Access subnetwork controller for video dial tone networks
First Claim
1. A communication network comprising:
- a plurality of user terminals receiving and processing broadband information;
a plurality of information provider systems;
a backbone subnetwork providing point-to-point communication sessions;
an access subnetwork receiving broadcast information signals and distributing the broadcast information signals to authorized ones of the user terminals and receiving digital broadband information signals from a selected interactive information provider system via the backbone subnetwork for transmission to one of the user terminals, the access subnetwork comprising;
(1) a broadcast provider interface receiving digital signals from respective broadcast information providers and combining the received digital signals into a consolidated broadcast signal,(2) a plurality of broadcast headend nodes receiving the consolidated broadcast signal, each broadcast headend node receiving a corresponding local broadcast signal and outputting a combined digital broadcast signal carrying at least a portion of the consolidated broadcast signal and the corresponding local broadcast signal,(3) groups of end offices receiving the combined digital broadcast signals from the respective broadcast headend nodes, each end office outputting to a selected group of the user terminals the combined digital broadcast signal from the corresponding broadcast headend node and a specified portion of the digital broadband information signals from the backbone subnetwork; and
an access subnetwork controller controlling the access subnetwork including at least the end offices thereof to establish broadcast and dedicated connections therethrough in response to connection requests and providing reports regarding specific connections.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An access subnetwork provides broadcast access transport as well as selective allocation of resources for interactive communications sessions dedicated to individual end users. The access subnetwork has specified broadcast and interactive service interfaces, both for communications to and from an information provider and for communication to and from customer premises equipment. An Access Subnetwork Controller provides a single point of control contact within the access subnetwork. Any other subnetwork (typically an element of a higher level control subnetwork) needing a control function in the access subnetwork always sends the request for that function to the Access Subnetwork Controller. The primary responsibility of the Access Subnetwork Controller is to control resources, provide requested resources and monitor the use of resources within in the realm of the access subnetwork. The Access Subnetwork Controller functions essentially in a similar manner to provide every type of requested connection, whether the connection is for broadcast, pay-per-view or IMTV. Specifically, the Access Subnetwork Controller reserves and enables access subnetwork resources for a particular user connection and reports connections back to higher level control elements.
232 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A communication network comprising:
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a plurality of user terminals receiving and processing broadband information; a plurality of information provider systems; a backbone subnetwork providing point-to-point communication sessions; an access subnetwork receiving broadcast information signals and distributing the broadcast information signals to authorized ones of the user terminals and receiving digital broadband information signals from a selected interactive information provider system via the backbone subnetwork for transmission to one of the user terminals, the access subnetwork comprising; (1) a broadcast provider interface receiving digital signals from respective broadcast information providers and combining the received digital signals into a consolidated broadcast signal, (2) a plurality of broadcast headend nodes receiving the consolidated broadcast signal, each broadcast headend node receiving a corresponding local broadcast signal and outputting a combined digital broadcast signal carrying at least a portion of the consolidated broadcast signal and the corresponding local broadcast signal, (3) groups of end offices receiving the combined digital broadcast signals from the respective broadcast headend nodes, each end office outputting to a selected group of the user terminals the combined digital broadcast signal from the corresponding broadcast headend node and a specified portion of the digital broadband information signals from the backbone subnetwork; and an access subnetwork controller controlling the access subnetwork including at least the end offices thereof to establish broadcast and dedicated connections therethrough in response to connection requests and providing reports regarding specific connections. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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2. A communication network comprising:
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a plurality of user terminals receiving and processing broadband information; a plurality of information provider systems; a backbone subnetwork providing point-to-point communication sessions; an access subnetwork receiving broadcast information signals and distributing the broadcast information signals to authorized ones of the user terminals and receiving digital broadband information signals from a selected interactive information provider system via the backbone subnetwork for transmission to one of the user terminals; and an access subnetwork controller controlling the access subnetwork to establish broadcast and dedicated connections theretbrough in response to connection requests and providing reports regarding specific connections, wherein the access subnetwork comprises; a network of first optical fibers carrying digital broadcast programming from at least one of the information provider systems; a plurality of host digital terminals, each host digital terminal being connected to the backbone subnetwork and the network of first optical fibers for selectively supplying digital point-to-point broadband information signals to at least one of the user terminals and digital broadcast programming from the network of first optical fibers to a group of the user terminals in response to selection requests from the group of user terminals and control signals from the access subnetwork controller. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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7. A communication network comprising:
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a plurality of user terminals receiving and processing broadband information; a plurality of information provider systems; a backbone subnetwork providing point-to-point communication sessions; an access subnetwork receiving broadcast information signals and distributing the broadcast information signals to authorized ones of the user terminals and receiving digital broadband information signals from a selected interactive information provider system via the backbone subnetwork for transmission to one of the user terminals; and an access subnetwork controller controlling the access subnetwork to establish broadcast and dedicated connections therethrough in response to connection requests and providing reports regarding specific connections, wherein the access subnetwork comprises; a broadcast provider interface receiving digital signals from broadcast information providers, said broadcast provider interface comprising; (1) means for combining asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell streams having specified VPI/VCI values and each containing one of the digital signals into a consolidated broadcast signal, and (2) means for optically transmitting the consolidated broadcast signal; a plurality of broadcast headend nodes receiving the optically transmitted consolidated broadcast signal, each broadcast headend node comprising; (i) at least one first ATM converter receiving two or more ATM cell streams having specified VPI/VCI values from the consolidated broadcast signal and recovering two or more of the digital signals from the received ATM cell streams, (ii) at least two modulators, each modulator modulating a recovered digital signal onto an assigned channel, (iii) a combiner combining modulated channel signals from the modulators into a first combined spectrum signal, and (iv) means for optically transmitting the first combined spectrum signal; groups of end offices, each group of end offices receiving the first combined spectrum signal from a broadcast headend node servicing the group, each end office comprising; (a) at least one second ATM converter which receives an ATM cell stream having a specified VPI/VCI value from the backbone network and recovers a digital broadband signal from the received ATM cell stream, (b) a modulator modulating the recovered digital signal onto an assigned channel to produce an additional signal, (c) a combiner combining the additional signal with the received first combined spectrum signal to form a second combined spectrum signal, and (d) means for transmitting the second combined spectrum signal; and for each end office, a local distribution network transporting the second combined spectrum signal from that end office to a group of the user terminals. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A system comprising:
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an access subnetwork receiving broadcast information signals and selectively distributing the broadcast information signals to authorized user terminals and receiving interactive service broadband information signals from a point-to-point link through a backbone subnetwork for transmission to one of the user terminals; and an access subnetwork controller controlling the access subnetwork to establish broadcast and point-to-point connections through the access subnetwork to authorized user terminals in response to instructions and reporting on the status of connections through the access subnetwork; wherein the access subnetwork comprises; a network of first optical fibers carrying digital broadcast programming from at least one of the information provider systems; a plurality of host digital terminals, each host digital terminal being connected to the backbone subnetwork and the network of first optical fibers for selectively supplying digital point-to-point broadband information signals to at least one of the user terminals and digital broadcast programming from the network of first optical fibers to a group of the user terminals in response to selection requests from the group of user terminals and control signals from the access subnetwork controller. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 16)
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12. A system comprising:
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an access subnetwork receiving broadcast information signals and selectively distributing the broadcast informationm signals to authorized user terminals and receiving interactive service broadband information signals from a point-to-point link through a backbone subnetwork for transmission to one of the user terminals; and an access subnetwork controller controlling the access subnetwork to establish connections through the access subnetwork to authorized user terminals in response to instructions and reporting on the status of connections through the access subnetwork; wherein the access subnetwork comprises; (1) means for receiving said broadcast information signals in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell streams from broadcast providers and converting the ATM cell streams into a first packet stream containing a plurality of said broadcast information signals, said means for receiving being controlled by said access subnetwork controller; (2) an ATM demultiplexer, controlled by the access subnetwork controller, converting second ATM cell streams received from the backbone subnetwork and carrying the interactive service broadband information signals into a second packet stream carrying the interactive service broadband information, (3) a modulator for modulating the first and second packet streams onto channels assigned by the access subnetwork controller; and (4) means for broadcasting the assigned channels to the user terminals. - View Dependent Claims (13, 17, 18)
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14. An access subnetwork comprising:
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a broadcast provider interface receiving digital signals from broadcast information providers, said broadcast provider interface comprising; (1) means for combining asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell streams having specified VPI/VCI values and each containing one of the digital signals into a consolidated broadcast signal, and (2) means for optically transmitting the consolidated broadcast signal; a plurality of broadcast headend nodes receiving the optically transmitted consolidated broadcast signal, each broadcast headend node comprising; (i) at least one first ATM converter receiving two or more ATM cell streams having specified VPI/VCI values from the consolidated broadcast signal and recovering two or more of the digital signals from the received ATM cell streams, (ii) at least two modulators, each modulator modulating a recovered digital signal onto an assigned channel, (iii) a combiner combining modulated channel signals from the modulators into a first combined spectrum. signal, and (iv) means for optically transmitting the first combined spectrum signal; groups of end offices, each group of end offices receiving the first combined spectrum signal from a broadcast headend node servicing the group, each end office comprising; (a) at least one second ATM converter which receives an ATM cell stream having a specified VPI/VCI value from the ATM network and recovers a digital broadband signal from the received ATM cell stream, (b) a modulator modulating the recovered digital signal onto an assigned channel to produce an additional signal, (b) a combiner combining the additional signal with the received first combined spectrum signal to form a second combined spectrum signal, and (c) means for transmitting the second combined spectrum signal; for each end office, a local distribution network transporting the second combined spectrum signal from that end office to a group of digital entertainment terminals; and an access subnetwork controller controlling at least some operations of the broadcast headend nodes and the end offices in response to connection requests and providing reports regarding specific connections. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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19. A system comprising:
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an access subnetwork comprising; (1) a broadcast interface receiving first ATM cell streams carrying broadcast information signals, recovering the broadcast information signals from the ATM cell streams, and selectively distributing the recovered broadcast information signals to authorized user terminals in response to reception of broadcast selection signals, (2) an interactive interface receiving, from a backbone subnetwork, second ATM cell streams carrying interactive service broadband information signals from a point-to-point link through the backbone subnetwork, the interactive interface recovering the interactive service broadband information signals from the second ATM cell stream for transmission to one of the user terminals via said point-to-point link, (3) a local distribution network selectively supplying the recovered broadcast information signals and the interactive service broadband information signals to the user terminals; and an access subnetwork controller controlling the broadcast interface and the interactive interface to establish connections through the local distribution network to authorized user terminals in response to instructions and reporting on the status of connections through the access subnetwork. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification