Abstract: A system and method for a seamless splicing/spot insertion strategy for MPEG-2 digital video/audio transport stream with no previously encoded information. This strategy, considering the time dependency between MPEG-2 frames, results in a new stream with smooth transition from a main stream to a spot stream without any encoded mark increasing possibilities for utilization of MPEG-2 contents. This strategy further facilitates local and remote switching (like local advertisement insertion) and produces successful decoding and presentation of all MPEG-2 packets around the splicing point. It takes into account several kinds of MPEG-2 related discontinuities: transport header continuity counter gaps, temporal reference discontinuity for frame presentation and PCR/PTS/DTS discontinuities.

Abstract: A system and method for multiplexing and remultiplexing whereby multiplexed programs from an input stream are only demultiplexed if they are to be copied or modified locally. Any multiplexed programs which are part of an input stream and which are intended to be part of the output stream are not demultiplexed but are simply passed along to be added to the transport stream with other multiplexed programs. A further inventive aspect comprises a multiplexer apparatus and process whereby dynamic bit rate adjustment is applied to eliminate the need to recalculate timebase information for altered streams.

Abstract: A system and method for demultiplexing a TDM channel by redirecting all transport packets communicated on said channel as containing one of a multitude of possible PIDs, while recreating the CBR of the original transport packet transmission by restoring all discarded IDLE packets to enable time delayed re-transmission utilizing a generic TDM function.

Abstract: Transport packet multiplexing system and methodology that provides accurate bandwidth control, allowing bandwidth requirements to vary per multiplexed data stream while guaranteeing bandwidth availability. Accurate timing control is provided by implementing a real-time scheduling mechanism for adjusting the timing information based upon timing information obtained at the time of multiplexing to accurately represent environmental changes.

Abstract: A system and method for enabling real-time searching of patterns over a shared media including the capability of simultaneously searching multiple logical streams over the shared media. Patterns found are reported to the host system using some pre-assigned messages. One particular application of this invention is to search an MPEG-2 program stream, indicating the points (e.g., start-codes) where a new picture starts.

Abstract: A system and method for re-mapping the Packet Identifier (PID)'s for a set of MPEG-2 single program streams prior to multiplexing onto one multi-program transport stream. The system eliminates any ambiguity when generating the multiplexed transport stream in 10 order to avoid PID conflicts when multiplexing several single programs containing non-unique PID values. The system includes a mechanism to assign new PID values, in such a way that it ensures that all new PID's are unique for the multiplexed transport stream. Furthermore, it performs this re-mapping in real-time as the packets are being transmitted over the multi-program transport stream.

Abstract: An interactive TV content creation tool imports video and other assets, including WebPages, Java script, etc., as a series of resources for interactive TV content creation for real time audience estimation and program ratings. A processing system embeds hyperlinks into one or more objects contained in a program frame as desired. Each hotlink has attributes. These attributes include shape, name, description and Z-order. The hotlink can have one of several shapes, including rectangle, ellipse and parallelogram. The hotlink types are included in an object tree which is displayed in a window to a creator. A hotlink type is selected in the hotlink tree, and a window displays a linked properties tab available for the selected object. There are several link types available; linking to a URL, another interactive TV content file, a video clip, an audio clip, an image, or a tracking action and transaction action. There are different parameters for different actions. One parameter is a tracking script.