Apparatus and method for merging MPEG streams in a headend system

• US 7,533,404 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2001
• Issued: 05/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: Wurtz, Jonathan, Sinz, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Lonsberry; Hunter B.
• Application Number:
  US10/025,055
• Publication Number:
  US 20030135861A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,701 Days
• Field of Search: 725/91, 725 93- 95, 725/97, 725/114, 725/116, 725/117, 725/138, 725/144, 725/146, 725/147
• US Class Current: 725/93
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23608 Remultiplexing multiplex streams, e.g. involving modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2362 Generation or processing of Service Information [SI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream

Abstract

A headend system includes an apparatus. The apparatus comprises receives a plurality of separate MPEG input streams; merges the plurality of separate input streams, and outputs a merged stream that is capable of being processed by a single PID processor in a television converter apparatus.

Claims

1. Apparatus for use in a headend system, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of separate MPEG input streams;

means for merging the plurality of separate input streams and outputting a merged stream that is capable of being processed by a single PID processor in a television converter apparatus;

wherein the plurality of input streams include a first stream having NET PID data and a second stream having headend management system polling data;

wherein at least one of the input streams contains DCII data;

wherein at least one DCII packet is split in at least two portions across at least two MPEG-2 packets within one of the plurality of input streams;

wherein the merging means does not insert the packets from another one of the plurality of input streams between any of the at least two portions of the DCII packet.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the merging means does not insert a second DCII packet between any of the at least two portions of the DCII packet.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the merging means excludes from the merged stream any received packets that precede a first packet having a start bit that is set.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the merging means include a state machine.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the state machine is initialized in a state in which the merging means does not insert packets of a first one of the input streams between contiguous packets of a second one of the input streams.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising second merging means for merging a second plurality of separate input streams and outputting a second merged stream that is capable of being processed by a single PID processor in a television converter apparatus,

wherein:

a first one of the input streams that is to be received by a first PID processor in the television converter apparatus is received by the first merging means;

the first merging means transmits the data from the first input stream to the second merging means within a first output data stream having a datum indicating that the first output data stream is to be received by a second PID processor in the television converter apparatus;

the second merging means merges the first output data stream with a second one of the plurality of input streams that is to be received by the first PID processor in the television converter apparatus to form a second output data stream; and

the second merging means transmits the second output data stream containing data from the first and second input streams to the first PID processor.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receiving means include a plurality of user datagram protocol network ports.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the merging means include a respective PID buffer for each one of the input streams.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein each PID buffer includes a buffer state machine that tracks a DCII packet completion state for the input stream corresponding to that PID buffer.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the merging means further comprises an output filter, and

only one of the PID buffers at a time transmits data from its corresponding input stream to the output filter.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one of the PID buffers that is currently transmitting data to the output filter continues to transmit data until transmission of a DCII packet is completed.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

an end of the DCII packet is contained within an MPEG packet; and

the one of the PID buffers that is currently transmitting data to the output filter continues to transmit data to the output filter after transmission of the DCII packet is completed, if a second DCII packet begins within the same MPEG packet as the DCII packet.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a next one of the PID buffers begins to transmit data to the output filter when an end of a DCII packet contained within an MPEG packet is transmitted to the output filter, if the MPEG packet does not contain the start of a second DCII packet immediately following the DCII packet.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the output filter renumbers an MPEG PID value of the merged stream.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the output fitter provides the merged stream to one of the group consisting of a network user datagram protocol address/port, a serial port, or a STDOUT.

24. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the output filter updates MPEG continuity counters of the merged stream.

16. A system comprising:

a headend system and a television converter apparatus;

the headend system comprising;

means for receiving a plurality of separate MPEG input streams;

means for merging the plurality of separate input streams and outputting a merged stream that is capable of being processed by a single PID processor in a television converter apparatus;

wherein the plurality of input streams include a first stream having NET PID data and a second stream having headend management system polling data;

wherein at least one of the input streams contains DCII data;

wherein at least one DCII packet is split in at least two portions across at least two MPEG-2 packets within one of the plurality of input streams;

wherein the merging means does not insert the packets from another one of the plurality of input streams between any of the at least two portions of the DCII packet;

the television converter apparatus including a plurality of PID processors, wherein one of the PID processors processes the merged stream;

wherein the television converter apparatus is programmed to receive headend management system polling data via a PID processor that is also used to receive NET PID data.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the television converter apparatus is programmed to receive updated middleware program code via a middleware PID processor.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the middleware PID processor does not extract any other stream from the merged stream except the stream containing the updated middleware program code.

19. A method for operating a headend system, comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of separate MPEG input streams;

merging the plurality of separate input streams and outputting a merged stream that is capable of being processed by a single PID processor in a television converter apparatus;

wherein the plurality of input streams include a first stream having NET PID data and a second stream having headend management system polling data;

wherein at least one of the input streams contains DCII data;

wherein the merging step includes splitting at least one DCII packet in at least two portions across at least two MPEG packets within one of the plurality of input streams; and

wherein the merging step includes a step of excluding from the merged stream any received packets that precede a first packet having a start bit that is set.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the headend has a plurality of buffers, and the merging step includes transmitting data only from one of the buffers at a time to an output.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising continuing to transmit data from the one of the buffers that is currently transmitting data to the output until transmission of a DCII packet is completed.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising continuing to transmit data from the same one of the buffers that is currently transmitting data after transmission of the DCII packet is completed, if a second DCII packet begins within the same MPEG packet as the DCII packet.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising transmitting data from a next one of the buffers when an end of a DCII packet contained within an MPEG packet is transmitted to the output, if the MPEG packet does not contain the start of a second DCII packet immediately following the DCII packet.