Video on demand using MCMD and TDM or FDM

• US 20040133917A1
• Filed: 01/07/2003
• Published: 07/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Donald L. Schilling
• Original Assignee: Donald L. Schilling
• Inventors: Schilling, Donald L.
• Application Number:
  US10/337,555
• Publication Number:
  US 20040133917A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2383 Channel coding or modulation of digital bit-stream, e.g. QPSK modulation arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by adapting the channel coding H04L1/0009; analogue front ends or means for connecting modulators, demodulators or transceivers to a transmission line H04L27/0002
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

An improvement for television and Internet channel distribution. A plurality of P programs are to be sent over the communications medium, using the multiplicity of channels. Each program has digitized-compressed content. For each program, a set of packets is generated and modulated in a form suitable for transmission over a multiplicity of channels. The packets are interleaved, depending on priority, and then sent over the multiplicity of channels. Assuming equal priority, a first set of packets of the P programs is sent, a second set of packets from the P programs is next sent, and a third set of packets from the P programs is then sent, over the multiplicity of channels. Each set of packets of the first program, the second program, and the third program, is received at a first, second and third set top box, respectively. Display of the first, second and third program is initiated upon receipt of the first, second, second and third set of packets of the first, second and third program, respectively.

Claims

1. An improvement to a television channel distribution system having a multiplicity of K_i channels, where K_i is a number of available channels and an index i refers to a particular number of K_i channels, for delivering a plurality of P programs, where P is a number of programs, with each program having digitized-compressed content with B_Tj bits per program, where B_T is a number of bits and an index value of j refers to a particular program P_j in the plurality of P programs, comprising:

pocketing means for generating, for each program P_j in the plurality of P programs, a set of N_jK_i packets, where N_j, for a particular program P_j in the plurality of P programs, is a number of packets per channel in the multiplicity of K_i channels;

modulator means for modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said modulator means for sending a first set of K_i packets of a first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, for sending a second set of K_i packets of a second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and for sending a third set of K_i packets of a third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said modulator means for continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of the third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

first receiver means for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the first program P₁, and for initiating display of the first program P₁ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the first program P₁;

second receiver means for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the second program P₂, and for initiating display of the second program P₂ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the second program P₂; and

third receiver means for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the third program P₃, and for initiating display of the third program P₃ upon receipt of the third set of K_i packets of the third program P₃.

2. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, with said modulator means including a multiplicity of K_i modulators, for modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

3. The improvement as set forth in claim 2, with said modulator means including a multiplicity of K_i modulators, for modulating each packet in a form using quadrature amplitude modulation and suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

4. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, with said modulator means including a modulator for modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

5. The improvement as set forth in claim 4, with said modulator for modulating each packet in a form using quadrature amplitude modulation and suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

6. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, further including:

said modulator means for sending a fourth set of K_i packets of a fourth program P₄ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said modulator means for continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

fourth receiver means for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄, and for initiating display of the fourth program P₄ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄.

7. The improvement as set forth in claim 6, further including:

said modulator means for sending a fifth set of K_i packets of a fifth program P₅ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said modulator means for continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

fifth receiver means for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅, and for initiating display of the fifth program P₅ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅.

25. The improvement as set for in claim 1, further including means for interleaving the packets with certain packets having different priority than other packets, with the packets having higher priority being sent more frequently.

8. An improvement to a television channel distribution method having a multiplicity of K_i channels, where K_i is a number of available channels and an index i refers to a particular number of K_i channels, for delivering a plurality of P programs, where P is a number of programs, with each program having digitized-compressed content with B_Tj bits per program, where B_T is a number of bits and an index value of j refers to a particular program P_j in the plurality of P programs, comprising the steps of:

generating, for each program P_j in the plurality of P programs, a set of N_jK_i packets, where N_j, for a particular program P_j in the plurality of P programs, is a number of packets per channel in the multiplicity of K_i channels;

modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

sending a first set of K_i packets of a first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

sending a second set of K_i packets of a second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

sending a third set of K_i packets of a third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of the third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the first program P₁;

initiating display of the first program P₁ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the first program P₁;

receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the second program P₂;

initiating display of the second program P₂ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the second program P₂;

receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the third program P₃; and

initiating display of the third program P₃ upon receipt of the third set of K_i packets of the third program P₃.

9. The improvement as set forth in claim 8, with the step of modulating including the step of modulating each packet in a form using quadrature amplitude modulation and suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

10. The improvement as set forth in claim 8, further including the steps of:

sending a fourth set of K_i packets of a fourth program P₄ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄; and

initiating display of the fourth program P₄ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄.

11. The improvement as set forth in claim 10, further including the steps of:

sending a fifth set of K_i packets of a fifth program P₅ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅; and

initiating display of the fifth program P₅ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅.

28. The improvement as set for in claim 8, further including the step of interleaving the packets with certain packets having different priority than other packets, with the packets having higher priority being sent more frequently.

12. An improvement to a television channel distribution system having a multiplicity of K_i channels, where K_i is a number of available channels and an index i refers to a particular number of K_i channels, for delivering a plurality of P programs, where P is a number of programs, with each program having digitized-compressed content with B_Tj bits per program, where B_T is a number of bits and an index value of j refers to a particular program P_j in the plurality of P programs, comprising:

packeting means for generating, for each program P_j in the plurality of P programs, a set of N_jK_i packets, where N_j, for a particular program P_j in the plurality of P programs, is a number of packets per channel in the multiplicity of K_i channels;

a multiplicity of K_i modulators, for modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said multiplicity of K_i modulators for sending a first set of K_i packets of a first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, for sending a second set of K_i packets of a second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and for sending a third set of K_i packets of a third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said multiplicity of K_i modulators for continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of a second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of a third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

a first receiver for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the first program P₁, and for initiating display of the first program P₁ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the first program P₁;

a second receiver for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the second program P₂, and for initiating display of the second program P₂ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the second program P₂; and

a third receiver for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the third program P₃, and for initiating display of the third program P₃ upon receipt of the third set of K_i packets of the third program P₃.

13. The improvement as set forth in claim 12, with said multiplicity of K_i modulators for modulating each packet in a form using quadrature amplitude modulation and suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

14. The improvement as set forth in claim 12, further including:

said multiplicity of K_i modulators for sending a fourth set of K_i packets of a fourth program P₄ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said multiplicity of K_i modulators for continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

a fourth receiver for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄, and for initiating display of the fourth program P₄ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄.

15. The improvement as set forth in claim 14, further including:

said multiplicity of K_i modulators for sending a fifth set of K_i packets of a fifth program P₅ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said multiplicity of K_i modulators for continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the first program P₁ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the second program P₂ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the third program P₃ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, a set of K_i packets of the fourth program P₄ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively, and a set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅ in the plurality of P programs over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

a fifth receiver for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅, and for initiating display of the fifth program P₅ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the fifth program P₅.

26. The improvement as set for in claim 12, further including means for interleaving the packets with certain packets having different priority than other packets, with the packets having higher priority being sent more frequently.

16. An improvement to a television channel distribution system having a multiplicity of K_i channels, where K_i is a number of available channels and an index i refers to a particular number of K_i channels, for delivering a programs, with the program having digitized-compressed content with B_T bits per program, where B_T is a number of bits, comprising:

packeting means for generating, for the program, a set of N_jK_i packets, where N_j, for the particular program, is a number of packets per channel in the multiplicity of K_i channels;

modulator means for modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said modulator means for sending a first set of K_i packets of the program over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said modulator means for continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the program over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively; and

receiver means for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the program, and for initiating display of the program upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the program.

17. The improvement as set forth in claim 16, with said modulator means including a multiplicity of K_i modulators, for modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

18. The improvement as set forth in claim 17, with said modulator means including a multiplicity of K_i modulators, for modulating each packet in a form using quadrature amplitude modulation and suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

19. The improvement as set forth in claim 16, with said modulator means including a modulator for modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

20. The improvement as set forth in claim 19, with said modulator for modulating each packet in a form using quadrature amplitude modulation and suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

21. An improvement to a television channel distribution method having a multiplicity of K_i channels, where K_i is a number of available channels and an index i refers to a particular number of K_i channels, for delivering a program, with the program having digitized-compressed content with B_T bits per program, where B_T is a number of bits, comprising the steps of:

generating, for the program, a set of N_jK_i packets, where N_j, for the program, is a number of packets per channel in the multiplicity of K_i channels;

modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

sending a first set of K_i packets of the program over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the program over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the program;

initiating display of the program upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the program.

22. The improvement as set forth in claim 21, with the step of modulating including the step of modulating each packet in a form using quadrature amplitude modulation and suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

29. The improvement as set for in claim 21, further including the step of interleaving the packets with certain packets having different priority than other packets, with the packets having higher priority being sent more frequently.

23. An improvement to a television channel distribution system having a multiplicity of K_i channels, where K_i is a number of available channels and an index i refers to a particular number of K_i channels, for delivering a program, with the program having digitized-compressed content with B_T bits per program, where B_T is a number of bits, comprising:

packeting means for generating, for the program, a set of N_jK_i packets, where N_j, for the program, is a number of packets per channel in the multiplicity of K_i channels;

a multiplicity of K_i modulators, for modulating each packet in a form suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said multiplicity of K_i modulators for sending a first set of K_i packets of the program over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

said multiplicity of K_i modulators for continuing to send, in sequence, a set of K_i packets of the program over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively;

a first receiver for receiving, from the multiplicity of K_i channels, each set of K_i packets of the program, and for initiating display of the program P₁ upon receipt of the first set of K_i packets of the program P₁.

24. The improvement as set forth in claim 23, with said multiplicity of K_i modulators for modulating each packet in a form using quadrature amplitude modulation and suitable for transmission over the multiplicity of K_i channels, respectively.

27. The improvement as set for in claim 23, further including means for interleaving the packets with certain packets having different priority than other packets, with the packets having higher priority being sent more frequently.