Graphical user interface for a transport multiplexer

• US 6,996,779 B2
• Filed: 04/16/2002
• Issued: 02/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Meandzija, Branislav N., Tsay, Ying Ying, Hewett, Jeff H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Roswell, Michael
• Application Number:
  US10/125,699
• Publication Number:
  US 20020186259A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,393 Days
• Field of Search: 715/716, 715/736, 715/719, 715/722, 715/726, 715/772, 715/500.1, 709223-224, 709/231, 709/242, 709/236, 709/245
• US Class Current: 715/736
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2212/00 Encapsulation of packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0888 Throughput
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23614 Multiplexing of additional data and video streams arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information H04H20/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2365 : Multiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4347 : Demultiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4348 : Demultiplexing of additional data and video streams
• 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 21/6433 : Digital Storage Media - Command and Control Protocol [DSM-CC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/52 : Systems for transmission of a pulse code modulated video signal with one or more other pulse code modulated signals, e.g. an audio signal or a synchronizing signal assembling of a multiplex stream by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, remultiplexing of multiplex streams, insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, assembling of a packetised elementary stream at server side H04N21/236; disassembling of a multiplex stream, remultiplexing of multiplex streams, extraction or processing of Service Information, disassembling of packetised elementary stream at client side H04N21/434

Abstract

A feature-rich transport multiplexer and a number of associated methods, systems, subsystems, software features, graphical user interfaces and control systems are disclosed. The disclosure includes GUI'"'"'s that enable operators to easily monitor and manipulate content streams flowing through a transport multiplexer in real-time. The disclosed interfaces include screens that supply operators with identity, structure, configuration, bandwidth utilization and/or status information for system hardware and software. The disclosed features also provide computer assisted routing configuration for present and future routing events through simple manipulation, such as drag and drop operations, of graphical objects. Routing control is further simplified by permitting operators to configure routing control of individual content stream components as well as groups of such components simultaneously. Further flexibility is permitted by predetermination of future routing events, thereby enabling the automatic execution of configuration changes at a future time. Various types of content, such as video, audio, IP data can be manipulated to achieve various results such as one or more multiplexed MPEG data streams.

Claims

1. A graphical user interface for use in a transport multiplexer having plural input ports and plural output ports wherein dynamic content streams are received at the input ports and routed to the output ports, the content streams comprising plural components and having attributes that include bit rate, type and name, the graphical user interface comprising:

a tree view screen for displaying graphical objects representing the input ports and the output ports and for displaying input and output trees with plural branches indicating the hierarchical structure of respective input and output content streams, the tree view screen indicating the content streams received at and routing through the transport multiplexer and displaying, in real-time, changes in the content streams received at the transport multiplexer.

2. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein at least some of the graphical objects are icons and wherein selection of an icon displays a transport editor window in which the content stream attributes may be modified.

3. The graphical user interface of claim 2 wherein output bandwidth utilization of said output content streams is recalculated and redisplayed in real-time in response to at least one content stream attribute being modified.

4. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the tree view screen further comprises a scrolling log message window for displaying system generated log messages in real-time.

5. The graphical user interface of claim 4 wherein the generated log messages to be displayed are filtered in accordance with plural predetermined filter levels.

6. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the input and output trees further comprise graphical objects indicative of the type of content streams received by the input ports and exiting the output ports.

7. A graphical user interface for use in a transport multiplexer with a chassis having plural hardware and software components to route input content streams received by input ports to predetermined output ports, the graphical user interface comprising:

a chassis view screen for displaying graphical objects representing the physical structure of the hardware components installed in the chassis of the transport multiplexer, the graphical objects indicating the type of input and output ports provided by the hardware components.

8. The graphical user interface of claim 7 wherein the chassis view screen also displays in real-time the operational status of the displayed hardware components.

9. The graphical user interface of claim 7 wherein the graphical user interface further comprises a software attributes screen for displaying attributes of the software utilized in the transport multiplexer, the software attributes comprising software version number.

10. The graphical user interface of claim 7 wherein the interface is capable of graphically displaying in real-time changes detected in the hardware status data.