An MST-based network architecture for sharing broadcast TV programs

With the advent of a consumer device such as a personal video recorder, recent advances in multimedia technologies have led to various enhanced services in the network area. In particular, a fiber channel arbitration loop-based network among PVRs has been presented to demonstrate the feasibility of high-quality content sharing. In addition, a multiple-loop architecture with shared disks, instead of expensive FC switches, has been devised in order to overcome the limit on the number of accommodable PVR users. Nevertheless, there arises the need for a practically constructible topology solution since the multiple-loop architecture is based on complete graph topology that requires the most connectivity for configuration. Therefore, we propose an innovative minimum spanning tree-based graph topology for multiple-loop topology organization. The MSG-based multiple-loop architecture can determine the constant average loop size and constant reject ratio, regardless of the number of deployed loops, and the acceptable total traffic with much less connectivity than CG, thereby effectively supporting high-quality live content sharing and distribution between PVRs.