Importance

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Abstract

A method of selecting individual subscribers for inclusion in groups by means of certain selection criteria comprises the steps of storing criteria related to terminals of a subscription television system, defining criteria which characterizes a group, logically linking the criteria in a predetermined manner to form a group criteria definition statement, comparing the stored terminal criteria with the group criteria definition statement, and assigning an individual or group of terminals to the group when the stored terminal criteria matches the group criteria definition statement. The selection criteria, for example, may include a range of terminal serial numbers, a range of terminal addresses, the status of the terminal, the service codes for the terminal, subscriber terminal features, a code determining the headend to which a terminal is associated, a terminal model number, and the current orders (for example, pay-per-view events subscribed to). The logical operators may include logical AND, logical OR, logical NOT, equal to, greater than, less than, greater than or equal to, parentheticals for joining operators and brackets and separators for service codes.

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First Claim