WO2009143498A1

WO2009143498A1 - Method and apparatus for tv signal distribution

Info

Publication number: WO2009143498A1
Application number: PCT/US2009/045091
Authority: WO
Inventors: Keith Bargroff
Original assignee: Entropic Communications, Inc.
Priority date: 2008-05-22
Filing date: 2009-05-22
Publication date: 2009-11-26

Abstract

A Method and aparatus for a satellite television signal distribution system are presented. Some embodiments include an outdoor unit (ODU) for receiving satellite signals and remodulating them onto unused terrestrial broadcast channels using a terrestrial broadcast modulation scheme such as DVB-T. A remote controller used by a viewer is coupled to an ODU controller to allow the viewer to control the ODU in order to select the desired program channel to be displayed on an integrated receiving device capable of receiving and displaying the DVB-T signals.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TV SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority from United States provisional patent application entitled "Method and Apparatus for TV Signal Distribution" serial number 61/055,440 filed May 22, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

[0002] The disclosed method and apparatus relate to communication systems, and more particularly, to distribution of information and entertainment signals within a home or building.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Satellite television systems use one or more communication satellites to transmit television programming that may be received by a satellite dish and set-top box. In such a system, a television program signal is multiplexed together with other television program signals. A television program signal is the electronic information that allows an display/recording device (DRD), such as a television, to display a television program. The group of multiplexed television program signals are then modulated onto one of several carrier signals. Each carrier signal is at a frequency that is tuned to one of the several transponders located on the satellite to which the signal will be transmitted. The carrier with the modulated television programs is transmitted using an antenna located at an uplink facility. In a typical system, the uplink dish is pointed toward a specific satellite. Accordingly, the satellite television program signals are transmitted in a specific frequency range so that they can be received by the particular transponder aboard that satellite that is tuned to the frequency of the carrier. The transponder generally retransmits the signals back to Earth in a different frequency band, in a process referred to as translation, to avoid interference with the uplink signal. [0004] When received on earth, the downlink satellite signal is usually weak due to the large distance traveled. A user (e.g., member of the television viewing audience) may receive and view satellite television signals using an antenna, a receiver, set- top box and a television. The signal is typically collected by a parabolic receiving dish antenna mounted on the roof or the side of a home with a clear view to the satellite. The dish reflects the signal transmitted by the satellite to the dish's focal point. A feed-horn is mounted at the dish's focal point. The feed-horn is generally a waveguide that gathers the signals at or near the focal point and guides the signal to a pickup connected to an outdoor unit (ODU) that amplifies the signals, filters the block of frequencies in which the satellite television signals are transmitted, and converts the block of frequencies to a lower frequency range.

[0005] Once the signal is at the lower frequency range, the signal is coupled to a set-top box. The set-top box includes a tuner that selects the particular program channel to be viewed. For the purpose of this discussion, a program channel is the content associated with one program for viewing by an audience. The selected program channel may be in the form of a digital MPEG-2 (Motion Picture Expert Group-2) data stream. MPEG-2 is a standard for the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information. The MPEG-2 sets the protocol standard for encoding an MPEG data stream using a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods to permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission bandwidth. However, other compression schemes may also be used. If MPEG-2 is used, the set-top box either converts the MPEG-2 signal (i.e., an MPEG data stream) into an analog format that a standard television can recognize or, more commonly today, into a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) format. When other schemes are used, the signal would be decompressed in accordance with such schemes. Each MPEG data stream carries one television program. While MPEG data streams can be multiplexed together, a DRD, such as a television, can only operate if it receives a single MPEG data stream carrying one moving image (i.e., one television program). Additionally, the DRD can receive program scheduling information from the provider and present this information in an onscreen program guide. The program guide is generated from the set-top box and sent to the television as either an HDMI data stream or analog video signal ready for direct display by the television.

[0006] Because the receiver is not capable isolating and formatting individual program channels, each DRD requires its own set-top box. In addition, to transmit the signals from the receiver to the set-top box, requires satellite grade cable due to the broad bandwidth of the signals transmitted to the set-top boxes. Additionally, separate wiring connections are generally required to connect the receiver to each set-top box. This increases the cost and complexity of a satellite television installation. Furthermore, requiring one set-top box per DRD increases the installation complexity and cost.

[0007] Some alternatives use channel stacking systems to allow multiple satellite television program channels to be multiplexed and transmitted over a single cable to a variety of DRDs However, such systems require channel stacking set top boxes to allow the audience to receive and view the satellite television programming at a television.

SUMMARY

[0008] Various embodiments of a satellite signal reception and distribution system are disclosed which include an antenna, an outdoor unit (ODU) and a display/recording device (DRD). Satellite signals are received in the antenna, communicated from the antenna to the ODU and then from the ODU to the DRD. The DRD is typically a television, a digital video recorder (DVR), a video cassette recorder (VCR), etc. In addition, a remote controller is typically used to control the DRD and to indirectly control the components of the ODU. The ODU includes a digital broadcast receiver, a demodulator coupled to the digital broadcast receiver, an MPEG transport system processor coupled to the demodulator, a terrestrial broadcast re-modulator coupled to the MPEG transport system processor, channel combiner and an ODU controller. The receiver includes a downconversion circuit that downconverts the received satellite signals. In addition, the receiver includes a cross-point switch that allows the received signals to be routed to one or more of the inputs to a tuner within the receiver. The tuner selects a particular transponder from among the received satellite signals. The output of the tuner is then coupled from the receiver to the demodulator. The demodulator demodulates the set of multiplexed MPEG data transport streams. The demodulated MPEG data transport streams are then coupled from the demodulator to the MPEG transport system processor. The MPEG data transport processor demultiplexes the set of MPEG data transport streams so that each can be remodulated onto a television channel using a terrestrial broadcast modulation technique, such as that used to modulate Direct Video Broadcast -Terrestrial (DVB-T) signals. In one embodiment, a program guide is generated and modulated into the DVB-T format by the re -modulator. Each of the DVB-T signals is then combined together. In accordance with the disclosed method and apparatus, the system can include any number of DRDs and may receive program channels from any number of sources, including multiple satellites, each with two polarizations and several transponders per polarization. Each DRD will have access through the system to any one or more program channels by means of the system re-modulating each selected program channel onto a selected available television channel and indicating to the audience through methods discussed below on which television channel the program channel can be received. More than one DRD can receive the same program channel on the same television channel. However, it is more typical that each DRD will be assigned a particular television channel.

[0009] It should be noted that as used in the present disclosure, a "television channel" differs from a "program channel" in that a television channel is the frequency and format at which a DRD, such as a television, can receive signals to be displayed or recorded on the DRD. A program channel is the content that is contained within a signal (i.e., the entertainment to be viewed by the viewer).

[0010] An ODU controller is coupled to the ODU, and more particularly to each of the receiver, demodulator, MPEG transport system processor, terrestrial broadcast re- modulator and Channel Combiner. The ODU controller coordinates the operation devices in the ODU with the operation of the DRD receiving the re-modulated transmission from the ODU. The ODU controller receives signals from a remote controller which is typically located near the DRD (i.e., the television, VCR, DVR, etc.). The audience (the person that will be viewing the program channel on the DRD) will typically input commands to the remote controller. In one embodiment, the remote controller then controls any DRDs involved in displaying the program channel and sends commands to the ODU controller. In response, the ODU controller sends commands to each of the other devices in the ODU necessary to ensure that the selected program channel is sent to the DRD on the correct television channel.

[0011] In some embodiments, the ODU controller is instructed to begin an initialization procedure. In one embodiment, this instruction is provided by the remote controller. Upon receiving such an initialization command, the ODU controller determines what channels are to be used to re-modulate the program channels sent to the DRDs. Once the ODU controller determines onto which television channel to re-modulate the program channel, the ODU controller controls the re- modulator to modulate and transmit an initialization screen on the selected channel. In one embodiment, this is done in response to a command from the remote controller. Sending an initialization screen instead of the program channel allows the audience to scan through channels displayed on the television until the initialization screen is seen. Once the audience sees the channel on which the re- modulator is sending initialization screen to that DRD, the audience indicates to the remote controller that the information is being displayed on that particular channel on the DRD. Accordingly, the remote controller and the ODU controller will be synchronized. The remote controller then sends an indication to the ODU controller to indicate that the audience found the television channel. The ODU controller then controls the re-modulator to re -modulate the selected program channel onto the selected television channel. In other embodiments, the remote controller coordinates the operation of the DRD and the devices in the ODU by requesting an input from audience regarding the channel to be used for the re- modulated broadcast of the received satellite signals to the DRD.

[0012] In one embodiment, the remote controller coordinates the operation of the DRD and the operation of the ODU with minimal input from the viewer. This is done by having the ODU controller determine the television channel to be used to transmit the re-modulated broadcast to the DRD. Once the ODU controller has selected the television channel, the ODU controller transmits a message back to the remote controller. The remote controller then selects that channel on the DRD when the audience instructs the remote controller to display a program sent from the ODU on the DRD.

[0013] In one embodiment, the system provides a program guide to the DRD. A separate program guide is generated so the audience of the system can view one program guide for satellite broadcast. That guide is then put onto a television channel and sent through the re -modulator to the DRD.

[0014] Some embodiments further comprise a relay receiver that facilitates communication between the remote controller and the ODU controller. The relay receiver transmits signals received from the remote controller up to the ODU controller. In some embodiments, the relay receiver is a relay transceiver that also enables communication from the ODU controller down to the remote controller. In some embodiments, the RF signals are transmitted over a coaxial cable connecting the ODU and a DRD. Alternatively, the relay receiver is an infrared repeater which generates electrical signals from infrared signals transmitted by the remote controller. The relay receiver then sends the electrical signals up the television cable to the ODU controller.

[0015] In some embodiments an DRD receiving the terrestrial broadcast from the ODU may be a television, a digital recorder, or a set-top box. In some embodiments, terrestrial television broadcasts are received in the ODU. A terrestrial digital television channel is selected for transmission of a re-modulated program channel. The re-modulation channel is selected by scanning the terrestrial broadcast channels that can be received to determine an appropriate channel to be used for the re -modulation. In one embodiment, a channel combiner combines each of the MPEG data transport streams to be sent to each of the DRDs.

[0016] Further features and advantages of the presently disclosed method and apparatus, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the presently disclosed method and apparatus, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The disclosed method and apparatus is described in detail with reference to the following figures. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict typical or example embodiments of the disclosed method and apparatus. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader's understanding of the disclosed method and apparatus and are not to be considered as limitations of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the claimed invention. The appended claims should be reviewed to determine the breadth, scope and applicability of the claimed invention. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily made to scale.

[0018] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example satellite television signal distribution system, including a low noise block down converter system in accordance with one embodiment of the systems and methods described herein. Figure 2 is a block diagram of the components of one embodiment of a digital broadcast receiver.

[0019] Figure 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an example system wherein the controller causes the system to determine channels that may be used to transmit the re- modulated broadcast to the devices receiving the re-modulated broadcast.

[0020] Figure 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example system wherein the controller may coordinate the operation of the DRD receiving the re-modulated broadcast from the re-modulator by using two-way communication between the system and the DRDs.

It should be understood that the disclosed method and apparatus might be practiced with modification and alteration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example satellite television signal distribution system 100, including an outdoor unit (ODU) 102 and the components of a home 124, in accordance with one embodiment of the method and apparatus described herein. It should be noted that the home 124 is one example of an implementation. In an alternative embodiment, the home can rather be a multi-dwelling unit (such as an apartment building), a work environment, or any place in which a television or other entertainment device might be connected to receive entertainment information content and either store the content or display that content to an audience.

[0022] The ODU 102 includes a satellite MPEG stream extractor 101, a terrestrial broadcast remodulator 112, a channel combiner 113 and an ODU controller 115. The Satellite MPEG stream extractor 101 receives satellite signals containing several multiplexed and modulated program channels from one or more dish antennas 106 and outputs a plurality of MPEG transport data streams, each of which contains one program channel. The Satellite MPEG stream extractor 101 includes a digital broadcast receiver 104, a modulator 108 and a MPEG transport stream processor 110.

[0023] The digital broadcast receiver 104 receives signals from one or more satellites (not shown) via one or more dish antennas 106. In some embodiments, the received satellite signals comprise two polarizations. Accordingly, there are two outputs (on per polarization) from each antenna 106. Each polarization includes a plurality of transponders. Each transponder has a group of program channels. In one embodiment, each program channel is an MPEG transport data stream. In one embodiment, the received signals are either quadature phase shift key (QPSK) modulated, 8-PSK modulated, or amplitude PSK (APSK) modulated. However, other modulation schemes are possible as well. These program channels may include television programs, music channels, and other programming that are generally transmitted over a satellite. While such content is typically for entertainment, in some embodiments, the content is for education, commerce, etc.

[0024] Figure 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the digital broadcast receiver 104. The receiver 104 of Figure 2 receives signals from two satellites, each having two polarizations. For simplicity the operations performed on one polarization will be described. However, it will be understood that in general, the same operation will be preformed on each received satellite signal. It should also be understood that any number of satellite antennas may be used to receive signals from any number of satellites. Furthermore, the presently disclosed system allows any program channel from any satellite/polarization/transponder to be re -modulated onto any available television channel for display or recording on any DRD 116, 118.

[0025] The output from the antenna 106 is coupled to a series of amplifiers 201. The output from each amplifier 201 is coupled to a bandpass filter 203. The output from the bandpass filter 203 is coupled to a block converter 205. Figure 2 shows two such block converters 205, one associated with each of two satellite antennas 106. In the particular embodiment shown in Figure 2, the block converters 205 have a single conversion stage directly from radio frequency (RF) to baseband. However, in an alternative embodiment, the conversion is done in more than one stage. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the conversion is not done as a quadrature conversion. The conversion is done with a quadrature conversion stage.

[0026] As shown in Figure 2, an in-phase (I) downconverter 207 and a quadrature -phase (Q) downconverter 209 are used to perform the block conversion. A local oscillator signal is coupled from a local oscillator 211 through a 90 degree splitter circuit 213 having an in-phase and quadrature output to generate an in-phase local oscillator signal (I-LO) and a quadrature -phase local oscillator signal (Q-LO). The I downconverter 207 is supplied with the I-LO. The Q downconverter 209 is supplied with the Q-LO. Accordingly, the outputs from the I and Q downconverters 207, 209 are a baseband quadrature signal pair that have all of the content that was transmitted on the particular polarization received by the antenna 106 to which that block converter 205 is coupled. It should be noted that in accordance with one embodiment of the receiver 104, there is a low pass filter for each converter output at the output of the block converter 205 to ensure that the high order products of the converters are removed from the signal. However, these low pass filters are not shown for the sake of simplicity . The output of the block converter 205 is coupled to a series of analog to digital converters (ADCs) 214.

[0027] The output of each ADCs 214 is coupled to a cross-point switch 215. The cross- point switch 215 allows any of the digitized pairs of I and Q outputs from each block converter 205 to be connected to any pair of outputs from the switch. In this way, the cross-point switch allows program channels to be routed to a particular channel of the demodulator 108. It should be noted that in one embodiment of the disclosed method and apparatus, the output from the cross- point switch 215 is a broadband digital output in which each I/Q pair includes all of the program channels of the particular polarization coupled to that output.

[0028] The output of the cross-point switch is coupled to a tuner 217. The tuner 217 selects a particular transponder frequency from the broadband output of the cross- point switch (i.e., the frequency that is associated with the signal transmitted over one of the several transponders associated with the particular antenna and polarization), rejects the other transponders and translates the selected transponder signal down to baseband (i.e., removes any offset of the center frequency from zero Hertz). Accordingly, the output from the digital broadcast receiver 104 is a set of pairs of I and Q digital baseband streams containing the content that was transmitted in the set of polarizations, with one such pair per polarization. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that more than one pair can be provided for each polarization. It should be noted that the cross-point switch 215 can couple an input I/Q pair to more than one output so that multiple DRDs can receive the same program channel or program channels transmitted over the same transponder. It should also be noted that the particular order of the functions of the receiver 104 (i.e., the block conversion, tuning to the particular transponders, cross-point switch, analog to digital conversion, etc.) can vary for different embodiments of the disclosed method and apparatus.

[0029] In addition to the satellite signals, the receiver 104 is also coupled to a terrestrial antenna 120. The terrestrial antenna provides terrestrial digital television signals to the receiver 104. The receiver 104 includes a terrestrial scanner 117 that is used to scan the terrestrial signals for open slots into which the satellite signals can be modulated by the remodulator 112, as will be discussed in more detail below. The scanner 117 is controlled by the ODU controller 115. In one embodiment, the scanner 117 performs a basic power measurement across the band of frequencies used to transmit terrestrial digital television signals and outputs to the ODU controller 115 a list of those slots that have less than a predetermined amount of energy in them. In addition, the signal from the terrestrial antenna 117 is passed through the scanner and provided to the channel combiner 113.

[0030] The output of the digital broadcast receiver 104 is coupled to a demodulator 108. The demodulator 108 demodulates the digital baseband streams output by the digital broadcast receiver 104. The output from the demodulator 108 is an MPEG transport data stream. An MPEG transport data stream is a stream of digital data in a communications protocol representing audio, video, and other data. MPEG-2 sets the protocol standard for encoding an MPEG data stream using a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods to permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission bandwidth. It should be noted that MPEG-2 is only one standard used for compression of data.

[0031] In some embodiments, the demodulator 108 demodulates all channels offered by a satellite service provider. In other embodiments the number of channels demodulated is limited. For example, rather than demodulating all of the channels modulated on the received signal, only one channel is demodulated for each of the DRDs. Alternatively, the demodulator 108 may provide multiple channels to each DRD. For example, in one embodiment, a digital video recorder (DVR) can record multiple channels. Accordingly, in at least some embodiments, the DVR will receive multiple channels from the demodulator 108. In another example a device that can record one channel while allowing the audience to view another channel might receive two channels. Televisions that allow "picture -in- picture" may also receive multiple channels. [0032] The demodulated signal (i.e., the MPEG transport data stream) is coupled from the demodulator 108 to an MPEG transport system processor 110 (sometimes referred to as a Program Identification (PID) filter). The MPEG transport system processor 110 processes the MPEG transport data stream output from the demodulator 108 and prepares the data for broadcast re -modulation. This is done by demultiplexing the streams of data associated with each program channel. That is, each stream of data that is output from the demodulator 108 is a multiplexed stream of data which includes each of the program channels transmitted on a particular transponder of a particular satellite. It should be understood that it is possible that only one program channel is sent on the transponder. The MPEG transport system processor 110 uses information contained in the stream to filter the streams and thus separate out one incoming stream representing one program channel for each desired television channel to be transmitted from the ODU 102 to the DRDs 116, 118.

[0033] At least one terrestrial broadcast re-modulator 112 is coupled to the MPEG transport system processor 110. The re-modulator 112 modulates the MPEG transport data stream onto one or more digital television channels (e.g., Digital Video Broadcast-Terrestrial (DVB-T) channels). The re-modulator 112 uses a terrestrial broadcast modulation scheme, such as the well-known DVB-T protocol to modulate the stream. As discussed above, one or more program channels may be re -modulated, each on a different television channel. The re-modulator 112 is controlled by a controller 114 that indicates to the re-modulators 112 which program channels are to be selected to be transmitted down to each of the DRDs (i.e., televisions 116, DVRs 118, etc.). Several ways will be discussed below for coordinating the functions of the re-modulators with the DRDs 116, 118, etc. Included in that coordination, is the assignment of the particular frequencies (i.e., digital television channels) over which the program channels are to be transmitted to each DRD 116, 118, etc. Re-modulation systems and methods are understood by those of skill in the art and in the interest of brevity will not be discussed further herein. [0034] The channel combiner 113 is used to combine the outputs from the re-modulator 112. In one embodiment, the channel combiner 113 combines the output of the re-modulator 112 with the terrestrial signals that are coupled to the combiner from the terrestrial antenna 120 through the scanner 117 in the receiver 104.

[0035] In order to ensure that the desired program channel is routed to the particular DRD 116, 118 on which that program channel is to be viewed, the cross-point switch 215 within the receiver 104 must be controlled to route signals from that particular transponder carrying the desired program channel to the input of the re- modulator that is programmed to modulate information for reception by that viewing DRD. In addition, the demodulator operates to demodulate the particular transponders that are carrying a program channel of interest to an audience waiting to view the program on an DRD 116, 118. Still further, the MPEG transport system processor 110 must be instructed as to which program channels are being requested in order to select those particular program channels for output to the re-modulator 112. Finally, the re-modulator 112 must know which program channels are being requested for viewing/storing on which DRDs 116, 118 in order to properly modulate the program channels onto a particular television channel. Accordingly, the functions of each of these devices needs to be coordinated and controlled in order to ensure that the proper program channel is modulated onto the proper television channel for viewing by the particular DRD on which the program is to be stored or the audience is expecting to view the program.

[0036] One way in which the functions of various devices are coordinated is through a remote controller 114 that is in communication with the ODU controller 115. The ODU controller 115 controls the functions of the various devices within the ODU. For example, in one embodiment, the remote controller 114 is similar to a common infra-red (IR) or radio frequency (RF) remote control device used to select television channels. However, the remote controller 114 sends signals to the ODU controller 115 indicating what program channel the audience would like to view on a particular DRD 116, 118. In one embodiment, the ODU controller 115 has a general purpose processor for translating the instructions provided by the remote controller 114 into commands to be provided to each device in the ODU 102. Alternatively, any means for taking the incoming command and distributing to the ODU components would be within the scope. Further details regarding the manner in which the remote controller interacts with the ODU controller 115 and the way in which the ODU controller 115 translates commands from the remote controller 114 into commands to the other devices in the ODU 102 will be discussed after a brief discussion of program guides and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) generally.

[0037] In order for the audience to select programs they would like to see, they typically need a program guide of one sort or another. In accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed method and apparatus, a program guide is generated using metadata that is provided by the program content provider (i.e., the service provider that uplinks the programs to the satellites, the cable television service provider, or the operator of the DVB-T station). This meta-data will indicate where within the satellite signals (cable signal or DVB-T signal) each program resides. For example, the program guide will indicate which particular satellite, transponder and slot within that transponder, the particular program can be found. The metadata also provides a description of the program content that the audience will be able to use to select programming content. For example, the program guide will have the name of a television show, a short description of the show, the time and date on which the show will be transmitted, etc. Those skilled in the art will understand that such meta-data is common and in some instances is controlled by an industry standard. Accordingly, the meta-data is coupled to the ODU controller 115. The ODU controller then generates a "program guide channel". The program guide channel is an MPEG transport data stream that will allow the DRDs 116, 118 to display the program guide on a particular television channel selected by the ODU controller 115.

[0038] Alternatively, the ODU controller 115 prepares the meta-data for transmission to the DRD in an industry standard communication protocol. The meta-data is then coupled from the ODU controller 115 to the terrestrial broadcast re -modulator 112. The re-modulator 112 then transmits the meta-data to the DRD 116, 118. As shown in Figure 1, the DRD 118 has a built in GUI that allows the DRD to generate the program guide channel internally to the DRD, as is well known in the art. In the case shown in Figure 1 , the DRD is a television. No matter where the program guide is generated, the audience can use the remote controller 114 to select which program to watch. That selection is then used by the remote controller 114 to command each DRD 116, 118 involved in the viewing of the selected program to tune to the channel on which that program will be sent and to command the ODU controller 115. For example, the DRDs are commanded to tune to a particular television channel on which the DRD will receive the selected program channel. The ODU controller 115 takes the command from the remote controller 114 and generates commands to the other devices in the ODU 102 to cause the selected program channel to be sent to the DRD on the particular television channel to which the remote controller 114 commanded the DRD to tune. Turning back now to the way in which the ODU controller 115 generates commands to each of the devices in the ODU 102, when an audience member selects a program from the program guide using the remote controller 114, the remote controller 114 communicates up to the ODU controller 115 what program the audience member has selected. The ODU controller 115 uses that program selection to identify the particular satellite, polarization, transponder, and program channel. The ODU controller then generates a command to the digital broadband receiver 104 to cause the cross-point switch 215 within the receiver 104 to output the signal from transponder that carries the selected program on one of the outputs of the cross-point switch 215. In addition, a command to the receiver 104 will cause the tuners 217 to tune to the appropriate transponder. The ODU controller 115 also configures the demodulator 108 to demodulate the signal carried by that transponder and output by receiver 104. The command received by the demodulator 108 includes information as to which type of output from the receiver 104 will be providing to the demodulator 108. In addition, the ODU controller 115 will command the MPEG transport system processor 110 to demultiplex the selected program channel transport data stream from the other streams carried by the same transponder. Accordingly, the processor 110 will output the selected program channel transport data stream to the terrestrial broadcast re-modulator 112. The ODU controller 115 will also command the re- modulator 112 to re-modulate the selected program channel transport data stream on a particular television channel for viewing/storage by the DRD 116, 118.

[0040] In accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed method and apparatus, the ODU controller 115 is also responsible for selecting the particular channel on which the re-modulator 112 is to re-modulate the selected program channel transport data stream. Accordingly, in some embodiments, a single remote control (the remote controller 114) might control and coordinate the functions of multiple devices, e.g., the receiver 104, the demodulator 108, the transport system processor 110, re-modulator 112, a television set 116, a DVR 118, etc. (some of which are controlled by means of commands to the ODU controller 115).

[0041] The controller 114 may be a device having a processor, microprocessor, digital logic, other circuitry, memory, or some combination of these. Additionally, in one embodiment, the controller 114 is embodied in what would appear to the audience as a conventional entertainment remote control unit. Clearly, in light of fact that the controller 114 would be used to control both the ODU devices and DRDs, the functions would not be conventional. In particular, the controller is clearly not convention due to the fact that the controller 114 is used to coordinate the transmission of MPEG data streams from a re-modulator 112 by selecting the channel to modulate such MPEG data streams and also controlling the DRDs 116, 118 to tune to the appropriate channel.

[0042] In some embodiments, the functionality of the remote controller 114 and the ODU controller 115 is spread across multiple locations. For example, in one embodiment, a remote controller 114 located inside a home includes some of the functionality while some of the controller functionality may be located external to the home. It should be noted that in addition to homes, other buildings might be supplied with satellite television services using a satellite television system in accordance with the methods and apparatus described herein. [0043] It will be understood that the remote controller 114 may use various systems to communicate with ODU 102 that is generally located outside of the home. Wireless radio frequency (RF) remote controllers, infrared (IR) remote controllers that rely upon IR repeaters and other remote control transmission technology might be used to allow the remote controller 114 to communicate with the ODU devices under the control of the remote controller 114. Additionally, some systems may transmit control information using television cabling located in the home. For example, the remote controller 114 may be used in a room with a television 116. The room may be located some distance from the ODU 102. Accordingly, the RF signal from the remote controller 114 within the room is too weak to be received by the ODU 102. An RF antenna might be coupled at or near the end of the television cable that connects the DRDs in the room to the ODU 102. In this way, the television cable carries not only the television signals from the re -modulator to the DRDs (i.e., television 116, DVR 118, etc.), but also carries the control signals between the remote controller 114 and the ODU controller 115. It should be noted that the remote controller 114 might also control other equipment in the distribution system 100. In that case, the signals transmitted up the television cable would be coupled to each other such piece of equipment either directly or through the ODU controller 115.

[0044] In one example, the RF signal transmitted along the cable between a remote controller 114 and a ODU controller 115 might be transmitted at a different frequency from the frequencies used by the television signals transmitted down the cable to the DRDs 116, 118. In one example, the remote controller 114 transmits at frequencies near the frequency of the television signals.

[0045] While the example illustrates transmitting a digital television signal to each DRD 116 and 118 connected to the system 100, it will be understood that analog television signals or other television signal formats that the devices 116 and 118 are capable of receiving might also be used. Additionally, in some embodiments, the apparatus and methods described herein may receive terrestrial television or other television sources and pass those television sources onto the DRDs 116 and 118. For example, antenna 120 can be a terrestrial broadcast reception antenna, such as an analog terrestrial television antenna or a digital terrestrial television antenna. The satellite signals can be selected by the audience members with, e.g., the remote controller 114.

[0046] Satellite signals received by the satellite antenna 106 are re-modulated and transmitted on a television channel that is not used by the local terrestrial signal or that carries programming that is not of interest to the audience. In this way, satellite signals are merged together with signals received from DVB-T transmissions or other terrestrial transmissions. In other embodiments, different types of television signals may be viewed by audience members using the systems and methods described herein. For example, in one embodiment, programming received from a cable television service provider is merged together with signals received from a satellite. In another such system, signals received from multiple satellite systems can be merged. In yet another system, signals received by terrestrial transmissions, cable providers, and satellite systems are merged together.

[0047] In various embodiments power may be provided to the system 100 from a power inverter 122 located inside the home 124. For example, the inverter may be co- located in the same room as the television 116 and DVR 118. In some examples (not shown) this power may be supplied to the system 100 using the same coax cable connection that is used to connect the television signals between the television 116 or DVR 118 and the re-modulator 112. In other embodiments, power can be provided by a power inverter 126 located outside the home, such as on the roof with the ODU 102.

[0048] Figure 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of how the disclosed method and apparatus operate. In accordance with the method of Fig. 1, the ODU controller 115 causes the system 100 to select which program channels are to be transmit to the DRDs 116 and 118. The ODU controller 115 also selects the frequencies (i.e., which television channels) over which the re-modulator 112 is to transmit the re -modulated broadcasts to each DRD 116 and 118. In STEP 300, one or more television channels may be selected for each DRD 116 and 118. The television channel can be selected by determining which channels are unused by, for example, terrestrial television signals received by the system 100. As noted above, one way to determine whether a television channel is available is for the scanner 117 in the receiver 104 to determine that there is less than some threshold amount of energy being transmitted on a particular television channel. In STEP 302, an initialization screen is transmitted on a selected television channel. In one embodiment, the ODU controller 115 generates the initialization screen and sends the initialization screen to the re -modulator 108 together with commands to control the re-modulator 108 to modulate the initialization screen on the selected television channels. In STEP 304, the audience indicates that the initialization screen is currently being displayed on the television channel to which the DRD is currently tuned. This may be done by allowing the audience to scan the channels until the initialization screen is seen. For example, the audience can scan through the channels on the television 116 looking for the initialization screen and press a button on the remote controller 114 when the initialization screen is displayed on the television screen. In one embodiment, the initialization screens indicate what key or keys to press on the remote controller 114 to indicate that the initialization screen has been found. The remote controller 114 also communicates to the ODU controller 115 that the audience has found the initialization screen. Similarly, channels on the DVR 118 can be reviewed; however, the television 116 may be needed to view the DVR output. When the initialization screen is displayed for the DVR, the audience can press a button on the remote controller 114 to set the channel that will now be used by the DRD 116, 118 to receive satellite television programming (i.e., one or more program channels) from the ODU 102. Once the audience indicates through the remote controller 114 that the audience has seen the initialization screen, the remote controller 114 will provide that indication to the ODU controller 115. The remote controller 114 then stores the information as to which television channel the ODU 102 will be sending program channels to that DRD 116, 118. The ODU controller 115 will then control the re -modulator 108 to re-modulate a selected program channel that the audience would like to watch onto the television channel selected for use for that DRD 116, 118. In this way the program channels become available for watching and recording by sending them from the ODU 102 to the DRD 116, 118 over existing available terrestrial television channels (e.g., empty channels or otherwise undesired channels).

[0050] In some embodiments, the audience may scan the television stations simply by changing the stations using the remote controller 114. In other embodiments, the stations may be scanned automatically. The audience waits until the initialization screen is seen and then provides an input to the system to indicate that the initialization channel is currently displaying.

[0051] In some example systems the ODU controller 115 coordinates the operation of the devices within the ODU 102 and the DRD 116 receiving the re-modulated broadcast from ODU by allowing the audience to select the station or stations to use. For example, in one embodiment, the system requests an input from the audience regarding the channel to be used for the re-modulated broadcast of the received satellite signals to the DRD 116, 118. The audience selects an unused channel or a channel that is not of interest to the audience, for example. It should be noted that such set-up is only required as an initialization process (i.e., the first use of the system or if the system should become out of synchronization for some reason).

[0052] Figure 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example system wherein the remote controller 114 coordinates the operation of the DRD receiving the re-modulated broadcast from the re-modulator 112 by using two-way communication between the ODU 102 and the DRDs 116 and 118. In STEP 400, the receiver 104 determines which channels are to be used to transmit the re -modulated broadcast to each DRD 116, 118. In one embodiment, this is done by determining which television channels are not being used by a terrestrial broadcast. In STEP 402, the ODU controller 115 selects the television channel to be used. In STEP 404, the terrestrial television channel is set at the terrestrial broadcast re-modulator 112 based on a command from the ODU controller 115. In STEP 406, the DRD 116 and 118 is tuned to the selected television channel on which it receives the terrestrial broadcast by the remote controller 114. The DRD 116, 118 is set by commands indicating which television channel has been selected. The commands are transmitted from the ODU controller 115 to the remote controller 114. The remote controller 114 then commands the DRD 116, 118 to tune to the selected television channel. This method may be used with systems that allow for two- way communication between DRDs 116 and 118 and the ODU controller 115.

[0053] While various embodiments of the method and apparatus have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams might depict an example architectural or other configuration for the disclosed method and apparatus, which is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that might be included in the method and apparatus. The disclosed method and apparatus is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desired features might be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning and configurations might be implemented to implement the desired features of the disclosed method and apparatus. Also, a multitude of different constituent module names other than those depicted herein might be applied to the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams, operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform the recited functionality in the same order unless the context dictates otherwise.

[0054] Although the method and apparatus is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead might be applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the other embodiments of the disclosed method and apparatus, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus the breadth and scope of the claimed invention should not be limited by any of the above-described embodiments.

[0055] Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term "including" should be read as meaning "including, without limitation" or the like; the term "example" is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms "a" or "an" should be read as meaning "at least one," "one or more," or the like; and adjectives such as "conventional," "traditional," "normal," "standard," "known" and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that might be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future.

[0056] The presence of broadening words and phrases such as "one or more," "at least," "but not limited to" or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases might be absent. The use of the term "module" does not imply that the components or functionality described or claimed as part of the module are all configured in a common package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of a module, whether control logic or other components, might be combined in a single package or separately maintained and might further be distributed across multiple locations. Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described in terms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their various alternatives might be implemented without confinement to the illustrated examples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying description should not be construed as mandating a particular architecture or configuration.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. An outdoor unit (ODU) comprising: a) a satellite MPEG stream extractor; b) a terrestrial broadcast re-modulator coupled to the satellite MPEG stream extractor for re-modulating a program channel onto a television channel using a terrestrial broadcast modulation scheme; and c) an ODU controller coupled to the satellite MPEG stream extractor and the terrestrial broadcast re-modulator for controlling the satellite MPEG stream extractor to select a program channel and controlling the terrestrial broadcast re-modulator to re-modulate the selected program channel onto a selected television channel.

2. The ODU of claim 1, wherein the ODU controller generates and sends an initialization screen to the re-modulator in response to receipt of a command and wherein the ODU controller controls the re-modulator to transmit the initialization screen to a display/recording device (DRD) on the selected television channel.

3. The ODU of claim 2, wherein the ODU controller receives an indication from an audience indicating that the initialization screen was seen and in response to receipt of the indication, ceases generating the initialization screen and controls the re -modulator to re-modulate the selected program channel onto the selected television channel.

4. The ODU of claim 1 , wherein the ODU controller transmits a request for the audience to indicate the channel to be used for the re -modulation of selected program channels to be displayed on a particular DRD.

5. The ODU of claim 1, wherein the re-modulator generates a program guide and re- modulates the program guide onto an available television channel.

6. The ODU of claim 5, wherein the program guide is generated from a combination of metadata from one or more satellite broadcasts.

7. The ODU of claim 6, wherein the program guide is generated from additional information provided from another broadcast to form a single program guide.

8. The ODU of claim 5, wherein a separate program guide is generated for programs transmitted over a satellite.

9. The ODU of claim 2, wherein the ODU controller communicates with a remote controller using radio frequency signals transmitted over a television cable between the ODU and a DRD.

10. The ODU of claim 1 , wherein terrestrial television broadcasts are received by the satellite MPEG stream extractor and a television channel selected by the ODU controller for a transmission of a program channel by determining which television channels are unused by the terrestrial television broadcasts.