Notification system for television receivers

A notification system for television receivers including a visible alarm and/or an audible alarm that is activated when a certain event occurs. An information signal is extracted from a received television signal and is processed to determine the status of an event. If it is determined that the event occurred, then a control signal is sent to the appropriate alarm to activate that alarm, thereby notifying the user of the event's occurrence. The event may include the reception of a text or graphic message, the televising of a certain television program, and the televising of a television program with a specific program rating. The user may also deactivate the alarm. A personal identification number may be used to restrict access to certain features of the notification system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a notification system for television receivers, 
and more particularly, to a visible and/or an audible alarm that is 
activated when a certain event occurs, such as reception of a data message 
or the televising of a certain program. 
A television receiver is present in most homes in the United States. Many 
homes are connected to receive cable television signals in addition to 
broadcast signals while some can only receive broadcast signals. Recently, 
other types of service have become available such as direct broadcast 
satellite (DBS). In the near future, television signals may be provided to 
the home via telephone lines and/or direct wireless links. 
Even as the amount of programming has increased, the primary source of 
program scheduling information is a paper listing published in a newspaper 
or magazine. Recently, StarSight Telecast, Inc. (SST) has introduced an 
Interactive Program Guide (IPG) data channel that is provided through the 
signal transmitted by a single television channel (e.g. in the vertical 
blanking interval (VBI) of the local Public Broadcasting System (PBS) 
affiliate). The IPG is also known as an Electronic Program Guide (EPG). 
The IPG data is processed by a microcomputer in the television receiver to 
produce an on-screen television guide that provides the viewer with 
information such as the upcoming television programs on all broadcast and 
cable channels, program plot summaries, and the name of and time remaining 
in each program currently being transmitted on each of the broadcast and 
cable channels. This information is available even if the viewer changes 
channels or if a commercial is being televised. The SST system is 
described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,706,121, entitled TV SCHEDULE SYSTEM AND 
PROCESS; 4,977,455, entitled SYSTEM AND PROCESS FOR VCR SCHEDULING; and 
5,151,789, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC, UNATTENDED RECORDING 
OF CABLE TELEVISION PROGRAMS, which patents are hereby incorporated by 
reference for their teachings on microcontrollers used in a television 
environment and on the operation and structure of IPG systems. 
In addition to SST, other competing services are currently being planned or 
offered. For example, each of the existing DBS systems offers an IPG 
service for its own programs. This IPG data may be decoded by circuitry 
similar to that used to decode the SST IPG except that, for DBS signals, 
the circuitry may reside in the DBS decoder rather than in the television 
receiver. 
In addition to IPG systems, other systems exist which transfer data using 
television signals. These include Teletext, Videotex, Extended Data 
Services (XDS) and Closed Captioning. In each of these systems, data are 
transferred during the VBI of one or more television signals. All of these 
systems have certain hardware elements in common, circuitry which is used 
to extract the data from the VBI and a processor which formats the 
extracted data for display. 
Other types of systems currently are being planned or implemented under the 
general heading of Interactive Television. Using these systems, message 
data, such as text and/or graphic messages containing communications, 
news, weather, and user-requested information may be sent to television 
receivers. These messages may be sent with a unique identifier that 
matches the identification code of the intended recipient (i.e. an 
identification code in the television receiver). Because the personal 
messages are sent with the identification code of the intended recipient, 
only he or she will be able to view the message even though it is 
broadcast to all local users of the system. These messages may also be 
sent without an identification code or with a general identifier. Messages 
of this type will be received by all users of the system. 
A block diagram of a typical television receiver having an integrated data 
service in accordance with the prior art is shown in FIG. 1. 
The incoming television signal is received by an antenna or a cable 100. A 
tuner 105, controlled by a host microcontroller 110, selects a particular 
channel signal and demodulates the signal to recover a baseband video 
signal and an audio signal. The tuner 105 receives power even when the 
television is turned off so that it may continue to receive and decode 
data from the data service. 
The audio signal is passed to audio processing circuitry 115 which produces 
a signal for the speaker 116 when the television is turned on. The 
baseband video signal is passed to video processing circuitry 120 and to 
data decode circuitry 125. The video processing circuitry 120 includes 
video decode and display circuitry 121 which, in turn, includes circuitry 
such as a comb filter (not shown), peaking circuitry (not shown) and 
matrixing circuitry (not shown). The circuitry 121 separates the luminance 
and chrominance components of the video signal and converts the separated 
component signals into red (R), green (G) and blue (B) color signals. The 
RGB signals are applied to a video mixer 132. 
The composite video signals are also applied to a scan system 123 which 
separates the horizontal and vertical sync components of the television 
signal and generates timing signals that are applied to the video decoding 
circuitry 121, the deflection system 134 and data decoding circuitry 125. 
The decoding circuitry 125 receives the baseband video signal and, 
responsive to the timing signals provided by the scan system, separates 
the data transmitted in the vertical blanking interval, stores the data 
for future reference and passes the decoded data to on-screen display 
circuitry 130. The data decoding circuitry also exchanges information with 
the microcontroller 110. The microcontroller 110 is used by the television 
receiver to implement the user controls, such as channel selection, 
volume, contrast, brightness, hue and color as well as to process the data 
received during the vertical blanking interval. 
The system also includes an electronic clock 111, which may be accessed by 
the microcontroller 110 to determine the current time. 
The information transferred by the data decoder 125 and the microcontroller 
110 may, for example, be user commands requesting that specific data be 
displayed and signals notifying the microcontroller that particular data 
has been received and decoded. The same data decoder 125 may be used for 
multiple functions, for example, to decode IPG data for a service such as 
StarSight and to decode closed captioning data. The data decoding 
circuitry 125 is coupled to the on-screen display circuitry 130 to allow 
the IPG information to be formatted and displayed. 
The host microcontroller 110 is also connected to the on-screen display 
circuitry 130 to generate on-screen menus that are used in conjunction 
with the control functions implemented via the microcontroller 110. 
The microcontroller 110 and data decoding circuitry 125 continue to operate 
even when the television receiver is turned off so that they may continue 
to decode the IPG, Teletext or Videotex data. 
The video output signals of the on-screen display circuitry 130 are applied 
to the video mixer 132. The mixer 132 combines the on-screen display 
signal with the received video signals to produce a composite display. 
This display may, for example, combine active video with control menu 
displays, add a closed caption display to a video signal or display 
information from the IPG in a window inset into the active video image. 
The combined image is displayed on a display device, such as CRT 136, 
under control of the deflection system 134. 
A data message sent along with the IPG, Teletext, Videotex or Closed 
Captioning data signal may be decoded by a data decoder 125 and further 
processed for display by the circuitry 130. 
As described above, interactive television systems may also be used to 
transmit personal messages which may only be viewed on a television 
receiver having a unique address code. For these systems, a user will be 
notified that a message has been received as soon as the television 
receiver is turned on. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a television receiver notification system 
which alerts the television owner of the occurrence of an event, such as 
the reception of a data message or the airing of a certain television 
program, through the use of a notification signal. This notification 
signal, or alarm, can be visible (such as the light provided by a 
light-emitting diode) or audible (such as a beep tone). Furthermore, the 
notification occurs whether the television is in its normal mode (turned 
on) or is in a standby mode (turned off). 
A television receiver notification system in accordance with a first 
exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes circuitry which 
collects data during the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of the 
television signal, circuitry which extracts an information signal from the 
data, circuitry which determines, from the extracted data, if an event has 
occurred, and, if the event has occurred, activates a notification alarm. 
A television receiver notification system in accordance with a second 
exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes circuitry which 
receives interactive program guide (IPG) information and which allows a 
user to select a predetermined television program or a list of selected 
television programs using the IPG information. The circuitry also includes 
an internal clock and circuitry which compares the clock to the selection 
list. If, while the television receiver is turned off, the current time is 
in the time interval of a program in the selection list, an alarm is 
activated to inform the user that one of the selected programs may be 
received. 
A television receiver notification system in accordance with a third 
exemplary embodiment of the present invention also includes circuitry 
which allows a user to mark an undesirable television program or list of 
undesirable television programs using the IPG information. The television 
tuner and internal clock are subsequently monitored when the television 
receiver is turned on If the program that is currently being received 
matches one of the programs on the list, then an alarm is activated. 
A television receiver notification system in accordance with a fourth 
exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes circuitry which 
allows the user to provide a program rating value to the television data 
processing circuitry. During normal operation of the television receiver, 
the data processing circuitry monitors data signals being received and 
extracts rating codes therefrom. If the rating value of the program being 
televised on the selected channel is greater than the provided value, an 
alarm is activated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
In general terms, the notification system for television receivers of the 
present invention operates by extracting and processing an information 
signal from the received television signal. If, upon processing the 
information signal, it is determined that a targeted event has occurred, a 
control signal activates an alarm to indicate the occurrence of the event. 
In the various embodiments of the invention, the event may be the 
reception of a personal message, the possible reception of desired 
television program, the viewing of an undesirable program or the viewing 
of a program having undesirable characteristics. 
A block diagram of a television receiver integrated with a data service and 
a notification system in accordance with the present invention is shown in 
FIG. 2. 
FIG. 2 shows the system of FIG. 1, as described above, with the addition of 
two alarm devices, a light source 200 and an audio source 205. Each of 
these sources is controlled by the host microcontroller 110. In the 
exemplary embodiment of the invention, the microcontroller 110 may be, for 
example, an MN1870 microcontroller available from Matsushita. 
A typical light source 200 may be a light-emitting diode (LED) and a 
typical audio source 205 may be an electronic oscillator (not separately 
shown) and speaker (not separately shown) which produces a beep tone. In 
addition, the system shown in FIG. 2 includes programming in the host 
microcontroller 110 and data decode circuitry 125 which allows the system 
to recognize the occurrence of events based on the received data and, once 
an event has been recognized, activate the alarm device or devices as 
appropriate. 
Initially, a television signal is received by the tuner 105 through an 
antenna or a cable 100 and demodulated to produce a baseband video signal. 
An information signal, independent from the audio and video portions of 
the baseband video signal, is extracted and processed by the data decoder 
125. In the exemplary embodiment, this data signal is extracted from the 
vertical blanking interval of the video signal. It is contemplated, 
however, that this data signal may be extracted from a wide-band data 
signal transmitted in an otherwise unused television channel or from other 
components of a transmitted video signal, for example, a perceptually 
hidden subcarrier, such as a Fukinuki carrier, transmitted during the 
active portion of the received video signal. If the data decoder 
determines, from the information signal, that a particular event has 
occurred, the host microcontroller 110 sends a control signal to activate 
either the light source 200, the audio source 205 or both, to indicate the 
occurrence of that event. This control signal may, for example, cause the 
LED to blink and the audio source to emit a beep tone. 
Because the tuner 105, the host microcontroller 110, the data decoder 125, 
the light source 200 and the audio source 205 are operable on standby 
power (i.e., when the television receiver is turned off), an event may be 
detected, and the alarms activated, even when the television receiver is 
not in use. 
In the embodiments described below, the television receiver is assumed to 
have three modes, no-power, standby and normal. In no-power mode, the 
television is not connected to the electrical service (not plugged-in). In 
this mode, the standby circuitry which may be used, for example, to 
receive the turn-on command from the remote control and to build the IPG 
database or to receive information from other providers is not active. In 
standby mode, the television receiver is connected to the electrical 
service but is in a powered-off mode (plugged-in but turned off). In this 
mode, as described above, only those portions of the receiver which 
receive information from the IPG service or the other providers are active 
and operating at full power. In the normal mode, the receiver is connected 
to the electrical service and is in a powered-on mode (plugged-in and 
turned on). In this mode, the receiver is receiving and displaying program 
information. If it is not tuned to a channel which is providing 
information, the information databases are not updated. 
The information signal may include data messages containing text and other 
information. As described above, the "information signal" may be IPG data, 
Teletext, Videotex, closed captioning data or other types of data 
transmitted as a part of the television signal or in a otherwise unused 
television channel. 
FIG. 3 is a data structure diagram of an exemplary message which may be 
received as a part of the information signal. The exemplary data message 
contains various information fields, such as "Record Type", "Address", and 
"Message Text". The "Record Type" field may be used to distinguish a 
message record from other types of records that may be sent as a part of 
the information signal. The "Address" field may be used to direct the 
message to a particular user or to all users and the "Message Text" field 
conveys the text of the message. Other types of events, described below, 
may look for other types of data in the information signal to determine if 
an event has occurred or may examine previously stored data, for example, 
from an IPG, to determine if the event has occurred. 
FIG. 4 is a flow-chart diagram of a process which is implemented in the 
microcontroller 110 of the television receiver to provide a notification 
system in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the present 
invention, in which the detected event is a message received as a part of 
the information signal. 
In the process shown in FIG. 4, at step 400, the television tuner is 
initially set to a particular channel. If this embodiment of the present 
invention is to be used with the above-described SST system, the selected 
channel will be that which carries the SST IPG data (i.e. the local PBS 
affiliate). At step 405, the microcontroller 110 signals the data decode 
circuitry to extract the IPG data from the signal during the vertical 
blanking interval (VBI) of the received television signal. Next, at step 
410, the microcontroller 110 signals the data decode circuitry to process 
any information signals that have been received during the VBI and pass 
these information signals to the microcontroller 110. The information 
signal is then processed by the microcontroller at step 415 to determine 
if an event has occurred. 
For this first embodiment of the invention, the events are text message 
which are identified by their "message type" fields, as shown in FIG. 3. 
These messages may be initiated directly by a message delivery system such 
as StarSight Telecast, Inc. or by an outside authorized party such as a 
telephone company through the StarSight facilities or the facilities of 
another information provider. These text messages may contain news or 
weather bulletins which are for general reception or they may be personal 
messages addressed to a specific user. Although described above as "text" 
messages, it is contemplated that these messages may include graphic 
content or data of other types. 
If the information signal does not contain a message record or if a message 
is received that is addressed to another user, the microcontroller, at 
step 415 determines that no event has occurred. When the microcontroller 
110 determines that no event has occurred, the normal television process 
continues, with further data being retrieved and processed as set forth in 
steps 405, 410, and 415. In the case of an IPG, Teletext or Videotex 
service, the normal television process is active when the television 
receiver in standby mode (i.e. turned off) and in normal mode (i.e. turned 
on). 
if, at step 415, it is determined that an event has occurred, that event is 
processed at step 425. This processing may include, for example, 
instructing the data decode circuitry 125 to continue to decode the 
message and then store it and to schedule a task to display the message 
when the television receiver is turned on. In addition, the appropriate 
alarm is activated at step 430 to notify the user that an event has 
occurred. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the alarm may be 
coupled to the microcontroller as a memory-mapped output device. In this 
configuration, the alarm is activated by storing a value to a memory 
mapped address which corresponds to the output device. This alarm may be a 
visible alarm, such as a blinking LED, or an audible alarm, such as a beep 
tone, or a combination of the two. In addition, the alarm may be 
programmed to be activated steadily, intermittently or in a pattern by 
storing different values into the memory mapped location. After the alarm 
is activated at step 430, no further notification system processing occurs 
and the process ends at step 435. In this embodiment of the invention, the 
alarm signal is latched such that it retains its active state until it is 
explicitly reset. The alarm signal is reset as part of the process (not 
shown) by which the message is read. 
The process shown in FIG. 4 has many applications. As described above, it 
may be used to receive public and personal messages sent via an 
information service such as an IPG, XDS, Teletext or Videotex system. In 
addition, it may be used in a hotel environment to notify guests, on their 
television receivers, that they have a waiting message. Currently in some 
hotels, the guest is notified by a light on the telephone that a message 
is waiting even though that message may be viewed on the television in the 
room. 
Another application for a system such as that described above would be for 
an emergency warning system. As an adjunct to, for example, the Emergency 
Broadcast System, an emergency message may be broadcast in the VBI of 
every station in a particular area, in the same manner in which XDS data 
are transmitted. Alternatively, if the emergency message is being 
broadcast over the television channel, only a message to activate the 
alarm is sent in the VBI. The decoding circuitry 123 in the receiver would 
decode the message and alert the microcontroller 110 that an emergency 
message has been received. Upon receiving this message, the 
microcontroller 110 may activate the audio source 205 and/or the light 
source 200 in a manner which would alert anyone within range of the 
television receiver that an emergency message has been received and may be 
viewed by turning-on the receiver. The audio alarm used by this embodiment 
of the invention may emit a distinctive sound, for example, it may be 
pulsed and/or much louder than that used in other embodiments of the 
invention. 
FIG. 5 is a flow-chart diagram of a process implemented in the 
microcontroller 110 to provide a television receiver notification system 
in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
This process notifies a user that a previously selected program is being 
transmitted and is available for viewing. At step 500 of this process, the 
user initially selects one or more television programs from the IPG 
database. This selection may be made in much the same way as the StarSight 
system currently allows programs to be selected for recording. The 
selected television programs are to be televised in the upcoming days or 
weeks. This system notifies the user of when the program is being 
televised. The description below, assumes that the television receiver is 
in standby mode. This embodiment of the invention will operate in much the 
same way when the system is in normal mode. 
In FIG. 5, after the program or programs have been selected by the user and 
registered with the system, at step 500, step 505 is executed to determine 
if the receiver is in standby mode. If so, at step 507, the television 
tuner is set to the channel on which the IPG information signal is 
transmitted and the IPG system, at step 510, continues to collect 
television scheduling application. This information may include data such 
as the program time and title. The collected information may be direct 
data in a data structure maintained by the microcontroller 110 or it may 
be indirect data which is represented by a list of pointers into the IPG 
database. After step 510 or if, at step 505, the receiver is not in 
standby mode, control transfers to step 515. 
At step 515, the microcontroller, during the active video portion of the 
video signal, determines the current time and, at step 520, compares this 
time to the times of each of the selected programs. If it is determined at 
step 520 that the current time does not correspond to the times of any of 
the selected programs, control returns to step 505, described above. 
Alternatively, if a match is found at step 520, control is transferred to 
step 530 at which microcontroller 110 activates the appropriate alarm. 
After the alarm is activated, control is returned to step 505. If the 
receiver is in standby mode, the notification system continues to extract 
information from the IPG channel at step 510 and continues the alarm 
activation at step 530. In this embodiment of the invention, the alarm is 
deactivated when the program is no longer being televised. 
A deactivation feature (not shown) may also be included in the above 
exemplary embodiment. This feature would permit the user to deactivate the 
alarm after receiving notification that one of his selected programs is 
being televised. This feature is easily implemented as a user command to 
the microcontroller 110 to remove the identified program from the list or 
to temporarily disable the alarm device. Accordingly, no flow-chart is 
needed to describe the function. 
FIG. 6 is a flow-chart diagram of a process implemented in the 
microcontroller 110 to provide a television receiver notification system 
in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
This embodiment uses the audible alarm to indicate when a program on a 
list of undesirable programs is being received. 
At the first step in this process, step 600, the user sets a predetermined 
television program or group of programs in a list, as described above with 
reference to the second exemplary embodiment. 
The flow-chart diagram shown in FIG. 6 assumes that the IPG information has 
already been extracted from the information signal and is available for 
use. After the program or programs have been selected by the user, the 
television tuner may be set, at step 605, to any channel. This step is 
part of the normal operation of the television receiver in which the 
microcontroller 110 responds to user commands entered, for example, via a 
remote control unit. 
After the channel has been selected, the IPG data is accessed at step 610 
to identify the program being received via the selected channel at step 
615. Step 620 then compares the identified program to the programs in the 
list. If the current television program matches any of the predetermined 
television programs at step 620, then the microcontroller 110 activates 
the audio alarm 205, at step 630, to alert the user that one of the 
selected programs is currently being televised. After the alarm is 
activated, control returns to step 605 to allow the user to select a new 
channel. If a new channel is not selected, steps 610, 615, 620 and 630 
will continue to sound the alarm until a new channel is selected or until 
the identified program is no longer being received on the selected 
channel. 
If, however, at step 620, there is not a match between the currently 
televised program and any of the programs on the list, control is 
transferred to step 605 to allow the user to select a new channel. 
A deactivation feature (not shown) may also be included in the above 
exemplary embodiment. This feature would permit the user to deactivate the 
alarm after receiving notification that one of his selected programs is 
being televised. This deactivation feature is a simple command entered by 
the user, in the same manner as described above with reference to the 
second exemplary embodiment. This command may, for example, deactivate the 
audio source 205. It is contemplated, however, that to be effective, the 
disable command would require the user to enter a personal identification 
number (PIN) which would only be known to the particular user who entered 
the programs into the list. 
FIG. 7 is a flow-chart diagram of a process implemented in the 
microcontroller 110 to provide a television receiver notification system 
in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
This embodiment uses the audible alarm to indicate when a program having 
an undesirable rating value is being received. 
At step 700 of this process, the user initially sets a predetermined MPAA 
rating value such as "PG-13" or "R". The notification system of this 
exemplary embodiment activates the audio alarm if a television program is 
selected for viewing that has a rating value higher than the user-set 
predetermined rating value. This embodiment is useful for a parent or 
guardian who would like to be alerted when a young child selects a 
television program which has a rating value that the parent or guardian 
considers to be inappropriate for the child; e.g., a movie rated "R" or 
"NC-17". 
When the television is switched on and is in normal operating mode, the 
microcontroller 110, at step 705, allows the viewer to set the television 
tuner to a specific channel. This embodiment of the invention does not use 
IPG data. Instead, at step 710, the microcontroller 110 commands the data 
decode circuitry, at step 125, to extract an information signal from the 
received television signal. This information signal may, for example, be 
encoded data in the vertical blanking interval of a program recorded on a 
video tape. This data may be recorded and retrieved using circuitry and 
methods similar to those used to record and retrieve XDS data. It is 
assumed that this data includes at least an indication of the MPAA rating 
for the recorded program in a format that is known to the notification 
system shown in FIG. 2. At step 715, the microcontroller 110 extracts the 
rating information from the information signal. 
If, at step 720, the microcontroller 110 determines that the current rating 
value is greater than the preset rating value, the audio alarm 205 is 
activated at step 725 to alert the user that an "inappropriate" television 
program is being viewed. The alarm continues to be active until the viewer 
selects another program to view (changes the channel) or until the user 
(e.g., parent/guardian) deactivates the alarm. 
If, at step 720, the current rating value is not greater than the preset 
rating value, control is transferred to step 705 and the user is allowed 
to select another program. If another program is not selected, steps 710, 
715, 720 and 725 are executed, causing the audio alarm to sound until an 
appropriate program is selected. 
In this embodiment of the invention, it is contemplated that the command to 
deactivate the alarm would require the user to enter a personal 
identification number (PIN) in order to set the program rating value or to 
deactivate the alarm. 
Although illustrated and described herein with reference to certain 
specific embodiments, the present invention is nevertheless not intended 
to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be 
made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the 
claims and without departing from the spirit of the invention.