Data delivery in set-top box
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of managing MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) or other SI (Service Information) data, comprising:
- receiving an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) packet containing SI data, the ATM packet having a virtual channel indicator (VCI) in a header thereof associating the SI data in the packet with a virtual channel;
storing the SI information in a memory associated with the VCI; and
retrieving the SI information from the memory upon request of a system processor.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for managing ATM formatted MPEG SI data in a television set-top box. A virtual channel indicator (VCI) is used to associate a segment of SI data with a virtual channel. An ATM processor receives a stream of ATM packets containing SI data from an out-of-band tuner. The ATM packets include the VCI in a header thereof. The ATM processor stores the SI data in a buffer memory associated with the VCI for retrieval by the ATM processor at the request of the STB system processor.
-
Citations
32 Claims
-
1. A method of managing MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) or other SI (Service Information) data, comprising:
-
receiving an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) packet containing SI data, the ATM packet having a virtual channel indicator (VCI) in a header thereof associating the SI data in the packet with a virtual channel;
storing the SI information in a memory associated with the VCI; and
retrieving the SI information from the memory upon request of a system processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A television apparatus, comprising:
-
a receiver receiving a video data stream including MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) video data and converting the MPEG video data to a video signal;
an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) interface, receiving a stream of ATM packets frequency multiplexed with the video data stream, the ATM packets carrying SI (Service Information) data and having a header carrying a virtual channel indicator (VCI), the VCI associating the SI data with a virtual channel;
the ATM interface comprising;
an ATM processor;
a plurality of buffer memories, one buffer memory for each of a plurality of virtual channels; and
wherein, upon receipt of an ATM packet, the ATM processor reads the ATM packet'"'"'s VCI and stores SI information associated with that VCI in the buffer memory for the virtual channel indicated by the VCI. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method of supplying MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) or other SI (Service Information) data over a cable network, comprising:
-
associating an SI data segment with a virtual channel identifier (VCI);
packaging the SI data segment in a data area of an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) packet;
placing the VCI in a header of the ATM packet; and
transmitting the packet over the cable network. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. An electronic storage medium containing instructions which, when executed on a programmed processor, carry out a method of managing MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) or other SI (Service Information) data, comprising:
-
receiving an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) packet containing SI data, the ATM packet having a virtual channel indicator (VCI) in a header thereof associating the SI data in the packet with a virtual channel;
storing the SI information in a memory associated with the VCI; and
retrieving the SI information from the memory upon request of a system processor. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
Specification