Patent ID: 6785716
Filing Date: 2004-08-31
Classification: G06F,H04L,H04N

Abstract:
A channel-based network for accessing the Internet comprising:a system server connected to the Internet, the system server including a channel table database for storing a master channel table, the master channel table including a plurality of channel numbers, each channel number having an associated Internet address and an associated Internet site name; a plurality of Internet sites connected to the Internet, each Internet site being addressable by an associated Internet address of the channel table; and a plurality of user terminals connected in parallel to the Internet, each user terminal including: a memory circuit; an input device including a numeric keypad; and means for downloading at least a portion of the master channel table from the system server via the Internet and storing the downloaded channel table portion in the memory circuit, means for reading a corresponding Internet address from the downloaded channel table portion that is associated with a selected channel number entered via the input device, and means for connecting the user terminal to a selected Internet site of the plurality of Internet sites by transmitting the corresponding Internet address onto the Internet.