Video and data network load balancing

• US 8,456,986 B2
• Filed: 04/16/2010
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ViaSat Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ViaSat Incorporated
• Inventors: Kimmich, Kevin, Mo, Fan, Vanderaar, Mark, Harel, Richard, Fuerst, Russell
• Primary Examiner(s): Sefcheck, Gregory
• Assistant Examiner(s): YOUNG, STEVE R
• Application Number:
  US12/762,280
• Publication Number:
  US 20100260043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,145 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0003 by switching between different modulation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0014 by adapting the source coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0046 Code rate detection or code type detection H04L1/0038 takes precedence; detection of the data rate H04L25/0262; for packet format H04L1/0091
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1812 Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0098 Unequal error protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/136 Incoming video signal characteristics or properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/156 Availability of hardware or computational resources, e.g. encoding based on power-saving criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/162 User input
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/164 Feedback from the receiver or from the transmission channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/30 using hierarchical techniques, e.g. scalability H04N19/63 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/40 using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/66 involving data partitioning, i.e. separation of data into packets or partitions according to importance
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/89 involving methods or arrangements for detection of transmission errors at the decoder
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234327 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2383 Channel coding or modulation of digital bit-stream, e.g. QPSK modulation arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by adapting the channel coding H04L1/0009; analogue front ends or means for connecting modulators, demodulators or transceivers to a transmission line H04L27/0002
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25808 Management of client data terminal profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/303
• 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 21/631 : Multimode Transmission, e.g. transmitting basic layers and enhancement layers of the content over different transmission paths or transmitting with different error corrections, different keys or with different transmission protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64792 : Controlling the complexity of the content stream, e.g. by dropping packets intermediate media network packet handling H04L65/765; proxy provisioning conversion or adaptation for reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data H04L67/5651; negotiation of resources in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 : Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38

Abstract

A load balancing communications network configured to communicate with multiple data terminals includes: a first data terminal and a second data terminal; a gateway including: a source data receiver module adapted to receive first source data representing video content and second source data representing broadband data content; a pre-coder module adapted to pre-code the first source data using pre-coding schemes to generate sets of representation data; and an ACM module adapted to associate the sets of representation data with coding and modulation schemes; and a transceiver module adapted to generate a first transmission by applying the coding and modulation schemes to the sets of representation data, generate a second transmission from the second source data, and communicate the first transmission to the first data terminal and the second transmission to the second data terminal over a satellite link.

Claims

1. A load balancing communications network configured to communicate with a plurality of data terminals in a satellite environment, the network comprising:

a first data terminal and a second data terminal, each being one of the plurality of data terminals, each configured to receive a transmission over a satellite link;

a gateway, in communication with the plurality of data terminals and comprising;

a source data receiver module configured to receive first source data representing video content to be communicated to the first data terminal and second source data representing broadband data content to be communicated to the second data terminal;

a pre-coder module configured to pre-code the first source data using a first pre-coding scheme to generate a first set of representation data decodable independently to provide a set of first-level playback data representing the first source data, and pre-code the first source data using a second pre-coding scheme to generate a second set of representation data decodable in combination with the first set of representation data to provide a set of second-level playback data representing the first source data; and

an ACM module configured to associate the first set of representation data with a first channel coding and modulation scheme, and associate the second set of representation data with a second channel coding and modulation scheme, wherein the second channel coding and modulation scheme is of a higher order than the first channel coding and modulation scheme; and

a transceiver module configured to generate a first transmission by applying the first channel coding and modulation scheme to the first set of representation data and applying the second channel coding and modulation scheme to the second set of representation data, generate a second transmission from the second source data, and communicate the first transmission to the first data terminal and the second transmission to the second data terminal over the satellite link.

2. The network of claim 1, wherein each of the first pre-coding scheme and the second pre-coding scheme includes a data partitioning scheme using an H.26x video coding standard with spatial scalability.

3. The network of claim 1, wherein the gateway further includes:

a network control module configured to calculate priority data for the first source data and the second source data, use the priority data to generate a master schedule including one or more of bit rate data and modcode data, and transmit the master schedule to one or more of the pre-coder module and the ACM module to configure parameters for a next sequence,

wherein the pre-coder module is further configured to receive the master schedule and to pre-code the first source data based in part on the bit rate data if included in the master schedule, and the ACM module is further configured to receive the master schedule and to determine the first channel coding and modulation scheme and the second channel coding and modulation scheme from the modcode data if included in the master schedule.

4. The network of claim 3, wherein the network control module is further configured to receive one or more of link condition data about data terminals in the plurality of data terminals and configuration data about the first source data and the second source data from a network operator, and to calculate the priority data based at least in part on the one or more of link condition data and configuration data.

5. The network of claim 4, wherein when the network control module receives updated link condition data indicating that a link condition of the first data terminal is deteriorating, the network control module is further configured to generate an updated master schedule including updated modcode data indicating that the first channel coding and modulation scheme is to be updated to a different channel coding and modulation scheme of a lower order for a following sequence.

6. The network of claim 3, wherein the network control module is further configured to calculate the priority data based at least in part on one or more of the following for the video content or the broadband data content:

an audience metric, minimizing transmission cost, or maximizing availability.

7. The network of claim 3, wherein

bit rate data included in the master schedule indicates a first bit rate and a second bit rate, a sum of the first bit rate and the second bit rate equaling a given bit rate of the first source data;

and

the pre-coder module is further configured to generate the first set of representation data in part based on the first bit rate and to generate the second set of representation data in part based on the second bit rate.

8. The network of claim 1, wherein the first transmission is communicated to the first data terminal through broadcasting, multicasting, or unicasting depending on the priority data.

9. A network access unit of a load balancing communications network configured to communicate with a first data terminal and a second data terminal of a plurality of data terminals in a satellite environment, each of the first data terminal and the second data terminal configured to receive a transmission over a satellite link, the network access unit comprising:

a source data receiver module configured to receive first source data representing video content to be communicated to the first data terminal and second source data representing broadband data content to be communicated to the second data terminal;

a pre-coder module configured to pre-code the first source data using a first pre-coding scheme to generate a first set of representation data decodable independently to provide a set of first-level playback data representing the first source data, and pre-code the first source data using a second pre-coding scheme to generate a second set of representation data decodable in combination with the first set of representation data to provide a set of second-level playback data representing the first source data; and

an ACM module configured to associate the first set of representation data with a first channel coding and modulation scheme, and associate the second set of representation data with a second channel coding and modulation scheme, wherein the second channel coding and modulation scheme is of a higher order than the first channel coding and modulation scheme; and

a transceiver module configured to generate a first transmission by applying the first channel coding and modulation scheme to the first set of representation data and applying the second channel coding and modulation scheme to the second set of representation data, generate a second transmission from the second source data, and communicate the first transmission to the first data terminal and the second transmission to the second data terminal over the satellite link.

10. The network access unit of claim 9, wherein each of the first pre-coding scheme and the second pre-coding scheme includes a data partitioning scheme using an H.26x video coding standard with spatial scalability.

11. The network access unit of claim 9, further comprising:

a network control module configured to calculate priority data for the first source data and the second source data, use the priority data to generate a master schedule including one or more of bit rate data and modcode data, and transmit the master schedule to one or more of the pre-coder module and the ACM module to configure parameters for a next sequence,

wherein the pre-coder module is further configured to receive the master schedule and to pre-code the first source data based in part on the bit rate data if included in the master schedule, and the ACM module is further configured to receive the master schedule and to determine the first channel coding and modulation scheme and the second channel coding and modulation scheme from the modcode data if included in the master schedule.

12. The network access unit of claim 11, wherein the network control module is further configured to receive one or more of link condition data about data terminals in the plurality of data terminals and configuration data about the first source data and the second source data from a network operator, and to calculate the priority data based at least in part on the one or more of link condition data and configuration data.

13. The network access unit of claim 12, wherein when the network control module receives updated link condition data indicating that a link condition of the first data terminal is deteriorating, the network control module is further configured to generate an updated master schedule including updated modcode data indicating that the first channel coding and modulation scheme is to be updated to a different channel coding and modulation scheme of a lower order for a following sequence.

14. The network access unit of claim 11, wherein the network control module is further configured to calculate the priority data based at least in part on one or more of the following for the video content or the broadband data content:

an audience metric, minimizing transmission cost, or maximizing availability.

15. The network access unit of claim 11, wherein

bit rate data included in the master schedule indicates a first bit rate and a second bit rate, a sum of the first bit rate and the second bit rate equaling a given bit rate of the first source data;

and

the pre-coder module is further configured to generate the first set of representation data in part based on the first bit rate and to generate the second set of representation data in part based on the second bit rate.

16. The network access unit of claim 9, wherein the first transmission is communicated to the first data terminal through broadcasting, multicasting, or unicasting depending on the priority data.

17. A method for hierarchical communication of a set of source data in a load balancing communications network configured to communicate with a first data terminal and a second data terminal of a plurality of data terminals in a satellite environment, each of the first data terminal and the second data terminal configured to receive a transmission over a satellite link, the method comprising:

receiving first source data representing video content to be communicated to the first data terminal;

receiving second source data representing broadband data content to be communicated to the second data terminal;

pre-coding the first source data using a first pre-coding scheme to generate a first set of representation data decodable independently to provide a set of first-level playback data representing the first source data;

pre-coding the first source data using a second pre-coding scheme to generate a second set of representation data decodable in combination with the first set of representation data to provide a set of second-level playback data representing the first source data;

associating the first set of representation data with a first channel coding and modulation scheme;

associating the second set of representation data with a second channel coding and modulation scheme, wherein the second channel coding and modulation scheme is of a higher order than the first channel coding and modulation scheme;

generating a first transmission by applying the first channel coding and modulation scheme to the first set of representation data and applying the second channel coding and modulation scheme to the second set of representation data;

generating a second transmission from the second source data; and

communicating the first transmission to the first data terminal and the second transmission to the second data terminal over the satellite link.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the first pre-coding scheme and the second pre-coding scheme includes a data partitioning scheme using an H.26x video coding standard with spatial scalability.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

calculating priority data for the first source data and the second source data;

using the priority data to generate a master schedule including one or more of bit rate data and modcode data; and

using the master schedule to configure parameters for a next sequence,

wherein pre-coding the first source data further includes pre-coding the first source data based in part on the bit rate data if included in the master schedule, and associating the first set of representation data and associating the second set of representation data further includes determining the first channel coding and modulation scheme and the second channel coding and modulation scheme from the modcode data if included in the master schedule.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving one or more of link condition data about data terminals in the plurality of data terminals and configuration data about the first source data and the second source data from a network operator; and

calculating the priority data based at least in part on the one or more of link condition data and configuration data.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein

receiving one or more of link condition data and configuration data further includes receiving updated link condition data indicating that a link condition of the first data terminal is deteriorating;

and

the method further includes generating an updated master schedule including updated modcode data indicating that the first channel coding and modulation scheme is to be updated to a different channel coding and modulation scheme of a lower order for a following sequence.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising calculating the priority data based at least in part on one or more of the following for the video content or the broadband data content:

an audience metric, minimizing transmission cost, or maximizing availability.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein

bit rate data included in the master schedule indicates a first bit rate and a second bit rate, a sum of the first bit rate and the second bit rate equaling a given bit rate of the first source data;

the first set of representation data is generated in part based on the first bit rate; and

the second set of representation data is generated in part based on the second bit rate.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein communicating the first transmission to the first data terminal further includes communicating the first transmission to the first data terminal through broadcasting, multicasting, or unicasting depending on the priority data.