Method and apparatus for correcting corrupted digital video transport streams
First Claim
1. A video-on-demand (VOD) system, comprising:
- a transmission channel;
a plurality of receivers coupled to the transmission channel, a VOD client at each receiver capable of subscribing to one or more VOD sessions over a transport stream; and
a headend coupled to the transmission channel, said headend including a video server than can transmit one or more VOD sessions to one or more receivers, and a control server coupled to the video server, the control server to dynamically allocate and terminate VOD sessions over the transport stream as VOD clients are added and terminated, and, if necessary, to cause the video server to transmit one or more dummy sessions over the transport stream to maintain a predetermined minimum bandwidth of content over the transport stream.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A digital video system, method, and computer program product for correcting corrupted digital video transport streams is described. The digital video system may include a digital cable, digital broadcast satellite (DBS), high definition television (HDTV), or video-on demand (VOD) system. In a VOD system, a VOD client at each receiver is capable of subscribing to one or more VOD sessions. The headend includes a video server and a control server that is coupled to the video server. The video server transmits one or more VOD sessions to one or more receivers over a transport stream. The control server can also cause the video server to transmit one or more dummy sessions to maintain a predetermined minimum bandwidth of content over the transport stream. Alternatively, the headend can transmit one or more null packets having a randomized payload, as necessary, to maintain a constant bit rate over the transport stream.
-
Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A video-on-demand (VOD) system, comprising:
-
a transmission channel;
a plurality of receivers coupled to the transmission channel, a VOD client at each receiver capable of subscribing to one or more VOD sessions over a transport stream; and
a headend coupled to the transmission channel, said headend including a video server than can transmit one or more VOD sessions to one or more receivers, and a control server coupled to the video server, the control server to dynamically allocate and terminate VOD sessions over the transport stream as VOD clients are added and terminated, and, if necessary, to cause the video server to transmit one or more dummy sessions over the transport stream to maintain a predetermined minimum bandwidth of content over the transport stream. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A video-on-demand (VOD) server, comprising:
a server that receives requests from one or more VOD clients for one or more VOD sessions, causes transmission of one or more VOD sessions over a transport stream to the one or more VOD clients, determines whether the number of VOD sessions transmitted over the transport stream is below a minimum threshold, and causes transmission of one or more padding sessions over the transport stream if the number of VOD sessions transmitted over the transport stream is below the minimum threshold to maintain the number of VOD sessions at or above the minimum threshold. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19)
-
13. A video-on-demand (VOD) system, comprising:
-
a transmission channel;
a plurality of receivers coupled to the transmission channel, a VOD client at each receiver capable of subscribing to one or more VOD sessions over a transport stream; and
a headend coupled to the transmission channel, said headend including a video server than can transmit one or more VOD sessions to one or more receivers, and a control server coupled to the video server, the control server to dynamically allocate and terminate VOD sessions over the transport stream as VOD clients are added and terminated, said headend to transmit one or more stuffing packets, as necessary, to maintain a constant bit rate over the transport stream, said one or more stuffing packets including a randomized payload.
-
-
17. A video on demand (VOD) method, comprising:
-
receiving requests from one or more VOD clients for one or more VOD sessions;
transmitting one or more VOD sessions to the one or more VOD clients over a transport stream having a constant bit rate; and
transmitting one or more null packets, as necessary, to maintain the constant bit rate over the transport stream, said null packets including a randomized payload.
-
-
20. A digital video system, comprising:
-
a transmission channel;
a plurality of receivers coupled to the transmission channel, a client at each receiver capable of subscribing to one or more video sessions over a transport stream; and
a headend coupled to the transmission channel, said headend including a video server than can transmit one or more video sessions to one or more receivers, and a control server coupled to the video server, the control server to cause the video server to transmit one or more dummy sessions over the transport stream to maintain a predetermined minimum bandwidth of content over the transport stream. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 24)
-
-
23. A computer program product, comprising:
-
a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein to minimize a possibility of an erroneous MPEG frame synchronization in a digital video receiver, the computer readable program code in said computer program product comprising;
first computer readable program code to transmit one or more video sessions to the one or more clients over a transport stream having a constant bit rate; and
second computer readable program code to transmit one or more null packets, as necessary, to maintain the constant bit rate over the transport stream, said null packets including a randomized payload.
-
-
25. A digital video receiver, comprising:
-
a demodulator to demodulate analog signals received over a transmission channel;
a decoder to decode signals from the demodulator;
an MPEG framer to synchronize to a video session in a transport stream;
a memory including one or more instructions;
a processor, coupled to the memory, demodulator, decoder, and framer, the processor, in response to the one or more instructions, to, detect a checksum error from the MPEG framer indicative of a false synchronization to the video session, and responsive to detecting a checksum error, resynchronize the MPEG framer to the transport stream.
-
Specification