Zicheng Guo

6401242, Jun 4, 2002

Jun 22, 2000

09/599293

Mark K. Eyer - San Diego CA
Zicheng Guo - San Diego CA

General Instrument Corporation - Horsham PA

H04N 710

725 35, 725 36, 725 63, 725 98, 725118, 725127

Interactive Program Guide (IPG) data for television is delivered to integrated receiver-decoders (IRDs) in a decoder population via, for example, a satellite network. The IPG data provides scheduling information for global and local programming services which are carried via the satellite network as well as another network such as a CATV network or a terrestrial broadcast network. Each IRD is assigned to an IPG region using unit addressing. At the IRD, IPG data is filtered so that only the global data and the region-specific data for the IRDs IPG region is retained and processed by the IRD. Channel map data is also delivered to the IRDs so that bundles of IRD data can be filtered out using firmware filtering to discard program sources that are not present in the channel map. The IRD data which is retained after filtering is used to provide scheduling information via an on-screen display. A preferred source may be designated when there are duplicative channels on the different networks.

6751713, Jun 15, 2004

Jun 5, 2000

09/588041

Zicheng Guo - San Diego CA

Sony Corporation - Tokyo
Sony Electronics - Park Ridge NJ

G06F 1200

711156, 725143

A method and system for decoding a transport stream are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a system information table in the transport stream, reading an activation time from the system information table, storing the table in a memory without activating values contained in the system information table, determining when the activation time is reached, and activating the values contained in the system information table when the activation time is reached. An advantage of the present invention is that the program and system information tables can be transmitted less frequently and still allow the receiver to execute the acquired ânextâ tables in a timely manner, once the tables have been received for the first time and their activation times have arrived. Another advantage of the present invention is its backward compatibility with the existing protocol formats, because the present invention requires no syntactic modification to the existing table formats.

7051170, May 23, 2006

Jun 14, 2004

10/867034

Zicheng Guo - San Diego CA, US

Sony Corporation - Tokyo
Sony Electronics, Inc. - Park Ridge NJ

G06F 12/00

711156, 725143

A method and system for decoding a transport stream are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a system information table in the transport stream, reading an activation time from the system information table, storing the table in a memory without activating values contained in the system information table, determining when the activation time is reached, and activating the values contained in the system information table when the activation time is reached. An advantage of the present invention is that the program and system information tables can be transmitted less frequently and still allow the receiver to execute the acquired “next” tables in a timely manner, once the tables have been received for the first time and their activation times have arrived. Another advantage of the present invention is its backward compatibility with the existing protocol formats, because the present invention requires no syntactic modification to the existing table formats.

7284256, Oct 16, 2007

Dec 4, 2000

09/729811

Brant Candelore - Escondido CA, US
Zicheng Guo - San Diego CA, US

Sony Corporation - Tokyo
Sony Electronics Inc. - Park Ridge NJ

G06F 3/00
G06F 13/00
H04N 5/445

725 46, 725 14, 725142

A method and system are disclosed in which a tuning event is detected. Relative statistics are maintained on one or more items related to the tuning event. A list of favorites is created automatically based on the maintained relative statistics. By using relative statistics, ranking of favorites can be maintained efficiently within limited system resources. Furthermore, a viewer can be presented with a selection of favorites based on a number of items without having to program manually the list of favorites.

7725911, May 25, 2010

Sep 17, 2007

11/856623

Brant Candelore - Escondido CA, US
Zicheng Guo - San Diego CA, US

Sony Corporation - Tokyo
Sony Electronics Inc. - Park Ridge NJ

G06F 3/00
G06F 13/00
H04N 5/445

725 46, 725142

An apparatus may include a front-end with a tuner to receive television broadcasts, a memory to store statistics, and a processor in communication with the front-end and the memory. The processor detects tuning events and maintains relative statistics on items related to tuning events. The processor eliminates any occurrence of rollover of the count value by adjusting the count value of each of the one or more items relative to each other upon reaching a predetermined value prior to being reset. The processor creates a list of favorites based on the relative statistics in the memory. The processor may transfer the list of favorites to another device or auto-tune the tuner to receive the items that are placed in the list of favorites. A length of time represented by the units of time may be changed to allow greater selectivity of items that are placed in the list of favorites.

6173330, Jan 9, 2001

Sep 17, 1996

8/718636

Zicheng Guo - San Diego CA
Mark K. Eyer - San Diego CA

Motorola, Inc. - Schaumburg IL
General Instrument Corporation - Horsham PA

G06F 1730
H04N 716

709232

Data pages of an interactive program guide (IPG) for television are transmitted according to a shuffle function which allows different television receivers to retrieve particular segments of the data pages based on the day and time of program listings which a viewer wishes to see. A page of data, which corresponds to a full-screen image, is divided into segments and retrieved by the receivers over time. The segments are shuffled to provide an optimal separation in the data stream. The optimal separation corresponds to the receiver's input buffer size and processing speed. The pages may be arranged sequentially, or with the even-numbered pages separated from the odd-numbered pages. The pages are partitioned into a number of subsets, and, within the pages of each subset, the segments are shuffled according to a perfect shuffle function such that respective adjacent segment pairs are arranged in an order which maximizes a minimum of their inter-segment distance after shuffling. The minimum inter-segment distance of all the subsets is used to determine a characteristic inter-segment arrival time, which must be large enough to correspond to the receiver's processing capability. The required input buffer size and processing speed of the receivers is reduced, yet data page acquisition speed is increased for all viewers.

6160545, Dec 12, 2000

Dec 15, 1997

8/990641

Mark K. Eyer - San Diego CA
Zicheng Guo - San Diego CA

General Instrument Corporation - Horsham PA

H04N 714
H04H 102

345327

Interactive Program Guide (IPG) data for television is delivered to integrated receiver-decoders (IRDs) in a decoder population via, for example, a satellite network. The IPG data provides scheduling information for global and local programming services which are carried via the satellite network as well as another network such as a CATV network or a terrestrial broadcast network. Each IRD is assigned to an IPG region using unit addressing. At the IRD, IPG data is filtered so that only the global data and the region-specific data for the IRD's IPG region is retained and processed by the IRD. Channel map data is also delivered to the IRDs so that bundles of IRD data can be filtered out using firmware filtering to discard program sources that are not present in the channel map. The IRD data which is retained after filtering is used to provide scheduling information via an on-screen display. A preferred source may be designated when there are duplicative channels on the different networks.

58446206, Dec 1, 1998

Nov 29, 1995

8/564015

Misti Coleman - San Diego CA
Ann Marie Canfield - San Diego CA
Mark K. Eyer - San Diego CA
Zicheng Guo - San Diego CA

General Instrument Corporation - Horsham PA

H04N 700

348461

An interactive on-screen visual interface guides a user through a menu of individual events available via an information network while allowing continuity of viewing of the current channel. The invention is especially applicable to the provision of an interactive program guide (IPG) for events such as television programs, movies, concerts, sporting events, interactive services, and the like which are available over a digital broadcast satellite (DBS) system or a cable television (CATV) network. A user can easily switch back and forth between a partial screen guide and a full-screen guide by a command entered, for example, on a hand-held remote control. The guide can be switched back to a non-display status. The guide's graphics can also be blended with video being viewed. The primary viewing channel can be resized to allow the user to view all of the primary channel while also accessing the guide.