Abstract

A receiver which is tunable to any of a plurality of modulated carrier signals, said receiver comprising a tuner local oscillator the frequency of which is determined by a control circuit responsive to a user input indicating the selection of a modulated carrier signal to which the receiver should tune, and a non-volatile memory connected to said control circuit for storing information, and a real time clock connected to said control circuit for providing current time, said control circuit being responsive to a user entered channel viewing matrix which is stored in said non-volatile memory and is compared to information provided by said real time clock, said user entered channel viewing matrix defining times of certain channels of which said control circuit will be prohibited from allowing said receiver to tune, said control circuit comprising a control means for automatically changing channels to the next valid channel if the current channel is or becomes invalid, and a data entry means for entering information into said user entered channel viewing matrix, whereby said receiver will only allow viewing of television programs as defined in said user entered channel viewing matrix.

Other References

• Stephen A. Booth, "The V chip: new circuitry blocks the bad stuff from your kids TV. ", Popular Mechanics, Jun. 1996, v 173, n 6, P 50 (2