Local area-networked system having intelligent traffic control and efficient bandwidth management
First Claim
1. A system for localized distribution of information, including media content, said localized information distribution system comprising:
- a local area network;
first and second non-QoS devices coupled to said local area network, wherein said first and second non-QoS devices are operative to transmit and receive media content and other information using high bandwidth;
a media server coupled to said local area network that is operative to couple one or more external information sources to said local area network,wherein said media server is further operative to control all communications between said first and second non-QoS devices and between either first or second non-QoS device and an external non-QoS device by routing such communications through said media server such that said first and second non-QoS devices are prohibited from directly communicating with one another and with the external non-QoS device over said local area network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A centralized interactive TV recording and reproduction system linking several “Quality of Service” (QoS) reproduction and control units (such as television and audio reproduction receivers), as well as high bandwidth non-QoS legacy devices such as PCs, via a Home Area Network (HAN) to a centralized media server, has novel traffic control to prevent non-QoS devices from establishing and maintaining high-bandwidth network connections during the real-time transmission of media (video and/or audio) information from the media server to the QoS devices. In the preferred embodiment, the media server also contains a gateway device for connecting the HAN to a Wide Area Network, Metropolitan Area Network, and/or the Internet, and the media server also receives video and audio signals from sources such as cable, satellite, terrestrial broadcast, etc. The media server also contains a network router. All traffic from non-QoS devices is routed through the media server, and the media server limits the delivery of packets sent from source non-QoS devices to destination non-QoS devices. As a further refinement to prevent interruptions in real-time transmissions of video and audio information to QoS devices, the information can be buffered at the QoS device level.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for localized distribution of information, including media content, said localized information distribution system comprising:
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a local area network; first and second non-QoS devices coupled to said local area network, wherein said first and second non-QoS devices are operative to transmit and receive media content and other information using high bandwidth; a media server coupled to said local area network that is operative to couple one or more external information sources to said local area network, wherein said media server is further operative to control all communications between said first and second non-QoS devices and between either first or second non-QoS device and an external non-QoS device by routing such communications through said media server such that said first and second non-QoS devices are prohibited from directly communicating with one another and with the external non-QoS device over said local area network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for locally distributing information, including media content, said method comprising:
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receiving and storing media content from one or more external information sources in a media server that is reproducible by a first QoS devices; distributing stored media content in a reproducible format from the media server to the first QoS; controlling all communications between first and second non-QoS devices and between either the first or second non-QoS devices and an external non-QoS device by routing such communications through the media server by limiting bandwidth for communications transmitted to or received by either the first or second non-QoS devices, thereby avoiding network collisions with the distribution of the stored media content. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification