System and method for distributing digital content in a common carrier environment

A system for distributing digital content on-demand to passengers in an airplane, comprising:

• a terminal for transmitting a passenger request for content and for receiving content in response thereto;
• a server for responding to the passenger request for content;
• an access point coupled to the server for receiving the passenger request for content from the terminal via a short range wireless link and communicating the request to the server;
• and
• a digital data broadcast transmitter for broadcasting requested content from the server to the terminal.

A system for distributing digital content on-demand to passengers in an airplane, comprising:

• a plurality of terminals for transmitting requests for content and for receiving content in response to the requests;
• a storage medium for storing content;
• an access controller for controlling access to the content;
• a plurality of access points coupled to the access controller via a local area network for receiving requests for content from the terminals via a short range wireless link and communicating the requests to the access controller;
• and
• a plurality of digital data broadcast transmitters for broadcasting requested content from the storage medium to the terminals.

A system for distributing digital content on-demand to passengers in an airplane, comprising:

• a storage medium for storing content;
• an access controller for controlling access to the content;
• a plurality of access points coupled to the access controller for receiving requests for content from the terminals via a short range wireless link and communicating the requests to the access controller;
• and
• a plurality of digital data broadcast transmitters for broadcasting requested content from the storage medium to the terminals.

A system for distributing digital content on-demand to passengers in an airplane, comprising:

• a storage medium for storing content;
• an access controller for controlling access to the content;
• an access point coupled to the access controller for receiving requests for content from a plurality of terminals via a short range wireless link and communicating the requests to the access controller;
• and
• a digital data broadcast transmitter for broadcasting requested content from the storage medium to the terminals.

A system for updating passenger-consumable content in an airplane's content data base while the airplane is at a gate of an airport terminal, comprising

• a storage medium for storing content;
• an access controller;
• an access point coupled to the access controller via a local area network for receiving a request for content from the airplane via a short range wireless link and communicating the request to the access controller;
• and
• a digital data broadcast transmitter for broadcasting requested content from the storage medium to the airplane to update the airplane's content data base.

A system for updating passenger-consumable content in an airplane's content data base while the airplane is at a gate of an airport terminal, comprising

• a storage medium for storing content;
• an access controller for controlling access to flight data and content;
• a first access point coupled to a local area network for transmitting flight data to the airplane via a first short range wireless link;
• and
• a second access point coupled to the local area network for transmitting requested content from the storage medium to the airplane via a second short range wireless link to update content in the airplane's content data base.

In a system for distributing digital content on-demand to a plurality of passenger terminals in an airplane, the terminals for transmitting requests for content and for receiving content in response thereto,

• a server for responding to passenger requests for content;
• a plurality of access points coupled to the server for receiving requests for content from the terminals via a short range wireless link and communicating the requests to the server;
• and
• a plurality of digital data broadcast transmitters for broadcasting requested content from the server to the terminals.