Abstract:
A cellular telecommunications alternative for the distribution of broadcast television for receivers that may be wireless and mobile, or for regions inaccessible to satellites but not yet wired for cablevision. A communications system for the distribution of broadcast television programming by a cellular telecommunications service provider to a plurality of service subscribers through wireless receivers of said subscribers that comprises the combination of apparatus for broadcasting said television programming, and service provider implementations for receiving said broadcasted television programming. This service provider uses cellular means for telecommunicating this television programming to each of the subscribers over a wireless RF channel respectively dedicated to each of said subscribers. There are wireless receiving apparatus at each of the subscribers for receiving said telecommunicated television programming. The wireless receiving apparatus may be mobile and the programming is preferably transmitted over the RF channel in digital form.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to telecommunications through mobile wireless cellular array systems and particularly to the use of such systems for the wireless distribution of television broadcast network programming to receiving cellular telecommunication system subscribers.  
         BACKGROUND OF RELATED ART  
         [0002]    With the globalization of business, industry and trade wherein transactions and activities within these fields have been changing from localized organizations to diverse transactions over the face of the world, the telecommunication industries have, accordingly, been expanding rapidly. Wireless telephones and, particularly, cellular telephones have become so pervasive that their world wide number is in the order of hundreds of millions. While the embodiment to be subsequently described relates to cellular telephones. The wireless telephone industry rapid expansion has driven cellular telecommunications in all related wireless industries. Consequently, the principles of the invention would be applicable to any wireless personal communication device and services that could be used to communicate in a cellular telecommunications system. These would include the wide variety of currently available communicating personal palm devices or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), that include, for example, Microsoft&#39;s WinCE line; the PalmPilot line produced by 3Com Corp.; and International Business Machines Corporation&#39;s WorkPad. These devices are comprehensively described in the text, Palm III &amp; PalmPilot, Jeff Carlson, Peachpit Press, 1998. In addition, wireless telecommunication services are expanding into the cellular wireless laptop and notebook personal computers.  
           [0003]    Despite the rapid expansion and the proliferation of wireless cellular telephones and networks, the industry is experiencing a deceleration in consumer demand for wireless cellular telecommunications products. As a result, the cellular wireless telecommunications industry is seeking new and expanded uses for its products and business services. One commercial area into which wireless cellular technology could potentially expand is the wireless transmission of standard broadcast network television programming to wireless receiving users. After more than fifty years of network broadcast television program distribution, one might conclude that such broadcast programming is fairly pervasive throughout the world. The traditional line-of-sight television broadcasting has been supplemented and enhanced by satellite and cablevision service providers that capture the conventional line-of-sight broadcasts and enhance and distribute the same via cable and satellite connections to their individual subscribers. However, cablevision requires fixed hardwired connections to the programming subscribers while satellite distribution requires satellite dishes in fixed positions with unblocked lines of sight to earth tracking satellites.  
           [0004]    Thus, there may be rural areas with wooded and or mountainous terrain where satellite is not accessible but the population is too sparse to commercially justify hardwired cable networked connections. Also, and most significantly, all three conventional methods of reception of television broadcasting require stationary television reception apparatus.  
         SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention provides a cellular telecommunications alternative for the distribution of broadcast television to receivers that are wireless and mobile. In addition, the broadcast television programming may be transmittable to receiving subscribers in regions inaccessible to satellites but not yet wired for cablevision, i.e. there may be regions around the globe that have a cellular communications infrastructure but not a cablevision one. It should also be noted that there have been recent advances of wireless cellular telecommunications technology that enables the transmission of data having the resolution and size needed to suit standard laptop or notebook sized display screens. Such a trend should enhance the need for the technology of the present invention.  
           [0006]    Accordingly, the present invention provides a communications system for the distribution of broadcast television programming by a cellular telecommunications service provider to a plurality of service subscribers through wireless receivers of said subscribers that comprises the combination of apparatus for broadcasting said television programming and service provider means for receiving said broadcasted television programming. This service provider uses cellular means for telecommunicating this television programming to each of the subscribers over a wireless RF channel respectively dedicated to each of said subscribers. There are wireless receiving means at each of the subscribers for receiving said telecommunicated television programming. The wireless receiving means may be mobile and the programming is preferably transmitted over the RF channel in digital form.  
           [0007]    In addition, because the broadcast programming is transmitted to individual subscribers over individually dedicated RF channels, subscriber interactive means associated with each individual wireless receiving means may be provided for responding to the received television programming over the wireless dedicated channel over which said television programming is being sent. In addition, the cellular telecommunications service provider also provides the conventional means for telecommunicating personal subscriber communications to and from said wireless receiving means via said wireless dedicated RF channels. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    The present invention will be better understood and its numerous objects and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the following drawings, in conjunction with the accompanying specification, in which:  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a generalized data processing system including a processor unit that provides the telecommunications system of the present invention for the distribution of broadcast television programming by a cellular telecommunications service provider to a plurality of service subscribers through wireless receivers of said subscribers;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a generalized data processing system, including a processor unit that may function as the service provider computer control for the cellular wireless distribution of broadcast television programming, as well as the computer control of the wireless receiving apparatus of the present invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is an illustrative flowchart describing the setting up of the elements needed for the program of the invention for the distribution of broadcast television programming by a cellular telecommunications service provider to a plurality of service subscribers through wireless receivers of said subscribers; and  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an illustrative simplified run of the program set up in FIG. 3. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0013]    Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a generalized diagrammatic view of a portion of a cellular telephone network connected into a conventional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)  25  showing channel paths to and from wireless receiving subscriber stations, e.g. cellular display personal digital assistant or cellular telephone  38  or wireless personal computer laptop or notebook computer  37 . However, at this point, some general background information on cellular telephone systems should be reviewed in order for the invention to be better understood. The principal forms of telecommunication should be briefly considered. The standard wired telecommunications system, which has been in use world wide for well over 100 years, is the conventional handheld or speaker input wired into a base that, in turn, is wired into a PSTN with wired switched channel paths to and from other telephones or like devices through their bases. These telephones are respectively connected to the PSTN via local switching centers or switching nodes in a fully wired telecommunication system. Conventionally, these switching centers have many telephones connected to each other. The centers operate to control the channel connections, i.e. switch into and out of the PSTN, those calls originated or terminated at telephone stations.  
         [0014]    In addition, there have been developed over the past 20 years two major mobile wireless systems: 1) the short range wireless radio frequency (RF) “cordless” telephone system; and 2) the mobile wireless long range RF “wireless” telephone system that has been commercialized primarily as the “cellular” telephone or telecommunications systems.  
         [0015]    The cordless telephone is, basically, a combination telephone and RF receiver/transmitter. The cordless phone has a base and a handset. The base is wired through any standard phone jack into the conventional PSTN. The base receives the incoming call as a normal phone line signal, converts the signal into an FM RF signal (preferably digital in present technology) and broadcasts the signal over a short range to the mobile handset that receives the signal and converts it into the analog signal that is heard over the phone. When the user speaks, the handset converts the analog speech signal into an FM RF digital signal that is broadcast back to the base that in turn receives and converts the signal back into the line signal to the PSTN. Thus, the cordless telephone base looks like and operates like a conventional wired phone base as far as the PSTN is concerned. The one thing that the cellular long range communication system has in common with the short range cordless system is that both eventually have a base station that looks and acts like a standard wired telephone base with respect to the PSTN.  
         [0016]    Before the cellular wireless phone system was developed, long range mobile wireless phones were relatively rudimentary and were usually in automobiles. There was usually one central tower with about 25 channels available on the tower. The mobile wireless telephone needed a large powerful transmitter, usually in the automobile that had to transmit up to 50 miles. This was too cumbersome for any personal or portable phone. In the cellular telecommunications systems for the mobile wireless telephones and receiving devices, an area such as a city is broken up into small area cells. Each cell is about 10 square miles in area. Each has its base station that has a tower for receiving/transmitting and a base connected into PSTN. Even though a typical carrier is allotted about 1000 frequency channels, the creation of the cells permit extensive frequency reuse so that tens of thousands of people in the city can be using their cellular telecommunications systems simultaneously. Cellular telecommunications systems, particularly those used in the present invention, are now preferably digital with each cell having over 160 available channels for assignment to users. In a large city, there may be hundreds of cells each with its tower and base station. Because of the number of towers and users per carrier, each carrier has a Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) that controls all of the base stations in the city or region and controls all of the connections to the land based PSTN. When a client cell phone gets an incoming call, MTSO tries to locate what cell the client mobile phone is in. The MTSO then assigns a frequency pair for the call to the cell phone. The MTSO then communicates with the client over a control channel to tell the client or user what frequency channels to use. Once the user phone and its respective cell tower are connected, the call is on between the cell phone and tower via two-way long range RF communication. In the United States, cell phones are assigned frequencies in the 824-894 MHz ranges.  
         [0017]    Referring now to FIG. 1, the cellular telecommunications service provider already has the benefit of the cellular wireless telecommunications network infrastructure. Thus, telecommunications service providers set up for the following broadcast feeds from an illustrative one television network broadcast station  28 : line-of-sight broadcasts from antenna  33  to antenna  36 ; a satellite broadcast feed via output dish  29  through an appropriate satellite input dish  45 ; and a cablevision broadcast feed via cable  35 .  
         [0018]    Conventionally in the wireless telecommunications system, the wireless telephones and like devices are connected to the PSTN  25  via local switching centers or switching nodes  24  and  26  in a fully wired telecommunications system. Conventionally, these switching nodes  24  and  26  have many telephones connected to each. The centers operate to control the channel connections, i.e. switch into and out of the PSTN  25  those calls originated or terminated at telephone stations  37  or  38 . In a similar way, mobile or cellular devices  37  and  38  are connected into the PSTN  30 . In the long range RF communication via cell towers  22  or  28 , the signals are passed through the respective base stations  23  or  27  to switching centers  24  and  26  that then control the routing of the call to PSTN  25 .  
         [0019]    Under the control of the service provider  21 , the PSTN  25  also has standard access via the Internet or World Wide Web  30  so that all sites on the Internet, e.g. sites  31  and  32 , may be accessed through wireless receiver stations  37  and  38 .  
         [0020]    In accordance with the present invention, which will subsequently be described in greater detail, a subscriber at one of the wireless receiver stations wishes to get broadcast television programming. The receiver station  37  connects with the service provider  21  via the closest cellular tower  22  and base station  23  through PSTN. This sets up an appropriate communication path from the service provider  21  through to the receiver station  37 . This includes a dedicated RF channel from tower  22  to the laptop receiver  37 . The service provider  21  that is capturing the broadcast programming as previously described, is now enabled to provide the requested broadcast programming to the receiver  37  along the dedicated RF channel.  
         [0021]    Since the dedicated channel is two-way, transmit/receive, this arrangement is quite suitable for user-interactive television whereby the user may wish to interact with the television program. For example, if the subscriber is watching a news program that is taking a user poll on a political issue, any interactive response from the user may be transmitted back to the service provider  21  that may then communicate the information back to the broadcasting network. This is advantageous over current listener feedback processes wherein the user has to communicate back with an independently initiated e-mail or like response.  
         [0022]    With respect to FIG. 2, there will be described operations involved in the present invention. Such operations at the service provider are controlled by a data processing system under the control of a central processing unit  10 , which, in turn, is interconnected to various other components by system bus  12 . An operating system  41  that runs on processor  10  provides control and is used to coordinate the functions of the various components of the control system. The OS  41  is stored in Random Access Memory (RAM)  14 . The application programs  40  for the functions including those of the present invention are moved into and out of RAM  14  to perform their respective functions. These programs include the programs for distributing broadcast television programming to cellular telecommunications subscribers to be hereinafter described in greater detail. RAM  14 , I/O adapter  18  and communications adapter  34  are also interconnected to system bus  12 . I/O adapter  18  may be a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) adapter that communicates with the disk storage device  20 . Communications adapter  34  interconnects bus  12  with an outside network enabling the data processing system to communicate over network connections  43  as described with respect to FIG. 1. The various network programming feeds from antennae  15 , satellite  17  and cable  19  are connected to system bus  12  via a suitable interface adapter  19 . A conventional computer display  13  connected via a display adapter  11  is available for the display of monitoring and control functions. A system like that of FIG. 2 may be used in the wireless laptop receiver  37 .  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the development of a process according to the present invention for the setting up of a computer programming structure for the distribution of television network broadcast programming to wireless cellular telecommunications subscribers. In a standard cellular telecommunications system, there is set up an overall system in which the cellular service provider is enabled to offer to such subscribers wireless transmissions of television programming broadcast by a plurality of broadcasting networks, step  70 . First, step  71 , there is set up at the cellular service provider apparatus for the reception of the real-time broadcast feeds of the broadcast networks via antennae, cable and satellite. The cellular provider offers the standard wireless telecommunication services to the subscriber via the conventional cellular array of base stations and associated towers to provide wireless communication to and from receiving subscribers via assigned dedicated RF channels, step  72 . In addition, step  73 , subscribers are offered the broadcast television programming collected by the service provider in step  71 . Then, step  74 , the selected transmission of the broadcast programming collected in step  71  is provided to requesting subscribers over channels dedicated in step  72 . In addition, step  75 , the subscribers receiving the television programs are enabled to transmit back over the dedicated channels any interactive responses to the television programming whenever such interaction is requested by the television broadcasting networks, step  75 .  
         [0024]    A simplified illustrative running of the process set up in FIG. 3 will now be described with respect to the flowchart of FIG. 4. First, step  80 , a turn-on by the receiving subscriber is awaited. If Yes, the receiver is on, a first determination is made as to whether the initial action by the subscriber is for a personal communication, such as a telecommunication, an e-mail or other World Wide Web (Web) communication, step  81 . If Yes, the communication is conventionally completed, step  82 , with appropriate wireless channels being assigned to cellular telecommunications, step  83 . A determination is then made as to whether the telecommunication is ended, step  84 . If No, the end of the telecommunication is awaited. If Yes, or if the determination in step  81  had been No, then a determination is made as to whether the subscriber has requested a television broadcast, step  85 . If Yes, a wireless RF channel is assigned to the cellular user, step  86 , and a television feed of the requested broadcast is provided to the subscriber, step  87 . At this point, during the feeding of the requested broadcast, if the broadcast offers user interaction, a determination may be made, step  88 , as to whether the subscriber has made an interactive input. If Yes, the interactive data is transmitted over the assigned wireless channel through the service provider and back to the broadcast programming network, step  89 . Then, or if the determination in step  88  had been No user interaction (via branch “C”), a determination is made as to whether the broadcast request by the subscriber is at an end, step  90 . If No, the end of the broadcast request is awaited. If Yes, or if the determination in step  85  had been No broadcast request (via branch “A”), a determination is made as to whether the subscriber at the receiving point is still turned on, step  91 . If No, then the entire session is exited. If Yes, the process is returned to step  81  via branch “B” where the next subscriber action is awaited.  
         [0025]    One of the preferred implementations of the present invention is in application program  40  made up of programming steps or instructions resident in RAM  14 , FIG. 1, of a Web receiving station and/or Web server during various Web operations. Until required by the computer system, the program instructions may be stored in another readable medium, e.g. in disk drive  20 , or in a removable memory, such as an optical disk for use in a CD ROM computer input or in a floppy disk for use in a floppy disk drive computer input. Further, the program instructions may be stored in the memory of another computer prior to use in the system of the present invention and transmitted over a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as the Web itself, when required by the user of the present invention. One skilled in the art should appreciate that the processes controlling the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of computer readable media of a variety of forms.  
         [0026]    Although certain preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope and intent of the appended claims.