Wegener Receives Two U.S. Patents

Wegener
Corporation announced it has been granted two

U.S. patents for innovative
techniques designed to improve the quality and efficiency of satellite media
distribution networks.

Apparatus
and Method for Accommodating Loss of Signal

The first
patent, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Accommodating Loss of Signal,”
(Patent # 7,263,648), describes an innovative method for simultaneously
recording and playing back digital media content from flash memory storage.
WEGENER recognized a need for this capability since it is not readily
inherent in off-the-shelf flash memory products.

WEGENER’s
patented solution allows the flash memory within digital satellite receivers to
periodically receive audio segments via satellite and record them to flash,
while simultaneously playing digitized audio segments from the same flash
memory. This is done without any perceived interruption of services from
the listener’s perspective. Recorded media can playout from flash memory
when instructed to do so to ensure a reliable, seamless presentation.

WEGENER
has already embedded this technology into its digital audio satellite receivers
as a low-cost solution for store/forward advertising and disaster recovery
audio services. Tens of thousands of units using this patented technology
have been sold, shipped, and are in operation worldwide.

Error
Correction Apparatus and Method

The second
patent, entitled “Error Correction Apparatus and Method,” (Patent #7,296,204),
describes a bandwidth-efficient process for ensuring flawless file distribution
within a satellite media distribution network. When a file is transmitted via
satellite, this process enables the digital satellite receiver to determine if
all of the content in a given file has been received. If data is missing, the
receiver notifies the sender—via a terrestrial back channel such as the
Internet—precisely which data packets are missing.

The
information from multiple error status reports is then aggregated by the
control system of the transmitter and used to retransmit only those data
packets in question. The process is repeated until the receiver reports that
the complete file has been received. This real-time process is an
advanced alternative to the industry-standard method of Forward Error
Correction, which always sends additional data, not just the missing packets,
resulting in greater consumption of bandwidth.

Applicable
solely to store/forward file transmission, this patented process is being
incorporated within many WEGENER solutions, including COMPEL Network Control,
iPump Media Servers, and Media Plan Content Management.

“With the
award of these two new patents, WEGENER continues to grow its patent portfolio
for multi-site media distribution technology,” stated

Ned
L.
Mountain, President and COO of
WEGENER. “For our customers, conserving bandwidth is vital to holding the
line on costs, maximizing valuable transponder space, and ultimately, being
able to transmit more media signals and services in the same transponder space.”