Simultaneous overlapping broadcasting of digital programs
First Claim
1. A radio frequency simulcasting method for transmitting information from multiple spaced transmitting sites to multiple receiving sites in a reception area, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) simultaneously transmitting from said transmitting sites the same signal so that areas of propagation from respective ones of the transmitting sites substantially overlap over each other in at least a major portion of said reception area, said signal transmitted from said transmitting sites including multiplexed channels,b) receiving a signal containing a plurality of time delayed copies of said transmitted signal at one of the receiving sites;
c) processing at least a portion of the received signal to acquire a single signal corresponding to a selected one of the multiplexed channels; and
(d) presenting information contained in the acquired signal.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Within a desired service area, multiple transmitters at separately located sites simultaneously broadcast the same multi-channel, multi-program signal. Broadcast waves from the transmitters propagate throughout substantially overlapping portions of the service area. Obstructions in the service area, e.g. mountains, buildings, trees, etc., may block reception from one or more of the transmitters at certain sites. However, at most receiving sites, the receiving antenna can receive a clear line-of-sight transmission from at least one of the transmitters. In the preferred implementation, the channels are 6 MHz wide channels broadcast in the super high frequency microwave portion of the spectrum. Each such channel carries a multiplexed digital data stream containing packets of information for a plurality of programs, e.g. television programs.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A radio frequency simulcasting method for transmitting information from multiple spaced transmitting sites to multiple receiving sites in a reception area, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) simultaneously transmitting from said transmitting sites the same signal so that areas of propagation from respective ones of the transmitting sites substantially overlap over each other in at least a major portion of said reception area, said signal transmitted from said transmitting sites including multiplexed channels, b) receiving a signal containing a plurality of time delayed copies of said transmitted signal at one of the receiving sites; c) processing at least a portion of the received signal to acquire a single signal corresponding to a selected one of the multiplexed channels; and (d) presenting information contained in the acquired signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A communication system comprising:
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a headend producing a signal including multiplexed channels; a plurality of transmitters located at spaced apart sites transmitting said signal so that areas of propagation from respective ones of the transmitters substantially overlap over each other in at least a major portion of a reception area; and a receiver system located within the reception area, said receiver system comprising; (1) an antenna receiving a plurality of time delayed copies of the transmitted signal; (2) a delay equalizer processing at least a portion of the received signal to acquire a single signal corresponding to a selected one of the multiplexed channels; and (3) a processor presenting information contained in the acquired signal. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A communication system comprising:
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a source of a first digital multiplexed data stream containing a plurality of packet streams, each packet stream carrying digitized data representing one of a first group of programs; a source of a second digital multiplexed data stream containing a plurality of packet streams, each packet stream carrying digitized data representing one of a second group of programs; a modulation system modulating the first digital multiplexed data stream and the second digital multiplexed data stream into first and second channel signals, respectively; a plurality of wireless transmitters located at respective different sites in a service area, the transmitters simultaneously transmitting a combined wireless signal containing the first and second channel signals into overlapping portions of the service area; and a plurality of receivers within the service area, each receiver comprising; (i) an antenna for receiving a received wireless signal from at least one of the transmitters, (ii) an interface module processing the received wireless signal to select one of the first and second channel signals and acquire a digital multiplexed data stream from the selected channel signal, and (iii) a digital signal processing section for processing digitized data from a selected packet stream contained in the acquired digital multiplexed data stream to present a selected program. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A simulcasting method for transmitting a signal from multiple transmitting sites to a primary reception area and to a secondary reception area wherein said transmitting sites are disposed to enclose at least a portion of said primary area, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) simultaneously transmitting from said transmitting sites the same signal so that the areas of propagation from said respective transmitting sites overlap over at least a major portion of said primary reception area and also cover a substantial portion of said secondary reception area; b) said signal transmitted from said transmitting sites including multiplexed channels each including multiplexed streams of digital data representing a plurality of programs; c) selecting at a receiving site (1) one of said multiplexed channels, and (2) from that channel selecting data from one of said multiplexed streams of digital data; and d) reproducing the selected data. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. An RF frequency simulcasting method for transmitting video information from multiple spaced transmitting sites to multiple receiving sites in a reception area, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) simultaneously transmitting from said transmitting sites the same signal so that the areas of propagation from respective ones of the transmitting sites substantially overlap over each other in at least a major portion of said reception area; b) said signal transmitted from said transmitting sites including frequency multiplexed channels, each channel including multiplexed streams of digitized video; c) selecting video information at one receiving site, said selecting step comprising; (1) selecting one of said frequency multiplexed channels, and (2) selecting one stream of digitized video from the multiplexed streams contained in the selected channel; and d) processing the selected stream of digitized video to display the selected video information. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. A simulcasting method for transmitting a signal from multiple transmitting sites, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) simultaneously transmitting from said transmitting sites the same signal so that the areas of propagation from said respective transmitting sites overlap; b) said signal transmitted from said transmitting sites including multiplexed channels each including multiplexed streams of digital data representing a plurality of programs; c) receiving at a receiving site a signal containing a plurality of time delayed copies of said transmitted signal; d) processing at least a portion of the received signal to acquire a single signal corresponding to one of said multiplexed streams of digital data; and e) selecting digital data from the one multiplexed stream. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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Specification