Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
US006944186B2
(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,944,186 B2
Zaun et al. (45) Date of Patent: Sep. 13,2005
(54) MPEG RE-MULTIPLEXER HAVING MULTIPLE INPUTS AND MULTIPLE OUTPUTS
(75) Inventors: David Brian Zaun, Cherry Hill, NJ
(US); Jeffrey P. Viola, Glen Mills, PA
(US); Stephen M. Iaquinto,
Doylestown, PA (US)
(73) Assignee: General Instrument Corporation,
Horsham, PA (US)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 980 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/736,947
(22) Filed: Dec. 14, 2000
(65) Prior Publication Data
US 2001/0024456 Al Sep. 27, 2001
Related U.S. Application Data
(60) Provisional application No. 60/170,531, filed on Dec. 14, 1999.
(51) Int. C I. 1104.1 1 00
(52) U.S. CI 370/487; 374/485; 374/486;
725/135; 725/136
(58) Field of Search 370/537, 474,
370/486, 487, 489, 490; 725/78, 81-86, 90-91, 109, 135-136
(56) References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,754,783 A 5/1998 Mendelson
5,835,493 A 11/1998 Magee
5,909,468 A * 6/1999 Lawrence
6,002,687 A * 12/1999 Magee et al 370/394
6,233,238 Bl * 5/2001 Romanowski et al 370/389
6,351,471 Bl * 2/2002 Robinett et al 370/468
6,408,436 Bl * 6/2002 de Haas 725/86
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
WO 99/14955 3/1999
WO 99/37048 7/1999
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
International Preliminary Examination Report, dated Apr. 8, 2002.
Written Opinion from International Preliminary Examination Authority, dated Dec. 19, 2001.
C.T Cartwright: "Issues in Multiplex and Service Management in Digital Multichannel Broadcasting", International Broadcasting Convention, GB, London, Sep. 1997, pp. 308-313, XP-000668937.
* cited by examiner
Primary Examiner—-Wellington Chin
Assistant Examiner—Mark Mais
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Steven L. Nichols; Ronald P. Kananeri; Rader, Fishman & Grauer PLLC
(57) ABSTRACT
A re-multiplexer module for use in a packet processing system used in cable television headend devices generates two or more output streams from two or more MPEG input transport streams. The re-multiplexer module includes an input processing portion that receives a plurality of input data streams containing packet data, a plurality of packet buffers to store the packet data, an output processor that selectively multiplexes the data packets in the packet buffers, and a host processor that controls the operation of the input processing portion and the output processing portion.
37 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
