Patent ID: 7954127

Claim:
A direct broadcast system having a high altitude communication device for transmitting a plurality of broadcast signals and an antenna for receiving said plurality of broadcast signals, said direct broadcast system comprising: an outdoor unit (ODU) electrically coupled to said antenna and comprising at least one low noise block converter (LNB) for receiving and amplifying said broadcast signals; an ODU receiver electrically coupled to said ODU and operable to select a desired frequency of said broadcast signals; and a plurality of integrated receiver and decoders (IRD(s)) communicating with the ODU receiver via a bidirectional wireless link, wherein each IRD in said plurality of IRD(s) requests an individual Service Channel Identifier (SCID) in a wireless fashion and each IRD in the plurality of IRDs receives only the requested SCID on a unique communications channel assigned to each requesting IRD and converts only the requested SCID requested by that IRD into IRD output signals at said desired frequency.