| 摘要 |
THE PRESENT INVENTION IS AN OPERATIONS CENTER(202) THAT ORGANIES AND PACKAGES TELEVISION PROGRAMS FOR TRANSMISSION IN A TELEVISION DELIVERY SYSTERM. THE CENTER IS CAPABLE OF RECEIVING, STORING, PACKAGING AND DELIVERING COUNTLESS PROGRAMS IN VARIOUS SIGNAL FORMATS, THE CENTER IS A PARTICULARLY USEFUL INVENTION FOR PROGRAM DELIBERY SYSTEMS WHICH WILL PROVIDE SUBSCRIBERS WITH VIDEO ON DEMAND, NEAR VIDEO ON DEMAND AND /OR THE ABILITY TO SELECT PROGRAMS FROM ON -SCREEN MENUS. THE CENTER''S PRIMARY COMPONENTS ARE A RECEIVER (300) SYSTEM CONTROLLER (3]2), VIDEO STORAGE (308), COMPUTER ASSISTED PACKAGING SYSTEM(CAP) (316) AND OUTPUT EQUIPMENT (320). THE COMPONENTS CAN RECEIVE, CONBERT, ANALOG AND/OR DIGITAL PROGRAMS, GENERATE MENUS, PACKAGE PROGRAMS EFFICIENTLY BASED ON SUBSCRIBER NEEDS AND THE AVAILABLE BANDWIDTH, AND OUTPUT PACKAGED PROGRAM PRODUCTS TO MULTIPLE REMOTE SITES. TO PERFORM THESE FUNCTIONS, THE CAP CREATES, PROGRAM LINEUPS, MENUS, INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PACKAGING OG PROGRAMS, AND/OR ALLOCATES AVAILABLE BANDWIDTH. IN THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT, THE PACKAGED PROGRAM PRODUCTS CONTAIN PROGRAMS, CONTROL INFORMATION AND MENUS. (FIGURE 7)
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