Operations center with video storage for a television program packaging and delivery system

• US 5,600,573 A
• Filed: 12/02/1994
• Issued: 02/04/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Comcast IP Holdings I LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Discovery Communications, Inc. (Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hendricks, John S., Wunderlich, Richard E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramirez, Ellis B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEESO, THOMAS R
• Application Number:
  US08/352,204
• Time in Patent Office: 795 Days
• Field of Search: 364/514 R, 364/514 C, 348/6, 348/7, 348/13, 379/105, 379/101, 455/3.2, 455/4.2, 358/310
• US Class Current: 725/109
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/02 Arrangements for relaying broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/42 Arrangements for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/04 Studio equipment; Interconnection of studios
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/06 Arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/23 using cryptography, e.g. encryption, authentication, key distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/66 for using the result on distributors' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2181 comprising remotely distributed storage units, e.g. when movies are replicated over a plurality of video servers distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21815 comprising local storage units
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2187 Live feed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23608 Remultiplexing multiplex streams, e.g. involving modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2362 Generation or processing of Service Information [SI]
• 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 21/2389 Multiplex stream processing, e.g. multiplex stream encrypting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 : Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/258 : Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data arrangements for services using the result on the distributing side of broadcast systems H04H60/66; profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 : being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26208 : the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26216 : involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 : for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 : for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 : Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 : User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42206 : characterized by hardware details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 : Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42653 : for processing graphics
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 : involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 : for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 : for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 : Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4344 : Remultiplexing of multiplex streams, e.g. by modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 : Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 : Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4363 : Adapting the video stream to a specific local network, e.g. a Bluetooth® network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4381 : Recovering the multiplex stream from a specific network, e.g. recovering MPEG packets from ATM cells transmission of MPEG streams over ATM H04L12/5601
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4385 : Multiplex stream processing, e.g. multiplex stream decrypting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 : Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 : Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 : OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 : involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 : Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 : Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 : for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 : End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 : End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 : for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47211 : for requesting pay-per-view content payment schemes payment architectures or payment protocols G06Q20/00, G07F
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 : for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 : for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 : Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4786 : e-mailing message switching systems, e.g. electronic mail systems H04L51/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 : communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 : End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 : using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64307 : ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 : for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6547 : comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8146 : involving graphical data, e.g. 3D object, 2D graphics
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 : by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/445 : for displaying additional information H04N5/50 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44504 : Circuit details of the additional information generator, e.g. details of the character or graphics signal generator, overlay mixing circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/45 : Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/602 : for digital sound signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/088 : the inserted signal being digital
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0882 : for the transmission of character code signals, e.g. for teletext circuits for the digital non-picture data signal H04N7/035
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0884 : for the transmission of additional display-information, e.g. menu for programme or channel selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 : for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/10 : Adaptations for transmission by electrical cable H04N7/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/102 : Circuits therefor, e.g. noise reducers, equalisers, amplifiers H04N7/108 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 : by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 : Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 : with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 : Handling of requests in head-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17354 : in an intermediate station common to a plurality of user terminals

Abstract

The present invention is an operations center that organizes and packages television programs for transmission in a television delivery system. The center is capable of receiving, storing, packaging and delivering countless programs in various signal formats. The center is a particularly useful invention for program delivery systems which will provide subscribers with video on demand, near video on demand and/or the ability to select programs from on-screen menus. The center'"'"'s primary components are a receiver, system controller, video storage, computer assisted packaging system (CAP) and output equipment. The components can receive, convert, store, select, retrieve, encode and otherwise process multiple program signals, gather program identities of analog and/or digital programs, generate menus, package programs efficiently based on subscriber needs and the available bandwidth, and output packaged program products to multiple remote sites. To perform these functions, the CAP creates program lineups, menus, instructions on the packaging of programs, and/or allocates available bandwidth. In the preferred embodiment, the packaged program products contain programs, control information, and menus.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use in an operation center for a video-audio program delivery system, wherein the operations center receives a plurality of programs from external sources, stores one or more of the received programs, generates a program schedule, and causes program identities and at least one of the stored programs to be sent to one or more remote sites, comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of programs provided from a plurality of external sources wherein one or more of the provided programs is individually identified;

means, connected to the receiving means, for storing at least one of the received and identified programs for subsequent retrieval;

control means, connected to the receiving means and storing means, for providing communication and control;

computer assisted means, connected to the control means, for generating a program schedule comprising program identities and an associated time for sending one or more of the stored programs to a remote site;

output means, connected to the control means and storing means, for sending program identities and programs to one or more remote site, wherein the program identities are included in the program schedule and wherein the output means obtains one or more of the stored programs identified in the program schedule from the storing means to send to the remote sites; and

wherein at least one stored program obtained by the output means from the storing means is individually retrieved from the storing means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control means further comprises:

means for creating a set of control instructions wherein the control instructions are used for communication of control information between the control means, the receiving means, the computer assisted means, the storing means, and the output means; and

wherein the control means controls the sending of programs by the output means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computer assisted means comprises:

means for generating a program control information signal containing specific transmission times for the output means to send programs to remote sites and the program schedule with program identities; and

wherein the output means obtains the program control information signal from the generating means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the storing means further comprises:

means for storing the program schedule for subsequent retrieval, wherein the computer assisted means communicates the generated program schedule to the storing means, and wherein the control means retrieves the program schedule from the storing means; and

means, connected to the output means and control means, for dumping the retrieved program schedule from the control means to the output means.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output means comprises:

means for transmitting video formatted signals of one or more of the stored programs identified in the program schedule; and

means for transmitting a data signal of a portion of the program schedule including the program identifies, wherein only portions of the program schedule needed by the remote site are transmitted.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output means further comprises:

means for checking quality and flow of output wherein the output means communicates quality and flow information to the control means.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output means sends the stored programs and the entire program schedule as a series of data signals, the output means comprising:

flow control means for checking the flow of the data signals through the output;

quality control means for checking the quality of the data signals representing the programs; and

a command and control module connected to the control means, flow control means and quality control means, for monitoring the flow control means and quality control means and communicating quality and flow information to the control means.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the storing means is a digital storage means, and the output means comprises:

means, connected to the digital storage means, for encrypting at least one of the obtained programs prior to sending the obtained programs to the remote sites, wherein an encrypted program is sent to at least one remote site;

means, connected to the digital storage means, for converting at least one the obtained programs from a digital program to an analog program, wherein the obtained program is a digital program; and

means for scrambling at least one of the analog programs prior to sending the obtained programs to the remote site.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the computer assisted means comprises:

means, connected to the encrypting means, for determining obtained programs to encrypt;

means, connected to the converting means, for determining obtained programs to convert; and

means, connected to the scrambling means, for determining analog programs to scramble.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receiving means further comprises:

means for receiving satellite transponder program signals; and

means for receiving terrestrial link program signals.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receiving means comprises an NTSC receiving means, the apparatus further comprising:

means, connected to the NTSC receiving means, for scrambling the received plurality of programs; and

means, connected to the storage means and scrambling means, for digitally encoding the scrambled programs before storage in the storage means.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receiving means is a digital receiving means and the digital receiving means comprises:

means for encrypting programs in digital format, wherein programs in digital format are encrypted before storage.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receiving means further comprises a means for receiving advertisements and the storing means further comprises a means for storing advertisements.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the provided programs are formatted in a plurality of signal formats, and wherein the receiving means is capable of receiving programs of different signal formats, and wherein the receiving means comprises a converter means for converting received programs from one signal format to another signal format based on communications from the control means.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the converter means comprises:

an NTSC converter for converting NTSC format programs to MPEG format programs; and

an ATM converter for converting ATM format programs to MPEG format programs.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the storing means comprises:

means for spooling the stored programs to the output means wherein stored programs identified in the generated program schedule are spooled to the output means at the scheduled time.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for spooling comprises:

a video file server system for spooling of programs to the output means, the video file server comprising;

a redundant array of independent disks for storing the programs on disks, wherein the programs may be quickly spooled to the output means.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a database, connected to the computer assisted means, for maintaining marketing information and wherein the computer assisted means comprises:

means for performing marketing research using the market information stored in the database.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a database, connected to the computer assisted means, for maintaining information on advertisements available for insertion such as advertisement identities, and wherein the computer assisted means further comprises:

means for inserting advertisements and advertisement identities into the generated program schedule.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a database of programs available for video on demand, and wherein the computer assisted means comprises:

means for receiving a video on demand request from a remote site;

means, connected to the means for receiving a video on demand request, for searching the database to determine whether the requested video is available; and

means, connected to the searching means and output means, for responding to a video on demand request.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the remote sites provide information to the operations center, the apparatus further comprising a database, connected to the computer assisted means, for maintaining information concerning the remote sites.

22. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a database of information concerning remote sites connected to the computer assisted means, and wherein the computer assisted means comprises:

means for analyzing the information concerning remote sites in the database;

means, connected to the analyzing means, for selecting a set of programs to customize programs available at a specified remote site, wherein the selecting means uses an analysis from the analysis means; and

means, connected to the selecting means, for restricting the program identities in the schedule of programs to the set of selected programs.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein program schedules can be customized for a group of subscribers and the computer assisted means further comprises:

means for customizing the program schedule for a group of subscribers, wherein the computer assisted means has information about a group of subscribers to use in customizing the program schedule.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computer assisted means further comprises:

a graphical user interface for allowing manual entries into the computer assisted means including entries to effect the generation of program schedules.

25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computer assisted means further comprises:

means for creating instructions on the allocation of transponder space for one or more transponders located on one or more satellites, wherein the instructions are used by the output means to send programs.

26. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein subscriber purchasing information is maintained at the operations center, the apparatus further comprising:

a database, connected to the computer assisted means, for maintaining subscriber purchasing information; and

wherein the computer assisted means further comprises;

means for accepting information concerning purchases of programs by subscribers, wherein the information concerning purchases is used by the database; and

means for compiling billing information based on subscriber purchasing information in the database.

27. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations center supports operations center video on demand to subscribers, the computer assisted means comprising:

means for accepting a video on demand program request from a remote site or directly from a subscriber; and

means, connected to the accepting means, for determining whether the requested video on demand program is available to be sent, wherein the output means sends the program requested if the program is determined to be available by the determining means.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the remote sites store beginning portions of programs which can be requested from the operations center in a video on demand basis, the computer assisted means further comprising:

VOD scheduling means for scheduling beginning portions of programs which are available on a video on demand basis from the operations center to be sent to remote sites, wherein the output means sends beginning portions of programs when scheduled by the VOD scheduling means so that the remote sites can provide subscribers with the beginning portion of a video on demand program prior to receiving the entire video on demand program from the output means.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output means sends packages of programs to remote sites, the computer assisted means comprising:

means for creating data on assembling packages of programs to be sent to remote sites so that the packages contain program control information and multiple programs wherein the program control information includes multiple program identities and multiple menus related to the program identities and the multiple programs include programs identified by the program identities; and

wherein the control means comprises means for instructing on the assembling of the programs and program control information so that a packaged signal is sent to the remote site by the output means.

30. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more remote sites comprise a means for recording at least one program sent to the remote site.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the recording means comprises a file server.

32. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the programs sent by the output means are portions of requested programs and wherein the remote site transmits an entire program on demand to subscribers by obtaining subscriber requests for available programs, wherein the remote site transmits a first portion of the requested program from local storage to the subscriber, receives a second portion of the requested program, and transmits the second portion of the program to the subscriber, the remote site comprising:

means for obtaining subscriber requests of available programs;

means for locally storing available programs, wherein the first portions of available programs are locally stored;

means, connected to the obtaining means, for communicating subscriber requests to the control means;

means, connected to the means for locally storing, for receiving programs including second portions of requested programs, sent from the output means; and

means, connected to the means for locally storing, for transmitting an entire program to the subscriber upon subscriber request, wherein the second portion is transmitted subsequent to the first portion.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the remote site stores the second portion of the requested program in the means for locally storing.

34. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the remote sites are subscriber locations and wherein the computer assisted means generates subscriber specific menus and sends the menus to subscribers through the output means.

35. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computer assisted means further comprises means for generating menus, and wherein the menus generated by the computer assisted means are stored in the storing means for subsequent recall and output.

41. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the computer assisted means further comprises:

means for representing the generated menus in a digital video format, wherein the menus represented in digital video format may be stored in the storing means.

36. The apparatus of clam 1, wherein the remote sites are cable headends and wherein the computer assisted means further comprises means for generating headend specific menus, and wherein the menus are sent to the cable headends through the output means.

37. An apparatus for use in an operation center for a video-audio program delivery system, wherein the operations center receives a plurality of programs from external sources, stores one or more of the received programs, generates a program schedule, and causes program identities and at least one of the stored programs to be sent to one or more remote sites, comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of programs provided from a plurality of external sources comprising a holder means, connected to storing means, for holding the received plurality of program signals before making the program signals available to the storing means, wherein one or more of the provided programs is individually identified;

means, connected to the receiving means, for storing at least one of the received and identified programs for subsequent retrieval;

control means, connected to the receiving means and storing means, for providing communication and control;

computer assisted means, connected to the control means, for generating a program schedule comprising program identities and associated time for sending one or more of the stored programs to a remote site;

output means, connected to the control means and storing means, for sending program identities and programs to one or more remote site, wherein the program identities are included in the program schedule and wherein the output means obtains one or more of the stored programs identified in the program schedule from the storing means to send to the remote sites.

38. The apparatus of claims 37, wherein the holding means further comprises means for processing the received programs while the program signals are being held.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the holder means is connected to the control means and the holder means further comprises means for interpreting communications from the control means to determine how long to hold the received programs.

40. An apparatus for use in an operation center for a video-audio program delivery system, wherein the operations center receives a plurality of programs from external sources, stores one or more of the received programs, generates a program schedule, and causes program identities and at least one of the stored programs to be sent to one or more remote sites, comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of programs provided from a plurality of external sources wherein one or more of the provided programs is individually identified;

means, connected to the receiving means, for storing at least one of the received and identified programs for subsequent retrieval;

control means, connected to the receiving means and storing means, for providing communication and control;

computer assisted means, connected to the control means, for generating a program schedule comprising program identities and associated time for sending one or more of the stored programs to a remote site, comprising;

means for generating menus wherein program identities are used in generating menus; and

means for editing the generated menus, wherein the edited menus are output to the remote sites for eventual use by the subscribers in selecting program identities; and

output means, connected to the control means and storing means, for sending program identities and programs to one or more remote site, wherein the program identities are included in the program schedule and wherein the output means obtains one or more of the stored programs identified in the program schedule from the storing means to send to the remote sites.

42. An apparatus for use in an operation center for a video-audio program delivery system, wherein the operations center receives a plurality of programs from external sources, stores one or more of the received programs, generates a program schedule, and causes program identities and at least one of the stored programs to be sent to one or more remote sites, and wherein the remote sites provide subscribers with video on demand programs and the apparatus is capable of supporting the video on demand at remote sites, comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of programs provided from a plurality of external sources wherein one or more of the provided programs is individually identified;

means, connected to the receiving means, for storing at least one of the received and identified programs for subsequent retrieval;

control means, connected to the receiving means and storing means, for providing communication and control;

computer assisted means, connected to the control means, for generating a program schedule comprising program identities and associated time for sending one or more of the stored programs to a remote site, comprising;

means for generating video on demand menus with program identities of programs which are available on a video on demand basis, wherein the video on demand menus are sent to remote sites for subscriber use;

means for determining a time when the generated video on demand menus will be made available to subscriber'"'"'s at a remote site; and

means, connected to the determining means, for scheduling one or more video on demand programs identified in the video on demand menus to be sent to the remote site, wherein the video on demand programs will be available at the remote site prior to the determined time that the menus with video on demand program identities will be made available to subscriber'"'"'s at that remote site; and

output means, connected to the control means and storing means, for sending program identities and programs to one or more remote site, wherein the program identities are included in the program schedule and wherein the output means obtains one or more of the stored programs identified in the program schedule from the storing means to send to the remote sites.

43. An apparatus for use with an operations center which obtains programs from program signal sources and provides customized packaged program signals from the operations center to one or more cable headends, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver for receiving program signals from program signal sources, the program signals representing programs, the receiver including means for receiving program signals of different signal formats;

a computer assisted means for generating program control information signals containing customized instructions relating to the packaging of program signals including the identities of program signals destined for one or more specified cable headend;

a video file server, connected to the receiver and computer assisted means, for storing the received program signals and the program control information signals, comprising;

a means for spooling stored program control information signals and stored program signals wherein the stored program signals identified in a particular program control information signal are spooled in accordance with the customized instructions in the program control information signal, and wherein the spooling creates a customized package of programs signals; and

a means, connected to the video file server, for transmitting a customized package of program signals with its corresponding program control information signal to one or more cable headends.

44. The apparatus of claim 43 further comprising a controller for controlling communications between the receiver, computer assisted means, video file server and transmitting means, and wherein the computer assisted means receives communications on program signals stored in the video file server.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein cable headends store beginning portions of programs for distributing to subscribers during the time period that an operations center video on demand request is being filled, and wherein the means for spooling further comprises means for spooling portions of programs to be sent to cable headends.

46. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the apparatus supports the operations center as a source for video on demand programs to requesting cable headends, and wherein the computer assisted means further comprises:

means for accepting a video on demand request from a requesting cable headend;

means, connected to the accepting means, for determining how the video on demand request can be filled and generating customized instructions on sending the program requested to the requesting cable headend; and

means for placing the customized instructions in the program control information signal.

47. A method for packaging programs for delivery from an operations center to one or more cable headends, wherein programs are received from external sources and stored in a storage media at the operations center for subsequent transmission to each cable headend, comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of programs at the operations center which are provided from one or more external sources;

identifying a first set of programs, the first set of programs comprised of one or more of the received programs;

storing the first set of programs in a storage media for subsequent retrieval;

generating a program list comprising the identities of one or more of the stored programs;

determining a second set of programs, the second set of programs comprised of one or more of the stored programs that are included on the program list;

retrieving the second set of programs from the storage media;

encoding the program list and retrieved programs for transmission; and

transmitting the encoded program list and programs from the operations center to one or more cable headend.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of generating a program list comprises the steps of:

identifying types of programs each cable headend desires to receive;

accessing a database to obtain information concerning the types of programs available; and

selecting programs for inclusion onto the program list based on the obtained information and the identified types of programs.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein databases store market, video on demand and advertisement information about each cable headend, and wherein the step of identifying the types of programs each cable headend desires to receive comprises the steps of:

examining databases on specific market, video on demand and advertisement information for a cable headend; and

analyzing the examined information to determine the types of programs desired by a cable headend, wherein the types of programs include video on demand and advertisement programs.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of generating a program list comprises the steps of:

creating program menus for downloading to specified cable headends;

storing the program menus in the storage media for subsequent retrieval, wherein the menus are retrieved in a manner similar to the retrieval of stored programs; and

including the retrieved program menus as items in the program list so that some of the retrieved program menus are included in the second set of programs, wherein one or more program menus are retrieved, encoded, and transmitted with programs to each specified cable headend.

51. The method of claim 47, wherein a controller monitors the packaging of programs for delivery, and the step of transmitting comprises the steps of:

performing quality and flow checking while transmitting the encoded program list and programs; and

notifying the controller if there are problems with the quality or flow, such that there is an opportunity for the controller to correct for errors in transmission.

52. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of encoding comprises the steps of:

packaging the retrieved programs and program list into a package signal so that the program list and retrieved programs are packaged together as a continuous signal and transmitted as a single packaged signal to the cable headends.

53. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of encoding further comprises the steps of:

identifying whether any of the retrieved programs should be scrambled for use by a cable headend in scrambled form;

identifying whether any of the retrieved programs should be encrypted for use by a cable headend in encrypted form;

identifying whether any of the retrieved programs should be converted to a specific signal format before transmission; and

performing signal scrambling, encryption and conversion according to the identifications of scrambling, encryption, or conversion so that the encoded program and program list are in the correct format, and are in the correct scrambled and encrypted state for transmission to one or more cable headends.

54. The method of claim 47, wherein the method further comprises the step of:

acquiring information at the operations center from each cable headend relating to subscriber preferences, billing, desired programming, advertising, or marketing, wherein the acquired information may be used in generating a program list.

55. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of generating the program list comprises the steps of:

examining program schedules of the one or more stored programs to determine times that the one or more stored programs are scheduled to be shown to subscribers of a cable headend; and

selecting the programs for inclusion onto the program list for the cable headend at a time which occurs prior to a time when the stored program is scheduled for showing to subscribers so that a program is not retrieved for transmission to the cable headends until some time before the subscribers require the program.

56. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of determining a second set of programs comprises the steps of:

examining the program list to determine times when the one or more stored programs are scheduled to be shown to subscribers of the cable headends; and

selecting programs for inclusion onto the second set of programs at a time which occurs prior to a time when the stored program is scheduled for showing to subscribers and selecting only those programs which have not been recently sent to the cable headend, wherein the cable headend is not sent programs that the cable headend already has stored or which the cable headend does not need before the next scheduled transmission from the operations center.

57. The method of claim 47 wherein the plurality programs are received in NTSC, MPEG, or ATM format from the external sources, the method further comprising the step of processing the first set of programs, the processing step comprising one or more of the following steps of:

scrambling an NTSC formatted program;

converting an MPEG formatted program to an ATM format program;

decoding an MPEG formatted program to a NTSC format program;

converting a scrambled NTSC formatted program to a MPEG format program;

converting an ATM formatted program to a MPEG format program;

encrypting a MPEG formatted program; and

wherein the storing step comprises the step of storing the processed first set of programs.

58. The method of claim 47, wherein control information is stored and transmitted to the cable headends, further comprising the steps of:

generating program control information, wherein the program control information contains information on programs in the second set of programs;

storing the program control information in a memory device;

retrieving at least part of the program control information from the memory device; and

transmitting the retrieved program control information to at least one cable headend.

59. The method of claim 47, wherein the received programs are held for a time period before they are stored, further comprising the step of:

holding the first set of programs for a time period prior to the step of storing the first set of programs.

60. The method of claim 47, wherein the storage media is a file server with software and wherein the step of retrieving comprises the step of the file server software spooling the second set of programs, such that the spooling of programs occurs prior to transmission.

61. A method for packaging programs and a program control information signal for delivery from an operations center to one or more cable headends, using a video file server at the operations center to retrieve, spool and package programs for transmission to one or more cable headends, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of program signals representing a plurality of programs at the operations center, the plurality of program signals presented in one or more signal formats;

storing one or more of the received program signals in the video file server for later retrieval;

generating the program control information signal which contains information concerning one or more of the stored program signals;

storing the program control information signal in the video file server for later retrieval;

retrieving the stored program control information signal and one or more of the stored programs;

spooling and packaging the retrieved programs and the program control information signal to form a packaged signal, wherein the program control information signal and programs are packaged to form a continuous packaged signal; and

transmitting the continuous packaged signal to one or more cable headends, wherein packaged programming is provided to one or more cable headends.

62. The method of claim 61 wherein menus are sent to cable headends for use by subscribers in selecting programs, the method further comprising the steps of:

creating menus which contain information about one or more programs stored in the video file server;

storing the created menus in video data format in the file server for later retrieval; and

wherein the spooling and packaging step comprises the steps of;

spooling the stored menus from the video file server, wherein the spooled menus contain information on one or more of the same programs as the spooled program control information signal; and

packaging the spooled menus with the spooled program control information and spooled programs.

63. An operations center which receives video programs, stores the video programs in a file server, generates a schedule, and outputs the schedule as well as scheduled programs to remote sites, the operations center comprising:

a video program receiver, comprising at least one of an encoder, converter and input buffer;

a first file server, operably connected to the video program receiver, having a storage capacity sufficient to store two or more received video programs and having an output connected to one or more distribution ports;

a system controller containing a processor, connected to the first file server;

a computer assisted packaging device, in communication with the system controller, running program packaging software and comprising a scheduler; and

output equipment, operably connected to the one or more distribution ports and system controller, comprising at least one of an output buffer and decoder, and wherein the program packages and schedule determined by the computer assisted packaging device are passed to the remote sites.

64. The operations center of claim 63, further comprising:

a holder, connected to the video program receiver and the first file server, containing a preprocessor to act upon the received video programs prior to storage in the first file server, wherein the first file server is operably connected to the program receiver through the holder.

65. The operations center of claim 64, wherein the holder comprises a second file server having less storage capacity than the first file server.

66. The operations center of claim 64, wherein the holder requires a specific data format and wherein the receiver further comprises a multiplexer, connected to each encoder, converter and input buffer.

67. The operations center of claim 63, wherein the output equipment further comprises:

a flow control connected to monitor the output signal.

68. The operations center of claim 63, wherein the receiver contains an MPEG encoder and wherein the output equipment contains an MPEG decoder.

69. The operations center of claim 63, wherein the receiver contains an ATM to MPEG converter and the output equipment contains an MPEG to ATM converter.