A system and method implemented in an interactive television system for
scheduling delivery of modules of interactive television applications from
a broadcast station to a receiving station. In one embodiment, the system
calculates a start time from a predetermined end time and transmission
interval for a module. In other embodiments, a transmission interval may
be calculated instead of being predetermined, or all of the scheduling
information may be explicitly provided to the broadcast station. The
module is packetized and transmission of the packets for the module is
begun at the corresponding start time. All of the packets except the last
packet are transmitted within the transmission interval (i.e., between the
start time and the delivery time.) The greater the transmission interval,
the greater the flexibility the broadcast station has to schedule delivery
of the packets and modules. The last packet is held until the scheduled
delivery time and is then transmitted. Because a module is considered to
have been delivered to the receiving station when the last packet is
received, the delivery time of the module is controllable to within the
limits of the last packet's delivery.