Patent ID: 8166513

Claim:
A TV receiver, comprising: at least one receptacle removably receiving a cable card having at least one decryption capability; and a computer-readable medium usable by a processor and bearing thereon: at least a first application providing at least a first functionality including at least one interactive digital video functionality permitting a user to send messages from the receiver to a TV signal head end; at least a first programming interface communicating with the first application, the first programming interface configured to send messages from the first application to a video translator portion of the cable card for transformation thereof into a predetermined protocol understandable by the head end; and at least a second application providing at least a second functionality permitting a user to transmit messages to the cable card without sending the messages through the programming interface, the second application communicating with the translator portion of the cable card for transformation thereof into the predetermined protocol, wherein the translator portion of the cable card is provided for an Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP) implementation and an OCAP interface is also provided such that the first application does not communicate directly with the head end except through the translator portion of the cable card.