The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 27, 2014
Filed:
Feb. 29, 2008
John Schlack, Quakertown, PA (US);
John Schlack, Quakertown, PA (US);
General Instrument Corporation, Horsham, PA (US);
Abstract
A method, system and devices for delivering a switched digital video (SDV) channel to a network element, such as an end user set-top box, based on the decoding capabilities of the network element. The system determines whether to deliver the SDV channel in a first format, such as MPEG-4, or a second format, such as MPEG-2. When only network elements capable of decoding MPEG-4 content are tuned to the SDV channel, the system can realize bandwidth savings by delivering only the MPEG-4 version of the SDV channel. When legacy network elements capable of decoding only MPEG-2 content tune to a particular SDV channel, the system delivers only the MPEG-2 version of the SDV channel. The methods and devices can be used in headends, including those that deploy switched digital video, and other appropriate locations within the content distribution system, such as within the edge devices in the distribution hub.