Internet access is provided over a digital cable television system using
Internet protocol (IP) over MPEG digital video. Simultaneous Internet
access and TV viewing is provided by an IP over MPEG-2 video system with
channel tracking. Whenever a video channel change is detected, the
viewer's Internet connection is routed from one video channel to another
video channel so that the Internet connection is dynamically routed and
tracks the channel changes made by the viewer. Additionally, if there is
no available data carrying capacity in the video channel selected by the
viewer (a "busy" condition), the Internet connection is routed to an
out-of-band frequency. The Internet connection tracks the channel changes
made by the viewer using a single tuner/digital MPEG decoder in the CATV
settop box.