication between a source and a recipient. These
`two “channels” could use the same physical communication link (e.g., telephone lines, television
`cable lines, wireless, optical links, etc.) to perform their respective functions. That is, the same
`physical communication link can support both broadcast and bi-directional channels.
`
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information distribution system 100250 in accordance with the
`present invention. In this embodiment, system 100250 is designed to electronically distribute
`digital newspaper. It should be pointed out that system 100250 can also be used advantageously
`to distribute other types of digital information. System 100250 contains a plurality of subscriber
`units (such as units 102252 and 104254) each connected to a bi-directional communication
`channel (e.g., telephone connections 106 and 108modems 256 and 258 coupled to units 102252
`and 104254, respectively) and a satellite transponder 110260 for broadcasting digital data to
`these subscriber units. Telephone connections 106 and 108 (which could beModems 256 and 258
`may be coupled to a database 259 via line-based or wireless) are coupled to a central database
`109, telephone communications. In system 100250, satellite transponder 110260 is used to
`broadcast the content of a newspaper to the subscriber units while telephone connections 106 and
`108 are used to providemodems 256 and 258 allow delivering additional information (stored in
`central database 109259) to subscriber units 102252 and 104254, respectively, on a demand
`basis.
`
`The structure of these subscriber units are substantially identical; consequently, only one of these
`units, such as unit 102252, is described in detail. Unit 102252 contains an antenna 116266 for
`receiving broadcast signals from satellite transponder 110260, a signal/data processor 118268 for
`performing signal and data processing functions, a monitor 120270 for displaying the
`electronicdigital newspaper, and an input device 122272 (such as a keyboard and/or a mouse).
`
`Signal/data processor 118268 contains a transponder interface 132282 for processing transponder
`signal received from antenna 116266. Transponder interface 132 typically282 preferably
`contains a low noise receiver for receiving high frequency (e.g., C or Ku band) transponder
`signal and a “universal data interface” for converting the transponder signal to digital data,. The
`retrieved data is stored in nonvolatile storage 134284, such as a hard disk or solid state flash
`memory. Preferably, satellite transponder 110260 broadcasts the newspaper data at
`predetermined times. Thus, a real-time clock 136286 is preferably used to turn on interface
`132282 at the predetermined times,. Processor 118268 contains a microcomputer 140290 which
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`coordinates the operation of clock 136286, nonvolatile storage 134284, and interface 132282.
`Microcomputer 290 preferably contains a central processing unit (CPU), random access memory
`(RAM) and peripheral interface devices. Processor 118268 also contains a communication
`interface 142292 for sending and receiving digital data from central database 109259 through
`telephone connection 106modem 256.
`
`The time for broadcast is preferably chosen when communication load of transponder UO260 is
`at a low level (e.g., around mid-night). As a result, the cost of information delivery is low.
`Alternatively, the time of broadcasting is chosen by transponder 110260 because it knows when
`communication load is light. In this case, transponder 110260 first sends a signal to signal/data
`processor U8268 for alerting processor 118268 to receive and process the newspaper
`information.
`
`A user can use the input device 122272 and monitor 120270 to read the content of the
`electronicdigital newspaper stored in nonvolatile storage 134284. In thisone embodiment, the
`complete content of the newspaper is stored in nonvolatile storage 134284. The term “complete
`content” means that the user is able to read the newspaper without relying on information stored
`in central database 109259 (although other embodiments may deliver less than the complete
`content). In this aspect, system 100250 functions in a similar way as the distribution of a
`conventional printed newspaper. However, the digital data of the electronicdigital newspaper
`delivered by satellite transponder 110260 preferably contains linkage reference which
`allowsreferences (such as pointers) which allow fast retrieval of additional information from
`central database 109259.
`
`If the newspaper information received from satellite transponder 110260 is sufficient to satisfy
`the needs of a user, signal/data processor 118268 will not activate telephone connection
`106,modem 256. However, if the user wishes to receive additional information relating to an
`item mentioned in the electronicdigital newspaper (e,.g”., by selecting at the item using the input
`device), process 118processor 268 will retrieve the information stored in central database 109259
`using the embedded linkage reference.
`
`In system 100250 of the present invention, the complete content of the electronicreceived digital
`newspaper (including graphics and other multimedia contents, if delivered) is stored in
`nonvolatile storage 134284, which has fast access time. Further, a dedicated processor (i.e.,
`microcomputer 140290) is used to process newspaper information. On the other hand, prior art
`on-line newspaper distribution systems rely on modem to deliver the content of the newspaper
`stored in a central site,. Further, the processor in the central site has to serve many users in
`delivering the newspaper,. As a result, system 100250 has superior performance compared to the
`prior art on- lineon-line newspaper delivery systems.
`
`In one embodiment of the present invention, commercially valuable information is encrypted and
`stored in database 259. The broadcast information does not contain this information. Thus, in this
`embodiment less than the complete content is delivered by the broadcast channel. In this case,
`the broadcast information would not be useful unless a decryption key is available to decrypt the
`information obtained from database 259. As a result, only subscribers who have a decryption key
`are able to obtain meaningful information from the newspaper. In the case, microcomputer 290
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`also performs decryption functions. Alternatively, a separate decryptor 294 can be included in
`signal/data processor 268.
`
`It should be appreciated that even though only one database is shown in FIG. 1, the valuable
`information could be distributed to several databases. Further, the digital newspaper and database
`259 could be physically located in the same site.
`
`If it is not desirable to limit circulation of the newspaper to a certain class of subscribers only
`(e,g., paid subscribers)for the public to read the broadcast information, the data transmitted by
`transponder 110260 could also be encrypted. As a result, only subscribers who have a decryption
`key are able to read the newspaper, In the case, microcomputer 140 also performs decryption
`functions.In this case, simple encryption algorithm could be used to encrypt the broadcast
`information while complex encryption algorithm is used to encrypt the valuable information in
`database 259. A potential hacker would not be motivated to decrypt (and make public) the
`broadcast information unless he/she can also decrypt the valuable information.
`
`FIG. 2A shows an example of a portion of a newspaper article as seen on monitor 120270. In
`FIG. 2A, the terms which a user may obtain additional information are underlined (or highlighted
`in other ways, such as setting in different colors, depending on the choice of the publisher). If
`desired, the user may select these terms using an input device (e.g., a pointing device, such as a
`mouse), and signal/data processor 118268 will obtain the additional information from central
`database 109259.
`
`FIG. 2B shows the same portion in FIG. 2A as transmitted by transponder 110260 (for
`simplicity, theother embedded formatting codes, such as center, bold, etc., are not shown). Each
`of the terms underlined in FIG. 2A are enclosed by a special symbol (e.g., the “ϒ’’’
`
`” symbol) and followed by a linkage reference enclosed by another special symbol (e.g., the “__
`
`” symbol). These symbols are invisible to the users and is recognizable only by microcomputer
`140290. The linkage information could be as simple as a pointer.
`When an underlined term in FIG. 2A is selected by a user, microcomputer 140290 extracts the
`linkage reference and transmits it to central database 109259. The linkage reference allows
`central database 109259 to retrieve the necessary information quickly without doing extensive
`searches. As a result, the response time of system 100250 is fast. The retrieved information can
`itself contains linkage references and can be searched.
`
`If the speed of searching and retrieving data by central database 109259 is fast, it may not be
`necessary to include linkage reference in the broadcast information broadcastedtransmitted by
`transponder 110260. In this case, the user selects (e.g., using thean input device such as a mouse)
`words and terms he/she is interested in. Signal/data processor 118268 transmits the selected
`items to central database 109259, which searches for matches in its database. Matched
`information is sent to subscriber unit 102252 for processing.
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`The bi -directionalbi-directional channel also allows updating of the broadcastedbroadcast
`information. There is typically a time difference between the broadcast and display of
`information. New information gathered during this time difference can be stored in central
`database 109259 and later transmitted to signal/data processor 118.
`
`In this embodiment of the present invention, satellite transponder 110260 is used as the vehicle
`to electronically broadcast newspaper. However, other broadcast distribution methods can be
`used. In the present invention,One method is to use the Internet to broadcast is defined as one-to-
`many distribution ofthe information. Also note that the broadcast distribution channels do not
`have to be electrical. For example, the present invention allows the distribution of CDROMs
`encoded with digital information to the subscriber sites. In the case of electrical broadcast
`communication channels, both wired and wireless can be used. Preferably, unidirectional
`channels are used for broadcast because of their low cost; however, the present invention does
`not preclude the use of bi- directionalbi-directional communication channels (such as telephone
`lines) as means for distributing broadcast (i.e., one to many) information.
`
`Current technology allows the size of antenna 116266 to be as small as 2 feet. The costs of
`antenna 116266 and transponder interface 132282 is already low enough to be within the reach
`of small business or a typical household. The newspaper publisher has to pay for the use of the
`transponder. However, the costs is comparable to the printing and distribution costs of printed
`newspaper. It is anticipated that the costs of the newspaper distribution system in accordance
`with the present invention will be lowered as the number of subscribers increases.
`
`FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a newspaper distribution system 200 of the present
`invention. System 200 contains a satellite transponder 210, an earth station 214, and a plurality
`of subscriber units, such as units 222 and 224. Transponder 210 functions in a similar way as
`transponder 110260 of FIG. 1 and subscriber units 222 and 224 function in a similar way as
`subscriber units 102252 and 104254 of FIG. 1. Earth station 214 receives digital data transmitted
`by transponder 210 using an antenna 216. The data is distributed to subscriber units 222 and 224
`via wired communication channel 228, such as cable and optic fiber. Other earth stations could
`be placed in strategic locations throughout the country to serve their respective subscribers in a
`similar manner as earth station 214 and subscriber units 222 and 224. As a result, a large
`geographic area can be served simultaneously by satellite transponder 210. The advantage of this
`embodiment is that the equipment costs incurred by the subscriber units are low.
`
`In some locations, it may not be desirable to use wired communication channel to link an earth
`station to subscribers. In such case, wireless communication channel could be used. FIG. 3
`shows an earth station 234 which receives transponder signal from transponder 210 using an
`antenna 236. Earth station 234 in turn broadcasts the digital data to its subscribers, such as
`subscriber units 242 and 244.
`
`FIG. 3 shows a plurality of modems that are connected to subscriber units 222, 224, 242 and
`244. These modems are connected to a database 246. These parts of FIG. 3 is similar to the
`corresponding part of FIG. 1. It should be noted that wired communication channel 228 may also
`be used as a bi-directional communication channel for accessing database 246.
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`In one embodiment of system 200, teletext technology is used to link earth station 234 and
`subscriber units 242 and 244. Thus, earth station 234 could be located adjacent to a television
`transmission station. The digital data received by earth station 234 can be integrated to the
`vertical blanking interval of a TV signal, which is broadcasted using an antenna 238. Subscriber
`units 242 and 244 receive the signal using antennas 239, and 240, respectively. The digital data
`is then retrieved. Various improvements and refinements of the teletext technology are well
`known and can be incorporated into system 200.
`
`It should be obvious to a person skilled in the art that systems 100250 and 200 are not limited to
`the distribution of newspaper. Further, electronicdigital newspapers of the future may contains
`contents which are not available in the printed version, such as video and other multimedia
`compositions. Other information, such as magazines, graphic images, electronic mails, computer
`games, multimedia work, or interactive movie, could also be advantageously distribution using a
`system similar to systems 100250 and 200. For example, if it is desirable to distribute interactive
`movie, the non-interactive portion can be broadcastedbroadcast while the interactive portion is
`delivered using a bi-directional channel.
`
`The present invention can also be used in information distribution using a digital data network.
`FIG. 4 is a drawing showing a network system 500 of the present invention. System 500 contains
`a data communication network 502, which could be a local area network or a wide area network.
`System 500 also contains a plurality of client computers (such as computers 506-508) and a
`plurality of server computers (such as servers 516 and 518). These computers are connected to
`network 502 using a plurality of network access devices 510-514 (such as modems for
`connecting the client computers to dial-up lines and channel service units for connecting the
`server computers to T1 lines or lines of higher data rates). Preferably, the digital newspaper data
`and the database is stored in the servers. The digital newspaper data will be broadcasted by a
`server to the client computers either at a predetermined time or upon request. Upon receiving the
`broadcast data, the clients stores the data in its nonvolatile memory (such as its hard disk).
`
`The structure of the client computers could be similar to subscriber unit 252 of FIG. 1, except
`that the antenna (such as antenna 266) may correspond to the connection from the client
`computers to network 502 and interface 282 may correspond to the network access device. For
`example, client computer 510 may contain a signal/data processor 521, a monitor 522, an input
`device 523 and an antenna 524. The client computers can communicate with the database server
`(which corresponds to database 259 of FIG. 1). It should be noted that both the database and the
`digital newspaper data could be located on the same server. Further, the digital newspaper data
`and the database information could be distributed among many servers.
`
`In FIG. 1, the bi-directional channel is a separate physical communication link (i.e., telephone
`256, which is different from a satellite link). In FIG. 4, it is possible to use network 502 as both
`the broadcast channel and the bi-directional channel. This is an example that the same physical
`link supports both broadcast and bi-directional channels. Thus, these channels are defined by
`their functionality instead of by their physical characteristics.
`
`In the Internet, information can be broadcasted by sending the same information to a plurality of
`electronic mail or URL addresses. Alternatively, information can be sent using a multicasting
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`protocol. The client computers contain a browser which could read the broadcast digital
`information. The database server contains a plurality of files containing information related to
`the broadcast information. In the Web environment, the broadcast information is a hypertext
`markup language (“HTML”) document contains links (e.g., in the form of HTML “tags”
`containing URL addresses of these related files in the database server). A user can use a browser
`running on a client computer to read the broadcast HTML document. These tags are typically
`rendered as highlighted text or images by the browser. Upon seeing these indication of links, a
`user can click on these indications, and the client computers can accesses information in selected
`files by sending requests to these URL addresses. The server can then deliver the requested
`information to the subscribers using standard Web protocol. As pointed out above, these files
`may be encrypted, and only authorized users can read the content of these files.
`
`Some networks systems support distributive processing. These networks allows “applets” to be
`distributed from one computer (client and sever) to another computer for execution. An example
`of such a system is the Java and HotJava environment on the Web. The present invention can be
`applied to these network systems. Only some of the applets (preferably the most important ones)
`need to be encrypted while most of the applets can be sent in the clear (or slightly encrypted).
`
`In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the encryption can be performed at the time
`information in the database is delivered to the subscribers. Different encryption keys could be
`used. Methods of delivering the decryption keys to the subscribers via insecure communication
`channels have been described above, and will not be repeated here.
`
`There has thus shown and described a novel information distribution and process system. Many
`changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applicationsapplication of the subject
`invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering this specification and
`the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations, uses, and applications
`arcare covered by the scope of this invention which is limited only by the appended claims.
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`Summary report:
`Litéra® Change-Pro TDC 7.5.0.15 Document comparison done on 8/11/2014
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`Style name: Default Style
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