Stand-alone internet mailbox for cable subscribers

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In accordance with the inventive arrangements, an electronic mailbox facility is embodied in a simple device that can receive a data stream representing an e-mail communication from a cable television distribution system or satellite system.
The device then formats that data stream into an e-mail letter which can, for example, be either printed as a continuous output of the device or displayed in a simple display having a page up/page down capability for enabling the e-mail to be read.
It is not anticipated that the television would be incorporated into the display, as an underlying aspect of the invention is to simplify the reception of e-mail to such an extent that, except for using a cable splitter to connect the device to the coaxial cable in the home, no technical steps need be undertaken, as would be necessary if the operation of the television were impacted in any fashion.
It is also an underlying aspect of the invention that the television need not be operating in order to receive or read an e-mail message.
Simplicity is the key factor.
A method in accordance with an inventive arrangement for delivering electronic mail (e-mail) messages over a cable television distribution network, comprises the steps of: (a.
) accepting an e-mail message addressed to an e-mail subscriber of the cable television distribution network; (b.
) associating the e-mail message with data identifying the subscriber; (c.
) adding an address header from the data identifying the subscriber to the e-mail message corresponding to premises of the e-mail subscriber; and, (d.
) transmitting the e-mail message and address header for transmission over the cable distribution network simultaneously with television signals but in a predefined frequency band not carrying the television signals, whereby the e-mail message and header can be captured by an e-mail message receiver in the premises of the subscriber by decoding the address header.
The method can further comprising the step of, between the steps (b