Patent ID: 8719858

Claim:
A method for virtual channel management, for use in a network-based multimedia reproduction system, the method comprising: in response to a received command, determining, by a control unit of the network-based multimedia reproduction system, whether the command is associated with virtual channel switching, wherein the network-based multimedia reproduction system is in a mode of a first channel zone of a personalized channel zone; checking whether a channel value corresponding to the command exists in the first channel zone by the control unit when the command is associated with virtual channel switching; when the channel value exists in the first channel zone, executing an application corresponding to the channel value in the first channel zone by the control unit to retrieve digital contents by a network unit of the network-based multimedia reproduction system and to display the digital contents on a screen of the network-based multimedia reproduction system; when the received command is associated with switching of the personalized channel zone, determining a desired channel zone from the personalized channel zone representing a channel value corresponding to the received command by the control unit; checking whether at least one log-in command matches log-in information required for switching to the desired channel zone by the control unit; and switching the network-based multimedia reproduction system to a mode of the desired channel zone in the personalized channel zone when the at least one log-in command matches the log-in information for switching to the desired channel zone; wherein the network-based multimedia reproduction system performs virtual channel switching and displays the digital contents according to a plurality of virtual channels corresponding to the desired channel zone.