Patent ID: 6874161

Claim:
In a computer network, which includes a plurality of interconnected content servers and at least one client device connected to one or more high-bandwidth broadcast channels transmitting content in a one-way downstream direction, wherein the at least one client device includes a demodulation unit with a particular throughput capacity and is connected to the computer network over a relatively lower bandwidth two-way communication channel, a method of delivering requested content, stored at one or more of the plurality of content servers, to the at least one client device over a high-bandwidth broadcast channel, the method comprising acts of: identifying available downstream bandwidth within a particular broadcast channel, wherein the downstream bandwidth is available during off-peak broadcast hours, and wherein the available bandwidth includes either (i) at least one available portion or sub-channel of a broadcast channel containing active video transmitted to a viewer, (ii) at least one available portion or sub-channel of a broadcast channel that does not contain active video, or (iii) an unused broadcast channel; preparing the requested content for transmission in a modulated form to the at least one client device by interleaving the requested content with other content into a selected portion of the available bandwidth at a rate that is compatible with the particular throughput capacity of the demodulation unit of the at least one client device; and transmitting the requested content in its modulated form over the particular broadcast channel to the at least one client device following a request for the content and during off-peak broadcast hours so that the demodulation unit is able to demodulate the requested content during latencies created by the interleaving of the requested content.