Method and apparatus for transmitting and downloading setup information

Abstract

Multiple channel maps are embedded in a television transmission and the appropriate channel corresponding to the particular television service used by the viewer is downloaded for use with the television receiver. Each channel map is accompanied by a channel map identifier which identifies the source of the television transmission and a geographic identifier. The source of a television transmission is automatically detected by monitoring the radio-frequency spectrum allocations of telecast stations. The geographic area identifier is determined by comparison with a user inputted geographic area identifier. The channel map having a channel map identifier corresponding to the detected television transmission source and the user inputted geographic area identifier is downloaded and stored for future use.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for detecting the source of a television transmission, said television transmission including a plurality of television stations, each television station being allocated to a different channel of a radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, the apparatus, comprising: 
 a tuner for passing a selected channel of the television transmission, said tuner having a control input for selecting the channel;    a detector for detecting whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the selected channel and generating an output representative of said detection; and    a microcontroller having an output coupled to the control input of the tuner for commanding the tuner to select at least one of said channels, said microcontroller including means for determining the source of the television signal based on the detector output for each of the channels selected.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each television station transmits a video signal including a sync pulse, and wherein said detector detects whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the selected channel based on the stability of the sync pulse.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2  further comprising a sync pulse for extracting the sync pulse from the video signal, and wherein said detector detects whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the selected channel based on the stability of the extracted sync pulse.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein said detector comprises a one-shot responsive to the extracted sync pulse.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 2  wherein the sync pulse is a horizontal sync pulse.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the microcontroller output is a function of the detector output.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6  wherein the television transmission is an over-the-air broadcast or a cable signal.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7  wherein the microcontroller output commands the tuner to select an initial channel, and wherein said determining means identifies the television transmission as either the cable signal or the over-the-air broadcast based on whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8  wherein said determining means identifies the television transmission as the cable signal if one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel, and identifies the television transmission as the over-the-air broadcast if one of the television stations has not been allocated to the initial channel.  
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9  wherein the microcontroller output commands the tuner to scan a portion of the radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission in response to an identification by the determining means that the television transmission is the cable signal.  
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein the cable signal is a cable ready signal or a cable box signal.  
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11  wherein the microcontroller includes means for accumulating the number of the television stations detected by the detector as the tuner is scanned through said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, and wherein said determining means identifies the cable signal as either the cable ready signal or the cable box signal based on the number of television stations accumulated.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein the determining means identifies the cable signal as the cable ready signal if the number of television stations accumulated exceed six, and identifies the cable signal as the cable box signal if the number of television stations accumulated does not exceed six.  
     
     
         14 . An apparatus for detecting the source of a television transmission, said television transmission including a plurality of television stations, each television station being allocated to a different channel of a radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, the apparatus comprising a microcontroller for sampling a portion of the radio-frequency spectrum, and determining the source of the television transmission based on the television station allocations in said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the television transmission is an over-the-air broadcast or a cable signal.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein the microcontroller selects an initial channel of said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum and determines that the television transmission is either the cable signal or the over-the-air broadcast based on whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16  wherein the microcontroller determines that the television transmission is the cable signal if one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel, and determines that the television transmission is the over-the-air broadcast if one of the television stations has not been allocated to the initial channel.  
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17  wherein the microcontroller scans the portion of the radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission in response to a determination by the microcontroller that the television transmission is the cable signal.  
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the cable signal is a cable ready signal or a cable box signal.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19  wherein the microcontroller accumulates the number of the television stations allocated to said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, and determines whether the cable signal is either the cable ready signal or the cable box signal based on the number of television stations accumulated.  
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20  wherein the microcontroller determines that the cable signal is the cable ready signal if the number of television stations accumulated exceed six, and determines that the cable signal is the cable box signal if the number of television stations accumulated does not exceed six.  
     
     
         22 . A method for determining the source of a television transmission, said television transmission including a plurality of television stations, each television station being allocated to a different channel of a radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, comprising the steps of: 
 tuning an initial channel of the television transmission; and    determining whether the television transmission is an over-the-air broadcast or a cable signal based on whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel.    
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the determining step comprises the step of determining that the television transmission is the cable signal if one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel, and determining that the television transmission is the over-the-air broadcast if one of the television stations has not been allocated to the initial channel.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  further comprising the steps of scanning a portion of the radio-frequency spectrum in response to a determination that the television transmission is the cable signal, and detecting whether one of the television stations is allocated to each of the channels scanned in said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  further comprising the step of accumulating the number of the television stations detected in said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum scanned.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising the step of deciding whether the television transmission is a cable ready signal or a cable box signal based on the number of the television stations accumulated.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein the deciding step transmission is the cable ready signal when the number of television stations accumulated exceed six, and deciding that the television transmission is the cable box signal when the number of television stations accumulated does not exceed six.  
     
     
         28 . An apparatus for generating a channel map from data embedded in a television transmission, said television transmission comprising a plurality of channels and wherein said data is transmitted on at least one of said channels, said data corresponding to a plurality of channel maps and each channel map having a channel map identifier associated therewith, comprising: 
 a tuner for outputting a selected channel of the television transmission, said tuner having a control input for selecting the channel; and    a microcontroller having an output coupled to the control input of the tuner for commanding the tuner to scan at least one of the selected channels and lock on a channel having said data, said microcontroller including means for determining a channel map identifier based on a geographic location of the apparatus, and means for extracting from said locked channel a channel map corresponding to the determined channel map identifier.    
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 28  wherein the data is transmitted in a VBI of the television transmission, and further comprising a VBI decoder for extracting the data in the VBI from the channel outputted by the tuner, and coupling the data to said microcontroller.  
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 28  further comprising a remote control unit for entering the geographic location of the apparatus into said microcontroller.  
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 28  wherein each of the channel maps in the television transmission comprises a map of each of the television channels with a corresponding reference channel.  
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 31  wherein the data further comprises a source map of each of the reference channels with a corresponding television station, each source map have a host identifier associated therewith, the host identifier corresponding to a second geographic area of said apparatus, and wherein the determining means of said microcontroller further determines a host identifier based on the second geographic location of the apparatus, and wherein the extracting means further extracts a source map corresponding to the determined host identifier.  
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 32  wherein said microcontroller further comprises means for merging the source map with the channel map so that each of the television stations corresponds a television channel.  
     
     
         34 . A method for creating a channel map for a television receiver comprising the steps of: 
 broadcasting a television transmission comprising a plurality of channels, said television transmission having data comprising a plurality of channel maps, each channel map having a channel map identifier associated therewith;    determining a channel map identifier applicable to the television receiver based on a geographic area in which the television receiver is located; and    extracting a channel map associated with the determined channel map identifier.    
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the determining step further comprises the step of entering into the television receiver the geographic area corresponding to the geographic area in which the television receiver is located.  
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the extracting step further comprises the step of scanning the channels of the television transmission to locate the channel map identifier corresponding to the geographic area entered into the television receiver.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36  wherein said broadcasting step further comprises broadcasting the channel maps wherein each of the channel map comprises mapping between the television channel and a corresponding reference channel.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  wherein said broadcasting step further comprises broadcasting a plurality of source maps, each source map comprising a map of each of the television stations to the corresponding reference channel, and having a host identifier associated therewith, each host identifier corresponding to a second geographic area.  
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38  further comprising the step of determining the host identifier applicable to the television receiver based on the second geographic area, and extracting a source map associated with the determined host identifier.  
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  further comprising the step of merging the extracted source map with the extracted channel map so that each of the television stations corresponds a television channel.  
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the broadcasting step further comprises broadcasting a standard time, and further comprising the step of adjusting the standard time to one of a plurality of time zones.