Device and method for efficient delivery of redundant national television signals

• US 6,728,269 B1
• Filed: 05/15/2002
• Issued: 04/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Arsenault, Robert G., Godwin, John P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kizou, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Elallam, Ahmed
• Application Number:
  US10/145,963
• Time in Patent Office: 713 Days
• Field of Search: 370/312, 370/314-316, 370/321, 370/322, 370/326, 370/345, 370/349, 370/389, 370/390, 370/431, 370/432, 370/436, 370/437, 370/442, 370/443, 370/458, 370/462, 370/465, 370/468, 370/473, 370/477, 370/478, 370/480, 370/498, 370/499, 370/521, 370/528, 370/537, 340/825.24, 348/384.1, 348/385.1, 348/563, 725/33-36, 725/40, 725/63, 725/67, 725/71, 725/100
• US Class Current: 370/477
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23614 Multiplexing of additional data and video streams arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information H04H20/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2408 Monitoring of the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. client requests monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876; scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• 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 21/433 Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4348 Demultiplexing of additional data and video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4524 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4586 Content update operation triggered locally, e.g. by comparing the version of software modules in a DVB carousel to the version stored locally deployment, distribution, installation, update of software G06F8/65; error detection or correction of the data by redundancy during software upgrading G06F11/1433; arrangements for updating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/25
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6118 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6143 involving transmission via a satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6187 involving transmission via a telephone network, e.g. POTS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/814 comprising emergency warnings arrangements specially adapted for emergency or urgency in broadcast systems H04H20/59; arrangements for providing alarms, notifications, alerts to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8146 involving graphical data, e.g. 3D object, 2D graphics
• 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

Abstract

A method and apparatus of broadcasting is provided that has a geographic identifier memory, an overlay memory storing an overlay, a receiver circuit for receiving a broadcast signal and a control circuit. The control circuit displays the overlay on the broadcast signal in response to the geographic identifier.

Claims

1. A data transmission system having a transmission processor for accepting input data streams and transmitting them over a plurality of broadcast resources, and a reception processor for receiving data transmitted via broadcast resources and generating output data streams therefrom, comprising:

at least a first input data stream and a second input data stream, wherein said second input data stream has a degree of similarity to said first input data stream during at least a first time period;

a first output data stream intended to correspond to said first input data stream,

a second output data stream intended to correspond to said second input data stream, and

a local map at said reception processor for selectively associating selected broadcast resources to said output data streams.

an overlay memory at said reception processor for storing overlays therein;

a user geographic identifier memory at said reception processor storing a user geographic identifier;

wherein said broadcast resources carry only one of said first and second input data streams during at least a portion of said first time period, by means of a selected broadcast resource; and

wherein said local map selects for each output data stream an overly corresponding in response to said only one of said first and second input data streams in response to said geographic identifier;

the local map associates both said first and second output data streams to said selected broadcast resource during said at least a portion of said first time period;

wherein said overlay memory associates an overlay at least partially in response to said user geographic identifier.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the broadcast resources are provided in a satellite communication system.

3. The invention of claim, 1 wherein the broadcast resources are provided in a cable communication system.

4. A method of carrying a first number of input data streams on a lesser number of broadcast resources in a communication system comprising:

detecting a period of substantially common content in two or more input data streams;

during at least part of said period of substantially common content, transmitting the substantially common content over an allocated number of broadcast resource(s) which is at least one but fewer than said first number;

generating at a receiver, from said allocated broadcast resource(s), a number of output data streams greater than said allocated number of broadcast resources, said output data streams being substantially identical in relevant content to a similar number of said input data streams;

retrieving an overlay in response to a geographic identifier; and

overlaying the overlay on each of said output data stream in response to said geographic identifier.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein a local map associates said output data streams to said allocated number of broadcast resource(s) during said at least part of said period of substantially common content.

6. The invention of claim 4 wherein a remote map associates said input data stream to said allocated number of broadcast resource(s) during said at least part of said period of substantially common content.

7. The invention of claim 4 wherein said number of output data streams is equal to or greater than said first number of input data streams.

8. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein at least two of the two or more input data streams each comprises a video signal and an audio signal, and wherein detecting a period of substantially common content in the two or more input data streams comprises signal processing the video signals and the audio signals of the at least two of the two or more input data streams to detect high levels of correlation.

9. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein at least two of the two or more input data streams comprises a video signal and an audio signal and wherein and wherein detecting a period of substantially common content in two or more input data streams comprises comparing metadata of the video signals and the audio signals of the at least two of the two or more input data streams.

10. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein at least two of the two or more input data streams comprises a video signal and an audio signal and wherein detecting a period of substantially common content in two or more input data streams comprises signal processing the video signals and the audio signals of the at least two of the two or more input data streams to detect high levels of correlation and comparing metadata of the video signals and the audio signals of the at least two of the two or more input data streams.

11. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein detecting a period of substantially common content in two or more input data streams comprises providing control signals from a local station indicating a redundancy with a national signal.