USE OF PICTURE-IN-PICTURE STREAM FOR INTERNET PROTOCOL TELEVISION FAST CHANNEL CHANGE

摘要

A method and apparatus of controlling an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) channel change to a first multimedia stream of an IPTV channel, where the channel change is initiated by a set top box coupled to the network device is described. A network device receives a request from a set top box for a high-resolution multimedia stream from a device downstream and transmits a low -resolution multimedia stream upstream in place of the high-resolution multimedia stream request. The network device receives the low -resolution multimedia stream and forwards the low-resolution stream to the requesting set top box. The set top receives the low -resolution stream and displays this stream. Furthermore, the network device transmits the high-resolution multimedia stream request and receives the high-resolution multimedia stream. The set top box receives the high-resolution multimedia stream and displays this stream.