Audio/video channel bonding by chunk
AssigneeBroadcom Corporation
InventorsXuemin Chen, Rajesh Shankarrao Mamidwar, Anand Tongle, Victor Hou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Different data communication architectures deliver a wide variety of content, including audio and video content, to consumers. The architectures employ channel bonding to deliver more bandwidth than any single communication channel can carry. In some implementations, the communication architectures distribute video programming in the form of MPEG2 TS packets, flagged by marker packets, in a round-robin manner across the communication channels. Channel bonding synchronization information may be present in packets defined above the data-link layer or added to fields within data-link layer frames.
Claims21
A system comprising:
- a statistical multiplexer input interface configured to receive content;
- output interfaces to individual communication channels;
- and
- circuitry in communication with the statistical multiplexer input interface and the output interfaces, the circuitry configured to:
- determine which of the communications channels to include in a bonded channel group;
- obtain program packets comprising the content from the statistical multiplexer input interface;
- responsive to the content within the program packets, determine a chunk size for chunks of multiple program packets;
- distribute a set of marker packets across the output interfaces, the marker packets comprising a group number that identifies the set of marker packets to which the marker packets belong;
- and
- distribute the chunks across the communication channels in the bonded channel group, preceded by the marker packets.
A method comprising:
- obtaining a packet stream from a statistical multiplexer input interface;
- determining a chunk size based on content within the packet stream;
- responsive to the determination, dividing the packet stream into chunks of the chunk size, the chunks comprising multiple packets;
- reading a first bonding configuration parameter that identifies a bonded channel group of communication channels among a set of available communication channels;
- distributing marker packets for the chunks across the bonding channel group;
- distributing the chunks across the bonded channel group behind the marker packets;
- generating a group number that identifiers to which set of marker packets the marker packets belong;
- and
- sending the group number in the marker packets.
A system comprising:
- program input sources;
- a statistical multiplexer connected to the program input sources, the statistical multiplexer comprising a source transport stream output configured to carry a program packet stream of program packets obtained from the program input sources;
- a distributor in communication with the statistical multiplexer, the distributor configured to:
- read bonding configuration parameters that identify a bonded channel group of communication channels among a set of available communication channels;
- based on a parameter of content within the packet stream, determine a chunk size for communication units that comprise chunks of multiple packets;
- break the packet stream into communication units of the determined chunk size;
- obtain marker packets that flag the communication units for a destination that receives the communication units, the marker packets comprise a channel number that identifies a bonded channel sequence of distribution among the bonded channel group;
- distribute the marker packets across the bonding channel group;
- and
- distribute the communication units across the bonded channel group after the channel bonding information.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.