Video pedestal network

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention provides a network architecture for distributing digital data to subscriber units wherein selection from among multiple digital services is accomplished by transmitting a tuning command from a subscriber unit to one or more intermediate interfaces in a series of links interconnecting the subscriber unit and a server.
An example of such digital data is digital video and the services could be multiple digital video programs.
The network architecture of the present invention is capable of providing public broadband access without the use of very high bandwidth access lines to subscriber premises.
Using the information received from the subscriber unit, the intermediate interface selects the desired digital service from a multitude of services available in a broadband link coupled to the interface's input and transmits it to the subscriber unit over a bandwidth-constrained link.
The bandwidth-constrained link may be implemented with existing infrastructure, yet the subscriber unit may readily access a wide variety of digital services available on the broadband network.
The present invention thus combines universal broadband access with low cost.
In accordance with the invention, a service provider may offer broadcast services over the network in addition to point-to-point interactive services.
The broadcast services may be offered without requiring multiple point-to-point sessions from the server to each requesting subscriber unit.
Instead, a single copy of a digital stream provided via the broadband link is sufficient to service multiple subscriber units which request it via their intermediate interfaces, thus conserving bandwidth.
By contrast, in the prior art point-to-point schemes, the broadband network would be forced to carry a separate point-to-point connection for each requesting subscriber unit.
Note that the present invention provides the advantages of forgoing point-to-point connections for broadcast purposes without requiring the construction of the very high bandwidth links necessary to continuously transmit each available program to each subscriber unit