IPTV blackout management
First Claim
1. An IPTV-based (Internet protocol television-based) system for managing blackouts, comprising:
- a receiver of content that includes a program and one or more than one alternate program with each program and alternate program having its associated program identification (PID);
an encapsulation engine operative to encapsulate packets of the content;
a satellite or wireless link; and
a transmitter operative to send the encapsulated packets via the wireless or satellite link, wherein the encapsulation re-addresses the packets of content with the result that the alternate program is addressed similarly to the program such that both are sent to the same destination and enable de-encapsulation to expose the packets of content and with the further result that, if the destination is designated for blackout of the program, the program and the alternate program are identified to the destination by their respective PIDs so that the destination can replace the program by the alternate program substantially seamlessly and transparently.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
IPTV-based systems offer acquisition and distribution of content from numerous channels with protected end-to-end conditional access. In adopting IPTV-based systems for seamless transport and blackout management of the content, service providers would need an IPTV-based transport architecture that accommodates their existing infrastructure and provides transparent live events content blackout management. In the spectrum of service providers some have no physical infrastructure at all and some have the entire suite of infrastructure and services. Therefore, the present invention provides a new IPTV-based transport system architecture that can accommodate the spectrum of service providers, including tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3 telcos. Such architecture includes double-layer encryption and bulk decryption in addition to encapsulation that allows seamless transition from programs to alternate programs in designated blackout areas.
105 Citations
42 Claims
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1. An IPTV-based (Internet protocol television-based) system for managing blackouts, comprising:
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a receiver of content that includes a program and one or more than one alternate program with each program and alternate program having its associated program identification (PID); an encapsulation engine operative to encapsulate packets of the content; a satellite or wireless link; and a transmitter operative to send the encapsulated packets via the wireless or satellite link, wherein the encapsulation re-addresses the packets of content with the result that the alternate program is addressed similarly to the program such that both are sent to the same destination and enable de-encapsulation to expose the packets of content and with the further result that, if the destination is designated for blackout of the program, the program and the alternate program are identified to the destination by their respective PIDs so that the destination can replace the program by the alternate program substantially seamlessly and transparently. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An IPTV-based (Internet protocol television-based) system for blackout management, comprising:
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a satellite or wireless link for relaying content in packets which undergo encapsulation, the content including a program and an alternate program; a destination with a receiving head end operative to receive from the satellite or wireless link the packets of content, wherein the encapsulation re-addresses the packets with the result that the alternate program is addressed similarly to the program such that both are received at the same destination, and wherein, at the destination, de-encapsulation exposes the packets of content and, if the destination is designated for blackout of the program, the program and the alternate program are identified to the destination by their respective PIDs so that the destination can replace the program by the alternate program substantially seamlessly and transparently. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for managing blackouts of content distributed in an IPTV-based system, comprising:
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receiving content that includes a program and one or more than one alternate program; performing encapsulation on packets of the content, wherein the encapsulation re-addresses the packets with the result that the alternate program is addressed similarly to the program such that both are sent to the same destination and enable de-encapsulation at this destination to expose the packets of content and with the further result that, if this destination is designated for blackout of the program, the program and the alternate program are identified to this destination by their respective PIDs so that the destination can replace the program by the alternate program substantially seamlessly and transparently; and sending the packets in encapsulated form to the destination via a wireless or satellite link. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification