System, method and apparatus for reducing blockage losses on information distribution networks

• US 7,739,580 B1
• Filed: 02/17/2006
• Issued: 06/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KenCast Inc.
• Original Assignee: KenCast Inc.
• Inventors: Wolfgang, H. Lewis, Fischer, Michael J., Fang, Weimin
• Primary Examiner(s): Lamarre; Guy J
• Application Number:
  US11/276,225
• Time in Patent Office: 1,579 Days
• Field of Search: 714/776, 714/752, 714/755, 714/746, 455/101, 455/103
• US Class Current: 714/776
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/353 Adaptation to the channel
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/373 with erasure correction and erasure determination, e.g. for packet loss recovery or setting of erasures for the decoding of Reed-Solomon codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/3761 using code combining, i.e. using combining of codeword portions which may have been transmitted separately, e.g. Digital Fountain codes, Raptor codes or Luby Transform [LT] codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/6306 Error control coding in combination with Automatic Repeat reQuest [ARQ] and diversity transmission, e.g. coding schemes for the multiple transmission of the same information or the transmission of incremental redundancy H03M13/3761, H03M13/3769 and H03M13/635 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0041 Arrangements at the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0045 Arrangements at the receiver end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0096 Channel splitting in point-to-point links

Abstract

System, apparatus and method are provided for transmitting and receiving packets over first and second channels. An FEC encoder generates forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to an original stream of packets. A packet transmitter transmits the original stream of packets over the first channel and transmits the FEC packets over the second channel. A packet receiver receives a stream of packets over the first channel, and receives the FEC packets corresponding to the stream of packets over the second channel. An FEC decoder uses information stored in the FEC packets to determine a correspondence between the FEC packets and the stream of packets, and recovers one or more lost packets of the stream of packets using the FEC packets.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting packets over first and second channels, comprising the steps of:

marking an original stream of packets to generate a marked stream of packets, wherein the marking is performed by at least one of (1) storing identification information in header fields of the marked stream of packets correspondingly, (2) wrapping each packet of the original stream of packets within a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header fields correspondingly, and (3) storing marking information in user defined fields in the original stream of packets;

generating a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets;

transmitting the marked stream of packets over the first channel; and

transmitting the plurality of FEC packets over the second channel;

wherein the marking is performed by an FEC encoder.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second channels are on the same network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second channels are on independent networks.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the independent networks are selected from the group consisting of a satellite network and a terrestrial wireless network.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating another plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets; and

transmitting the other plurality of FEC packets over the first channel.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting the marked stream of packets over the second channel;

generating another plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets; and

transmitting the other plurality of FEC packets over the first channel.

7. A method for transmitting packets over first and second channels, comprising the steps of:

marking an original stream of packets to generate a marked stream of packets, wherein the marking is performed by at least one of (1) storing identification information in header fields of the marked stream of packets correspondingly, (2) wrapping each packet of the original stream of packets within a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header fields correspondingly, and (3) storing marking information in user defined fields in the original stream of packets;

generating a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets;

transmitting a first portion of the marked stream of packets over the first channel and a second portion of the marked stream of packets over the second channel; and

transmitting a first portion of the plurality of FEC packets over the first channel and the remainder of the FEC packets over the second channel;

wherein the marking is performed by an FEC encoder.

8. A method for receiving packets from first and second channels, comprising the steps of:

receiving a marked stream of packets having a marking over the first channel, wherein the marking includes at least one of (1) identification information stored in a header field of the corresponding packet of the marked stream of packets, (2) a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header field wrapped around a corresponding packet of an original stream of packets, and (3) marking information stored in a user defined field in the corresponding packet of the original stream of packets;

receiving a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets over the second channel; and

recovering one or more lost packets of the marked stream of packets using the plurality of FEC packets;

wherein the marking is performed by an FEC encoder.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a marking in each packet of the marked stream of packets corresponds to a block of the marked stream of packets associated with a corresponding block of the plurality of FEC encoded packets.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first and second channels are on independent networks.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

receiving another plurality of FEC packets over the first channel; and

recovering one or more lost packets of the marked stream of packets using all the FEC packets received over the first channel and the second channel.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a portion of the marked stream of packets over the second channel;

receiving another plurality of FEC packets over the first channel; and

recovering one or more of the marked stream of packets lost on the first channel using the portion of the marked stream of packets received on the second channel and all of the plurality of FEC packets received over the first and second channels to create a recovered stream of packets.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

forwarding the recovered stream of packets to a reproducing device operable to play back the recovered stream of packets.

14. A method for receiving packets from first and second channels, comprising the steps of:

receiving a stream of marked packets having a marking over the first channel, wherein the marking includes at least one of (1) identification information stored in a header field of the corresponding packet of the stream of marked packets, (2) a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header field wrapped around a corresponding packet of an original stream of packets, and (3) marking information stored in a user defined field in the corresponding packet of the original stream of packets;

receiving a plurality of FEC packets over the second channel;

extracting a time window for each packet of the marked stream of packets from a corresponding one of the plurality of FEC packets;

discarding the corresponding one of the FEC packets if the time window has expired; and

recovering one or more lost packets of the stream of marked packets using the plurality of FEC packets, thereby substantially reconstructing an original stream of packets;

wherein the marking is performed by an FEC encoder.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first and second channels are on the same network.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first and second channels are on independent networks.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the independent networks are selected from the group consisting of a satellite network and a terrestrial wireless network.

18. A transmitter for transmitting packets over first and second channels, comprising:

an FEC encoder operable to;

mark an original stream of packets to generate a marked stream of packets, wherein the marking is performed by at least one of (1) storing identification information in header fields of the marked stream of packets correspondingly, (2) wrapping each packet of the original stream of packets within a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header fields correspondingly, and (3) storing marking information in user defined fields in the original stream of packets, and

generate a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets; and

a packet transmitter operable to transmit the marked stream of packets over the first channel and to transmit the plurality of FEC packets over the second channel.

19. The transmitter of claim 18, wherein the first and second channels are on the same network.

20. The transmitter of claim 18, wherein the first and second channels are on independent networks.

21. The transmitter of claim 20, wherein the independent networks are selected from the group consisting of a satellite network and a terrestrial wireless network.

22. The transmitter of claim 18, wherein the FEC encoder is further operable to generate another plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets, and

the packet transmitter is further operable to transmit the other plurality of FEC packets over the first channel.

23. The transmitter of claim 18, wherein:

the packet transmitter is further operable to transmit the marked stream of packets over the second channel,

the FEC encoder is further operable to generate another plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets, and

the packet transmitter is further operable to transmit the other plurality of FEC packets over the first channel.

24. A transmitter for transmitting packets over first and second channels, comprising

an FEC encoder operable to:

mark an original stream of packets to generate a marked stream of packets, wherein the marking is performed by at least one of (1) storing identification information in header fields of the marked stream of packets correspondingly, (2) wrapping each packet of the original stream of packets within a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header fields correspondingly, and (3) storing marking information in user defined fields in the original stream of packets, and

generate a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets;

a packet transmitter operable to transmit a first portion of the marked stream of packets over the first channel and a second portion of the marked stream of packets over the second channel, and to transmit a first portion of the plurality of FEC packets over the first channel and the remainder of the FEC packets over the second channel.

25. A receiver for receiving packets from first and second channels, comprising:

a packet receiver operable to receive a marked stream of packets having a marking over the first channel, wherein the marking includes at least one of (1) identification information stored in a header field of the corresponding packet of the marked stream of packets, (2) a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header field wrapped around the corresponding packet of the original stream of packets, and (3) marking information stored in a user defined field in the corresponding packet of the original stream of packets, and to receive a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets over the second channel; and

an FEC decoder operable to recover one or more lost packets of the marked stream of packets using the plurality of FEC packets;

wherein the marking is performed by an FEC encoder.

26. The receiver of claim 25, wherein a marking in each packet of the marked stream of packets corresponds to a block of the marked stream of packets associated with a corresponding block of the plurality of FEC encoded packets.

27. The receiver of claim 25, wherein the first and second channels are on independent networks.

28. The receiver of claim 25, wherein:

the packet receiver is further operable to receive another plurality of FEC packets over the first channel; and

the FEC decoder is further operable to recover one or more lost packets of the marked stream of packets using all the FEC packets received over the first channel and the second channel.

29. The receiver of claim 25, wherein:

the packet receiver is further operable to receive a portion of the marked stream of packets over the second channel, and to receive another plurality of FEC packets over the first channel; and

the FEC decoder is further operable to recover one or more of the marked stream of packets lost on the first channel using the portion of the marked stream of packets received on the second channel and all of the plurality of FEC packets received over the first and second channels to create a recovered stream of packets.

30. The receiver of claim 25, wherein the FEC decoder is further operable to forward the recovered stream of packets to a reproducing device operable to play back the recovered stream of packets.

31. A receiver for receiving packets from first and second channels, comprising:

a packet receiver operable to;

receive a stream of marked packets having a marking over the first channel, wherein the marking includes at least one of (1) identification information stored in a header field of the corresponding packet of the marked stream of packets, (2) a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header field wrapped around a corresponding packet of an original stream of packets, and (3) marking information stored in a user defined field in the corresponding packet of the original stream of packets, and

receive a plurality of FEC packets over the second channel; and

an FEC decoder operable to extract a time window for each packet of the marked stream of packets from a corresponding one of the plurality of FEC packets, to discard the corresponding one of the FEC packet if the time window has expired, and to recover one or more lost packets of the stream of marked packets using the plurality of FEC packets, thereby substantially reconstructing an original stream of packets;

wherein the marking is performed by an FEC encoder.

32. The receiver of claim 31, wherein the first and second channels are on the same network.

33. The receiver of claim 31, wherein the first and second channels are on independent networks.

34. The receiver of claim 33, wherein the independent networks are selected from the group consisting of a satellite network and a terrestrial wireless network.

35. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to transmit packets over first and second channels, said control logic comprising:

first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to mark an original stream of packets to generate a marked stream of packets, wherein the marking is performed by at least one of (1) storing identification information in header fields of the marked stream of packets correspondingly, (2) wrapping each packet of the original stream of packets within a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header fields correspondingly, and (3) storing marking information in user defined fields in the original stream of packets;

second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to generate a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets;

third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to transmit the marked stream of packets over the first channel; and

fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to transmit the plurality of FEC packets over the second channel.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, further comprising:

fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to generate another plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets; and

sixth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to transmit the other plurality of FEC packets over the first channel.

37. The computer program product of claim 35, further comprising:

fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to transmit the marked stream of packets over the second channel;

sixth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to generate another plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets; and

seventh computer readable program code means for causing the computer to transmit the other plurality of FEC packets over the first channel.

38. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to transmit packets over first and second channels, said control logic comprising:

first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to mark an original stream of packets to generate a marked stream of packets, wherein the marking is performed by at least one of (1) storing identification information in header fields of the marked stream of packets correspondingly, (2) wrapping each packet of the original stream of packets within a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header fields correspondingly, and (3) storing marking information in user defined fields in the original stream of packets;

second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to generate a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets;

third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to transmit a first portion of the marked stream of packets over the first channel and a second portion of the marked stream of packets over the second channel; and

fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to transmit a first portion of the plurality of FEC packets over the first channel and the remainder of the FEC packets over the second channel.

39. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to receive packets from first and second channels, said control logic comprising:

first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive a marked stream of packets having a marking over the first channel, wherein the marking includes at least one of (1) identification information stored in a header field of the corresponding packet of the marked stream of packets, (2) a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header field wrapped around a corresponding packet of an original stream of packets, and (3) marking information stored in a user defined field in the corresponding packet of the original stream of packets;

second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets over the second channel; and

third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to recover one or more lost packets of the marked stream of packets using the plurality of FEC packets.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein a marking in each packet of the marked stream of packets corresponds to a block of the marked stream of packets associated with a corresponding block of the plurality of FEC encoded packets.

41. The computer program product of claim 39, further comprising:

fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive another plurality of FEC packets over the first channel; and

fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to recover one or more lost packets of the marked stream of packets using all the FEC packets received over the first channel and the second channel.

42. The computer program product of claim 39, further comprising:

fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive a portion of the marked stream of packets over the second channel;

fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive another plurality of FEC packets over the first channel; and

sixth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to recover one or more of the marked stream of packets lost on the first channel using the portion of the marked stream of packets received on the second channel and all of the plurality of FEC packets received over the first and second channels to create a recovered stream of packets.

43. The computer program product of claim 39, further comprising:

fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to forward the recovered stream of packets to a reproducing device operable to play back the recovered stream of packets.

44. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to receive packets from first and second channels, said control logic comprising:

first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive a stream of marked packets having a marking over the first channel, wherein the marking includes at least one of (1) identification information stored in a header field of the corresponding packet of the marked stream of packets, (2) a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header field wrapped around a corresponding packet of an original stream of packets, and (3) marking information stored in a user defined field in the corresponding packet of the original stream of packets;

second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to receive a plurality of FEC packets over the second channel;

third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to extract a time window for each packet of the marked stream of packets from a corresponding one of the plurality of FEC packets;

fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to discard the corresponding one of the FEC packet if the time window has expired; and

fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to recover one or more lost packets of the stream of marked packets using the plurality of FEC packets, thereby substantially reconstructing an original stream of packets.

45. A system for transmitting and receiving packets over first and second channels, comprising:

an FEC encoder operable to mark an original stream of packets to;

generate a marked stream of packets, wherein the marking is performed by at least one of (1) storing identification information in header fields of the marked stream of packets correspondingly, (2) wrapping each packet of the original stream of packets within a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header fields correspondingly, and (3) storing marking information in user defined fields in the original stream of packets, and

generate a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets;

a packet transmitter operable to transmit the marked stream of packets over the first channel and to transmit the plurality of FEC packets over the second channel;

a packet receiver operable to receive the marked stream of packets over the first channel, wherein each packet of the marked stream of packets contains a marking, and to receive the plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets over the second channel; and

an FEC decoder operable to recover one or more lost packets of the marked stream of packets using the plurality of FEC packets.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein a marking in each packet of the marked stream of packets corresponds to a block of the marked stream of packets associated with a corresponding block of the plurality of FEC encoded packets.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein the first and second channels are on the same network.

48. The system of claim 45, wherein the first and second channels are on independent networks.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the independent networks are selected from the group consisting of a satellite network and a terrestrial wireless network.

50. The system of claim 45, wherein:

the FEC encoder is further operable to generate another plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets, and

the packet transmitter is further operable to transmit the other plurality of FEC packets over the first channel.

51. The system of claim 45, wherein:

the packet transmitter is further operable to transmit the marked stream of packets over the second channel,

the FEC encoder is further operable to generate another plurality of FEC packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets, and

the transmitter is further operable to transmit the other plurality of FEC packets over the first channel.

52. The system of claim 45, wherein:

the packet receiver is further operable to receive another plurality of FEC packets over the first channel, and

the FEC decoder is further operable to recover one or more lost packets of the marked stream of packets using all the FEC packets received over the first channel and the second channel.

53. The system of claim 45, wherein:

the packet receiver is further operable to receive a portion of the marked stream of packets over the second channel, and to receive another plurality of FEC packets over the first channel, and

the FEC decoder is further operable to recover one or more of the marked stream of packets lost on the first channel using the portion of the marked stream of packets received on the second channel and all of the plurality of FEC packets received over the first and second channels to create a recovered stream of packets.

54. The receiver of claim 45, wherein the FEC decoder is further operable to forward the recovered stream of packets to a reproducing device operable to play back the recovered stream of packets.

55. A system for transmitting and receiving packets over first and second channels, comprising:

an FEC encoder operable to;

mark an original stream of packets to generate a marked stream of packets, wherein the marking is performed by at least one of (1) storing identification information in header fields of the marked stream of packets correspondingly, (2) wrapping each packet of the original stream of packets within a corresponding packet structure having identification information stored in its header fields correspondingly, and (3) storing marking information in user defined fields in the original stream of packets, and

generate a plurality of forward error correction (FEC) packets corresponding to the marked stream of packets;

a packet transmitter operable to transmit a first portion of the marked stream of packets over the first channel and a second portion of the marked stream of packets over the second channel, and to transmit a first portion of the plurality of FEC packets over the first channel and the remainder of the FEC packets over the second channel;

a packet receiver operable to receive the first portion of the marked stream of packets and the first portion of the plurality of FEC packets over the first channel and the second portion of the marked stream of packets and the remainder of the FEC packets over the second channel; and

an FEC decoder operable to recover one or more lost packets of the first and second portions of the marked stream of packets using the first portion of the plurality of FEC packets and the remainder of the FEC packets.