Methods and apparatus for connecting a cable network to other network and/or devices
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of operating a bridging device including a tuner to provide content, comprising:
- receiving content via a cable network;
tuning to a channel specified by an end user device in response to a signal from the end user device;
interfacing between said cable network and said end user device, said interfacing including;
performing a transrating operation to produce a second bitstream having a lower data rate than the data rate of a first bitstream including the received video content; and
communicating said second bitstream to the end user device, said second bitstream communicating encoded video data including video content, received from the cable network on the channel specified by said end user device, to the end user device.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for connecting, e.g., bridging, a cable network to other networks and/or devices is described. A bridge device facilitates the distribution of cable provider content to end users operating IP based devices. The bridge device performs one of more of the following: interface protocol conversions, user device controlled tuner selection, transcoding of data, transrating of a data stream, decryption in accordance with a conditional access protocol and re-encryption in accordance with an authorized service domain protocol.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of operating a bridging device including a tuner to provide content, comprising:
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receiving content via a cable network; tuning to a channel specified by an end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; interfacing between said cable network and said end user device, said interfacing including; performing a transrating operation to produce a second bitstream having a lower data rate than the data rate of a first bitstream including the received video content; and communicating said second bitstream to the end user device, said second bitstream communicating encoded video data including video content, received from the cable network on the channel specified by said end user device, to the end user device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 26)
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6. A method of operating a bridging device including a tuner to provide content, comprising:
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receiving content via a cable network; tuning to a channel specified by a end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; interfacing between said cable network and at least one of;
i) a non-cable network or ii) said end user device;transcoding video content received from the cable network in a first encoded format to produce video content in a second encoded format said second encoded format being different from the first encoded format, said encoded video data communicated to the end user device including content in said second encoded format, said transcoding of the video content producing a second bitstream having a lower data rate than the data rate of a first bitstream including the received video content; and communicating said second bitstream to the end user device, said second bitstream communicating encoded video data including video content, received from the cable network on the channel specified by said end user device, to the end user device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. A method of operating a bridging device including a tuner to provide content, comprising:
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receiving content via a cable network; tuning to a channel specified by an end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; interfacing between said cable network and at least one of;
i) a non-cable network or ii) said end user device; andwherein said bridging device does not have a video decoder for generating decoded video.
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10. A method of operating a bridging device including a tuner to provide content, comprising:
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receiving content via a cable network; tuning to a channel specified by an end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; interfacing between said cable network and at least one of;
i) a non-cable network or ii) said end user device; andwherein said bridging device does not have a decoded video output.
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12. A method of operating a bridging device including a tuner to provide content, comprising:
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receiving content via a cable network; tuning to a channel specified by an end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; interfacing between said cable network and at least one of;
i) a non-cable network or ii) said end user device;receiving content from a first end user device; determining at least one of a data rate and coding format of content supplied by the first user device; processing the content from the first end user device by performing at least one of;
a transcoding or ii) transrating operation to generate processed content; andtransmitting the processed content to a second end user device; wherein transcoding is performed as part of said processing when the coding format of content supplied by the first user device is different from a coding format supported by the second user device; and wherein transrating is performed as part of said processing when the data rate of content supplied by the first user device is different from a data rate supported by the second user device.
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13. A bridging device, comprising:
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a cable network interface for receiving content via a cable network; a second interface for interfacing said bridging device to at least one of i) a non-cable network or ii) an end user device; a tuner module for tuning to a channel specified by said end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; a rate determination module adapted to determine a data rate of content supplied by a first end user device; and a protocol conversion module for performing a protocol conversion between a first protocol used by said cable network interface and a second protocol used by said second interface, said second protocol being different from said first protocol. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 24, 25)
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19. A bridging device, comprising:
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a cable network interface for receiving content via a cable network; a second interface for interfacing said bridging device to at least one of i) a non-cable network or ii) an end user device; a tuner module for tuning to a channel specified by said end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; a protocol conversion module for performing a protocol conversion between a first protocol used by said cable network interface and a second protocol used by said second interface, said second protocol being different from said first protocol; a transcoding module for transcoding video content received from the cable network in a first encoded format to produce video content in a second encoded format, said second encoded format being different from the first encoded format, said transcoding module producing a second bitstream having a lower data rate than the data rate of a first bitstream including the received video content, said second bitstream being communicated to the end user device; and wherein said second bitstream communicated to the end user device communicates encoded video data including content in said second encoded format.
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20. A bridging device, comprising:
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a cable network interface for receiving content via a cable network; a second interface for interfacing said bridging device to an end user device, said second interface including at least one of a USB interface module, RS422 interface module or RS232 interface module; a tuner module for tuning to a channel specified by said end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; a protocol conversion module for performing a protocol conversion between a first protocol used by said cable network interface and a second protocol used by said second interface, said second protocol being different from said first protocol; and a transrating module for performing a transrating operation to produce a second bitstream having a lower data rate than the data rate of a first bitstream including the received video content, said second bitstream being communicated to the end user device.
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22. A bridging device, comprising:
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a cable network interface for receiving content via a cable network; a second interface for interfacing said bridging device to at least one of i) a non-cable network or ii) an end user device; a tuner module for tuning to a channel specified by said end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; a protocol conversion module for performing a protocol conversion between a first protocol used by said cable network interface and a second protocol used by said second interface, said second protocol being different from said first protocol; and wherein said bridging device does not have a video decoder for generating decoded video.
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23. A bridging device, comprising:
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a cable network interface for receiving content via a cable network; a second interface for interfacing said bridging device to at least one of i) a non-cable network and ii) an end user device; a tuner module for tuning to a channel specified by said end user device in response to a signal from the end user device; a protocol conversion module for performing a protocol conversion between a first protocol used by said cable network interface and a second protocol used by said second interface, said second protocol being different from said first protocol; and wherein said bridging device does not have a decoded video output.
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Specification