Broadcom Corporation

Avago Technologies International Sales Pte. Limited

Avago Technologies General IP (singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Anand Tongle

Rajesh Mamidwar

David Chaohua Wu

Sanjeev Sood

Darren Duane Neuman

Xuemin Chen

Victor Hou

Predrag Kostic

Prashant Katre

Flaviu Dorin Turean

Bhaskar Mala Sherigar

Milomir Aleksic

Eng Choon Ooi

Florian Fainelli

Disclosed herein are related to communication systems and methods for converting between lossy communication protocol packets and lossless communication protocol packets. In one aspect, the communication system includes a server, a set top box, and an intermediate node. In some embodiments, the intermediate node is configured to receive a lossy communication protocol packet from the server, convert the lossy communication protocol packet to a lossless communication protocol packet, and transmit the converted lossless communication protocol packet to the set top box.

Systems and methods for converting between a lossy communication protocol and a lossless communication protocol

In some aspects, the disclosure is directed to methods and systems for receiving high data transmission channels, where the system may have a first set top box and a second set top box. The first set top box may contain a tuner configured to receive via a broadcast network, a portion of a channel bonded data stream. The first set top box may also contain a network interface to a local network to send the portion to the network interface of a second set top box. The second set top box may also contain a tuner configured to receive another portion of the channel bonded data stream. The second set top box may then be configured to debond the portions received before combining the portions of the channel bonded data stream for output.

Channel debonding of multiple tuners in different set top boxes

In some aspects, the disclosure is directed to methods and systems for improved bandwidth for DVB-S2X bonded channels. A high bandwidth stream may be split to a plurality of partial streams, including inserted null packets. Modulators may remove the null packets while maintaining a synchronization counter. The counter value may be inserted in headers of transmitted data packets in reduced bandwidth output streams, without requiring explicit identification of removed or deleted null packets. Downstream modulators may recover and remerge the partial streams via the synchronization counters. As explicit deleted null packet identifiers are omitted, header sizes are reduced, further increasing payload/header efficiency ratios.

Transmission bandwidth improvements for DVB-S2X channel bonding

A stream at a source device may be transmitted over multiple channels. At the input of the channels the packets from the stream may be grouped into chunks. Informational packets may be appended to the chunks. The informational packets may include sequencing information for the chunks and packet-to-packet timing information. The chunks may then be distributed over the multiple channels. After transmission over the channels, the informational packets may be extracted from the chunks. Reconstruction circuitry, at the destination device, may determine the sequence of the chunks at the source device based on the sequencing information. The reconstruction circuitry may also determine relative timings of the packets within the single stream based on the packet-to-packet timing information. The packets may be released from buffers in accord with the determined packet-to-packet timing information and the sequencing information to recreate the relative timings within the single stream at the destination device.

Packet-to-packet timing reconstruction for channel bonding

A system for lossless switching of traffic in a network device may be implemented when a network switch is integrated into a gateway device, or with any other data source. A processor of the gateway device may receive queue depth information for queues of the network switch. The processor may prevent data from being transmitted to congested queues of the network switch, while allowing data to be transmitted to uncongested queues. In this manner, data loss can be avoided through the network switch for data sourced from the gateway device, such as audio-video data retrieved from a hard drive, audio-video data received from a tuner, etc. Furthermore, re-transmission at higher layers can be reduced. Since the subject system observes congestion for each individual queue, only traffic destined to that particular, congested, queue is affected, e.g. paused. Traffic to non-congested queues is not affected, regardless of traffic class or egress port.

Lossless switching of traffic in a network device

A device for decoupling audio-video (AV) traffic processing from non-AV traffic processing may include a first processor and a second processor. The first processor may be configured to establish a network connection with a client device, determine whether the network connection is associated with AV traffic, transfer the network connection to a second processor when the network connection is associated with AV traffic, and process non-AV traffic associated with the network connection when the network connection is not associated with AV traffic. The second processor may be configured to receive the network connection from the first processor and process the AV traffic associated with the network connection.

Decoupling audio-video (AV) traffic processing from non-AV traffic processing

A system for recovering channel bonded program streams may include filters and a collator. The filters may be configured to receive data streams that include multiple chunks of transport stream packets, and marker information items that are indicative of boundaries of the chunks, over multiple bonded channels, and to individually filter the data streams based at least on a utilized program identifier. The collator may be configured to collate the filtered data streams based at least on the marker information items to recover a program stream corresponding to the utilized program identifier. In one or more implementations, the filters may replace, or augment, the marker information items with marker packets that include a program identifier that is not being used for transmitted programs and/or that is reserved for marker packets. The collator may collate the filtered data streams based at least on the marker packets.

Recovering channel bonded program streams

A system for efficient memory bandwidth utilization may include a depacketizer, a packetizer, and a processor core. The depacketizer may generate header information items from received packets, where the header information items include sufficient information for the processor core to process the packets without accessing the payloads from off-chip memory. The depacketizer may accumulate multiple payloads and may write the multiple payloads to the off-chip memory in a single memory transaction when a threshold amount of the payloads have been accumulated. The processor core may receive the header information items and may generate a single descriptor for accessing multiple payloads corresponding to the header information items from the off-chip memory. The packetizer may generate a header for each payload based at least on on-chip information and without accessing off-chip memory. Thus, the subject system provides efficient memory bandwidth utilization, e.g. at least by reducing the number of off-chip memory accesses.

Efficient memory bandwidth utilization in a network device

A transponder-bonded receiver system with clock recovery may include memory an and one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to execute one or more program modules to perform: receiving multiple data streams each including a number of data packets, and a number of marker packets with embedded bonding clock references (BCRs) and including marker packet information; adjusting arrival-time-stamps (ATSs) of the marker packets by using the BCRs and including capturing timing between the marker packets based on a local free running counter of the receiver; and determining an adjusted ATS corresponding to an ATS at the receiver for each of the plurality of packets using the ATS and a delta-ATS.

Clock recovery in transponder-bonded systems using BCRs and marker packets at a set-top box

A system for adaptive audio video (AV) stream processing may include at least one processor and a switch device. The switch device may be configured to route AV traffic to the processor, and to receive AV traffic from the processor and provide the AV traffic to a client device via one or more channels. The processor may monitor a transcoder buffer depth and depths of buffers associated with channels over which the AV traffic is being transmitted. The processor may adaptively modify one or more attributes associated with the AV traffic based at least on the monitored buffer depths. For example, the processor may adaptively adjust a bit rate associated with transcoding the AV traffic based at least on the transcoder buffer depth. The processor may utilize the depths of the buffers associated with the channels to adaptively adjust the amount of AV traffic provided for transmission over the channels.

Adaptive audio video (AV) stream processing

A method of handling retransmission and memory consumption tracking of data packets includes storing data packets from different data channels in respective transmitter ring buffers allocated to the data channels when the data packets are not marked for retransmission, and facilitating retransmission of data packets from a specified ring buffer corresponding to a retransmission sequence number. The method also may include storing received data packets out of sequence in respective receiver ring buffers, marking a descriptor indicating a tail location of the stored data packets, and reclaiming memory space in the ring buffer based on the marked descriptor. The method may include storing a payload address associated with received data packets, marking a descriptor associated with the payload address to indicate the stored data packets have been consumed for processing, and reclaiming memory space when a register contains an indication of the stored payload address based on the marked descriptor.

Retransmission and memory consumption tracking of data packets in a network device

Different data communication architectures receive a wide variety of content, including audio and video content, for consumers. The architectures employ channel bonding to deliver more bandwidth than any single communication channel can carry. In some implementations, the communication architectures receive distributed video programming in the form of MPEG2 TS packets, flagged by marker packets. Channel bonding synchronization information may be present in packets defined above the data-link layer or received in fields within data-link layer frames.

Channel bonding with distributed marker packets

Different data communication architectures deliver a wide variety of content, including audio and video content, to consumers. The architectures employ channel bonding to deliver more bandwidth than any single communication channel can carry. In some implementations, the communication architectures distribute video programming in the form of MPEG2 TS packets, flagged by marker packets, in a round-robin manner across the communication channels. Channel bonding synchronization information may be present in packets defined above the data-link layer or added to fields within data-link layer frames.

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Anand Tongle