A store-and-forward architecture for video-on-demand service

A store-and-forward architecture is presented that can provide video-on-demand (VOD) as well as other database distribution services. It assumes a B-ISDN network to be in place. The four major elements in this architecture are the information warehouse (IWH), where video material is archived; the central office (CO) server, which contains a processor responsible for service management and a video buffer that interacts directly with network customers; and the customer premise equipment. A requested video program is provided in a real-time fashion from the CO server to the customer. At the information warehouse the video program is retrieved from the archival storage in blocks, and with transfer rates much faster than real-time. Subsequently, it is sent in a bursty mode to the CO servers via high speed trunks. >