Multimedia Content Distribution Management
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorsDavid Harp, Benjamin Jahner, Sean Ohara
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of managing distribution of multimedia content is disclosed. The method includes receiving multimedia content from a communications network at a communications gateway associated with a customer premises. The communications gateway encodes the multimedia content based on a heartbeat signal that is superimposed on an alternating current (AC) electrical power signal associated with an electrical wiring system of the customer premises. The communications gateway wirelessly transmits the encoded multimedia content.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- receiving multimedia content from a communications network at a communications gateway associated with a customer premises;
- encoding the multimedia content received from the communications network at the communications gateway based on a heartbeat signal that is superimposed on an alternating current (AC) electrical power signal associated with an electrical wiring system of the customer premises;
- and
- wirelessly transmitting the encoded multimedia content from the communications gateway.
A communications gateway, comprising:
- a network interface to receive multimedia content from a communications network;
- an encoding component to encode the multimedia content received from the communications network based on a heartbeat signal that is superimposed on an alternating current (AC) electrical power signal associated with an electrical wiring system of a customer premises;
- and
- a wireless interface to wirelessly transmit the encoded multimedia content to a communications device.
A set-top box device, comprising:
- a wireless interface to receive encoded multimedia content that is wirelessly transmitted from a communications gateway;
- an electrical interface to receive an alternating current (AC) electrical power signal;
- and
- a decoding component to decode the encoded multimedia content that is wirelessly transmitted from the communications gateway in response to receiving a particular heartbeat signal that is superimposed on the AC electrical power signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.