TW364251B - Adapter module for direct-to-home television broadcast receiving system - Google Patents

Abstract

An adapter module for direct-to-home television broadcast receiving system enables owners of existing dish antennas to receive both current analog television broadcast and new digital television broadcasts via C-Band satellites. The adapter includes a coaxial switch for switching between analog and digital television, a tuneable demodulator for selectively switching between transponders on the C-Band satellite, a channel selector unit for selecting the channel specified by the user from the bit stream output by the demodulator, a channel expander for decompressing the video signal, and a control unit for accepting user commands and controlling the polarization of the received signals, the steering of the TVRO antenna, the demodulated transponder frequency and the demultiplexed channels. The ability to select the user's channel from multiple channels available on different transponders and different satellites allow the dynamic reassignments of television channels based on system efficiency considerations. The adapter described herein permits a smooth transition form existing television service to a new digital C-Band television service, without requiring a new antenna or removal of the existing antenna. The device is able to simultaneous serve analog and digital TV to both cable and TVRO and C-Band small antennas and enables a smooth, seamless conversion to digital C-Band receiver with only one box. In addition, the system design minimizes satellite costs and equipment conversion costs. Rapid change to 8 channels per transponder for TVRO and cables is then followed by reduction to 3 to 4 channels to permit use of small C-Band antennas without interrupting service to existing customers.