I'm trying to understand b-spline. It's not clear why << The curve is defined only where order basis functions overlap>>, where order is degree+1 (for a cubic the order is 4). I found also that where a number equal to the order of basis functions overlap the sum is 1, and maybe is linked to the fact that curve starts here.
The first phrase comes from: http://www-evasion.imag.fr/~Francois.Faure/doc/inventorMentor/sgi_html/ch08.html in "Knot Sequence" section. I pasted it for you: