Patent ID: 7617510
Filing Date: 2009-11-10
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method for creating a two-way communication from two unidirectional data channels, comprising: communicatively coupling a set-top box with a hub of a media network, wherein the set-top box receives a streaming Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) video modulated on a coaxial cable rather than over an Internet protocol-based local area network; filtering signals received by the media network from a multimedia headend to provide one or more available frequencies for communication between the set-top box and the hub; filtering signals transmitted from the media network to the multimedia headend to prevent media network signals of the one or more available frequencies for communication from leaving the media network; tuning the set-top box to the one or more available frequencies for communication to send ALOHA data to the hub on an out-of-band channel through a Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) demodulator; tuning the set-top box to a frequency other than the one or more available frequencies for communication between the set-top box and the hub to receive the signals from the multimedia headend on the out-of-band channel; and tuning the set-top box to receive Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) modulated MPEG data and a multimedia content from the hub on an in-band channel; wherein the filtering is performed by a notching filter; wherein the hub is a personal computer comprising an API layer configured to mask the two unidirectional data channels such that the two unidirectional channels present an interface that appears as a bidirectional channel to applications and functions on the hub; receiving the streaming Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) video on the in-band channel of the set-top box using one of the selected frequencies, wherein a program content is encrypted by creating two encrypted program streams from the program content such that for each I frame in the MPEG data one of the two program streams contains an un-modified I frame and the other of the two program streams contains random shuffling of MPEG slices of the I frame and the program content is decrypted by a binary key that for a given I frame identifies the one of the two encrypted program streams as containing the un-modified I frame when a digit of the binary key is 0 and identifies the other of the two program streams as containing the un-modified I frame when the digit of the binary key is 1.