Fast channel change apparatus and method for IPTV

• US 8,630,306 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2006
• Issued: 01/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Liu, Guangtian, Chen, Weijing
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Man
• Assistant Examiner(s): RANDHAWA, MANDISH K
• Application Number:
  US11/327,929
• Publication Number:
  US 20070160038A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,927 Days
• Field of Search: 370/389, 370/468, 370/428, 370/486, 370/546, 725/38, 725/135, 37524001-24003, 37524012-24016, 375/240.26, 375/240.27
• US Class Current: 370/428
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• 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 21/44209 Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system that can receive a group of channels (at least one of which includes an I-frame) from a DSL network, a memory that can store the I-frames, and a channel change detector that can detect a user'"'"'s selection of a particular channel. If the memory contains the I-frame corresponding to the particular channel and if an I-frame has not been received from the DSL network, then the system provides the stored I-frame from the memory to the user.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium including processor executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

responsive to receiving B-frames, P-frames, and I-frames, including a first selected I-frame, for a plurality of channels in a first group of channels sent from a server to a user, buffering the first selected I-frame in a buffer of a digital subscriber line access multiplexer;

modifying the first selected I-frame based on subsequently received B-frames and P-frames to produce a modified I-frame;

replacing the first selected I-frame in the buffer with the modified I-frame;

responsive to receiving B-frames, P-frames, and I-frames for a second plurality of channels sent from a server to a user, storing a second selected I-frame in a cluster memory shared by at least two digital subscriber line access multiplexers;

detecting a user event from the user; and

providing the modified I-frame to the user in response to the user event.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise:

circularly FIFO buffering a most recent I-frame for each channel of the first group of channels.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations include:

sharing the modified I-frame with another processor of a processor cluster.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein detecting the user event includes at least one of:

detecting a channel change from the users; and

detecting a user device error.

5. A method for providing video content, the method comprising:

responsive to receiving B-frames, P-frames, and I-frames, including a first selected I-frame, for a plurality of channels in a first group of channels sent from a server to a user, buffering the first selected I-frame in a buffer of a digital subscriber line access multiplexer;

modifying the first selected I-frame based on subsequently received B-frames and P-frames to produce a modified I-frame;

replacing the first selected I-frame in the buffer with the modified I-frame;

responsive to receiving B-frames, P-frames, and I-frames for a second plurality of channels sent from a server to a user, storing a second selected I-frame in a cluster memory shared by at least two digital subscriber line access multiplexers;

detecting a user event from the user; and

providing the modified I-frame to the user in response to the user event.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

circularly FIFO buffering a most recent I-frame for each channel of the first group of channels.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

sharing the modified I-frame with another processor of a processor cluster.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein detecting the user event includes at least one of:

detecting a channel change from the user; and

detecting a user device error.

9. A network element for providing content to a user, the network element comprising:

a processor;

a memory, accessible to the processor, including processor executable instructions, that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

responding to receiving B-frames, P-frames, and I-frames, including a first selected I-frame, for a plurality of channels in a first group of channels sent from a server to a user by buffering the first selected I-frame in a digital subscriber line access multiplexer buffer;

modifying the first selected I-frame based on subsequently received B-frames and P-frames to produce a modified I-frame;

replacing the first selected I-frame in the buffer with the modified I-frame;

responding to receiving B-frames, P-frames, and I-frames for a second plurality of channels sent from a server to a user by storing a second selected I-frame in a cluster memory shared by at least two digital subscriber line access multiplexers;

detecting a user event from the user; and

providing the modified I-frame to the user in response to the user event.

10. The network element of claim 9, wherein the operations include:

circularly FIFO buffering a most recent I-frame for each channel of the first group of channels.

11. The network element of claim 9, wherein the operations include:

sharing the modified I-frame with another processor of a processor cluster.

12. The network element of claim 9, wherein detecting the user event includes at least one of:

detecting a channel change from the user; and

detecting a user device error.