INFRARED BLASTER CONTROL SYSTEM IN CABLE TELEVISION COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

摘要

A system for delivering selective VCR control codes to programmable settop terminals (20) over a CATV communication system (22) includes a headend (12) for storing and transmitting VCR control code information to the settop terminals and a plurality of settop terminals for receiving the control code s. The CATV communication system delivers the VCR control codes to individual subscribers within the vertical blanking interval of one of the broadcast channels or over a control datachannel. A set-up procedure is required for each VCR to determine the appropriate set of VCR control codes. Upon determining the specific type of VCR the subscriber has, the VCR control cod es transmitted through the CATV system are stored in the settop terminal in non - volatile memory. Since the settop terminal only stores the VCR control codes for a single type of VCR, memory requirements are minimized.