"Audio
Contents
1. The key informa tion is a series of packets one packet for each individual receiver unit with each packet including 1 an address field which is the public serial number of a particular unit followed by 2 a second field which is the current master key encrypted with the unique hidden key of the unit having that particular serial number The receivers look for these packets which are de noted by a particular signature or occur at particular times to avoid confusion with the data When a particu lar unit receives the packet inciuding its own address public serial number it stores and decrypts the subse quent encrypted master key field thereby obtaining the master key in order to decrypt subsequent encrypted data In a second encryption system embodiment a uniquely encrypted master key for each individual re 5 406 626 5 ceiver is physically delivered to each user periodically such as once a month The key could be entered into each unit by a keypad or the key could be embodied in an electronically readable card or device inserted into a suitable port in the receiver In another embodiment speech synthesizer 30 is con trolled to provide a variety of particular voices These voices are selected by the user i e to be male female or other voices or the system is programmed via mi crocontroller 20 to select different voices for different types of or categories of information The device of FIG 1 as incorporated2. apparatus in accordance with the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG 1 shows a device in accordance with one em bodiment of the invention Conventional FM radio antenna 10 as used for instance in automobile or porta ble radios provides a received radio signal to FM sub carrier tuner 12 of the type well known in the art for extracting an FM subcarrier signal As is well known these subcarrier signals are typically transmissions of digitized data on subcarriers leased from commercial FM radio stations FM subcarrier tuner 12 provides on line 14 the extracted data which typically is encrypted to conditional access circuitry 16 Conditional access circuitry 16 ensures that the data is decrypted only if the proper key or command has been provided as described below Conditional access circuitry 16 decrypts the received data as authorized by microcontroller 20 over lines 22 and in one embodi ment provides plain ASCII text or other alphanumeric text on line 26 for storage to conventional integrated circuit random access memory RAM 28 In one em bodiment RAM 28 includes approximately 4 megabits of storage capacity This information is accessed under control of microcontroller microprocessor 20 via con trol signals at lines 24 to determine which particular items of data stored in RAM 28 are to be provided via output line 32 to speech synthesizer 30 In other embodiments the received data is stored as
3. in a conven tional radio uses antenna 10 of the radio The FM sub carrier tuner 12 is in addition to the conventional radio tuner or could be part of the radio tuner The other blocks of FIG 1 with the exception of amplifier 36 and loud speaker 38 are unique to this system and are added components to a conventional radio The above description is illustrative and not limiting further modifications will be apparent to one of ordi nary skill in the art I claim 1 A receiver system comprising a radio tuner for demodulating data from a radio signal a memory for storing the demodulated data as a data base a user interface for providing a set of hierarchical menus describing the database and for accepting selections from the set of menus a controller for selecting data from the database in response to the accepted selections and outputting the selected data in an alphanumeric form and a speech synthesizer for converting the selected data from alphanumeric form to an analog audio signal representing spoken words 2 The device of claim 1 wherein the radio tuner demodulates the data from an FM radio station carrier 3 The device of claim 2 wherein the radio tuner includes means for channel skip tuning to a particular FM radio station sideband 4 The device of claim 1 wherein the memory stores the entire database 5 The device of claim 1 wherein the extracted data is encrypted and further comprising a decryptor fo
4. Brill 4 323 921 4 1982 Guillou 380 23 X 4 473 824 7 1984 Claytor 340 825 27 57 ABSTRACT 4 677 552 6 1987 Sibley Jr s sseneses 364 408 4 i s ie 4 682 368 7 1987 Takahashi sssssssssssssnsee 455 38 A radio receiver receives FM subcarrier transmissions 4 852 086 7 1989 Eastmond et al 370 69 1 and stores the transmitted textual information in a ran 4 868 866 9 1989 Williams Jr ssssssssseseees 380 49 dom access memory The information is typically news 4 942 616 7 1990 Linstroth et al 5 086 510 2 1992 Guenther et al 5 131 020 7 1992 Liebeany et al 5 133 010 7 1992 Borth et al 5 146 473 8 1992 Critchlow et al 5 146 612 9 1992 Grosjean et al na 5 152 011 9 1992 Schwob see 455 158 5 5 177 685 1 1993 Davis et al 364 443 5 182 555 1 1993 Sumner eveveseneo 340 905 5 239 700 8 1993 Guenther et al 455 158 4 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 0373386 6 1990 European Pat Off GOSG 1 0967 a 381 51 w 455 90 379 59 ae 381 38 weather sports entertainment or other information of interest A user interface allows selection from the memory of the stored information via a set of menus controlling a hierarchical database so as to access par ticular items of information A speech synthesizer ac cepts the accessed textual information items and trans f
5. It would take less than a minute for the system to scan the entire FM band looking for the signature transmission The data encryption access is accomplished in sev eral ways In one embodiment a simple addressed on off command is transmitted without data encryption to disable individual units belonging to people who have not paid the required monthly subscription fee to receive the service In a more sophisticated encryption system where it is believed there is a problem of manufacture and sale of unauthorized units then proper data encryption is used requiring receipt of a key and decryption of the data with decryption circuitry Hence unauthorized units without such dedicated decryption circuitry would not be operative at all In one embodiment of an encryption system analo gous to pay per view cable TV encryption decryption keys are delivered by radio transmission Each individ ual receiver unit has a unique hidden key of for in stance 40 to 50 binary digits in read only memory Each unit also has a public nonhidden serial number All transmitted data is conventionally encrypted using a master key which is changed periodically both to force users to pay for the service and to enhance security Each receiver unit must receive a master key to decrypt the data transmission The master key is transmitted to each unit as follows Periodically the transmission of the data is inter rupted to transmit key information
6. claim 16 wherein the means for generating a plurality of voices includes voice selection depending on a category of the selected data 18 The device of claim 16 wherein the means for generating a plurality of voices includes voice selection in response to user control 19 The device of claim 1 further comprising means for designating by a user a hierarchy for the database 20 A method for transmitting alphanumeric data via a radio signal to a receiver comprising broadcasting the radio signal demodulating the alphanumeric data from the radio signal determining if the data is encrypted and if encrypted decrypting the alphanumeric data storing the demodulated data in a memory as a data base generating a set of menus describing the database selecting items of the alphanumeric data the set of menus selecting from the memory portions of the stored data in response to the selected items the portions being in alphanumeric form and converting the selected portions from the alphanu meric form to an analog audio signal representing spoken words 21 A receiver system comprising a radio tuner for receiving a radio signal a demodulator within said radio tuner to detect data in the received signal conditional access circuitry for determining whether the data is encrypted a decryptor for decrypting any of the data that is encrypted a memory for storing the data a user interface for generating a set of menus desc
7. ected major category and the user again selects the desired sub category with a spoken YES until the specific item needed is accessed For example the category and sub category path to the latest news regarding the General Motors Corporation might be NEWS BUSINESS NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE GM The path to a review of the recent movie Aladdin might be ENTERTAINMENT HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEWS ALADDIN Typically items will be reached after four or five YES responses from the user In one embodiment three additional spoken commands by the user such as BACK STOP and GO are sufficient to provide the user effective and rapid control of the system In another embodiment a switch assembly having for instance four positions up down left right corre sponding to the familiar cursor control on a computer with each position indicating one of four commands is provided for user manual operation This switch may be adapted to attach to the steering wheel of an automo bile for use by the driver The control is linked to the rest of the device by wire infrared or ultrasonically as is a conventional television remote control Another version uses a one position control switch The user briefly depresses the switch to select the cate gory or item as announced or to scan through the menus Briefly depressing the switch while an actual data item is being read executes stop Depressing
8. encrypted data or in another convenient form and con verted to a form usable by the speech synthesizer prior to being converted to speech In this case each data item would be tagged with an unencrypted designa tion to allow retrieval of the stored encrypted data from the database Speech synthesizer 30 is of the type commercially available for example from Berkeley Speech Technolo gies Berkeley Calif This system converts ASCII text into understandable and well modulated audio analog signals The audio analog signals are provided on line 34 to a conventional audio amplifier 36 and hence to a loud speaker or earphones 38 to be listened to by the user User interface 40 inputs commands on line 42 to mi crocontroller 20 to determine which items of data from random access memory 28 are to be listened to The transmitted information is categorized stored and accessed in a conventional hierarchial database in RAM 28 under control of microcontroller 20 In one embodiment user interface 40 is a voice acti vated command system For instance the device is turned on and initialized by the user s spoken ON 5 406 626 3 command It then responds by vocally announcing via loud speaker 38 the major database categories available e g NEWS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT etc When the desired category has been announced the user responds by saying YES The device then an nounces again the sub categories of the sel
9. it again then executes go Holding the switch down for a second or two executes back at any time to return to a predetermined point in the database The FM subcarrier tuner 12 microcontroller 20 conditional access circuitry 16 and random access mem ory 28 typically remain powered at all times by battery power if necessary to receive a continuous update of the broadcast database and thereby to store current news in RAM 28 In one version the device of FIG 1 is a portable unit similar to a portable radio and includes the user voice or manual interface In another embodiment the device of FIG 1 is build into a conventional portable radio or automobile radio sharing where possible common com ponents In one embodiment user interface 40 has a speed control to determine the output speed of speech synthe sizer 30 Speech synthesizer 30 may receive information on line 32 faster than normal speaking speed It is well known that people can understand speech at faster than normal speech rates Thus the user by pushing a button on the receiver unit or providing the proper verbal command increases the speech speed so as to obtain information faster analogous to skimming printed mate rial In the embodiment using a voice activated user inter face 40 the number of commands provided is limited for instance to 5 to 10 and hence a relatively simple commercially available voice input recognition circuit is sufficient In ano
10. izer con verts the text information to an audio signal for provi sion to the user via a loud speaker or earphones This system may be standalone or a part of an existing radio receiver sharing components of the radio re ceiver One embodiment of the user control is a four way switch the positions corresponding for instance to the cursor control keys on a computer for selection from and scanning through the menus Typically the system includes approximately four megabits of mem ory sufficient to store information for 10 hours of au dio The information is for example news sports weather cultural information advertisements or com mercial listings The information is transmitted in digital 5 10 15 20 30 35 50 55 65 2 form as encrypted ASCII text which is readily stored and voice synthesized Other features are user control over the speed at which the synthesized speech is output and a channel skipping tuner for finding the particular FM radio sta tion subcarrier on which the service is provided An optional printer produces hard copy output and the speech synthesizer may under either automatic or user control produce different types of voices Also the user has the opportunity to preselect database items thereby to construct a personal profile so as to extract particular information without having to scan through all the menus BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG 1 shows a block diagram of an
11. mu UUI US005406626A United States Patent m9 11 Patent Number 5 406 626 Ryan 45 Date of Patent Apr 11 1995 54 RADIO RECEIVER FOR INFORMATION 2651352 3 1991 France ssessessscscseeesees G08G 1 096 DISSEMENATION USING SUBCARRIER 4024132 2 1992 Germany HO4L 9 18 f 8901429 2 1989 WIPO u unne eeeen nuneco B6OR 11 02 75 Inventor John O Ryan Cupertino Calif x i OTHER PUBLICATIONS 73 Assignee Macrovision Corporation Mountain A View Calif Daniel Kumin RBDS Radios on The Way But Most Suppliers Cautious Twice 4 Jan 1993 p 9 21 Appl No 31 763 Mark Fleischmann Now it s digital FM radio The 22 Filed Mar 15 1993 Digital Age Comes Home Popular Science Nov 1990 i v237 n5 p77 3 5 1 Int CL6 essesceo HOL 9 00 HO4B 1 06 Paul Rocheleau Radio on Wheels book reviews Con 52 WS Ch oeiioey 380 9 380 49 sumers Union of the U S 1991 First 3 paragraphs only 380 50 455 45 364 401 364 408 Russ Lockwood FM sidebands tuning in to Wall 58 Field of Search 340 905 364 401 408 Street Personal Computing 27 Apr 1990 v14 n4 p80 364 409 424 01 379 100 455 45 5 56 References Cited Primary Examiner Bernarr E Gregory U S PATENT DOCUMENTS Attorney Agent or Firm Skjerven Morrill MacPherson Franklin amp Friel Norman R Klivans Jr 4 247 908 1 1981 Lockhart et al 395 325 Gerow D
12. orms them into spoken speech The user interface is either by voice or a single or multi position switch al lowing scanning through and selection from the menu items 21 Claims 1 Drawing Sheet User Interface Voice recognition or push button control 5 406 626 Apr 11 1995 U S Patent Sls sees jojuoo uong usnd dd E eae cb 8h r ogg ANOJUOOOJOIMA Jeunj JeWueoqns Wd Xa Uleld 88999V ELONIPUOJ 9l euuajuy Ol 5 406 626 1 RADIO RECEIVER FOR INFORMATION DISSEMENATION USING SUBCARRIER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention This invention relates to a radio broadcasting system for transmission of alphanumeric information to a spe cially adapted receiver 2 Description of the Prior Art Numerous systems transmit information on FM radio subcarriers See for instance U S Pat No 5 152 011 issued to Schwob Sep 29 1992 Also known is a single sideband communication system with FM data capabil ity for transmission of analog voice signals See U S Pat No 4 852 086 issued to Eastmond et al Jul 20 1989 Also known is FM radio sideband broadcasting to specially adapted computers for transmission for in stance of news and financial information Commercially available products available from Mainstream Telemet and DeskTop Data broadcast data over FM radio side bands for receipt by personal computers equipped with special FM radio receivers and sof
13. r decrypting the extracted data 6 The device of claim 5 wherein the decryptor is enabled by a key received by the radio tuner 7 The device of claim 5 wherein the decryptor is enabled by a key device connected to the decryptor 8 The device of claim 1 wherein the alphanumeric form uses an ASCII code that represents alphanumeric text 9 The device of claim 1 wherein the user interface is voice activated 10 The device of claim 1 wherein the user interface includes a manual input device for mounting on an automobile steering wheel and 20 25 45 50 55 60 65 6 a wireless link from the manual input device to the controller 11 The device of claim 1 wherein the user interface includes a control for determining a speed at which the speech synthesizer outputs the analog audio signal 12 The device of claim 1 wherein the memory stores at least four megabits of the data 13 The device of claim 1 further comprising an amplifier connected to the speech synthesizer for amplifying the analog audio signal and means for converting the amplified signal to sound 14 The device of claim 1 further comprising means for connecting the radio tuner to a radio receiver set 15 The device of claim 1 further comprising a device for making a printed copy of the selected data 16 The device of claim 1 wherein the speech synthe sizer includes means for generating a plurality of voices 17 The device of
14. rib ing the data and for accepting selections from the set of menus a controller for selecting data in response to the ac cepted selections and outputting the selected data in alphanumeric form and a speech synthesizer for converting the selected data from an alphanumeric form to an analog audio signal representing spoken words 5 4 x
15. ther embodiment the user interface for an automobile based system is associated with a heads up display expected to be available in various automobiles in the near future This provides visual display of the 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 database menu items analogous to a computer screen to allow faster access to the database menus Advantageously by transmitting and storing the data in text or alphanumeric form even though encrypted the required bandwidth of the transmission channel is vastly reduced as are the memory requirements thereby substantially reducing the component cost A typical transmission speed is one kilobaud as is now used in FM subcarrier transmissions of financial and news information This is sufficient to download in approximately one hour the needed four megabits of data to random access memory 28 In use after purchase of the unit the user programs it to the frequencies of the local stations providing the transmissions There may be multiple such stations in one area due to the limited transmission distance of FM radio A channel skipping feature as is now available commercially in various radios in one embodiment included in microcontroller 20 seeks out stations having a particular signature or frequency to maintain recep tion even when moving from the transmission area of one station carrying the service to the transmission area of a second station carrying the service
16. tware Typically information is transmitted in digital form received and stored in the computer memory for access by the com puter user using menu driven software The data is displayed on the computer screen in conventional al phanumeric form One product in this category is News Edge a news service available from DeskTop Data Inc of Waltham Mass which delivers a number of news and financial information services to a user via FM radio sideband Software provided with the prod uct scans incoming information and when the incoming information meets parameters set by the user the infor mation is saved to disk and or displayed on the com puter screen These systems have the disadvantage of requiring a personal computer as a platform and providing infor mation only on a computer screen The usual computer skilis are needed in order to operate such systems which tend to be quite expensive SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A system for receiving information via radio side bands subcarriers includes an FM subcarrier tuner which extracts encrypted data from a radio transmis sion Conditional access circuitry decrypts the data which is stored in a random access memory A user interface either a simple manual or voice control driv ing a hierarchy of menus allows a user to access the information by indicating his selections from the menus the system then extracts the information from the data base in decrypted text form A speech synthes
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