FAIL-SAFE SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTING STREAMING MEDIA HAVING A DYNAMICALLY RECONFIGURABLE HIERARCHY OF RING OR MESH TOPOLOGIES

摘要

A distribution network architecture resistant to component failure isprovided for distributing streaming media which supports partial mesh and ring-basedtopologies. Data streams are provided to and transmitted from distributionrouter clustersemploying a shared broadcast medium having one-to-many relationship betweenrespective input distribution routers and output distribution routers. Theshared broadcastmedium can be a plurality of hubs configured to transmit packets and signalingonopposite, unidirectional paths.