Importance

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Abstract

An improved media server interconnect to subscriber terminals is accomplished with a plurality of media servers at a headend where each media server provides one or more programs for distribution to the subscriber terminals. An array of modulators connects a requested media asset, such as a video program or WEB page, from a media server to a requesting subscriber terminal. A connection manager responds to a media asset request from the requesting subscriber terminal and selects a source server to provide the requested media asset and selects a modulator in the array to send the requested media asset from the source server to the requesting subscriber terminal. The array of modulators acts as a two stage switch between the source server and the requesting subscriber terminal. A selected modulator in said array is the switch point in the two stage switch. The connection manager controls a first stage of the switch by selecting the selected modulator to receive the requested media asset from the source server. The requesting subscriber terminal acts as a second stage of the two stage switch also under the control of the connection manager by tuning to the channel frequency of the selected modulator. The connection manager also allocates a media asset identifier to the requested media asset and notifies the subscriber terminal of the media asset identifier. The source media server sends the requested media asset as digital data packets. The source media server inserts the program identifier in each digital data packet of the requested media asset. The requesting subscriber terminal, responds to the media asset identifier in the digital data packets and extracts the digital data packets of the requested media asset from a data stream received from the selected modulator.

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First Claim