Patent ID: 8170011

Claim:
A method of allocating program identifier (PID) values to a program in a digital transport stream, the digital transport stream including at least one program including a plurality of elementary streams, the method comprising the steps of: (a) assigning a session number to a session, wherein the session is associated with a program having a plurality of elementary streams; (b) associating a program map table (PMT)_PID value with the session number; (c) assigning a set of PID values to the elementary streams of the program; and (d) indicating in a map of allocable PID values the assigned PID values; and prior to the steps of (a), (b), (c) and (d), receiving a session message having a program identifier included therein, wherein in response to the session message, steps (a), (b) and (c) are implemented to assign a first session number to a first session that is associated with a first program identified by the program identifier, associate a first PMT_PID value to the first session number and assign a first set of PID values to the elementary streams of the first program; and after steps of (a), (b) and (c), further including the step of: transmitting from a device the elementary streams of the first program in a digital transport stream, wherein the device that transmits the first program has a plurality of output ports that are adapted to transmit digital transport streams, and the session message further includes an output port identifier that identifies the output port of the plurality of output ports from which the elementary streams of the first program are transmitted.