Apparatus and method to navigate interactive television using unique inputs with a remote control

Abstract

A method and system to facilitate navigation of a widearea network. A navigation matrix is displayed on a client node. The matrix pairs each navigation option with an input such that, for example, pressing a single key activates that navigation option. The key press event is forwarded to an information and services hub across the network. The hub then returns a next appropriate matrix layer which may be navigated in the same manner.

1 . A method comprising: 
 ranking a plurality of items;    displaying, in a client node, the plurality of ranked items presented in a prearranged format on a user interface; and    displaying one or more selectable navigation options associated with one or more of the ranked items.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the items are ranked according to a user's interests.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranked items are presented in an order in the prearranged format according to a user's interests.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of items refer to a set of products.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of items refer to a set of sellers.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of items are one of company names, keywords, and company logos.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of items are a plurality of advertisements.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of items are a plurality of titles for audio, video, and audio video programs.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranked items are displayed on one or more layers of a simplified navigation interface.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the screens of the simplified navigation interface have a plurality of cells each associated with a unique input.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the simplified navigation interface has one or more layers that are hierarchically related for navigation.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving a user selection of one of the navigation options corresponding to the ranked item;    retrieving an advertisement as reformatted web content from the Internet.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the reformatted web content consists of one of a video signal, audio video signal, audio signal, graphics, and text.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising: 
 reformatting web content to obtain the reformatted web content by transcoding a hyper text markup language (HTML) page into an extensible markup language (XML) page.    
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranked items are keywords, further comprising: 
 receiving a user selection of the keyword;    retrieving reformatted web content from the Internet based on the user selection.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display of the ranked items is through one of television, set top box and television, personal computer, web appliance, computer system and wireless device.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the simplified navigation interface displays the ranked items in one or more cells.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the cells contain the ranked items and are formatted in one of a matrix format, one or more rows, and a grid.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the items are ranked according to consumer ratings.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the items are ranked according to one or more previous user selections.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving a user selection to one of the navigation options.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the user selection is made through one of a mouse, remote control, a device for scrolling, pointer device, and keyboard.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the user selection is made through a voice interface device and speaker recognition device.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising: 
 upon user selection, displaying a matrix layer comprising reformatted web content in a plurality of cells.    
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the content is in a format, prior to reformatting, selected from a group of formats consisting of standard DTD, EDI, HTML and XML.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 displaying a layer of a simple navigation interface having a plurality of cells each associated with a unique input;    receiving a key event at a processor displaying the simple navigation interface having a first plurality of primary navigation options, the first key press corresponding to a cell in the interface.    
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising: 
 displaying a next deeper navigation layer showing the ranked items.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the ranked items are displayed in the plurality of cells.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the simple navigation interface is a matrix interface.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 displaying one or more advertisements on the user interface;    receiving a user selection of one of the advertisements;    wherein the ranked items are products or services related to the selected advertisement.    
   
   
       31 . A machine readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to perform operations comprising: 
 ranking a plurality of items;    displaying, in a client node, the plurality of ranked items presented in a prearranged format on a user interface; and    displaying one or more selectable navigation options associated with one or more of the ranked items.    
   
   
       32 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the items are ranked according to a user's interests.  
   
   
       33 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the ranked items are presented in an order in the prearranged format according to a user's interests.  
   
   
       34 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of items refer to a set of products.  
   
   
       35 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of items refer to a set of sellers.  
   
   
       36 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of items wherein the plurality of items are one of company names, keywords, and company logos.  
   
   
       37 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of items are a plurality of advertisements.  
   
   
       38 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of items are a plurality of titles for one of audio, video, and audio video programs.  
   
   
       39 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the ranked items are displayed on one or more screens of a simplified navigation interface.  
   
   
       40 . The machine readable medium of  claim 39 , wherein the screens of the simplified navigation interface have a plurality of cells each associated with a unique input.  
   
   
       41 . The machine readable medium of  claim 39 , wherein the simplified navigation interface has one or more screens that are hierarchically related for navigation.  
   
   
       42 . The machine readable medium of  claim 39 , which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising: 
 receiving a user selection of one of the navigation options corresponding to the ranked item;    retrieving an advertisement as reformatted web content from the Internet.    
   
   
       43 . The machine readable medium of  claim 42 , wherein the reformatted web content consists of one of a video signal, audio video signal, audio signal, graphics, and text.  
   
   
       44 . The machine readable medium of  claim 42 , which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising: 
 obtaining the reformatted we content by transcoding a hyper text markup language (HTML) page into an extensible markup language (XML) page.    
   
   
       45 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising: 
 displaying one or more search keywords representing the ranked items;    receiving a user selection of the keyword;    retrieving information from the Internet based on the selection of the keyword.    
   
   
       46 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the display of the ranked items is through one of television, personal computer, web appliance, computer system and wireless device.  
   
   
       47 . The machine readable medium of  claim 42 , wherein the simplified navigation interface displays the reformatted web content in one or more cells.  
   
   
       48 . The machine readable medium of  claim 47 , wherein the cells contain the reformatted web content and are formatted in one of a matrix format, one or more rows, and a grid.  
   
   
       49 . The machine readable medium  claim 31 , wherein the items are ranked according to consumer ratings.  
   
   
       50 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the items are ranked according to one or more previous user selections.  
   
   
       51 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising: 
 receiving a user selection to one of the navigation options.    
   
   
       52 . The machine readable medium of  claim 51 , wherein the user selection is made through one of a mouse, remote control, pointer device, and keyboard.  
   
   
       53 . The machine readable medium of  claim 51 , wherein the user selection is made through a voice interface device and speaker recognition device.  
   
   
       54 . The machine readable medium of  claim 51 , which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising: 
 upon user selection, displaying a matrix layer comprising reformatted web content in a plurality of cells.    
   
   
       55 . The machine readable medium of  claim 54 , wherein the content is in a format, prior to reformatting, selected from a group of formats consisting of standard DTD, EDI, HTML and XML.  
   
   
       56 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising: 
 displaying a layer of a simple navigation interface having a plurality of cells each associated with a unique input;    receiving a key event at a processor displaying the simple navigation interface having a first plurality of primary navigation options, the first key press corresponding to a cell in the interface.    
   
   
       57 . The machine readable medium of  claim 56 , which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising: 
 displaying a next deeper navigation layer showing the ranked items.    
   
   
       58 . The machine readable medium of  claim 57 , wherein the ranked items are displayed in the plurality of cells.  
   
   
       59 . The machine readable medium of  claim 56 , wherein the simple navigation interface is a matrix interface.  
   
   
       60 . The machine readable medium of  claim 31 , which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising: 
 displaying one or more advertisements on the user interface;    receive a user selection of one of the advertisements;    wherein the ranked items are products or services related to the selected advertisement.    
   
   
       61 . A method comprising: 
 displaying a layer of a simple navigation interface having a plurality of cells;    displaying in each of the cells navigation options;    receiving a user selection at a processor displaying the navigation interface having a first layer having a plurality of first navigation options, the user selection corresponding to one of the first navigation options;    ranking a plurality of items, the items selected at least based in part in response to the user selection; and    displaying, in a client node, the plurality of ranked items presented in a prearranged format on the user interface.    
   
   
       62 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a memory, the memory storing code that defines at least a portion of a user interface comprising one or more navigation layers;    a processor, operably in communications with the memory, to receive a user input to a navigation option of a current layer of the user interface having a plurality of primary navigation options;    a network interface, that upon instructions from the processor, retrieves across the network a next layer of the user interface containing a plurality of ranked items; and    a display for displaying the ranked items.    
   
   
       63 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the ranked items are one of advertisements and keywords.  
   
   
       64 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the ranked items are products or services.  
   
   
       65 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the ranked items are merchants of products or services.  
   
   
       66 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the ranked items are displayed as navigations options in a matrix format.  
   
   
       67 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the plurality of navigations options comprise a plurality of products or services.  
   
   
       68 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the plurality of navigations options comprise a plurality of advertisements.  
   
   
       69 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the plurality of navigation options comprise a plurality of merchants.  
   
   
       70 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , further comprising: 
 an audio input interface for receiving user selections; and    a speech recognition interface.    
   
   
       71 . The apparatus of  claim 70 , further comprising: 
 a speech to text unit.    
   
   
       73 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the network is a WAN.  
   
   
       74 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the network is the Internet.  
   
   
       75 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , further comprising: 
 a user input device for permitting user selections.    
   
   
       76 . The apparatus of  claim 75 , wherein the user input device is one of the group consisting of a remote control that communicates with the processor wirelessly, a keyboard, a mouse, and a pointer device.  
   
   
       77 . The apparatus of  claim 62 , wherein the apparatus is one of the group consisting of television, set top box and television, personal computer, web appliance, personal computer and wireless device.  
   
   
       78 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a means for storing, coupled to the processing means, the storing means storing code that defines at least a portion of a user interface comprising one or more navigation layers;    a means for processing, operably in communications with the storing means, to receive a user input to a navigation option of a current layer of the user interface having a plurality of primary navigation options,    a means, in communications with the processing means, and upon instructions from the processing means, for retrieving across the network a next layer of the user interface containing a plurality of ranked items; and    a means for displaying the ranked items.    
   
   
       79 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ranked items are presented as reformatted web content in the prearranged format on the user interface.