Patent ID: 7733919

Claim:
A method of processing transport stream packets received from a network for distribution to user terminals, comprising, in at least one processor: extracting groups of said transport stream packets from data units transmitted over said network; appending an arrival time stamp to each of said groups; appending a preliminary output time stamp to each of said transport stream packets, the preliminary output time stamp being equal to the arrival time stamp plus a fixed initial nominal buffer delay; identifying a pair of clock reference packets in said transport stream packets, said pair of clock reference packets including a first clock reference packet having an output time stamp and a second clock reference packet; computing a difference between a time value of said second clock reference packet and a time value of said first clock reference packet; calculating an output time stamp for said second clock reference packet in response to said output time stamp of said first clock reference packet and said difference; adjusting each output time stamp of each transport stream packet between said first clock reference packet and said second clock reference packet such that there is uniform time spacing between each said transport stream packet; and reverting to said preliminary output time stamp associated with said second clock reference packet in response to said output time stamp being greater than a current time value.