Direct IPTV distribution

摘要

The invention defines a method for leveraging the standard conditional access module interface of a digital TV receiver to deliver IPTV or other TV content without the need of a set top box. An IP-connected interface ("probe") is used in place of a conditional access module to establish a two-way communication link between the TV and the IPTV headend or other IP content source and to deliver IP content. In an embodiment, the invention covers the specifics of content navigation without requiring any modification of the TV receiver application software or provisioning of IPTV-specific software. Content navigation is achieved by supporting a catalog/grid browsing session on the TV receiver and enabling a flat multiplex navigation, a virtual MPEG multiplex that contains the definition of several available programs but a single video and audio channel is dynamically switched to carry the selected program.