Patent Publication Number: US-2012036535-A1

Title: Set top box apparatus having a radio frequency antenna and an associated method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/614,855 filed Dec. 21, 2006, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of the subscriber end of an exemplary cable or satellite system; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of a the subscriber end of a cable or satellite system having a multiple tuner wireless set top box, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a multiple tuner wireless set top box. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Exemplary embodiments now will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments and examples are shown. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a subscriber&#39;s end  100  of an exemplary subscriber television network, such as a cable or satellite television network. The subscriber&#39;s residence  115  is connected to the television network  110  so that the subscriber can receive media content from the television network  110  and display the content on one or more television sets (TVs), such as the three illustrated TVs  125 ,  135 , and  145 . In general, a coaxial (“coax”) cable is used to carry television signals throughout the subscriber&#39;s residence  115 , from one room of the residence to another. Typically, a set top box (STB)  120  is required in order to unscramble or decrypt the media content and/or to decode digital media content. The STB  120  is also typically necessary to allow the subscriber to communicate information and requests to the service provider over the television network  110  as well as to provide the subscriber access to premium features that the service provider may offer. The exemplary STB  120  has a first cable interface for receiving a cable that connects the STB  120  to the television network  110  and a second cable interface for receiving a cable that connects the STB  120  to a single TV  125 . The STB  120  typically includes an infrared radiation (IR) remote control for controlling the features and functions of the STB  120 . 
     If the subscriber desires to have more than one TV connected to the television network  110  and the subscriber desires to place these additional TVs at other locations in the subscriber&#39;s residence  115 , the subscriber must route coax cable though the walls, attic or crawl space of the house or around the rooms of the house so as to have cable at the desired locations. Routing cable around the rooms of a residence is generally unattractive and wiring cable through the walls, attic or crawl space can be time consuming and expensive if the walls are already finished. The problems associated with routing wires are further exacerbated by the popularity of flat screen TVs designed to be hung on a wall. It is rare that a subscriber will already have cable wired to exactly the correct point on the wall where the subscriber desires to place the TV. Furthermore, even if the subscriber does route wires to the appropriate locations, the subscriber does not have the flexibility to easily move the TV to a new location. 
     Even if the subscriber does have the wiring in place at the correct locations, the subscriber may need to have a different STB for each TV, for example as illustrated in  FIG. 1  by STB  130  and TV  135 . Since, as described above, the media content is often scrambled, encrypted, and/or encoded, the STB is usually required to receive the media content, especially digital content. Additional STBs may be costly since the STBs are often expensive electronic devices that are provided by the service provider for a fee. In some cases, a TV, such as TV  145 , may be “cable ready” and capable of receiving, without the use of a STB, any unscrambled analog television channels that may be communicated over the television network  110 . Such a TV, however, will not be able to receive digital-quality media content, scrambled/encrypted/encoded media content, or any of the premium features provided by the service provider, such as pay-per-view service, video-on-demand service, interactive programming guide services, and the like. 
     Thus, in the exemplary system of  FIG. 1 , the subscriber runs into problems when the subscriber desires to put a TV in a location where there is no coax cable readily available. Furthermore, even if cable is available, the subscriber may need to pay for additional STBs in order to access the network with additional TVs or may not be able to receive the premium features or functions that may be available to a TV connected to the network via a STB. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of a subscriber&#39;s end  200  of a subscriber television system utilizing an embodiment of a multiple tuner wireless set top box (STB)  220 . In particular, in the illustrated embodiment the multiple tuner wireless STB  220  is being used to provide television signals to at least three TVs  225 ,  235 , and  245 . In this regard, the STB  220  is operatively coupled to a television network  210 . In general, the STB  220  may be connected to the television network  210  via a wired connection, such as by a coax or fiber optic cable, although the STB may be connected to the television network  210  via other means. The STB  220  is configured to receive a media content signal, such as an audio and/or video signal, from the television network  210 . In general, the media content signal comprises media content for a plurality of different channels. 
     The STB  220  includes a plurality of tuners (not shown), each tuner configured to receive and decode, if necessary, one of the plurality of channels in the received media content signal. At least one of the plurality of tuners is coupled to a radio frequency (RF) antenna. In the illustrated embodiment, the STB  220  includes at least three tuners. A first tuner is operatively coupled to a first RF antenna  227  and is configured to wirelessly communicate the media content received and/or decoded by the first tuner to an antenna  238  of a first TV  235 . A second tuner is operatively coupled to a second RF antenna  226  and is configured to wirelessly communicate the media content received and/or decoded from the second tuner to an antenna  248  of a second TV  245 . A third tuner is operatively coupled to a cable interface (not shown) of the STB  220  so that media content received and/or decoded from the third tuner may be communicated to a third TV  225  via a wired connection. Although the embodiment illustrated by  FIGS. 2 and 3  has three tuners, two of which are coupled to RF antennas, other embodiments may have less than three tuners or more than three tuners. Furthermore, in an embodiment, all of the tuners may be coupled to one or more RF antennas and the STB may not support any wired connections to a TV. In other embodiments, each tuner may be coupled to both a cable interface for enabling a wired connection to a TV as well as a RF antenna for enabling a wireless connection to a TV. In such an embodiment, the user may use both the wired and wireless connections or choose to use either the wired or the wireless connection for each tuner depending on the user&#39;s needs. Moreover, although  FIG. 2  illustrates a first antenna and a second RF antenna coupled to the first tuner and the second tuner, respectively, in other embodiments two or more of the tuners are operatively coupled to a single RF antenna to enable wireless communication of media content from the tuners to one or more TVs. 
     As described in more detail below, in an embodiment, the STB  220  is configured to use the one or more antennas  227  and  226  to communicate wireless media content to the TVs  245  and  235  over a frequency that a standard TV is configured to recognize using a standard dipole antenna. In this regard, the STB  220  may receive media content from the television network  210  using a tuner in the STB  220  and then broadcast the media content wirelessly in a frequency range of the RF spectrum that corresponds to a standard television broadcast channel. For example, in an embodiment, the STB  220  may be configured to convert the media content received at a first tuner of the STB  220  into a RF signal communicated by the first antenna  227  in the frequency range of 60 to 66 megahertz (MHz). This frequency range corresponds to channel 3 in the National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). As such, when the first TV  235  (assuming that the first TV  235  is configured in accordance with the NTSC standard) is tuned to channel 3, the antenna  238  of the first TV  235  will receive the media content from the first tuner of the STB  220  via the first antenna  227  of the STB  220 . It is noted that although the first TV  235  is tuned to channel 3, the media content received and displayed by the first TV  235  need not be the media content from the channel designated as channel 3 from among the plurality of channels received by the STB  220 . Instead, the media content received and displayed by the first TV  235  will be the media content for the channel received and/or decoded by the respective tuner. Although a signal may be broadcast from a television station over the same channel as the STB&#39;s antenna, when the TV  235  is within a certain range of the STB  220 , the TV  235  will receive the signal broadcast from the STB  220  over the signal broadcast from any remote television station. In an embodiment, however, the STB  220  may be configured to communicate via the antenna  227  using an unused frequency. 
     Where the STB  220  comprises a second tuner coupled to a second antenna  226 , as in the illustrated embodiment of  FIG. 2 , the STB  220  may be configured to use the second antenna  226  to communicate media content received by the second tuner using a frequency different from the frequency used to communicate signals from the first antenna  227 . For example, in the embodiment described above where the first antenna  227  is used to broadcast a signal in the 60-66 MHz frequency range (NTSC channel 3), the second antenna  226  may be used to communicate in the 66-72 MHz frequency range, corresponding to channel 4 in the NTSC standard. Thus, in such an embodiment, the second TV  245  may be tuned to channel 4 in order to receive media content from the second tuner in the STB  220 . Moreover, depending upon their reception, one or both of the first and second TVs may receive signals from both the first and second antennas  227  and  226  such that, in this exemplary embodiment, the TV will display the media content from the first tuner in instances in which the TV is tuned to channel 3 and will display the media content from the second tuner in instances in which the TV is tuned to channel 4. 
     As illustrated also in  FIG. 2 , the STB  220  may further comprise a plurality of remote controls for controlling the plurality of tuners in the STB  220 . In this regard, in the illustrated embodiment, the STB  220  includes three remote controls, including a first remote control  232 , a second remote control  242 , and a third remote control  222 . The first remote control  232  may be configured to control the first tuner of the STB  220 . As such, where a user has the antenna  238  of the first TV  235  tuned to the frequency output by the first antenna  227  of the STB  220 , the user can use the first remote control  232  to control what channel of the media signal received from the television network  210  is displayed on the first TV  238  by controlling which channel of the media signal the first tuner receives and/or decodes. Likewise, the second and third remote controls  242  and  222  may be configured to control the second and third tuners, respectively, and, thus, may be used by the users of the second and third TVs  245  and  225 , respectively, to control what is being viewed on the respective TV. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second remote controls  232  and  242  are each RF remote controls comprising RF antennas  233  and  243  for broadcasting RF signals to the STB  220 . The STB  220  may comprise first and second RF antennas  229  and  228  for receiving the RF signals from the first and second remote controls  232  and  242 , respectively. The first and second RF antennas  229  and  228  may be operatively coupled to the first and second tuners, respectively, via one or more processing elements so as to allow each remote control to control the respective tuner and/or other functions of the STB  220 . Although  FIG. 2  illustrates first and second RF antennas  229  and  228  for receiving signals from the first and second remote controls  232  and  242 , respectively, in other embodiments the STB may have a single RF antenna for communicating with a plurality of RF remote controls. Likewise, in some embodiments, the same antenna that is used to communicate media content to one or more TVs may also be used to receive RF signals from one or more of the RF remote controls. 
     In contrast to a traditional infrared radiation (IR) remote control, the RF remote control does not require a direct line of site with an IR sensor on the STB  220 . Since the first and second TVs  235  and  245  illustrated in  FIG. 2  may likely be placed in different rooms of a subscriber&#39;s home, the RF remote may allow the user to communicate commands to the STB  220  when viewing these TVs in other rooms where there may be no clear direct line of site to the STB  220 . In some embodiments, such as, for example, where the STB  220  includes one or more output jacks for connecting to a TV via a wired connection, the STB may also include an IR sensor and an IR remote control for controlling the one or more tuners coupled to the output jack. In this regard, in the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the third remote control  222  may be an IR remote control. Of course, in some embodiments, all of the remote controls may be RF remote controls or other types of remote controls, such as IR remote controls, regardless of whether the one or more tuners associated with the remote control is coupled to a wired or wireless transceiver. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the subscriber end of a subscriber television network and, in particular, a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of STB  220 . As illustrated, the STB  220  is operatively connected to the television network  210  and receives media content therefrom. The television network  210  may include a cable television network, a satellite television network such as a direct broadcast digital satellite network, a combination cable and satellite television network, or some other network capable of delivering television programs and other media content to a subscriber location, such as a subscriber&#39;s home or business. 
     In one exemplary embodiment, the television network  210  comprises a conventional cable television network in which one or more content providers communicate media content to one or more headends. From the headends, the media content may be communicated over a communications network that includes fiber optic and/or coax cable networks. The communications network may comprise a plurality of nodes, each of which may serve a local geographical area, such as a neighborhood. Each node may be connected to a plurality of taps, such as one tap for each subscriber location. A tap may be connected to one or more STBs  220  located at the subscriber location, such as the subscriber&#39;s home. The STB  220  may be connected to a tap by a coax or fiber optic cable and may receive media content signals over such cable. 
     In this regard, the STB  220  comprises a receiver  260  for receiving media content signals from the television network  210  and communicating the media content signals to a processor  270 , which may comprise one or more signal processing elements, such as a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other computing device, for processing the media content signal. In an embodiment, the STB  220  may be a bi-directional STB  220  and may also have a transmitter  261  for transmitting data from the processor  270  of the STB  220  to a service provider (not shown) located on the television network  210 . For example, with such a bi-directional STB  220 , in addition to receiving media content signals, a subscriber may be able to transmit messages to the service provider in order to select, for example, premium service options such as pay-per-view and video-on-demand services. 
     In general, the media content signal received by the receiver  260  comprises a plurality of channels in digital and/or analog form, each channel at a different frequency in the media content signal. For example, the frequencies in the range of approximately 5-42 MHz are known as “upstream” signals, and the frequencies in the range of approximately 54-860 MHz are known as “downstream” signals. From the perspective of the STB  220 , an upstream signal is transmitted and a downstream signal is received. Within the downstream range, the frequencies from approximately 88-130 MHz are known as “out-of-band downstream.” The out-of-band downstream range is used by the set-top box for receiving service information (e.g., electronic programming guide information) and for receiving the scramble key used by the STB  220  to descramble a scrambled broadcast digital signal. The “in-band” downstream range is used by the STB  220  for receiving audio and video content in the form of a plurality of channels at various frequencies depending on the frequency standard used. Current broadcast systems typically need to support both analog and digital television. As such, the in-band downstream range is typically used for carrying both analog and digital audio and video content. 
     As described above the media content signal received by the receiver  260  may be sent to the processor  270 . The processor  270  may comprise a plurality of tuners, such as tuners  271 ,  272 , and  273 . The tuners may be configured to tune to a particular channel by tuning to a particular frequency in the downstream range of the received media content signal. In this regard, the tuners may comprise one or more demultiplexers and/or demodulators. Often, the service providers broadcast a scrambled or encrypted media signal to prevent unauthorized use. If such is the case, the tuner or other processing apparatus may further include a descrambler and/or decrypter configured to descramble and/or decrypt the signal using a key provided by the service provider. In an embodiment, information and instructions associated with receiving and processing media content signals, such as the scramble or encryption key, are stored in a memory  275  of the STB  220  and accessible and/or executed by the processor  270 . 
     Digital signals are typically received by the STB  220  in a compressed or otherwise encoded data format such as the MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group) format for video signals and/or the Dolby AC3 format for audio signals. As such, the tuners may also comprise one or more decoders configured to decode (uncompress) the media content. 
     After the tuner receives the media content for a particular channel by processing the signal as described above, media content may be further processed by a transmitter so that it can be viewed and/or listened to by the subscriber using, for example, a television set. In the illustrated embodiment, the STB  220  comprises three transmitters including a first transmitter  281 , a second transmitter  282 , and a third transmitter  283 . 
     The first and second transmitters  281  and  282  are RF transmitters and are operatively coupled to first and second RF antennas  226  and  227 , respectively. The RF transmitters  281  and  282  are each configured to receive streaming media content from the respective tuner and use the respective antenna to transmit the media content wirelessly using a radio frequency (RF) signal, such as a RF signal in the VHF or UHF band of the RF spectrum. As described above, in an embodiment, the RF transmitters and antennas are configured to transmit media content to one or more TVs using a frequency range for a particular broadcast channel as defined by a television frequency standard, such as the NTSC standard. For example, in an embodiment, each RF transmitter is configured to use the corresponding antenna to transmit media content received from a tuner at a frequency allotted to one of the six channels in the frequency range of 54-88 MHz. In an embodiment, the user may select the frequency/channel at which each transmitter and antenna transmits the media content. 
     The RF signals communicated by the first and second antennas  226  and  227  are received by the antennas and the tuners of the first and second TVs  245  and  235 , respectively. Where the STB  220  is configured to transmit wireless RF signals at the particular frequencies allotted to particular channels by a television frequency standard, a user having a television compliant with that standard may be able to receive the signal from the STB  220  using only a standard dipole antenna that typically comes with the TV and by tuning the TV to the same channel at which the STB  220  is transmitting. As described above, where the STB comprises more than one tuner coupled to an RF transmitter and antenna, each of the two or more transmitters and antennas may be configured to transmit at frequencies allotted for different channels so that different TVs can display media content from different tuners. In some embodiments, the antenna on the TV may comprise a signal amplifier and/or reflector for improving the strength of the signal and/or the useable range of the signal transmitted by the STB  220 . 
     As described above with reference to  FIG. 2 , the illustrated embodiment of the STB  220  comprises a third tuner  273  coupled to a third transmitter  283  that is configured to transmit media content to a TV  225  via a cable interface  295  and a wired connection. A variety transmission systems, cables, and interfaces, such as those known in the art, may be used for communicating signals from the STB  220  to a TV  225  over a wired connection. For example, in an embodiment, the transmitter is configured to modulate the media content received from the third tuner  273  to a channel 3 or 4 frequency which is then communicated to the TV using a coax cable. In other embodiments, the connection may utilize such connectors as composite video, S-video, component video, VGA, DVI (Digital Visual Interface), HDMI, IEEE 1394 (“firewire”), and the like. 
     As also described above with respect to  FIG. 2 , the STB  220  may include a plurality of remote control devices, such as a first remote control  242 , a second remote control  232 , and a third remote control  222 . In general, embodiments of the STB  220  may comprise at least one remote control for each tuner in the STB  220 . However, in some embodiments, there may be more tuners than remote controls and/or the remote controls may have the option of controlling other tuners. For example, in an embodiment, a user viewing a TV utilizing a first tuner of the STB  220  may be able to use the remote control configured for controlling the first tuner in order to command the STB  220  to utilize a second tuner for recording media content to memory  275  in the STB  220 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second remote controls  242  and  232  are RF remote controls configured to communicate with the processor  270  of the STB  220  via antennas  228  and  229 , respectively. RF signals received by the antennas  228  and  229  are received by the RF receivers  291  and  292 , respectively, and are processed by the processor  270 . The processor  270  may demodulate the signal and interpret the signal using, for example, a key stored in memory  275 . The processor  270  may then control the respective tuner  271  or  272  or perform other functions based on the signal received from the remote controls  242  and  232 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the third remote control  222  is an IR remote control. As such, the STB  220  may comprise an IR sensor  294  and an IR receiver  293  for receiving IR signals from the IR remote control  222  and communicating these signals to the processor for processing. In other embodiments, all of the remote controls associated with the STB  220  may be RF remote controls or other types of remote controls. 
     As described above, a remote control may be used to change the channel of the media content signal to which a tuner is tuning. In an embodiment, a signal communicated from a remote control to the processor  270  may include an indication as to which tuner that the remote control is intending to control, and such a signal may, in an embodiment, be changed by the user of the remote control. In other embodiments, the processor  270  may distinguish between the various remote controls by a unique identifier, such as a unique signaling frequency, associated with each remote control or by the particular antenna and/or receiver at the STB  220  that receives the signal from the remote control. 
     In addition to controlling one or more of the tuners, the remote controls may also be used to control other functions of the STB  220 . Such other functions may include, for example, requesting pay-per-view or video-on-demand programs, pausing, stopping, rewinding, and/or fast forwarding a program, recording media content to memory  275 , scheduling media content to be recorded to memory  275 , retrieving media content from the memory  275 , calling up an interactive media guide, selecting a program from an interactive media guide, initiating picture-in-picture, etc. In an embodiment, one or more of these functions may be available to any tuner and/or may be commanded by any remote control of the STB  220 . 
     Although not shown in  FIG. 3 , in an embodiment, the STB  220  may support two-way communication with one or more of the remote controls. In this regard, the STB  220  may include one or more transmitters (not shown) coupled to the processor  270  and to one or more of the antennas  228 ,  229 , and  294  for transmitting RF, IR, or other signals to one or more remote controls, thereby enabling communication from the processor to the remote control. In this regard, in an embodiment, the processor may be configured to communicate information such as advertising information or program guide information to a display on the remote control, if the remote control includes a display. 
     In addition to the features and components described above, the STB  220  may include other features and components, such as those features and components currently found on set top boxes, digital video recorders (DVRs), and the like. For example, the STB  220  may include a display  277  for presenting information to a user such as the current time, the current channel of one or more of the tuners, indicators as to whether or not the set top box is on, whether other tuners are being utilized, or whether the STB  220  is recording. Furthermore, the STB  220  may include a keypad  276  as another mode of supplying user input in addition to or as an alternative to the remote controls. The key pad  276  may include one or more buttons to allow a user to communicate information and commands to the processor  270 . 
     Although  FIG. 3  illustrate a separate RF antenna for each of the different RF transmitters and receivers in the STB  220 , in other embodiments the various RF transmitters and receivers in the STB  220  may share one or more antennas. For example, in one embodiment, the STB  220  has a single RF antenna that all of the RF transmitters and receivers are configured to share. In such embodiments where one or more of the RF transmitters and/or receivers share a common antenna, the STB  220  may further include one or more other signal processing devices, such as multiplexers, demultiplexers, combiners, duplexers, and/or diplexers, operatively coupled to the antenna and to the transmitter and/or receiver. 
     In the preceding specification, various embodiments of the claimed invention have been described. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.