Data insertion apparatus and methods for use with compressed audio/video data

1. A method to insert information in compressed media data streams, the method comprising:

accessing an input multi-program data stream including a first compressed media data stream associated with a media program and a second data stream containing descriptive information describing the media program;

rearranging, with a processor, data in frames of the first compressed media data stream to form contiguous sequences of skip bytes at respective locations in the frames of the first compressed media data stream;

extracting, with the processor, the descriptive information from the second data stream;

inserting, with the processor, payload data prepared from the descriptive information at the locations of the contiguous sequences of skip bytes in the frames of the first compressed media data stream; and

recombining, with the processor, the second data stream with the compressed media stream after inserting the payload data to form an output multi-program data stream.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the descriptive information includes program and system information protocol (PSIP) data.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising, after inserting the payload data, updating error-checking data included in the first compressed media data stream.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising inserting watermark data in media data included in the first compressed media data stream.

5. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising formatting the payload data into a plurality of data fields containing different types of information.

6. A method as defined in claim 5 , wherein an order of the data fields is variable, and further comprising including an index in the payload data specifying the order of the data fields in the payload data.

7. A tangible computer readable storage device or storage disk comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a computing device to at least:

access an input multi-program data stream including a first compressed media data stream associated with a media program and a second data stream containing descriptive information describing the media program;

rearrange data in frames of the first compressed media data stream to form contiguous sequences of skip bytes at respective locations in the frames of the first compressed media data stream;

extract the descriptive information from the second data stream;

insert payload data prepared from the descriptive information at the locations of the contiguous sequences of skip bytes in the frames of the first compressed media data stream; and

recombine the second data stream with the compressed media stream after the payload data has been inserted to form an output multi-program data stream.

8. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 7 , wherein the descriptive information includes program and system information protocol (PSIP) data.

9. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 7 , wherein after the payload data is inserted, the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to update error-checking data included in the first compressed media data stream.

10. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 7 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to insert watermark data in media data included in the first compressed media data stream.

11. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 7 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to format the payload data into a plurality of data fields containing different types of information.

12. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 11 , wherein an order of the data fields is variable, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to include an index in the payload data specifying the order of the data fields in the payload data.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a demultiplexer to demultiplex an input multi-program data stream to access a first compressed media data stream associated with a media program and a second data stream containing descriptive information describing the media program;

an information extractor to extract the descriptive information from the second data stream;

a data insertion unit to:

rearrange data in frames of the first compressed media data stream to form contiguous sequences of skip bytes at respective locations in the frames of the first compressed media data stream; and

insert payload data prepared from the descriptive information at the locations of the contiguous sequences of skip bytes in the frames of the first compressed media data stream; and

a multiplexer to recombine the second data stream with the compressed media stream after the payload data has been inserted to form an output multi-program data stream.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 , wherein the descriptive information includes program and system information protocol (PSIP) data.

15. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 , wherein after the payload data is inserted, the data insertion unit is further to update error-checking data included in the first compressed media data stream.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 , further comprising an embedding device to insert watermark data in media data included in the first compressed media data stream.

17. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 , wherein the data insertion unit is further to format the payload data into a plurality of data fields containing different types of information.

18. An apparatus as defined in claim 17 , wherein an order of the data fields is variable, and the data insertion unit is further to include an index in the payload data specifying the order of the data fields in the payload data.