JP2008536419A - Apparatus and method for managing reception service in local area network - Google Patents

Abstract

  The present invention relates to a method for managing access to a receiving service of a gateway distribution service within a local area network. The gateway comprises means for receiving a digital service and capacity for distributing the received service to clients over a local area network. At the usage level, the gateway consists of priority between users and a service reservation mode for managing collisions.

Description

  The present invention relates to the field of digital television, and more particularly to its distribution in the home.

  Broadcasting digital television services over satellite, cable or wireless channels is common today, and as an early stage, these services are distributed over national networks. It is desirable to propose a solution that enables distribution of these digital TV services over a home IP network.

  The architecture currently under consideration requires a broadcast gateway that allows broadcast multimedia services to be received and redistributed within the home via a home network. This gateway has one or more receiving modules, referred to in industry terms as “tuners”. The module can be associated with a cable, satellite, radio or any other receiving module. The broadcast gateway is responsible for distributing these services over the home network. The broadcast gateway can do this using, for example, the DVB-IP (Digital Video Broadcasting Over IP Infrastructure) standard. This standard is documented in the “DVB-IP Phase 1 Specification Handbook” available at ETSI under the reference number ETSI TS 102.034 v1.1.1.

  A certain number of clients can be connected to the home network for these distribution services. Among them are recording devices such as television devices, video tape recorders or PVRs (personal video recorders) or others.

  Services are generally broadcast in a bundle and multiplexed within a data transport stream. These transport streams are configured according to the DVB standard published by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). This standard is based on MPEG. The MPEG specification can be found especially in the following documents: That is, “MPEG-2 system: ISO / IEC, 1994. General-purpose encoding of moving pictures and related audio: System, (MPEG-2 system specification), November, ISO / IEC 13818-1” and “MPEG-2” Video: ISO / IEC, 1994, Generic coding of motion pictures and associated audio: Video, (MPEG-2 video standard), May, ISO / IEC 13818-2 ".

  According to these standards, services are bundled for each multiplex within the transport stream. A receiving module can be connected on a transport stream including a multiplex, from which the receiving module can extract one or more services. If one of the receiving modules is configured to receive one of the multiplexes and the service in this multiplex is distributed to one of the clients in the home network, the reception of the current service is not interrupted. It is impossible to receive services belonging to another available multiplex, at least with the assistance of this receiving module.

  Therefore, the limitation on the number of receiving modules limits the selection of services provided to the user according to the selection of other users of the system at any time among all available services.

  Other modes of broadcasting services can also result in constraints with similar properties regarding service selection. For example, the broadcast mode on the ADSL line can free you from the multiplex problem (ie, each service is theoretically accessible at each point in time), but there are other constraints, typically only a certain number of services. There is a restriction that the link bandwidth cannot be broadcast at the same time. For example, a 15 Mbit / sec link can only support 3 services at 4 Mbit / sec or only one service at 14 Mbit / sec.

  It is an object of the present invention to define a method for managing access to services available in a system, the system comprising a client accessing a service broadcast in a multiplex via a finite number of receiving modules. . The invention also relates to an apparatus for managing the reception of services according to the proposed method.

  The present invention relates to a method for selecting a digital service through a device called a client connected to a local area network, the local area network comprising a device called a distribution gateway, the distribution gateway comprising means for receiving the digital service and a reception service. Means for distribution over a local area network. The present invention comprises at least the following steps at the client level.

-Receiving a list of digital services accessible through the distribution gateway;-sending a query requesting receipt of services from this list, the method comprising: a level of priority associated with the query; ).

  According to a detailed embodiment of the invention, the priority associated with the query is the priority for the user who initiated the query on the client.

  According to a detailed embodiment of the invention, the priority associated with the query is the priority for the device that initiated the query on the client.

  According to a detailed embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises the step of displaying a list of digital services accessible through the distribution gateway. The display step specifies for each service whether or not the service can be selected depending on the priority of the client user.

  According to a detailed embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises the step of displaying a list of digital services accessible through the distribution gateway. The display step specifies for each service whether the service can be selected depending on the priority order of the client device.

  According to a detailed embodiment of the invention, the query also comprises a reservation mode of the receiving means.

  According to a detailed embodiment of the invention, the reservation mode comprises a mode in which access to the tuner is exclusive.

  According to a detailed embodiment of the present invention, the reservation mode comprises a mode in which access to the service is exclusive, or at least a second client of a service transported on the same transport stream and a service reserved by itself. In contrast, a mode is provided in which access to the service is authenticated.

  The invention also relates to a query service method through a device called a distribution gateway connected to a local area network, said distribution gateway being a local area for a digital service receiving means and a device called a client connected to a local area network. And means for distributing digital services received on the network. The present invention comprises at least the following steps.

-Sending a list of available digital services-receiving a query for a digital service with priority-determining the capacity of a gateway processing the query, the method comprising: If the gateway cannot process the query, the method further comprises selecting a query to be given priority between the received query and the at least one previous query according to the priority of the query.

  According to a detailed embodiment of the invention, the query further comprises a reservation level of the receiving means, and the step of selecting a query to be given priority between the received query and at least one previous query is also created according to this reservation level. Is done.

  The present invention also relates to a client device connectable to a local area network, a digital service distribution device having a digital service receiving unit, a digital service list receiving unit, a digital service receiving unit, and a receiving service Means for sending a query requesting delivery of at least one digital service among the digital services in the list. The apparatus is characterized in that means for sending a query requesting delivery of at least one digital service from a digital service in a list of received services further comprises means for including a priority in the query.

  According to a detailed embodiment of the invention, said device further comprises means for including in the query the reservation mode of the receiving means of the distribution device.

  The present invention also relates to a digital service distribution apparatus on a local area network, wherein the distribution apparatus receives a digital service, and transmits a list of digital services accessible by the apparatus to a client of the local area network. And a query receiving means for requesting delivery of at least one of the accessible services. The present invention provides a query selection means in which priority is given between an incoming query and at least one previous query according to the priority of the query when the gateway cannot process the query due to the service of at least one previous query. The apparatus is further provided.

  The invention will be better understood and other specificities and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  As used herein, the term broadcast refers to the broadcast of classical digital services via satellite, cable or radio channel or others, and the term distribution refers to the distribution of services over an IP network.

  Embodiments of the present invention are based on a device referred to as a distribution gateway, which can receive a conventional initial offer of a broadcast of digital services and make the initial offer accessible on a local area network, such as an IP network. This device is compatible with a receiving module called a tuner. The tuner receives satellite, cable, digital, wireless or other types of broadcasts. The apparatus can further provide information about services on the local area network. This information is provided by broadcasts that deliver service offers to users. When a user selects a service starting from a broadcast offer, the distribution gateway on the IP network broadcasts the service in the same way as a service distribution server on IP. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this functionality can be integrated throughout the local area network and within each device of the network.

  A conventional service distribution operation on an IP network involves a service provider that distributes these services. Each service is delivered by one or more servers using a multipoint delivery address. There are several ways that a service provider can provide the offer to the user. At the user level, the receiver first detects the service and detects the delivery address of the service. The receiver creates a list of services, the receiver then presents this list to the user, and the user selects the services that they want to receive. The receiver then sends a subscription query to the distribution address used by the service. By this subscription query, an intermediate routing device is configured between the server and the receiver. The intermediate routing device routes the data packets that make up the stream comprising the service from the server to the receiver. If the user wants to stop receiving services, the receiver sends a query that cancels the subscription at that address and stops receiving packets.

  This entire process is commonly referred to as service discovery and selection, or SD & S (Service Discovery and Selection). There is a standard called DVB-IP (Digital Video Broadcasting Over IP Infrastructure) that handles this process and is available in ETSI under the reference number ETSI TS 102.034 v1.1.1 "DVB-IP Phase 1 Specification Handbook" Documented in

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is not limiting and those skilled in the art will be able to adjust certain aspects thereof without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the overall architecture of an embodiment of the present invention in its operating environment. In the figure, there is a local area network on IP indicated by 1.3, and this local area network connects clients indicated by 1.4 to 1.6 on one side to a service distribution network on IP. A device capable of receiving a digital data stream including a service based on an IP network is referred to as a client. The device is thus a device capable of receiving and decoding a stream over IP. This apparatus is generally an IP decoder, which is attached to an IP network and a demultiplexer capable of separating data packets corresponding to a service, and then attached to a decoder capable of decoding various basic streams constituting the service. Finally, attach to the analog-digital converter. The analog-to-digital converter can generate an analog signal, which is sent to the screen, loudspeaker or others that restore the service. This apparatus may be a digital television apparatus that directly integrates all these functions.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the distribution gateway shown at 1.2 is built like a device itself and connected to the local IP network on one side. The distribution gateway has a receiving module connected to the satellite antenna shown at 1.1. In this embodiment, the receiving module is a satellite module, but may be a cable, wireless, or other receiving module as long as it can receive a digital data stream that is typically DVB (Digital Video Broadcast).

  FIG. 2 shows the hardware architecture of the distribution gateway of this embodiment at 2.2. The gateway is connected to the IP network indicated by 2.5 via the network interface indicated by 2.9. The gateway has a receiving module as shown in 2.3, which is commonly referred to as a tuner in the industry term for engineers in the industry. The tuner can receive a signal that is received from the satellite antenna indicated by 2.1, which is based on the satellite. The tuner can be tuned to a given frequency, an output signal at this frequency can be received, and the digital data packet contained in this signal can be reconstructed. These packets constituting the received digital data stream are subsequently processed by the packet filter shown at 2.8. This packet filter is commonly referred to as Demux in industry terms by those skilled in the art. The filter or demux can be programmed to extract packets that meet certain criteria, such as certain field values in the packet header, from the stream. This demux is particularly used to extract a given service from a stream or to select relevant information for a service offer contained within a stream. This information about the offer is commonly referred to as service information by engineers in the industry.

  These modules interact under the control of software stored in the read-only memory shown at 2.6 of the device. These services are loaded into the random access memory indicated by 2.7 and executed by the processor indicated by 2.4. Details of the main software program that initiates the function of the distribution gateway are described below.

  FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A gateway connected to the IP network indicated by 3.5 and the satellite antenna indicated by 3.1 is indicated by 3.2. Modules such as a network interface indicated by 3.9, a tuner indicated by 3.3, and a demax indicated by 3.8 are shown from the functional side. The interaction between the local area network client and the distribution gateway is managed by a command interpreter as shown in 3.6. This command interpreter receives a command or query from a client via a network interface, and symbolizes this by an arrow indicated by 3.11. In order to execute these commands, the interpreter needs to control the tuner, which is indicated by arrow 3.13. The interpreter further needs to control the demux as indicated by arrow 3.15, and the stream player indicated by 3.4 needs to be controlled as indicated by arrow 3.18. The stream player redistributes the preselected service over the IP network.

  Under the direction of the command interpreter 3.6, the tuner receives a digital data packet stream that is transmitted to the demux as indicated by arrow 3.16. Demax, for example, filters packets belonging to a service. These packets are transmitted to the stream player responsible for transmitting the data packet stream on the IP network, as indicated by arrow 3.17. This transmission indicated by the arrow 3.19 can be performed on the IP network via, for example, the RTP protocol (real-time transport protocol) recommended by the DVB-IP standard. The service administrator shown in 3.7 is responsible for managing service information, ie information about accessible service offers. This management is performed, for example, under the control of a command interpreter. The service administrator receives the signal information contained in the stream at the Demax exit as indicated by arrow 3.14, and a list of available services that can be provided at the time of query as indicated by arrow 3.12 is indicated by arrow 3.10. Thus, it can be constructed for the requesting client on the IP network. The management of available services is described in more detail below.

  In an embodiment of the present invention, the distribution gateway performs the following tasks at its initialization.

  Start the tuner and put it in a state ready for command reception. The tuner is a conventional tuner such as found in satellite or cable or wireless decoders. Therefore, the tuner can execute a normal tuner task. Among them, there is a frequency band browsing function for searching for a frequency used for broadcasting a service stream. The function of locking to a given frequency is performed using a given polarity, a given modulation, and all current parameters. The tuner can also provide a digital data packet stream transmitted at the frequency.

  Build a list of services that the tuner can receive. This list is referred to as a DVB service list, and the services of this list are referred to as DVB services. Organize broadcast links as follows: The link is generally shared by several broadcasters. Each broadcaster provides a set of digital services, such as audio and / or video, in the form of a service set. These sets are broadcast on one or more transport streams. In an initial step, it is common to build a list of broadcasters that share a broadcast link. In the second step, a list of transport streams to be used can be constructed, and finally a list of services included in these streams can be constructed.

  More specifically, in DVB, each broadcaster is identified by a single identifier, a network identifier (network ID), and information about it is in an information table or NIT (network information table) on the network. This table is usually in each transport stream and contains, inter alia, a list of streams used by each broadcaster.

  For each stream there is a list of parameters such as frequency, modulation, polarity and what is essential to the tuner for stream fixing and reception. Among them is a list of services that are broadcast in the stream.

  There is a certain number of information for each service, which includes, for example, a list of service names, identifiers called DVB triplets, identifiers of basic audio and video streams (program identifiers, PID for short).

  According to the DVB-SI standard specification for service information, complementary service information can be used in the stream.

  Therefore, a list of services that can be used can be constructed using all of the information. These pieces of information need to know the broadcast transport stream in order to fix the stream and extract useful information therefrom.

  The first way is to browse the frequency bands that may be used and detect the frequencies used for stream output. Each time a stream is detected, relevant information for building a list of available services is extracted from the stream. This is a normal tuner function. Since this method is time consuming and monopolizes the tuner, it is not possible to receive services using the tuner during this time.

  It is also possible to build a list of available services according to a configuration file stored in the distribution gateway or elsewhere on the local area network, for example. The file can be in XML format or any other. The XML format has the advantage that it is a format maintained by the DVB-IP standard for encoding service information during the delivery of DVB services over an IP network. This method is faster, but gives the risk of degrading the stored information compared to the actual broadcast service.

  It is also possible to mix both of the above technologies by storing the service list in a file and browsing the frequency operation periodically or at the time of an update request to give the authority to update the file.

  Once the list of available information sources on the broadcast link is constructed, this list must be made available on the local area network. One way to do this is to use the solution recommended by the DVB-IP standard. This standard proposes to consider a list of IP services as a collection of objects. Each of these objects has the following information, among others: That is, for example, an identifier that can be a DVB triplet, a service name, a service identifier (PID) of the basic audio and video stream of the service, and a multipoint distribution address to which the service is distributed. The client can use this list via, for example, an HTTP query (Hypertext Transport Protocol).

  FIG. 4 shows a method for distributing services to clients. Connect the clients shown at 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6 to the local area network shown at 4.3. A hidden distribution gateway equipped with a tuner is also connected to the local area network. This tuner makes it possible to receive p transport streams indicated by M1, M2 and Mp. These are the p streams available. Each of these streams is delivered by a satellite transponder, for example at a given frequency. By fixing the tuner to a certain frequency, the tuner can receive a transport stream output at that frequency. At any given time, the tuner can therefore receive only a single transport stream of the available streams. Each transport stream includes a certain number, eg, n services. These services are denoted by Pij. i represents a transport stream from 1 to P, and j represents a service in the stream from 1 to n. Although not shown, if the gateway includes several tuners, each tuner tracks its own frequency and receives a corresponding stream. The gateway can therefore receive a number of transport streams corresponding to the number of tuners it contains.

  Describe solutions that enable service selection. An inherent problem arises here. That is, the standard solution assumes that the provided service is permanently executed on the network. Thus, all of these services can be used completely independently of each other at all points in time. Unlike in this case, it is clear that a distribution gateway cannot execute all available services simultaneously. This is because the tuner can only receive one transport stream of the streams available at a given time. Therefore, it is always impossible to simultaneously execute two services belonging to two different streams unless the distribution gateway comprises two or more tuners. However, even if the gateway has several tuners, there is always a limit when the number of available streams exceeds the number of tuners.

  Service distribution over IP is performed by the real-time transport protocol RTP. Conventionally, when a client wants to receive an RTP stream distributed by multipoint distribution, the client transmits a subscription query called “participation” at the multipoint distribution address. The routing device between the server and the client interprets this query and distributes the packet output by the server to the client. This works well in a context where the server runs a service permanently. This mechanism is insufficient if the server performs services only on demand.

  To solve this problem, DVB-IP proposes the use of RTSP queries (Real Time Streaming Protocol). The RTSP query can notify the server that the client is requesting one of the services. This command is known as the command named “Setup”. This “setup” command can be used to enable management of service delivery by the delivery gateway. On the other hand, when the client stops receiving the service, a “teardown” command is transmitted. These commands provide a reference by which the gateway can identify the service that the command is involved in.

  First, selection of the first service by the first client will be described. The client requests and builds a list of all available services. Of all these services, the client selects one. A “setup” command is sent to the gateway and interpreted by the command interpreter to lock the tuner to the stream containing the requested service. Demax is programmed to filter the requested service in the stream, and this service is therefore executed by the stream player on the network with the delivery address assigned to the stream player. Therefore, by monitoring this delivery address, the client is ready to receive the requested service.

  In addition, the gateway must know which clients request to receive services to be executed on the network so that service delivery can be interrupted when no clients need to receive. One way to do this is to manage a client list for each service that is executed. From this client list, a “setup” command for this service is received. Therefore, if this command can be satisfied when the “setup” command is received, the client that is the transmission source of the command is not always added to the client list that requests reception of the service. The client is withdrawn from the client list when the distribution gateway receives a “disassembly” command from the client associated with the service.

  For example, a similar mechanism for managing access to services for various users in a home system can be used in a company, but it is possible to define priorities among users. To do this, each user of the system needs to identify himself. This identification can be done in several ways. For example, in a family situation, it may be sufficient to have the user select a relevant profile among several profiles. In more sensitive situations where it is desirable to implement parallel control, the user can be identified by requiring the user to enter a password. Of course, in this problem, many other solutions can be considered, for example ID cards or biometric parameters.

  By applying this priority, it is possible to manage a collision that occurs between users. In fact, when a user requests service reception, the tuner is tuned to the frequency at which the corresponding transport stream is transmitted. Several cases occur when a second user requests a second service. The second service may be related to the same service, in which case the second user enjoys the delivery of that service. The second service may relate to a service transmitted within the same transport stream as the first service. In this case, by simply programming DeMax, both services can be extracted from the received stream and delivered on the internal network. A collision occurs when broadcasting the second service on a different transport stream than the first service. In this case, in order to receive the second service, it is necessary to fix the tuner to the frequency of the second transport stream. Therefore, it can be seen that the reception of the second service is exclusive to the reception of the first service. Therefore, it is necessary to select a user to whom priority is given. Priorities are used to make this selection.

  The problem is ultimately the same if the distribution gateway includes several tuners. All tuners are fixed when a transmission stream is received, and all queries can be satisfied by the time a user requests a service transmitted within an unreceived stream.

  Therefore, it can be seen that the collision can be resolved by assigning the priority order in this way. However, it is also beneficial to allow the user to specify several reservation levels when requesting a service. In fact, the user may wish to receive exclusive service, or the user may wish to exclusively use tuner resources.

  For example, it is conceivable to define three priorities in the home. The highest level of priority is the administrator level for the person who manages the system configuration, and the intermediate level is for “parent” authority and is intended for access to adult-oriented services within the family. The priority of is given the “child” authority and is for family children. It is quite clear that this example is non-limiting and that you can define as many priorities as there are people in your home, or you can think of any kind of policy to assign to these levels.

  It is also possible to assign priorities according to client devices rather than users. Thus, in addition to not requiring a user authentication step, it is possible to give priority to a certain device as compared with others. Thus, for example, it is possible to give priority to a recording device in the living room or the main television device compared to a secondary television set in the kitchen.

  It is also possible to allow the user to use several reservation modes of the gateway reception means when selecting a service.

  The first mode has the authority of the “own tuner” mode and establishes exclusive access to the tuner. In this mode, when a user receives his service, other users cannot use the tuner. In other words, even if the service is transmitted in the same transport stream through the tuner, no one can receive the service.

  The second mode has the authority of the “own service” mode and establishes exclusive access to the service. In this mode, the second user has the right to receive another service transmitted by the same transport stream, but does not have the right to receive the service reserved by the first user.

  The third mode has the authority of the “shared” mode, and the second user has the right to access the service transmitted on the same transport stream and the service reserved by the first user.

  The fourth mode has the authority of the “guest” mode, and the service transmitted by the first user in the transport stream already reserved in the “own service” mode or the “shared” mode by the second user. Can be reserved.

  The fifth mode has the authority of the “reservation not required” mode, and no special reservation is required.

  This reservation system allows the user to give detailed instructions on how to share the desired service, but it cannot avoid collisions between users. Therefore, it is possible to mix the above-described priority system and the reservation system so as to solve the collision that may occur in the present system.

In order to be able to build a list of information about accessible services and associated reservation states, the tuner should provide the following information:
・ At the tuner level, its reservation status ・ At the service level, its accessibility and the reservation mode of the service It can be considered that the gateway does not keep information about who has reserved what. In this case, the gateway only verifies that the reservation level and the selection operation are valid for its acceptance. The gateway then manages priority and reservation mode under the scope of the application on the client. This approach simplifies the development of a broadcast gateway.

  In addition, a gateway containing several tuners needs to distinguish between these various tuners and provides a list of accessible services to some clients. The client decides whether to integrate the list at the level of the user interface that it provides. Another possibility is that the gateway manages a single list by integrating the information of each tuner.

  Therefore, it is possible to provide the user with an update list of available services or an update list of each service that indicates an accessible state at all times. This list can be updated when the selection action is used by the event management mechanism.

  When the program is selected, a command is sent from the client to the gateway including the service identifier, the reservation level if a reservation mechanism is used, and the user priority.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention will be described in the case of a tuner that allows multiplex reception, the present invention can also be generalized in the case of a reception module for a stream transmitted over an IP network. In this case, not the output frequency of the transport stream, but the bandwidth between the broadcast gateway and the service broadcast server is a restriction. Whatever technology is used to broadcast the service, physical limitations limit the number of services that can be received simultaneously compared to the total available services. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to any kind of broadcast mode of service.

  Similarly, the priorities and reservation modes described are illustrative and other policies and other reservation modes to which the priorities can be applied can be defined without departing from the scope of the present invention. Similarly, policies for resolving conflicts between users with the same priority are free and deviate from the scope of the present invention first-in first-out or vice versa, or vice versa. It is possible to apply without.

  Although this embodiment describes service distribution via an IP network in the home, for those skilled in the art, the present invention will function correctly regardless of the service distribution network behind the broadcast gateway. Is clear. The present invention can relate to an in-home network according to the IEEE 1394 standard or any other type of network that can deliver multimedia services.

  In fact, for all cases where multiple users use access resources for multiple access, and for cases where this access resource limits the number of services that can be provided to users at the same time out of all services that they can access. Thus, the present invention can be generalized.

It is a figure showing the whole architecture in the operating environment of embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram representing a hardware architecture of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing the block diagram of the apparatus according to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing the architecture of the service and client in embodiment of this invention.

Claims (17)

A device called a client connected to a local area network selects a digital service, the local area network comprising a device called a distribution gateway, the distribution gateway comprising a digital service receiving means and a local service network The receiving service delivery means, wherein the client-based method receives at least a list of digital services accessible via the delivery gateway;
Sending a query requesting acceptance of a service based on the list;
The method, wherein the query includes a priority associated with the query.   The method of claim 1, wherein the priority associated with the query is a priority of a user who initiated the query at the client.   The method of claim 1, wherein the priority associated with the query is a priority of a device that initiated the query at the client.   A digital service list that designates for each service whether or not a service can be selected according to the priority of the user of the client, and that is accessible via the distribution gateway is displayed. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step.   Displaying a digital service list that specifies for each service whether or not a service can be selected according to the priority of the client device, and that is accessible via the distribution gateway; The method according to claim 1, further comprising:   The method according to claim 1, wherein the query further includes a reservation mode of the receiving unit.   The method of claim 6, wherein the reservation mode includes a mode in which access to a tuner is exclusive.   The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the reservation mode includes a mode in which access to a service is exclusive.   The reservation mode includes a mode in which at least a second client is allowed to access the service reserved by the client and a service transmitted on the same transport stream as the service. Or the method according to 7. A query service method via a device called a distribution gateway connected to a local area network, wherein the distribution gateway is for receiving a digital service and a device called a client connected to the local area network. Said digital service distribution means received at said method, said method at least: sending a list of available digital services;
-Receiving a query for a priority digital service;
-Determining the capacity of the gateway to serve the query;
Including the steps
Since the method is servicing at least one previous query, and the gateway is unable to service the query, according to the priority contained in the query, the received query and the at least one previous query The method further comprising the step of selecting a prioritized query from among. The query further comprises a reservation level of the receiving means,
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of selecting a prioritized query from the received query and the at least one previous query is further performed according to the reservation level. Means for receiving a digital service list from a digital service distribution apparatus having digital service reception means, digital service reception means, and a query requesting distribution of at least one digital service among the digital services in the received service list A client device connected to a local area network comprising means for transmitting
The client apparatus, wherein the means for transmitting a query requesting distribution of at least one of the digital services in the received service list further comprises means for including a priority in the query.   The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the priority is related to a user of the apparatus.   The device of claim 12, wherein the priority is related to the device itself.   The apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 14, further comprising means for including a reservation mode of the receiving means of the distribution apparatus in the query. A digital service distribution device on a local area network,
Means for receiving digital services; means for sending a list of digital services accessible to the device to clients of the local area network;
Means for receiving a query requesting delivery of at least one of the accessible services;
If the gateway is unable to service the query due to service for at least one previous query, priority is given to the received query and the at least one previous query according to the priority included in the query. The apparatus further comprising means for selecting a query.   17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the query comprises a reservation level of the receiving means and the selecting means for making a selection further according to the reservation mode included in the received query and the previous query. .

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