Claims:WE CLAIM
1. A method of sharing television (TV) program information between set-top-boxes (STBs), the method comprising:
obtaining, by a control unit, program-specific-information of TV content selected by a first user using a first STB;
converting, by a Text-to-Speech (TTS) converter, the program-specific-information into a voice message;
establishing, using a first Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) associated with the first STB, a voice call from the first STB to a second STB; and
transmitting, from the first SIM, the voice message associated with the program-specific-information to a second SIM associated with the second STB over the voice call using a first modulation scheme.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second STB is remotely controlled based on the voice call.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second STB is synchronized to the first STB based on the voice call in response to confirmation from a second user using the second STB.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting user-interaction-data over the voice call using a second modulation scheme.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting control commands over the voice call using a third modulation scheme.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: multiplexing the voice message associated with the program-specific-information, control commands, and the user-interaction-data over the voice call.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: recording the TV content along with the user-interaction-data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a handshake signal to terminate the voice call between the first STB and the second STB.

9. A transmitter-side set-top box (STB) comprising:
a control unit to:
obtain program-specific-information of TV content selected by a first user; and
generate an initiate command to share the program-specific-information with a receiver-side STB;
a Text-to-Speech (TTS) converter to convert the program-specific-information into a voice message based on the initiate command; and
a first Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) to transmit the voice message associated with the program-specific-information to a second SIM associated with the receiver-side STB over a voice call using a first modulation scheme.

10. The transmitter-side STB of claim 9, wherein the receiver-side STB is remotely controlled based on the voice call.

11. The transmitter-side STB of claim 9, wherein the receiver-side STB is synchronized to the transmitter-side STB based on the voice call in response to confirmation from a second user using the receiver-side STB.

12. The transmitter-side STB of claim 9, wherein the first SIM further transmits user-interaction-data over the voice call using a second modulation scheme.

13. The transmitter-side STB of claim 9, wherein the first SIM further transmits control commands over the voice call using a third modulation scheme.

14. The transmitter-side STB of claim 13, further comprising: a multiplexing unit to multiplex the voice message associated with the program-specific-information, control commands, and the user-interaction-data over the voice call.

15. The transmitter-side STB of claim 14, further comprising: a recording unit to record the TV content along with the user-interaction-data.

16. The transmitter-side STB of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting a handshake signal to terminate the voice call between the transmitter-side STB and the receiver-side STB.

Dated this 16th day of February 2018

Swetha SN
IN/PA-2123
Of K&S Partners
Agent for the Applicant
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
This disclosure relates generally to television set-top-boxes (STBs), and more particularly to sharing television (TV) program information between STBs using voice communication.