[54] ACCESS SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR
PROVIDING INTERACTIVE ACCESS TO AN
INFORMATION SOURCE THROUGH A
NETWORKED DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
[75] Inventors: Gerard Kunkel, Yardley; Harold
Krisbergh, Rydal; Aaron Grosky,
Doylestown; Jae Hea Edward Lee,
Bensalem, all ol Pa.; Joseph E.
Augenbraun, Princeton, N.J.
[73] Assignee: WorldGate Communications, Inc.,
Bensalem, Pa.
[21] Appl. No.: 08/934,985 [22] Filed: Sep. 22, 1997
Related U.S. Application Data
[63] Continuation-in-part of application No. 08/630,397, Apr. 10, 1996.
[51] Int. CI. G06F 15/16
[52] U.S. CI 709/229; 709/225
[58] Field of Search 395/200.47, 200.49,
395/200.59, 200.48, 200.56; 709/217, 219, 226, 225, 259, 218
[56] References Cited
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Primary Examiner—Mehmet B. Geckil
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—-Jones, Tullar & Cooper
[57] ABSTRACT
A system and method for accessing Internet-based and other information through a user television in a television distribution network enables a user to access and view information which is related to the programming content ol a currently viewed television broadcast. This concept, known as channel hyperlinking, enables a television viewer to download Internet Web pages, and the like, which are related to a currently viewed advertisement, program, newscast, etc. To lacilitate channel hyperlinking, each user ol the system sends channel hyperlink requests through an upstream channel to a network headend by actuating a hyperlink button on a television remote control, for example. The network headend is interlaced to the Internet by means ol an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and downloads HTML Web page data Irom the Internet to the requesting user. Each television broadcast to be linked to the Internet-based or other information is transmitted by the original broadcaster with an identification tag which identifies the Universal Resource Locator (URL) or address where the program content related information is located. The headend uses the ID tag with channel and time ol request information to identily the location ol the information to be downloaded to the user. Prelerably, the information is pre-cached from the ISP to a headend cache in advance ol the broadcast to lacilitate quicker downloading ol the information to the user.
62 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets
