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Patexia Contest

CONTEST

Competed
Prize
$7,000
DEADLINE
This contest is closed.
Winner

Aseem Vyas

technology
Winner

Milind Singhal

technology
Winner

Simon Sunatori

technology
Winner

Howard Pasear

technology
Runner Up

Roland Stumpf

technology
Runner Up
Runner Up

rupesh kumar

technology
Runner Up

Nikita K

technology
Runner Up

Paton Paton

technology

Problem

Patexia seeks prior art for US Patent 7,113,230 (‘230) - “Method and apparatus for deriving a channel map for a digital television receiver.” The patent allegedly describes a digital TV (DTV) receiver that automatically scans multiple TV channels for a signal to create a listing of viewable TV channels, sometimes called “scan-the-sky” algorithms. This is done by measuring the amplitude of the signal, comparing it to a locally stored threshold, and removing the channel from a locally stored map of TV channels if the amplitude is less than the threshold value.

Deriving a channel map for a DTV receiver takes place by following these steps (Figure 1):

  • A processor controls a tuner to periodically scan through each channel frequency to find a strong signal.
  • Using a comparator, the signal amplitude is compared with a threshold value.
  • The threshold value is set by the processor and is dynamically determined by:
  • If the processor does not detect valid program information for a channel thought to be viewable, the threshold value is raised.
  • If the processor detects valid program information, then information on the estimated noise level in the received DTV signal is used to update the threshold value.
  • With the threshold value, if the comparator finds:
  • The signal amplitude is greater than the threshold value, the processor moves on to the next channel frequency.
  • The signal amplitude is less than the threshold value, the processor removes the channel from a channel map, and then moves on to the next channel frequency.

Figure 1.Deriving a channel map for a DTV receiver

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Questions

#QuestionValue
1Was the source filed or published before March 17th, 2000? T/F
2Does the source describe a method for rapidly scanning the spectrum to determine which channels include potentially valid data based on a direct or indirect amplitude measurement? 18
3Does the source describe a digital TV (DTV) receiver that includes a processor, a channel map data structure, a tuner, an amplitude detector (direct or indirect), a demodulator, and a comparator for the amplitude (either direct or indirect, hardware or software)? 18
4Can the processor create a channel map data structure? 13
5Can the DTV receiver tune to a specified channel frequency? 10
6Can the DTV receiver demodulate the tuned television signal? 10
7Can the DTV receiver measure the amplitude of the tuned television signal prior to demodulation? 13
8Can the DTV receiver compare the measured amplitude to a threshold value? 13
9Can the DTV receiver update a channel map based on the results of the comparison of the measured amplitude and threshold value? 5

Additional Notes

Contest Rules and Guidelines

  • The contest will close on December 8th, 2013 11:59 PM PST.
  • Please view the detailed contest rules and guidelines page here.
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