| 摘要 |
A software distribution architecture having a television broadcast system as its infrastructure. Software from a software repository ( 1600 ) is mixed into a television broadcast system and transmitted into one or more selected channels at prescribed dates and times. An at-home subscriber, capable of receiving with a receiver ( 1608 ) the one or more select channels, switches to the one or more channels carrying the software distribution with a channel selector ( 1611 ). The subscriber, having programmed a controller ( 1616 ) with a programmer ( 1620 ) for the date, time, software ID, and channel of the software broadcast, then downloads the software package to a storage device ( 1622 ) for ultimate transfer to a PC ( 1624 ). A validation and accounting system ( 1628 ) then records the software download transaction and transmits this information over a PSTN ( 1632 ) to a provider accounting system ( 1630 ) such that the subscriber is billed for the software package which was downloaded.
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