TERMINAL ADAPTER FOR ENABLING NON-IP-ENCAPSULATED VIDEOS TO BE RECEIVED AT SUBSCRIBER PREMISES FOR PLAYBACK ON AN IP DEVICES
Methods and apparatuses for enabling non-IP-encapsulated videos to be received at subscriber premises and displayed on IP playback devices are provided. A terminal adapter receives a non-IP-encapsulated video at a subscriber premise and transcodes the video to a format that can be processed by the IP playback device. The terminal adapter IP-encapsulates the transcoded video and then routes the IP-encapsulated video to the IP playback device. In this way, the processing to convert non-IP-encapsulated videos stored on video servers is not concentrated at a central location but instead distributed across subscriber premises. Furthermore, congestion on the downstream link can be reduced because videos in a video server are not required to be transmitted downstream under two different schemes.
1 . A method for enabling a non-IP-encapsulated video to be received at a subscriber premise and displayed on an IP playback device, the method comprising:
receiving a multi-channel signal at a subscriber premise wherein the multi-channel signal includes a non-IP-encapsulated video on a first channel;
extracting the non-IP-encapsulated video on the first channel;
IP-encapsulating the non-IP-encapsulated video; and
delivering the IP-encapsulated video to an IP playback device.
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising transcoding the non-IP-encapsulated video.
3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the non-IP-encapsulated video is transcoded from a first format to a second format.
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the first format is MPEG-2 and the second format is MPEG-4.
5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising delivering a copy of the multi-channel signal to a CPE device.
6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the CPE device is a cable modem.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the non-IP-encapsulated video is QAM modulated.
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein delivering the IP-encapsulated video to an IP playback device comprises directly or indirectly delivering the IP-encapsulated video to an IP playback device.
9 . The method of claim 8 wherein delivering the IP-encapsulated video to an IP playback device comprises delivering the IP-encapsulated video to an IP playback device wireless or wired.
10 . A terminal adapter for enabling a non-IP-encapsulated video to be received at a subscriber premise and displayed on an IP playback device comprising:
a receiver configured to receive a multi-channel signal wherein the multi-channel signal includes a non-IP-encapsulated video on a first channel;
a tuner configured to extract the non-IP-encapsulated video on the first channel; and
a processor configured to IP-encapsulate the non-IP-encapsulated video.
11 . The terminal adaptor of claim 10 further comprising a splitter configured to receive the multi-channel signal and produce a first copy of the multi-channel signal and a second copy of the multi-channel signal.
12 . The terminal adapter of claim 10 further comprising a transcoder to convert the non-IP-encapsulated video from a first format to a second format.
13 . The terminal adapter of claim 10 wherein the non-IP-encapsulated video is QAM modulated.
14 . A method for upgrading a subscriber premise to enable a non-IP-encapsulated video to be received at a subscriber premise and displayed on an IP playback device, the method comprising:
connecting a terminal adapter to a network to receive from the network a multi-channel signal wherein the multi-channel signal includes a non-IP-encapsulated video on a first channel and wherein the terminal adapter is configured to extract and format the non-IP-encapsulated video on the first channel for processing by an IP playback device;
connecting an output of the terminal adapter to a CPE device;
delivering a copy of the multi-channel signal from the terminal adapter to the CPE device; and
delivering the formatted video to the IP playback device.
15 . A method for upgrading a subscriber premise to enable a non-IP-encapsulated video to be received at a subscriber premise and displayed on an IP playback device, the method comprising:
providing a terminal adapter to be connected to a network to receive from the network a multi-channel signal and to be connected to a CPE device;
wherein the multi-channel signal includes a non-IP-encapsulated video on a first channel; and
wherein the terminal adapter is configured to deliver a copy of the multi-channel signal to the CPE device and configured to extract and format the non-IP-encapsulated video for processing by an IP playback device.
16 . A method for distributing processing of non-IP-encapsulated videos over a plurality of subscriber premises, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of terminal adapters at a plurality of subscriber premises, respectively, wherein each of the plurality of terminal adapters is configured to receive non-IP-encapsulated videos and format the non-IP-encapsulated videos for processing by an IP playback device.
17 . A method for enabling non-IP-encapsulated data to be received at a subscriber premise and processed on an IP playback device, the method comprising:
receiving non-IP-encapsulated data;
IP-encapsulating the non-IP-encapsulated data; and
delivering the IP-encapsulated data to an IP playback device over a home network.