System and method for automatically controlling the audio output of a television

Claim 1

A method of automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired program material comprising the steps of: a. generating digital information corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material and unique to said undesired program material, then, b. comparing digital information corresponding to the audio output of said television with said generated digital information corresponding to said at least a portion of said undesired program material to determine the presence of said undesired program material in said audio output and generating an indicator signal as soon as said undesired program material is detected, c. generating a control signal in response to said indicator signal, and d. applying said control signal to said television to control the audio output of said television.

Claim 2

A method of automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired program material comprising the steps of: a. generating digital information corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material and unique to said undesired program material, then, b. comparing digital information corresponding to the audio output of said television with said generated digital information corresponding to said at least a portion of said undesired program material to determine the presence of said undesired program material in said audio output and generating an indicator signal as soon as said undesired program material is detected, c. generating a control signal in response to said indicator signal, and d. applying said control signal to said television to control the audio output of said television.

Claim 5

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired program material comprising: a. means for generating digital information corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material, b. means for comparing said digital information corresponding to said portion of said undesired program material with digital information corresponding to said audio output and producing an indicator signal when said undesired material is detected, and c. means for receiving said indicator signal and producing a control signal in response thereto for controlling the audio output of said television.

Claim 6

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired program material comprising: a. means for generating digital information corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material, b. means for comparing said digital information corresponding to said portion of said undesired program material with digital information corresponding to said audio output and producing an indicator signal when said undesired material is detected, and c. means for receiving said indicator signal and producing a control signal in response thereto for controlling the audio output of said television.

Claim 7

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired material comprising: a. microphone for converting the audio output of said television into an audio signal, b. an audio amplifier for amplifying the audio signals signal from said microphone, c. a waveform pattern digitizer and recorder for digitizing and storing patterns of audio signals received from said audio amplifier corresponding to undesired material, d. a computer for controlling the operations of the system, e. an input/output device coupled to said computer for entering digital signals into said computer corresponding to key words representing said undesired material, f. a waveform pattern comparator, said waveform pattern comparator having a memory for receiving and storing digital signals of waveform patterns from said waveform pattern digitzer and recorder, said waveform pattern comparator receiving and digitizing the output of said audio amplifier and comparing said digitized output to the waveform patterns stored in said memory of said waveform pattern comparator and outputting an indicator signal if there is a match, and g. a speech recognition unit, said speech recognition unit having a memory for storing keywords, said speech recognition unit converting the audio output of the audio amplifier into data signals corresponding to speech and comparing said speech with key words stored in said memory and outputting an indicator signal if there is a match, h. an external device controller coupled to said waveform pattern comparator and said speech recognition system for receiving said indicator signal from either said waveform pattern comparator or said speech recognition system and generating pursuant thereto a control signal for controlling the audio output of the television.

Claim 8

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired material comprising: a. microphone for converting the audio output of said television into an audio signal, b. an audio amplifier for amplifying the audio signals signal from said microphone, c. a waveform pattern digitizer and recorder for digitizing and storing patterns of audio signals received from said audio amplifier corresponding to undesired material, d. a computer for controlling the operations of the system, e. an input/output device coupled to said computer for entering digital signals into said computer corresponding to key words representing said undesired material, f. a waveform pattern comparator, said waveform pattern comparator having a memory for receiving and storing digital signals of waveform patterns from said waveform pattern digitzer and recorder, said waveform pattern comparator receiving and digitizing the output of said audio amplifier and comparing said digitized output to the waveform patterns stored in said memory of said waveform pattern comparator and outputting an indicator signal if there is a match, and g. a speech recognition unit, said speech recognition unit having a memory for storing keywords, said speech recognition unit converting the audio output of the audio amplifier into data signals corresponding to speech and comparing said speech with key words stored in said memory and outputting an indicator signal if there is a match, h. an external device controller coupled to said waveform pattern comparator and said speech recognition system for receiving said indicator signal from either said waveform pattern comparator or said speech recognition system and generating pursuant thereto a control signal for controlling the audio output of the television.

Claim 9

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired material comprising: a. means for generating digital information corresponding to a waveform pattern of said undesired material, b. means for comparing said digital information corresponding to said undesired material with digital information corresponding to a waveform pattern of said audio output and producing an indicator signal when said undesired material is detected, c. means for receiving said indicator signal and producing a control signal in response thereto for controlling the audio output of said television, and d. a computer for controlling the operations of said system.

Claim 10

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired material comprising: a. means for generating digital information corresponding to a waveform pattern of said undesired material, b. means for comparing said digital information corresponding to said undesired material with digital information corresponding to a waveform pattern of said audio output and producing an indicator signal when said undesired material is detected, c. means for receiving said indicator signal and producing a control signal in response thereto for controlling the audio output of said television, and d. a computer for controlling the operations of said system.

Claim 11

A method of automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired material comprising the steps of: a. generating digital information unique to said undesired material, said digital information being generated by converting waveform patterns of sound of said undesired material into data, then, b. comparing digital information corresponding to waveform patterns of the audio output of said television with said generated digital information unique to said undesired material to determine the presence of said undesired material in said audio output and generating an indicator signal as soon as said undesired material is detected, c. generating a control signal in response to said indicator signal, and d. applying said control signal to said television to control the audio output of said television.

Claim 12

A method of automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired material comprising the steps of: a. generating digital information unique to said undesired material, said digital information being generated by converting waveform patterns of sound of said undesired material into data, then, b. comparing digital information corresponding to waveform patterns of the audio output of said television with said generated digital information unique to said undesired material to determine the presence of said undesired material in said audio output and generating an indicator signal as soon as said undesired material is detected, c. generating a control signal in response to said indicator signal, and d. applying said control signal to said television to control the audio output of said television.

Claim 13

A method of automatically controlling the output of a television so as to exclude undesired program material comprising the steps of: a. generating digital information corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material unique to said undesired program material, then, b. comparing digital information corresponding the output of said television with said generated digital information corresponding to said at least a portion of said undesired program material to determine the presence of said undesired program material in said audio output, and then c. adjusting the output of said television when said undesirable program material is detected so as to inhibit the output of said undesired program material.

Claim 14

A method of automatically controlling the output of a television so as to exclude undesired program material comprising the steps of: a. generating digital information corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material unique to said undesired program material, then, b. comparing digital information corresponding the output of said television with said generated digital information corresponding to said at least a portion of said undesired program material to determine the presence of said undesired program material in said audio output, and then c. adjusting the output of said television when said undesirable program material is detected so as to inhibit the output of said undesired program material.

Claim 15

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired program material comprising: a. a waveform digitizer and recorder for digitizing a waveform pattern corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material and recording said waveform pattern so digitized, b. means for comparing said digital information corresponding to said waveform pattern so recorded with digital information corresponding to a waveform pattern of said audio output and producing an indicator signal when said undesired material is detected, and c. means for receiving said indicator signal and producing a control signal in response thereto for controlling the audio output of said television.

Claim 16

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired program material comprising: a. a waveform digitizer and recorder for digitizing a waveform pattern corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material and recording said waveform pattern so digitized, b. means for comparing said digital information corresponding to said waveform pattern so recorded with digital information corresponding to a waveform pattern of said audio output and producing an indicator signal when said undesired material is detected, and c. means for receiving said indicator signal and producing a control signal in response thereto for controlling the audio output of said television.

Claim 17

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired program material comprising: a. a speech recognition unit for generating digital information of words corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material and for controlling the operations of said system, b. means for comparing said digital information of words corresponding to said portion of said undesired program material with digital information of words corresponding to said audio output and producing an indicator signal when said undesired material is detected, and c. means for receiving said indicator signal and producing a control signal in response thereto for controlling the audio output of said television.

Claim 18

A system for automatically controlling the audio output of a television so as to avoid listening to undesired program material comprising: a. a speech recognition unit for generating digital information of words corresponding to at least a portion of said undesired program material and for controlling the operations of said system, b. means for comparing said digital information of words corresponding to said portion of said undesired program material with digital information of words corresponding to said audio output and producing an indicator signal when said undesired material is detected, and c. means for receiving said indicator signal and producing a control signal in response thereto for controlling the audio output of said television.