Technique for delivering entertainment programming content including interactive features in a communications network
In delivering an entertainment program over a communications network, e.g., a cable TV network, interactive application data for realizing interactive features in the entertainment program are interjected into the program stream carrying the entertainment program on an as needed basis. Because the entire channel bandwidth is temporarily dedicated for transmission of the interactive application data, whose amount is relatively small compared with that of the video and audio data of the programming content, the interactive application data when transmitted appears as a short “burst,” causing a virtually unnoticeable interruption in the programming content delivery.
1. A system for providing an entertainment program over a transmission channel, comprising:
a first processor for generating a data stream which includes program data representing the entertainment program, said program data including at least two different program segments;
a second processor for detecting a demarcation between different program segments and for determining whether the entertainment program has interactive application data associated with the detected demarcation which is to be inserted at a location in the data stream corresponding to the detected demarcation or if there is no interactive application data associated with the detected demarcation, the interactive application data being data which is to be processed to realize at least one interactive feature at a selected point of the entertainment program, no predetermined bandwidth of the transmission channel being required for transmission of the interactive application data; and
a control unit for dynamically allocating bandwidth of the transmission channel for transmission of the interactive application data when it is determined that a detected demarcation has associated interactive application data, thereby interjecting the interactive application data, into the data stream to be transmitted through the transmission channel, the transmission of the interactive application data through the transmission channel occurring prior to transmission of a portion of the program data, corresponding to a part of the entertainment program before the selected point corresponding to the interactive application data being transmitted.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the interactive application data contains a reference to a source from which data for realizing the at least one interactive feature is obtainable.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the transmission of the interactive application data occurs before the transmission of the program data.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the interactive application data is repeatedly transmitted through the transmission channel prior to the transmission of the portion of the program data.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the data stream contains audio and video information.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the data stream is encoded in an MPEG format.
7. The system of claim 1 further comprising a device for receiving the interactive application data, wherein the length of the part of the entertainment program is a function of the time required by the device for realizing the at least one interactive feature based on received interactive application data.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein the device includes a set-top terminal.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the transmission channel is made part of a cable TV network.
10. The system of claim 1 wherein the transmission of the interactive application data is afforded a full bandwidth of the transmission channel.
11. The system of claim 1 wherein the interactive feature is presented with a link to an activity associated therewith.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the activity includes providing information relating to the entertainment program.
13. The system of claim 11 wherein the link includes an icon.
14. The system of claim 11 wherein the link includes a prompt.
15. The system of claim 1 wherein said program data is preprocessed to include program segment demarcation indicators used to indicate demarcation points within said data stream corresponding to demarcations between program segments included in said data stream.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein said second processor detects said demarcation point by detecting a demarcation indicator included in the program data.
17. The system of claim 15 wherein said second processor generates a trick file including at least some of said interactive application data and program data.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the second processor inserts a data start flag delimiting the start of the inserted interactive application data.
19. A method for providing an entertainment program over a transmission channel, comprising:
generating a data stream which includes program data representing the entertainment program, the data stream being transmitted through the transmission channel;
detecting a demarcation between different program segments in the program data representing the entertainment program;
determining whether the entertainment program has interactive application data associated with the detected demarcation which is to be inserted at a location in the data stream corresponding to the detected demarcation or if there is no interactive application data associated with the detected demarcation, the interactive application data being data which is to be processed to realize at least one interactive feature at a selected point of the entertainment program, no predetermined bandwidth of the transmission channel being required for transmission of the interactive application data; and
dynamically allocating bandwidth of the transmission channel for transmission of the interactive application data when it is determined that a detected demarcation has associated interactive application data, thereby interjecting the interactive application data into the data stream for transmission through the transmission channel, the transmission of the interactive application data occurring prior to transmission of a portion of the program data, corresponding to a part of the entertainment program before the selected point corresponding to the interactive data being transmitted.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein the interactive application data contains a reference to a source from which data for realizing the at least one interactive feature is obtainable.
21. The method of claim 19 wherein the transmission of the interactive application data occurs before the transmission of the data stream.
22. The method of claim 19 wherein the interactive application data is repeatedly transmitted through the transmission channel prior to the transmission of the data portion in the data stream.
23. The method of claim 19 wherein the data stream contains audio and video information.
24. The method of claim 19 wherein the data stream is encoded in an MPEG format.
25. The method of claim 19 further comprising receiving the interactive application data, wherein the length of the part of the entertainment program is a function of the time required for processing the received interactive application data to realize the at least one interactive feature.
26. The method of claim 19 wherein the transmission of the interactive application data is afforded a full bandwidth of the transmission channel.
27. The method of claim 19 wherein the interactive feature is presented with a link to an activity associated therewith.
28. The method of claim 27 wherein the activity includes providing information relating to the entertainment program.
29. The method of claim 27 wherein the link includes an icon.
30. The method of claim 27 wherein the link includes a prompt.
31. The method of claim 19 further comprising:
preprocessing said program data to include program segment demarcation indicators used to indicate demarcation points within said data stream corresponding to demarcations between program segments included in said data stream.
32. The method of claim 31 wherein detecting a demarcation point includes detecting a demarcation indicator included in the program data.
33. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
generating a trick file including at least some of said interactive application data and program data.
34. The method of claim 33 , further comprising:
accessing said trick file to respond to a rewind command.
35. The method of claim 33 , further comprising inserting into the data stream a data start flag delimiting the start of the inserted interactive application data.
36. The method of claim 35 , further comprising inserting into the data stream a data stop flag delimiting the end of the inserted interactive application data.