Patent ID: 6892389

Claim:
A broadcasting unit for broadcasting, in an access network, channels of a distributive interactive service to a plurality of user terminals, said broadcasting unit comprising: channel selecting means for selecting, from among available channels at an input of said broadcasting unit, said channels to be broadcasted; channel broadcasting means, coupled to said channel selecting means, for broadcasting said channels to said user terminals; request receiving means for receiving, from one of said user terminals, first type request information indicative of at least one requested channel; request handling means, coupled between said request receiving means and a control input of said channel selecting means, for interpreting said first type request information controlling said channel selecting means to select said at least one requested channel, said request handling means also checking whether said at least one requested channel is available at said input of said broadcasting unit; request generating means, coupled to said request handling means, for generating second type request information indicative for said unavailable requested channel, when said at least one requested channel is not available at said input of said broadcasting unit; and request transmitting means, coupled to said request generating means, for transmitting said second type request information to another broadcasting unit.