Abstract:
A channel selector for a television receiver has a device for deselecting specified channels for a predetermined period of time. When a channel has been deselected it will be skipped when a user “surfs” through the sequence of channels. After the predetermined period of time expires the deselected channel is returned to the sequence of available channels. Channels may be deselected for time periods corresponding to a standard timeslot, for example each half hour. Alternatively, channels may be deselected for periods corresponding to the actual length at the program determined from transmitted program scheduling data.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to the field of television channel selection devices and, more particularly, this invention relates to a channel selection device wherein a user can sequentially select each of the available channels. 
     Television channel selection devices are well known. Remote controllers allow a user to select a desired channel from a remote location, usually by transmitting a coded series of infrared light pulses. Remote controllers allow users to scan through a sequence of channels by pressing a “channel-up” or “channel-down” button that causes the television receiver to display the next successive or previous channel in the sequence of channels. In this way a user can view each of the channels available and select a program. 
     Given the large number of television channels available from cable television services, a user may scroll through the available channels a number of times before selecting a program. This practice is commonly called “surfing”. 
     Scrolling through large numbers of channels takes a considerable amount of time, so that by the time all the channels are previewed a user may miss a portion of the program he or she wishes to see. 
     Viewers generally have a better idea of the television programs they do not wish to see than those they do wish to see. A momentary segment of a broadcast is sufficient to indicate the type of program a user does not wish to view. For example, if a user does not wish to see a news program, the image of an announcer speaking into the camera will immediately indicate that this is not a desirable channel. 
     Because the user may have to scroll through the complete sequence of channels a number of times before deciding which of a few desirable shows he wants to see, the user will have to pass through the undesired news programs a number of times. This makes program selection more difficult, as well as time consuming. 
     One possible way to make channel selection less time consuming is to limit the number of channels available. Many television receivers are equipped with a “favorite channel” feature. This feature allows a user to program a number of favorite channels that are a subset of the complete series of available channels. Favorite channel selections may be added or deleted to suit a particular user&#39;s taste. The list of favorite channels remains unchanged throughout the viewing day. 
     The number of available channels may also be reduced by inhibiting access to channels. Many cable television systems allow users to block certain channels at certain times of the day, or at anytime, unless the user enters a password. Such systems allow parents to control access by their children to programming the parents find objectionable. Blocking channels reduces the time required to scan the available channels however, the user may wish to consider viewing programs on a blocked channel while surfing. 
     Limiting the number of selectable channels using a “favorite” list or by blocking certain channels reduces the time required to select a channel. These techniques, however, have certain drawbacks. Different viewers in a household may have varied tastes in programming. Thus, the favorite channels of one member may be undesirable to another. A viewer may have different viewing needs throughout the viewing day. Situation comedies or nightly news programs may be desirable during so-called prime-time, while full length movies may be desirable in the late evening. Maintaining multiple “favorite” lists to accommodate these preferences would add unnecessary complexity to the system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a channel selection device that allows a user to select a desired program more conveniently than with known channel selection devices. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a channel selection device that allows a user to deselect a channel from a series of channels so that subsequent scrolling through the series of channels skips the deselected channel. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a channel selection device where deselected channels remain deselected for a period of time calculated to correspond with the end of a programming timeslot. 
     It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a channel selection device that records program schedule information and calculates the period of time to deselect a channel from a series of channels using this recorded program information. 
     According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a television receiver equipped to receive coded signals from a hand-held remote control device. The remote control device has buttons to control the receiver to increment and decrement through a sequence of channel numbers and also a deselect button. The function of the deselect button is to deselect whichever channel is currently displayed on the television receiver. When the series of channels are again scanned using the increment or decrement buttons the deselected channel is skipped. A timing device calculates the time remaining until the end of a programming timeslot, which typically ends on the half-hour. The timing device causes the deselected channel to again become available in the sequence of channels at the end of the current programming timeslot. In this manner a user disables the display of programs that he has determined are not desirable. After the end of the undesirable program the user can again inspect that channel. 
     According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a television receiver equipped to receive commands from a remote control device. Among the commands available are channel increment, channel decrement, and deselect as described according to the first aspect. The television receiver is also equipped to receive and record programming information. This programming information may be a so-called electronic program guide (EPG) broadcast over a separate transmission channel or with a channel signal in the vertical blanking interval. According to this aspect of the present invention when a channel is deselected using the deselect command that channel remains deselected until the end of the program currently displayed when the deselect command was given. By using EPG information programs of any length may be deselected. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a remote control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIGS.  2 ( a ) and  2 ( b ) show a flowchart illustrating the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a television receiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a remote controller  1  for a television receiver (not shown) according to the present invention. The controller  1  includes an increment button  5  and a decrement button  7 . Pressing the increment  5  or decrement  7  buttons causes the controller  1  to transmit a “channel up” or “channel down” command, respectively. 
     The controller also has a deselect button  9  that causes the controller  1  to store a number indicating the currently displayed channel in a memory along with data indicating when the end of a timeslot for the program displayed on that channel will occur. For example, assuming most television programs begin and end on the half-hour and the deselect button is pressed at 7:23 p.m., while the displayed channel is channel number  5 , then channel  5  will be deselected for 7 minutes, until 7:30 p.m. 
     After deselecting a channel the controller  1  causes the receiver to switch to the next or previous channel in the sequence of channels. If that next or previous channel has already been deselected then the controller will continue switching to subsequent channels until it reaches a channel that has not been deselected. 
     The operation of the controller  1  will be explained with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS.  2 ( a ) and  2 ( b ). 
     Operation begins at step S 1 . It is assumed that the television receiver is turned on and a viewer is watching a channel number N. 
     At step S 1  the channel number N is stored by the controller  1 . At step S 2  the controller  1  determines whether either of the channel scanning buttons  5 ,  7  are pressed. If one of the channel scanning buttons  5 ,  7  is pressed, then an increment flag I or a decrement flag D, respectively, is set at step S 3 . If the I flag is set, then step S 4  directs the system to step S 5  where the channel number N is increased by one. Otherwise, step S 4  directs control to step S 6  where the channel number N is decreased by one. 
     At step S 7  the system determines whether the channel N has been previously deselected. If that channel has not been deselected, control passes to step S 8  where it is determined whether the channel deselect button  9  has been pressed. If the deselect button  9  is not pressed, the receiver is commanded to display that channel at step S 9  and the flags I and D are reset at step S 10 . Control returns to the top of the flowchart. 
     At step S 8 , if the deselect button  9  is pressed, control is directed to step S 12  shown in FIG.  2 ( b ). The current time is determined at step S 12 . The time until the end of the current timeslot for channel N is determined at step S 13 . The value N is stored in a memory (not shown) along with data indicating the end of the current timeslot. Control then returns to the step S 4 , shown in FIG.  2 ( a ). Note that flags I or D have not been reset. 
     Again, step S 4  determines whether the I or D flag is set and the next, or previous channel number is selected in either step S 5  or S 6 , as described above. If that newly selected channel has been deselected, step S 7  transfers control to step S 11 . 
     Step S 11  determines whether the timeslot wherein channel N was deselected has expired by retrieving the timeslot data for channel N stored in memory at step S 14 . If the deselected timeslot for channel N has expired, then step S 11  transfers control to step S 15 . Channel N is removed from memory and control transfers to step S 8 . If the timeslot for channel N has not expired, then step S 11  transfers control to step S 4  and the channel number is again incremented or decremented in steps S 4 , S 5  and S 6 . 
     Because the I or D flags are only reset when a channel that has not been deselected is displayed, the controller  1  will automatically skip through consecutive deselected channels. In operation, the user first surfs through the series of available channels and indicates which programs are undesirable by deselecting them. The deselected channels are accumulated in memory. When the user next surfs through the channels only those channels that have not been deselected will be displayed. At the end of the timeslot each of the previously deselected channels is removed from memory making them once again available when the user surfs through the channels. 
     A reset button  11  is provided to remove all deselected channels from memory, thus allowing the user to surf through the complete series of available channels. The reset button  11  is useful when, for example, a second viewer takes command of the controller  1  before the end of the timeslot. 
     FIG. 3 shows a television receiver  20  according to a second embodiment of the present invention. A television signal is received from a cable  21  by a tuner  23 . The television signal includes a number of television channels as well as programming data. This programming data represents the schedule of programs available on the series of channels. This programming data may be carried on a separate channel or may be multiplexed into unused portions of one of the programming channels, for example during the vertical blanking period. 
     A preferred method is to include such programming data as part of the so-called Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) described, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,576 Perlman et al. The EPG signal provides channel, program title, and schedule data for each of the channels available from a signal provider. 
     The EPG signal is sent to an EPG processor  25  that extracts program schedule information and determines, for each channel available to the tuner  23 , the ending time for each program. 
     The EPG processor  25  also extracts current time information and sends this to the clock  27 . The clock  27  keeps track of the current time and uses the time signal from the EPG processor  25  to remain accurate. 
     The EPG processor  25  sends the schedule information and the current time to a controller  29  to which is connected a memory  37 . 
     A remote controller  1  sends signals to a control receiver  31  to select a channel, to increment or decrement the channel number and to deselect a channel in the manner described in the first embodiment. 
     Signals received by the control receiver  31  are sent to the controller  29 . 
     The controller  29  causes the channel selector  33  to cause the tuner  23  to demodulate a selected channel. The selected channel is then displayed on the display  35 . 
     Operation of the television receiver  20  is similar to that described by the flowchart of FIGS.  2 ( a ) and  2 ( b ). In this embodiment, however, it is not assumed that each channel&#39;s timeslot begins and ends at a fixed time, for example on the half-hour. Here, the timeslot data for each channel is determined on the basis of the EPG data provided by the EPG processor  25 . 
     In this way if a channel is deselected during a full length movie, for example, that channel will remain deselected for the total length of the movie. 
     The embodiments described above are illustrations of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can vary the above embodiments while remaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.