US5596581A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Recording and reproducing an MPEG information signal using tagged timing information
Assignee: Philips North America LLC
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Filing: 1994-06-03
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Granted: 1997-01-21
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Expires: 2014-06-03
Abstract
Abstract A method of transmitting timing critical data via an asynchronous channel without changing any datum to be transmitted. The timing critical data can be an MPEG transport stream. The asynchronous channel can be a computer or telephone network, a digital storage media such as a digital VCR, or a digital interface. The method involves tagging each transmission unit of the data stream, before inputting to the channel, with timing information, and using the timing information at the output end of the channel to recreate the proper data timing, Various schemes are described for packing the timing information tags with each or a plurality of transmission units.
Inventors
- 👤 Ronald W. J. J. Saeijs
- 👤 Imran A. Shah
- 👤 Takashi Sato
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 03:08
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/28; H04L12/40; H04L12/40052; H04L12/40117; G; G11; G11B; G11B20/00; G11B20/10; G11B15/00; G11B15/18; G11B15/1808; G11B15/1875; G11B20/12; G11B20/1201; G11B20/1207; G11B20/1208; G11B27/00; G11B27/005; G11B27/10; G11B27/19; G11B27/28; G11B27/30; G11B27/3027; G11B27/3036; G11B27/3054; G11B27/3063; G11B27/309; H04N; H04N21/00; H04N21/20; H04N21/23; H04N21/234; H04N21/23406; H04N21/236; H04N21/23608; H04N21/238; H04N21/2381; H04N21/40; H04N21/41; H04N21/414; H04N21/4147; H04N21/43; H04N21/4302; H04N21/4305; H04N21/433; H04N21/4334; H04N21/434; H04N21/4344; H04N21/436; H04N21/4363; H04N21/43632; H04N21/438; H04N21/4381; H04N21/44; H04N21/44004; H04N21/80; H04N21/81; H04N21/8126; H04N21/83; H04N21/845; H04N21/8455; H04N9/00; H04N9/79; H04N9/80; H04N9/804; H04N9/8042; G11B2220/00; G11B2220/90; G11B5/00; G11B5/02; G11B5/09; H04N5/00; H04N5/76; H04N5/78; H04N5/782; H04N5/7824; H04N5/7826; H04N5/78263; H04N5/78266; H04N5/783; H04N9/82; H04N9/8205; H04N9/8227
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
113 words
A method of transmitting timing-critical data of unknown transmission rate via an asynchronous channel, comprising the steps: (i) providing the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) determining from the timing-critical data at least two items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in step (v) the timing-critical data.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
113 words
A method of transmitting timing-critical data of unknown transmission rate via an asynchronous channel, comprising the steps: (i) providing the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) determining from the timing-critical data at least two items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in step (v) the timing-critical data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the timing-critical data is an MPEG data stream, and the transmission units are transport packets.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 2, wherein the channel is a digital VCR.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 2, wherein the channel is a computer network, a telephone network, or a digital interface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the items of timing information for one transmission unit comprise only one pointer to a byte location of the transmission unit and timing information associated with the byte location.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the timing critical data is formatted as a data block comprising in order a block header, a block payload comprising a plurality of the transmission units with said timing information, and an error-checking block.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the two items of timing information comprise the start time and end time of a transmission unit.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the two items of timing information comprise in a transmission unit the location of timing-critical data and the expected arrival time of the timing-critical data.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
170 words
A method of transmitting timing-critical data via an asynchronous channel, comprising the steps: (i) providing the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) determining from the timing-critical data one or more items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in step (v) the timing-critical data, wherein the items of timing information for a plurality of transmission units comprise two pointers to byte locations for some of the plurality of transmission units and one pointer to a byte location for the remainder of the plurality of transmission units together with timing information associated with the respective byte location of the remainder of the plurality of transmission units.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
170 words
A method of transmitting timing-critical data via an asynchronous channel, comprising the steps: (i) providing the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) determining from the timing-critical data one or more items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in step (v) the timing-critical data, wherein the items of timing information for a plurality of transmission units comprise two pointers to byte locations for some of the plurality of transmission units and one pointer to a byte location for the remainder of the plurality of transmission units together with timing information associated with the respective byte location of the remainder of the plurality of transmission units.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 9, wherein the timing information for the plurality of transmission units is stored in a data unit associated with the plurality of transmission units.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 9, wherein the two pointers point to the start and end times respectively of said some of the plurality of transmission units.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 11, wherein the byte location pointed to by said one pointer comprises data representing an instant of time associated with the respective byte location of the remainder of the plurality of transmission units.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of transmission units are transport packets of an MPEG information signal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the byte location pointed to by said one pointer comprises a PCR.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of transmission units are 5 in number.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of transmitting timing-critical data via an asynchronous channel, comprising the steps: (i) providing the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) determining from the timing-critical data one or more items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in step (v) the timing-critical data, wherein the timing critical data is formatted as a data block comprising in order a block header, a block payload, and an error-correcting block, said block payload comprising a plurality of transmission units and one tag packet containing the timing information for the plurality of transmission units.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of transmitting timing-critical data via an asynchronous channel, comprising the steps: (i) providing the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) determining from the timing-critical data one or more items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in step (v) the timing-critical data, wherein the timing critical data is formatted as a data block comprising in order a block header, a block payload, and an error-correcting block, said block payload comprising a plurality of transmission units and one tag packet containing the timing information for the plurality of transmission units.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
123 words
Apparatus for transmitting timing-critical data of unknown transmission rate via an asynchronous channel, comprising: (i) means for receiving the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) means for determining from the timing-critical data at least two items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) means for tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) means for transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) means for receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) means for recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in claim element (v) the timing-critical data.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the timing-critical data is an MPEG data stream, and the transmission units are transport packets.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the channel comprises a computer network, a telephone network, or a digital interface.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
178 words
Apparatus for transmitting timing-critical data via an asynchronous channel, comprising: (i) means for receiving the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) means for determining from the timing-critical data one or more items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) means for tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) means for transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) means for receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) means for recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in claim element (v) the timing-critical data, (vii) said timing information for a plurality of transmission units comprising two pointers to byte locations for some of the plurality of transmission units and one pointer to a byte location for the remainder of the plurality of transmission units together with timing information associated with the respective byte location of the remainder of the plurality of transmission units.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for storing said timing information for a plurality of transmission units in a data unit associated with said plurality of the transmission units.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
166 words
Apparatus for transmitting timing-critical data via an asynchronous channel, comprising: (i) means for receiving the timing-critical data subdivided into a stream of successive critically-timed transmission units, (ii) means for determining from the timing-critical data one or more items of timing information from which the timing-critical data can be recreated, (iii) means for tagging the transmission units with the items of timing information, (iv) means for transmitting the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information over the asynchronous channel, (v) means for receiving from the channel the transmission units tagged with the items of timing information, (vi) means for recreating from the transmission units and the items of timing information received in claim element (v) the timing-critical data, (vii) said timing critical data being formatted as a data block comprising in order a block header, a block payload, and an error-correcting block, said block payload comprising a plurality of transmission units and one tag packet containing the timing information for the plurality of transmission units.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2000-01-21 | 2000-07-22 | 2001-01-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2004-01-21 | 2004-07-22 | 2005-01-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2008-01-21 | 2008-07-22 | 2009-01-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |