Simulcast transmission of digital programs to shared antenna receiving systems
First Claim
1. A system serving a plurality of living units, comprising:
- a shared receiving system, comprising;
(1) at least one antenna receiving multiple time delayed copies of a signal including multiplexed channels from a plurality of spaced apart transmitters which provide overlapping simultaneous broadcasts of the signal including multiplexed channels, each multiplexed channel containing digitized and compressed broadband information relating to a plurality of programs, and(2) a plurality of delay signal processing circuits each responsive to signals from the antenna for processing multiple time delayed copies within a predetermined delay processing window of signals in a respective one of the multiplexed channels, to acquire a single copy of a signal corresponding to the respective one of the multiplexed channels; and
a plurality of digital processors each responsive to selected digitized and compressed broadband information contained in at least a portion of the acquired single copy for one of the multiplexed channels to present a selected program.
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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. Each broadcast channel carries a multiplexed digital data stream containing packets of information for a plurality of programs, e.g. television programs. A shared antenna system, typically including multiple receiving antennae aimed at a plurality of the transmitters, supplies received signals to terminals in a plurality of living units. The shared system includes delayed signal processing circuitry to supply an optimal signal from the receiving antennae to the terminals. The delayed signal processing circuitry has a processing time window of a predetermined value at least as large as the difference in arrival time of signals propagating to the shared system from the nearest and farthest transmitters from which the shared system receives direct transmissions.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A system serving a plurality of living units, comprising:
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a shared receiving system, comprising; (1) at least one antenna receiving multiple time delayed copies of a signal including multiplexed channels from a plurality of spaced apart transmitters which provide overlapping simultaneous broadcasts of the signal including multiplexed channels, each multiplexed channel containing digitized and compressed broadband information relating to a plurality of programs, and (2) a plurality of delay signal processing circuits each responsive to signals from the antenna for processing multiple time delayed copies within a predetermined delay processing window of signals in a respective one of the multiplexed channels, to acquire a single copy of a signal corresponding to the respective one of the multiplexed channels; and a plurality of digital processors each responsive to selected digitized and compressed broadband information contained in at least a portion of the acquired single copy for one of the multiplexed channels to present a selected program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system serving a plurality of living units, comprising:
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at least one antenna receiving multiple time delayed copies of a signal including multiplexed channels from a plurality of spaced apart transmitters which provide overlapping simultaneous broadcasts of the signal including multiplexed channels, each multiplexed channel containing digitized and compressed broadband information relating to a plurality of programs; a plurality of channel selectors coupled to the at least one antenna, each channel selector selecting a respective one of the multiplexed channels; a plurality of delay signal processing circuits each connected to one of the channel selectors for processing multiple time delayed copies within a predetermined delay processing window of signals in a respective one of the multiplexed channels, to acquire a single copy of a signal corresponding to the respective one of the multiplexed channels; and a network for distributing information from the acquired single copies of the respective channels to the living units for presentation of selected broadband information. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of transmitters located at spaced apart sites transmitting a signal including multiplexed channels 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;
each multiplexed channel containing digitized and compressed broadband information relating to a plurality of programs; anda shared receiving system located within the reception area and serving a plurality of living units, said shared receiving system comprising; (1) at least one antenna receiving multiple time delayed copies of said signal including multiplexed channels; (2) a plurality of channel selectors coupled to the at least one antenna, each channel selector selecting a respective one of the multiplexed channels; (3) a plurality of delay signal processing circuits each connected to one of the channel selectors for processing multiple time delayed copies within a predetermined delay processing window of signals in a respective one of the multiplexed channels, to acquire a single copy of a signal corresponding to the respective one of the multiplexed channels; and (4) a network for distributing information from the acquired single copies of the respective channels to the living units for presentation of selected broadband information. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method comprising the steps of:
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a) simulaneously transmitting from multiple spaced 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 a reception area, said signal transmitted from said transmitting sites including multiplexed channels, each channel carrying digitally multiplexed data representing a plurality of programs; and b) at one receiving site in the major portion of said reception area; (i) receiving multiple time-offset copies of said signal, (ii) processing multiple time-offset copies of each channel within said signal, received within a predetermined processing time window, to produce a single optimized representation of each of said multiplexed channels, and (iii) distributing information contained in the single optimized representations of said multiplexed channels to a plurality of living units. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification