Information service control point which retreives information as blocks of data
DCFirst Claim
1. A method of communicating data, the data together forming a title in an interactive services information database, from a central station configured to administrate the information database to a remote station over a communications path, said method comprising the steps of:
- storing the data in the information database on at least one storage device;
retrieving the data as data blocks, each data block being a sequential segment of the data and each data block being retrieved independently of other data blocks from storage; and
transmitting the retrieved data blocks independently from the central station to the remote station.
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Abstract
Various methods and associated apparatuses are provided for communicating data from a central station to a remote station over some form of communications path. The data, which together form at least one title, are stored on at least one storage device. The data forming that title are then retrieved as data blocks, from storage. Each data block is a sequential segment of the data. Finally, the retrieved data blocks are transmitted from the central station to the remote station. According to preferred embodiments, two types of storage devices are provided. The first type, preferably formed as an array of playback units, allows the data to be stored as data blocks and distributed accordingly over a plurality of storage devices. The second type, preferably formed as ring structures composed of solid state elements, provides a plurality of access points coupled to the storage medium, each of which is able to retrieve the data independently of other access points. For further versatility in the system, the data blocks can also be transmitted independently of one another from the central station. Preferably, the step of retrieving the data is performed in response to receiving a request for a given title. The various systems disclosed allow a wide assortment of titles (e.g., movies, educational-, entertainment-, consumer-, and business-related information, and any information that can be converted into a stream of data) to be transmitted to a wide audience with great flexibility and minimal contention between users for the titles offered.
158 Citations
72 Claims
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1. A method of communicating data, the data together forming a title in an interactive services information database, from a central station configured to administrate the information database to a remote station over a communications path, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing the data in the information database on at least one storage device; retrieving the data as data blocks, each data block being a sequential segment of the data and each data block being retrieved independently of other data blocks from storage; and transmitting the retrieved data blocks independently from the central station to the remote station.
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2. A method of communicating data, the data together forming a title in an interactive services information database, from a central station configured to administrate the information database to a remote station over a communications path, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing the data in the information database as a plurality of data blocks over a plurality of storage devices, each data block being a sequential segment of the data; retrieving the stored data blocks from the plurality of storage devices as retrieved data blocks; and transmitting the retrieved data blocks from the central station to the remote station. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of communicating data, the data together forming a title in an interactive services information database, from a central station configured to administrate the information database to a remote station over a communications path, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing the data in the information database on at least one storage device; retrieving the stored data, which together form the title, as a sequence of data blocks, each data block being a segment of the stored data; and transmitting the retrieved data blocks from the central station to the remote station; wherein said storing step comprises circulating the stored data at a predetermined clock rate in at least one data storage ring. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 45, 46)
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28. A method of communicating data from a central station configured to administrate an interactive services information database, wherein the data are composed of at least
first title data together forming a first title in the information database and second title data together forming a second title in the information database, said method comprising the steps of: -
storing the first title data and the second title data in the information database on at least one storage device; retrieving the first title data and the second title data as first title data blocks and as second title data blocks from storage, wherein each data block is a sequential segment of either the first title data or the second title data, and said retrieval is performed such that retrieval of any given one of the first title data blocks is independent of retrieval of all others of the first title data blocks, and retrieval of any given one of the second title data blocks is independent of retrieval of all others of the second title data blocks; and transmitting the retrieved first title data blocks independently and the retrieved second title data blocks independently from the central station.
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29. A method of communicating data from a central station configured to administrate an interactive services information database, wherein the data are composed of at least
first title data together forming a first title in the information database and second title data together forming a second title in the information database, said method comprising the steps of: -
storing the first title data and the second title data in the information database as a plurality of first title data blocks and a plurality of second title data blocks, respectively, on at least two storage devices, wherein each data block is a sequential segment of either the first title data or the second title data, and wherein each of the storage devices stores at least a portion of the first title data blocks and a portion of the second title data blocks; retrieving the stored first title data blocks as retrieved first title data blocks; transmitting the retrieved first title data blocks from the central station; retrieving the stored second title data blocks as retrieved second title data blocks; and transmitting the retrieved second title data blocks from the central station. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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47. A system for communicating data, the data together forming at least one title in an interactive services information database, from a central station configured to administrate the information database, said system comprising:
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storage means in the information database for storing the data; retrieving means operatively connected to said storage means for retrieving at least a portion of the stored data, the portion together forming at least one title; and a communications link operatively connected to said storage means and said retrieving means for transmitting the retrieved portion from the central station; wherein said storage means comprises; a plurality of shift registers interconnected in series to form a ring; a clock source connected to each of said shift registers for clocking said shift registers; and wherein the data are shifted from one of said shift registers to the next of said shift registers according to the clocking of said clock source, such that the data circulate continuously in said ring at a rate governed by said clock source. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A system for communicating data, the data together forming at least one title in an interactive services information database, from a central station configured to administrate the information database, said system comprising:
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storage means in the information database for storing the data as a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block is a sequential segment of the data; retrieving means operatively connected to said storage means for retrieving the stored data blocks as retrieved data blocks; and a communications link operatively connected to said storage means and said retrieving means for transmitting the retrieved data blocks from the central station. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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Specification