Network operation center architecture in a high bandwidth satellite based data delivery system for internet users

Abstract

The Network Operations Center (“NOC”) of an internet broadcast system receives video and other content from a content provider and uplinks that data to a satellite for delivering at high bandwidths to edge nodes and thereafter to internet users.

1 . A system for delivering multimedia content from a content provider to Internet users, the system comprising: 
 one or more network operations centers (“NOCs”), each of which has a communication link to the content provider;    one or more edge nodes linked to the one or more NOCs by one or more satellite communication links and by one or more terrestrial backchannels; and    a last mile service provider connected to each edge node, where each last mile service provider is also connected to one or more Internet users;    where at least one of the NOCs comprises: 
 a receiver that receives the multimedia content from the content provider via the communication link of the respective NOC;  
 an encoder for modifying the format of the multimedia content received at the respective NOC into a first streaming format;  
 one or more servers for targeting one or more of the edge nodes to receive the modified multimedia content and for splitting the modified multimedia content to be multicast to two or more of the edge nodes;  
 a gateway for changing the format of the modified multimedia content at the respective NOC into a format suitable for satellite transmission;  
 a transmitter for transmitting the changed multimedia content via one of the one or more satellite communication links to one or more of the edge nodes; and  
 a monitor for monitoring the transmission quality and other parameters of the system; and  
   where at least one of the edge nodes delivers, according to a second streaming format compatible with the first streaming format, the changed multimedia content received from the at least one of the NOCs to the one or more Internet users connected to the last mile service provider that is connected to the at least one of the edge nodes.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , where at least one of the one or more satellite communication links linking the one or more edge nodes to the one or more NOCs includes a satellite in geo-stationary orbit.  
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , where at least one of the one or more satellite communication links linking the one or more edge nodes to the one or more NOCs includes a satellite not in geo-stationary orbit.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , where the encoder also modifies the format of the multimedia content received at the respective NOC into an IP format.  
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , where each NOC further comprises a broadcast manager for scheduling the delivery of the multimedia content from the content provider.  
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , where each NOC further comprises a storage device for storing the multimedia content received from the content provider.  
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 1 , where the communication link between each NOC and the content provider includes one of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a satellite network, or the Internet.  
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1 , where the received multimedia content includes at least one of a live broadcast event, movie or news.  
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more servers is configured for targeting one or more of the edge nodes to receive the modified multimedia content based on data received from one or more of the edge nodes.  
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the broadcast manager for scheduling the deliver of the multimedia content from the content provider is configured for using data from one or more of the content provider and one or more of the edge nodes.  
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 1 , where the at least one NOC further comprises an Internet Redirect Engine for directing a request from a user for the multimedia content to one of the one or more edge nodes that is able to serve the multimedia content to the user.  
   
   
       12 . A method of delivering multimedia content from a content provider to Internet users, using a network comprising: 
 one or more NOCs, each of which has a communication link to the content provider;    one or more edge nodes linked to the one or more NOC's by one or more satellite communication links and by one or more terrestrial backchannels; and    a last mile service provider connected to each edge node, where each last mile service provider is in turn connected to Internet users;    the method comprising: 
 at one or more of the NOCs, receiving the multimedia content from the content provider via a communication link between the respective NOC and the content provider;  
 at the one or more of the NOCs, modifying the format of the received multimedia content into a first streaming format and a format suitable for satellite transmission;  
 at the one or more of the NOCs, targeting one or more of the edge nodes to receive the modified multimedia content;  
 at the one or more of the NOCs, splitting the modified multimedia content for multicasting to two or more of the edge nodes if two or more edge nodes are targeted;  
 at the one or more of the NOCs, transmitting the modified multimedia content via one of the one or more satellite communication links to one or more of the one or more edge nodes;  
 at the one or more of the NOCs, monitoring the transmission quality and other parameters of the system; and  
 at one or more of the edge nodes, delivering, according to a second streaming format compatible with first streaming format, the modified multimedia content received from the one or more of the NOCs to the one or more Internet users connected to the last mile service provider that is connected to the at least one of the edge nodes.  
   
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising, at one or more of the NOCs, modifying the format of the received multimedia content into an IP format.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising, at one or more of the NOCs, scheduling the delivery of the multimedia content from the content provider to the respective NOC.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising, at one or more of the NOCs, storing the received multimedia content in a memory.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 12 , where, for one or more of the NOCs, the communication link between the respective NOC and the content provider includes one of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a satellite network, or the Internet.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the received multimedia content includes at least one of a live broadcast event, movie or news.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the targeting one or more of the edge nodes to receive the modified multimedia content is based on data received from one or more of the edge nodes;  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising, at one or more of the NOCs, redirecting a user's request for the multimedia content to one of the one or more edge nodes that is able to serve the multimedia content to the user.