Interactive Network Inc of Mountain View, California has won a scoring system patent for interactive TV game show viewing which can determine contestant winners for an unlimited number of participants within four minutes: the technology enables Interactive to process scores from virtually every home that views live television programming, and notify players of their relative standing within the same four-minute period; the company uses the FM sub-carrier – the unused portions of the FM band – to transmit interactive data to its subscribers – these signals are simulcast with television programs into a portable hand-held Control Unit, with an LCD screen, touch sensitive keys and a standard keyboard; Interactive Network subscribers use the Control Unit to download their responses with a brief 10 to 20 second local telephone call to the company’s unidentified fault-tolerant computer network.
