Abstract:
A method for delivery of data to an end user, wherein the method comprises the steps of hosting at a first location a first receiver, specific to the first location, receiving data on said first receiver, forwarding data from the first receiver to a processor, for processing the data, forwarding the processed data to a Content Delivery Network (CDN), with at least one node connected to the Internet, receiving on the at least one node of the CDN a request from the end user to have access to data specific to the first location, verifying the identity of the end user and, where the verification is positive and forwarding processed data from the at least one node of the CDN to the end user via the CDN and Internet.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a system and a method for delivery of data to an end user. According to the invention the end user only needs a computer device connected to the Internet to access the data. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Over the years a large number of systems and devices have been developed to allow an end user to watch television, in particular satellite or cable transmitted television. Those systems and devices enable an end user to have access to the television content using a personal receiver in order to receive a television signal. 
         [0003]    According to the prior art, the quality of the television signal received by the end user will depend on several properties of the devices used by the end user. Moreover, the television signal will only be available if and when the receiver of the end user is in the “footprint” of the transmission. In the case of satellite transmission, provided that the satellite dish is able to see the satellite, the quality of the signal will depend on, at least, the size of the satellite dish and the other hardware and software that is used to process the received signal and to display the signal on a screen. 
         [0004]    One aspect of the present invention is to overcome at least some of the problems associated with the prior art. 
         [0005]    The present invention is particularly adapted for end users who want to be free to receive the television signal at a physical location of their choice irrespective of where that might be. The method and the system according to the present invention are specifically useful for an end user who wants to watch television at a location that is not fixed, for example from a boat, a yacht, other vehicle or generally just when the user is on the move. The invention will allow a boat-user, for example, to watch transmitted television programs, irrespective of where the boat is positioned on the globe. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention provides a method and a system for delivery of data to an end user. 
         [0007]    According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for delivery of data to an end user, wherein the method comprises the steps of hosting at a first location a first receiver, specific to the first location, receiving data on said first receiver, forwarding data from the first receiver to a processor, for processing the data, forwarding the processed data to a Content Delivery Network (CDN), with at least one node connected to the Internet, receiving on the at least one node of the CDN a request from the end user to have access to data specific to the first location, verifying the identity of the end user, where the verification is positive and forwarding processed data from the at least one node of the CDN to the end user via the CDN and Internet. 
         [0008]    According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for delivery of data to an end user, wherein the system comprises a first receiver hosted at a first location, for receiving data transmitted in the first location, a processor connected to the first receiver for processing data received on the first receiver, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) connected to the processor for receiving the processed data on the CDN and for forwarding the data towards an end user, wherein CDN has at least one node; wherein the at least one node is connected to the Internet; and wherein the at least one node receives a request from the end user to have access to the data on the CDN and an identity verification tool for verifying the identity of an end user and for allowing or refusing the end user to access the data on the CDN. 
         [0009]    According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer program comprising instructions for carrying out the method according to the invention when said computer program is executed on a programmable apparatus. 
         [0010]    In the present description the wording ‘Content Delivery Network’ (CDN) is used in order to indicate a group of strategically located, high capacity Internet connected network servers. These servers cooperate in order to distribute content allowing a relatively high speed and a relatively high quality when compared to data transported on the Internet without the use of this CDN. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    Reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of the overall system for the delivery of data according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of part of the data delivery apparatus, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a schematic screen display for a user, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a schematic representation of a method, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, given by way of example 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0016]    The present invention relates to a method and system of delivering data to an end user. The data includes a television signal or other type of transport screen stream relating to audiovisual entertainment or media data. The present invention enables such entertainment data to be received in a location appropriate for the data (for example within the footprint of a satellite transmission), converted into Internet packets, and transmitted via the Internet to any location. 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of the data delivery system  100  according the invention to collect data and to forward this to an end user. 
         [0018]    In  FIG. 1 , with the reference number  101 , a schematic representation of the globe is shown. On the globe  101  a first  110 , a second  111  and a third  112  datacenter are installed at a first, a second and a third location. In  FIG. 1 , as an example, three datacenters are shown. It should be understood that the system  100  could comprise any suitable number of datacenters. 
         [0019]    The datacenters  110 ,  111  and  112  are each provided with a source of data, for example a satellite receiver  115 , such as a satellite dish, for receiving data transmitted by a satellite  110 . Other examples of data sources include cable, terrestrial, IPTV and any other type of broadcast or transmission. The datacenter also comprises a processer  116  for processing the data received by the receivers  115 . 
         [0020]    The datacenters  110 ,  111  and  111  are each connected to a node  131 ,  131  and  134  of a Content Delivery Network (CDN)  130 . A CDN is typically defined as a group of strategically located high capacity Internet connected network servers which work together to distribute content in a manner that is of higher speed and quality than were the data to be transported without the CDN. According to  FIG. 1  the CDN comprises five nodes. It should be understood that the CDN  130  could comprise any suitable number of nodes. 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , only some of the nodes  131 ,  132  and  134  are connected to a datacenter  110 ,  111  and  112 . Some nodes  133  and  135  are not connected to a datacenter, but could be connected to a datacenter if preferred. 
         [0022]    All the nodes  131 - 135  of the CDN  130  are connected to the Internet  140 . This allows the system  100  to receive a request from an end user to have access to data which are available on the CDN  130 . This request will be received by one of the nodes  131 - 135  of the CDN  130  and can be sent to the nodes  131 - 135  via the Internet  140 . Once the identity of the requester has been verified the data can be forwarded to the requester via the Internet  140 . The end user can then watch the data on a computer  150  connected to the Internet  140 . The manner in which this occurs will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0023]    The use of the system  100  according to  FIG. 1  is as follows: 
         [0024]    The datacenters  110 ,  111  and  112  are strategically positioned around the globe, in order to capture satellite transmissions which have a specific geographic region. Each datacenter  110 ,  111  and  112  will be set up to ensure proper reception of audio and video signals on the receivers  115 . The datacenter will typically include a bank of receivers  115 , each of which are specific to a particular user and belong to that user although located in the datacenter. In this way, a satellite or cable television signal is received by a receiver in the appropriate territory and belonging to a particularly user who wishes to view the television signal and does not want to rely on connectivity from a receiver that is located in the user&#39;s home when the user is often travelling. The operator acts as a host for the receivers to ensure operation is maintained at all times, by means of backup power, cooling machines and backup connection facilities. In addition, the receiver is hosted in a datacenter which is maintained on a 24 hr basis in an optimal manner. 
         [0025]    After the step of receiving the signals on the receivers  115 , the signals will be processed, using the processors  116  in the datacenters  110 ,  111  and  112 . The processors  116  are used to digitize and encode the received signals and to direct an output to the Content Delivery Network (CDN)  130 . 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , in the processing step an input signal  200  received by the receiver  202  is converted into a video and audio out signal  204  which is fed into a video digitizer  206  where it is converted into a full bandwidth digital transport stream. The digitized transport video stream is fed via a high bandwidth data bus (not shown) into an encoder  208 . The data bus used will be, for example, an IEEE 1394 Fire-wire 400 or 800. The encoder  208  includes a high quality compression engine and is used to encode and compress the digitized transport video stream into a high quality compressed IP (Internet Protocol) stream  210 . After this step the IP stream  210  is suitable for transport across a packet network  212 , such as the Internet and or a CDN. A CDN (not shown) is utilised within the network  212  to further increase quality and reliability. The end user equipment  214  and  216  is mobile and may be located in any location in the world. The end user equipment includes a computer  214  with an associated screen  216 . The IP stream  210  is received by the computer  214  and displayed for view on the associated screen  216 . 
         [0027]    The several datacenters  110 ,  111  and  112  all feed the data they have received and processed into the CDN node which is, in an IP address sense, topographically the closest to each. The datacenter  110  will feed the data into the node  131 , the datacenter  111  into the node  132  and the datacenter  112  into the node  134 . 
         [0028]    In the present description reference is made to the fact that the datacenters  110 ,  111  and  112  feed data received by the receivers onto the nodes  131 ,  132  and  134  of the CDN  130 . It should be understood that the datacenters  110 ,  111  and  112  could be provided with further means for receiving audio and video signals. The datacenters  110 ,  111  and  112  could for instance be provided with a variety of customer owner sources such as cable television sources, Digital terrestrial broadcast material, IPTV appliances and so forth. The data received from these additional data sources could all be equally fed into the CDN  130  once digitized and compressed as described above. 
         [0029]    The fact that the data have been fed into the several nodes  131 ,  132  of the CDN  130  and  134  and the fact that the nodes  131 - 135  of the CDN  130  are connected to the Internet allows an end user to have access to the data from whichever CDN node is closest to the end user&#39;s location, wherever that may be. 
         [0030]    The communication between the end user and the CDN  130  will be as follows: the end user will need to create an account with the operator of the system  100  and purchase a receiver that is appropriate to the location of the original data required by the user. The user may have an account which includes access to different sources in different locations. For example, a user may have a receiver adapted to receive UK television signals in a UK datacenter and a receiver adapted to receive US television signals in a US datacenter. The operator will allocate a user-name and a password to the account. The operator may allocate different usernames and passwords for different sources or may provide a single username and password for all sources. The operator will run an Internet based portal in order to communicate with the end user. 
         [0031]    The end user will connect to the portal in order to start a communication with the operator so as to access data.  FIG. 3  shows a figurative screen presented to the user to enable selection and identification. The screen forms part of a GUI interface which converts user inputs into commands. On the Internet based portal the end user will, in a first step, identify himself using a username  300  and a password  302 . The operator will verify the identification of the end user and if the verification is positive, allow the end user to use the services provided by the operator for that user account. The user may be able to select a source  304  of the video for which the user has a receiver in the appropriate location or datacenter. For example, Canal+ in France, RTL in Germany or DIRECTV in USA. In addition, the user may provide an indicator of the quality required or available  306  in terms of bandwidth and any other appropriate information that will enable the operator to deliver the highest quality signal to the user for the available bandwidth at the user location. A further indicator  308  may give an indication of screen size and definition. Clearly the portal may be configured in any appropriate way and include any information that will enable the user and operator to guarantee the highest quality video signal can be viewed by the user. Once the user has been positively verified and selected a source and quality indicator, the IP stream is delivered directly to the user in real-time such that the user can watch the television transmission from the country of origin in the user&#39;s present location. There may be a latency of several seconds between the real time of reception of the television signal at the datacenter and the delivery thereof at the end user equipment. It should be noted that the end user does not need to install any television receivers or any other hardware although, there will be a means of converting the IP stream back into video for viewing. 
         [0032]    In order to receive the data from the CDN  130  the end user will connect to the Internet based portal, using an Internet connected computer  150 . The connection between the end user and the Internet based portal could take place anywhere on the globe  101 . The Internet based portal will identify the CDN node which is in an IP address sense topographically the closest to the end user. In the example of  FIG. 1 , the CDN node  134  is closest to the end user. 
         [0033]    According to the example of  FIG. 1 , the request from the end user to have access to data will be received and processed on the node  134  of the CDN  130 , closest to the end user. In the example of  FIG. 1 , the end user has requested to receive the data received by the satellite receiver  115  of the datacenter  110 . This data will be forwarded from the node  131  to the node  134  using the CDN  130 . Since the CDN  130  is used, negative technical factors due to the transport of the data that may detract from end user experience can be avoided. Thereafter the data is forwarded from the node  134  via the Internet towards the computer  150  of the end user. The computer  150  is used to decompress and visualize the images on the computer  150  of the end user. 
         [0034]    It should be noted that the end user is able to receive and view the data on any computer connected to the Internet anywhere in the world. This means that the end users can use any device to receive and view the data, with only universally available Internet browsing software. The end user does not need any other hardware to be able to use the method and the system according to the invention. 
         [0035]    In the system  100  according to  FIG. 1 , the encoding technique that is used could be the technique referred to as H.264/MPEG4 AVC. This is a widely adopted video compression standard. As an example a binary executable program to be used for processing the video into an IP format could be the program developed and distributed by FFMPEG.ORG under GNU LPL Version 2.1. Clearly other compression standards or conversion programs could be used. 
         [0036]    The method and system described with respect to the drawings is aimed at end users who want to be able to watch a television program of their choice wherever they are on the globe. Moreover, the method and the system are aimed at end users who want to be able to watch television without any compromise concerning the quality of the received signal. There is no compromise to the quality of video as the original source video is produced in an appropriate location and is then processed by digitising and high-quality encoding before being converted into an IP stream. The IP stream in then transmitted over the Internet at a quality level that is dictated by the Internet and the user connection to the Internet. The IP stream is then decoded at the user equipment for viewing on any appropriate screen. Accordingly there is no degradation in quality of the video viewed by the end user and the only limitation is the user connection bandwidth. 
         [0037]    The method and the system  100  according to the present invention is specifically aimed at boat or yacht owners who want to be able to watch television wherever their yacht is located. With the method and the system  100  the location of the yacht does not influence the availability of television channels nor the quality of the television reception. The method according to the present invention is also ideally suited for any traveller in possession of a computer or with access to a computer. 
         [0038]    In the prior art it is possible today for yacht-owners to watch satellite transmitted television programs. In order to allow this the yacht should be equipped with a satellite dish in order to receive the television signal. The television signal will only be available if and when the satellite dish on the yacht is in the “footprint” of the transmission. In order to be able to watch television from multiple TELEVISION satellites, multiple satellite receivers would need to be installed on board. 
         [0039]    In the present invention, however, a yacht would only need a data connection in order to be able to receive any or all television signals from anywhere in the world. 
         [0040]      FIG. 4  is a schematic representation of a method  400  in accordance with the invention in order to allow an end user to receive data. 
         [0041]    In a first step  401  a receiver, belonging to a user, is installed in a first location of an operator. This receiver is adapted to receive data transmitted by any appropriate source, for example satellite or cable television transmission system. 
         [0042]    In a second step  402  the data is received on the receiver and a video output is generated. 
         [0043]    In a third step  403  the video output is digitized and encoded in order to prepare the data to be forwarded onto a network. 
         [0044]    In a fourth step  404  the data is converted into an IP stream and is forwarded onto the network, such as a Content Delivery Network (CDN). The aim of this step is to be able to make the data available on the network and to be able to use the network to forward the data towards an end user. 
         [0045]    In a fifth step  405  a node of the network receives a request to allow access to data on the network by a specific user from a specific datacenter. 
         [0046]    Before allowing access to the data, in a sixth step  406 , the identity of the requester is verified. If the verification is positive and the user is entitled to have access to the data, in a seventh step  407 , the data is forwarded to the end user. According to the invention this last step is accomplished by using the Internet. 
         [0047]    In a final step (not show), the IP streams are converted back to a video or other media signal for viewing by the user. 
         [0048]    The present invention has been described with reference to both hardware and software elements. It will be appreciated that the system and the method could be implemented solely in hardware, solely in software or any combination thereof.