Patent ID: 7457883
Filing Date: 2008-11-25
Classification: H04L,H04N

Abstract:
1. A system for mapping a digital network, the system comprising: a controller configured to send an initiate signal; and a plurality of network devices in communication with the controller, each network device configured to receive a transport stream that includes a stream of data packets, each data packet including a header and a data payload, each of the plurality of network devices further configured to receive the initiate signal from the controller; wherein, in response to receiving the initiate signal from the controller, each of the plurality of network devices generates a network message and sends the network message to the controller, the network message including information associated with the respective network device; and wherein, in response to receiving the network messages from the network devices, the controller generates a transport stream map, the transport stream map representing a flow of transport streams among the plurality of network devices, wherein each of the network messages includes an input transport stream identifier (input TSID) and an output transport stream identifier (output TSID), the input TSID identifying the transport stream received by the respective network device and the output TSID identifying the transport stream transmitted by the respective network device, wherein the controller is further configured to determine if a conflict exists between two TSIDs, and, in response to determining that a conflict exists, creating unique TSIDs to resolve the conflict.