Patent ID: 6886029

Claim:
A system for delivering multimedia content from a content provider, the system comprising: a first Internet broadcasting network (“IBN”); and a second IBN; where the first IBN comprises: a network operating center (“NOC”); an edge node; a satellite communication link between the NOC and the edge node; a last mile service provider directly connected to the edge node; and an Internet user connected to the Internet through the last mile service provider; where the NOC receives multimedia content from the content provider and modifies the received multimedia content into a first streaming format and a format suitable for satellite transmission; where the NOC transmits the modified multimedia content to the edge node using the satellite communication link; and where the edge node delivers the modified multimedia content received from the NOC to the Internet user via the last mile service provider according to a second streaming format compatible with the first streaming format; where the second IBN comprises: duplicates of one or more of the NOC, the edge node, the satellite communication link, the last mile service provider, or the Internet user of the first IBN; and simulations of one or more of the NOC, the edge node, the satellite communication link, the last mile service provider, or the Internet user of the first IBN for which the second IBN does not comprise a duplicate; where the second IBN is used to simulate the operation of the first IBN without interfering with the operation of the first IBN.