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When we speak of the Internet data transfers and protocols, the normal process (that I'm aware of) is this:
- A request is sent to the server (some data uploaded)
- The server processes the request (on remote server)
- The response is sent back to the client (data downloaded)
However, how does a satellite TV's set-top-box go about updating its firmware? I am aware that it just fetches (or downloads data) directly from satellite, which is then deflated and installed on the system. But how does it manage to make the request for the download, since it can never transmit data up to the satellite as a "request".
This uni-directional data transfer baffles me, and I'd be glad if someone could explain the protocol please.
Thanks for the response, which suffices to give me home-work on UDP. Could then, "this unknown protocol" be used to broadcast static web-pages such that Internet content like Wikipedia (read-only) may be accessed anywhere directly through satellites? Just like GPS? – xibalban – 2014-02-20T15:27:17.050
It could, but it wouldn't make much sense since it would have to be the provider just pushing pages down to clients. Since there is no connection from the client back to the server there is no way for the client to request a certain page (like when you click on a link), so you would only be able to see pages the provider decides it wants to show you. – heavyd – 2014-02-20T15:31:06.600
@heavyd: Well, that makes sense for a limited number of devices - listen for firmware updates pushed down the link, if it matches the model you have, save it and apply. This obviously doesn't scale well, but might work. Not useful for anything with a large set of variations, e.g. web pages. – Piskvor left the building – 2014-02-20T15:34:03.140
How about broadcasting a web-package, where the user could choose which package to download (say, a certain static website). The package could then be deflated on the user device and may contain the whole website. It could reside on the device cache, allowing room for more downloads. – xibalban – 2014-02-20T15:45:51.653
As piskvor mentioned that wouldn't scale well since you would have to broadcast every possible pages to all clients, the set top boxes would have to have enough storage to store all possible pages until a client selects which page they want to see. – heavyd – 2014-02-20T16:02:44.977
@heavyd Say the government had a "First-Aid" website with a few pages, or a "Disaster Management" website with important telephone numbers, etc (again, which contains a few static pages) and these pages were to be broadcasted by the satellite. I see a possible use of such broadcasts. Anyway, my original question has been answered and I wish to thank you. – xibalban – 2014-02-20T16:13:19.000