Patent Document ID: 4430669
Application ID: 06268640

Base Claim:
1. A multichannel receiver for selectively tuning one of several pay television stations during programming hours which broadcast scrambled video signals, each of said stations broadcasting during non-programming hours related subscriber identification information and program identification information, comprising: a voltage controlled tuner for tuning the frequency of each of said stations in response to an operating voltage; a read only memory for storing tuning information identifying the frequency of each of said stations and a subscriber identification number; a Random Access Memory for storing received program identification information; a system clock for providing periodic timing pulses; video processing circuitry for removing and separating said video signals and information signals from a broadcast signal received by said tuner; a control processor having I/O parts connected to said memories, and video processing circuitry, said processor being connected to said clock, and during non-programming hours said processor being connected to continually and sequentially read out of said Read Only Memory tuning information for each of said television stations, said processor further comparing subscriber identification information provided by said video circuitry to subscriber identification data in said Read Only Memory each time a station frequency is tuned and upon coincidence thereof stores said related program identification information including status identification data and program time in said RAM at a specified address; means for addressing and reading out from said Random Access Memory said stored information during program broadcast time; and means for tuning the television receiver tuner in response to said read out information whereby said television receives a station signal identified by said stored information at a frequency and time.

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Claim 3:
3. The multichannel receiver of claim 1, further comprising: a keyboard control means connected to said processor, said keyboard control means providing a signal to said processor, said signal identifying a previously stored information signal; and means for tuning said tuner to a frequency identified by said stored information signal.