Transmission method and apparatus for optical fiber television network
First Claim
1. A method of simulating simultaneous receipt of a plurality of data streams over a network using a bandwidth less than that needed to simultaneously receive said plurality of data streams, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving one of said data streams selected by a user over said network;
transmitting said one of said data streams to said user;
receiving samples of the others of said data streamsstoring said samples in a memory non-contiguously in time with said data streams;
responsive to said user newly selecting one of said other data streams, reading from said memory said sample that corresponds to said newly selected data stream; and
transmitting said sample that corresponds to said newly selected data stream to said user.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus by which television service is provided to the home via a two-way fiber optic link. The television set transmits to the central office the channel or channels being watched. Information from all other available channels which are not being watched is constantly being buffered and up-dated at the television set location. The buffering can be performed using a bandwidth available on the optical fiber that is not being used for the one or two television channels being watched or for other uses. When a user changes channels, he is shown the buffered data for a limited time. When the buffer runs out, the home office is notified of the channel change and commences transmitting the newly selected channel in full.
14 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of simulating simultaneous receipt of a plurality of data streams over a network using a bandwidth less than that needed to simultaneously receive said plurality of data streams, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving one of said data streams selected by a user over said network; transmitting said one of said data streams to said user; receiving samples of the others of said data streams storing said samples in a memory non-contiguously in time with said data streams; responsive to said user newly selecting one of said other data streams, reading from said memory said sample that corresponds to said newly selected data stream; and transmitting said sample that corresponds to said newly selected data stream to said user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12)
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7. A method of simulating simultaneous receipt at a television of a plurality of television channels over a network using a bandwidth less than that needed to simultaneously receive said plurality of channels, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) receiving the full data for at least a selected one of said television channels; (2) transmitting said full data for said selected television channel to said television; (3) receiving samples of data from each other of said television channels; (4) storing said samples in a memory non-contiguously in time with said data streams (5) responsive to selection of a new one of said television channels for viewing at said television, reading said sample of data corresponding to said newly selected television channel from said memory; and (6) transmitting said sample of data corresponding to said newly selected television channel to said television. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A communications network for simulating simultaneous transmission from a source to a node of a plurality of channels of data using a bandwidth less than that needed to simultaneously transmit said plurality of channels comprising:
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a source for transmitting data over said network, said data comprising a plurality of channels of data; at least one node for receiving data from said source; a processor associated with said source, said processor programmed to transmit at least a first channel of data in full to said at least one node and to transmit samples of data from others of said plurality of channels to said node; a memory associated with said node for storing said samples non-contiguously with said data streams to which they correspond; a processor associated with said node, said processor programmed to send data on said first channel to a display device and to send said samples to said memory for storage and, responsive to a user selecting a second channel for viewing on said display device, reading said sample of data corresponding to said second channel from said memory. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification