System and method for improved multi-stream multimedia transmission and processing

• US 8,117,638 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2006
• Issued: 02/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ARRIS Group, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Perlman, Stephen G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Hai V
• Assistant Examiner(s): MENDOZA, JUNIOR O
• Application Number:
  US11/464,776
• Publication Number:
  US 20060294540A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,009 Days
• Field of Search: 725/126
• US Class Current: 725/126
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/068 using time-dependent keys, e.g. periodically changing keys cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for controlling usage of secret information H04L9/088
• 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 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/434 Disassembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. demultiplexing audio and video streams, extraction of additional data from a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Extraction or processing of SI; Disassembling of packetised elementary stream demultiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4384 involving operations to reduce the access time, e.g. fast-tuning for reducing channel switching latency
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4623 Processing of entitlement messages, e.g. ECM [Entitlement Control Message] or EMM [Entitlement Management Message] arrangements for conditional access to broadcast information or to broadcast-related services H04H60/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7921 for more than one processing mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

A method for efficiently transmitting several multimedia streams to one or more multimedia receivers comprises transmitting a first plurality of channels within a first plurality of frequency blocks having a first frequency range, said first frequency range being the range to which a legacy group of multimedia receivers are capable of tuning; and simulcasting said first plurality of channels within one or more alternate frequency blocks having an alternate frequency range, said alternate frequency range being the range to which an alternate group of multimedia receivers are capable of tuning.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

using a transmitter to simultaneously transmit a first set of two or more multimedia streams within a first range of frequencies selected from a spectrum of frequencies, the first set of multimedia streams comprising digitally encoded video content, said first range of frequencies being the range to which a legacy group of multimedia receivers are capable of tuning, wherein said video content of said first set of multimedia streams is reconstructable for rendering on a display device by said legacy group of multimedia receivers with reference only to said first range of frequencies;

and simultaneously transmitting a second set of two or more multimedia streams within a second range of frequencies selected from the spectrum of frequencies concurrently with said first set, the second set of multimedia streams comprising said digitally encoded video content, said second range of frequencies being the range to which an alternate group of multimedia receivers are capable of tuning, wherein said video content of said second set of multimedia streams is reconstructable for rendering on a display device by said alternate group of multimedia receivers with reference only to said second range of frequencies;

wherein said second frequency range comprises a larger bandwidth than a bandwidth of said first frequency range;

wherein said second range of frequencies comprises a 30 MHz bandwidth and said first range of frequencies comprises a 6 MHz bandwidth.

2. The method as in claim 1 wherein said video content transmitted within said first range of frequencies is encrypted using a first encryption technique and said video content simultaneously transmitted within said second range of frequencies is encrypted using a second, different encryption technique.

3. The method as in claim 2 wherein said first encryption technique is standard conditional access encryption and said second encryption technique is OES encryption.

4. The method as in claim 1 wherein said video content transmitted within said first range of frequencies is compressed using a first compression technique and said video content simultaneously transmitted within said second range of frequencies is compressed using a second, different compression technique.

5. The method as in claim 4 wherein said first compression technique is MPEG-2 and said second compression technique is MPEG-4.

6. The method as in claim 1 wherein said video content transmitted within said first range of frequencies is transmitted using a first PID packet size and said video content simultaneously transmitted within said second range of frequencies is transmitted using a second, different PID packet size.

7. The method as in claim 6 wherein said first PID packet size is 188 bytes and said second PID packet size is 100 Kbytes.

8. A method, comprising:

using a transmitter to simultaneously transmit a first set of two or more multimedia streams within a first range of frequencies selected from a spectrum of frequencies, the first set of multimedia streams comprising digitally encoded video content, said first range of frequencies being the range to which a legacy group of multimedia receivers are capable of tuning, wherein said video content of said first set of multimedia streams is reconstructable for rendering on a display device by said legacy group of multimedia receivers with reference only to said first range of frequencies, and wherein said video content transmitted within said first range of frequencies is transmitted using a first PID packet size comprising 188 bytes;

and simultaneously transmitting a second set of two or more multimedia streams within a second range of frequencies selected from the spectrum of frequencies concurrently with said first set, the second set of multimedia streams comprising said digitally encoded video content, said second range of frequencies being the range to which an alternate group of multimedia receivers are capable of tuning, wherein said video content of said second set of multimedia streams is reconstructable for rendering on a display device by said alternate group of multimedia receivers with reference only to said second range of frequencies, and wherein said video content simultaneously transmitted within said second range of frequencies is transmitted using a second PID packet size comprising 100 Kbytes.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said second range of frequencies comprises a larger bandwidth than a bandwidth of said first range of frequencies.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said second range of frequencies comprises a 30 MHz bandwidth and said first range of frequencies comprises a 6 MHz bandwidth.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein said video content transmitted within said first range of frequencies is encrypted using a first encryption technique and said video content simultaneously transmitted within said second range of frequencies is encrypted using a second, different encryption technique.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said first encryption technique is standard conditional access encryption and said second encryption technique is OES encryption.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein said video content transmitted within said first range of frequencies is compressed using a first compression technique and said video content simultaneously transmitted within said second range of frequencies is compressed using a second, different compression technique.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said first compression technique is MPEG-2 and said second compression technique is MPEG-4.