Abstract: A home system for on-demand media advantageously employs hardware already present in a typical consumer's home to reduce the cost and complexity of an on-demand controller. The controller may use a pre-existing network connection to access media sources on the Internet or other data networks, and may use mass storage available on the consumer's computer or elsewhere in the user's household to store media for streaming to a television or other display device. The controller coordinates operation of these components to provide an on-demand media experience to a user.

Abstract: A demodulator operates in a multipath (ISI) channel carrying transmitted symbols. The demodulator receives a signal representing a transmitted sequence, and develops an output sample at a select sampling phase corresponding to a synchronization point. Plural hypothetical samples representing plural hypothetical sequences are generated. The output sample is compared to the plural hypothetical samples to determine plural metrics and develop an original estimate of each transmitted sequence based on the hypothetical sequence producing a best metric. The hypothetical samples are compared to the received sample taken at an early sampling phase in advance of the select sampling phase and to the received sample at a late sampling phase delayed from the select sampling phase to determine if a second estimate of the transmitted symbol produces a better metric than the original estimate, and in response to the second estimate producing a better metric adjusting the synchronization point.