SYSTEM FOR DATA REGIONALIZATION AND RETRANSMISSION BASED ON BROADCAST RECEPTION CONDITIONS AND USER PREFERENCES

Abstract

A system ensures reception in low reception or no reception areas and adds regionalized experiences in digital broadcasting. The system includes main transmitter stations and many local or regional transceiver stations. Feedback exists between the local and main transmitter stations to fine tune the transmitted signals based on reception quality, location and the like. The addition of localized or regional content is based on parameters such as user preferences and local data. The regionalized content may vary from local news, local advertisements, customized advertisements, advertisement placement based on social media services data, local emergency warnings, and other parameters. The system addresses both reception issues as well as content regionalization blended with original channel information that are of interest to users of a specific region.

Claims

1-5. (canceled)

6. A system configured to ensure reception in low reception/no reception areas and add regionalized experience in digital broadcasting, the system comprising: a main transmitter station; and a plurality of local or regional transceiver stations to receive transmitted signals from the main transmitter station, wherein feedback exists between the local or regional transceiver stations and the main transmitter station to fine tune the transmitted signals based on at least one attribute, and wherein localized or regional content is added to the transmitted signals by the plurality of local or regional transceiver stations based at least one parameter.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising, in areas of poor reception, a local transceiver station of the plurality of local or regional transceiver stations located in a specific region, wherein the local transceiver station is configured to receive digital radio broadcasting services from a remote station, demodulate the audio and data services, channel decode the audio and data services, demultiplex the audio and data services, replace the data services with regional items, modulate original audio along with new data services, and transmit the original audio along with the new data services to the specific region.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the local transceiver station further is configured to provide feedback to the main transmitter station on a quality of a received signal and a global positioning system (GPS) location through a back channel.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the main transmitter station is configured to take an action to ensure better reception of the received signal to the local transceiver.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the action includes increasing power and other modulation parameters of the transmitted signal from the main transmitter station.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the new data services include local news, a local advertisement, or a local emergency warning.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one attribute includes reception quality or location.

13. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one parameter includes user preferences or local data.

14. The system of claim 6, wherein the local or regional content may vary based on the at least one parameter.

15. The system of claim 6, wherein a structure of a first channel information from the main transmitter station consists of a transmission frequency of the local or regional transceiver station, GPS coordinates, which contain GPS information having latitude, longitude, and altitude, and transceiver power.

16. The system of claim 6, further comprising a digital radio receiver configured to receive the transmitted signals from the main transmitter station or the plurality of local or regional transceiver stations.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to determine a local or regional transceiver station of the plurality of local or regional transceiver stations based on a user preference.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to determine a local or regional transceiver station of the plurality of local or regional transceiver stations based on a quality of reception if the digital radio receiver is able to receive transmitted signals from more than one local or regional transceiver station.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to determine a local or regional transceiver station of the plurality of local or regional transceiver stations based on a location of reception if the digital radio receiver is able to receive transmitted signals from more than one local or regional transceiver station.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to decode and parse a first channel information from demodulated output when reception of the transmitted signals is poor and only the first channel information is available.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to check reception quality if regional data is available.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to check GPS data if the reception quality is poor.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to check nearby transceiver stations using the GPS data and the regional data if the GPS data is available.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to check all regional transceiver stations using the received data if the GPS data is unavailable.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein the digital radio receiver is configured to check a user preference option if the reception quality is good.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The manner in which the present invention is formulated is given a more particular description below, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the components, some of which is illustrated in the appended drawing It is to be noted; however, that the appended drawing illustrates only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore should not be considered limiting of its scope, for the system may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

[0020] Throughout the drawings, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements and features.

[0021] The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description a long with the accompanying figures, which forms a part of this application and in which:

[0022] FIG. 1: Block Diagram describing the components of our system for ensuring reception in low or no reception areas and regionalized experience in digital broadcasting in accordance with our present invention;

[0023] FIG. 2: Block Diagram describing the structure of retransmission station directly in first channel information of our system in accordance with our present invention;

[0024] FIG. 3: Block Diagram describing the structure of GPS coordinates of retransmission station of our system in accordance with our present invention;

[0025] FIG. 4: Block Diagram describing the regional transceiver system component of our system in accordance with our present invention;

[0026] FIG. 5: Flow Chart Diagram describing the tuning process at digital radio receiver component of our system in accordance with our present invention;

[0027] FIG. 6: Flow Chart Diagram describing the transmission fine tuning component of our system in accordance with our present invention;

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0028] 100Main transmitter [0029] 101Local Transceiver 1 [0030] 102Local Transceiver 2 [0031] 103Local Transceiver N [0032] 104Digital Radio Receivers [0033] 105Digital Radio Receivers [0034] 106Digital Radio Receivers [0035] 107Feedback about reception quality, location and transmission power [0036] 200Retransmission station 1 [0037] 201Retransmission station N [0038] 202Frequency 1 [0039] 203GPS Coordinates 1 [0040] 204Transceiver power 1 [0041] 205Frequency N [0042] 206GPS Coordinates N [0043] 207Transceiver power N [0044] 300Latitude [0045] 301Longitude [0046] 302Altitude [0047] 400Regional Content [0048] 401Mixer [0049] 402Multiplexer [0050] 403Encoder [0051] 404Modulator [0052] 405Transceiver listening to the main station [0053] 406Regional Transceiver [0054] 407Demodulator [0055] 408Channel decoder [0056] 409Demultiplexer [0057] 500Poor reception and only first channel information is available [0058] 501demodulated output [0059] 502First channel info decoding and parsing [0060] 503Decision process for available regional data [0061] 503(a)If no regional data is available [0062] 503(b)If regional data is available [0063] 504Decision process for acceptable reception quality [0064] 504(a)If reception quality is not acceptable [0065] 504(b)If reception quality is acceptable [0066] 505Decision process for user preference selection [0067] 505(a)If user preference is not selected/available [0068] 505(b)If user preference is selected/available [0069] 506Decision Process for available GPS data [0070] 506(a)If GPS data is unavailable [0071] 506(b)If GPS data is available [0072] 507Check regional station from user data and station data [0073] 508Check for nearby station from GPS and regional data [0074] 509Check all regional stations from received data [0075] 510Decision process regarding good station quality [0076] 510(a)If station quality is good [0077] 510(b)If station quality is bad [0078] 511Stay on the main station [0079] 512Tune to regional station [0080] 600Feedback from local transceiver [0081] 601Back-channel information (Reception quality and GPS location of regional transceiver) [0082] 602Decision regarding acceptable reception [0083] 602(a)If reception is acceptable [0084] 602(b)If reception is unacceptable [0085] 603Transmission power & Transmission parameter controller [0086] 604Fine tunes the transmission power/parameters for better reception at regional transceiver

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0087] The principles of operation, design configurations and evaluation values in these non-limiting examples can be varied and are merely cited to illustrate at least one embodiment of the invention, without limiting the scope thereof.

[0088] The embodiments disclosed herein can be expressed in different forms and should not be considered as limited to the listed embodiments in the disclosed invention. The various embodiments outlined in the subsequent sections are constructed such that it provides a complete and a thorough understanding of the disclosed invention, by clearly describing the scope of the invention, for those skilled in the art.

[0089] Throughout this specification various indications have been given as to preferred and alternative embodiments of the invention. It should be understood that it is the appended claims, including all equivalents, which are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.

[0090] The current embodiment of the present invention addresses both reception issues as well as content regionalization blended with the original channel that users of a specific region are interested in. The overview of the current embodiment of our present invention is shown in FIG. 1. The main transmitter (100) sends the signals from the main station which is received through intermediate stations to the local transceiver stations (101, 102, 103). The local transceiver stations send feedback in the form of reception quality, location and transmission power (107) back to the main station. The modified content is then sent to the digital radio receivers (104, 105, 106).

[0091] To address the issue to low/no reception and lack of regional contents, every region identified could have a local Transceiver for the following purposes: [0092] Receive Digital Radio broadcasting from far off stations (102, 103, 104, 405) [0093] Demodulate, channel decode, demultiplex and replace (only) the data services with regional items like local news, local ads, local emergency warnings etc. (407, 408, 409, 401) [0094] Modulate with new data services and transmit to the specific region. (404, 406) [0095] Also, provide feedback (600, 107) to the original radio station on the quality of signal and GPS location through a back channel whereby the original radio station may take further actions (like increasing power or other configurable parameters) to ensure better reception, as shown in FIG. 6.

[0096] The regional transceiver system component of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4. It adds the regional content (400) which is input to the mixer (401), which then sends the signal to the multiplexer (402), Encoder (403) and the modulator (404) which is then sent to the transceivers listening to the main station (406).

[0097] Such a re-transmission will enable receivers in the specific region, which are otherwise deprived of a quality reception from the original transmitter, to receive a superior and playable original audio content along with replaced regionalized data services, in accordance with one embodiment of our present invention.

[0098] In another embodiment of our present invention, the regionalized data services may work in tandem with data from social networking services, data agencies to provide personalized advertisements, promotions etc tailored to the localized content of the specific region.

[0099] The transmission fine tuning system is described in FIG. 6, wherein, it fine tunes the transmission power/parameters for better reception at regional transceivers (604). The feedback from the local transceiver (600) is parsed for back-channel information like reception quality and GPS location of the regional transceivers (601). If the reception is acceptable (602(a)), transmitter configuration/power doesn't need any changes. Else, the transmission power and the transmission parameter controller (603) need to fine tune the transmission power/parameters for better reception at regional transceivers.

[0100] Also, in order for the digital radio receiver in a region to identify such re-transmitting stations, first channel information of the original transmitting frequency will contain the following information of all retransmitting stations (200, 201), as shown in FIG. 2: [0101] Transmitting frequency of the re-transmitting station (202, 205) [0102] GPS location (203, 206) [0103] Power of the re-transmitting station (204, 207)

[0104] The structure of the GPS coordinates of the retransmission station is shown in the FIG. 3. It consists of the following parameters: Latitude (300), Longitude (301) and altitude (302).

[0105] As afore-mentioned, in almost all cases, digital radio receivers are able to decode first channel information, they will always understand the alternate options available for receiving the same content (with local data).

[0106] Based on the following parameters, a digital radio receiver will decide which station it will switch to, as shown in FIG. 5: [0107] User preferences (Preference for quality, local data, etc.) (505) [0108] Quality of reception (if receiver is able to pick up more than one retransmitting radio station) (504) [0109] Location of reception (if receiver is able to pick up more than one retransmitting radio station) (506)

[0110] In accordance with FIG. 5, the tuning process at the digital radio receiver is given as follows: When the reception is poor and only the first channel information is available (500), the first channel information is decoded and parsed (502) from the demodulated output (501). If regional data is unavailable (503(a)), the processing is repeated again.

[0111] If the regional data is available (503(b)), the reception quality is checked (504). If the reception quality is poor (504(a)), GPS data is checked (506). If the GPS data is available (506(b)), nearby stations are checked using the GPS and regional data (508). If the GPS data is unavailable (506(a)), all regional stations are checked using the received data (509).

[0112] If the reception quality is good (504(b)), the user preference option is checked (505). If user preference is available (505(b)), regional stations from user data and station data is checked (507). Next the station quality is checked (510). If it is good (510(a)), the regional station is tuned (512) into or else the station stays tuned to the main station data (511).

[0113] If user preference is unavailable or not selected 505(a), the option to stay on the main station is selected 511.

[0114] The main advantages of the present invention are: [0115] 1) Increased reception quality [0116] 2) A feedback-based transmission and reception system that works dynamically to suit the current weather pattern, system shutdowns etc. [0117] 3) Regionalized content based on many parameters like user preferences, local data, station quality, data quality, etc. [0118] 4) Regionalization provides more personalized and relatable content to the user, enhancing their experience. [0119] 5) Revenue for the main program content increases with specific regional sponsoring.

[0120] While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope of the invention as claimed.