Combined digital audio/video on demand and broadcast distribution system
US5973722A · kind A · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 16, 1996 |
| Grant date | Oct 26, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 16, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L12/40117
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An in-flight passenger entertainment system has a first digital network for communication among components of a headend system including a data server, media controller, one or more media servers, system interface unit, system manager unit and attendant control panel. The in-flight entertainment system is coupled to an aircraft's existing systems through the system interface unit and the system manager unit. The components of the headend system are all coupled to a network switch for routing data within the first network. The network switch is also coupled to one or more zone bridge units, each of which is coupled to multiple seat electronics units. The zone bridge units and the seat electronics units together form a second digital network. The first digital network is preferably an ATM network with fibre optic cables used to carry the data. The second digital network is preferably an IEEE 1394 serial bus network. The zone bridge units control all communications between the networks, converting all communications into the format required by the respective network. A first audio path for transmitting audio content from the headend system is routed to predetermined seat entertainment…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.