Patent Abstract:
An interceptor detects command signals from a TV remote control and logs the signals. The signals can be correlated not just to channel number but also to programs by accessing a program/channel database. A log of channels/programs that have been viewed by, e.g., a child can thus be obtained and viewed by a parent.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to detecting and logging signals from a TV remote control that can later be reviewed. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Television filtering devices known as V-chips have been provided that can be used to prevent certain programs from being displayed on a TV. A parent, for example, can instruct the V-chip not to display programs with certain ratings. In this way, a parent can ensure that certain programs will not be viewed by a child when the parent is away. 
     It will readily be appreciated that V-chips depend on the ratings of programs. These ratings are not assigned by the parent, but rather by the broadcaster or content provider or some other external agency, meaning that all parents in essence are at the mercy of the rating discretion that is exercised by a third party or unknown entity. It happens that many programs which are given normally acceptable ratings, e.g., “general audience” ratings, might in fact be highly objectionable to some parents. Violent cartoons, music shows featuring profane, infantile chants, and the like all might be given ratings that skirt under the levels set by the parents for blocking objectionable content through V-chip or similar blocking technology. 
     As recognized herein, one way to empower parents to address the above problem is to provide them with a way to review what their child has viewed while alone. As further understood herein, tracking a child&#39;s channel selections can be challenging if not impossible with existing TVs. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An interceptor includes a processor and an infrared interceptor receiver receiving TV channel commands originating from a TV remote control. The receiver communicates the commands to the processor. In response, the processor accesses a database to correlate the commands to TV programs and to generate a log of programs displayed on a TV, with the log being displayed on an output device. 
     In some embodiments the processor and receiver are in an interceptor housing that is separate from the TV. Thus, the TV includes a TV wireless command receiver separate from the interceptor receiver. In another embodiment the processor and receiver are in a TV housing, with the processor being implemented by a TV processor and with the receiver being implemented by a TV wireless command receiver. In still other embodiments, the interceptor housing does not implement a set-top box, while in still other embodiments the interceptor housing does implement a set-top box. 
     If desired, in non-limiting implementations in response to detecting a power on signal originated by the remote control, the processor sends a command to the TV to cause the TV to tune to a predetermined channel. An extender may be provided for receiving IR signals from a TV remote control and relaying the signals in RF to an extender on the interceptor. The extender on the interceptor transforms the signals from RF to IR. 
     In another aspect, a method for logging television use includes receiving channel change signals from a TV remote control, correlating the channel change signals to TV programs, and displaying a log of the programs to a user. If desired, the log can be displayed only upon input of proper authentication information. 
     In another aspect, a system includes a TV defining a TV chassis and a remote control configured for sending wireless command signals to the TV. A set-top box communicates with the TV and defines a STB housing. An interceptor is in a housing that can be separate from the TV chassis and set-top box housing and that receives signals from the remote control. The interceptor logs the signals. 
     The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a non-limiting hardware block diagram of a system in accordance with present principles, with portions of the STB and TV cutaway for clarity; and 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart of non-limiting logic in accordance with present principles. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring initially to  FIG. 1 , a system is shown, generally designated  10 , which includes a television  12  defining a TV chassis  13  and receiving, via a set-top box (STB)  14  defining a STB housing  15 , audio video TV programming from a head-end  16 , such as a cable or satellite head-end, over a wired or wireless link  17 . The STB  14  and TV  12  are examples of receivers. “Set-top box” also includes set-back boxes. While the STB  14  is shown separately housed from the chassis  18  of the TV  12 , it is to be understood that the functionality of the STB  14  may be incorporated into the chassis  18 . 
     As shown, the STB  14  includes a STB processor  20  and a computer readable medium  22  such as volatile or non-volatile solid state storage, disk storage, tape storage, or other type of electronic storage medium or logic circuitry that typically can be executed by the processor  20 . The STB  14  typically includes a wireless receiver such as an infrared (IR) receiver  24  for receiving channel, volume, and other commands from a hand-held wireless transceiver  26  on a TV remote control  28 . The receiver  24  communicates with the STB processor  20 . Likewise, a TV wireless receiver  30  may be provided on the TV housing and may communicate with the TV processor discussed below for sending commands from the remote control  28  to the TV processor. 
     Additionally, as shown the TV  12  typically includes a TV processor  32  and data storage medium  34 . Video may be presented on a display  36  of the TV  12 , e.g., a flat panel matrix display, cathode ray tube, or other appropriate video display. 
     A wireless interceptor  38  is shown that includes an interceptor receiver  40  communicating with an interceptor processor  42 . The interceptor processor  42  may communicate with an electronic storage medium  44 , which can bear data and logic executable by the interceptor processor  42 . If desired, a display  46  may be provided on the interceptor  38 . 
     Furthermore, an extender receiver  48  can be provided on the interceptor  38  in non-limiting embodiments, and the extender receiver  48  can communicate wirelessly by, e.g., radiofrequency with an extender  50  that may be physically positioned near, e.g., just in front of, the TV receiver  30  to receive IR command signals, transform them into RF, and send the transformed signals to the extender receiver  48  of the interceptor  38  for conversion, back to IR if desired. The process can be reversed between the receiver  48  and extender  50 . In any case, this facilitates hiding the interceptor  38  from view of children if desired. 
     As also shown in  FIG. 1 , the interceptor  38  may communicate with a database  52  to obtain channel-by-channel program information correlated by time. The database  52  may be accessed over the Internet or it may be stored on, e.g., the TV medium  34  and/or STB medium  22  in electronic program guide (EPG) format. 
     It is to be understood that the logic shown herein is implemented on one or more of the TV  12 , and/or STB  14 , and/or interceptor  38 . It is to be further understood that the interceptor  38  may be physically integrated with the TV  12  or STB  14 , and thus in some implementations the logic set forth below may be executed by the STB processor  20  and/or the TV processor  32 , with a physically separate interceptor omitted. It, may now be understood that the interceptor  38  may be provided as shown as a standalone device in an interceptor housing  39  that does not require retrofitting of existing TVs and STBs, and thus may not communicate at all with the TV  12 . In other embodiments the interceptor  38  may communicate with the TV  12  only for purposes of displaying a channel history on the TV display  36 , and in still other embodiments the TV processor  32  and/or STB processor  20  can be programmed to execute the logic set forth below. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , to synchronize the interceptor  38  with the channel of the TV (or equivalently, when the channel is being controlled by signaling the STB  14 , the channel of the STB), when the interceptor detects a power-on signal at block  54  from the remote  28  to the TV  12  (or STB  14 ), the interceptor  38  commands the TV  12  (or STB  14 ) to tune to a predetermined channel at block  56 . The interceptor  38  may be provided with an IR or RF transmitter for this purpose, as appropriate. 
     Since the interceptor  38  is now synchronized with the TV  12  (or STB  14 ) by forcing the TV/STB into a state known to the interceptor  38 , all later channel up/down commands snooped from the remote control  28  can be used to ascertain the accessed channel. The interceptor  38  checks whether it has missed a transmission (and hence made an error for the previous log entry) by comparing sequence numbers in the transmitted packets. 
     For example, if the present sequence number of packets from the remote control  28  that the interceptor  38  has sniffed/snooped from the wireless medium is #4324, and the last sequence number interceptor  38  saw was #4322, then the interceptor  38  can assume it has missed a transmitted command, in which case it may resynch with the TV/STB by repeating the process at block  56 . In addition, if the interceptor  38  detects an “acknowledge” packet sent from the TV/STB to the remote control  28  but did not see the packet that is being acknowledged, the interceptor  38  may similarly assume it has missed a packet from the remote control to the TV/STB, and resynchronize accordingly. 
     If desired, to prevent bypassing the interceptor  38  by manually changing channels using the “channel up/down” buttons on the TV chassis  13  and/or on the STB housing  15 , a keyword protected menu option of disabling the “channel up/down” buttons on the TV chassis/STB housing may be provided. Or, the channel up/down buttons on the chassis  13 /housing  15  may be mechanically disabled by, e.g., depositing adhesive onto them. 
     Alternate synchronization methods may be used. For example, in addition to or in lieu of the above, the interceptor  38  may also perform speech recognition on the TV sound, and then compare the recognized speech to a database containing soundtrack/closed captioned information of the program it thinks is being watched, to confirm that the user is watching the same channel. If a discrepancy exists, the interceptor  38  may either try to resynchronize by finding which program is actually being watched (by comparing speech recognition of TV sound with soundtrack of the channel obtained from a database or closed caption information), or the interceptor  38  may simply force the TV/STB into a known channel by transmitting a “tune to channel x” command to the TV. 
     Once synchronized, the logic can move to block  58  to receive IR (or RF) wireless channel signals from the remote  28 . The channel signals can include channel up/down signals as well as channel number signals. The signals preferably are timestamped at block  60 , so that when each channel is tuned to and the length of time it is tuned to, along with the channel number itself, preferably is recorded in a data log. 
     At block  62 , the database  52  preferably is accessed to correlate the channel numbers to associated programs by, e.g., program name and/or rating and/or other program metadata. The log showing the times and channel numbers/programs to which the TV/STB were tuned can be presented at block  64  on, e.g., the TV display  36  or the display  46  of the interceptor  38 . The display of the log may be permitted only upon receipt of proper authentication information, e.g., a parental password, so that only authorized people can view the log. 
     In non-limiting implementations, recognizing that Internet Protocol addresses can be tracked, data from the International Standard Audiovisual Number (ISAN) system, which may be part of the program metadata, can be used to create the log. 
     In another implementation, the log generated by the interceptor  38  can be provided for a fee to third parties such as TV ratings agencies. 
     When the present interceptor logic is implemented by the STB  14  (e.g., in a set-back box implementation), tuning data can be obtained using a universal serial bus (USB) link from the TV  12  to the STB  14 , and since a broadband connection may also be provided between the two components, the STB  14  can implement the logic of  FIG. 2 , and also to provide this viewer preference data to third parties if the user chooses. 
     While the particular TV REMOTE CONTROL SIGNAL LOG is herein shown and described in detail, it is to be understood that the subject matter which is encompassed by the present invention is limited only by the claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7