Media stream distribution system

• US 8,032,650 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2007
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ARRIS Group, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Duzett, Robert C., Page, Steven R., Lovely, Sydney D., Klaas, Darin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHEA, PHILIP J
• Application Number:
  US12/002,343
• Publication Number:
  US 20080189382A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,392 Days
• Field of Search: 709/205, 709/201, 709/231
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4022 using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network G06F13/4009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/12 Protocol engines

Abstract

A media server comprises a plurality of nodes each comprising a gateway, each gateway providing memory and communication of data between mass storage and I/O ports of a node, and/or providing communication of data between the node and other nodes. Each node utilizes one or more central processors. The media server comprises logic to enable the processors to manage the streaming of data from the mass storage to the I/O ports via the gateways without communicating the data between the processors and any of the mass storage, I/O ports, or gateways.

Claims

1. A media server comprising:

a plurality of nodes each comprising a gateway, each gateway providing memory and communication of data between mass storage and I/O ports of a node;

each node utilizing one or more central processor and processor memory; and

the media server comprising non-transitory machine readable media and/or memory devices embodying logic to enable the central processor of any one node of the plurality of nodes to manage the streaming of data to the I/O ports of the node from the mass storage of the node without reading or writing the data that is streamed, by specifying addresses of data blocks to stream to the I/O ports, thus enabling the central processor to manage the streaming of the data between the mass storage and the I/O ports without communicating the data to the central processor or processor memory.

2. The media server of claim 1, further comprising:

non-transitory machine readable media and/or memory devices embodying logic to cause mass storage and gateway memory of the at least two nodes to appear to the processors as a single mass storage volume and cache memory, respectively.

3. The media server of claim 1, further comprising:

non-transitory machine readable media and/or memory devices embodying logic to determine whether one or more addresses of data to stream refers to data stored by non-local gateway memory, and if so, to retrieve the data from the non-local gateway memory to the node that is streaming the data.

4. The media server of claim 1, further comprising:

the first and second nodes comprised by a single console and comprising interfaces to nodes of other consoles.

5. The media server of claim 4, further comprising:

nodes within the single console communicating stream data between themselves primarily via gateways of the nodes within the single console.

6. The media server of claim 1, further comprising:

the first and second nodes coupled to a console interface comprising independent physical communication channels to multiple nodes of other consoles.

7. The media server of claim 6, further comprising:

the first and second nodes coupled to nodes of another console by a cable comprising four independent physical communication channels, with the first node having two independent physical communication channels to a first node in another console, and the second node having two independent physical communication channels to a second node in the another console.

8. The media server of claim 6, further comprising:

multiple independent communication channels in each cable connecting two consoles, a pair of independent communication channels connecting each node in a first console with a partner node in a second console.

9. A node of a multi-processor system comprising:

mass storage;

at least one central processor;

processor memory providing storage of data read from or written to the mass storage by the processor;

an I/O interface; and

a media server comprising non-transitory machine readable media and/or memory devices embodying logic to enable the processor to manage the streaming of data from the mass storage to the I/O interface from the mass storage without reading or writing the data that is streamed, by specifying addresses of data blocks to stream to the I/O interface, thus enabling the processor to manage the streaming of the data between the mass storage and the I/O interface without communicating the data to the processor or processor memory

10. The node of a multi-processor system of claim 9, further comprising:

at least one gateway providing communication of stream data between the mass storage, the I/O interface, and an interconnect to other nodes of the multi-processor system; and

non-transitory machine readable media and/or memory devices embodying logic to enable the processor to manage the streaming of data from the mass storage to the I/O interface via the gateway without communicating the data between the processor and any of the mass storage, gateway, or I/O interface.

11. The node of a multi-processor system of claim 9, further comprising:

non-transitory machine readable media and/or memory devices embodying logic to enable the processor to cause the communication of data stream blocks from the mass storage of the node and/or the mass storage of another node to the I/O interface, without communicating contents of the blocks to the processor or the processor memory.