Multiplex communications – Communication techniques for information carried in plural... – Assembly or disassembly of messages having address headers
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-27
2001-09-04
Kizou, Hassan (Department: 2662)
Multiplex communications
Communication techniques for information carried in plural...
Assembly or disassembly of messages having address headers
C370S471000, C370S493000, C370S392000, C370S395430, C725S014000, C725S087000, C725S100000, C725S110000, C725S131000, C725S151000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06285685
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital cable television (hereinafter, referred to as “D-CATV”) and video-on-demand (hereinafter, referred to as “VOD”) services, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for providing a PC-to-PC (Personal Computer) communication and internet service by using a settop box for D-CATV and VOD services.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital VOD systems based on the use of existing analog CATV networks and the application of ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) techniques is presently under study. Such a digital VOD system employs an MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group 2) technique to digitize a video signal, and the ATM technique to distribute the signals. Further, such digital VOD system uses a CATV installation (i.e., coaxial cable or optical cable) to transmit signals between a VOD server and a settop box installed at a user's home. Typically, the modulation-demodulation circuit for the digital VOD system should employ a 64-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) modulation, a VBS (Vestigial Side-Band) modulation, and a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation.
The various network access techniques that may be used for the CATV and VOD services are classified as an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) network, an HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coax) network, an FTTC (Fiber To The Curb) network, an active NT (Network Terminator) network, and a radio (satellite) access network. The HFC network uses an optical fiber for a trunk line and a coaxial cable for a subscriber line installed at the subscriber's home, based on a frequency multiplexing. The FTTC network uses the optical fiber up to the subscriber's home, and the coaxial or helical pair cable at the subscriber's home, based on a digital transmission. The active NT network terminates the network at the network terminator and distributes the signal within an office or facility.
A settop box that is connected to the FTTC network only provides a digital CATV service. Thus, the settop box for the FTTC network must include an ethernet interface if it is desired to have access to an internet service by using the settop box and a PC. In such case, the PC should also include an ethernet card to provide the ethernet service. This results in a high cost since an operator must maintain ethernet interface cards that are installed at both the settop box and the PC.
Further, in order for the FTTC network to support the internet service, the PC should include an ATM interface card, in addition to the settop box for the D-CATV service, which increases the cost. Moreover, because of the possibility of PC ATM interface card trouble, the operator should also maintain the PC ATM interface card separately.
Conventionally, one may use the PC communication and internet service based on the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) network. In this case, the PC should include a modem, and the internet service is not available while the telephone line is engaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for supporting a PC communication and internet service while supporting D-CATV and VOD services by using a settop box connected to a network for D-CATV and VOD services, without the need for separate communication equipment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for supporting a PC communication and internet service while supporting a D-CATV service by using a settop box and a PC in an FTTC network, without a separate modem, in which a telephone line for voice communication is used, as it is, for a voice communication service.
According to an aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for providing a PC communication and internet service by using a settop box connected to a network for D-CATV (Digital Cable Television) and VOD (video-On-Demand) services includes a PC interface installed in the settop box to communicate with the PC; and an internet gateway prepared at a head end of the D-CATV to provide an internet service channel between a backbone internet and a D-CATV subscriber. The settop box includes a controller for analyzing a previously designated VC (Virtual Channel) cell for the presence of a SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) among data received from the network, where the VC cell was transmitted together with a SLIP header, and separating the SLIP header from the data received from the PC so that the designated VC cell can be transmitted to the network together with an IP (Internet Protocol)-over-ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) header.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is a method for providing a PC communication and internet service by using a settop box connected to a network for D-CATV and VOD services. The method includes the steps of: connecting a head end of the D-CATV and a center of the VOD to a backbone internet; assigning inherent IP (Internet Protocol) addresses to the settop box and a PC connected to the settop box via an RS-232C interface; and analyzing a previously designated VC cell for SLIP associated with data received from the network to transmit the VC cell together with a SLIP header, and separating the SLIP header from the data received from the PC so that the designated VC cell can be transmitted to the network together with an IP-over-ATM header.
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Kizou Hassan
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Tran Thien D
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