Method and apparatus for transmitting video and graphics in a compressed form

Apparatus for distributing an interactive program guide comprising:

• an encoder, for encoding at least one video sequence as an encoded video portion and guide graphics as an encoded guide graphics portion, said encoder comprising a video processor and a graphics processor, wherein said video processor comprises a compositor unit for receiving video information and an encoder unit coupled to said compositor unit;
• at least one modem, for transmitting said encoded video and guide graphics portions through a head end channel;
• local neighborhood equipment, coupled to said head end channel, for selecting said encoded video portion and said encoded guide graphics portion and producing a transport stream comprising said encoded video portion and said encoded guide graphics portion;
• a network, for carrying said transport stream to at least one receiver;
• and
• at least one receiver, coupled to said network, for processing said transport stream to form an interactive program guide.

Apparatus for distributing an interactive program guide (IPG) comprising:

• an encoder assembly having a video processor for encoding at least one video sequence of said IPG as and encoded video portion, and a graphics processor for encoding guide graphics of said IPG as an encoded guide graphics portion;
• means for selecting said encoded video portion and said encoded guide graphics portion and producing a transport stream comprising said encoded video portion and said encoded guide graphics portion;
• a network for carrying said transport stream to at least one receiver;
• and
• at least one receiver, coupled to said network, for processing said transport stream to form an interactive program guide;
• wherein said graphics processor comprises:
• a guide data grid generator;
• a guide encoder;
• and
• a slice form grid page database.

A method of encoding an interactive program guide having a video portion and a guide graphics portion comprising the steps of:

• encoding the video portion by dividing the video portion into slices and encoding each video portion slice;
• encoding the guide graphics portion to produce a plurality of encoded guide graphics slices by dividing the guide graphics portion into slices and encoding each guide graphics portion slice;
• assigning packet identifiers to the video portion slices and the guide graphics portion slices, wherein said assigning step assigns a different packet identifier to each guide graphics slice that is part of a different guide graphic, and assigns a common packet identifier to all the common video portion slices;
• arranging the video slice portion slices and the guide graphics portion slices into a transport stream;
• selecting the guide graphics slices to be included in a bitstream and adjusting the slice boundaries of the selected guide graphics slices;
• and
• placing the encoded video portion and encoded guide graphics slices into said bitstream for transmission.

A method of stream recombining and decoding comprising the steps of:

• extracting a first plurality of packets from a transport stream comprising reference picture slices identified by a guide portion slice PID and a video portion slice PID;
• extracting a second plurality of packets from said transport stream comprising predicted picture slices identified by skipped guide slice PID and a predictive video slice PID;
• concatenating payloads from said first plurality of packets and payloads from said second plurality of packets;
• and
• decoding the concatenated payloads to produce a video sequence.

A method of stream recombining and decoding comprising the steps of:

• re-mapping packet identifiers of a reference slice-based stream to a pre-defined packet identifier;
• re-mapping a packet identifier of a predicted picture slice-based stream to said pre-defined packet identifier;
• extracting packets of a transport stream having said pre-defined packet identifier;
• coupling a payload from each of the extracted packets to a video decoder;
• and
• decoding the payloads to produce a video sequence.

A method of stream recombining and decoding comprising;

• coupling a plurality of payloads of transport packets of a slice-based portion of a reference stream to a video decoder, including the packet with zero splice countdown value;
• coupling a plurality of payloads of transport packets of a next slice based portion of a reference stream to a video decoder upon receiving the previous stream packet with zero splice countdown value;
• continuing a slice based PID switch process until all the reference stream packet payloads are coupled to a video decoder;
• coupling a plurality of payloads of transport packets of predictive-coded slices to said video decoder upon receiving a last reference stream packet with a zero splice countdown value;
• concatenating said payloads;
• and
• decoding the concatenated payloads to produce a video sequence.

A method of stream recombining and decoding comprising:

• defining an array of N PIDs to be recombined;
• initializing a current video PID hardware or software with the first entry;
• initializing a next video PID splicing hardware or software with the second entry in an array;
• extracting packets from said stream in accordance with said first and second entries;
• enabling hardware splicing of extracted slices;
• setting the next video PID hardware or software to the next entry in the array.

Apparatus for distributing an interactive program guide comprising:

• an encoder for encoding at least one video sequence as an encoded video portion and guide graphics as an encoded guide graphics portion, said encoder comprising a video processor and a graphics processor, wherein said graphics processor comprises a guide data grid generator, a guide encoder coupled to said guide data grid generator, and a slice form grid page database coupled to said guide encoder;
• at least one modem for transmitting said encoded video and guide graphics portions through a head end channel, wherein said encoder produces a plurality of encoded video portions and a plurality of encoded guide graphics portions that are made available to said local neighborhood equipment;
• local neighborhood equipment, coupled to said head end channel, for selecting said encoded video portion and said encoded guide graphics portion and producing a transport stream comprising said encoded video portion and said encoded guide graphics portion, wherein said local neighborhood equipment further comprises a modem and a slice combiner;
• a network for carrying said transport stream to at least one receiver;
• and
• at least one receiver, coupled to said network, for processing said transport stream to form an interactive program guide.

In a communications system for providing interactive information to a plurality of subscriber terminals, a computer readable medium in a general purpose computer system that operates as a special purpose controller when executing at least one program for providing said information, comprising:

• encoding the video portion by dividing the video portion into slices and encoding each video portion slice;
• encoding the guide graphics portion to produce a plurality of encoded guide graphics slices by dividing the guide graphics portion into slices and encoding each guide graphics portion slice;
• assigning packet identifiers to the video portion slices and the guide graphics portion slices, wherein said assigning step assigns a different packet identifier to each guide graphics slice that is part of a different guide graphic, and assigns a common packet identifier to all the common video portion slices;
• arranging the video slice portion slices and the guide graphics portion slices into a transport stream;
• selecting the guide graphics slices to be included in a bitstream and adjusting the slice boundaries of the selected guide graphics slices;
• and
• placing the encoded video portion and encoded guide graphics slices into said bitstream for transmission.