Patent ID: 7937638

Claim:
A method for error correction in a broadcast distribution system for distributing content data via a transmission from a satellite comprising: storing in a short term memory at an uplink controller an uplink bitmap, said uplink bitmap being configured to maintain a bit for each of a plurality of data packets comprising a content data file, the content data file having been selected for transmission from a long term memory in operative communication with said uplink controller; transmitting an initialization command from said uplink controller to a plurality of receivers, said initialization command initiating storage of a receiver bitmap in a short term receiver memory in each of said plurality of receivers; storing in each of said plurality of receivers said receiver bitmaps, said receiver bitmaps being configured to maintain a bit for each of said plurality of data packets comprising the content data file to be transmitted; marking in each of said receiver bitmaps one of said bits that correspond to a data packet not judged to be received correctly as said transmission of the selected content data file progresses; requesting by said uplink controller a return of an error status report from each of said plurality of receivers; generating said error status report at each of said plurality of receivers, said error status report compressing from said receiver bitmap data identifying each of the data packets not judged to be received correctly at each of said receivers; coding error types and including an error type code in said error status report; returning via a network each of said error status reports from each of said plurality of receivers to said uplink controller; aggregating in said short term memory at said uplink controller all of said error status reports by marking in said uplink bitmap each of said bits that correspond to any of the data packets not judged to be received correctly by any of said plurality of receivers; re-transmitting only those data packets not judged to be received correctly by at least one of said receivers, as recorded in said uplink bitmap after said aggregation.