Patent ID: 7385996

Claim:
A data distribution apparatus which demultiplexes an input multiplexed stream formed by multiplexing data streams on a plurality of channels in units of a packet according to each channel and distributes each of the demultiplexed data stream to a data processor on a corresponding one of the channels, the apparatus comprising: a controller; a memory which stores the input multiplexed stream; address information generating means for generating, for each packet, address information indicative of a location where the multiplexed stream is stored in the memory; address information storage means for storing the address information; and data transfer means for reading data from the memory and transferring the data to the data processor according an instruction given by the controller; wherein the controller refers to the address information stored in the address information storage means to access each packet on each channel, referring to header information in each packet to determine a storage location, in the memory, which is a decoding unit of data stream on each channel, wherein the controller analyzes a minimum necessary decoding unit that is to be decoded, generates a transfer instruction to read data from the memory in units of the decoding unit in succession, and transfers the data to the data processor on a corresponding channel, and supplies the transfer instruction to the data processor.