Interactive television with embedded universal time codes
View Patent ↗An interactive television (ITV) system transmitting ITV content created and received by different ITV platforms via a single ITV stream. The system provides universal time codes which are embedded into the ITV stream. Each time code is associated with a program identifier which uniquely identifies a particular program. An ITV receiver receives the ITV stream and compares the program identifier and time code with a program held in the receiver's memory. When a match is found, an interactive event indicated by the program is executed. The program may be loaded into the receiver's memory using a back channel.
1. A method for providing an interactive television (ITV) program, the method comprising:
generating by a broadcasting end a single ITV stream for controlling an interactive event display by first and second ITV receivers, wherein the first ITV receiver runs on a platform different than a platform on which the second ITV receiver runs, the singly generated ITV stream including a platform independent code configured to be decoded and interpreted by the first and second ITV receivers irrespectively of the particular ITV platform on which the first and second ITV receivers run, for providing the interactive event display;
preloading into a first memory of the first ITV receiver, a first platform dependent ITV command generated according to the platform of the first ITV receiver;
preloading into the second memory of the second ITV receiver, a second platform dependent ITV command generated according to the platform of the second ITV receiver;
transmitting from the broadcasting end the singly generated ITV stream with the encoded platform independent code to both the first and second ITV receivers;
retrieving by the first and second ITV receivers the platform independent code from the received ITV stream;
searching by the first and second ITV receivers for respectively the first and second platform dependent ITV commands stored in respectively the first and second memories resident in respectively the first and second ITV receivers, based on the retrieved platform independent code;
retrieving by the first and second ITV receivers from respectively the first and second memories the first and second platform dependent ITV commands associated with the platform independent code, based on the search; and
executing by the first and second ITV receivers the retrieved first and second platform dependent ITV commands for controlling the interactive event display to users of the first and second ITV receivers.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the platform independent code includes a time code indicative of a time in which the retrieved platform dependent ITV command is to be executed.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first platform dependent ITV command is for a JAVA based platform, and the second platform dependent ITV command is for an HTML based platform.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the platform independent code includes a program identifier for identifying an executable program in the first and second ITV receivers, wherein the executable program stores the corresponding platform dependent ITV command.
5. A specific interactive television (ITV) program receiver selected from a plurality of ITV program receivers receiving ITV programs transmitted from a broadcasting end, the specific ITV program receiver running on a specific platform, the specific ITV program receiver comprising:
a video input for receiving an ITV stream including a platform independent code, the ITV stream being generated by the broadcasting end, the ITV stream being configured to be decoded and interpreted by the plurality of ITV program receivers running on different platforms irrespectively of the particular ITV platform on which each of the plurality of ITV program receivers run, the ITV stream with the encoded platform independent code being transmitted to the specific ITV program receivers by the broadcasting end;
a memory for preloading a platform dependent ITV command generated according to the platform of the specific ITV program receiver and storing the platform dependent ITV command in association with the platform independent code; and
a processor coupled to the video input and the memory, the processor being configured to retrieve the platform independent code from the received ITV stream, search the memory for the platform dependent ITV command based on the retrieved platform independent code, retrieve the platform dependent ITV command associated with the platform independent code from the memory based on the search, and execute the retrieved platform dependent ITV command for controlling the interactive event.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the platform independent code includes a time code, the method further comprising:
executing the retrieved platform dependent ITV command at the time indicated by the time code.
7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the platform dependent ITV command is for a JAVA based platform.
8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the platform dependent ITV command is for an HTML based platform.
9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the platform independent code includes a program identifier for identifying an executable program, wherein the executable program stores the platform dependent ITV command.
10. The system of claim 5 further comprising a network interface receiving the platform dependent ITV command for storing in the memory.
11. An interactive television (ITV) system comprising:
a broadcasting end generating a single ITV stream including a platform independent code configured to be decoded and interpreted by a plurality of ITV receivers running on different platforms irrespectively of the particular ITV platform on which each of the plurality of ITV receivers run;
a transmitter at the broadcasting end transmitting to the plurality of ITV receivers the singly generated ITV stream with the platform independent code;
a first of the plurality of ITV receivers running on a first ITV platform and including a first memory, wherein a first platform dependent ITV command generated according to the platform of the first ITV receiver is preloaded into the first ITV receiver and stored in the first memory in association with the platform independent code, the first ITV receiver receiving the singly generated ITV stream with the encoded platform independent code from the broadcasting end, retrieving the platform independent code from the received ITV stream, searching for the first platform dependent ITV command stored in the first memory based on the retrieved platform independent code, retrieving from the first memory the first platform dependent ITV command associated with the platform independent code based on the search, and executing the retrieved first platform dependent ITV command for providing the interactive event; and
a second of the plurality of ITV receivers running on a second ITV platform different from the first ITV platform, the second ITV receiver including a second memory, wherein a second platform dependent ITV command generated according to the platform of the second ITV receiver is preloaded into the second ITV receiver and stored in the second memory in association with the platform independent code, the second ITV receiver receiving the singly generated ITV stream with the encoded platform independent code from the broadcasting end, retrieving the platform independent code from the ITV stream, searching for the second platform dependent ITV command stored in the second memory based on the retrieved platform independent code, retrieving from the second memory the second platform dependent ITV command associated with the platform independent code based on the search, and executing the retrieved second platform dependent ITV command for providing the interactive event.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the platform independent code includes a time code indicative of a time in which the retrieved first and second platform dependent ITV commands are to be executed.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the platform independent code is encoded in a video portion of the ITV program.
14. The receiver of claim 5 , wherein the platform independent code is encoded in a video portion of the ITV program.
15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the platform independent code is encoded in a video portion of an ITV program.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the platform independent code is a universal code that does not cater to any specific ITV platform.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing of the first or second platform dependent ITV command includes:
retrieving ITV content associated with respectively the first or second platform dependent ITV command from a remote server; and
displaying the retrieved ITV content on a display.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second platform dependent ITV commands are stored in respectively first and second files, and the first and second files are preloaded to respectively the first and second ITV receivers via a backchannel, and the single ITV stream is broadcast to the first and second ITV receivers via a broadcast signal.
19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
embedding a plurality of platform independent codes in the single ITV stream, each of the plurality of platform independent codes being embedded in an appropriate portion of the ITV stream for controlling timing of a corresponding one of a plurality of interactive event displays; and
executing by the first and second ITV receivers the retrieved first and second platform dependent ITV commands for controlling the timing of the corresponding one of the plurality of interactive event displays.