CONTENT TRANSMISSION ARCHITECTURE

• US 20120099494A1
• Filed: 10/25/2010
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Salinger, Jorge
• Granted Patent: US 8,588,198 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/310
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2627 Modulators
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

An apparatus, method, and system are provided for combining and processing broadcast and narrowcast content on a common platform. The broadcast and narrowcast content may be processed, routed, encrypted, and transmitted. In some embodiments, a modulator may be used modulate the broadcast content and the output from that modulator may be coupled to an input of one or more interface cards. The inputs of the one or more interface cards may also be coupled to outputs from a plurality of modulators that may be configured to modulate the narrowcast content. In this manner, a reduction in resources may be obtained.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a device, broadcast content and narrowcast content;

processing the broadcast and narrowcast content at the device;

routing the processed broadcast and narrowcast content to at least one interface card included in the device; and

transmitting the processed broadcast and narrowcast content from the at least one interface card, and

wherein processing the broadcast content comprises modulating the broadcast content via at least one modulator and modulating the narrowcast content via a plurality of modulators.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein routing the processed broadcast and narrowcast content comprises routing the processed broadcast and narrowcast content via a radio frequency (RF) interconnect.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the narrowcast content comprises receiving multicast content or unicast content.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the device, a communication from at least one of a network component and a client-side device; and

controlling at least one of the processing, routing, and transmitting of the broadcast and narrowcast content based on the received communication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the broadcast content comprises modulating the broadcast content for a plurality of service groups using the at least one modulator and wherein processing the narrowcast content comprises modulating the narrowcast content using the plurality of modulators, wherein each of the plurality of modulators is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of service groups.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast content and the narrowcast content are combined when received at the device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the broadcast and narrowcast content comprises modulating the broadcast and narrowcast content based on quadrature amplitude modulation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

switching in at least one of a spare downstream card and a spare upstream card.

9. An apparatus comprising:

at least one interface card;

at least one processor; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to;

receive broadcast content and narrowcast content,

process the broadcast and narrowcast content,

route the processed broadcast content and narrowcast content to the at least one interface card, and

transmit the processed broadcast and narrowcast content from the at least one interface card,

wherein processing the broadcast and narrowcast content comprises modulating the broadcast content via at least one modulator and modulating the narrowcast content via a plurality of modulators.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

route the processed broadcast and narrowcast content via a radio frequency (RF) switch.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the narrowcast content comprises multicast content or unicast content.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

receive a communication from at least one of a network component and a client-side device; and

control at least one of the processing, routing, and transmitting of the broadcast and narrowcast content based on the received communication.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein processing the broadcast content comprises modulating the broadcast content for a plurality of service groups using the at least one modulator and wherein processing the narrowcast content comprises modulating the narrowcast content using the plurality of modulators, wherein each of the plurality of modulators is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of service groups.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

at least one downstream card,

wherein the at least one downstream card comprises the at least one modulator and the plurality of modulators.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one downstream card comprises at least one RF generator coupled to the at least one modulator and the plurality of modulators.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one downstream card comprises a plurality of RF generators, wherein a first of the plurality of RF generators is coupled to the at least one modulator, and wherein a second of the plurality of RF generators is coupled to the plurality of modulators.

17. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

a plurality of downstream cards,

wherein a first of the plurality of downstream cards comprises the at least one modulator coupled to a first RF generator, and

wherein a second of the plurality of downstream cards comprises a first of the plurality of modulators coupled to a second RF generator, and

wherein a third of the plurality of downstream cards comprises a second of the plurality of modulators coupled to a third RF generator, and

wherein the at least one interface card comprises at least first and second interface cards, and

wherein an output of the first RF generator is coupled to the first and second interface cards, and

wherein an output of the second RF generator is coupled to the first interface card, and

wherein an output of the third RF generator is coupled to the second interface card.

18. An apparatus comprising:

at least one interface configured to receive broadcast content and narrowcast content;

at least one line card configured to obtain the broadcast and narrowcast content from the at least one interface and process the broadcast and narrowcast content;

at least one interconnect configured to receive the processed broadcast and narrowcast content from the at least one line card and route the processed broadcast and narrowcast content; and

at least one interface card configured to receive the routed broadcast and narrowcast content from the at least one interconnect and to transmit the routed broadcast and narrowcast content.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

a controller configured to receive an upstream communication from a user device and to direct at least one of the at least one interface, the at least one line card, and the at least one interconnect based at least in part on the communication and a service group associated with the user device.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one line card comprises at least one modulator configured to modulate the broadcast content and a plurality of modulators configured to modulate the narrowcast content.