Patent ID: 6378130
Filing Date: 2002-04-23
Classification: H04L,H04N

Abstract:
Apparatus for interconnecting media server to subscriber terminals in a system having a headend and a distribution network, a plurality of media servers connected at the headend, and a plurality of subscriber terminals connected to the network, a requesting subscriber terminal requesting a media asset from the media servers, said apparatus comprising:each media server providing one or more media assets for distribution to the subscriber terminals; a two-dimensional array of modulators modulating requested media assets provided by the media servers; a plurality of sets of modulators in the array, a media server linked to each set of modulators, each modulator in a set modulates at the same frequency a media asset from the media server linked to the set, and each set of modulators modulates at a different frequency from other sets of modulators in the array; a connection manager, responsive to a media asset request from the requesting subscriber terminal, selecting a media server as a source media server to provide the requested media asset and selecting a modulator from the set of modulators linked to the source media server to modulate the requested media asset for transmission to the requesting subscriber terminal through a combiner for a group of subscriber terminals containing the requesting subscriber terminal; and said combiner combining all of the modulated media assets from each of the sets of modulators for distribution to a pre-defined group of subscriber terminals.