Patent ID: 8487739
Filing Date: 2013-07-16
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method of locking a television against unauthorized use, comprising: operating the television to display television programming; interrogating a signal received by the television from a remotely located head end, the interrogating step being performed by the television to detect a series of non-continuous time-spread pings, each ping comprising an identifying portion and a code portion; continuing operation of the television to display television programming in accordance with user commands in response to detecting the presence of one of the pings in the received signal by a ping detector included in the television, the detecting of the ping including receiving the ping in the received signal, using the identifying portion of the received ping to identify the received ping as an identified ping, comparing the code portion of the identified ping to a stored code, and continuing operation of the television if the identified code portion matches the stored code; locking the television against use in response to failing to detect the presence of the identified ping in the received signal, wherein the ping detector locks the television against use when the identified code portion fails to match the stored code, and repeating the steps of interrogating and continuing and locking for subsequently remotely transmitted pings.