Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/4508—Management of client data or end-user data
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
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  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/438—Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. retrieving encoded video stream packets from an IP network
  • H04N21/4383—Accessing a communication channel
  • H04N21/4384—Accessing a communication channel involving operations to reduce the access time, e.g. fast-tuning for reducing channel switching latency
• • H—ELECTRICITY
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  • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
  • H04N21/236—Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream
  • H04N21/23614—Multiplexing of additional data and video streams
  • H04N21/23617—Multiplexing of additional data and video streams by inserting additional data into a data carousel, e.g. inserting software modules into a DVB carousel
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  • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
  • H04N21/266—Channel or content management, e.g. generation and management of keys and entitlement messages in a conditional access system, merging a VOD unicast channel into a multicast channel
  • H04N21/2668—Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/433—Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
  • H04N21/4331—Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/434—Disassembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. demultiplexing audio and video streams, extraction of additional data from a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Extraction or processing of SI; Disassembling of packetised elementary stream
  • H04N21/4348—Demultiplexing of additional data and video streams
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/438—Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. retrieving encoded video stream packets from an IP network
  • H04N21/4383—Accessing a communication channel
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/44—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs
  • H04N21/44016—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/443—OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
  • H04N21/4432—Powering on the client, e.g. bootstrap loading using setup parameters being stored locally or received from the server
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/443—OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
  • H04N21/4433—Implementing client middleware, e.g. Multimedia Home Platform [MHP]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/458—Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/458—Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations
  • H04N21/4586—Content update operation triggered locally, e.g. by comparing the version of software modules in a DVB carousel to the version stored locally
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/81—Monomedia components thereof
  • H04N21/812—Monomedia components thereof involving advertisement data
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
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  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
  • H04N21/84—Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
  • H04N21/84—Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors
  • H04N21/8402—Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors involving a version number, e.g. version number of EPG data

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a system for and a method of automatic broadcasting and displaying of an advertisement (for example in the form of visual and audio cut-ins, any information objects or graphic items) with specific information on TV screen (hereinafter referred to as «SwitchBanner» or «SB») during the interval of switching between DVB channels or entering/leaving the main DVB receiver control menu, or upon switching the DVB receiver off/on.
• the present invention relates to a system for and a method of varied display of advertisements with the possibility of personalization.
• patent application GB2466051 describes promotional labelling for television apparatuses wherein promotional graphics indicate technical information about television apparatuses, superimposed on the displayed video image.
• European patent application EP2276246A1 describes a system for inserting advertisement data into broadcast data and method thereof for controlling automatic exposure of broadcast advertisement data for a certain time when a current channel is changed to a different broadcast channel according to a viewer’s intention while the viewer is viewing a broadcast program, thus minimizing viewer’s reluctance to the advertisement output, reducing the burden of an advertiser and guaranteeing a visual continuity of a broadcast program desired to be searched.
• the aim of the present invention is to provide alternative way of displaying an advertisement comprising any kind of information or graphic items between switching DVB channels whereas said advertisements is provided independently from the TV program producer or from the first TV provider having broadcasting license.
• the present invention relates to a system for and a method of automatic broadcasting and displaying of any information (for example in the form of audio and visual cut-ins and/or any static or dynamic information objects or graphic items) with specific information on TV screen (hereinafter referred to as «SwitchBanner» or «SB») during the interval of switching between DVB channels or entering/leaving the main DVB receiver control menu, or upon switching the DVB receiver off/on.
• the present invention relates to a system for and a method of varied display of advertisements.
• the second aim of the present invention is to provide a system and method for personalization of the advertising by any User groups or single users.
• the method and system allows to create any target groups of Users, what is impossible for advertisements provided by TV program providers during the TV programs on specific TV channels.
• the User groups or single users may be grouped depending on the advertisers needs.
• the present system and method allows to determine the user groups, for example by geographical localisation, interests, hobbies, social status, channel number, group, theme, genre or any other groups.
• the third aim of the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing an advertisement which is not related with the specific channel, thus the information provided with the SwitchBanner is broadcasted to DVB receiver by SwitchBanner system operator of the TV services (which is not related with producers of the TV programs or Owners of TV channels or the TV channels providers) as the said advertisement is displayed during the interval of switching between DVB channels or entering/leaving the main DVB receiver control menu, or upon switching the DVB receiver off/on.
• the present invention may be widely used in advertising and marketing area.
• Advertisement - in this invention description means any object with any kind of information with whatever goal of such information, including but not limited to any notifications, advertisements, commercials, announcements, presentation.
• Channel or TV channel – a channel over which a television station or television network is distributed.
• Dead interval the interval of short period of time while a User switches from one TV channel to another and when there is no any information on the TV screen (empty black screen).
• DVB – Digital Video Broadcasting a suite of internationally accepted open standards for digital television.
• DVB receiver – (a set-top box or STB) is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the source signal into content in a form that can then be displayed on the television screen or other display device.
• Owner of the TV channel an individual or a corporate body which owns the TV channel.
• SB Operator – (Content manager) SwitchBanner Service employee which is responcible for creating and arranging SwitchBanners and providing SwitchBanner Service uninterrupted functioning.
• Sending end – (or Headend) is a part of SwitchBanner System which is responsible for broadcasting of SwitchBanners.
• SB Middleware – (or Service library) is represented by a special middleware implemented in the User DVB receiver and containing all the data that is necessary for the functioning of the SwitchBanner Service on the receiving end.
• SwitchBanner Service – is a service that provides displaying SwitchBanners between switching of DVB channels.
• Switching of DVB channels – in the present description means the moment between switching from one DVB channel to another or entering/leaving the main DVB receiver control menu, or upon switching the DVB receiver off/on.
• SwitchBanner system – is a complex of hardware and software that makes SwitchBanner Service work.
• the advertisement which my contain simple information, visual or graphical objects etc is displayed during the interval of switching between DVB channels or entering/leaving the main DVB receiver control menu, or upon switching the DVB receiver off/on.
• the system and method according to present invention does not give rise an interest of conflicts between the TV program producer and/or TV operator.
• present system and method allows to offer discounts or to make special offers which are related with the payment of the TV program etc.
• the present system and method is related with «SwitchBanner Service» which is represented by a system that allows providers of digital television services to automatically display various advertisement for example information objects (e.g. visual and/or audio objects, including but not limited to dynamic and/or static items, such as graphics, illustrations, images, animation, video clips that may contain certain information) on Users TV screens as a consequence of certain Users actions (eg. while the Users are switching the channels, more specifically while the User switching from one TV channel to another).
• information objects e.g. visual and/or audio objects, including but not limited to dynamic and/or static items, such as graphics, illustrations, images, animation, video clips that may contain certain information
• users e.g. while the Users are switching the channels, more specifically while the User switching from one TV channel to another.
• the sending end of the system is represented by a complex of software and hardware which allows processing of the graphic items and broadcasting them via transport stream in the form of a regularly updated data carousel.
• SwitchBanner eg. an advertising or informational graphic item
• Every DVB receiver or set-top box supporting SwitchBanner Service has its own ID that allows identifying its owner or user and providing a targeted display of SwitchBanner (eg. an advertising or informational graphic item).
• the functioning of SwitchBanner or service on the receiving side is provided by original middleware installed in each User's DVB receiver.
• the SwitchBanner Service according to the present system and method provides a possibility to group channels by specific categories (eg. themes and genres of the channels, also depending on recently viewed channels, viewers’ interests, geographical location and other targeting data) and to display SwitchBanner (eg. advertising or informational graphic items) to certain target groups of Users. Targeting on geographic basis or personal preferences and characteristics of a particular User is also possible.
• SwitchBanner eg. advertising or informational graphic items
• the system and method provides an opportunity to manage advertisements by user.
• the present invention allows displaying informational, advertising and/or recreational SwitchBanners without overlapping the picture of television programs, thus the present invention allows to avoid any claims and actions from broadcasting companies concerning the display of those SwitchBanners.
• SwitchBanner system consists of two basic parts: the Sending end and the Receiving end (see fig.3).
• SwitchBanner sending end provides forming and broadcasting of two types of data: metadata and SwitchBanners themselves.
• the metadata describes the logics of the corresponding service (eg. description of a trailer, its priority, channel group, user profile) and used for managing the SwitchBanners.
• the SwitchBanners are represented by files of a set format, in other words they are represented by the service content, eg. a video trailer with sound.
• the metadata and the SwitchBanners are broadcasted by means of chaining of the sections of the files containing the content.
• SB operator (a content manager) from SwitchBanner service provider side creates graphic objects (pictures, animation, video clips) and corresponding metadata (eg. name of the channel or channel group where SwitchBanners are to be displayed), loads the graphic items to a special web server and forms SwitchBanners’ carousels by means of a web interface for further sending them into the DVB transport stream.
• the content manager converts the carousels into a suitable format and broadcasts them via the transport stream.
• SwitchBanner receiving end comprises an antenna, TV set, and DVB receiver with implemented SB Middleware.
• the SB Middleware is the main component of SwitchBanner receiving end. It is represented by a special middleware implemented in the User DVB receiver and containing all the data that is necessary for the functioning of the SwitchBanner Service on the receiving end.
• the service library is able to receive SwitchBanners from the DVB transport stream and to analyze all properties of the received SwitchBanners.
• the SB Middleware can also analyze versions of the broadcasted SwitchBanners. Thus the DVB receivers accept SwitchBanners of the newest versions only.
• the SB Middleware receives the metadata and analyses the properties and the versions of the incoming SwitchBanners. Then it downloads the valid SwitchBanners to the local memory storage of the DVB receiver.
• the SwitchBanners are loaded as separate sections and compiled within the DVB receiver.
• the volume of the stored metadata depends on the local memory storage capacity. If there is new metadata received, the metadata of the older version is automatically deleted.
• the SB Middleware Upon every switch of the channel the SB Middleware matches the properties stated in the SwitchBanners metadata with properties of the currently switched channels, and activates the display of the corresponding SwitchBanners during the switching pauses.
• the SB Middleware supports Little Endian and Big Endian as well as version control (same as in the common library) with a possibility of interaction with receiver menu.
• the SB Middleware can also receive and process individual commands (i.e. if it is necessary to disable the service for a certain DVB receiver).
• a DVB receiver with the embedded SB Middleware automatically receives the graphic items’ carousels from the transport stream and saves them in the local memory storage. After that graphic items containing advertising or informational data are alternatively displayed upon every switch of the channel according to the corresponding metadata and the targeting aspects (if applied) to at the exact moment. Upon appearance of updated graphic items’ carousels in the transport stream the DVB receiver automatically downloads these carousels to the local memory storage replacing the old ones.
• Every SwitchBanner has playback parameters, such as format, size, and duration and a SwitchBanner can be displayed in any part (section) of the TV screen or also can be displayed in a full-screen mode.
• Fig 1 is an example of SwitchBanner which Users see on the TV screen at the moment of switching between DVB channels;
• Fig 2 illustrates SwitchBanner operation principle
• Fig 3 illustrates an Interaction of the operator and the User
• Fig 4 illustrates the basic structure of the SwitchBanner System
• Fig 5 illustrates the Sending end block scheme
• Fig 6 illustrates the structure of the container with a SwitchBanner
• Fig 7 illustrates the Sending end statechart
• Fig 8 illustrates the set for individual receipt and display of the SwitchBanner
• Fig 9 illustrates the Structure of DVB receiver software
• Fig 10 illustrates SB management/control model
• Fig 11 illustrates SB Middleware statechart. SwitchBanner receiving mode
• Fig 12 illustrates the Carousel filing of the memory section
• Fig 13 illustrates «SB Update» algorithm
• Fig 14 illustrates «SB Play» algorithm.
• the main interaction subjects in the process of SwitchBanner display are represented by the SB operator of the service and many of individual Users represented by the owners (users) or client DVB receivers.
• the SB operator can create SB and attribute them with certain parameters, delete SwitchBanners and modify their parameters. Therefore, the creation of a new SB or modification of its parameters initiates broadcasting of the SB via the transport stream.
• the SB operator can operate two types of SB:
• SB is not linked to a certain channel or a group of channels, and it is displayed at every switch of the channels of this operator, unless those channels are not linked to an individual SB.
• SB may be displayed at the following actions of the user: switching the DVB receiver on/off or entering/leaving the main DVB receiver control menu.
• SwitchBanner concept display of SB is carried out as a reaction to a certain action initiated by the User, eg. switching of the channels, switching the DVB receiver on/off or entering/leaving the main DVB receiver menu.
• the actions initiating display of the SwitchBanners on the screen are as follows:
• SwitchBanner system comprises web server, data generator, multiplexer (MUX), DVB receiver.
• MUX multiplexer
• Web server – a server providing the opportunity to manage the SB: to add new information content, to assign and to edit the groups of channels where the content is to be displayed.
• the information and the data are stored in the database.
• the Data Generator (PDG or Private Data Generator) – an application that processes data from the database according to user data and settings and sends this data to the MUX.
• MUX Multiplexer
• SB Middleware is the main component of the receiving site. It is implemented in the User and containing all the data that is necessary for the functioning of the SwitchBanner service.
• the Web server allows creation and managing of the SB, it controls the display schedule and forms a «ready to broadcast status» in the database (the list and the content of the displayed SB-s).
• the operator selects a content file by means of the Web server interface and loads it to the Generator (see fig. 5).
• a content file is represented by a file of a set format (graphic or video), supported by the target DVB receivers and containing the service content, e.g a video cut-in.
• Supported SwitchBanner formats are as follows:
• SB application converts the content file into a container, which includes a 16-bytes header and audio/video data.
• the structure of the data container is displayed on fig. 6.
• Video offset – video data shifting (counted from the beginning of Data field);
• Audio offset audio data shifting (counted from the beginning of Data field);
• Data – data field the format depends on the specifications of the receiving side.
• the container is stored in the File Server.
• the SB operator sets the parameters, which determine the operation mode of the SwitchBanner, eg.
• the SB operator determines the priority of a SwitchBanner, creates a schedule, states the type of the SwitchBanner and chooses the list of channels (if the type of the SwitchBanner is individual).
• the Web Server forms the metadata in compliance with those parameters, which is used for managing the banners on the receiving side.
• the following metadata is broadcasted via the transport stream:
• SwitchBanner sending end provides forming and broadcasting of two types of data: the metadata, describing the logic of the corresponding service, and the containers.
• SwitchBanner operator can perform the following functions by means of the Web interface:
• the SwitchBanners are broadcasted by means of chaining of the sections of the files containing the content.
• SwitchBanner system is a broadcasting service.
• the SwitchBanners are broadcasted to all Users by means of DVB transport stream. It is possible to add SwitchBanners to the stream, to delete SwitchBanners from the stream and to update SwitchBanners in the stream. For each DVB channel group (or for each DVB channel) it is possible to broadcast several different SwitchBanners with different priority.
• the SB operator of the SwitchBanner service is able to manage the foregoing parameters.
• the additional possibility is to collect statistics; which shall include the following information:
• SwitchBanner system Being a commercial product, the SwitchBanner system supports hot backup of all components. SwitchBanner sending end operation algorithm is displayed on fig. 3.
• the Web server software forms a special output table called «object queue».
• This table stores links to all SwitchBanners and metadata files according to the order determined by the set SwitchBanner schedule and with the periodicity determined by the SB operator’s settings.
• the Generator application is periodically checking the presence of SwitchBanners and metadata files in the objects’ queue. If a link to a file is detected, the Generator copies the file from the Web server file storage and converts it into a sequence of sections according to DVB standard.
• the Generator sets connection with the multiplexer (MUX) and transmits the sections thereto according to the container transmission parameters (PID, timeouts, transmission speed values)
• the Generator sets connection with the multiplexer (MUX) and transmits the sections thereto according to the metadata transmission parameters (PID, timeouts, transmission speed values)
• the Generator Upon transmission of all sections the Generator returns into objects’ queue scanning state.
• the multiplexer (MUX) converts the received sections into a sequence of transport packets according to DVB standard and performs multiplexing of the ready sequence with the transport stream of the main services.
• the hardware set for individual receipt and display of the digital television signal consists of three basic elements: antenna complex, integrated receiver-decoder (Set Top Box or DVB receiver), TV-set or monitor (see fig. 8).
• the suggested method of SB realization is unique, because fully-featured support of the service requires modification of embedded DVB receiver software only. At that the main DVB receiver functional is not affected. There are also no specific requirements to DVB receiver hardware and software.
• SB middleware The basic logic of SB processing is represented as a hardware independent SB middleware.
• This middleware can be easily integrated practically in any embedded software developed on C and/or C++.
• the linkage of the middleware and the main software is carried out by means of specialized software interfaces set – SB API provided by SB middleware and a unified access interface to OS and drivers - STB Wrapper.
• the callback functions registration mechanism is realized by means of SB API; those functions provide the middleware with possibility to give out signals regarding different events and to transmit the data and the commands to the main application (see fig. 9).
• SB middleware performs the following functions:
• STB Wrapper is represented by a set of unified software interfaces to OS functions and drivers. STB Wrapper is to be implemented by the developer of the main DVB receiver application. STB Wrapper contains two basic groups of functions, which are launched by SB middleware in the process of operation:
• SB API interface is provided along with SB middleware and contains SB middleware initialization functions, functions of informing the middleware regarding different DVB receiver states, functions of callback registration by means of which SB middleware can make the main application display SwitchBanner and transmit the location and other parameters of the SwitchBanner
• the main data received by SB middleware from the main application and STB Wrapper are as follows:
• the main data generated by SB middleware are collected and verified container files stored in different sections of DVB receiver RAM. Indicators and descriptors of those files declaring the main display parameters are transmitted to the main application upon certain actions of the users.
• SB middleware module Functioning of SB middleware module begins from calling «Initialization» SB API function by the main DVB receiver application. Usually it happens after DVB receiver switch on and/or leaving StandBy mode. At this moment the middleware sets all values for all inner data structures as «default» initializes the essential drivers by means of activating of the corresponding SB Wrapper functions and sets itself into «service table standby» mode.
• SB middleware module Every received service table (ST) is analyzed by SB middleware module for presence of SwitchBanner descriptors. If a descriptor is present in service table, it means that there is one or several SwitchBanners broadcasted via the transport stream. In this case SB middleware module sets sections’ filter to a proper PID value by means of SB wrapper function and sets itself into «standby before metadata is loaded» mode (see fig. 11).
• SB module As soon as a metadata file can consist of several sections, the module stays in standby mode until all sections are received.
• the received metadata file is analyzed by SB middleware module, which extracts the data regarding the number, size, versions and PID values of the presently broadcasted SB-s.
• SB module checks if ID of the given DVB receiver matches the target list or the range of devices for every broadcasted SB. According to the received data the module is attempting to allocate essential RAM areas of the appropriate size for every available SB. If the memory allocation is successful, SB module sets filter for SwitchBanner sections with corresponding PID value. After setting of the filters for available SwitchBanners SB module sets itself into «standby before container files are loaded» mode. In this mode SB module stays until all sections of all available files are received and all data from all sections is copied to the corresponding memory sections (see fig. 12).
• SB module checks integrity and correctness of every received container file.
• one or several SwitchBanners are stored in DVB receiver RAM, and the indexes of the corresponding RAM sections can be transmitted to the main application for displaying of the SwitchBanners upon certain actions of the user.
• SB module fills a special descriptor structure for every received SwitchBanner based on the information forms the metadata.
• SB module deletes all set filters, clears memory sections allocated for not received SwitchBanners and returns into «standby for service tables» mode. If all SwitchBanners are successfully received and stored in RAM, SB module deletes all filters set for container files and sets new filters for new versions of metadata and sets itself into «standby for new events» mode.
• SB middleware module which extracts the data regarding the number, size, versions and PID values of the presently available SwitchBannes.
• SB module checks if ID of the given DVB receiver matches the target list or the range of devices for every broadcasted SwitchBanner. According to the received data the module is attempting to allocate essential RAM areas of the appropriate size for every available SwitchBanner. If the memory allocation is successful, SB module sets filter for data sections with corresponding PID value. After setting of the filters for available SwitchBanners SB module sets itself into «standby for container files» mode;
• SB module checks if ID of the given DVB receiver matches the new target list or the range of devices for the SwitchBanners. If the ID does not fit the new parameters, SwitchBanners are deleted from DVB receiver memory, allocated memory is cleared, corresponding descriptors are deleted. In other cases SB module changes the values of descriptor structures fields for values received in the new metadata file version.
• SB play algorithm (see fig.14) is performed by SB module upon receiving of signals from the main application regarding any events (user actions).
• Each event that can be processed by SB module has its own ID, which is transmitted as a parameter upon activation of «user event» function of SB API interface.
• the other parameter is the channel to witch the user switches or ID of the channel on which the event took place (eg. entering the main menu or DVB receiver switch off).
• SB module Upon receiving of «user event» signal SB module checks if there is an SwitchBanner loaded to the memory and correlated to the present event and the channel ID. If yes, the link to the SwitchBanneris followed to the main application to display the SwitchBanner at this moment. If no, global SwitchBanners’ descriptors are checked. If a global SwitchBanner is correlated with this event ID, the main application is followed a link to this global SwitchBanner. In other cases SB module responses the main application that SB is absent and cannot be displayed.

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