System and a method for transmitting and receiving a program with improved efficiency

#1. Field of the Invention

#The invention relates to a system for presenting a program to a user. More particularly, the invention relates to a method, system and apparatus for efficiently transmitting and receiving a program for presentation to a user.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#These and other aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, same elements have the same reference numerals.

#FIG. 1 shows a system for transmitting and receiving a program in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that includes a head end coupled to an audio/video apparatus, wherein the head end includes a segmentizer and a multiplexer that generates a transport stream including a plurality of program streams of a program and associated identification data, wherein a receiver receives the transport stream, and wherein a storage management system provides for storing and retrieving of the transport stream so that the program may be presented to a user.

#FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a procedure illustrating the method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that divides a program into a plurality of program streams, adds identification data to the plurality of program streams, and multiplexes the program streams with the identification data into a transport stream that is transmitted to an audio/video apparatus for presentation to a user.

#FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system 1 for transmitting and receiving a program in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which is configured to operate in accordance with the method of the present invention. The system 1 includes a head end 2 and an audio/video (“A/V”) apparatus 3 coupled to the head end 2 via a network 22. The A/V apparatus 3 includes an A/V receiver 4 and an audio/display device 6 coupled to the A/V receiver 4 via a connection 24. The head end 2 includes a source 8 for a program (e.g., a video program, an audio program, text, images, or data content), a segmentizer 10, a multiplexer 12 (MUX) and a transmitter 14 (TX) to generate and to send a transport stream to the A/V apparatus 3. The A/V receiver 4 includes a receiver 16 (RX), a storage management system 18, a storage device 20 (HDD) and a decoder 19. In one embodiment, the A/V receiver 4 may be implemented within a set top box (STB), a digital (personal) video recorder (DVR), or a combination of a set top box and a digital video recorder. Further structural details of the system 1, which provides for efficient transmission of a program in a reduced amount of time, are described following a functional description of the system 1 set forth hereinafter.

#FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a procedure illustrating the method in accordance with the present invention that transmits a program to a user. In one embodiment, the procedure utilizes a program that is encoded and compressed in accordance with the MPEG-2 standard. However, it is contemplated that the invention is generally applicable in connection with other MPEG standards (e.g., MPEG-4) and with systems in which the head end 2 sends the program as a digital signal compressed or encoded in accordance with other compression/encoding techniques.

#In a step 26, e.g., when the head end 2 processes a scheduled or a requested transmission of a program (e.g., a particular video program or audio program), the procedure initializes the system 1. The initialization procedure includes, among others, determining the number of programs that are scheduled or requested and obtaining from the source 8 the particularities of each program, such as the length of a video program.