Claims
- 1. A method of encapsulating an IP data packet into at least one MPEG data packet, the IP data packet having content and a destination address and the method comprising:
receiving the IP data packet; examining the destination address to determine whether the IP data packet is a multicast IP packet and proceeding with the method if the IP packet is a multicast packet; creating a DSM-CC header for the MPEG data packet using the destination address from the IP data packet; creating an MPEG header for the at least one MPEG data packet; and assembling the DSM-CC header, the MPEG header and the content from the IP data packet into at least one MPEG data packet.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining whether the content of the IP data packet is less than 160 bytes long; and responsive to an indication that the content of the IP data packet is less than 160 bytes long, filling the remainder of the MPEG data packet with a CRC and with dummy data.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the dummy data comprises the numerical value of 255 and is repeated until a 188 byte MPEG data packet has been formed.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein
the format of the assembled MPEG data packet is one of a DVB data format or a ATSC data format; and the DSM-CC header indicates the format of the assembled MPEG data packet.
- 5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
inserting the assembled MPEG data packet into an MPEG data stream using a multiplexer; and responsive to receipt of the IP data packet, verifying that the multiplexer has been properly configured to process the assembled MPEG data packet.
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein examining the destination address further comprises:
determining whether the destination address of the received IP data packet indicates that the packet is a broadcast, unicast or multicast IP packet; and responsive to a determination that the IP packet is not a multicast IP packet, routing the IP data packet through a host processor stack.
- 7. A method of encapsulating and inserting a multicast IP data packet into an MPEG data stream comprising first and second MPEG data packets, the IP data packet having content of at least 165 bytes long and a destination address, the method comprising:
receiving an IP data packet;
fragmenting the content of the IP data packet into a first content component that is no more than 164 bytes long and at least one second content component that is no more than 180 bytes long; creating a DSM-CC header for the MPEG data stream using the destination address from the IP data packet; creating an MPEG header with at least one PID for the MPEG data stream; assembling the DSM-CC header, the MPEG header and the first content component into a first MPEG data packet; creating a CRC; assembling the MPEG header, the CRC and the second content component into a second MPEG data packet; and inserting the first and second MPEG data packets into an MPEG data stream.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein first and second assembled MPEG data packets are stored in a FIFO memory prior to inserting the packets into the MPEG data stream.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein
the format of the assembled MPEG data packets is one of a DVB data format and a ATSC data format; and the DSM-CC header indicates the data format of the assembled MPEG data packets.
- 10. A transcoder multiplexer (TMX) communicatively linked to an MPEG network for transmitting MPEG data streams over the network, the TMX receiving digital audio, video and multicast IP data packets from a local network, combining the data packets into a single MPEG data stream and transmitting the MPEG data stream to a remote recipient via the MPEG network, the TMX comprising:
means for controlling the TMX; means for receiving digital audio packets; means for receiving digital video packets; means for receiving digital multicast IP data packets; means for encapsulating the received digital IP data packets into MPEG data packets; means for multiplexing the audio, video and IP packets into a single MPEG data stream, the means for multiplexing being controlled by the means for controlling; and means for transmitting the MPEG data stream to a targeted recipient via the MPEG network.
- 11. The TMX of claim 10 wherein the means for encapsulating is an encapsulation module.
- 12. The TMX of claim 10 wherein
the means for receiving the digital audio and video packets are input boards; and the means for multiplexing comprises a multiplexer board.
- 13. The TMX of claim 10 wherein the means for controlling is a host processor running a VxWorks operating system and wherein the means for multiplexing comprises a transcoder board.
- 14. The TMX of claim 10 wherein the means for encapsulating comprises:
means for receiving the IP data packet; means for determining whether the destination IP address indicates that the IP packet is a multicast IP packet and proceeding with the method if the IP packet is a multicast packet; means for creating a DSM-CC header for the MPEG data packet; means for creating an MPEG header for the MPEG data packet; and means for assembling the DSM-CC header, the MPEG header and the content from the IP data packet into the MPEG data packet.
- 15. A method of encapsulating an IP data packet into at least one MPEG data packet, the IP data packet having content and a destination address, the method comprising:
receiving the IP data packet and determining whether the IP data packet is a multicast IP packet; using the destination address to create a DSM-CC header with a CRC for the MPEG data packet; creating an MPEG header for the MPEG data packet; creating a CRC for the MPEG data packet; determining the number of bytes of content of the IP data packet, responsive to a determination that there are N bytes of content, assembling the DSM-CC header, the MPEG header, the CRC and the content into a single MPEG data packet; responsive to a determination that there are less than N bytes of content, adding content fill to enlarge the content to N bytes and assembling the DSM-CC header, the MPEG header, the CRC and the filled content into a single MPEG data packet; and responsive to a determination that there are more than N bytes of content, fragmenting the content into a first content component of N+4 bytes and a second content component, assembling the DSM-CC header, the MPEG header and the first content component into a first MPEG data packet, and assembling the MPEG header, the CRC and the second content component into a second MPEG data packet.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein
the format of the assembled MPEG data packets is one of a DVB data format or a ATSC data format; and the DSM-CC header indicates the format of the assembled MPEG data packets.
- 17. The method of claim 15 wherein
determining whether the IP data packet is a multicast packet comprises examining the destination address to determine whether the source address of the received IP data packet is a broadcast, unicast or multicast IP packet; and responsive to a determination that the IP packet is not a multicast IP packet, sending the IP packet to an ARP task for processing.
- 18. The method of claim 15 wherein N is 164.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED CASES
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of co-pending U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/285,188 filed Apr. 20, 2001 and entitled “Broadband Bandwidth Management, Device Management and Multi-Media Control System”; and 60/285,153 filed Apr. 20, 2001 and entitled “Data Insertion, Transport, Grooming, Aliasing, Routing, and Multiplexing of MPEG 2 Data Streams”, which Provisional Applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
[0002] This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed Apr. 16, 2002 (based on provisional application No. 60/322,063 filed Sep. 13, 2001) and entitled “High Speed Serial Data Transport Between Communications Hardware Modules,” which Application is hereby incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60285188 |
Apr 2001 |
US |
|
60285153 |
Apr 2001 |
US |