Digital converter
AssigneeALi Europe SarI
InventorMatteo Butussi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A digital converter device to distribute audio/video programs into an IP network, for example a Home network, or a WiFi LAN. It can receive one or more Transport Streams containing audio and/or video programs, and has plurality of programmable operational blocks that can selectively process transport stream sections, as well as an IP packet generator. Processing in operational blocks is determined by tags inserted in the sections of the transport stream, such that the operation of the converter is highly flexible and reconfigurable. Importantly, the device can be programmed to decrypt protected programs received as transport stream adding content protection measures where appropriate before their distribution in an IP network.
Claims10
A digital converter for converting one or a plurality of input stream formatted signals into output streams, the input streams including a plurality of sections each of which may have one or more data fields for storing audio/video program data or other information, wherein the digital converter characterized by comprising:
- an input unit, operatively arranged to insert in the sections of said one or a plurality of input stream a field of additional extrinsic data for the purposes of section identification and tagging, and to make the tagged sections available to a plurality of operational processing blocks;
- and
- the operational processing blocks, wherein each of the operational processing blocks is arranged to select the section on which it must operate on the base of their extrinsic data, and to apply to the selected sections a process determined by their extrinsic data, wherein the operational processing blocks are arranged to modify the extrinsic data of the selected sections.
(canceled)
A method to distribute audio/video programs inside an IP network, characterized by comprising:
- receiving one or a plurality of input stream formatted signals including a plurality of sections each of which may have one or more data fields for storing audio/video program data or other information;
- inserting in the sections of said one or a plurality of input stream a field of additional extrinsic data for the purposes of section identification and tagging;
- making the tagged sections available to a plurality of operational processing blocks;
- in each of the operational processing blocks, selecting section on which it must operate on the base of their extrinsic data;
- in each of the operational processing blocks, applying to the selected sections a process determined by their extrinsic data;
- and
- formatting the processed sections into IP packets,
- wherein the operational processing blocks are arranged to modify the extrinsic data of the selected sections.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.