U.S. patent application number 12/818793 was filed with the patent office on 2010-10-07 for method and apparatus for collecting information from a wireless device.
This patent application is currently assigned to QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to Ravinder Paul CHANDHOK, Nishith K. CHAUBEY, Sacchindrakumar Gopikisan KALANTRI, Ben A. SAIDI.
Application Number | 20100255788 12/818793 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38054178 |
Filed Date | 2010-10-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100255788 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SAIDI; Ben A. ; et
al. |
October 7, 2010 |
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING INFORMATION FROM A WIRELESS
DEVICE
Abstract
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate remotely
monitoring and/or controlling a media device that obtains broadcast
and/or multicast transmission(s). According to various aspects,
systems and methods are described that facilitate remotely
controlling media device(s) that operate in connection with
broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s) with limited or no
reverse link (e.g., employing Forward Link Only (FLO) technology, .
. . ). Such systems and methods may monitor various service issues,
device performance, network performance, and the like.
Inventors: |
SAIDI; Ben A.; (San Diego,
CA) ; CHAUBEY; Nishith K.; (San Diego, CA) ;
KALANTRI; Sacchindrakumar Gopikisan; (San Diego, CA)
; CHANDHOK; Ravinder Paul; (Poway, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
11682 El Camino Real, Suite 400
San Diego
CA
92130
US
|
Assignee: |
QUALCOMM Incorporated
San Diego
CA
|
Family ID: |
38054178 |
Appl. No.: |
12/818793 |
Filed: |
June 18, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11397420 |
Apr 3, 2006 |
7751780 |
|
|
12818793 |
|
|
|
|
60739481 |
Nov 23, 2005 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/67.11 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 47/14 20130101;
H04W 24/08 20130101; H04L 47/15 20130101; H04L 47/10 20130101; H04W
28/0284 20130101; H04L 47/26 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/67.11 |
International
Class: |
H04W 24/00 20090101
H04W024/00 |
Claims
1. A computer program product tangibly embodied on a
computer-readable medium, the computer program product comprising
instructions operable to cause a computer to perform operations
comprising: receiving collected information associated with a
broadcast transmission of content from an operational media device;
monitoring performance of the broadcast network based upon the
collected information; and modifying a subsequent broadcast
transmission based on the monitored performance, wherein the
subsequent broadcast transmission is associated with at least one
of a limited reverse link and no reverse link.
2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the collected
information comprises at least one of service information, system
information, network information, and device performance
information.
3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the collected
information comprises device diagnostic information.
4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the collected
information comprises device position information.
5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the broadcast
transmission is in accordance with Forward Link Only (FLO)
technology.
6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein receiving
collected information occurs via a communication path differing
from a path associated with the broadcast transmission.
7. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein receiving
collected information occurs via at least one of a wireless area
network, a 1.times. reverse link and a wired broadband link.
8. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein receiving
collected information occurs via a wireless connection in
accordance with at least one of a 2G protocol, a 3G protocol, and a
4G protocol.
9. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving collected information from a plurality of operational
media devices; and comparing the collected information
corresponding to each of the plurality of operational media devices
to identify a location with diminished quality of service.
10. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving information from disparate nodes in addition to the
operational media device; and correlating the information from the
disparate nodes and the collected information from the operational
media device to identify a fault.
11. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising
transmitting control information to the operational media device to
modify an operating parameter.
12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the operating
parameter is associated with at least one of a channel, a location,
information to collect, and information to backhaul.
13. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein monitoring
performance further comprises playing back collected
information.
14. A wireless communications apparatus that facilitates remotely
monitoring a broadcast network, comprising: a receiver configured
to receive collected information associated with a broadcast
transmission of content; and a processor configured to monitor
performance of the broadcast network based on the collected
information, and modify a subsequent broadcast transmission based
upon the monitored performance, wherein the subsequent broadcast
transmission is associated with at least one of a limited reverse
link and no reverse link.
15. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the
processor is further configured to control a plurality of
operational media devices from a remote location.
16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the
processor is further configured to monitor at least one of service
information, system information, network information, and
operational media device performance information.
17. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the
processor is further configured to obtain feedback in a Forward
Link Only (FLO) system.
18. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the
receiver receives the collected information via a communication
path differing from a path associated with the broadcast
transmission.
19. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein
receiving collected information occurs via a wireless connection in
accordance with at least one of a 2G protocol, a 3G protocol, and a
4G protocol.
20. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein
receiving collected information occurs via at least one of a
wireless area network, a 1.times. reverse link and a wired
broadband link.
21. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the
processor is further configured to identify geographic locations
associated with diminished quality of service.
22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the
processor is further configured to locate a fault associated with
the broadcast transmission based upon the monitored
performance.
23. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, further
comprising a transmitter to transmit control information to modify
an operating parameter of an operational media device.
24. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein
monitoring performance further comprises playing back collected
information.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/397,420 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
COLLECTING INFORMATION FROM A WIRELESS DEVICE" which was filed Apr.
3, 2006, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent
application Ser. No. 60/739,481 entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR
COLLECTING INFORMATION FROM A WIRELESS DEVICE" which was filed Nov.
23, 2005. The entirety of the aforementioned application is herein
incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] I. Field
[0003] The following description relates generally to wireless
communications, and more particularly to remotely monitoring and/or
controlling a broadcast device in a wireless communication
system.
[0004] II. Background
[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to
provide various types of communication; for instance, voice and/or
data may be provided via such wireless communication systems. A
typical wireless communication system, or network, can provide
multiple users access to one or more shared resources. For
instance, a system may use a variety of multiple access techniques
such as Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Time Division
Multiplexing (TDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), and
others.
[0006] Common wireless communication systems employ one or more
base stations that provide a coverage area. A typical base station
can transmit multiple data streams for broadcast, multicast and/or
unicast services, wherein a data stream may be a stream of data
that can be of independent reception interest to a user device. A
user device within the coverage area of such base station can be
employed to receive one, more than one, or all the data streams
carried by the composite stream. Likewise, a user device can
transmit data to the base station or another user device.
[0007] Recently, broadcast techniques such as Forward Link Only
(FLO) technology have been developed and employed to provide
content (e.g., video, audio, multimedia, IP datacast, . . . ) to
portable user device(s). FLO technology can be designed to achieve
high quality reception, both for real-time content streaming and
other data services. FLO technology can provide robust mobile
performance and high capacity without compromising power
consumption. In addition, FLO technology may reduce costs
associated with delivering multimedia content by decreasing the
number of deployed base station transmitters. Furthermore, FLO
technology based multimedia multicasting can be complimentary to
wireless operators' cellular network data and voice services,
delivering content to the same mobile devices.
[0008] FLO may employ orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
(OFDM) based multicast technology without a reverse link or with a
limited reverse link. Accordingly, by employing limited or no
reverse links with FLO techniques, mobile device(s) commonly are
unable to report network, coverage and/or service related issues,
statistics and/or data. Further, in connection with FLO, mobile
device(s) may be unable to be individually controlled since such
technology conventionally employs multicasting.
SUMMARY
[0009] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more
embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of such
embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all
contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key
or critical elements of all embodiments nor delineate the scope of
any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some
concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a
prelude to the more detailed description that is presented
later.
[0010] In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding
disclosure thereof, various aspects are described in connection
with remotely monitoring and/or controlling a media device that
obtains broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s). According to
various aspects, systems and methods are described that facilitate
remotely controlling media device(s) that operate in connection
with broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s) with limited or no
reverse link (e.g., employing Forward Link Only (FLO) technology, .
. . ). Such systems and methods may monitor various service issues,
device performance, network performance, and the like.
[0011] According to related aspects, a method of remotely
monitoring a broadcast device is described herein. The method may
comprise receiving collected information associated with a
broadcast transmission from an operational media device and
monitoring performance of at least one of the media device and a
network based upon the collected information. Moreover, the method
may include altering a subsequent broadcast transmission based upon
the monitored performance.
[0012] Another aspect relates to a wireless communications
apparatus that may include a memory that retains data related to a
broadcast transmission and control information from a remote
source. Further, a processor may enable operation pursuant to the
control information for collecting the data related to the
broadcast transmission, aggregate the data, and transmit feedback
pertaining to the data.
[0013] Yet another aspect relates to a wireless communications
apparatus for monitoring a remote device. The wireless
communications apparatus may include means for receiving collected
information associated with a broadcast transmission; means for
monitoring performance of at least one of a media device and a
network based on the collected information; and means for altering
a subsequent transmission based upon the monitored performance.
[0014] Still another aspect relates to a machine-readable medium
having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for
controlling operation of a media device that obtains a broadcast
transmission, collecting data associated with the broadcast
transmission from a plurality of nodes including the media device,
and transmitting the collected data via a backhaul for remote
monitoring.
[0015] In accordance with another aspect, a processor is described
herein, wherein the processor may execute instructions for
monitoring performance of at least one of a media device and a
network based upon collected information associated with a
broadcast transmission obtained from the media device. Further, the
processor may execute instructions for altering a subsequent
broadcast transmission based upon the monitored performance.
[0016] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the
one or more embodiments comprise the features hereinafter fully
described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following
description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain
illustrative aspects of the one or more embodiments. These aspects
are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which
the principles of various embodiments may be employed and the
described embodiments are intended to include all such aspects and
their equivalents.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a wireless communication system
in accordance with various aspects set forth herein.
[0018] FIG. 2 is an illustration of a wireless communication system
that monitors and/or controls a remotely located device to yield
feedback information.
[0019] FIG. 3 is an illustration of a system that monitors and/or
controls broadcast and/or multicast transmissions at disparate
geographic locations.
[0020] FIG. 4 is an illustration of a system that evaluates and/or
modifies quality of service associated with broadcast and/or
multicast transmission of content with limited or no reverse link
communication.
[0021] FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary architecture of a
remote probe that may be employed in connection with collecting
data associated with FLO transmission(s).
[0022] FIG. 6 is an illustration of a methodology that facilitates
remotely monitoring a broadcast device.
[0023] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a methodology that facilitates
collecting and/or backhauling data associated with a broadcast
transmission.
[0024] FIG. 8 is an illustration of a methodology that facilitates
assembling data from a plurality of nodes associated with local
area operation infrastructure(s) (LOI(s)).
[0025] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user device that facilitates
monitoring and/or providing feedback in connection with broadcast
and/or multicast transmission(s).
[0026] FIG. 10 is an illustration of a system that facilitates
monitoring and/or controlling remote media device(s).
[0027] FIG. 11 is an illustration of a wireless network environment
that can be employed in conjunction with the various systems and
methods described herein.
[0028] FIG. 12 is an illustration of a communication network that
comprises an embodiment of a transport system that operates to
create and transport multimedia content flows across data
networks.
[0029] FIG. 13 is an illustration of a content provider server
suitable for use in an embodiment of a content delivery system.
[0030] FIG. 14 is an illustration of a content server (CS) or
device suitable for use in one or more embodiments of a content
delivery system.
[0031] FIG. 15 is an illustration of a system that monitors and/or
controls a remote media device that obtains broadcast and/or
multicast transmission(s).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] Various embodiments are now described with reference to the
drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like
elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of
explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to
provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may
be evident, however, that such embodiment(s) may be practiced
without these specific details. In other instances, well-known
structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to
facilitate describing one or more embodiments.
[0033] As used in this application, the terms "component,"
"module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a
computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination
of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For
example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process
running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a
thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of
illustration, both an application running on a computing device and
the computing device can be a component. One or more components can
reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component
may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or
more computers. In addition, these components can execute from
various computer readable media having various data structures
stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local
and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having
one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting
with another component in a local system, distributed system,
and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systems by
way of the signal).
[0034] Furthermore, various embodiments are described herein in
connection with a subscriber station. A subscriber station can also
be called a system, a subscriber unit, mobile station, mobile,
remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal,
user terminal, user agent, a user device, or user equipment. A
subscriber station may be a cellular telephone, a cordless
telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless
local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a
handheld device having wireless connection capability, computing
device, or other processing device connected to a wireless
modem.
[0035] Moreover, various aspects or features described herein may
be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture
using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term
"article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a
computer program accessible from any computer-readable device,
carrier, or media. For example, computer-readable media can include
but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk,
floppy disk, magnetic strips, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact
disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, and
flash memory devices (e.g., EPROM, card, stick, key drive, etc.).
Additionally, various storage media described herein can represent
one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing
information. The term "machine-readable medium" can include,
without being limited to, wireless channels and various other media
capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s)
and/or data.
[0036] Referring now to FIG. 1, a wireless communication system 100
is illustrated in accordance with various embodiments presented
herein. System 100 can comprise one or more base stations 102
(e.g., access points) in one or more sectors that receive,
transmit, repeat, etc., wireless communication signals to each
other and/or to one or more mobile devices 104. Each base station
102 can comprise a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of
which can in turn comprise a plurality of components associated
with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors,
modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas,
etc.), as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. Mobile
devices 104 can be, for example, cellular phones, smart phones,
laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing
devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or
any other suitable device for communicating over wireless
communication system 100.
[0037] Base stations 102 can broadcast content to mobile devices
104 by employing Forward Link Only (FLO) technology. For instance,
real time audio and/or video signals may be broadcast, as well as
non-real time services (e.g., music, weather, news summaries,
traffic, financial information, . . . ). According to an example,
content may be broadcast by base stations 102 to mobile devices
104. Mobile devices 104 may receive and output such content (e.g.,
by employing visual output(s), audio output(s), . . . ). Moreover,
FLO technology may utilize orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (OFDM). Frequency division based techniques such as
OFDM typically separate the frequency spectrum into distinct
channels; for instance, the frequency spectrum may be split into
uniform chunks of bandwidth. OFDM effectively partitions the
overall system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal frequency
channels. Additionally, an OFDM system may use time and/or
frequency division multiplexing to achieve orthogonality among
multiple data transmissions for multiple base stations 102.
[0038] In conventional FLO systems, mobile devices 104 may be
unable to provide feedback related to network, coverage and/or
service related problems. Further, mobile devices 104 commonly may
lack an ability to provide statistics and/or data to base stations
102 (and/or disparate network components such as a network
operation center (not shown)) due to FLO techniques forgoing
utilization of a reverse link and/or employing a limited reverse
link. To mitigate effects associated with the aforementioned lack
of feedback, system 100 can utilize a remote probe (not shown) that
enables monitoring and communicating such monitored data. Such
remote probe can utilize an alternate control and/or reporting path
(not shown) as compared to the communication path employed in
connection with FLO transmission from base stations 102. Moreover,
the remote probe can be remotely controlled to perform specified
actions; however, the claimed subject matter is not so limited.
[0039] Information obtained by way of the remote probe may be
employed to effectuate modification(s) within system 100, identify
faults, locate hotspots and/or regions lacking coverage, evaluate
signal strength, vary operation of the remote probe, etc. It is to
be appreciated that the remote probe may be positioned in a fixed
location and/or may be mobile. Also, the remote probe may be
similar to one or more mobile devices 104; thus, by way of
illustration, one or more mobile devices 104 may be a cellular
telephone, laptop computer, etc. and the remote probe may be a
similar cellular telephone, laptop computer, etc.; however, the
subject claims are not limited to the aforementioned example.
[0040] Turning to FIG. 2, illustrated is a wireless communication
system 200 that monitors and/or controls a remotely located device
to yield feedback information. System 200 depicts an example of an
architecture that may be employed in connection with backhauling
content and/or information associated with such content transmitted
by way of broadcasts and/or multicasts lacking corresponding
reverse link communication paths. One skilled in the art would
recognize that the claimed subject matter is not limited to the
example provided in system 200.
[0041] System 200 may include a content provider (CP) 202 that
provides any type of content to a head end 204. For instance, CP
202 may provide real time and/or non-real time data. Any number of
content providers similar to CP 202 and/or any number of head ends
similar to head end 204 may be utilized in connection with system
200. Additionally, CP 202 may communicate audio, video, IP
datacast, or any disparate type of content to head end 204. Content
from any number of sources may be obtained at head end(s) 204
and/or a real time server (RTS) 206. Thereafter, the content may be
transferred from RTS 206 to a multiplexer (MUX) 208. Content from
disparate sources may be multiplexed by MUX 208. The multiplexed
data may be transmitted to a satellite 210 (e.g., via the Ku band,
. . . ) and thereafter communicated to various local area operation
infrastructures (LOIs). A LOI may include an integrated rate
decoder (IRD) 212 that obtains the downlink signal from satellite
210 and provides the data to an exciter 214. Exciter 214 may
convert the data into radio frequency to enable transmission by a
base station 216 to any number of mobile devices 218. Base station
216 may utilize FLO technology to broadcast and/or multicast
content to one or more mobile devices 218; thus, little or no
reverse link transmission from mobile devices 218 to base station
216 may occur. Mobile devices 218 may be mobile and/or located at
fixed positions. Further, mobile devices 218 may be utilized
intermittently and/or may be associated with limited or no usage
diversity. Mobile devices 218 may obtain content from base station
216 and output (e.g., playback, . . . ) such content (e.g., with
display(s), speaker(s), . . . ).
[0042] A remote agent 220 may monitor node(s) associated with the
LOI. For instance, remote agent 220 may monitor IRD 212 and/or
exciter 214 and/or collect data associated therewith. Additionally
or alternatively, a remote probe 222 may receive transmission(s)
provided by base station 216 and remote agent 220 may monitor
and/or control remote probe 222. For example, remote probe 222 may
be similar to mobile devices 218; thus, interactions with system
200 of remote probe 222 may be similar to those of mobile devices
218. According to an illustration, remote probe 222 may obtain
audio and/or video content transmitted over a channel by base
station 216. The content may be provided to remote agent 220, which
may thereafter backhaul the content to a network operation center
(NOC) 224 by way of a wireless area network (WAN) 226. Remote agent
220 may utilize any communication path to transmit and/or obtain
data from NOC 224. It is to be appreciated that any type of
connectivity (e.g., wired, wireless, combination thereof, . . . )
may be employed. According to an example, any 2G, 3G, 4G, etc.
protocol may be utilized. For instance, a 1.times. reverse link may
be employed to report limited bandwidth data. Pursuant to a further
illustration, a dedicated wired broadband link may be utilized to
transport high bandwidth data such as audio and/or video service
data.
[0043] NOC 224 may monitor data from various locations within
system 200. For instance, NOC 224 may obtain data yielded by CP
202, RTS 206 and/or MUX 208. Further, NOC 224 may obtain monitored
information from remote agent 220. Thus, NOC 224 may monitor any
communication path within system 200, and hence, may identify any
problematic link(s) within system 200. In contrast, conventional
techniques employing FLO with limited or no reverse link typically
fail to allow for monitoring communications occurring at LOIs due
to a lack of feedback. Accordingly, such common systems may be able
to evaluate outputs from CP 202, RTS 206 and/or MUX 208, yet may
fail to provide feedback and/or enable control after the downlink
transmission from satellite 210.
[0044] With reference to FIG. 3, illustrated is a system 300 that
monitors and/or controls broadcast and/or multicast transmissions
at disparate geographic locations. System 300 may include a network
operation center (NOC) 302 and any number of remote agents 304. It
is to be appreciated that remote agents 304 may be located at any
geographic positions and may be employed to monitor and/or control
conditions associated with such locales. By way of illustration,
one of the remote agents 304 may be associated with a base station
employing FLO transmissions in California and a disparate one of
the remote agents 304 may be related to a similar base station in
Florida; however, the claimed subject matter is not limited to the
aforementioned example.
[0045] NOC 302 may obtain information from one or more remote
agents 304. For instance, NOC 302 may utilize such information for
diagnostics, network planning, and the like. Moreover, by obtaining
broadcast and/or multicast content (e.g., audio, video, IP
datacast, . . . ) from various locations, NOC 302 may enable
simultaneous review at a centralized location of the content.
Accordingly, differences in quality of service corresponding to
disparate locations can be evaluated, for instance. It is
contemplated that NOC 302 and/or remote agents 304 (and/or
disparate data store(s)) may store data associated with FLO
transmission. By way of example, audio and/or video packets may be
obtained (e.g., utilizing remote probe(s), received by remote
agents 304 from any disparate node, . . . ) and thereafter retained
for analysis. Further, NOC 302 may effectuate modifications based
upon an evaluation of the data obtained from the remote agents 304.
For example, NOC 302 may provide a signal to one of the remote
agents 304 causing an associated remote probe to vary a receiving
channel, data to be backhauled, and the like. Additionally or
alternatively, although not depicted, it is contemplated that NOC
302 may communicate with disparate network nodes to alter modulated
content outputted by a multiplexer (e.g., MUX 208 of FIG. 2, . . .
). Further, by interacting with disparate nodes, NOC 302 may
correlate data from the various nodes to identify fault(s), for
instance.
[0046] Significant amounts of information may be collected from
operational media device(s) (e.g., remote probe(s)) by way of
remote agents 304. This information may be useful for end-to-end
service monitoring, device performance characterization, tuning
network performance, etc. The broad variety of information that may
be collected includes service data, system information, device's
physical layer performance data, and the like. The following
describes information that may be collected.
[0047] Service related information may be collected for monitoring
purposes. Audio and/or video channels may be monitored. For
example, the remote probe may be instructed by NOC 302 and/or
remote agent 304 to tune to a specific media program, collect audio
and/or video data along with timing information and send the data
to a diagnostic interface (e.g., remote agent 304). The data may be
collected at this interface and transported to NOC 302 for
playback.
[0048] Pursuant to another illustration, IP datacast data may be
monitored by NOC 302. The remote probe may be utilized to collect
data arriving on IP datacast flow(s). The collected data can
provide significant insight into the quality of the IP datacast
service. For instance, an evaluation of the collected data may
indicate an extent of data loss, an extent of delay due to MUX
scheduling algorithms, etc.
[0049] The remote probe may be programmed to monitor other relevant
system wide information to derive various statistics and understand
system behavior, for instance. By way of illustration, disparate
information that may be monitored and provided to NOC 302 may be
related to a Media Program Guide, notification data, etc.
Additionally or alternatively, application level events may be
monitored such as updates to keys, changes to transmit modes,
faults occurring on the remote probe, and the like.
[0050] Network related information may be collected with remote
probe(s) and/or remote agent(s) 304 and provided to NOC 302. The
network related information may be particularly useful when remote
probe(s) are mobile. The network related information may include,
for example, Local and Wide area Control Channel Information (e.g.,
RF Channel Description, Neighbor List, . . . ), serving wide area
operation infrastructure (WOI) and/or local area operation
infrastructure (LOI), wide-area differentiator (WID) and/or
local-area differentiator (LID) seen by the remote probe, number of
flows in a local/wide area, transmitter(s) visible to the remote
probe, current transmitter serving the device, etc.
[0051] Physical layer performance data may additionally or
alternatively be monitored. The remote probe may collect FLO Test
Application Protocol (FTAP) specified physical layer performance
data. The remote probe may decode specified FTA service flows
scheduled over the FLO multiplex, collect statistics and report
back to a FTAP server for analyzing the data decoded by the remote
probe against the data originated in the network.
[0052] Any type of physical layer performance data may be
collected. For example, overhead information symbols (OIS)
performance data such as erasure information on Wide/Local OIS
and/or number of flows scheduled in a superframe may be obtained.
Wide-area identification channel (WIC)/local-area identification
channel (LIC) performance such as WID/LID seen by the remote probe
may be collected. Data MediaFLO logical channel (MLC) performance
may additionally or alternatively be assembled for FTA flows under
various transmit modes (e.g., cyclic redundancy check (CRC)
characteristics of received data, performance of Reed Solomon (R/S)
code, . . . ). Further, for enhancement flows, CRC characteristics
of received data and/or performance of R/S code may be collected
independently for base and enhancement layers. According to another
example, coverage information may also be collected. Under mobile
conditions, the remote probe may record measurements at disparate
locations related to location information, received signal strength
indicator (RSSI), packet error rate (PER) on OIS, control channel
and/or any service flow, etc. Moreover, such recorded coverage data
may be utilized (e.g., by NOC 302, one or more remote agents 304, .
. . ) to generate coverage maps and/or characterize device
performance under edge of coverage conditions as well as in areas
with overlapping coverage from multiple transmitters.
[0053] According to another illustration, video quality parameters
may be analyzed. For instance, a media player (e.g., associated
with the remote probe) may provide video quality measurement
parameters. These parameters may be reported by the device to yield
an objective measure of the audio/video quality.
[0054] Referring to FIG. 4, illustrated is a system 400 that
evaluates and/or modifies quality of service associated with
broadcast and/or multicast transmission of content with limited or
no reverse link communication. System 400 includes a remote agent
402 and any number of nodes 404 that may be monitored and/or
controlled. For instance, nodes 404 may be one or more of a remote
probe, an IRD, an exciter, a terminal server, and the like.
Additionally or alternatively, nodes 404 may be associated with a
LOI. Remote agent 402 may effectuate collecting packet errors,
RSSI, service data (e.g., audio/video data, FTAP, . . . ), video
quality parameters, and so on from one or more of nodes 404. Remote
agent 402 and nodes 404 may communicate via any type of wired,
wireless, combination thereof, etc. connection. Moreover, remote
agent 402 may monitor an air interface (e.g., error rate, signal
strength, coverage, . . . ), application/service layer (e.g., user
experience, . . . ), etc. Further, although not depicted, remote
agent 402 may communicate with one or more network operation
centers (NOCs) by way of, for example, a 1.times. reverse link for
reporting limited bandwidth data, a dedicated wired broadband link
for transporting high bandwidth data, and so forth. Remote agent
402 and/or NOCs may perform correlations between the air interface
and media application layers; thus, device level faults may be
identified, thresholds may be correlated with network events, and
the like.
[0055] Turning to FIG. 5, illustrated is an exemplary architecture
of a remote probe 502 that may be employed in connection with
collecting data associated with FLO transmission(s). Remote probe
502 may include a FLO chip 504 and a non-FLO chip 506. An
application may run upon FLO chip 504 that receives content
transmitted via broadcast and/or multicast. The content may be
provided from a data stack 508 (which may include any number of
disparate layers) associated with FLO chip 504 to a relay agent
510. For instance, flow data and/or diagnostic information may be
provided to relay agent 510. Non-FLO chip 506 may be employed to
playback the received content. For instance, content may be
provided to a data stack 512 and/or a Qtv player/decoder 514 to
generate an output (e.g., utilizing display(s), speaker(s), . . .
).
[0056] Relay agent 510 may transfer flow data, diagnostics, and the
like over a backhaul to disparate component(s) (not shown) such as,
for instance, a remote agent, a network operation center, etc.
Further, relay agent 510 may perform bi-directional communication
with such disparate component(s). Thus, a disparate component may
provide a control signal to relay agent 510 (e.g., to alter a
channel for receiving content, indicating data to return via the
backhaul, . . . ); thus, relay agent 510 may transmit control
information to data stack 508 and/or FLO chip 504 to effectuate
such change; however, the claimed subject matter is not so
limited.
[0057] Referring to FIGS. 6-8, methodologies relating to remotely
monitoring and/or controlling mobile device(s) obtaining broadcast
and/or multicast transmission(s) are illustrated. For example,
methodologies can relate to monitoring and/or controlling such
devices in an FDMA environment, an OFDMA environment, a CDMA
environment, a WCDMA environment, a TDMA environment, an SDMA
environment, or any other suitable wireless environment. While, for
purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown
and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and
appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of
acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments,
occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from
that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the
art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could
alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or
events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated
acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with
one or more embodiments.
[0058] With reference to FIG. 6, illustrated is a methodology 600
that facilitates remotely monitoring a broadcast device. At 602,
collected information associated with a broadcast transmission may
be received from an operational media device. For instance, any
type of collected information may be obtained such as service data,
system information, physical layer performance data, network
information, device performance information, and so forth.
Additionally or alternatively, diagnostic information, call
processing information, and/or device position information may be
received. Further, the broadcast transmission may be associated
with a lack of or limited reverse link. According to an example,
although not depicted, it is to be appreciated that control
information may be transmitted to the operational media device to
vary data to collect and/or alter any disparate operating parameter
pertaining to the device. Moreover, collected information may be
received from a plurality of disparate operational media
devices.
[0059] At 604, performance of at least one of the media device and
a network may be monitored based upon the collected information.
Thus, the collected information may be utilized for end-to-end
service monitoring, device performance characterization, turning
network performance, etc. By way of illustration, video and/or
audio packets obtained by the operational media device may be
analyzed to monitor performance of the device and/or the network.
At 606, a subsequent broadcast transmission may be altered based
upon the monitored performance. For instance, if monitoring leads
to identifying that a particular communication link is not
operating properly, such link may be modified to facilitate
improving subsequent broadcast transmissions. Additionally or
alternatively, the operational media device may be remotely
controlled to modify operating parameters for subsequent broadcast
transmission(s); thus, a channel may be varied, data to be
collected can be modified, etc.
[0060] With reference to FIG. 7, illustrated is a methodology 700
that facilitates collecting and/or backhauling data associated with
a broadcast transmission. At 702, a broadcast transmission may be
received in accordance with obtained control information. The
control information may indicate, for instance, a channel, a time,
a location, etc. related to operation. At 704, data related to the
broadcast transmission may be collected. Pursuant to an example,
the data may be collected according to the control information;
thus, the control information may specify types of data (e.g.,
audio and/or video packets, signal strength, network information, .
. . ) to retain. By way of illustration, the collected data may be
stored, transmitted upon receipt, etc. At 706, the collected data
may be transmitted over a backhaul. According to an example, the
data may be backhauled to a network operation center, a remote
agent, etc. Moreover, the backhaul may utilize any communication
path such as, for instance, a 1.times. reverse link, a dedicated
wired broadband link, and the like.
[0061] Turning to FIG. 8, illustrated is a methodology 800 that
facilitates assembling data from a plurality of nodes associated
with local area operation infrastructure(s) (LOI(s)). At 802,
operation of a media device may be controlled. For instance,
control information may be transmitted to the media device. At 804,
data associated with a broadcast transmission may be collected from
a plurality of nodes including the media device. By way of example,
one or more of the nodes may be an IRD, an exciter, a terminal
server, etc.; however, the claimed subject matter is not so
limited. Any data may be collected such as, for instance,
information pertaining to faults, diagnostics, statistics, received
packets, and so forth. At 806, the collected data may be
transmitted via a backhaul. By collecting data from any number of
nodes associated with LOI(s), methodology 800 enables providing
feedback from nodes associated with the LOI(s) whereas conventional
broadcast techniques employing limited or no reverse link
oftentimes fail to allow for such feedback.
[0062] It will be appreciated that, in accordance with one or more
aspects described herein, inferences can be made regarding
controlling a remote media device, monitoring such a device, etc.
As used herein, the term to "infer" or "inference" refers generally
to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the
system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as
captured via events and/or data. Inference can be employed to
identify a specific context or action, or can generate a
probability distribution over states, for example. The inference
can be probabilistic--that is, the computation of a probability
distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of
data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed
for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data.
Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions
from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or
not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and
whether the events and data come from one or several event and data
sources.
[0063] According to an example, one or more methods presented above
can include making inferences regarding identifying data associated
with a broadcast transmission with limited or no reverse link to
collect (e.g., subset of available data to assemble, . . . ). By
way of further illustration, an inference may be made pertaining to
link(s) within a communications system yielding faults, degraded
service, etc. It will be appreciated that the foregoing examples
are illustrative in nature and are not intended to limit the number
of inferences that can be made or the manner in which such
inferences are made in conjunction with the various embodiments
and/or methods described herein.
[0064] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user device 900 (e.g., remote
probe, . . . ) that facilitates monitoring and/or providing
feedback in connection with broadcast and/or multicast
transmission(s). User device 900 comprises a receiver 902 that
receives a signal from, for instance, a receive antenna (not
shown), and performs typical actions thereon (e.g., filters,
amplifies, downconverts, etc.) the received signal and digitizes
the conditioned signal to obtain samples. Receiver 902 can be, for
example, an MMSE receiver, and can comprise a demodulator 904 that
can demodulate received symbols and provide them to a processor 906
for channel estimation. Processor 906 can be a processor dedicated
to analyzing information received by receiver 902 and/or generating
information for transmission by a transmitter 916, a processor that
controls one or more components of user device 900, and/or a
processor that both analyzes information received by receiver 902,
generates information for transmission by transmitter 916, and
controls one or more components of user device 900.
[0065] User device 900 can additionally comprise memory 908 that is
operatively coupled to processor 906 and that may store data to be
transmitted, received data, information related to available
channels, data associated with analyzed signal and/or interference
strength, information related to an assigned channel, power, rate,
or the like, and any other suitable information for estimating a
channel and communicating via the channel. Memory 908 can
additionally store protocols and/or algorithms associated with
estimating and/or utilizing a channel (e.g., performance based,
capacity based, etc.).
[0066] It will be appreciated that the data store (e.g., memory
908) described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile
memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way
of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include
read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically
programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or
flash memory. Volatile memory can include random access memory
(RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration
and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as
synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM
(SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM
(ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).
The memory 908 of the subject systems and methods is intended to
comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable
types of memory.
[0067] Receiver 902 is further operatively coupled to an
interaction modifier 910 that alters operation of user device 900
in response to received control information. For instance, receiver
902 may obtain control information from a remote source (not shown)
and provide the control information to interaction modifier 910. In
response to the control information, interaction modifier 910 may
alter any operating parameter associated with user device 900. By
way of illustration and not limitation, interaction modifier 910
may obtain control information that may facilitate changing type(s)
of information to collect, type(s) of information to backhaul,
location, on/off state, base station(s) from which to obtain
broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s), etc.
[0068] Additionally, a broadcast data assimilator 912 may evaluate
broadcast and/or multicast data obtained via receiver 902.
Broadcast data assimilator 912 may employ operating parameters
specified by interaction modifier 910. Further, broadcast data
assimilator 912 may aggregate data associated with the broadcast
and/or multicast transmission(s). The aggregated data may
thereafter be transmitted to a remote location for further
evaluation. User device 900 still further comprises a modulator 914
and a transmitter 916 that transmits the signal to, for instance, a
base station, another user device, a NOC, a remote agent, etc.
Although depicted as being separate from the processor 906, it is
to be appreciated that interaction modifier 910, broadcast data
assimilator 912 and/or modulator 914 may be part of processor 906
or a number of processors (not shown).
[0069] FIG. 10 is an illustration of a system 1000 that facilitates
monitoring and/or controlling remote media device(s). System 1000
comprises an access point 1002 (e.g., base station, NOC, . . . )
with a receiver 1010 that receives signal(s) from one or more user
devices 1004 through a plurality of receive antennas 1006, and a
transmitter 1022 that transmits to the one or more user devices
1004 through a transmit antenna 1008. Receiver 1010 can receive
information from receive antennas 1006 and is operatively
associated with a demodulator 1012 that demodulates received
information. Demodulated symbols are analyzed by a processor 1014
that can be similar to the processor described above with regard to
FIG. 9, and which is coupled to a memory 1016 that stores
information related to estimating a signal (e.g., pilot) strength
and/or interference strength, data to be transmitted to or received
from user device(s) 1004 (or a disparate access point (not shown)),
and/or any other suitable information related to performing the
various actions and functions set forth herein. Processor 1014 is
further coupled to a remote device monitor 1018 that evaluates
obtained data collected by a remotely positioned broadcast media
device. It is to be appreciated that the broadcast media device may
conventionally be associated with a lack of or limited reverse
link; thus, such broadcast media device typically fails to provide
feedback. Remote device monitor 1018 may evaluate the broadcast
media device at a service level, physical layer, etc., for
instance. Further, remote device monitor 1018 may enable playing
back video and/or audio data obtained with the broadcast media
device at access point 1002.
[0070] Remote device monitor 1018 may further coupled to a remote
device operation controller 1020 that can enable modifying
operating parameters related to a remotely located broadcast media
device. For example, based upon a measured condition (e.g., fault,
degraded signal strength, . . . ) identified with remote device
monitor 1018, remote device operation controller 1020 may generate
control information. Such control information may be provided by
remote device operation controller 1020 to a modulator 1022.
Modulator 1022 can multiplex the control information for
transmission by a transmitter 1026 through antenna 1008 to the
broadcast media device (e.g., user device 1004). Although depicted
as being separate from the processor 1014, it is to be appreciated
that remote device monitor 1018, remote device operation controller
1020 and/or modulator 1022 may be part of processor 1014 or a
number of processors (not shown).
[0071] FIG. 11 shows an exemplary wireless communication system
1100. The wireless communication system 1100 depicts one access
point and one terminal for sake of brevity. However, it is to be
appreciated that the system can include more than one access point
and/or more than one terminal, wherein additional access points
and/or terminals can be substantially similar or different for the
exemplary access point and terminal described below. In addition,
it is to be appreciated that the access point and/or the terminal
can employ the systems (FIGS. 1-5 and 9-10) and/or methods (FIGS.
6-8) described herein to facilitate wireless communication there
between.
[0072] Referring now to FIG. 11, on a downlink, at access point
1105, a transmit (TX) data processor 1110 receives, formats, codes,
interleaves, and modulates (or symbol maps) traffic data and
provides modulation symbols ("data symbols"). A symbol modulator
1115 receives and processes the data symbols and pilot symbols and
provides a stream of symbols. A symbol modulator 1115 multiplexes
data and pilot symbols and provides them to a transmitter unit
(TMTR) 1120. Each transmit symbol may be a data symbol, a pilot
symbol, or a signal value of zero. The pilot symbols may be sent
continuously in each symbol period. The pilot symbols can be
frequency division multiplexed (FDM), orthogonal frequency division
multiplexed (OFDM), time division multiplexed (TDM), frequency
division multiplexed (FDM), or code division multiplexed (CDM).
[0073] TMTR 1120 receives and converts the stream of symbols into
one or more analog signals and further conditions (e.g., amplifies,
filters, and frequency upconverts) the analog signals to generate a
downlink signal suitable for transmission over the wireless
channel. The downlink signal is then transmitted through an antenna
1125 to the terminals. At terminal 1130, an antenna 1135 receives
the downlink signal and provides a received signal to a receiver
unit (RCVR) 1140. Receiver unit 1140 conditions (e.g., filters,
amplifies, and frequency downconverts) the received signal and
digitizes the conditioned signal to obtain samples. A symbol
demodulator 1145 demodulates and provides received pilot symbols to
a processor 1150 for channel estimation. Symbol demodulator 1145
further receives a frequency response estimate for the downlink
from processor 1150, performs data demodulation on the received
data symbols to obtain data symbol estimates (which are estimates
of the transmitted data symbols), and provides the data symbol
estimates to an RX data processor 1155, which demodulates (i.e.,
symbol demaps), deinterleaves, and decodes the data symbol
estimates to recover the transmitted traffic data. The processing
by symbol demodulator 1145 and RX data processor 1155 is
complementary to the processing by symbol modulator 1115 and TX
data processor 1110, respectively, at access point 1105.
[0074] On the uplink, a TX data processor 1160 processes traffic
data and provides data symbols. A symbol modulator 1165 receives
and multiplexes the data symbols with pilot symbols, performs
modulation, and provides a stream of symbols. A transmitter unit
1170 then receives and processes the stream of symbols to generate
an uplink signal, which is transmitted by the antenna 1135 to the
access point 1105.
[0075] At access point 1105, the uplink signal from terminal 1130
is received by the antenna 1125 and processed by a receiver unit
1175 to obtain samples. A symbol demodulator 1180 then processes
the samples and provides received pilot symbols and data symbol
estimates for the uplink. An RX data processor 1185 processes the
data symbol estimates to recover the traffic data transmitted by
terminal 1130. A processor 1190 performs channel estimation for
each active terminal transmitting on the uplink. Multiple terminals
may transmit pilot concurrently on the uplink on their respective
assigned sets of pilot subbands, where the pilot subband sets may
be interlaced.
[0076] Processors 1190 and 1150 direct (e.g., control, coordinate,
manage, etc.) operation at access point 1105 and terminal 1130,
respectively. Respective processors 1190 and 1150 can be associated
with memory units (not shown) that store program codes and data.
Processors 1190 and 1150 can also perform computations to derive
frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and
downlink, respectively.
[0077] For a multiple-access system (e.g., FDMA, OFDMA, CDMA, TDMA,
etc.), multiple terminals can transmit concurrently on the uplink.
For such a system, the pilot subbands may be shared among different
terminals. The channel estimation techniques may be used in cases
where the pilot subbands for each terminal span the entire
operating band (possibly except for the band edges). Such a pilot
subband structure would be desirable to obtain frequency diversity
for each terminal. The techniques described herein may be
implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be
implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a
hardware implementation, the processing units used for channel
estimation may be implemented within one or more application
specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors
(DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable
logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),
processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other
electronic units designed to perform the functions described
herein, or a combination thereof. With software, implementation can
be through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that
perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be
stored in memory unit and executed by the processors 1190 and
1150.
[0078] FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of a communication network 1200
that comprises an embodiment of a transport system that operates to
create and transport multimedia content flows across data networks.
For example, the transport system is suitable for use in
transporting content clips from a content provider network to a
wireless access network for broadcast distribution.
[0079] Network 1200 comprises a content provider (CP) 1202, a
content provider network 1204, an optimized broadcast network 1206,
and a wireless access network 1208. Network 1200 also includes
devices 1210 that comprise a mobile telephone 1212, a personal
digital assistance (PDA) 1214, and a notebook computer 1216.
Devices 1210 illustrate just some of the devices that are suitable
for use in one or more embodiments of the transport system. It
should be noted that although three devices are shown in FIG. 12,
virtually any number of devices, or types of devices are suitable
for use in the transport system.
[0080] Content provider 1202 operates to provide content for
distribution to users in network 1200. The content comprises video,
audio, multimedia content, clips, real-time and non real-time
content, scripts, programs, data or any other type of suitable
content. Content provider 1202 provides the content to content
provider network 1204 for distribution. For example, content
provider 1202 communicates with content provider network 1204 via a
communication link 1218, which comprises any suitable type of wired
and/or wireless communication link.
[0081] Content provider network 1204 comprises any combination of
wired and wireless networks that operate to distribute content for
delivery to users. Content provider network 1204 communicates with
optimized broadcast network 1206 via a link 1220. Link 1220
comprises any suitable type of wired and/or wireless communication
link. Optimized broadcast network 1206 comprises any combination of
wired and wireless networks that are designed to broadcast high
quality content. For example, optimized broadcast network 1206 may
be a specialized proprietary network that has been optimized to
deliver high quality content to selected devices over a plurality
of optimized communication channels.
[0082] In one or more embodiments, the transport system operates to
deliver content from content provider 1202 for distribution to a
content server (CS) 1222 at content provider network 1204 that
operates to communicate with a broadcast base station (BBS) 1224 at
wireless access network 1208. CS 1222 and BBS 1224 communicate
using one or more embodiments of a transport interface 1226 that
allows content provider network 1204 to deliver content in the form
of content flows to wireless access network 1208 for
broadcast/multicast to devices 1210. Transport interface 1226
comprises a control interface 1228 and a bearer channel 1230.
Control interface 1228 operates to allow CS 122 to add, change,
cancel, or otherwise modify contents flows that flow from content
provider network 1204 to wireless access network 1208. Bearer
channel 1230 operates to transport the content flows from content
provider network 1204 to wireless access network 1208.
[0083] In one or more embodiments, CS 1222 uses transport interface
1226 to schedule a content flow to be transmitted to BBS 1224 for
broadcast/multicast over wireless access network 1208. For example,
the content flow may comprise a non real-time content clip that was
provided by content provider 1202 for distribution using content
provider network 1204. In an embodiment, CS 1222 operates to
negotiate with BBS 1224 to determine one or more parameters
associated with the content clip. Once BBS 1224 receives the
content clip, it broadcasts/multicasts the content clip over
wireless access network 1208 for reception by one or more devices
1210. Any of devices 1210 may be authorized to receive the content
clip and cache it for later viewing by the device user.
[0084] For example, device 1210 comprises a client program 1232
that operates to provide a program guide that displays a listing of
content that is scheduled for broadcast over wireless access
network 1208. The device user may then select to receive any
particular content for rendering in real-time or to be stored in a
cache 1234 for later viewing. For example the content clip may be
scheduled for broadcast during the evening hours, and device 1212
operates to receive the broadcast and cache the content clip in
cache 1234 so that the device user may view the clip the next day.
Typically, the content is broadcast as part of a subscription
service and the receiving device may need to provide a key or
otherwise authenticate itself to receive the broadcast.
[0085] In one or more embodiments, the transport system allows CS
1222 to receive program-guide records, program contents, and other
related information from content provider 1202. CS 1222 updates
and/or creates content for delivery to devices 1210.
[0086] FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of a content provider server
1300 suitable for use in an embodiment of the content delivery
system. For example, server 1300 may be used as the server 1202 in
FIG. 12. Server 1300 comprises processing logic 1302, resources and
interfaces 1304, and transceiver logic 1310, all coupled to an
internal data bus 1312. Server 1300 also comprises activation logic
1314, program guide (PG) 1306, and PG records logic 1308, which are
also coupled to data bus 1312.
[0087] In one or more embodiments, processing logic 1302 comprises
a CPU, processor, gate array, hardware logic, memory elements,
virtual machine, software, and/or any combination of hardware and
software. Thus, processing logic 1302 generally comprises logic to
execute machine-readable instructions and to control one or more
other functional elements of server 1300 via internal data bus
1312.
[0088] The resources and interfaces 1304 comprise hardware and/or
software that allow server 1300 to communicate with internal and
external systems. For example, the internal systems may include
mass storage systems, memory, display driver, modem, or other
internal device resources. The external systems may include user
interface devices, printers, disk drives, or other local devices or
systems.
[0089] Transceiver logic 1310 comprises hardware logic and/or
software that operates to allow server 1300 to transmit and receive
data and/or other information with remote devices or systems using
communication channel 1316. For example, in an embodiment,
communication channel 1316 comprises any suitable type of
communication link to allow server 1300 to communicate with a data
network.
[0090] Activation logic 1314 comprises a CPU, processor, gate
array, hardware logic, memory elements, virtual machine, software,
and/or any combination of hardware and software. Activation logic
1314 operates to activate a CS and/or a device to allow the CS
and/or the device to select and receive content and/or services
described in PG 1306. In one or more embodiments, activation logic
1314 transmits a client program 1320 to the CS and/or the device
during the activation process. Client program 1320 runs on the CS
and/or the device to receive PG 1306 and display information about
available content or services to the device user. Thus, activation
logic 1314 operates to authenticate a CS and/or a device, download
client 1320, and download PG 1306 for rendering on the device by
client 1320.
[0091] PG 1306 comprises information in any suitable format that
describes content and/or services that are available for devices to
receive. For example, PG 1306 may be stored in a local memory of
server 1300 and may comprise information such as content or service
identifiers, scheduling information, pricing, and/or any other type
of relevant information. In an embodiment, PG 1306 comprises one or
more identifiable sections that are updated by processing logic
1302 as changes are made to the available content or services.
[0092] PG record 1308 comprises hardware and/or software that
operates to generate notification messages that identify and/or
describe changes to PG 1306. For example, when processing logic
1302 updates PG 1306, PG records logic 1308 is notified about the
changes. PG records logic 1308 then generates one or more
notification messages that are transmitted to CSs, which may have
been activated with server 1300, so that these CSs are promptly
notified about the changes to PG 1306.
[0093] In an embodiment, as part of the content delivery
notification message, a broadcast indicator is provided that
indicates when a section of PG 1306 identified in the message will
be broadcast. For example, in one embodiment, the broadcast
indicator comprises one bit to indicate that the section will be
broadcast and a time indicator that indicates when the broadcast
will occur. Thus, the CSs and/or the devices wishing to update
their local copy of the PG records can listen for the broadcast at
the designated time to receive the updated section of the PG
records.
[0094] In an embodiment, the content delivery notification system
comprises program instructions stored on a computer-readable media,
which when executed by a processor, for instance, processing logic
1302, provides the functions of server 1300 described herein. For
example, the program instructions may be loaded into server 1300
from a computer-readable media, such as a floppy disk, CDROM,
memory card, FLASH memory device, RAM, ROM, or any other type of
memory device or computer-readable media that interfaces to server
1300 through resources 1304. In another embodiment, the
instructions may be downloaded into server 1300 from an external
device or network resource that interfaces to server 1300 through
transceiver logic 1310. The program instructions, when executed by
processing logic 1302, provide one or more embodiments of a guide
state notification system as described herein.
[0095] FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a content server (CS) or
device 1400 suitable for use in one or more embodiments of a
content delivery system. For example, CS 1400 may be CS 1222 or
device 1210 shown in FIG. 12. CS 1400 comprises processing logic
1402, resources and interfaces 1404, and transceiver logic 1406,
all coupled to a data bus 1408. CS 1400 also comprises a client
1410, a program logic 1414 and a PG logic 1412, which are also
coupled to data bus 1408.
[0096] In one or more embodiments, processing logic 1402 comprises
a CPU, processor, gate array, hardware logic, memory elements,
virtual machine, software, and/or any combination of hardware and
software. Thus, processing logic 1402 generally comprises logic
configured to execute machine-readable instructions and to control
one or more other functional elements of CS 1400 via internal data
bus 1408.
[0097] The resources and interfaces 1404 comprise hardware and/or
software that allow CS 1400 to communicate with internal and
external systems. For example, internal systems may include mass
storage systems, memory, display driver, modem, or other internal
device resources. The external systems may include user interface
devices, printers, disk drives, or other local devices or
systems.
[0098] Transceiver logic 1406 comprises hardware and/or software
that operate to allow CS 1400 to transmit and receive data and/or
other information with external devices or systems through
communication channel 1414. For example, communication channel 1414
may comprise a network communication link, a wireless communication
link, or any other type of communication link.
[0099] During operation, CS and/or device 1400 is activated so that
it may receive available content or services over a data network.
For example, in one or more embodiments, CS and/or device 1400
identifies itself to a content provider server during an activation
process. As part of the activation process, CS and/or device 1400
receives and stores PG records by PG logic 1412. PG 1412 contains
information that identifies content or services available for CS
1400 to receive. Client 1410 operates to render information in PG
logic 1412 on CS and/or device 1400 using the resources and
interfaces 1404. For example, client 1410 renders information in PG
logic 1412 on a display screen that is part of the device. Client
1410 also receives user input through the resources and interfaces
so that a device user may select content or services.
[0100] In an embodiment, CS 1400 receives notification messages
through transceiver logic 1406. For example, the messages may be
broadcast or unicast to CS 1400 and received by transceiver logic
1406. The PG notification messages identify updates to the PG
records at PG logic 1412. In an embodiment, client 1410 processes
the PG notification messages to determine whether the local copy at
PG logic 1412 needs to be updated. For example, in one or more
embodiments, the notification messages include a section
identifier, start time, end time, and version number. CS 1400
operates to compare the information in the PG notification messages
to locally stored information at the existing PG logic 1412. If CS
1400 determines from the PG notification messages that one or more
sections of the local copy at PG logic 1412 needs to be updated, CS
1400 operates to receive the updated sections of the PG in one of
several ways. For example, the updated sections of the PG may be
broadcasted at a time indicated in the PG notification messages, so
that transceiver logic 1406 may receive the broadcasts and pass the
updated sections to CS 1400, which in turn updates the local copy
at PG logic 1412.
[0101] In other embodiments, CS 1400 determines which sections of
the PG need to be updated based on the received PG update
notification messages, and transmits a request to a CP server to
obtain the desired updated sections of the PG. For example, the
request may be formatted using any suitable format and comprise
information such as a requesting CS identifier, section identifier,
version number, and/or any other suitable information.
[0102] In one or more embodiments, CS 1400 performs one or more of
the following functions in one or more embodiments of a PG
notification system. It should be noted that the following
functions might be changed, rearranged, modified, added to,
deleted, or otherwise adjusted within the scope of the embodiments.
[0103] 1. The CS is activated for operation with a content provider
system to receive content or services. As part of the activation
process, a client and PG are transmitted to the CS. [0104] 2. One
or more PG notification messages are received by the CS and used to
determine if one or more sections of the locally stored PG need to
be updated. [0105] 3. In an embodiment, if the CS determines that
one or more sections of the locally stored PG need to be updated,
the CS listens to a broadcast from the distribution system to
obtain the updated sections of the PG that it needs to update its
local copy. [0106] 4. In other embodiments, the CS transmits one or
more request messages to the CP to obtain the updated sections of
the PG it needs. [0107] 5. In response to the request, the CP
transmits the updated sections of the PG to the CS. [0108] 6. The
CS uses the received updated sections of the PG to update its local
copy of the PG.
[0109] In one or more embodiments, the content delivery system
comprises program instructions stored on a computer-readable media,
which when executed by a processor, such as processing logic 1402,
provides the functions of the content delivery notification system
as described herein. For example, instructions may be loaded into
CS 1400 from a computer-readable media, such as a floppy disk,
CDROM, memory card, FLASH memory device, RAM, ROM, or any other
type of memory device or computer-readable media that interfaces to
CS 1400 through the resources and interfaces 1404. In other
embodiments, the instructions may be downloaded into CS 1400 from a
network resource that interfaces to CS 1400 through transceiver
logic 1406. The instructions, when executed by processing logic
1402, provide one or more embodiments of a content delivery system
as described herein.
[0110] It should be noted that CS 1400 represents just one
implementation and that other implementations are possible within
the scope of the embodiments.
[0111] With reference to FIG. 15, illustrated is a system 1500 that
monitors and/or controls a remote media device that obtains
broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s). It is to be appreciated
that system 1500 is represented as including functional blocks,
which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented
by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware).
System 1500 can be implemented in a wireless device and can include
means for receiving collected information associated with a
broadcast transmission 1502. For example, the collected information
may be obtained from remote media device(s). Further, system 1500
may comprise means for monitoring performance of at least one of a
media device and a network 1504. Pursuant to an illustration, the
collected information may be evaluated to enable such monitoring.
Moreover, system 1500 may include means for altering a subsequent
transmission based upon the monitored performance 1506.
[0112] For a software implementation, the techniques described
herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures,
functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein.
The software codes may be stored in memory units and executed by
processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor
or external to the processor, in which case it can be
communicatively coupled to the processor via various means as is
known in the art.
[0113] What has been described above includes examples of one or
more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every
conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes
of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary
skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and
permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the
described embodiments are intended to embrace all such alterations,
modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope
of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term
"includes" is used in either the detailed description or the
claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar
to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when
employed as a transitional word in a claim.
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