DATA DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR ITS USE

摘要

A subscriber system (10), operating in combination with other similar subscriber systems, for collectively and swiftly distributing multiple copies of digital data to a large number of other subscriber systems. The subscriber system (10) receives digital data and stores it on a storage device (38). An autonomous digital data communication subsystem (42) then obtains a copy of the digital data directly from the storage device (30) and transmits that data to another subscriber system. The autonomous digital data communication subsystem (42) includes transceivers (72, 82, 102 or 104) for exchanging digital data with ISDN communication channels (46, 44a, 44b or 44c). The transceivers (72, 82, 102 or 104) receive the digital data from a random access memory ("RAM") (56) included in the autonomous digital data communication subsystem (42). A SCSI controller (52) exchanges the digital data between the RAM (56) and the storage device (38) of the subscriber system (10). A control signal processor controls the operation of the autonomous digital data communication subsystem (42) including its transceivers (72, 82, 102 and 104).