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US 8,429,693 B2Granted
Remote control video modulator
AssigneeEchoStar Technologies L.L.C.
InventorStephen Strong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A video modulator is presented. The modulator includes a video input interface, a video modulation circuit, a video output interface, a communication interface, and control circuitry. The video input interface is configured to receive a video signal to be modulated, the video modulation circuit is configured to modulate the video signal, and the video output interface is configured to transmit the modulated video signal. The communication interface is configured to receive a command via a communication link to control the video modulator. The control circuitry is configured to receive the command from the communication interface and to control at least one of the video input interface, the video modulation circuit, and the video output interface based on the command.
Claims20
A video distribution system, comprising:
- a first video receiver configured to receive a plurality of channels of video content, to select a first one of the channels, and to transmit the selected first one of the channels as a first video signal;
- a first video modulator configured to receive the first video signal from the first video receiver, to modulate the first video signal, and to transmit the modulated first video signal over a video distribution network to a plurality of video reception devices;
- a second video receiver configured to receive the plurality of channels of video content, to select a second one of the channels, and to transmit the selected second one of the channels as a second video signal;
- a second video modulator configured to receive the second video signal from the second video receiver, to modulate the second video signal, and to transfer the second modulated video signal over the video distribution network to the plurality of video reception devices;
- and
- a communication node communicatively coupled to the video receiver and the video modulator,
- wherein the communication node is configured to generate and transmit commands to the first video receiver and the first video modulator to control operation of the first video receiver and the first video modulator, and
- wherein the communication node is configured to generate and transmit commands to the second video receiver and the second video modulator to control operation of the second video receiver and the second video modulator.
5 more elements
A method of operating a video distribution system, the method comprising:
- at a communication node of the video distribution system, transferring a first command to a first video receiver of the video distribution system to select a first channel carrying a first video signal;
- at the communication node, transferring a second command to a first video modulator of the video distribution system to select a first frequency at which the first video signal is to be modulated;
- at the first video receiver, selecting the first channel to receive the first video signal, and transferring the first video signal to the first video modulator;
- at the first video modulator, receiving the first video signal, modulating the first video signal at the selected first frequency, and transmitting the modulated first video signal over a video distribution network to a plurality of video reception devices;
- at the communication node of the video distribution system, transferring a third command to a second video receiver of the video distribution system to select a second channel carrying a second video signal;
- at the communication node, transferring a fourth command to a second video modulator of the video distribution system to select a second frequency at which the second video signal is to be modulated;
- at the second video receiver, selecting the second channel to receive the second video signal, and transferring the second video signal to the second video modulator;
- and
- at the second video modulator, receiving the second video signal, modulating the second video signal at the selected second frequency, and transmitting the modulated second video signal over the video distribution network to the plurality of video reception devices.
6 more elements
A video distribution network, comprising:
- a plurality of video receiver and video modulator pairs,
- wherein each of the video receivers are configured to receive a plurality of channels of video content, are configured to select a one of the channels, and to transmit the selected one of the channels as a video signal to its respective video modulator, and
- wherein each of the video modulators are configured to receive the video signal from their respective video receiver, are configured to modulate the video signal, and are configured to transmit the modulated video signal over the video distribution network to a plurality of video reception devices;
- and
- a communication node communicatively coupled to at least one of the video receiver and the video modulator of each pair,
- wherein the communication node is configured to generate and transmit commands to each one of the video receiver and the video modulator pairs to control operation of the video receiver and the video modulator pairs.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.