SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING DATA TRANSFER

摘要

The present invention provides apparatus and a method to provide a television system comprising a number of services to an end user. The services are generated from data streams and in accordance with the invention for at least one of the said service data streams there are provided two data streams carrying substantially identical data. Selection means are provided to select and receive data from one of the said data streams and control means are provided to detect a timeout or the lapsing of a predetermined time interval whereupon the other of the data streams is then selected. This therefore means that the downtime of the said service data stream is minimised and avoids the need for duplicates of the apparatus itself to be provided for the system to be operational.