Patent · US Expired

Remote monitoring and control method and apparatus for an information distribution system

US8225361B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
13References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 11, 2000
Grant dateJul 17, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 5, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N21/4882
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Techniques to remotely monitor and control operations performed by one or more head-ends (or servers) in an information distribution system. In one implementation, a monitor and control unit communicates with various elements (e.g., an IPG service manager and a session manager) within each head-end to receive information relating to the operations of the head-end. This information may include status and/or indications of possible error conditions relating to (1) various operations (e.g., encoding, multiplexing, and so on) performed by the head-end, and (2) the transport streams being transmitted from the head-end. The received information may then be forwarded to one or more remote devices (e.g., pagers, cellular phones, PDAs) designated to receive the information. Response messages may also be received from the remote devices and forwarded to the appropriate head-end, which may adjust its operation as indicated by commands included in the messages.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.