Block aggregation of objects in a communication system

A method for recovering an individual object mapped to source symbols for data delivered from a transmitter to a receiver in a communication system, the individual object aggregated with other individual objects in an aggregate object, the aggregate object partitioned into one or more source blocks, the source symbols of the individual object arranged consecutively within consecutive source blocks of the aggregate object, the method comprising:

• receiving one or more packets of data, each packet of data including at least one source symbol of the individual object or at least one repair symbol containing repair data for one of the source blocks of the aggregate object, the source block including at least one source symbol of the individual object;
• and
• recovering the individual object using the one or more received packets of data.

An apparatus configured to map m individual objects to source symbols for delivering data to a receiver in a communication system, the m individual objects ordered from object 1 to object m, wherein m>1, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor configured to aggregate the m individual objects into an aggregate object and partition the aggregate object into Z source blocks, including calculating, for each individual object j for j=1 to m, a number of source symbols S(j) for containing data of the individual object j, and calculating, for each source block k for k=0 to Z−1 and each individual object j for j=1 to m, a number of source symbols NSS(j, k) of individual object j in source block k,
• wherein the S(j) source symbols for each individual object j are arranged consecutively within consecutive source blocks, starting from a first source block for which NSS(j, k)>0 to a last source block for which NSS(j, k)>0.

An apparatus configured to recover an individual object mapped to source symbols for data delivered from a transmitter in a communication system, the individual object aggregated with other individual objects in an aggregate object, the aggregate object partitioned into one or more source blocks, the source symbols of the individual object arranged consecutively within consecutive source blocks of the aggregate object, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive one or more packets of data, each packet of data including at least one source symbol of the individual object or at least one repair symbol containing repair data for one of the source blocks of the aggregate object, the source block including at least one source symbol of the individual object;
• and
• a processor communicatively coupled to the receiver and configured to recover the individual object using the one or more received packets of data.

A system configured to recover an individual object mapped to source symbols for data delivered from a transmitter to a receiver in a communication system, the individual object aggregated with other individual objects in an aggregate object, the aggregate object partitioned into one or more source blocks, the source symbols of the individual object arranged consecutively within consecutive source blocks of the aggregate object, the system comprising:

• means for receiving one or more packets of data, each packet of data including at least one source symbol of the individual object or at least one repair symbol containing repair data for one of the source blocks of the aggregate object, the source block including at least one source symbol of the individual object;
• and
• means for recovering the individual object using the one or more received packets of data.