Method and apparatus for communicating internet protocol data over a broadband MPEG channel
First Claim
1. A method for communicating computer data provided according to a first data protocol over a digital television broadcast network to a subscriber terminal, said network using a digital video protocol to carry a plurality of digital video data streams, comprising the steps of:
- encapsulating said computer data provided according to said first data protocol in at least one transport packet;
providing the at least one transport packet and a corresponding header that conforms to the digital video protocol in at least one of said data streams for distribution in conformance with said digital video protocol;
multiplexing the at least one data stream with remaining ones of said plurality of data streams conforming to said digital video protocol for transmission over said network;
receiving said at least one data stream from said network at said subscriber terminal according to said digital video protocol; and
processing the received at least one data stream at said subscriber terminal in accordance with said digital video protocol to recover said computer data provided according to said first data protocol.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Computer data provided according to a first data protocol, such as the Internet protocol, is communicated over a digital television broadcast network using a second data protocol such as MPEG2. The computer data in the first data protocol is encapsulated in at least one data stream for distribution in conformance with the second data protocol. The at least one data stream encapsulating the computer data is multiplexed with a plurality of data streams conforming to the second data protocol for transmission over the network, which may be a cable or satellite television network. The data stream encapsulating the computer data is received from the network according to the second data protocol, and processed in accordance with the second data protocol to recover the computer data in the first data protocol. A prioritization scheme is provided wherein different messages in the first data protocol are prioritized in the output multiplex according to at least one of source address, destination address, data type and connection type.
165 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for communicating computer data provided according to a first data protocol over a digital television broadcast network to a subscriber terminal, said network using a digital video protocol to carry a plurality of digital video data streams, comprising the steps of:
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encapsulating said computer data provided according to said first data protocol in at least one transport packet; providing the at least one transport packet and a corresponding header that conforms to the digital video protocol in at least one of said data streams for distribution in conformance with said digital video protocol; multiplexing the at least one data stream with remaining ones of said plurality of data streams conforming to said digital video protocol for transmission over said network; receiving said at least one data stream from said network at said subscriber terminal according to said digital video protocol; and processing the received at least one data stream at said subscriber terminal in accordance with said digital video protocol to recover said computer data provided according to said first data protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 19)
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7. A method for recovering computer data provided according to an Internet protocol (IP) from a digital video data stream carrying a multiplex of different information signals using a digital video protocol, comprising the steps of:
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receiving said multiplex from a digital video distribution channel at a subscriber terminal; processing said multiplex at said subscriber terminal using said digital video protocol to identify said computer data; said computer data being encapsulated in at least one transport packet carried by at least one of said information signals, said at least one transport packet having a header that conforms to the digital video protocol; extracting said computer data from said at least one transport packet; and processing said extracted computer data in accordance with said IP protocol to recover information therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for communicating computer data provided according to a first data protocol over a digital television broadcast network to a subscriber terminal, said network using a digital video protocol to carry a plurality of digital video data streams, comprising:
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means for assigning a priority to different computer data messages received in conformance with said first data protocol; a queue for storing said computer data messages according to their assigned priority; means for encapsulating the prioritized computer data messages received from said queue in at least one transport packet; means for providing the at least one transport packet and a corresponding header that conforms to the digital video protocol in at least one of said data streams for distribution in conformance with said digital video protocol; and a multiplexer for multiplexing the at least one data stream with remaining ones of said plurality of data streams conforming to said digital video protocol for transmission over said network to said subscriber terminal. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20)
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16. A subscriber terminal apparatus for recovering computer data provided according to an Internet protocol (IP) from a digital video data stream carrying a multiplex of different information signals using a digital video protocol, comprising:
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a receiver for receiving said multiplex from a digital video distribution channel; means for processing said multiplex using said digital video protocol to identify said computer data; said computer data being encapsulated in at least one transport packet in at least one of said information signals, said at least one transport packet having a header that conforms to the digital video protocol; means for extracting said computer data from said at least one transport packet; and means for processing said extracted computer data in accordance with said IP protocol to recover information therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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21. A computer data signal in a broadband channel of a digital television broadcast network, said broadband channel including a plurality of digital video data streams that are transmitted from a headend server to a decoder population according to a digital video protocol, comprising:
computer data provided according to a first data protocol;
wherein;said computer data is encapsulated in at least one transport packet having a header that conforms to the digital video protocol; the at least one transport packet and the header are provided in at least one of said data streams for distribution to said decoder population according to said digital video protocol; and said at least one data stream is multiplexed with remaining ones of said plurality of data streams. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
Specification