System And Method For Internet Access To A Personal Television Service

Abstract

A communication system and a family of methods for remote access to personal television service are disclosed. A remote personal TV service center provides centralized program guide information. A user may access the personal TV service center through a digital video recorder which is connected to the personal TV service center via telephone modem or a network server. A user may access the personal TV service center through a remote computer terminal or a personal digital assistant which is connected to a computer network. The user selects program events and programs the digital video recorder by using a graphical user interface installed in the front panel of the digital video recorder, or using a similar GUI incorporated into the Web pages presented to remote users by a Web server. The media stream stored in one digital video recorder may be transferred to another digital video recorder.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for using personal TV service by transferring data from a home digital video recorder to a portable digital video recorder, comprising:
 transferring media stream from said home digital video recorder to said portable digital video recorder; and   operating said portable digital video recorder any where;   wherein said media stream is stored in a disk of a battery driven device in said portable digital video recorder;   wherein said media stream comprises content itself and associated service data;   wherein said associated service data comprises a database object and other forms of data that enable said portable digital video recorder to operate independently of said personal TV service center; and   wherein said database object provides descriptive information about said content.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said media stream in said portable digital video recorder is automatically updated by said home digital video recorder whenever these two digital video recorders are connected. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the software in said portable digital video recorder is automatically updated by said home digital video recorder whenever these two digital video recorders are connected. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said portable digital video recorder transfers any operational information to said home digital video recorder whenever these two digital video recorders are connected; and
 wherein said home digital video recorder transfers said operational information to said personal TV service center whenever said home digital video recorder accesses said personal TV service center.   
     
     
         5 . A method for using personal TV service by transferring data between two digital video recorders which are in service, comprising:
 transferring media stream from a source digital video recorder to a destination digital video recorder; and   operating said destination digital video recorder to play back recorded content;   wherein said media stream comprises content itself and associated service data;   wherein said associated service data comprises a database object and other forms of data that enable said destination digital video recorder to operate independently of said personal TV service center;   wherein said database object provides descriptive information about said media content; and   wherein said source digital video recorder and said destination digital video recorder communicate via direct connection or via a network.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  and further comprising:
 encrypting the data transfer between said source digital video recorder and said destination digital video recorder to assure data security; and 
 decrypting said recorded content only if it is played back; 
 wherein a local decryption facility based on a smart-card is used. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein a Diffie-Hellman connection protocol is used to encrypt said data transfer using a one-time key. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said smart card may be pulled from said source digital video recorder and installed in said destination digital video recorder; and
 wherein when said content is viewed in said destination digital video recorder, all content protection rules associated with said content are complied and the owner of said destination digital video recorder is properly charged.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said media stream stored in said destination digital video recorder is removed after said content is reviewed in a view once scheme. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said destination digital video recorder retains said media stream in said content database in a charge per view scheme. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 marking, by said destination digital video recorder, said media stream as partial in said database object when the data transfer is interrupted, in order to avoid re-transfer of the already stored partial media stream when the data transfer is resumed.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said database object is updated to show a complete media stream when the entire media stream is stored in said destination digital video recorder. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the speed of transferring media stream from said source digital video recorder to said destination digital video recorder may be different from the speed of playing back recorded content; and
 wherein said destination digital video recorder may start to play back as soon as the first portion of said content is available, in parallel with the ongoing media stream transfer.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein software, graphical elements and program guide may be transferred from said source digital video recorder to said destination digital video recorder. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein whenever said source digital video recorder and said destination digital video recorder are connected, a set of pre-configured actions take place automatically. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said content to be transferred from said source digital video recorder to said destination digital video recorder may be selected by the user of said source digital video recorder based on said descriptive information about said content stored in said database object. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said source digital video recorder and said destination digital video recorder may be operated with precise synchronization. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein a viewer may control trick-play features on a particular media stream;
 wherein each key event is passed to said destination digital video recorder; and   wherein said destination digital video recorder performs the same action.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the user of said source digital video recorder may indicate a particular program be linked to said destination digital video recorder so that said destination digital video recorder schedules recording of said program according to the user's indication. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein when the user of said source digital video recorder presents a sound or a graphic in said source digital video recorder, said sound or graphic may be passed to said destination digital video recorder such that said destination digital video recorder displays the same sound or graphic.