Wideband direct-to-home broadcasting satellite communications system and method

• US 7,587,736 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2002
• Issued: 09/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pegasus Development Corporation (The Pegasus Cos., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Xanadoo Company
• Inventors: Gonzales, Francisco, Freedman, Jeffrey B., Hane, John K., Summers, Macy W., Pagon, Marshall W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kelley; Christopher
• Assistant Examiner(s): BROWN, RUEBEN M
• Application Number:
  US10/330,133
• Publication Number:
  US 20030217362A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,444 Days
• Field of Search: 725 63- 70, 725 94- 95, 709234-235
• US Class Current: 725/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/42 Arrangements for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/74 of satellite networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/90 specially adapted for satellite broadcast receiving
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2365 Multiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23805 Controlling the feeding rate to the network, e.g. by controlling the video pump
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2402 Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26208 the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26275 for distributing content or additional data in a staggered manner, e.g. repeating movies on different channels in a time-staggered manner in a near video on demand system
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6143 involving transmission via a satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6193 involving transmission via a satellite arrangements for data linking, networking or transporting, or for controlling an end to end session in a satellite broadcast system H04B7/18526
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 : Transmission or handling of upstream communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 : Handling of requests in head-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/20 : Adaptations for transmission via a GHz frequency band, e.g. via satellite

Abstract

The present invention relates to one- or two-way Direct-To-Home (DTH) satellite communications systems which broadcast high bit rate wideband television and multimedia content to user terminals located within a desired coverage area and, more specifically, a single or multi-transponder Direct-To-Home satellite communications system in which a high bit rate wideband data stream is comprised of real-time, statistically multiplexed information and non-real-time information that is transmitted to a subscriber media gateway device for storage and later-use. The user terminal contains a specially designed receiving system and may contain a transmitter for transmission of a return data channel to the Broadcast Center.

Claims

1. A method for scheduling transmission of content in a broadcasting system, comprising:

reading a schedule of content to be transmitted, wherein each item of content is grouped into a plurality of segments, and for each segment of each item of content,

(i) if the item of content to be transmitted is real-time content,

sending the real-time content to a playout buffer during a period of time scheduled for playback, and

calculating a remaining available bandwidth after transmission of the real time content;

(ii) if the item of content to be transmitted is carousel content,

calculating a block size, a number of blocks, and a repetition rate to fit within the available bandwidth based upon the carousel content size and bandwidth allocation,

sending blocks of the carousel content to the playout buffer, and

calculating the remaining available bandwidth after transmission of the carousel content; and

(iii) if the item of content to be transmitted is a file,

transmitting a percentage of the file according to the available bandwidth and priority associated with transmission of the file,

wherein the schedule is re-read after each calculation of the remaining available bandwidth.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the content is to be transmitted over a satellite communications system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the content is to be transmitted over a direct-to-home satellite communications system.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the carousel content is in a non-linear carousel format and wherein blocks of the carousel content are transmitted based in part upon a scheduled delay.