Claims
- 1. A method for transmitting data to a group of data reception facilities, each of which is to receive at least one packet, the method comprising:
generating a plurality of packets, each of which contains a group address associated with the group of data reception facilities; and transmitting each of said plurality of packets to at least one data reception facility in the group of data reception facilities that is identified in each packet of said plurality of packets.
- 2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of said plurality of packets is a data packet.
- 3. The method defined in claim 2 wherein at least one of said plurality of packets is a header packet.
- 4. The method defined in claim 3 wherein the at least one header packet indicates the number of the at least one data packets.
- 5. The method defined in claim 3 wherein the at least one header packet indicates the size of each of the at least one data packets.
- 6. The method defined in claim 5 wherein the size of the at least one data packet is based on whether compression is being applied to the at least one data packet.
- 7. The method defined in claim 5 wherein the size of the at least one data packet is based on whether forward error correction is being applied to the at least one data packet.
- 8. The method defined in claim 3 wherein the at least one data packet and the at least one header packet are generated and queued at a data transmission facility.
- 9. The method defined in claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of packets is transmitted in response to a request for data from the at least one data reception facility in the group of data reception facilities.
- 10. The method defined in claim 9 wherein the request for data is a request for retransmission of data upon detection of an error condition.
- 11. The method defined in claim 9 wherein the request for data is transmitted over at least one first directional data path.
- 12. The method defined in claim 11 wherein the requested data is transmitted to the group of data reception facilities over at least one second directional data path.
- 13. The method defined in claim 12 wherein the at least one second directional data path is selected prior to transmitting each of the plurality of data packets to the group of data reception facilities.
- 14. The method defined in claim 12 wherein the request for data and the requested data are transmitted over at least one bidirectional data path.
- 15. A method for interactive communication between a group of data reception facilities and a data transmission facility, the method comprising:
receiving at the data transmission facility a request for data from each data reception facility in the group of data reception facilities over at least one first data path; generating at least one data packet having at least a portion of the requested data; generating at least one header packet having a group address associated with the group of data reception facilities, wherein each of the at least one header packets is associated with a corresponding one of each of the at least one data packets; and transmitting each of the at least one data packets and each of the at least one header packets to at least one data reception facility in the group of data reception facilities over at least one second data path.
- 16. The method defined in claim 15 wherein the second data path is selected prior to transmitting each of the at least one data packets and each of the at least one header packets.
- 17. The method defined in claim 15 wherein the requested data is reconstructed from each of the at least one data packets having at least a portion of the requested data at the at least one data reception facility in the group of data reception facilities.
- 18. The method defined in claim 15 wherein the data reception facility is a cable headend.
- 19. The method defined in claim 18 wherein the data received by the cable headend is transmitted to a set-top box over a cable network.
- 20. The method defined in claim 19 wherein the request for data is transmitted by the set-top box.
- 21. The method defined in claim 15 wherein each data reception facility in the group of data reception facilities is located in at least one cable subscribers, home.
- 22. The method defined in claim 21 wherein the request for data from each data reception facility is transmitted from the at least one cable subscribers' home.
- 23. The method defined in claim 22 wherein a direct broadcast transmits the requested data from the data transmission facility to the at least one cable subscribers' home.
- 24. The method defined in claim 15 wherein the request for data occurs when data is needed by the at least one data reception facility in the group of data reception facilities.
- 25. The method defined in claim 15 wherein the at least one data reception facility in the group of data reception facilities verifies the presence, identity, and integrity of the requested data transmitted by the data transmission facility.
- 26. The method defined in claim 15 wherein the request for data is a request for retransmission of data upon detection of an error condition.
- 27. The method defined in claim 15 wherein the data requested is for program guide data.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/340,547, filed Jun. 28, 1999, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/905,452, filed Aug. 1, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,253, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09340547 |
Jun 1999 |
US |
Child |
10199928 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Parent |
08905452 |
Aug 1997 |
US |
Child |
09340547 |
Jun 1999 |
US |