Patent ID: 8411572

Claim:
A network access unit of a communications network configured to communicate with a plurality of data terminals configured to receiving transmissions over a satellite link, the network access unit comprising: a source data receiver module configured to receiving first source data representing video content to be communicated to one or more first data terminals of the plurality of data terminals and second source data to be communicated to one or more second data terminals of the plurality of data terminals; a network control module configured to receiving link condition data about data terminals in the plurality of data terminals and configuration data about the first source data and the second source data, calculate priority data for the first source data and the second source data based on the link condition data and the configuration data, use the priority data to generate a master schedule including modcode data indicating a first coding and modulation scheme for a first layer of the first source data and a second coding and modulation scheme for a second layer of the first source data, and transmit the master schedule to other components of the network access unit to configure parameters for a next sequence, wherein at least one of the first coding and modulation scheme and the second coding and modulation scheme for the next sequence is fixed relative to a present sequence; a pre-coder module configured to pre-coding the first source data using a first pre-coding scheme to generate a first set of representation data decodable independently to provide a set of first-level playback data representing the first source data, and to pre-code the first source data using a second pre-coding scheme to generate a second set of representation data decodable in combination with the first set of representation data to provide a set of second-level playback data representing the first source data; and an adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) module configured to associating the first set of representation data with the first coding and modulation scheme, and associate the second set of representation data with the second coding and modulation scheme, wherein the second coding and modulation scheme is of a higher order than the first coding and modulation scheme.