Patents by Inventor Wanda G. Thompson

Wanda G. Thompson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Television program selection apparatus and method
    Patent number: 7716704
    Abstract: A television program selection system and method for selecting television programs for viewing or recording utilizing a guide schedule list which is received from a cable or satellite broadcaster for example, and comprises characteristics such as topic-theme, relevancy, and broadcast time data. The user can select a time period and optionally in addition a selection mode, which corresponds to one of the alternative algorithms used to sort the programs in the schedule and generate a list of suggested television programs to be displayed for the user to select a program. The default selection mode can use a conventional selection algorithm, and the optional selection mode can eliminate all programs which have any characteristics having a zero weighting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing
    Inventors: Chunzhi Wang, Darrel Wayne Randall, Marc Aaron Kiefer, Wanda G. Thompson, Carolynn Rae Johnson
  • Television program selection apparatus and method
    Publication number: 20020188947
    Abstract: A television program selection system and method for selecting television programs for viewing or recording utilizing a guide schedule list which is received from a cable or satellite broadcaster for example, and comprises characteristics such as topic-theme, relevancy, and broadcast time data. The user can select a time period and optionally in addition a selection mode, which corresponds to one of the alternative algorithms used to sort the programs in the schedule and generate a list of suggested television programs to be displayed for the user to select a program. The default selection mode can use a conventional selection algorithm, and the optional selection mode can eliminate all programs which have any characteristics having a zero weighting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2001
    Publication date: December 12, 2002
    Inventors: Chunzhi Wang, Darrel Wayne Randall, Marc Aaron Kiefer, Wanda G. Thompson, Carolynn Rae Johnson
  • Categorization of purchased items for each transaction by a smart card
    Patent number: 5559313
    Abstract: A smart card that is responsive to a list of items with individual prices that are received from a point of sale (POS) terminal during an individual transaction to automatically insert these items into expense categories. A personal computer later retrieves these categories and associated information and inserts the information into a spreadsheet. The microprocessor in the smart card relies on stored tables defining commonly used item designations and a table that defines definitions based on an ongoing learning process by the microprocessor in conjunction with the personal computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 24, 1996
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: David M. Claus, Kevin D. Murphy, Wanda G. Thompson