USRE44702E1 - Method and apparatus for serving data - Google Patents

Abstract

VPI/VCI of an ATM cell is translated into an internal ID by distribute VPI/VCI entries into sections in a table according to a portion of each VPI/VCI entry. A section to be searched according to the portion of a VPI/VCI of the received ATM cell is selected; and a search over the selected section is performed to find an entry corresponding to the VPI/VCI of the received ATM cell. An internal ID corresponding to the found entry is outputted.

Description

This is a division of application Ser. No. 12/630,052, filed Dec. 3, 2009 now U.S. Pat. No. Re. 42,587, which is a division of reissue application Ser. No. 11/642,941, filed Dec. 20, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. Re. 41,091, which is a reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,055, which is a division of application Ser. No. 08/979,474 filed Nov. 26, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,655. More than one reissue application has been filed.

This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/979,474, filed Nov. 26, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,655.

The present invention relates to servers for data delivery. Traditionel servers were designed with the tendency to be actively involved in the physical transmission of data. For applications such as video on demand or karoake on demand, deliverance of a high number of digital video streams in real time are required. The digital video stream typically include video data compressed according to ISO/IEC 11172 or ISO/IEC 13818, which are commonly known as MPEG-1 standard and MPEG-2 standard respectively.

An ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)-base server system with capabilities, extending beyond mere data delivery has already been proposed in the European Patent Application No. 95.200819.1.

A streaming engine for ATM communication configured as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) has been proposed in the international application WO 96/08896 published under PCT.

A method for recording and reproducing compressed video data according to the MEPG standard is proposed in EuropeanPatent Application EP 0 667 713 A2. In this case, the compressed video data is recorded in the disk in the special form including the scan information so that the specific compressed video data reproducing apparatus can achieve VCR functions (e.g. FF, FR).

It is an object of the present invention to improve upon the above mentioned prior art and/or to provide a server for future applications.

The present invention provides in a first aspect a method for translating a VPI/VCI of an ATM cell into an internal ID comprising the steps of:

• • distributing VPI/VCI entries into sections in a table according to a portion of each VPI/VCI entry;
  • receiving an ATM cell;
  • selecting a section to be searched according to the portion of a VPI/VCI of the received ATM cell;
  • performing a search over the selected section to find an entry corresponding to the VPI/VCI of the received ATM cell; and
  • outputting an internal ID corresponding to the found entry.

Preferred embodiment of the method according to the present invention are described in the dependent subclaims.

Further the present invention provides an apparatus for translating a VPI/VCI of an ATM cell into an internal ID comprising:

• • a table for storing VPI/VCI entries and being divided into sections;
  • means for distributing VPI/VCI entries into the sections in the table according to a portion of each VPI/VCI entry;
  • means for selecting a section to be searched according to the portion of a VPI/VCI of an received ATM cell; and
  • means for performing a search over the selected section to find an entry corresponding to the VPI/VCI of the received ATM cell and for outputting an internal ID corresponding to the found entry.

The present invention provides in a second aspect an apparatus for sending data to an ATM network and receiving data from the ATM network comprising:

• • (a) a bus interface for interfacing with a bus supporting communication between a host, a storage device and the apparatus;
  • (b) an ATM interface for interfacing with the ATM network;
  • (c) a transmission unit for transmitting outgoing data from the bus interface to the ATM interface, the transmission unit including
    • (1) a first RAM interface for interfacing with RAM being used as a buffer for buffering the outgoing data from the bus interface,
    • (2) means for segmenting the outgoing data from the buffer into outgoing ATM cells, and
    • (3) a traffic shaper, for controlling traffic of the outgoing ATM cells to the ATM, interface in cooperation with the means for segmenting; and
  • (d) a reception unit for transmitting incoming data from the ATM interface to the bus interface, the reception unit including
    • (1) means for performing VPI/VCI filtering of incoming ATM cells,
    • (2) means for reassembling the incoming data using payload of the incoming ATM cells, and
    • (3) a second RAM interface for interfacing RAM being used as a buffer for buffering the incoming data the means for reassembling.

This apparatus according to the present invention provides for management of running applications that interact with a large number of clients and management modules distributed over a system, as well as management of the data that are delivered. The server according to the present invention provides time or processing power to run higher level management tasks, as the host is less actively involved in physical transmission of data. The hardware according to the present invention is able to deliver data in real time under different performance requirements and is well suited for such real time delivery. The streaming engine according to the present invention is able to support simultaneous communications with many clients and to facilitate the video streaming task. The server according to the present invention, also provides for interoperability, such as to serve data to any type of client. The content to be delivered, can be stored in a versatile form (i.e. raw or non formatted form) in the server according to the present invention.

The present invention provides in a third aspect a method for streaming data from a storage device comprising the steps of:

• • providing write addresses for a burst data to a buffer, at least a portion of the write addresses being non-contiguous;
  • transferring the burst data from the storage device to the buffer via a bus supporting communication between a host, the storage device and a streaming device;
  • writing the burst data in the buffer according to the write addresses; and
  • reading data from the buffer in a linear fashion.

Preferred embodiment of the method according to the present invention are described in the dependent subclaims.

Further the present invention provides a streaming device for streaming a data from a storage device comprising:

• • means for receiving a burst data from the storage device via a bus supporting communication between a host, the storage device and the streaming device;
  • means for providing write addresses for the burst data, at least a portion of the write addresses being non-contiguous; and
  • a buffer for storing the burst data according to the write addresses and outputting data therefrom in a linear fashion.

The present invention provides in a fourth aspect a method for delivering data comprising the steps of:

• • loading at least a pair of an address and a command from a host;
  • storing the data in a buffer,
  • reading the data from the buffer according to a read pointer;
  • executing the command if a match between the address and an address specified by the read pointer is detected; and
  • delivering the data read from the buffer after the execution of the command.

Further the present invention provides a device for delivering data comprising:

• • a command block for storing at least a pair of an address and a command loaded from a host and detecting a match between the address and an address specified by a read pointer of a buffer buffering the data;
  • means for executing the command in cooperation with the command block when the match is detected; and
  • means for delivering the data read from the buffer after the execution of the command.

The present-invention provides in a fifth aspect a method for delivering data comprising the steps of:

• • receiving data from a network;
  • detecting at least a preset bit pattern in the data when the received data is transmitted to a storage device;
  • adding location information corresponding to a location of the preset bit pattern in the data to a list when the preset bit pattern is detected;
  • storing the data in the storage device; and
  • controlling a delivery of the data from the storage device to the network according to the location information in the list.

Preferred embodiment of this method are described in the dependent subclaims.

Further the present invention provides an apparatus for delivering datacomprising:

• • receiving means for receiving data from a network;
  • a pattern detector for detecting at least a reset bit pattern in the data when the data is ransmitted from the receiving means to a storage device storing the data;
  • a list for storing location information corresponding to a location of the preset bit pattern in the data when the preset bit pattern is detected by the attern detector; and
  • means for controlling a delivery of the data from the storage device to the network according to the location information in the list.

The present invention provides in a sixth aspect a traffic shaping method comprising the steps of:

• • classifying one or more first streams into one or more classes, each class including one or more streams having the same bit rate characteristics;
  • setting a set of parameters to control the bit rate for each class; and
  • executing a rate pacing of each class according to the set of parameters.

Preferred embodiment of this method are described in the dependent subclaims.

Further the present invention provides a traffic shaper comprising:

• • means for classifying one or more first streams into one or more classes, each class including one or more streams having the same bit rate characteristics;
  • storage means for storing a set of parameters to control the bit rate for each class; and
  • means for executing a rate pacing of each class according to the set of parameters in the storage means.

Further advantages, features and details of the present invention will become clear when reading the following description, in which reference is made to the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a general system architecture of an interactive communication system;

FIG. 2 shows a detail block diagram of an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the Tx address translator ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows an example of the use of the address translator ofFIG. 3;

FIGS. 5A,5B,5C show respective examples of address translation for TCP IP packetisation;

FIG. 6 shows an example of use of the Tx rate block ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 7 shows the behaviour of a bit rate achieved by the traffic shaper ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 8 shows a diagram for explaning the sending of stream within one cell period;

FIG. 9 shows the submission of cells for different classes;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an architecture for the traffic shaper ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of the command block ofFIG. 2;

FIG,12 is a diagram for explaning the operation of the byte swapper ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 13 shows a format of one ATM cell used in UNI;

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of the VPI/VCI translator ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of the pattern detector ofFIG. 2; and

FIG. 16 shows an example of an address translator ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 1 shows a general system architecture of a preferred embodiment of an interactive communication system. This is a broad-band system that supports virtually any kind of interactive multi-media application. Particular attention is paid to real time multimedia delivery mode applications.

Aserver10 functions as VOD (Video On Demand) server, KOD (Karaoke On Demand) server, and/or Internet server, etc. and communicates with STBs (Set Top Box)18 as clients over apublic network16. Theserver10 consists of alocal ATM switch14 and several SMUs (Storage Medium Unit)12 that are interconnected thorough thelocal ATM switch14. The main purposes of thelocal ATM switch14 are to route data between the SMUs12 (for instance, to duplicate a movie compressed according to the MPEG standard from one SMU to another), create a ATM-based LAN inside theserver10, and interface to thepublic network16. EachSMU12 communicates with thelocal ATM switch14 at high speed, with current technology at e.g. a maximum of 622 Mbps. Thepublic network16 is optional and theserver10 may directly communicates with theSTBs18.

FIG. 2 shows a detail block diagram of theSMU12. TheSMU12 hasstorage devices20, ahost28 and a streaming engine36 as major units. These units are interconnected via a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)bus24. Ahost CPU30 and ahost memory32 in thehost28 are connected via MIPS bus34 in a conventional configuration. In this embodiment the MIPS bus34 is connected to thePCI bus24 thorough aPCI bridge26. Thehost28 is primarily intended for running applications like VOD, KOD, internet server that interact with clients or STBs.

Thestorage devices20 contains one or more strings of hard disks. These hard disks are connected via SCSI or Fibre Channel and store real time sensitive data like MPEG-2 encoded video streams and the contents of data packets like the body of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) packets without the headers.

The streaming engine36 is preferably configured as a single ASIC (Application Specific IntegratedCircuit). The streaming engine36 streams the real time sensitive data and the data packets. The streaming engine36 has atransmission path50 and areception path80 as major parts and a PCI interface38 and aninterface40. Thetransmission path50 handles the outgoing data stream from thestorage devices20 and thehost28 to thelocal ATM switch14. Thereception path80 handles the incoming data stream from thelocal ATM switch14 to thestorage devices20 and thehost28. The high speed connections and the independence of the transmission path and reception path allow for 622 Mbps simultaneously in both directions.

The PCI interface38 interfaces thePCI bus24 with thetransmission path50 and thereception path80. The PCI interface38 transfers the outgoing data stream from thePCI bus24 to a PCI FIFO52 in thetransmission path50 and transfers the incoming data stream from aPCI FIFO98 in the reception path to thePCI bus24.

Theinterface40 interfaces thetransmission path50 and thereception path80 with an external physical layer device (not shown) connected to thelocal ATM switch14. Theinterface40 can include two types of ATM interfaces according to the UTOPIA (Universal Test and Operation PHY Interface for ATM)level 2 standard. One is UTOPIA interface in 8 bit wide data path mode and the other is UTOPIA interface in 16 bit wide data path mode.

Thetransmission path50 consist of several functional blocks which act together to perform high speed transmission.

The first block in thetransmission path50 is theTx address translator54, which places the outgoing data stream from the PCI FIFO52 into host-specified memory locations of astream buffer44 allocated in anexternal RAM42. This allows for controlled “scattering” of data into non-contiguous memory, which is useful for an operation which to some extent resembles so-called RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) operation which ensures integrity of data streams and TCP/IP packetisation.

The TCP/IP checksum block56 provides hardware support for calculating TCP/IP checksums. Its function is to calculate and maintain a partial checksum for each packet until all data has been transferred. The TCP/IP checksum block56 works together with theTx address translator54 to create TCP/IP packets directly in thestream buffer44. The TCP/IP header and payload of the packets are placed in thestream buffer44 separately, passing through the checksum block56 which keeps a partial checksum. As soon as all data is in thestream buffer44, the checksum value is placed in the correct position of TCP/IP header, the packet is ready for transmission.

TheRAM interface58 forms an interface between theexternal RAM42 and thetransmission path50. Theexternal RAM42 may comprise dual ported SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM). Thisexternal RAM42 includesseveral stream buffers44 to decouple the bursty data traffic from the disks of thestorage devices20 and provides the required constant bit rate data streams to the ATM-network16. Each stream buffer handles one outgoing data stream. In the contrast to the incoming direction, since the data flow characteristics in the outgoing direction are fully predictable (controllable), the buffer requirements can be estimated beforehand. Therefore the stream buffers44 are statically allocated in theexternal RAM42.

The Tx RAID or SDI (Stream Data Integrity) block60 provides support for data redundancy. TheTx address translator54 places the data as needed instream buffer44. Then, as data is output from thestream buffer44, the Tx RAID block60 corrects error data in the event that one of the disks in thestorage devices20 breaks down.

Thetraffic shaper62 controls the streaming of the outgoing data from the stream buffers44 to theATM network16. It is designed for very accurate rate pacing and low CDV (Cell Delay Variation). Thetraffic shaper62 consists of two main sections. One section handles high priority data such as video traffic, and the other section handles general data traffic of low priority.

The command block66 is intended to off-load the host especially28 of real-time sensitive jobs. It performs actions triggered by the transmission of the content of exact known locations in the outgoing data stream.

The segmentation block70 segments the outgoing data stream provided from thestream buffer44 into AAL-5 PDUs (ATM Adaptation Layer-5 Protocol Data Units), and maps the AAL-5 PDUs into ATM cells. In case the outgoing data stream is MPEG-2 SPTS (Single Program Transport Stream), the segmentation block70 is able to segment two TS packets in the MPEG-2 SPTS to one AAL-5 PDU, unless there are less than two TS packets left in the MPEG-2 SPTS, in the latter case the AAL-5 PDU maps into eight ATM cells. In the general case, the AAL-5 segmentation is controlled by the PDU size which is programmable per stream.

Thereception path80 has several blocks corresponding to the reverse operation of the blocks oftransmission path50.

A VPI/VCI (Virtual Path Identifier/Virtual Channel Identifier) filtering block84 performs fast and efficient VPI/VCI filtering of the incoming ATM cells. This is done by a combined hash and linear search functions over the entries in a VPI/VCI table.

A reassembly block86 basically performs the inverse functions of the segmentation block70. The reassembly block86 reconstructs the AAL-5 PDUs using payload of the ATM cells, then maps the AAL-5 PDUs into the upper layer data (e.g., MPEG-2 SPTS, TCP/IP Packets).

A TCPchecksum verification block88 verifies the TCP checksum in the TCP header if the incoming data stream is transmitted via TCP.

Apattern detector92 allows a limited number of bit patterns to be detected in an incoming data stream. A list is created, indicating exactly where the specified bit patterns occur in the stream. This supports certain processing tasks that can be performed on-the-fly, whereas they would otherwise have to be done with post-processing.

A Rx RAID orSDI block90 adds redundancy to the incoming data stream. If a sequence of N words is written to a buffer (not shown), the parity over these N words is written next. This function can be turned on/off. If the incoming data stream will be stored in thestorage device20 and transmitted later as TCP/IP packets via thetransmission path50, the function is turned off.

A RAM interface94 is an interface between thereception path80 and anexternal RAM46. Theexternal RAM46 may comprise dual ported SDRAM. Theexternal RAM46 is used asseveral stream buffers48 storing incoming data streams. Eachstream buffer48 handles one incoming data stream. Incoming data streams can have unpredictable properties. For instance, some of data packets can be very bursty. This means the required buffer capacity varies from stream to stream and from time to time. Therefore, In theexternal RAM46, a dynamic buffer allocation is preferred.

A Rx address translator96 provides appropriate read addresses to thestream buffer48.

The details of the major blocks in the streaming engine36 are described below.

Tx Address Translator

The outgoing data stream is provided from thestorage device20 to the streaming engine36 in burst transmission over thePCI bus24. The purpose of theTx address translator54 is to scatter one contiguous DMA burst in appropriate areas of thestream buffer44.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of theTx address translator54. Before one contiguous DMA burst from thestorage device20 arrives, the correct starting address is written to aregister102 via a storage device controller22. The content of theregister102 is used as write address for thestream buffer44. Acounter106 counts the number of bits of the outgoing data stream from the PCI FIFO52. Each time a data word consisting of 32 bits passes thecounter106, it inform aincrement controller104 that a word is transferred to thestream buffer44. With each new word, theincrement controller104 increments the content of theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT, which is a programmable value. In case of the outgoing data stream being RAID processed data, the value of ADDRESS_INCREMENT is basically set according to the number of disks used for RAID system. In case of the outgoing data stream being payload of a TCP/IP packet, the value of ADDRESS INCREMENT is basically set according to packetisation parameters.

An address translation when the outgoing data stream is RAID processed data, is described below with reference toFIG. 4. In this example, the RAID or SDI system consists of fourdisks Disk 0,Disk 1,Disk 2 andDisk 3. TheDisk 0 containswords 1, 4, 7, to be transmitted to thelocal ATM switch14. TheDisk 1 also containswords 2, 5, 8 . . . to be transmitted to thelocal ATM switch14. TheDisk2 also containswords 3, 6, 9 . . . to be transmitted to thelocal ATM switch14. TheDisk 3 containsparity words 0, 1, 2 . . . for error correction. Each parity word (e.g., parity 0) has been generated in theRx RAID block90 from three words (e.g.,words 1, 2 and 3) which constitute so-called stripe unit of RAID together with the parity word.

In the event of failure in one of the disks (e.g., Disk 2), one contiguous DMA burst including parity words is transferred to theTx address translator54. For ease of explanation, assume that the size of one contiguous DMA burst is 96 bytes (24 words), although the actual size can be larger than 100 k bytes (depending on the speed of the hard- and/or software). In this case, the contiguous DMA burst120 consists ofwords 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16 from theDisk 0,words 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17 from theDisk 1,words 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 from theDisk 2, andparity words 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 from theDisk 3. TheTx address translator54 generates the following sequence of addresses:

• 178, 182, 186, 190, 194, 198 (data from Disk 0)
• 179, 183, 187, 191, 195, 199 (data from Disk 1)
• 180, 184, 188, 192, 196, 200 (data from Disk 2)
• 181, 185, 189, 193, 197, 204 (data from Disk 3)

More specifically, before the contiguous DMA burst120 arrives at thestream buffer44, avalue178 is stored in theregister102 as the starting address. Then theword1form Disk0 is written in theaddress178 in thestream buffer44. When theword1 passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments thevalue178 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT of a value corresponding to the number of disks. Then theword 4 from theDisk 0 is written in the address182 in thestream buffer44. When theword 4 passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments the value182 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT of avalue 4. Then theword 7 from theDisk 0 is written in the address186 in thestream buffer44. Similarly, remainingwords 10, 13 and 16 fromDisk 0 are written in the addresses190,194,198 which are in the number of disks apart in thestream buffer44.

When theword 16 fromDisk 0 passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments the value198 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT of a value19. Then theword 2 fromDisk 1 is written in the address179 in thestream buffer44. When theword 2 passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments the value179 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT of avalue 4. Then theword 5 fromDisk 1 is written in the address183 in thestream buffer44. When theword 5 passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments the value183 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT of avalue 4. Then theword 8 fromDisk1 is written in the address187 in thestream buffer44. Similarly, remaining words fromDisk1 are written in the addresses191,195,199 which are the number of disks apart instream buffer44.

In the same way, words from theDisks 2 and 3 are written in appropriate addresses in thestream buffer44; The words written in thestream buffer44 are read in liner fashion and provided to the Tx RAID block60 to correct errors.

When the outgoing data stream from thestorage device20 is TCP/IP payload, theaddress translator54 and the TCP checksum calculation block56 work closely together to provide support for TCP/IP packet generation. Thehost28 pre-programs theTx address translator54 so that data is distributed according to a specified packet size. At first thehost28 needs to know all the packetisation parameters. Important parameters for this operation are TCP payload size, TCP header size, IP header size and IP payload size. TCP header and IP header basically have space for optional data but this is in practice not used. Therefore, a simplification can be introduced by assuming default sizes for the headers: TCP header size is 5 words (20 bytes) and IP header size is 5 words (20 bytes).

The mechanism can be described as follows.

Thehost28 itself does a partial checksum calculation over the pseudo-header of the TCP/IP header. Then it initializes a TCP checksum register57 in the TCP checksum block56 for that TCP/IP packet with this value. Space for thestream buffer44 also will be reserved in theexternal RAM42 to fit the full TCP packet plus the TCP and IP header overhead.

Thehost28 will then instruct theincrement controller104 in theTx address translator54 with the TCP payload size, TCP header size, IP header size and IP payload size. The TCP payload can then be sent as one contiguous DMA burst over thePCI bus24 and placed into the area in thestream buffer44 reserved for it by theTx address translator54, leaving space for the headers. As it goes from thePCI bus24 to thestream buffer44, the checksum calculation block56 updates the partial checksum in the TCP checksum register57. Note that with this method the payload, representing usually the bulk of the TCP/IP packets, does not need to be copied first from thestorage devices20 to thehost memory32 for processing it and then to thestream buffer44. This saves valuable bus bandwidth and overhead for thehost CPU30. After the payload has been written, the header information, prepared by thehost28, is sent to thestream buffer44 via theaddress translator54. As with the payload, theTx address translator54 places the header in the previously reserved memory locations.

This sequence can be reversed, whereby the header information is written first and the payload second.

In either case, when both the header and the payload have been written, the TCP checksum will be complete and can be copied to the correct location automatically.

This mechanism can also be used to efficiently support segmenting of a TCP packet into multiple smaller IP packets. In this case, space is reserved for each IP packet. The TCP packet data (header+payload) is segmented into these packets and the header of each IP packet is written by thehost28.

All IP packets will be the same size except for the last block, which is likely to have a different size than the others. Theaddress translator54 takes this in to account. After the complete TCP/IP packet(s) has been formed, it is ready for transmission.

FIGS. 5A,5B and5C shows an example of address translation for TCP/IP packetisation. In this case, before the TCP/IP payload sent as one contiguous DMA burst130 arrives at thestream buffer44, avalue310 is stored in theregister102 as the starting write address, then the first word of the first data is written in theaddress310 in thestream buffer44. When the first word of the first data passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments thevalue310 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT ofvalue 1. Then the second word of the first data is written in the address311 in thestream buffer44. When the second word of the first data passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments the value311 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT ofvalue 1. Then the third word of the first data is written in theaddress312 in thestream buffer44. The increment with ADDRESS_INCREMENT ofvalue 1 is repeated a number of times corresponding to the IP payload size. Thus the first data of the TCP/IP payload is written in an appropriate area.

Then theincrement controller104 increments the content in theregister102 with ADDRESS INCREMENT of a value corresponding to IP header size. Then the writing of second data starts from the address according to the content of theregister102. Thus theaddress translator54 generates write addresses for the payload so that the space for the headers are left. The last data is likely to have a different size than the others. The size of the last data is calculated in theincrement controller104 by the following expression:

The last data size=TCP payload size mod IP payload size

Therefore the number of increment is controlled taking the last data size into account. In this way, the payload sent as one contiguous DMA burst is scattered in the shaded areas in thestream buffer44 shown asFIG. 5A.

Next, When theTCP header132 is sent as one contiguous burst over thePCI bus24, theaddress translator54 generates write addresses corresponding to the previously reserved memory locations for the TCP header in thestream buffer44.

More specifically, before the TCP header sent as onecontiguous burst132 arrives at thestream buffer44, avalue305 is set in theregister102 as the starting write address, whereafter the first word of the TCP header is written in theaddress305 in thestream buffer44. When the first word of the TCP header passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments thevalue305 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT ofvalue 1. Then the second word of the TCP header is written in theaddress306 in thestream buffer44. When the second word of the TCP header passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments thevalue306 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT ofvalue 1. Then the third word of the TCP header is written in the address307 in thestream buffer44. The increment with ADDRESS INCREMENT ofvalue 1 is repeated a number of times corresponding to the TCP header size. Thus the TCP header is written in the shaded area in thestream buffer44 shown asFIG. 5B.

Next, When theIP headers134 are sent as one contiguous burst over thePCI bus24, theaddress translator54 generates write addresses corresponding to the previously reserved memory locations for the IP headers in thestream buffer44.

More specifically, before the IP headers sent as onecontiguous burst134 arrives at thestream buffer44, avalue300 is set in theregister102 as the starting write address, whereafter the first word of the first IP header is written in theaddress300 in thestream buffer44. When the first word of the first IP header passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments thevalue300 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT ofvalue 1. Then the second word of the first IP header is written in the address301 in thestream buffer44. When the second word of the first IP header passes thecounter106, theincrement controller104 increments the value301 in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT ofvalue 1. Then the third word of the first IP header is written in theaddress302 in thestream buffer44. The increment with ADDRESS_INCREMENT ofvalue 1 is repeated a number of times corresponding to the IP header size.

Then theincrement controller104 increments the content in theregister102 with ADDRESS_INCREMENT of a value corresponding to TCP header size+IP payload size. Then the writing of second IP header starts from the address according to the content of theregister102. Thus the IP headers are written in the shaded areas in thestream buffer44 shown asFIG. 5C.

Next, the TCP checksum completed by the TCP checksum block56 is copied to the correct location.

In this way, the TCP/IP packetisation is completed and can be read from thestream buffer44 in linear fashion.

In the above embodiment, TCP/IP packetisation is mentioned. However it is possible to use UDP (User Datagram Protocol) instead of TCP. In this case, the default size of UDP header is 2 words (8 bytes).

In addition, in the above embodiment, the TCP header and the IP headers are sent as different bursts from thehost28 to theTx address translator54. However it is possible to send the TCP header and the IP headers together as one contiguous burst from thehost28 to theTx address translator54.

Tx RAID or SDI block

In the sequence of words in thestream buffer44, parity words may be inserted. This redundancy provides a means for correcting errors. The Tx RAID or SDI block60 takes in a sequence of N+1 words of which the last word is the parity over the N first words. In case it is indicated by hardware and/or software, that word M is corrupt, e.g., because of a disk failure, the parity word is retrieved from thestorage device20 and used to reconstruct the word M.

For example, in case ofFIG. 4, thewords 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 from thefailure Disk 2 in theinput data142 include error shown asFIG. 6. The Tx RAID block60 reconstruct theword 3 using thewords 1, 2 and theparity word 0. The Tx RAID block60 reconstruct theword 6 using thewords 4, 5 and theparity word1. Similarly, thewords 9, 12, 15, 18 are reconstructed by the Tx RAID block60. Thus the Tx RAID block60 performs error correction and outputs thesequence142 of thewords 1, 2, 3, 4. . . without errors.

The RAID function can be turned on/off by the command block66.

Traffic Shaper

Thetraffic shaper62 consists of two main sections one section handles high priority data such as video traffic, and a low priority section handles general data traffic.

The high priority section is organized into several traffic classes, in which a class is a group of one or more streams having the same bit rate characteristic. For example, all streams of a CBR (Constant Bit Rate) at 2 Mbps belong to the same class. A class of VBR (Variable Bit Rate) type typically contains only one stream, because it is unlikely that two VBR streams have identical bandwidth patterns at all times. Bach class has a single set of transmission parameters for controlling the bit rate, providing for low CDV (Cell Delay Variation) and accurate rate pacing. The number of classes is programmable but limited to maximum 128.

Each class has two main transmission parameters, an ideal scheduled time (TS) and an increment (A) for the TS. The basic mechanism is that when TS becomes equal to or less than a reference clock, a stream pointer is put into the transmit queue. At the same time the value TS is incremented with the value Δ. The ransmit queue is a first in first out queue that will submit the stream indicated by the stream pointer the ATM fifo72 as soon as possible.

In the high priority section a high accuracy bit rate and low CDV are achieved following mechanisms.

Due to the finite resolution of the reference clock, having a single Δ value usually does not give the desired accuracy. To achieve the desired accuracy, two Δ values are used alternatively that are just one counter value apart. These two values result in a rate that is slightly above and below the required bit rate. Using each Δ value for different numbers of cells compensates for the limited clock resolution and can provide arbitrary accuracy. Δ_Hand Δ_L(where Δ_L=Δ_H+1) represent the two different increment values. The N_Hand N_Lparameters represent the number of cells for which the corresponding increment value are alternatively valid. By means of this mechanism, the stream is modulated whereby the average bit rate approaches the required bit rate within the desired accuracy.FIG. 7 shows a behavior of a bit rate achieved by this mechanism. InFIG. 7, N_Hcells are sent at Δ_Hand N_Lcells are sent at Δ_I. This sequence is repeated cyclically. Thus the average bit rate shown by a dotted line is maintained as a long term bit rate.

Low CDV is achieved by reducing the collisions in scheduling times of cells from different streams. A major cause of collisions in many existing traffic shaping mechanisms is that streams of the same bit rate are scheduled at the same time. This is particularly a problem when there is a large number of streams and a low number of independent bit rates. This problem is addressed in the preferred embodiment by evenly spacing the cells of streams belonging to the same class. In other words, if the increment for one stream should be Δ, the increment for the class is Δ/n, where n is the number of streams in a class. Every time a class is to be serviced, the data is taken from successive streams. For example, If cells of thestream 0 belonging toClass 0 should be incremented by Δ, each cell of the streams (i.e.stream 0=stream n−1) belonging to thesame class 0 is sent with the space of Δ/n shown asFIG. 8.

By the combination of the above two mechanisms, a high accuracy bit rate and low CDV are achieved. If the transmit queue does not get blocked, the cells are submitted shown asFIG. 9.

The high priority section also handles VBR traffic. Thetraffic shaper62 supports smooth update of the transmission parameters. This update can be done by thehost28 but also by the command block66. The command block66 is programmed by thehost28, and its actions are triggered when an exact location is transmitted from thestream buffer44. One such action is to replace the transmission parameters for a specified stream in thetraffic shaper62. As soon as the data just before a change in bit rate are sent, the command block66 updates the parameters. Once it is set-up, this process is autonomous and does not require interaction of thehost CPU30 anymore. As a consequence, thehost28 does not need to interact exactly at the moment interaction would be required. In this way the real-time character of the stream is maintained and the host load kept to a minimum.

The low priority section is organized into e.g. fixed 32 traffic classes, in which a class is a group of one or more streams having the same PCR (Peak Cell Rate). In terms of the general data traffic, the real-time constraints are much less significant. The main objective of the traffic shaping of the low priority section is to limit the PCR in order to avoid network policing. The traffic shaping of the data packets is implemented by a mechanism using an ideal scheduled time (TS) and an increment (Δ) for the TS, which is similar to the basic traffic shaping mechanism in the high priority section. However, scheduling of data packets gets a lower priority than real time traffic. Only if the transmit queue of the high priority section is empty, a stream of the data packets can be submitted to the ATM FIFO72.

The mechanism is implemented with an architecture shown asFIG. 10. Thetraffic shaper62 consists of thehigh priority section200 and thelow priority section202 as mentioned above.

In thehigh priority section200, a memory203 stores a set of new transmission parameters for each class provided from thehost28. Each set of the new transmission parameters consists of TS_i, Δ_Hi, Δ_Li, N_Hi, N_Li and Pt_i(where 0<i−127). In this embodiment Pt_icontains one or more stream pointers which indicate one or more streams attached to the class i. Amemory206 stores current transmission-parameters. When a command is instructed by thehost28 or the command block66, anupdate logic204 is triggered by the command, whereby the current transmission parameters in thememory206 are updated with the new transmission parameters in the memory203. Aregister212 stores a parameter Nr_Classes indicating the number of class from thehost28 at receipt thereof. A traffic logic208 checks for each of classes from 0 to Nr_Classes-1 whether TS_iis equal to or less than the current time indicated by areference clock210. If so, the stream pointer of the first stream attached to this class i is inserted to a high priority transmitqueue216 and TS_iin thememory206 is incremented with Δ_Hi or Δ_Li of this class i by the traffic logic208. The Δ_Hi and Δ_Li are alternated according to the N_Hi and N_Li. Then the segmentation block70 receives the stream pointer from the high priority transmitqueue216 and puts a ATM cell belonging to the stream indicated by the stream pointer into ATM FIFO72.

In thelow priority section202, amemory218 stores a set of transmission parameters for each class provided from thehost28. In this embodiment each set of the transmission parameters consists of TS_i, Δ_iand Pt_i(where 0<j<31). Pt_jcontains one or more stream pointers which indicate one or more streams attached to the class j. Atraffic logic220 checks each of classes from 0 to 31 if TS_jis equal to or less than the current time indicated by thereference clock210 and monitors where the high priority transmitqueue216 is empty. If so, the stream pointer of the first stream attached to this class j is inserted to a low priority transmitqueue222 and TS_jin thememory218 is incremented with Δ_jof this class j by thetraffic logic220. Then the segmentation block70 receives the stream pointer from the low priority transmitqueue222 and puts a ATM cell belonging to the stream indicated by the stream pointer into ATM FIFO72.

In the above embodiment, a traffic shaping mechanism being similar to the mechanism ofhigh priority section200 is applied to thelow priority section202. However conventional leaky bucket mechanism may be applied to the traffic shaping mechanism of thelow priority section202.

Command Block

Real time data delivery may sometimes involve actions occurring at specific locations in the outgoing data stream. These actions must be immediate in order to maintain the integrity of the stream. Due to the many responsibilities of thehost28, timely interaction cannot always guaranteed. In the preferred embodiment, it is the responsibility of the command block66 to perform these interactions. In principle, thehost28 knows exactly where in the outgoing data stream the streaming parameters need to be adjusted. Since eachstream buffer44 is allocated statically as mentioned above, it is possible to express a location, where the actions should be taken, in read pointer of thestream buffer44. Thehost28 loads a list of the command block66 with a number of instructions at the appropriate moment in time. The appropriate time is the time between the loading of the outgoing data stream to thestream buffer44 and the time that the outgoing data stream is sent out from thestream buffer44. The command block66 scans the read pointer of thestream buffer44. If a match with a specified address is found, a command that is linked to that address will be executed and the command will be purged from the command block66.

The command block66 triggers on the address of the data leaving thestream buffer44. When reading astream buffer44, the read pointer is gradually incremented with a wrap-around. Each stream has a linked list that contain the (address, command) pairs to be stored according to the address. An address is a pair (L, M) indicating the address in the file and is independent from the physical address. L is the number of blocks, with a block size equal to the size of thestream buffer44. M is sequence number in the last block. Each stream maintains a WAC (Wrap-around counter) that counts the number of times the read pointer has been wrapped around.

An address match is found if

L=WAC and M=Read Pointer−Buffer Offset

This mechanism is implemented as follows.FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of the command block66. The command block66 consists ofseveral command generators300. Eachcommand generator300 handles the commands for each outgoing data stream. Thehost28 loads a list of commands in thecommand register316 in eachcommand generator300 at the appropriate moment in time.

In acommand generator300, aregister302 stores the Buffer Offset. Acomparator304 compares the Buffer Offset in theregister302 with the read pointer of thestream buffer44. When a wrap-around occurs, the read pointer takes the Buffer Offset. Therefore when the match is detected by thecomparator304, the WAC (Wrap-Around Counter)306 is incremented. Thecomparator308 compares the count of theWAC306 with current L provided from thecommand register316. Acomparator310 compares current M provided from thecommand register316 with the read pointer - Buffer Offset. When the matches are detected by thecomparator308 and thecomparator310, the ANDgate312 dequeues a current command stored by aqueue314. Each time a current command corresponding to a current address (L, M) is output from thequeue314, a command corresponding to a next address is queued in thequeue314 from thecommand register316. Thus eachcommand generator300 instructs commands according to a read pointer of thestream buffer44.

The commands to be instructed from the command block66 are:

Change bit rate: This command will allow to change a stream bandwidth. When this command is instructed, thetraffic shaper62 detach a stream from its current class, updates the Δ values for the current class, attach the stream to a new class and update the linked Δ values of the new class. Thus the bit rate of individual steams is changed at specific stream locations. This is useful for MPEG bit stream of VBR (variable bit rate), for example.
Insert RCI: This command allows to insert an RCI (Rate change Indicator) at specific location in the stream. The RCI is able to notify the distant terminal (e.g., STB18) the rate changes at that moment and aids clock recovery for MPEG decoders. The detail of the RCI is described as “data rate data” in the EuropeanPatent Application EP 0 712 250 A2. When this command is instructed, theRCI generator68 generates the RCI and the segmentation block70 terminates the current segmentation and a separate AAL-5 PDU (one ATM cell) for the RCI is generated. This is useful for MPEG bit stream of VBR.
Enable RAID: This command set the appropriate parameters in the Tx RAID block60 for the error correction.
Disable RAID: This function is the inverse of the above Enable RAID.
Perform Byte Swap: This command allows to cope with little endian/big endian problems between theserver10 and theSTB18. When this command is instructed, the byte swapper64 reorders the bytes within aword350 in the outgoing stream in an order of aword352 shown asFIG. 12.
Enable different PDU-Size: TCP can require segmentation. One TCP packet is to be divided in different IP-packets. The last IP packet requires usually a different AAL-5 PDU size than the previous one. When this command is instructed, the segmentation block70 change the AAL-5 PDU size.
Interrupt CPU: This is the most general function. It requests thehost CPU30 interaction upon detection of a certain location in the stream.
VPI/VCI Filtering Block

FIG. 13 shows a format of one ATM cell used in UNI (User Network Interface). One ATM cell consists of 53 bytes. First 5 bytes constitute a ATM header and the remaining 48 bytes carry payload. The first 4 bits in the ATM header is called GFC (Generic Flow Control). The following 24 bits in the ATM header is called VPI/VCI. Actually, the VPI/VCI consists of VPI of 8 bits and VCI of 16 bits. The following 3 bits in the ATM header is called PT (Payload Type). The following 1 bit in the ATM header is called CLP (Cell Loss Priority). The last 8 bits in the ATM header is called HEC (Header Error Control). The VPI/VCI filtering block84 receives such ATM cells from ATM FIFO82.

The VPI/VCI filtering block84 determines whether a VPI/VCI of the received ATM cell is an element of the set of VPI/VCIs that should be accepted, determines to which stream the ATM cell belongs, and filters OAM (Operation, Administration and Maintenance) F5 cells. To achieve this filtering process, a VPI/VCI translation from a VPI/VCI to an internal stream ID is performed in a VPI/VCI translator85 in the VPI/VCI filtering block84.

The object of the VPI/VCI translation mechanism is to allow as wide a range of legal VPI/VCIs as possible, while at the same time facilitating fast translation. Preferably, all VPI/VCIs should be admissable. The VPI/VCI translation can be done using conventional binary search techniques. However, due to time constraints, the largest acceptable search is of the order of a binary search of 512 entries. On the other hand, the maximum number of active VPI/VCIs should be greater than 512 to support simultaneous communications with a large number of clients.

In order to meet the object, the VPI/VCI table is divided up into sections of 512 entries. Each entry indicates a relation between a VPI/VCI and an internal stream ID is entered into a certain section depending on a distribution mechanism and within each section the entries are ordered.

Upon reception of a ATM cell, once the correct section has been found, a binary search can be performed over that section to find the correct entry. Therefore the distribution mechanism to distribute the VPI/VCIs must allow immediate indexing into a section according to the VPI/VCI. Moreover, to allow for efficient use of the VPI/VCI table, the mechanism must allow for a wide distribution of the VPI/VCIs. In other words, the mechanism must distribute the entries as randomly as possible over the entire VPI/VCI table. If a VPI/VCI maps into a section of the VPI/VCI table that is already full, it must be rejected even though there may be space in other sections.

One distribution mechanism that fits to the requirements is to simply use the lower X (where X is integer; e.g., 3) bits of the VCI as hash key to index into the VPI/VCI table. It is reasonable that when there are a large number of active VP/VCs the lower bits will be the most random of the 24 bits VPI/VCI field and allow for an even distribution.

Using this type of mechanism, the requirements of fast look up and no illegal or inadmissable VPI/VCIs are met. The mechanism is implemented as follows.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of the VPI/VCI translator85. When a new VP/VC become active, a new entry indicating a VPI/VCI of that new VP/VC and an internal stream ID corresponding to that VPI/VCI is entered into a section according to the lower 3 bits of the VCI (i.e.,bits 7, 6, 5 of 4-th byte inFIG. 13) via ahash function400. More specifically, if the lower 3 bits of the VCI is 0.000, the entry is stored in thesection 1 in the VPI/VCI table402. If the lower 3 bits of the VCI is 001, the entry is stored in thesection 2 in the VPI/VCI table 402. If the lower 3 bits of the VCI is 010, the entry is stored in thesection3 in the VPI/VCI table 402. Similarly, all new entries are stored in appropriate sections according to the lower 3 bits of the VCI. Thus, the VPI/VCI table402 of e.g. 4096 entries is divided up into 8 sections (section 1-8) of e.g. 512 entries. Within each section the entries are reordered in an ascending or descending order to implement a binary search.

Upon reception of an ATM cell, the VPI/VCI of the received ATM cell is provided to asearch engine420 and thehash function400. Thehash function400 provides a section index based on the lower 3 bits of the VPI/VCI to thesearch engine420. Then a binary search is performed by thesearch engine420 over a section corresponding to the section index to find the correct entry. For example, if the lower 3 bits of the VCI of the received ATM cell is 010, thehash function400 provides 3 as the section index to thesearch engine420. Then, thesearch engine420 performs a binary search over thesection 3 to find a correct entry and outputs a internal stream ID of the found entry. If the lower 3 bits of the VCI of the received ATM cell is 111, thehash function400 provides 8 as the section index to thesearch engine420. Then, thesearch engine420 performs a binary search over thesection 8 to find a correct entry and outputs a internal stream ID of the found entry. The output internal stream ID is used for the filtering process.

In the above embodiment, the lower 3 bits of the VPI/VCI field is simply used as a section index. However, a more complex hash function may be used over the VPI/VCI field to generate a section index.

In the above embodiment, when a new VP/VC becomes active, the new entry is entered to an appropriate section via thehash function400. However, it is possible to create a new VPI/VCI table including the new entry in thehost28 having a hash function of the same mechanism as thehash function400, transfer the new VPI/VCI table to the VPI/VCI translator85 and update the VPI/VCI table402 with the new VPI/VCI table.

Pattern Detector

Thehost28 knows what kind of data incoming in over a specific VC. Thehost28 instruct thepatten detector92, per VC, which pattern is to be scanned for. The purpose of the pattern detector is to detect a preset bit pattern in the incoming data stream. Each time a match is detected, thepattern detector92 informs thehost28 the “data detected” state. When thehost28 receives the information of the detection, it adds the address at which it occurs to a list in thehost memory32. As the detection itself is done automatically, thehost28 can perform other jobs in the mean time. Thehost28 only needs to be interrupted in case the pre-set bit pattern is detected and the action can be taken.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of thepattern detector92. Before the incoming data stream is transmitted through thereception path80, thehost28 instructs the pattern detectcontroller506, per VC, which pattern is to be scanned for. The pattern detectcontroller506 can set 4 pre-programmed bit pattern of 32 bits wide inregister504 for each stream. Thealignment circuit500 performs byte alignment of incoming data stream. Thematching circuit502 performs byte aligned matching against 4 pre-programmed bit patterns per stream. Each time the match is detected, thematching circuit502 informs thecontroller506 of the detection.

An example of the purpose of pattern detector is to find locations of I-picture in video bit stream compressed according to the MPEG standard. In the MPEG bit stream, a picture immediately following GOP header is always I-picture. Therefore, It is possible to find a location of I-picture by detecting group_start_code (32 bits) identifying the beginning of GOP header and picture_start_code (32 bits) identifying the beginning of picture header.

For instance, when a MPEG bit stream of a movie is transferred from anotherSMU12 in order to duplicate the movie, group_start_code and picture_start_code are set in theregister504 as pre-set bit patterns. Thepattern detector92 detects group_start_code and picture_start_code in the received MPEG bit stream. Each time picture_start_code is detected immediately after the detection of group start code in thematching circuit502, the pattern detectcontroller506 informs the detection state to thehost CPU30. Thehost CPU30 adds an address ofstorage device20 in which the I-picture is stored to a list in thehost memory32. Thus the list indicting locations of I-picture is constructed during the MPEG bit stream flows in thereception path80.

The list is used for VCR-operation when the stored MPEG bit stream is transferred to theSTB18. If theSTB18 requests VCR operation (e.g., FF, FR), thehost28 refers this list and instructs the storage device controller22 to access and retrieve the I-pictures.

Using this feature, the data stored in thestorage device20 is “raw” or not formatted for a specific application. This increases the “application independence” and interoperability of server system10 (FIG. 1).

Rx Address Translator

The purpose of the Rx address translator96 is to gather different (non-contiguous) words from astream buffer46 and to create a burst data to thePCI bus24. It is basically the inverse function of the address translation of theTx address translator54. The difference is that in this case a dynamic buffer structure must be considered. The burst data is transferred to thestorage device20 or thehost28 via thePCI bus24.

FIG. 16 shows an example of an address translation applied to a incoming data stream to be stored inDisk 0, 1, 2 and 3 of thestorage device20. In this example, the following sequence of read addresses for thestream buffer48 is generated by the Rx address translator96 to create aburst data600.

• 178, 182, 13, 17, 1099, 1103 (for Disk 0)
• 179, 183, 14, 18, 1100, 1104 (for Disk 1)
• 180, 184, 15, 19, 1101, 1105 (for Disk 2)
• 181, 185, 16. (for Disk 3)

Claims (14)

What is claimed is:

1. A method for delivering data comprising the steps of:

receiving data from a network;

detecting at least first and second preset bit patterns in the received data when the received data is transmitted to a storage device;

adding location information corresponding to locations of said at least first and second preset bit patterns in the data to a list when said at least first and second preset bit patterns are detected;

storing the data in the storage device; and

controlling a delivery of the data from the storage device to the network according to the location information of said at least first and second preset bit pattern in the data in the list.

2. A method according toclaim 1, wherein the data includes video data compressed according to MPEG standard and the location information represents at least a location of I-picture, and the step of controlling comprises accessing the I-picture of the data stored in the storage device according to the location information.

3. A method according toclaim 1, wherein detecting at least first and second preset bit patterns includes detecting the second preset bit pattern immediately following the first preset bit pattern.

4. A methof according toclaim 1, wherein the first preset bit pattern includes group_start_code in MPEG format.

5. A method according toclaim 1, wherein the second preset bit pattern includes picture_start_code in MPEG format.

6. An apparatus for delivering data comprising:

receiving means for receiving data from a network;

a pattern detector for detecting at least first and second preset bit patterns in the received data when the data is transmitted from the receiving means to a storage device;

a list for storing location information corresponding to locations of said at least first and second preset bit patterns in the data when said at least first and second preset bit patterns are detected by the pattern detector; and

means for controlling a delivery of the data from the storage device to the network according to the location information in the list.

7. An apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the data includes video data compressed according to MPEG standard and the location information represents at least a location of I-picture, and the means for controlling controls the storage device so that the I-picture is accessed according to the location information.

8. An apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the pattern detector is configured to detect the second present bit pattern immediately following the first preset bit pattern.

9. An apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the first preset bit pattern includes group_start_code in MPEG format.

10. An apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the second preset bit pattern includes picture_start_code in MPEG format.

11. An interactive communication system for communicating information between a transmitter device and a plurality of user devices connected to the transmitter device through a public network, said system comprising:

a storage unit configured to store an MPEG-encoded video stream comprised of successive groups of pictures (GOPs);

a pattern detector configured to detect particular bit patterns in each GOP, said particular bit patterns including a group start pattern identifying the start of a GOP and a picture start pattern identifying the start of a picture in said GOP; and

a generating unit configured to generate an outgoing video bit stream by using the detected particular patterns in each GOP to identify predefined pictures in said stored MPEG-encoded video stream, wherein a predefined picture is located at a predetermined location spaced from said group start pattern in said GOP by a predetermined amount, and wherein the pattern detector reads only the picture start pattern that is spaced from said group start pattern by said predetermined amount to detect said particular bit pattern of said predefined pictures, and reproducing only said identified predefined pictures from said successive GOPs to enable execution at a user device of a fast forward play or fast reverse play operation in response to a user request supplied from said user device.

12. A communication system for distributing a movie program to a plurality of receiver devices through a public network, said system comprising:

a store for storing a coded video stream comprised of successive groups of pictures (GOPs) representing said movie program;

a pattern detector for detecting particular bit patterns in each GOP, said particular bit patterns including a group start pattern identifying the start of a GOP and a picture start pattern identifying the start of a picture in said GOP; and

a streaming engine for identifying I-pictures in each GOP as a function of the detected particular patterns, wherein an I-picture is located at a predetermined location spaced from said group start pattern in said GOP by a predetermined amount, and wherein the pattern detector reads only the picture start pattern that is spaced from said group start pattern by said predetermined amount to detect said particular bit patterns of said I-picture, and for reproducing said identified I-pictures from said successive GOPs in said stored coded video stream to generate a video stream of only I-pictures to be delivered to said plurality of receiver devices through said public network, said video stream of I-pictures exhibiting a bit rate for transmission to a receiver device so as to enable record/playback functions at said receiver device in response to a user request.

13. An interactive communication method for communicating information between a transmitter device and a plurality of user devices connected to the transmitter device through a public network, said method comprising the steps of:

storing an MPEG-encoded video stream comprised of successive groups of pictures (GOPs);

detecting particular bit patterns in each GOP, said particular bit patterns including a group start pattern identifying the start of a GOP and a picture start pattern identifying the start of a picture in said GOP;

generating an outgoing video bit stream by using the detected particular patterns in each GOP to identify predefined pictures in said stored MPEG-encoded video stream, wherein a predefined picture is located at a predetermined location spaced from said group start pattern in said GOP by a predetermined amount, and wherein only the picture start pattern that is spaced from said group start pattern by said predetermined amount is read to detect said particular bit pattern of said predefined picture, and reproducing only said identified predefined pictures from said successive GOPs to enable execution at a user device of a fast forward play or fast reverse play operation in response to a user request supplied from said user device.

14. A communication method for distributing a movie program to a plurality of receiver devices through a public network, said method comprising the steps of:

storing a coded video stream comprised of successive groups of pictures (GOPs) representing said movie program;

detecting particular bit patterns in each GOP, said particular bit patterns including a group start pattern identifying the start of a GOP and a picture start pattern identifying the start of a picture in said GOP, to identify I-pictures in each GOP by detecting said group start pattern and the next-following picture start pattern, wherein an I-picture is located at a predetermined location spaced from said group start pattern in said GOP by a predetermined amount, and wherein only the picture start pattern that is spaced from said group start pattern by said predetermined amount is read to detect said particular bit pattern of said I-picture; and

reproducing the identified I-pictures from said successive GOPs in said stored coded video stream to generate a video stream of only I-pictures to be delivered to said plurality of receiver devices through said public network, said video stream of I-pictures exhibiting a bit rate for transmission to a receiver device so as to enable record/playback functions at said receiver device in response to a user request.

Images