Methods, information providing system, and reception apparatus for distribution of at least one content version

1. A method of an information providing system for providing content to a reception apparatus, the method comprising:

generating content data;

generating a digital television pre-broadcast signal, including the content data;

extracting, by circuitry of the information providing system, at least one portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal;

packaging, by the circuitry, the at least one portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal into one or more Internet Protocol (IP) data packets;

generating, by the circuitry, a digital television broadcast signal, including the remainder of the digital television pre-broadcast signal;

providing the one or more IP data packets via a communication network; and

providing the digital television broadcast signal on a predetermined radio frequency (RF) channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of generating the digital television pre-broadcast signal comprises:

generating a transport stream, including the content data; and

applying forward error correction to the generated transport stream.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of generating the digital television broadcast signal comprises:

modulating the remaining portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal; and

up converting the modulated remaining portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal for transmission on the predetermined RF channel.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of packaging comprises:

forming bytes based on symbols representing the at least one portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal; and

packing the bytes into the one or more IP data packets.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital television broadcast signal is one of an 8-level vestigial sideband (8-VSB) or orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based signal.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embedded therein instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 1 .

7. An information providing system, comprising:

circuitry configured to

generate content data,

generate a digital television pre-broadcast signal, including the content data;

extract at least one portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal;

package the at least one portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal into one or more Internet Protocol (IP) data packets;

generate a digital television broadcast signal, including the remainder of the digital television pre-broadcast signal;

provide the one or more IP data packets via a communication network; and

provide the digital television broadcast signal on a predetermined radio frequency (RF) channel.

8. The information providing system of claim 7 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to

generate a transport stream, including the content data, and

apply forward error correction to the generated transport stream to generate the digital television pre-broadcast signal.

9. The information providing system of claim 7 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to

modulate the remaining portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal, and

up convert the modulated remaining portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal for transmission on the predetermined RF channel.

10. The information providing system of claim 7 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to

form bytes based on symbols representing the at least one portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal, and

pack the bytes into the one or more IP data packets to package the at least one portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal.

11. The information providing system of claim 7 , wherein the digital television broadcast signal is one of an 8-level vestigial sideband (8-VSB) or orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based signal.

12. A method of a reception apparatus for receiving content data, the method comprising:

receiving one or more IP data packets via a communication network, the one or more IP data packets containing a portion of a digital television pre-broadcast signal;

receiving a digital television broadcast signal on a predetermined radio frequency (RF) channel, the digital television broadcast signal including the remainder of the digital television pre-broadcast signal;

reconstructing, by circuitry of the reception apparatus, the digital television pre-broadcast signal based on the received digital television broadcast signal and the received one or more IP data packets;

extracting, by the circuitry, the content data from the reconstructed digital television pre-broadcast signal; and

storing or outputting, by the circuitry the extracted content data.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the step of reconstructing comprises:

demodulating the digital television broadcast signal; and

combining the demodulated digital television broadcast signal and the portion of the digital television pre-broadcast signal represented by the one or more IP data packets.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the digital television broadcast signal is one of an 8-level vestigial sideband (8-VSB) or orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based signal.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embedded therein instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 12 .

16. A reception apparatus, comprising:

circuitry configured to

receive one or more IP data packets via a communication network, the one or more IP data packets containing a portion of a digital television pre-broadcast signal,

receive a digital television broadcast signal on a predetermined radio frequency (RF) channel, the digital television broadcast signal including the remainder of the digital television pre-broadcast signal,

reconstruct the digital television pre-broadcast signal based on the received digital television broadcast signal and the received one or more IP data packets,

extract the content data from the reconstructed digital television pre-broadcast signal, and

store or output the extracted content data.

17. The reception apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to

demodulate the digital television broadcast signal, and

combine the demodulated digital television broadcast signal and the portion of the television pre-broadcast signal represented by the one or more IP data packets.

18. The reception apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the digital television broadcast signal is one of an 8-level vestigial sideband (8-VSB) or orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based signal.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the steps of providing the one or more IP data packets and providing the digital television broadcast signal are performed concurrently.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the step of extracting is performed in the physical layer.