Michael Berrie Mathiesen

US Patent:

20020035731, Mar 21, 2002

Filed:

May 8, 2001

Appl. No.:

09/850146

Inventors:

Bruce Plotnick - Jamison PA, US
Joseph Augenbraun - Princeton NJ, US
Randell Jesup - Downington PA, US
Michael Mathiesen - Yardley PA, US
Errol D'Souza - Sicklerville NJ, US

International Classification:

H04N007/16
H04N007/173

US Classification:

725/146000, 725/145000, 725/116000, 725/093000

Abstract:

A national level information service system collects local and national interest information and advertisements from a plurality of remote providers that may be located around the country or the world, and distributes this information to one or more television distribution systems for viewing by the system viewers. The system provides timely information relating to various areas of interest, including, for example, news, sports, weather, stock information and the like, that can be viewed on one or more television channels. Providers of the national and local interest information periodically collect the raw data containing the information to be broadcast, and store the data at a designated location, preferably on the provider's Internet server. These stored files are then periodically retrieved and compared to previously retrieved files to determine whether they have been updated by the information provider. Any updated files are sent to a central server that provides information data storage for a plurality of channels, each of which is assigned to a particular information provider. The central server periodically checks to see if new data has arrived for any of the channels, and if so, the data is formatted into script pages (e.g., HTML) that are suitable for display and sends the script pages to one or more local television distribution systems for broadcast to the system viewers.

US Patent:

20020023271, Feb 21, 2002

Filed:

Dec 15, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/736392

Inventors:

Joseph Augenbraun - Princeton NJ, US
Gerard Kunkel - Yardley PA, US
Michael Mathiesen - Yardley PA, US
Kitsel Outlaw - Landsdale PA, US
Scott Piette - New Hope PA, US
Randell Jesup - Downington PA, US
Malia Flynn - Philadelphia PA, US
Richard Westerfer - Lower Gwynedd PA, US
Richard Booth - Bensalem PA, US
Philip Faustine - Lansdale PA, US

International Classification:

H04N007/173

US Classification:

725/109000

Abstract:

Navigation techniques enable Internet web pages and other image frames to be navigated using a conventional keyboard or a television remote control, for example. In a first technique, a guide mapping application links objects in the various frames contained in an accessed web page so that when a user actuates a directional button on a remote control or a keyboard, the guide mapping application navigates the user to an object in the present frame or in another frame to which a currently selected object is linked. The guide mapping application also employs “edge of frame” indicators in those objects which are located on an edge of a frame. When an “edge of frame” indicator is detected, the application searches for and locates the appropriate adjacent frame, as well as the object within the adjacent frame that is located in the closest proximity to the object containing the “edge of frame” indicator, and then navigates the user to that object. A navigation application is also preferably provided that detects when a user actuates a specified key or combination of keys, or holds down a specified key for a fixed period of time, for example, and changes the functionality of the key or keys from cursor navigation to mouse navigation to enable the user to navigate a web page as if they had a mouse input device.