(12) United States Patent
`Gordon et al.
`
`US006314573B1
`(10) Patent N0.2
`US 6,314,573 B1
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Nov. 6, 2001
`
`(54) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
`PROVIDING SUBSCRIPTION-ON-DEMANI)
`SERVICES FOR AN INTERACTIVE
`
`INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
`
`5,897,623 * 4/1999 Fein etal. ............................ .. 705/27
`5,903,816 * 5/1999 Broadwin etal. .................. .. 455/31
`5,915,243 * 6/1999 Smolen .............. ..
`705/14
`5,929,850 * 7/1999 Broadwin etal.
`. 345/327
`5,990,927 * 11/1999 Hendricks etal. .................... .. 348/6
`
`(75) Inventors: Donald F. Gordon, Los Altos; Tobie
`La Rocca, San Jose, both of CA (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: DIVA Systems Corporation, Redwood
`City, CA (Us)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/086,799
`_
`May 29! 1998
`(22) F1169:
`(51) Int. Cl.7 .......................... .. H04N 5/445; H04N 7/16;
`H04N 7/173
`
`(52) US. Cl. ................................. .. 725/61; 725/5;
`
`345/327 3486
`(58) Field of Search
`348/6, 7, 1o, 12, 13; 709/217_219; 705/14,
`15, 20,26, 27, 713/201; 725/60, 61,87,
`101, 5, 4o
`
`(56)
`
`.
`References Clted
`U_S, PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`Z’Zéiéii * 13/1332 fl?i‘ii’ifil cf.??:..1111111111111111"333%?
`576007364 * 2/1997 Hendricks et al. .................... .. 348/1
`5:600:53 * 2/1997 Hendricks et a1_
`348/6
`576297732 * 5/1997 MOSkOWitZ et a1_ __
`348/7
`5,629,733 * 5/1997 Youman etal.
`348/7
`5,659,35O * 8/1997 Hendricks et al.
`348/6
`5,663,757 * 9/1997 Morales ............................... .. 348/13
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4/1998 (EP) .
`0 833 511 A2
`* Cited by examiner
`.
`.
`.
`Primary Exammer—AndreW Faile
`Assistant Examiner—Hai V- Trfln
`(74) Attorney) Agent) 0" Flrm—Th0IIlaS0n, Moser &
`Patterson LLP
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A method and apparatus for providing subscription-on
`demand (SOD) services for a interactive information distri
`bution System’ Where a Consumer {nay sub§cribe to packages
`of on-demand programs for a single price and view the
`programs in the subscribed package at any time for no
`additional Cost‘ The apparatus and method are embodied in
`
`a combination of software, Which provides a so called
`navigator, and hardWare, including a subscriber terminal that
`provides certain functionality for the navigator and service
`provider equipment that supports the functionality of the
`terminal. As such, graphical user interface functionality is
`distributed betWeen the service rovider e ui ment and
`subscriber equipment (subscriber ItJerminal). Sugh distribu
`tion provides an enjoyable, real time interactive process for
`accessing SOD services that alloWs the subscriber to rapidly
`identify and
`a 59591919569169.“ addition 3
`non-subsénber of a pamculalr Semce 1S qulckly ldenn?ed
`and provided the opportunity to, through the use of a
`graphical user interface, subscribe to the programming pro
`vided by the system
`
`15 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets
`
`9552333“
`
`300
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`PROCESS
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`360
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`SUBSCRIBER
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`
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`
`DATABASE
`
`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 1
`
`

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`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 2
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`
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 6, 2001
`
`Sheet 2 0f 11
`
`US 6,314,573 B1
`
`200
`,/
`
`TRANSCEIVER
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`|
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`
`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 3
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 6, 2001
`
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`US 6,314,573 B1
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`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 4
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`NOV. 6, 2001
`
`Sheet 4 0f 11
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`US 6,314,573 B1
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`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 5
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`NOV. 6, 2001
`
`Sheet 5 0f 11
`
`US 6,314,573 B1
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`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 6
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 6, 2001
`
`Sheet 6 0f 11
`
`US 6,314,573 B1
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`04
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`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 7
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 6, 2001
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`Sheet 7 0f 11
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`US 6,314,573 B1
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`U.S. Patent
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`Nov. 6, 2001
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Nov. 6, 2001
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`

`

`US 6,314,573 B1
`
`1
`METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
`PROVIDING SUBSCRIPTION-ON-DEMAND
`SERVICES FOR AN INTERACTIVE
`INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates to an interactive information
`distribution system such as a video-on-demand (VOD) sys
`tem. More particularly, the present invention relates to a
`method and apparatus for providing subscription-on
`demand (SOD) services for such an interactive information
`distribution system.
`2. Description of the Background Art
`Recent advances in digital signal processing techniques
`and, in particular, improvements in digital compression
`techniques, have led to a plethora of proposals for providing
`neW digital services to a customer’s home via existing
`telephone and coaxial cable netWorks. For example, it has
`been proposed to provide hundreds of cable television
`channels to subscribers by compressing digital data and
`digital video, transmitting the compressed digital signals
`over conventional coaxial cable television channels, and
`then decompressing the signals in the subscriber’s receiver.
`Another proposed application for this technology is a video
`on-demand (VOD) system in Which a subscriber communi
`cates directly With a video service provider via telephone
`lines to request a video program from a video library and the
`requested video program is routed to the subscriber’s home
`via telephone lines or via coaxial cable television cables for
`immediate vieWing. Other proposed VOD systems use a
`frequency multiplexing technique to enable control infor
`mation for a subscriber’s receiver to be transmitted through
`a cable netWork back to an information server. Such a
`system permits a bi-directional communications over a
`single netWork.
`In most of these information distribution systems, graphi
`cal menus are displayed upon the subscribers television and
`using a remote control device, a subscriber selects a desired
`program for vieWing. One such graphical user interface
`based VOD system is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 5,619,249,
`issued Apr. 8, 1997, and hereby incorporated herein by
`reference, Wherein a vieWing station including a television
`monitor and a high-poWer graphics computer are used to
`generate a graphical user interface. The vieWing stations are
`in communication With a telecasting facility (i.e., service
`provider head end equipment) that transmits selected video
`information as requested by the vieWing station. The graph
`ics computer Within the vieWing station locally stores all the
`executable programs that generate the graphical interface,
`control the graphical interface, and interact With the sub
`scriber. The graphics computer not only enables a subscriber
`to select programming to vieW, but also enables a non
`subscriber to become a subscriber by interacting With certain
`interface screens.
`Although having such a high-poWer computer Within the
`vieWing station is bene?cial in providing nearly instanta
`neous responsiveness to the subscriber’s and non
`subscriber’s inputs, such a high-poWer computer system is
`economically unfeasible to utiliZe as subscriber equipment
`for a large number of subscriber homes. As such, set top
`terminals or television receivers containing built-in high
`poWer computers are generally not feasible as a commercial
`product.
`Additionally, prior art VOD systems have only contem
`plated selling services on a program-by-program basis. For
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`2
`example, in the prior art systems, a vieWer navigates through
`various menus to arrive at a menu containing a program title
`that the subscriber desires to vieW. The subscriber then
`requests the program and the program is supplied to the
`subscriber’s display. The subscriber’s account is then billed
`for the order of that particular program. As such, the concept
`of subscriptions extends only to the general access to content
`and an a la carte purchase of a unit of content. In this respect,
`the consumer’s experience is nothing more than the trans
`formation of the video store experience to the customer’s
`home; the consumer is purchasing the ability to access a
`program for a prescribed period of time. Such systems use
`the term “subscriber” to represent someone Who has
`received an installation of the subscriber equipment to
`enable a technically different class of service to be accessed,
`namely, digital or analog/digital services instead of the
`purely analog telecasts of conventional cable television.
`Consequently, the “subscription” as used in the prior art
`refers to the capability of selecting from a list a single unit
`of content such as a movie or video. Heretofore, VOD
`systems have not had a capability of packaging program
`ming at a single price such that a system subscriber can also
`be a program package subscriber to enable the package
`subscriber to vieW any program in the subscribed package
`Without further cost.
`Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and
`apparatus for providing subscription-on-demand services for
`an interactive information distribution system. There is also
`a need to provide these services using equipment having a
`signi?cant portion of the computing poWer is contained
`Within a service provider head end system such that a
`terminal for the subscriber’s home can be manufactured
`relatively inexpensively.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`The disadvantages heretofore associated With the prior art
`are overcome by the present invention of a method and
`apparatus for providing subscription-on-demand (SOD) ser
`vices for a interactive information distribution system, here
`the system provides distributed computing resources using a
`relatively inexpensive subscriber terminal. The invention is
`embodied in a combination of softWare, Which provides a
`so-called “navigator”, and hardWare, including subscriber
`equipment and service provider equipment that is intercon
`nected by a communications netWork. The graphical user
`interface functionality is distributed betWeen the service
`provider equipment and subscriber equipment. Such distri
`bution provides an enjoyable, real time interactive session
`that alloWs the consumer to rapidly navigate through a
`plethora of menus to ?nd particular information Which the
`consumer desires to vieW. In addition, a non-subscriber of a
`particular SOD service is quickly identi?ed and provided the
`opportunity to, through the use of a graphical user interface,
`subscribe to the programming provided by the system.
`Using the inventive equipment, a consumer is capable of
`further subscribing to packages of on-demand programming,
`i.e., SOD services, through manipulation of the graphical
`user interface. The system provides certain packages of
`on-demand programming, i.e., childrens programming, that
`a consumer may elect to subscribe to for a single price. As
`such, through manipulation of the menus, the consumer
`selects a programming package, becomes a subscriber to that
`package and is billed accordingly. Thereafter, the subscriber
`may vieW any program in the package Without additional
`cost. Although prede?ned programming packages are gen
`erally available for selection, a consumer may optionally
`create a personal SOD service by selecting programs for a
`
`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 13
`
`

`

`US 6,314,573 B1
`
`3
`personal package that can then be subscribed to as any other
`programming package.
`Consequently, the invention differs from the prior art from
`both an architectural standpoint and data management stand
`point. Together these innovations provide a complex price
`and data capacity management infrastructure necessary to
`offer a consumer friendly approach to subscribing to a class
`of data or service content. This service content might be
`grouped by any logical association such as a series of movies
`or other program content. The SOD service concept of
`having a single price for a package of programming removes
`the payment commitment challenge ordinarily posed by the
`prior art as a barrier to vieWing each item of content.
`
`10
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`15
`
`The teachings of the present invention can be readily
`understood by considering the folloWing detailed descrip
`tion in conjunction With the accompanying draWings, in
`Which:
`FIG. 1 depicts a high level block diagram of an interactive
`information distribution system containing the present
`invention;
`FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an illustrative subscrib
`er’s terminal Within the system of FIG. 1;
`FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C together depict a How diagram of
`a routine representing the softWare that is eXecuted Within
`the system of FIG. 1 to provide the subscription-on-demand
`services of the present invention;
`FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative menu structure for selecting
`a subscription-on-demand service;
`FIG. 5 depicts a menu structure used to select a subscrip
`tion item that is a subset of the subscription-on-demand
`service;
`FIG. 6 is a menu depicting titles of programming Within
`a speci?c category Within said subscription on demand
`service;
`FIG. 7 is a title information screen;
`FIG. 8 is a menu that alloWs a consumer to subscribe to
`a selected subscription-on-demand service;
`FIG. 9 is a menu that provides an input structure for a
`master PIN number.
`To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals
`have been used, Where possible, to designate identical
`elements that are common to the ?gures.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`The invention is a method and apparatus that provides a
`subscription-on-demand (SOD) service for an interactive
`information distribution system. Throughout the folloWing
`description the term “SOD service” is de?ned as the capa
`bility of a consumer to subscribe to packages of program
`ming at a pre-de?ned price and those programs Within a
`subscribed package can be vieWed, on-demand, Without
`further cost to the subscriber. As such, a consumer (i.e., a
`vieWer having a system account number) can request,
`through manipulation of a graphical user interface, to sub
`scribe to a package of programming, i.e., children’s
`programming, at a ?Xed price. Thereafter, any program
`Within the package can be vieWed at anytime, i.e.,
`on-demand, Without further charge. Optional vieWing time
`restrictions and the like can be implemented to limit package
`content vieWing only during prede?ned time periods or, if
`vieWing outside the time period is desired, an additional fee
`is charged to the subscriber’s account.
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`Although the SOD service of the present invention can be
`implemented and eXecuted using a number of different types
`of information distribution systems, the preferred embodi
`ment is used in combination With the interactive information
`distribution system hardWare described in commonly
`assigned US. patent application Ser. No. 08/984,710, ?led
`Dec. 3, 1997, and hereby incorporated herein by reference.
`HoWever, the speci?c hardWare arrangement is considered
`illustrative of the type of system With Which the invention is
`used. Use of the invention Within other information distri
`bution system hardWare arrangements that facilitate distrib
`uted computing resources betWeen the service provider head
`end and the subscriber’s terminal is considered Within the
`scope of the invention.
`FIG. 1 depicts a high level block diagram of the illustra
`tive information distribution system 100 that incorporates
`the present invention. The system 100 contains service
`provider equipment 102, a communications netWork in the
`form of a cable transport subsystem 104 and subscriber
`equipment 106”, Where n is an integer greater than 0. The
`service provider equipment 102 contains an information
`server 108 Which is typically a parallel processing computer
`containing at least one central processing unit 110 and
`associated memory 112. US. Pat. No. 5,671,377, issued
`Sep. 23, 1993 and US. Pat. No. 5,579,527, issued Nov. 26,
`1996, Which are hereby incorporated herein by reference,
`describe a server that is capable of operating in the capacity
`of information server 108. The server 108 interacts With the
`data storage device 114 (e.g., a disk drive array) that
`generally stores the subscriber information (e.g., video data)
`that Will be recalled and doWnloaded to the subscriber
`equipment 106. Additionally, Within the service provider
`equipment 102 is a video session manager 122 that provides
`session control of the information ?oWing to and from the
`server 108. The video session manager 122 contains its oWn
`central processing unit (CPU) 124 and associated memory
`126 that provides functionality for the graphical user inter
`faces through Which the consumer interacts With the system.
`The CPU 124 is part of a session control manager 125 that
`controls a plurality of modems 127 that facilitate commu
`nication With the subscriber equipment. Other subsystems of
`the service provider equipment include a netWork manager
`142 and a back of?ce subsystem 144. These subsystems
`maintain certain databases of information that enable the
`system to accurately control system access, subscription
`package de?nitions, and subscriber/consumer pro?le and
`billing.
`The information server 108 is coupled to the video session
`manager 122 via data path 116, synchroniZation clock path
`118, and control path 120. The server 108 provides data
`streams that are destined for consumers on path 116 and a
`synchroniZation clock on path 118. The speci?c data streams
`are provided in response to requests for information (e.g.,
`menu applets, video programs, and other content material)
`from the video session manager 122 on path 120. These data
`streams are packetiZed and modulated onto a carrier that is
`compatible With the transmission requirements of the net
`Work 104.
`The video session manager 122 accomplishes all of the
`transmission interface requirements of the system 100 as
`Well as provides graphical user interface support.
`Speci?cally, the video session manager 122 is coupled
`through the modems 127 to subscriber equipment via a
`forWard information channel 132, a forWard command chan
`nel 133 and a back channel 134. All three of these channels
`are supported by the cable transport subsystem 104. The
`video session manager 122 contains a modulator for modu
`
`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 14
`
`

`

`US 6,314,573 B1
`
`5
`lating the server data streams onto one or more carrier
`frequencies for transmission on the forward information
`channel 132. Additionally, modems 127 Within the video
`session manager 122 send control information via the for
`Ward command channel 133 and receive control information
`via the back channel 134. Moreover, a conventional cable
`television signal source 128 is optionally coupled to the
`forWard information channel 132 via a signal coupler 130. In
`operation, the video session manager 122 responds to
`requests from the subscriber equipment 106 for interactive
`menus and data streams by requesting the server 108 to
`provide such information, then communicating that infor
`mation to the requesting subscriber equipment 106. The
`video session manager 122, as discussed beloW, also ensures
`that the subscriber equipment 106 is authoriZed to receive
`the requested information.
`The cable transport subsystem 104 can be any one of a
`number of conventional broad band communications net
`Works that are available such as a ?ber optic netWork, a
`telephone netWork, existing cable television netWork and the
`like. For example, if the netWork is a hybrid ?ber-coax
`netWork, the transport technique used in both forWard chan
`nels may be modeled after the moving pictures expert group
`(MPEG) transport protocol for the transmission of video
`data streams. In general, the transport mechanism for both
`the forWard channels and transport information to the sub
`scriber equipment must be able to carry unidirectional,
`asynchronous packetiZed data such as that de?ned in the
`MPEG video and audio signal transmission protocol, and the
`like. There are a number of such transport protocols avail
`able.
`The subscriber equipment 106 receives the requested data
`streams from the forWard information channel, demodulates
`the streams and processes them for display on the display
`device 140 (e.g., a conventional television). In addition, the
`terminal 136 accepts commands from a remote control input
`device 138 or other input device to facilitate consumer
`interaction With the system. These commands are formatted,
`compressed, modulated, and transmitted through the net
`Work 104 to the video session manager 122. Typically, this
`transmission is accomplished through the back channel 134.
`These commands are preferably transmitted through the
`same netWork used to transmit information to the subscriber
`equipment. HoWever, the back channel coupling the sub
`scriber equipment to the server may be a separate netWork,
`e.g., a forWard information channel through a television
`cable netWork and a back channel through a telephone
`netWork. The telephone netWork could also support the
`forWard control channel. The video session manager 122
`interprets each command set from the terminal through the
`back channel 134 and instructs the information server 108 to
`perform certain functions to implement the consumer/
`subscriber request.
`FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of the terminal 136 Which
`contains a transceiver 200, a central processing unit (CPU)
`212 and a display driver 222. Of course, the functionality of
`the terminal 136 can be embedded Within a single consumer
`electronics product such as a receiver circuit Within a
`television. As such, the description of a separate terminal
`should be considered illustrative of the type of subscriber
`equipment that may be used to implement the present
`invention.
`Within the set top terminal 136, the CPU 212 is supported
`by random access memory (RAM) 220, read only memory
`(ROM) 218 and various support circuits 216 such as clocks,
`poWer supply, and infrared receiver and the like. The trans
`ceiver 200 contains a diplexer 202, a back channel trans
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`mitter 208, an information channel receiver 204, a command
`channel receiver 210, an information decoder 206, a con
`ventional television signal receiver 224, and a multiplexer
`226. The diplexer 202 couples the three channels carried by
`a single cable Within the netWork to the transmitter and
`receivers of the terminal. Each receiver 204 and 210 con
`tains a tuner, ampli?ers, ?lters, a demodulator and a depack
`etiZer. As such, the receivers tune, doWnconvert, and
`depacketiZe the signals from the cable netWork in a conven
`tional manner. The information channel receiver 204 con
`tains a conventional QAM demodulator such as a model
`BCM3115 manufactured by the Broadcom Corporation.
`Other such demodulators are Well knoWn in the communi
`cations art and could be used in this application. HoWever,
`this particular QAM demodulator also contains a built in
`“out-of-band” QPSK demodulator for handling command
`and control data carried by the forWard command channel.
`As such, a single integrated circuit demodulator processes
`consumer/subscriber requested information (audio and
`video) as Well as command data.
`The decoder 206 processes the data packets carrying
`consumer/subscriber requested information produced by the
`QAM demodulator into useable signals for the end user
`display, e.g., television, home studio, video recorder and the
`like. The decoder 206 is coupled to a dynamic random
`access memory (DRAM) to facilitate decoding of the data
`packets and processing of command programs, as shall be
`discussed beloW. The signals for display are conventionally
`processed by a display driver 222 to produce composite
`video as Well as conventional television signals, e.g., modu
`lated onto channel 3 or 4 using the NTSC standard modu
`lation.
`The conventional cable signal receiver 224 contains a
`tuner and an analog (NTSC) demodulator. Amultiplexer 226
`couples the demodulated analog or decoded video signal to
`the display driver 222. Of course, the NTSC demodulator
`can be replaced With a PAL or SECAM standard
`demodulator, as needed.
`The demodulated QPSK signal provides command and
`control information to the CPU 212 for generating certain
`graphics and control information regions upon a television
`screen. The CPU is, for example, a model 68302 processor
`manufactured by Motorola. This processor, operating in
`combination With the decoder 206 as Well as a continuously
`available video signal from the information channel, pro
`duces screen-displayed buttons, icons and graphical regions
`With Which a consumer interacts using the remote control.
`Without the video signal, the terminal 136 does not produce
`any display, i.e., the displays are actively generated in
`real-time as needed to facilitate certain navigational and
`interface functions.
`Speci?cally, a joy stick on the remote control 138 selec
`tively highlights certain prede?ned regions on the television
`screen. To perform such highlighting, a reference region is
`alWays highlighted When a menu is ?rst displayed. From that
`reference region, direction vectors produced by the joy stick
`are interpreted by the CPU 212 to highlight a region lying in
`the direction in Which the joy stick Was moved. When a
`desired selectable icon is highlighted, the consumer
`depresses a “select” key on the remote that sends an infrared
`signal to an infrared receiver (a support circuit 216). This
`receiver sends the select command to the CPU 212 for
`interpretation. The selected region is generally associated
`With a function. If the function is a request for speci?c
`information or requires a change in the menu, the CPU 212
`formats the command and sends it through the back channel
`transmitter 208 for transmission to the video session man
`
`Comcast - Exhibit 1016, page 15
`
`

`

`US 6,314,573 B1
`
`7
`ager 122. If the command is a function that is handled locally
`such as volume control, the CPU 212 implements the
`function Within the terminal 136.
`Since the session control commands are implemented by
`the video session manager 122 and not the terminal 136
`alone, the number of available session control commands is
`in?nite. UtiliZation of such distributed computing resources
`enables the most poWerful processing to be centrally located
`in the video session manager 122 and the CPU in the
`terminal 136 can be of relatively limited poWer.
`Consequently, all the subscriber terminals 136 that are
`connected to a service provider head end 102 can rely on the
`computing poWer of the video session manager 122. For
`eXample, the CPU in the video session manager 122 is a
`model 68040 processor that is available from Motorola Inc.
`A particular hardWare implementation of the video session
`manager is described in detail in commonly assigned US.
`patent application Ser. No. 08/984,710, ?led Dec. 3, 1997
`and hereby incorporated herein by reference.
`Each command menu is implemented by executing an
`“applet”, as described beloW. The applets control both
`information sessions, e.g., the presentation of video to the
`television screen, and navigator functions, e.g., the menus
`that facilitate selection of a video program as Well as
`subscriber on demand services. As such, particular com
`mands include, but are not limited to, information or menu
`navigation commands, movies start at beginning, movies
`start at the middle, play, stop, reWind, forWard, pause and the
`like. These presentation and navigation control commands
`are sent via a back channel transmitter 208 using binary
`phase shift key (BPSK) modulation. Additionally, the CPU
`in the subscriber terminal implements certain local com
`mands such as increment or decrement the volume, channel
`change and on/off.
`The invention is implemented as one or more interrelated
`“applets” Which, When taken together form the interactive
`graphical user interface that facilitates the SOD service of
`the present invention. The applets are transmitted for the
`most part, to the terminal via the forWard information
`channel. Certain information used by particular applets is
`transmitted to the terminal via a data stream propagated
`through the forWard command channel. As such, the data
`stream carrying the applet is demodulated, the applet
`eXtracted and the applet’s information decoded prior to
`execution that displays a menu on the display device. The
`detailed process by Which an applet is doWnloaded and used
`to produce a menu is disclosed in commonly assigned US.
`patent application Ser. No. 08/