Patent ID: 7356751

Claim:
A method of error handling in a data broadcast network with a return channel wherein a content is transmitted as a flow of packets, comprising the steps of: at the sending end, including an estimate of audience size of a content in packets of the content, wherein the audience size is the number of devices that are receiving the content; providing each packet with an error-checking value; receiving over a return channel requests for retransmission of packets; and retransmitting a packet whenever at least one request for retransmission of that packet is received; at the receiving end, verifying each received packet using said error-checking value; whenever an error is detected in a packet, reading said estimate of the audience size included in the packet; generating a random number within a range of numbers wherein the range is a function of the audience size; and submitting over a return channel a request for retransmission of the packet only if a particular predetermined number was generated; thereby reducing an overall volume of retransmission requests submitted over the return channel and keeping the volume independent from the audience size.