Digital domain content processing and distribution apparatus and methods

1. A spectrum generation apparatus configured to distribute a plurality of digital content from a plurality of content sources to a plurality of users of a service group, said spectrum generation apparatus comprising:

one or more network interfaces adapted to receive said plurality of digital content from

said plurality of content sources via one or more Time Domain Multiplexed (TDM) data streams, said plurality of digital content being characterized by a proportion of one or more narrowcast programs to other content;

a downstream interface in communication with said plurality of users of said service group via one or more frequency resources;

one or more demultiplexers configured to demultiplex said one or more TDM data streams; and

programmable inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) apparatus configured to multiplex said demultiplexed one or more TDM data streams into a Frequency Domain Multiplexed (FDM) data stream for transmission to said plurality of users of said service group via said one or more

frequency resources, said programmable IFFT apparatus further configured to assign individual ones of said plurality of digital content to two or more of said frequency resources as a function of time, and thereby provide time and frequency diversity; and

wherein said programmable apparatus is further configured to dynamically adjust said proportion of one or more narrowcast programs to other content responsive to a change in a

number of said plurality of users of said service group.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said one or more frequency resources comprise Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)-modulated channels.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said QAM-modulated channels comprise approximately 6 MHz in frequency bandwidth.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said QAM-modulated channels are contiguous within said frequency spectrum.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said IFFT

apparatus is configured to assign individual ones of said plurality of digital content to respective ones of said frequency resources.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 ,

additionally comprising: a processor; and

computer readable apparatus comprising media adapted to contain a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions which are configured to, when executed, cause said apparatus to:

select one or more individual ones of said plurality of digital content based on one or more criteria;

assign said selected one or more individual ones of said plurality of digital content to said one or more frequency resources; and

program said programmable substrate based at least in part on said assignment.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 ,

additionally comprising: a processor; and

computer readable apparatus comprising media adapted to contain a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions which are configured to, when executed, cause said apparatus to:

receive one or more frequency or spectrum configurations; and

program said programmable substrate based at least in part on said one or more frequency or spectrum configurations.

8. A method of providing content to a plurality of users of a content distribution network, comprising:

receiving digital content from one or more content sources via one or more data streams comprising a first multiplexing scheme, said digital content being received at an entity disposed substantially at said edge of said network, said digital content comprising a plurality of packetized program streams multiplexed into a single packet stream, and said entity comprising a demultiplexer function configured to demultiplex said single packet stream to recover said plurality of packetized program streams;

converting said received digital content using an inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), from said first multiplexing scheme, into a data stream suitable for transmission to said plurality of users, said data stream comprising a radio frequency spectrum for supporting one or more subscriber services, where each one of said one or more subscriber services corresponds to a

packetized program stream and is allocated to one frequency carrier of one or more frequency carriers as a function of time; and

transmitting said data stream to said plurality of users over the one or more frequency carriers, the allocation as a function of time providing time and frequency diversity.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said one or more frequency carriers comprise Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)-modulated channels each having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 6 MHz.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein said plurality of users are associated with a common service group within said network.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein said plurality of users are associated with a common distribution node within said network.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein said digital content is received from said one or more sources via a packet-switched network.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein said entity is remotely reprogrammable, such that an allocation of said digital content to said one or more frequency carriers can be changed dynamically and remotely.

14. A method of providing a plurality of heterogeneous types of content products to various ones of a plurality of users of a content distribution network, said method comprising:

receiving said heterogeneous types of content products from one or more content sources, said heterogeneous types of content products comprising targeted narrowcast content directed to said various ones of said plurality of users;

allocating said heterogeneous types of content products to one or more frequency resources and as a function of time, such that each one of said one or more frequency resources are allocated a packet stream associated with one program stream and a proportion of said targeted narrowcast content to other heterogeneous types of content products is dynamically adjusted responsive to a trigger condition;

performing inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing on said received heterogeneous types of content products to effect said allocating, said IFFT processing comprising converting said received heterogeneous types of content products into time domain content comprising a multiplexed data stream for transmission to said plurality of users;

encrypting said time domain content;

converting said encrypted time domain content to an analog form; and transmitting said converted content to said plurality of users over said allocated one or more frequency resources, said transmitted converted content having both time and frequency diversity.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said heterogeneous types of content products comprise one or more of: (i) Video on Demand (VOD) content; (ii) broadcast content; and (iii) high-speed data (HSD) content.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein said one or more frequency resources comprise a plurality of contiguous frequency bands disposed within said frequency spectrum such that said lowest frequency band is below 100 MHz.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein said one or more frequency resources comprise Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)-modulated channels each having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 6 MHz.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein said plurality of users are associated with a common distribution node within said network, and all of said plurality of users associated with that node are served by a common edge device performing said method.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said common edge device is remotely reprogrammable, such that an allocation of said heterogeneous types of content products to said one or more frequency resources can be changed dynamically and remotely.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein said common edge device is configured to modulate each of said heterogeneous types of content products according to a respective heterogeneous modulation scheme.

21. A content processing apparatus, said content processing apparatus configured to distribute a plurality of heterogeneous types of content from a plurality of content sources to a plurality of users, said content processing apparatus comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium;

one or more network interfaces adapted to receive said plurality of heterogeneous types of content from said plurality of content sources;

at least one downstream interface configured to allocate said plurality of heterogeneous types of content to one or more frequency carriers in data communication with said plurality of users, said allocation comprising a range of pristine bandwidth configured to enable insertion of

content by a downstream device, said allocation being conducted as a function of time so that the allocated content possesses both time and frequency diversity; and

a processor in data communication with said non-transitory computer-readable medium, said one or more network interfaces, and said at least one downstream interface, said processor configured to execute one or more processes stored on said non-transitory computer-readable medium, said one or more processes comprising a plurality of instructions configured to, when executed, cause said apparatus to:

perform an inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) process on said received plurality of heterogeneous types of content to effect said allocation, said

process configured to convert said received plurality of heterogeneous types of content into a plurality of time domain content comprising a multiplexed data stream suitable for transmission to said plurality of subscribers;

encrypt said plurality of time domain content;

convert said encrypted plurality of time domain content to an analog form of said plurality of time domain content; and

transmit said an analog form of said plurality of time domain content to said plurality of users over said allocated one or more frequency carriers.

22. The content processing apparatus of claim 21 , wherein said plurality of heterogeneous types of content comprise at least one of: analog content, digital broadcast content, video-on-demand content, switched digital video content, and high-speed data content.

23. The content processing apparatus of claim 21 , wherein said one or more frequency carriers comprise a plurality of contiguous frequency bands disposed within said frequency spectrum such that said lowest frequency band is below 100 MHz.

24. The content processing apparatus of claim 21 , wherein said one or more frequency carriers comprise QAM-modulated channels each having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 6 MHz.

25. The content processing apparatus of claim 21 , wherein said plurality of users are associated with a common distribution node within a content distribution network, and all of said plurality of users associated with said common distribution node are served by a common content processing apparatus.

26. The content processing apparatus of claim 25 , wherein said common content processing apparatus is remotely reprogrammable, such that an allocation of said plurality of heterogeneous types of content to said one or more frequency carriers can be changed dynamically and remotely.

27. The content processing apparatus of claim 25 , wherein said common content processing apparatus is configured to modulate each of said plurality of heterogeneous types of content according to a respective heterogeneous modulation scheme.

28. The content processing apparatus of claim 21 , wherein said one or more network interfaces comprise Gigabit Ethernet (Gig-E) interfaces.