Simulcast transmission of digital programs to shared antenna receiving systems

• US 5,646,942 A
• Filed: 03/24/1995
• Issued: 07/08/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Oliver, Brian D., Sistanizadeh, Kamran, Kostreski, Bruce, Campbell, W. Tim
• Primary Examiner(s): Safourek, Benedict V.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Chau T.
• Application Number:
  US08/409,574
• Time in Patent Office: 837 Days
• Field of Search: 375/229, 375/232, 375/257, 375/347, 375/299, 370/73, 370/108, 370/112, 370/110.1, 370/69.1, 370/32.1, 455/6.1, 455/6.3, 455/51.1, 455/33.3, 455/51.2, 455/272, 455/277.2, 455/275, 348/460, 348/558, 348/7, 348/12, 348/13, 348/21, 348/423, 348/385, 348/387
• US Class Current: 370/312
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/02 Arrangements for relaying broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/18 Arrangements for synchronising broadcast or distribution via plural systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/33 by plural channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/63 to plural spots in a confined site, e.g. MATV [Master Antenna Television]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/67 Common-wave systems, i.e. using separate transmitters operating on substantially the same frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/81 combined with telephone network over which the broadcast is continuously available
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/1739 the upstream communication being transmitted via a separate link, e.g. telephone line
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/40 Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/108 the cable being constituted by a pair of wires
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 Transmission or handling of upstream communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/20 Adaptations for transmission via a GHz frequency band, e.g. via satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services

Abstract

Within a desired service area, multiple transmitters at separately located sites simultaneously broadcast the same multi-channel, multi-program signal. Broadcast waves from the transmitters propagate throughout substantially overlapping portions of the service area. Obstructions in the service area, e.g. mountains, buildings, trees, etc., may block reception from one or more of the transmitters at certain sites. However, at most receiving sites, the receiving antenna can receive a clear line-of-sight transmission from at least one and often two or more of the transmitters. Each broadcast channel carries a multiplexed digital data stream containing packets of information for a plurality of programs, e.g. television programs. A shared antenna system, typically including multiple receiving antennae aimed at a plurality of the transmitters, supplies received signals to terminals in a plurality of living units. The shared system includes processing circuitry to supply an optimal signal from the receiving antennae to the terminals.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

a plurality of transmitters located at spaced apart sites transmitting a signal including multiplexed channels so that areas of propagation from respective ones of the transmitters substantially overlap over each other in at least a major portion of a reception area; and

a receiver system located within the reception area and serving a plurality of living units, said receiver system comprising;

(1) at least two directional receiving antennae, each directional receiving antenna being directed to receive said signal from a different one of the transmitters;

(2) signal processing circuitry receiving a signal from each of the receiving antennae and in response thereto outputting a single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels; and

(3) terminals located in a plurality of the living units, each terminal receiving the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels from the signal processing circuitry and processing a selected one of the multiplexed channels of the single representation of said signal to present program information from a selected channel.

2. A communication system as in claim 1, wherein said signal processing circuitry comprises means responsive to the level of signals from the receiving antennae for selecting a signal from one of the receiving antennae as the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels.

3. A communication system as in claim 1, wherein said signal processing circuitry comprises:

a plurality of channel processors, each of the channel processors processing signals from the receiving antenna to output a single representation of one of the multiplexed channels; and

a combiner for combining the representations of the channels output by the channel processors to form the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels.

4. A communication system as in claim 3, wherein each channel processor comprises:

a plurality of filters, each filter receiving an output from a respective one of the receiving antennae and selecting a predetermined one of the multiplexed channels; and

means responsive to signal level of the predetermined one of the multiplexed channels from each of the receiving antennae for selecting a signal representing the predetermined one of the multiplexed channels from one of the receiving antennae as the single representation of the predetermined one of the multiplexed channels.

5. A communication system as in claim 1, further comprising a distribution system for supplying the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels to the terminals.

6. A communication system as in claim 5, wherein said distribution system comprises a coaxial cable broadcasting system transporting the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels from the signal processing circuitry to the terminals.

7. A communication system as in claim 5, wherein said distribution system comprises:

at least one wireless transmitting antenna for local broadcasting of the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels from the signal processing circuitry; and

a plurality of wireless receiving antenna, each of which is responsive to the local broadcast for supplying the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels to at least one the terminals.

8. A communication system as in claim 1, further comprising a headend producing the signal including multiplexed channels such that each multiplexed channel includes a digital transport stream containing information relating to a plurality of programs.

9. A communication system as in claim 8, wherein each terminal comprises:

(i) an interface module responsive to the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels for selecting one of the multiplexed channels and acquiring a digital transport stream from the selected channel, and

(ii) a digital signal processing section for processing a portion of the acquired digital transport stream associated with a selected program to present information relating to the selected program.

10. A communication system as in claim 9, further comprising an output device responsive to information presented by said digital signal processor to output information relating to the selected program to a user in sensorially perceptible form.

11. A communication system as in claim 10, wherein said output device comprises a video display.

12. A communication system as in claim 1, further comprising an off-the-air receiving antenna receiving program signals broadcast from other transmitters providing off-the-air program services in the reception area, wherein the signal processing circuitry includes means for merging at least one channel signal from the off-the-air receiving antenna with the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels into a combined signal.

13. A communication system as in claim 12, further comprising a distribution system for supplying the combined signal to the terminals in the living units.

14. A communication system as in claim 13, wherein said distribution system comprises a coaxial cable broadcasting system transporting the combined signal from the signal processing circuitry to the terminals.

15. A communication system comprising:

a headend comprising;

(1) a source of a first digital multiplexed data stream containing a plurality of packet streams, each packet stream carrying digitized data representing one of a first group of video programs,

(2) a source of a second digital multiplexed data stream containing a plurality of packet streams, each packet stream carrying digitized data representing one of a second group of video programs,

(3) a modulation system modulating the first digital multiplexed data stream and the second digital multiplexed data stream into first and second channels, respectively;

a plurality of wireless transmitters located at respective different sites in a service area, the transmitters simultaneously transmitting a combined wireless signal containing the first and second channels into overlapping portions of the service area; and

a plurality of receiver systems within the service area, at least one of the receiver systems serving a plurality of living units, said at least one of the receiver systems comprising;

(i) at least two directional receiving antennae, each directional receiving antenna being directed to receive said combined wireless signal from a different one of the transmitters,

(ii) signal processing circuitry receiving signals from the receiving antennae and in response thereto outputting a single representation of a combined signal containing the first and second channels, and

(iii) terminals located in a plurality of the living units, each terminal comprising (a) an interface module processing the single representation to select one of the first and second channels thereof and acquire a digital multiplexed data stream from the selected channel, and (b) a digital signal processing section for processing digitized data from a selected packet stream contained in the acquired digital multiplexed data stream to present a selected video program to a viewer.

16. A communication system as in claim 15, wherein the interface module comprises:

means for selectively receiving one of the one of the first and second channels from the single representation; and

means for demodulating the selectively received channel.

17. A communication system as in claim 16, wherein:

each of the at least two directional receiving antennae receives a plurality of differently time delayed representations of the combined wireless signal;

the single representation includes a plurality of differently time delayed representations of the first and second channels; and

each terminal further comprises means for processing the plurality of time delayed representations of the selected one of the first and second channels to produce a single copy of the acquired digital multiplexed data stream for output to the digital signal processing section.

18. A communication system as in claim 17, wherein the means for processing comprises a digital time delay equalizer within the interface module.

19. A communication system as in claim 15, wherein at least one of the sources comprises:

a plurality of encoders responsive to analog audio and video information for producing packets of digitized, compressed audio and video data; and

a multiplexer multiplexing packets of digitized, compressed audio and video data from the plurality of encoders into one digital multiplexed data stream.

20. A communication system as in claim 15, wherein said modulation system comprises:

a first modulator for modulating the first digital multiplexed data stream into the first channel;

a second modulator for modulating the second digital multiplexed data stream into the second channel; and

a combiner combining output signals from the first and second modulators into a combined spectrum signal and supplying the combined spectrum signal to each of the transmitters for transmission as said combined wireless signal.

21. A communication system as in claim 20, wherein each of the first and second modulators comprises a quadrature amplitude modulator, and each interface module includes a quadrature amplitude demodulator.

22. A communication system as in claim 20, further comprising converter means for converting the first and second channel signals to microwave frequency range channels.

23. A communication system as in claim 15, further comprising a transmission network between the modulation system and the wireless transmitters for transmitting a first copy of the combined wireless signal through a first path to arrive at a broadcast antenna at a first one of the transmitters after a known time period, and for transmitting and delaying a second copy of the combined wireless signal through a second path to arrive at a broadcast antenna at a second one of the transmitter sites after said time period.

24. A communication system as in claim 23, wherein the transmission network comprises optical fibers connected between the transmitters and the modulation system.

25. A system as in claim 15, wherein at least one of the wireless transmitters includes a delay device for delaying the first channel such that first channel signals in the transmissions from the wireless transmitters are synchronized and in phase.

26. A system as in claim 25, wherein at least one of the wireless transmitters includes a delay device for delaying the second channel such that second channel signals in the transmissions from the wireless transmitters are synchronized and in phase.

27. A system as in claim 15, further comprising at least one additional receiving system, said additional receiving system comprising:

(i) a single directional receiving antennae directed to receive said combined wireless signal from one of the transmitters; and

(ii) a terminal comprising;

(a) another interface module processing a signal from the single directional receiving antennae to select one of the first and second channels and acquire one digital multiplexed data stream from the channel selected by said another interface module, and (b) another digital signal processing section for processing digitized data from a selected packet stream contained in the one digital multiplexed data stream acquired by said another interface module to present a selected video program to a viewer.

28. A shared receiving system serving a plurality of living units, said shared receiving system comprising:

at least two directional receiving antennae, each directional receiving antenna being directed to receive a signal including multiplexed channels from a different one of a plurality of spaced apart transmitters which provide overlapping simultaneous broadcasts of the signal including multiplexed channels;

signal processing circuitry receiving a signal from each of the receiving antennae and in response thereto outputting a single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels;

a distribution system for broadcasting the single representation of said signal; and

terminals located in a plurality of the living units, each terminal receiving the single representation of said signal including the multiplexed channels via the distribution system and processing a selected one of the multiplexed channels of the single representation of said signal to present program information from the selected channel.

29. A system as in claim 28, wherein said signal processing circuitry comprises means responsive to the level of signals from the receiving antennae for selecting a signal from one of the receiving antennae as the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels.

30. A system as in claim 28, wherein said signal processing circuitry comprises:

a plurality of channel processors, each of the channel processors processing signals from the receiving antenna to output a single representation of one of the multiplexed channels; and

a combiner for combining the representations of the multiplexed channels output by the channel processors to form the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels.

31. A system as in claim 30, wherein each channel processor comprises:

a plurality of filters, each filter receiving an output from a respective one of the receiving antennae and selecting a predetermined one of the multiplexed channels; and

means responsive to signal level of the predetermined one of the multiplexed channels from each of the receiving antennae for selecting a signal representing the predetermined one of the multiplexed channels from one of the receiving antennae as the single representation of the predetermined one of the multiplexed channels.

32. A system as in claim 28, wherein said distribution system comprises a coaxial cable broadcasting system transporting the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels from the signal processing circuitry to the terminals.

33. A system as in claim 28, wherein said distribution system comprises:

at least one wireless transmitting antenna for local broadcasting of the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels from the signal processing circuitry; and

a plurality of wireless receiving antenna, each of which is responsive to the local broadcast for supplying the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels to at least one the terminals.

34. A system as in claim 28, further comprising a headend producing the signal including multiplexed channels such that each multiplexed channel includes a digital transport stream containing digitized information relating to a plurality of programs.

35. A system as in claim 34, wherein each terminal comprises:

(i) an interface module responsive to the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels for selecting one of the multiplexed channels and acquiring a digital transport stream from the selected channel, and

(ii) a digital signal processing section for processing a portion of the acquired digital transport stream associated with a selected program to present information relating to the selected program.

36. A system as in claim 35, further comprising an output device responsive to information presented by said digital signal processor to output information relating to the selected program to a user in sensorially perceptible form.

37. A system as in claim 36, wherein said output device comprises a video display.

38. A system as in claim 28, further comprising an off-the-air receiving antenna receiving program signals broadcast from other transmitters providing off-the-air program services, wherein the signal processing circuitry includes means for merging at least one channel signal from the off-the-air receiving antenna with the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels into a combined signal.

39. A method comprising the steps of:

a) simultaneously transmitting from multiple spaced transmitting sites the same signal so that areas of propagation from respective ones of the transmitting sites substantially overlap over each other in at least a major portion of a reception area, said signal transmitted from said transmitting sites including multiplexed channels, each channel carrying digitally multiplexed data representing a plurality of programs;

b) at one receiving site in the major portion of said reception area, directionally receiving a signal from each of the transmitting sites;

c) from the signals received from the transmitting sites, producing a single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels;

d) distributing the single representation of said signal to a plurality of living units; and

e) in at least one living unit, processing a selected portion of the digitally multiplexed data carried in a selected one of the multiplexed channels of the single representation of said signal to present information from a selected one of the programs.

40. A method as in claim 39, wherein the step of distributing comprises broadcasting the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels through a cable to the living units.

41. A method as in claim 39, wherein the step of distributing comprises wireless broadcasting of the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels to the living units.

42. A method as in claim 41, wherein the wireless broadcasting of the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels to the living units utilizes frequency channels utilized by the multiple spaced transmitting sites.

43. A method as in claim 41, wherein the wireless broadcasting of the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels to the living units utilizes frequency channels different from frequency channels utilized by the multiple spaced transmitting sites.

44. A method as in claim 41, wherein the wireless broadcasting of the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels utilizes a plurality of transmitting antennae.

45. A method as in claim 39, wherein the step of producing a single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels comprises:

determining the level of the signals received from respective transmitting sites through corresponding directional receiving antennae; and

based on the level detection, selecting a signal from one of the directional receiving antennae as the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels.

46. A method as in claim 39, wherein the step of producing a single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels comprises:

from an output from each of a plurality of directional receiving antennae directed at different transmitter sites, selecting a first one of the multiplexed channels;

determining the level of the first channel from the output from each directional receiving antenna;

based on the level detection relative to the first channel, selecting a signal representing the first channel from one of the receiving antennae as a single representation of the first channel;

from an output from each of the directional receiving antennae, selecting a second one of the multiplexed channels;

determining the level of the second channel from the output from each directional receiving antenna;

based on the level detection relative to the second channel, selecting a signal representing the second channel from one of the receiving antennae as a single representation of the second channel; and

combining the single representation of the first channel with the single representation of the second channel to form the single representation of said signal including multiplexed channels.