Multicast data packet recovery system

• US 20080201752A1
• Filed: 02/16/2007
• Published: 08/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Liu, Kuo-Hui, Smith, Donald M.
• Application Number:
  US11/707,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20080201752A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1854 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1887 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1868 Measures taken after transmission, e.g. acknowledgments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0093 Point-to-multipoint
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6375 for requesting retransmission , e.g. of data packets lost or corrupted during transmission from serverARQ protocols H04L1/18; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6408 Unicasting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Particular embodiments of the disclosed subject matter provide methods and systems to support a multicast data packet recovery system. In an example embodiment, the system includes a distribution server operable to detect a missed data packet in a multicast data stream; issue a request for a retransmission of the missed data packet to an acquisition server via a unicast data channel; receive the requested data packet via a multicast data channel, in response to the request for a retransmission of the missed data packet; and send the requested data packet to one or more subscribers.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a distribution server operable to;

detect a missed data packet in a multicast data stream;

issue a request for a retransmission of the missed data packet to an acquisition server via a unicast data channel;

receive the requested data packet via a multicast data channel, in response to the request for a retransmission of the missed data packet; and

send the requested data packet to one or more subscribers.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the request for a retransmission includes a data packet identity sufficient to enable insertion of the requested data packet into a content sequence in the proper position for consumption by a user.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the detection of a missed data packet includes receiving a notification from a subscriber via a unicast channel that a data packet has been missed in the multicast data stream.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the multicast data stream includes video content.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the requested data packet is sent to one or more subscribers via a second unicast data channel.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the requested data packet is sent to one or more subscribers via a second multicast data channel.

7. A system comprising:

an acquisition server operable to;

receive a request for transmission of a data packet from a distribution server via a unicast data channel; and

send the requested data packet to a distribution server via a multicast data channel, in response to the request for transmission of the data packet.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the request for transmission includes a data packet identity sufficient to enable insertion of the requested data packet into a content sequence in the proper position for consumption by a user.

9. The system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the multicast data stream includes video content.

10. The system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the request for transmission of a data packet includes a request for retransmission of a missed data packet.

11. A system comprising:

an acquisition server operable to;

receive a request for transmission of a data packet from a distribution server via a unicast data channel; and

send the requested data packet to a subscriber via a multicast data channel, in response to the request for transmission of the data packet.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the request for transmission includes a data packet identity sufficient to enable insertion of the requested data packet into a content sequence in the proper position for consumption by a user.

13. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the multicast data stream includes video content.

14. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the request for transmission of a data packet includes a request for retransmission of a missed data packet.

15. A system comprising:

an acquisition server operable to;

receive a request for transmission of a data packet from a distribution server via a unicast data channel;

selectively choose a unicast or a multicast channel to transmit the data packet; and

send the requested data packet via the chosen data channel, in response to the request for transmission of the data packet.

16. The system as claimed in claim 15 wherein the request for transmission includes a data packet identity sufficient to enable insertion of the requested data packet into a content sequence in the proper position for consumption by a user.

17. The system as claimed in claim 15 wherein the multicast data stream includes video content.

18. The system as claimed in claim 15 wherein the request for transmission of a data packet includes a request for retransmission of a missed data packet.

19. A system comprising:

a national multicast termination (NMT) server operable to;

detect a missed data packet in a multicast data stream;

issue a request for a retransmission of the missed data packet to an acquisition server via a unicast data channel;

receive the requested data packet via a multicast data channel, in response to the request for a retransmission of the missed data packet; and

send via a multicast data channel the requested data packet to a downstream device.

20. The system as claimed in claim 19 wherein the request for a retransmission includes a data packet identity sufficient to enable insertion of the requested data packet into a content sequence in the proper position for consumption by a user.

21. The system as claimed in claim 19 wherein the multicast data stream includes video content.

22. A method comprising:

detecting a missed data packet in a multicast data stream;

issuing a request for a retransmission of the missed data packet to an acquisition server via a unicast data channel;

receiving the requested data packet via a multicast data channel, in response to the request for a retransmission of the missed data packet; and

sending the requested data packet to one or more subscribers.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22 wherein the request for a retransmission includes a data packet identity sufficient to enable insertion of the requested data packet into a content sequence in the proper position for consumption by a user.

24. The method as claimed in claim 22 wherein the detection of a missed data packet includes receiving a notification from a subscriber via a unicast channel that a data packet has been missed in the multicast data stream.

25. The method as claimed in claim 22 wherein the multicast data stream includes video content.

26. The method as claimed in claim 22 wherein the requested data packet is sent to one or more subscribers via a second unicast data channel.

27. The method as claimed in claim 22 wherein the requested data packet is sent to one or more subscribers via a second multicast data channel.

28. A method comprising:

receiving a request for transmission of a data packet from a distribution server via a unicast data channel; and

sending the requested data packet to a distribution server via a multicast data channel, in response to the request for transmission of the data packet.

29. The method as claimed in claim 28 wherein the multicast data stream includes video content.

30. An article of manufacture comprising at least one machine readable storage medium having one or more computer programs stored thereon and operable on one or more computing systems to:

detect a missed data packet in a multicast data stream;

issue a request for a retransmission of the missed data packet to an acquisition server via a unicast data channel;

receive the requested data packet via a multicast data channel, in response to the request for a retransmission of the missed data packet; and

send the requested data packet to one or more subscribers.

31. An article of manufacture according to claim 30 wherein the multicast data stream includes video content.