System and Method in a Broadband Receiver for Efficiently Receiving and Processing Signals

Abstract

A system and method in a broadband receiver (e.g., a satellite television receiver) for efficiently receiving and processing signals, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A satellite dish system for receiving satellite signals, the satellite dish system comprising:
 a full-band capture receiver circuitry that is communicatively coupled to a low noise block downconverter (LNB) and is operable to:
 receive a down-converted satellite signal from the LNB; and 
 digitize the down-converted satellite signal over frequencies of the down-converted satellite signal that are used for communicating satellite television signals; 
   a digital channelizer that comprises a fast Fourier transform (FFT) engine, that is communicatively coupled to the full-band capture receiver, and that is operable to:
 receive the digitized down-converted signal from the full-band capture receiver, wherein the digitized down-converted signal comprises a plurality of channels; 
 process, by the FFT engine, the digitized down-converted signal to generate a plurality of FFT outputs; 
 select a portion of the FFT outputs; and 
 output a digital signal comprising the selected portion of the FFT outputs. 
   
     
     
         2 . The satellite dish system of  claim 1 , comprising a demodulator that is communicatively coupled to the digital channelizer and is operable to:
 receive the output digital signal from the digital channelizer;   convert the output digital signal received from the digital channelizer to one or more transport streams; and   output the one or more transport streams.   
     
     
         3 . The satellite dish system of  claim 1 , comprising bridge circuitry operable to encapsulate the one or more transport streams in one or more Internet Protocol (IP) packets. 
     
     
         4 . The satellite dish system of  claim 3 , wherein the bridge circuitry is operable to first the transport streams based on packet identifiers for encapsulation of only a portion of the one or more transport streams into the one or more IP packets. 
     
     
         5 . The satellite dish system of  claim 3 , comprising a communication interface circuitry operable to communicate the one or more IP packets to a device external to the satellite dish system. 
     
     
         6 . The satellite dish system of  claim 5 , wherein the communication interface circuitry is operable to communicate the one or more IP packets to the device external to the satellite dish system utilizing a communication protocol specifically adapted for communication with in-home devices over a television cable medium. 
     
     
         7 . The satellite dish system of  claim 6 , where the device external to the satellite dish system is an in-the-home device. 
     
     
         8 . A satellite dish system for receiving satellite signals, the satellite dish system comprising:
 a plurality of full-band capture receivers, that are communicatively coupled to a low noise block downconverter (LNB) and are operable to:
 receive a plurality of down-converted satellite signals from the LNB; and 
 digitize the plurality of down-converted satellite signals over frequencies of the plurality of down-converted satellite signal that are used for communicating satellite television signals; 
   a digital channelizer that comprises a fast Fourier transform (FFT) engine, that is communicatively coupled to the plurality of full-band capture receivers, and that is operable to:
 receive the plurality of digitized down-converted satellite signals from the plurality of full-band capture receivers, wherein each of the plurality of digitized down-converted satellite signals comprises a plurality of channels; 
 process, by the FFT engine, the plurality of digitized down-converted satellite signals to generate a plurality of FFT outputs; 
 select a portion of the FFT outputs; and 
 output a digital signal comprising the selected portion of the FFT outputs. 
   
     
     
         9 . The satellite dish system of  claim 8 , comprising a demodulator that is communicatively coupled to the digital channelizer and is operable to:
 receive the output digital signal from the digital channelizer;   convert the output digital signal received from the digital channelizer to one or more transport streams; and   output the one or more transport streams.   
     
     
         10 . The satellite dish system of  claim 8 , comprising bridge circuitry operable to encapsulate the one or more transport streams in one or more Internet Protocol (IP) packets. 
     
     
         11 . The satellite dish system of  claim 10 , wherein the bridge circuitry is operable to first the transport streams based on packet identifiers for encapsulation of only a portion of the one or more transport streams into the one or more IP packets. 
     
     
         12 . The satellite dish system of  claim 10 , comprising a communication interface circuitry operable to communicate the one or more IP packets to a device external to the satellite dish system. 
     
     
         13 . The satellite dish system of  claim 12 , wherein the communication interface circuitry is operable to communicate the one or more IP packets to the device external to the satellite dish system utilizing a communication protocol specifically adapted for communication with in-home devices over a television cable medium. 
     
     
         14 . The satellite dish system of  claim 13 , where the device external to the satellite dish system is an in-the-home device.