APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR PACKETIZED CONTENT DELIVERY OVER A BANDWIDTH-EFFICIENT NETWORK

• US 20120023535A1
• Filed: 07/22/2010
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Brooks, Paul D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,997,136 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/110
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/222 Secondary servers, e.g. proxy server, cable television Head-end provisioning of proxy services in data packet switching networks H04L67/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23608 Remultiplexing multiplex streams, e.g. involving modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2381 Adapting the multiplex stream to a specific network, e.g. an Internet Protocol [IP] network transmission of MPEG streams over ATM H04L12/5601
• 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 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25816 involving client authentication restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for providing packetized content to users via a bandwidth-optimized network. In one embodiment, legacy and IPTV streams are carried over the same switched digital infrastructure, and freely intermixed without regard to their encoding or type. A user'"'"'s selection for IPTV content is transmitted to an IP proxy (such as a gateway apparatus or a headend server), then on to the switched digital server which causes provision of the requested content back to the proxy for formatting. The formatted content is then delivered to the requesting IP-capable device. The entire carrier class program stream is therefore available as IP-encapsulated content to the IP capable devices (and as legacy content to legacy devices) without any significant modifications to the network infrastructure or bandwidth penalty.

Claims

1. A method of operating a content distribution network to deliver both legacy encoded and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) content via a switched digital system, the method comprising:

receiving a request for said IPTV content at said system issued from a requesting device;

determining if said IPTV content is currently being delivered over said system;

if said IPTV content is currently being delivered, providing said requesting device information on how to access said content;

if said IPTV content is not currently being delivered, switching in at least one stream via said system to effect delivery of said IPTV content; and

providing said legacy encoded content via said switching system to at least one user in the same service group of said requesting device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said IPTV content is encoded using a codec that is both different and more bandwidth efficient than that used for said legacy encoded content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said IPTV content includes digital rights management (DRM) protection, whereas said legacy encoded content is protected using a conditional access system.

4. A method for providing a plurality of content to a consumer device in a content delivery network, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of at least one of said plurality of content from said consumer device;

sending a request for said selected at least one of said plurality of content to a server, said server providing bandwidth optimized delivery of content;

receiving from said server a multi-program transport stream (MPTS) including said selected at least one of said plurality of content;

demodulating said MPTS to extract one or more elementary streams associated with said selected at least one of said plurality of content;

formatting said one or more elementary streams; and

providing said one or more elementary streams to said at least one of said plurality of consumer devices.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said act of sending said request for said selected at least one of said plurality of content to a server comprises formatting said request to include a source identifier of said selected at least one of said plurality of content.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said act of formatting said one or more elementary streams comprises encapsulating said one or more elementary streams according to the Internet Protocol (IP).

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said act of providing said one or more elementary streams comprises exposing a multicast address of said one or more elementary streams, said at least one of said plurality of consumer devices being configured to identify said multicast addresses and stream said selected content.

8. In a content distribution network, a method for providing a plurality of content encoded according to first protocol and a plurality of content encoded according to a second protocol to a plurality of consumer devices, said method comprising:

receiving from a first one of said plurality of consumer devices a first request, said first request comprising a request for access to a first one of said plurality of content encoded according to said first protocol;

receiving from a second one of said plurality of consumer devices a second request, said second request comprising a request for access to a second one of said plurality of content encoded according to said second protocol;

sending said first and second requests to a server for providing bandwidth optimized delivery of content;

receiving from said network a multi-program transport stream (MPTS) comprising a multiplex of at least said first one of said plurality of content encoded according to said first protocol and said second one of said plurality of content encoded according to said second protocol; and

providing from said multiplex said first one of said plurality of content encoded according to said first protocol to said first one of said plurality of consumer devices, and said second one of said plurality of content encoded according to said second protocol to said second one of said plurality of consumer devices;

wherein said providing of said first one of said plurality content comprises encapsulating said first one of said content using a networking protocol before delivery to said first one of said consumer devices.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said first protocol comprises MPEG-4 encoding and said second protocol comprises MPEG-2 encoding.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said first one of said plurality of consumer devices comprises a consumer device capable of decoding said MPEG-4 content and implementing digital rights management (DRM) rules on said content.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said second one of said plurality of consumer devices comprises a legacy consumer device, and said second one of said content is protected according to a conditional access system that is not DRM-based.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein said server freely intermixes said first and second ones of said content without regard to the first or second encoding protocols.

13. A computer readable apparatus comprising a medium adapted to store a computer program, said computer program configured to when executed:

receive a request for IP packetized content from at least one consumer device;

format said request to a protocol utilized by a switched digital video (SDV) server configured to optimize bandwidth by dynamically adding and removing said IP packetized content to or from a currently provided multiplex according to existing requests;

transmit said request to said SDV server; and

extract one or more elementary streams associated with said requested IP packetized content from a multiplex;

encapsulate said one or more elementary streams according to a networking protocol; and

provide said one or more encapsulated elementary streams to said at least one consumer device.

14. A method of operating a content distribution network having both switched channels and non-switched channels, the method comprising:

for content that is not access restricted, transmitting this content only on one or more non-switched channels; and

for content that is access restricted, transmitting this content only on one or more switched channels.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said switching comprises:

switching out of delivery individual ones of program streams when no user of said network is watching them; and

switching individual ones said program streams in for delivery when one or more request for them exists.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said content that is not access restricted comprise at least one of public, educational, government, or emergency content.

17. Premises apparatus configured to receive content from a content distribution network, comprising:

a processor; and

at least one storage device in communication with said processor, said at least one storage device comprising at least one computer program configured to, when executed on said processor;

receive the content from the network,

encapsulate said received content according to a networking protocol; and

transmit the encapsulated content to a premises device adapted to utilize said protocol;

wherein said receipt, encapsulation and transmission comprise no other processing of the audio or video portions of the received content.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said networking protocol comprises the Internet Protocol (JP), and the encapsulation further comprises including at least one IP header having a multicast address associated therewith.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said received content comprises digital rights management (DRM) information, and said DRM information is not processed or utilized by said apparatus.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said received content comprises at least one stream within an MPEG-2 multi-program transport stream (MPTS), and said receiving comprises demodulating and extracting the at least one stream from the MPTS.