System and method for transmitting and utilizing electronic programs guide information

Abstract

Television schedule information transmission and utilization systems transmit TV schedule data and associated network control messages provided by computer as packets via the Video Blanking Interval (VBI) lines in the TV signal from various television program providers. This data is acquired by regional data processing systems and forwarded by the regional data processing systems to subscriber units and used to construct an internal database. This internal database can be accessed by the subscriber unit to display a TV schedule for the channels that are received by the user's TV.

1 - 24 . (canceled)  
     
     
         25 . A method of updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of: 
 receiving commands via a television telecast signal which include command data and the television schedule information data used by the commands;    responsive to receiving a command, reading a portion of the command data from the command to determine whether to store the television schedule information included in the command;    storing the television schedule information included in the command if the television schedule information should be stored; and    skipping over the command if the television schedule information should not be stored, wherein skipping over the command comprises: 
 determining the length of the command from the command data; and  
 ignoring the television telecast signal for the length of the command.  
   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising displaying a portion of the television schedule information stored in the memory.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the storing step comprises: 
 reading another portion of the command data to determine a location in the memory; and    storing the television schedule information data at the determined location in memory.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising: 
 receiving a region command comprising a list of channel IDs corresponding to valid channels for the subscriber system; and    storing one or more of channel data, show lists, show titles, and show descriptions for a channel in the memory if the channel ID for the channel is in the list of the received channel IDs.    
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising: 
 receiving a show list command containing a name of a television program;    comparing the name of the television program to a show list maintained in the memory;    saving the show title command in the memory if there is a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list; and    ignoring the show title command in the memory if there is not a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list.    
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the command data comprises a batch number used to send commands to at least one subscriber system sharing the same batch number, and the determining step comprises determining whether the batch number in the command data matches a batch number associated with the subscriber system.  
     
     
         31 . A method of updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of: 
 receiving television schedule information data including an associated identifier via a television telecast signal;    responsive to receiving the television schedule information data, comparing the associated identifier to a second identifier associated with other television schedule information data stored in a memory;    determining whether to store at least a portion of the received television schedule information data based on the comparison;    storing the at least a portion of the received television schedule information data and the associated identifier in the memory if the portion should be stored; and    ignoring the television schedule information data and the associated identifier if the portion should not be stored.    
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the television schedule information data includes a header, and wherein the ignoring step comprises: 
 reading the header to determine the size of television schedule information data; and    skipping over the television telecast signal for the size of the television schedule information data.    
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the associated identifier and the second identifier are time identifiers, and wherein the determining step comprises determining if the received time identifier is later than the second time identifier.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the determining step comprises determining whether the television schedule information data has already been received.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the received television schedule information data is organized into one or more commands, and wherein each command comprises command data and a portion of the received television schedule information data, and wherein storing the received television schedule information data included in each command comprises: 
 reading the command data from the command to determine the instructions of the command; and    storing the received television schedule information data at a location in the memory determined based on the command instructions.    
     
     
         36 . A system for updating television schedule information data in a subscriber system included in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, comprising: 
 a decoder for receiving commands via a television telecast signal which include command data and the television schedule information data used by the commands;    control circuitry configured to: 
 determine whether to store the television schedule information data included in each command based on the command data from each command;  
 if the television schedule information data should not be stored: 
 determine the length of the command from the command data; and  
 ignore the television telecast signal for the length of the command; and  
 
   a memory for storing the television schedule information data if the television schedule data should be stored.    
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 36 , further comprising a display for displaying a portion of the television schedule information data stored in the memory.  
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the control circuitry configured to store the television schedule information comprises circuitry configured to: 
 read another portion of the command data to determine a location in the memory; and    store the television schedule information data at the determined location in memory.    
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: 
 receive a region command comprising a list of channel IDs corresponding to valid channels for the subscriber system;    store one or more of channel data, show lists, show titles, and show descriptions for a channel in the memory if the channel ID for the channel is in the list of the received channel IDs.    
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: 
 receive a show list command containing a name of a television program;    compare the name of the television program to a show list maintained in the memory;    save the show title command in the memory if there is a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list; and    ignore the show list title command if there is not a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list.    
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the command data comprises a batch number used to send commands to at least one subscriber system sharing the same batch number, and the control circuitry configured to determine whether to store the television schedule information data comprises circuitry configured to determine whether the batch number in the command data matches a batch number associated with the subscriber system.  
     
     
         42 . A system for updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, comprising: 
 a decoder for receiving via a television telecast signal television schedule information data including an associated identifier;    control circuitry configured to: 
 compare the associated identifier to a second identifier associated with other television schedule information data stored in a memory; and  
 determine whether to store at least a portion of the received television schedule information data based on the comparison; and  
   a memory for storing the received television schedule information data and the associated identifier if the received television schedule information data should be stored.    
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the television schedule information data includes a header, and the control circuitry is further configured to: 
 read the header to determine the size of the television schedule information data; and    skip over the television telecast signal for the size of the television schedule information data if the television schedule information data should not be saved.    
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the associated identifier and the second identifier are time identifiers, and wherein the control circuitry configured to determine whether to store the television schedule information data comprises circuitry to determine if the received time identifier is later than the second time identifier.  
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the control circuitry configured to determine whether to store the television schedule information data comprises circuitry to determine whether the television schedule information data has already been received.  
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the received television schedule information data is organized into one or more commands, and wherein each command comprises command data and a portion of the received television schedule information data, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to read the command data from each command to determine the instructions of the command, and wherein the portion of the received television schedule information data included in the command is stored at a location in the memory determined based on the instructions of the command.