FI124038B - Transmission device and method for a public broadcast service and reception device and method for a public broadcast service for efficient use of the public broadcast service - Google Patents

Description

Broadcast Service Transmission Equipment and Method and Broadcast Service Reception Equipment and Method for Effective Use of Broadcast Service 5 Description

Broadcast Service Transmission Equipment and Method and Broadcast Service Reception Equipment and Method for efficient use of the broadcast service.

10 Technology

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a broadcast service of a plurality of different types of data, and more particularly, a broadcast service transmission apparatus and method and a broadcast service receiving apparatus and method for providing quick and direct access to desired services.

Technology background

In digital broadcasting, where multiple service channel signals are multiplexed and transmitted over a single transmission channel, the service channel signals 20 are first individually compressed and converted into packets, and then the packets are multiplexed into a transmission stream. An identical packet identifier (PID) is allocated to packets corresponding to one channel so that packets can be distinguished from packets corresponding to other channels. When packets with different specific IDs allocated according to channel types are transmitted in the transmission stream, receiver ° 25 selects only the desired channel packets from the transmission stream by checking the IDs of the packets in the desired v channel and demultiplexing the selected packets, δ

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Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a related technique for processing transmission stream in which transmission stream is generated using packet identifiers (PIDs).

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o The associated technology receiver processes the transmission stream according to the method described in Figure 1. In operation SUO, an encoded transmission stream containing packets is received. In operation S120, Reed-Solomon (RS) decoding is performed on the transmission stream packets. In operation S130, transmission stream packets are filtered according to the PIDs. In operation S140, the transport stream packets are decomposed on each layer, namely, the transport layer, the packing layer 5, and the flow layer. In operation S150, the decoded data is decoded.

In the prior art method, transmission stream packets can be clearly separated using PIDs. However, the packet stream packets should have PIDs and the receiver of the related technology should perform RS decoding for each packet stream packet and perform the filtering by checking the PIDs individually.

Figure 2 illustrates a related art transmission stream generated using PIDs. Referring to FIG. 2, a transmission stream packet that transmits audio / video (A / V) data, a transmission stream packet that transmits Internet Protocol (IP) data, and a transmission stream packet that transmits object data are transmitted over a single channel. When the related technology streaming is processed, all transmission stream packets should go through route / RS decoding and unique PID check filtering, even if the user wishes to receive only A / V services. As a result, data, temporal and spatial resources are lost when the receiver of the related technology processes.

US 5400401 discloses a system and method for transmitting and receiving a plurality of digital services. The method can be used at 25 mm. pay-TV systems such as cable and satellite TV.

v NS. The program consists of a combination of different digital services. These services are transmitted in a multiplexed data stream consisting of a continuous serial

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The frame is divided into frames, each of which comprises two consecutive fields comprising rows. The first set of rows form the so-called. transfer layer area and

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^ 30 another set of rows forms the service data area. The transfer layer area contains o ° system-related information. the user-selected services can be picked.

3

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Solution 5 The present invention provides a broadcasting service transmission apparatus and method and a broadcasting service receiving apparatus and method which enable efficient data processing due to fast and direct access to the desired services.

10 Beneficial effects

According to the present invention, as compared to a method of delivering a service by filtering packets using packet identifiers (PID), direct access to each service component contained in the service is possible.

15

Further, according to the present invention, an operation performing RS decoding for all RS encoded transport packets and checking the PIDs of all transport packets is not necessary when only the service components that make up the service are selected. Thus, wasting system resources 20 to gain unnecessary transport packets can be avoided.

Further, according to the present invention, once the LMT and LIT locations in the transport frame are set, the services and service components are rapidly available.

In addition, according to the present invention, by including information from a subsequent LMT to a current LMT, the services and service components are:

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£ quickly available even LMT and LIT locations in transport frame vary cr> CVJ val · O) m · 3Γ)

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Further, according to the present invention, by including information on the number of LMTs having an identical version to the current LMT, the 4 current LMT can be restored using the previous LMT even though an error has been generated in the current LMT.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, an invalid packet can be detected without the need to use an error flag by changing the initial name of the invalid packet.

Description of the drawings

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a flowchart illustrating a related technique for processing a transmission stream in which the transmission stream is generated using packet 15 identifiers (PIDs); Figure 2 illustrates a related art transmission stream generated using PIDs; Figure 3 illustrates a structure of a transfer frame in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 illustrates in greater detail the structure of the transfer frame illustrated in Figure 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 5A and 5B illustrate the structure of a Field Map Table (LMT) field according to an embodiment of the present invention;

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Figure 5C illustrates another structure of the LMT field of the present invention

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^ 30 according to the embodiment; FIG. 6A illustrates a structure of a connection information table (LIT) field according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6B illustrates the structure of a LIT field according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating a method for interpreting the LMT field and the LIT field according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7B is a flowchart illustrating a method for interpreting the LMT field and the LIT field according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a broadcast service transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast service transmission method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a broadcast service receiving apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

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FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of receiving a broadcast service in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, δ

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A preferred embodiment

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According to an aspect of the present invention, a transmission service apparatus for transmitting a broadcast service is provided, comprising: a broadcast service data packetizing unit that packets at least one type of broadcast data to generate at least 6 one broadcast data packet; a transmission packet generating unit which generates at least one transport packet to transmit at least one broadcast data packet; a transmission frame generating unit generating a transmission frame of a predetermined size to transfer at least one broadcast service 5 formed in at least one transport packet; and a transmission unit transmitting a transmission frame, wherein the transmission frame generating unit generates a transmission frame such that service usage information for using at least one broadcast service transmitted along the transmission frame is included in the transmission frame. This feature is characterized in that the service usage information comprises location information about the next location of the service usage information in the next transmission frame.

The transport frame may comprise at least one virtual data channel, which is separated by data types. Each of these at least one virtual data channel 15 may comprise at least one channel comprising at least one transport packet.

The service usage information may comprise a location map table (LMT) comprising information indicating the physical location of the sub-data channels corresponding to the service components that make up the at least one broadcast service included in the transport frame and the connection information table (LIT) comprising the transport service information.

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The 25 LMT may comprise type information indicating the types of v data transmitted over the frame, version information indicating the version of the LMT, number information of the sub-data channels δ indicating the sub-data corresponding to each data type.

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The number of channels, and channel pointer information indicating the positions of the sub-data channels.

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The LMT may further comprise at least one copy of the number of identical LMT versions indicating the number of LMTs having the same version as the LMT, indicating the LMT pointer information, indicating additional LMT information, the number of extra data portions associated with at least one broadcast service; and the location of the extra data indicating the extra data pointer information.

The LIT may comprise the number of service information indicating the number of broadcast services transmitted over the transport frame, the version information indicating the version of L1J, and the configuration of the service information free service broadcasting services.

The service information may comprise LMT index numbers allocated to channel pointer information indicating the positions of the sub-data channels.

The transmitting unit may generate and transmit an ATSC frame incorporating at least one of the transmission frames described above.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of transmitting a broadcast service, comprising the steps of: packing ai-20 at least one type of broadcast data to generate at least one broadcast data packet; generating at least one transport packet for transmitting at least one broadcast data packet; generating a transmission frame of predetermined size for transmitting at least one broadcast service formed with at least one transport packet; and transmitting a transport frame, wherein the transport frame is generated to include service usage information v for using at least one broadcast service transmitted along the transport frame.

A feature of this feature is that the service usage information comprises

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£ location information on the next location of the service usage information in the> g frame.

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According to another aspect of the present invention, a broadcast service receiving apparatus is provided comprising: a receiver unit receiving a transmission frame having a predetermined size; a transport frame processing unit, which obtains service usage information from the transport frame to use at least one broadcast service, and further obtains at least one transport packet from the transport frame to transport at least one broadcast data-5 packet using the service usage information; a transport packet processing unit that processes at least one transport packet to obtain at least one broadcast data packet from at least one transport packet; and a broadcast data processing unit that processes at least one broadcast data packet. This feature is characterized in that the service usage information comprises 10 location information about the next location of the service usage information in the following transmission frame.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a broadcast service receiver method is provided, comprising: receiving a transmission frame having a predetermined size; acquiring service usage information from the transport frame to use at least one broadcast service, and further providing at least one transport packet from the transport frame to transport at least one broadcast data packet using the service usage information; processing at least one transport packet to obtain at least one broadcast data packet 20 from the at least one transport packet; and processing at least one broadcast data packet. A feature of this feature is that the service usage information comprises location information on the next location of the service usage information in the next transmission frame.

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° 25 Embodiment of the Invention δ This application claims priority in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60 / 917,776, filed May 14, 2007, and U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60 / 974,321, filed September 21, 2007, σ> g. 30 to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the priority for Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0077165, filed July 31, 2007, and Korean Patent Application Number 10-2007-00124371, filed December 9, 2007, to the Korean Intellectual Property Office , the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show exemplary embodiments of the invention.

The present invention is used in deterministic environments in which broadcast services are provided by periodically transmitting frames of 10 fixed size, i.e., fixed size. In the specification, frames having a constant size are called transfer frames.

Figure 3 illustrates the structure of a transfer frame 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

15

Referring to Figure 3, according to that embodiment of the present invention, the transmission frame 300 includes a service information area 310 and a data area 320. As shown in Figure 3, the transmission frame 300 may be included and transmitted as part of a broadcast system 20 other than the transmission system 300. transmission frame, for example, as part of the ATSC frame of an ATSC broadcast system. Alternatively, the transmission frame 300 may be independently transmitted or linked one-to-one for transmission to a transmission stream of a broadcast system other than a transmission-oo frame 300 transmission system.

° 25 i v The data area 320 of the transmission stream 300 is divided into virtual data channels, which are separated by a data type. Virtual data channels mean the channels for which the channels used to transmit the data stream are physically categorized according to the data type. Each of the virtual data channels can be shared

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g for 30 independent sub-data channels. Each sub-data channel consists of at least one transport packet, which is a mini unit of packetized data stream in the transport layer.

10

The service information area 310 includes service usage information for using data generated by the broadcast service, the data being transmitted along the transmission frame 300. Service usage information may be implemented such that it is periodically located within a predetermined area within the frame, as shown in Figure 3. Additionally, current service usage information may include information on the location of the next service usage information to control the period where the service usage information is embedded in the frame or the usage information is included in the frame.

10

Figure 4 illustrates the structure of the transfer frame 300 in more detail in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 illustrates the structure of a transfer frame 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, each of the virtual data channels 320 of the data area 320 shown in FIG. 3 is divided into sub-data channels and the channels form a service. Referring to FIG. 4, according to this embodiment, transmission frame 400 includes a signaling packet 410 (or virtual signaling data channel), real-time virtual media data channel 420, virtual IP data channel 430, and virtual object data channel n 440.

20

Each of the virtual data channels in Figure 4 is divided into sub-data channels. The structure of the transport frame 400 shown in Figure 4 is based on the assumption that real-time media data, IF data, and object data are described as three types of data.

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Referring to FIG. 4, real-time virtual media data channel 420 includes v first channels R-1 and second sub-data channel R-2, both S for transmitting real-time media data such as A / V streams. Virtual IP

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The data channel 430 includes a sub-data channel IP-1 for transmitting IP data. The virtual object data channel 440 includes a first sub-data channel O-1, a second

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g 30 sub-data channel 0-2, third sub-data channel 0-3, and fourth sub-data channel 0-4, which are used to transfer object data used in real time or after it has been received and stored by the broadcast service reception apparatus.

A single service includes at least one service component. Accordingly, in order to provide the service to the user, the broadcast service receiving apparatus should receive the service components that constitute the service. The sub-data channel is the path along which an individual service component is transmitted. Thus, in order to use a particular service, the broadcast service receiving apparatus needs to know the locations of the sub-data channels through which the service components that make up the service 10 are transmitted.

The service usage information for using the service components constituting the service is included in the signaling packet 410 of FIG. 4, which corresponds to the service information area 310 of FIG. 3. The signaling packet 410 includes the service usage information illustrated in connection with FIG. As shown in Figure 4, the signaling packet 410 includes a header field, a location map table (LMT) field, a connection information table (UT) field, and a payload.

The LMT field provides information about the configuration and physical locations of the sub frame data channels of the transport frame.

The LIT field provides information about the service configuration, namely how many services are transmitted along the transport frame and along which sub-data channels co each service is transmitted. In other words, LIT denotes information that identifies which, at least one of the number, sub-data channels are used to form a service, δ

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Referring to FIG. 4, the LIT field of signaling packet 410 indicates that service 1, g> service 2, and service 3 are transmitted along a transport frame 400. In addition, the LIT field

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g 30 indicates that service 1 includes first and second real-time virtual media data channel 420 sub-data channels R-1 and R-2, and a third virtual object data channel data channel 0-3.

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Figures 5A and 5B illustrate the structure of an LMT field according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figures 5A and 5B, the LMT field includes, according to this embodiment, a bitmap type field, a version number field, and at least one sub data channel number field.

5

The bitmap type field indicates what data is included in the transport frame that has been transmitted over a predetermined time period. By default, the transport frame transfers object data, audio and video data (A / V), and IP data.

The bitmap type field consists of three bits that can indicate whether A / V data, IP data, and object data are present. For example, bit '1' in the bitmap type field indicates the existence of data corresponding to the bit and bit '0' in the bitmap type field indicates the absence of data corresponding to the bit. Accordingly, when the bitmap type field is '111', A / V data, IP data and object data 15 are all included in the transmission stream. When the bitmap type field is Ό1Γ, A / V data is not included in the transport stream and IP data and object data are both included in the transport stream.

The version number field indicates the LMT field version number.

20

The number of sub-data channels in the number field of the sub-data channels denotes the number of sub-data channels that belong to each type of virtual data channel. The number of sub-data channel numbers corresponds to the number of channel addresses that indicate the physical address of the sub-data channels that belong to each virtual data channel. Referring to FIG. 5A, the channel pointer fields for real-time media data are channel pointer fields between [1, 1 \, the channel pointer to IP data are channel pointer fields between

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£ [/ + 1, A77], and channel pointers for object data are channel pointers between g> [m + 1, ^. Here, /, m and n are integers and greater than or equal to

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g 30 than 0. For example, if real-time media data is not transmitted along the transmission stream, o ° the number of sub-data channels number fields for real-time media data and channel pointer fields for real-time media data may not exist.

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For example, if the bitmap type field has a value of 100 and at least one number of sub-data channels has a field value of 2, two channel pointer fields respectively representing two channel pointer of the two sub-data channels through which real-time media data are transmitted are included. In the LMT field, each channel pointer field contains information indicating the physical location of each sub-data channel. The index index meros can be allocated in order to the fields in the channel address. The index numbers allocated in order to the channel pointer fields of the LMT field are called LMT index numbers.

10 LMT index numbers are not included in the channel pointer fields when a corresponding transmission stream is generated, and instead the broadcast service reception apparatus can allocate LMT index numbers to the channel pointer fields in sequence when interpreting the LMT field. In this case, the LMT index numbers are allocated according to the order without distinction of sub-data channel type.

When the bitmap type field value is 011, the sub-data channel number field value for the IP data is 2, and the sub data channel number field value for the object data is 3, the LMT field can be formed as shown in Figure 5B. In Fig. 20B, the first and second channel pointer fields indicate the positions of the sub-data channels of the IP data and the third to the fifth channel pointer fields indicate the positions of the sub data channels of the object data. Here, from first to fifth, the channel pointers are sequentially numbered as LMT index numbers co from one to five, respectively.

° 25 i v However, the LMT index numbers may alternatively be sequentially allocated to the fields of the channel pointer, as indicated by the virtual pools indicated by the channel pointer fields.

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Depending on the type of £ data channels. In other words, the channels may be individually numbered according to the type of sub-data channels.

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o ° In this case, the first and second channel pointer fields are numbered by index number 1 and index number 2, respectively, and the third, 14 fourth and fifth channel pointer fields are numbered by index numbers 1, 2, and 3. Thus, it is not clear or the third channel pointer field. This problem can be solved by further including the information used to determine whether the corresponding Index number is allocated to the virtual IP data channel or the virtual object data channel. Information indicating which type of virtual data channel the Index Number corresponds to will be described later with reference to Figure 6B.

Figure 5C illustrates the structure of the LMT field 500 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5C, the LMT field 500 according to that embodiment is divided into LMT coverage field 501, version number field 502, signaling packet receive (SEP) flag field 503, LMT edge field 504, SEP pointer field 505, first character field 15 506, A / V- data in a channel pointer field 507, a second character field 508, an IP data channel pointer field 509, a third character field 510, and object data in a channel pointer field 511.

LMT Coverage Field 501 indicates the number of LMT fields having the same number as LMT field 500. For example, if LMT field version is 1 and LMT field 501 has a bit value Ό0001 ', the number of LMT fields whose version is is '1' and transmitted after LMT field 500 is one.

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o ™ 25 Version number field 502 indicates the 500 version of the LMT field.

S The SEP flag field 503 indicates whether the LMT field 500 contains a signaling packet.

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The signaling packet may be extra data for use in transmission frame processing, such as LMT or UT, or it may be extra data associated with O) g 30 streams loaded with services such as Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) o ° or Electronic Service Guide (ESG). ). When the bit value of the SEP flag field 503 is '1', the SEP flag field 505 which indicates the location of the signaling packet is adjacent to the SEP flag 15 field 503. LMT edge field 504 indicates the set of packets affected by LMT field 500. For example, if the LMT edge field 504 can indicate the address of the last packet that affects the LMT field 500, or the number of packets that affect the LMT field 500.

5 When the LMT edge field 504 indicates the address of the last packet that affects the LMT field 500, the packets located in the addresses before the address of the last packet are defined as the packets that affect the LMT field 500. This means that the new LMT field occurs at the following from the address provided by the LMT edge field 504. Accordingly, the use of LMT-10 edge field 504 allows for easy prediction of the location of the next LMT field.

The SEP indicator field 505 indicates the location of the signaling packet.

The first character field 506 indicates whether a sub-data channel exists. When the value of the first character field 506 is '1', the channel pointer appears next to the first character field 506. Referring to FIG. 5C, the first character field 506 indicates the existence of an A / V sub-data channel.

The A / V data channel indicator field 507 indicates the location of the A / V sub-data channel.

The second character field 508 indicates whether an additional sub-data channel exists.

When the value of the second character field 508 is '1', the channel pointer appears next to the second character field 508. Referring to FIG. 5C, a second character field 508 indicates the existence of an IP sub-data channel of 25 °.

S The IP data channel indicator field 509 indicates the location of the IP sub-data channel.

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g> The third character field 510 indicates whether an additional sub-data channel exists,

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g 30 like the second character field 508. When the value of the third character field 510 is 0 ° '1', the channel pointer appears next to the third character field 510. Referring to FIG. 16, FIG. 5C, a third character field 510 indicates the existence of an object data channel.

The object data channel n indicator field 511 indicates the object data channel location-5 n.

The broadcast service receiving apparatus may know the number of sub-data channels using the first, second and third characters 506, 508 and 510, and know the locations of the sub-data channels using the first, second and third channel-10 spammers 507, 509 and 511.

Fig. 6A illustrates the structure of a LU field according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6A, according to this embodiment, the LIT field includes a service number field, a version number field, and at least one service field indicating at least one service.

The service number field indicates, in accordance with the present invention, the number of services included in a single transmission frame.

20 The version number field indicates the version of the LIT field.

Each service field contains a service identification field (SID) and at least one LMT index number field. As in the above-described LIT field structure, at least one LMT index number field indicates at least one number allocated to at least one channel pointer. Accordingly, v the broadcast service receiving equipment may, by interpreting the LIT field, know δ the physical addresses of the sub-data channels corresponding to the desired service

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£ transfer frame.

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g 30 Suppose, for example, that the broadcast service reception apparatus interprets a received traffic stream signaling packet, wherein the LMT field as shown in Figure 5B and the A7 service field in Figure 6A includes a first LMT-17 index number field and a second LMT index number field the values of the index number fields are 2 and 5, respectively. In this case, the broadcast service receiving apparatus interprets the rr service as a service that includes data included in the physical location sub-channel indicated by the second 5 channel pointer field of Figure 5B, and data included in the physical location sub-slot indicated by the fifth channel pointer field 5B. Accordingly, when this service is desired, the broadcast service receiving apparatus does not process all the transmission packets included in the transmission stream, but instead processes only the data transmitted in the transmission packets of the sub-channels of the physical locations indicated by the second and fifth channel pointer fields.

Figure 6B illustrates the structure of a UT field according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6B, according to this embodiment, the LIT field includes a service number field, a version number field, and at least one service field indicating at least one service.

Each service field contains a SID and at least one channel information-20 field.

For example, suppose the LMT field of the transmission stream is as depicted in Figure 5B and the sequential LMT index numbers are independently allocated to co channel pointer fields by sub-data channels indicated by the channel pointer fields.

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™ 25 according to type. In other words, the sub-data channels are independently T numbered by index numbers according to the data types. Further, it is assumed that the n service depicted in Fig. 6B includes two sub-data channels. Accordingly

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S The nth service field of Figure 6B includes a first channel information field g} and a second channel information field.

O) g 30 o S In this case, the first and second channel pointer fields shown in Fig. 5B corresponding to sub-data channels of IP data are numbered, respectively, by index number 1 and index number 2, and Fig. 5B shows the third, fourth and fifth channel pointer fields, which correspond to the sub-data channels of the ob object data are numbered, respectively, by index numbers 1, 2, and 3.

5

Each channel information field includes a type information field and an LMT index number field.

The type information field consists of a candy bit and indicates its sub-data-10 channel type, which corresponds to the LMT index number. The data value '01' of the type information field may indicate that the sub-data channel corresponding to the LMT index number is an IP data sub-data channel. On the other hand, the data value '10' of the type information field may indicate that the sub-data channel corresponding to the LMT index number is an object data sub-data channel.

15 The LMT index number field consists of five bits.

When the value of the first channel information field is 000100010 ', the two upper bits indicate the virtual IP sub-data channel and the 5 subbits indicate the channel-20 pointer, which has the LMT index number 2. Accordingly, it is known that the n \ s service contains data the physical location indicated here ai germinate channel n.

co When the value of the second channel information field is' 1000011, the two upper bits denote the virtual object I germinate the channel and the 5 subbits denote the channel pointer having LMT index number 3. Accordingly, it is known that the S A7 service contains also data included in the fifth channel section

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£ denotes the physical location of the channel to spawn channel n.

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As a result, when this service is desired, the broadcast service receiving apparatus does not process all the transmission packets included in the transmission stream, but instead processes only the data transmitted by the physical locations indicated by the second and 19th channel pointer fields. alidata channel channels, thus processing the broadcast data quickly and efficiently.

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating a method for interpreting an LMT field and an LIT field in a broadcast service receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The LMT field is transmitted at regular intervals and is located within a predetermined area of the transport frame.

Referring to FIG. 7A, in operation S701, when a broadcast service receiving apparatus receives a transmission frame, it obtains and interprets a signaling packet containing service usage information located in a predetermined area of the transmission frame.

In operation S703, the broadcast service reception apparatus determines whether the LMT field is present in the signaling packet. If it is determined in operation S703 that the LMT field does not exist in the signaling packet, it is determined whether the previous LMT field is stored in the broadcast service receiving apparatus in operation S705. If it is determined in operation S705 that the previous LMT field is present in the receiving service of the broadcast service, then the method continues from operation S711.

If in operation S703 it is determined that the LMT field is present in the signaling packet, based on the version information in the LMT field ° 25 in the broadcast service, the receiving apparatus determines whether the v version of the LMT field is updated. If it is determined in operation S707 that the LMT field is updated, the LMT field is interpreted in operation S709. By interpreting the LMT field

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In operation S709, information about channel positions is obtained or gotten.

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In operation S711, the broadcast service reception apparatus determines whether the LIT field is present in the signaling packet. If it is determined in operation S711 that the LIT field does not exist in the signaling packet, then it is determined whether the previous 20 UT fields are present in the broadcast service receiving apparatus in operation S713. If it is determined in operation S713 that the previous LIT field is present in the receiving service of the broadcast service, then the method continues from operation 3719.

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If it is determined in operation S711 that the UT field is present in the signaling packet, the broadcast service reception apparatus determines, based on the version information in the LIT field, in operation S715 whether the version of the LIT field is updated. If it is determined in operation S715 that the LIT field is updated, the LIT field is interpreted in operation S717. By interpreting the LIT field in operation S717, connection information, i.e. service configuration information, for each service is obtained.

In operation S719, services are obtained from the results of the interpretations 15 of the LMT field and the LIT field, and then processed.

Fig. 7B is a flowchart illustrating a method for interpreting the LMT field and the LIT field according to another embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 7B, the location of the LMT field and the cycle by which the LMT field is inserted into the transport 20 frame are varied. The operations of Fig. 7B, indicated by the same reference numerals as in Fig. 7A, are the same and therefore their detailed ironing is omitted.

Referring to Fig. 7B, in operation S720, the LMT field is extracted from the transport frame frame according to the LMT pointer information extracted from the previous LMT field.

v LMT pointer information indicates the location of the next LMT field. Accordingly, even if the LMT field is not succeeded in pre-setting the transport frame

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£ for a specific area, the LMT field can be easily distinguished from the transport frame.

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In operation S703, the broadcast service receiving apparatus determines whether the LMT field is capable of accommodating the address indicated by the LMT pointer information. If it is determined in operation S703 that the LMT field exists at the address indicated by the LMT pointer information, the method continues in operation S730. When the LMT field does not occur at the location indicated by the LMT pointer information, it indicates a case where the LMT field is omitted and a case where an error is generated in the LMT field.

5

Operation S730 determines whether the previous LMT field is valid based on the number of identical LMT versions in the previous LMT field. The fact that the previous LMT field is valid means that the previous LMT field can be used continuously. If operation S730 specifies that the previous LMT field is valid, the method continues with operation S711.

In the description, the number information of identical LMT versions denotes the number of LMT fields having an identical version. For example, suppose that the previous LMT field is called the first LMT field. The number of identical LMT versions included in the first LMT field denotes the number of LMTs having the same version as the first LMT field that are transmitted (or received) after the first LMT field. If the number information of identical LMT versions included in the first LMT-20 field is '3', there are three LMTs that have the same version as the first LMT field. Accordingly, when the number information of identical LMT versions included in the LMT field is greater than or equal to '1', the LMT field version included in its current frame is the same as the version of the first ™ 25 LMT field, and thus packets can be v processed using the first LMT field.

δ

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Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a broadcasting service transmission apparatus g1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, broadcast service equipment 800 of the broadcast service includes, according to this embodiment, a broadcast data packing unit 810, a transmission packet 22 generating unit 820, a transmission frame generating unit 830, and a transmission unit 840.

Broadcast data packing unit 810 packets at least one type 5 broadcast data to generate at least one broadcast data packet. Broadcast data includes application data such as real-time media data (e.g., A / V power), IP data, object data, etc., and signaling data such as program-specific information (PSI), service information (SI), and metadata. For example, application data may be packaged in accordance with MPEG-4 system 10 standards.

The transport packet generating unit 820 generates at least one transport packet to transmit at least one broadcast data packet. The transport packet may be the same size as the MPEG-2 transport stream packet. However, according to one embodiment of the present invention where the service usage information is included in a predetermined area of the transport frame, there is no need to include the packet identifier in the transport packet, such as the PID in the MPEG-2 transport stream packet. Similarly, according to another embodiment of the present invention, where the service usage information is not included in a predetermined area of the transport frame, the packet identifier is not required to be included in the transport packet because the service usage information contains information about the location of the next service usage information.

co The transmission frame generating unit 830 generates a transport frame having a preset

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A specified size to transmit at least one broadcast service formed using the generated at least one transport packet. As shown in FIG. 4, the transmission frame generating unit 830 forms at least one transmission frame.

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Packet to at least one sub-data channel and generate a transmission frame containing at least one sub-data channel.

σ> 8 30 o

The transmission frame generating unit 830 generates a transmission frame so that service usage information for using at least one broadcast service, which 23 broadcast services are transmitted along the transmission frame, is included in the transmission frame. To accomplish this function, the transmission frame generation unit 830 may include a service usage information generation unit 832 for generating service usage information.

5

As described above, service usage information can be transmitted by including it in a predetermined area of the transport frame, for example, the first packet of the transport frame. By pinpointing the location of the service usage information, the broadcast service receiving apparatus can easily receive service usage information included in the transmission frame. However, service usage information is not necessarily included in a predetermined area of the transport frame. This is because the following service usage information can be readily received utilizing the information included in the current service usage information about the location of the next service usage information 15.

The transport frame includes at least a virtual channel, which is distinguished from the others based on the data type. Each of the at least one virtual channel includes at least one sub-data channel. The sub-data channel is responsible for each of at least one of the 20 service components that make up the broadcast service in the transport frame.

Service usage information includes an LMT, which indicates the location of each sub-data channel included in the transport frame, and a UT, which indicates information on the configuration of at least one broadcast service transmitted over the transport frame.

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The LMT includes type information indicating the type of data transmitted over the transmission frame, version information indicating the LMT version, sub-data g 30 channel information indicating the number of sub-data channels corresponding to each data type, and channel pointer information, indicates the position of each sub-data channel. The LMT may further include at least one number of 24 identical LMT versions indicating the number of LMTs having an identical version, LMT pointer information indicating the location of the next LMT, additional data number information indicating at least one broadcast service associated with the number, and extra data pointer information indicating the location of each additional data part.

The LIT includes the number of service information indicating the number of broadcast services transmitted over the frame, the version information indicating the 10 LIT version, and the service information indicating the configuration of each service. The service information includes an index number allocated to the channel pointer information included in the LMT. If the index numbers are sequentially allocated to the channel pointer information but independently, according to the type of sub-data channels, the channel pointer addressed service-15 format may include type information and index numbers, as described above. In this case, the type information indicates which type of compressed channel but the corresponding index number is attached.

The transmission unit 840 transmits, in sequence, a series of transmission frames generated in the transmission frame generating unit 830, at a predetermined time interval. The transmission unit 840 may generate an ATSC frame in which at least one transmission frame is included and transmit the ATSC frame in accordance with the ATSC system standard.

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FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast service transmission method v performed in a broadcast service transmission apparatus of FIG. 8, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

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g] Referring to Figs. 8 and 9, at S910, the broadcast data packetizing unit 810 of the broadcast service transmitter g 30 packets at least one of these packets.

° type broadcast data thereby generating at least one generic broadcast data

In operation S920, the transmission packet generating unit 820 generates at least one transmission packet to transmit at least one broadcast data packet.

In operation S930, the transmission frame generating unit 830 generates a transmission frame 5 of a predetermined size to transmit at least one broadcast service constructed using the at least one transmission packet generated. In operation S930, the transmission frame is generated such that service usage information for using at least one broadcast service transmitted along the transmission frame is included in the transmission frame.

10

In operation S940, the transmission unit 840 transmits a series of transmission frames generated in the transmission frame generating unit 830. The transmission frames may be transmitted in sequence, at a predetermined time interval.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a broadcast service receiving apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 10, according to that embodiment, the broadcast service receiving apparatus 1000 includes a receiving unit 1010, a transmission frame processing unit 1020, a transmission packet processing unit 1030, a broadcast 20 processing data processing unit 1040, and a user input unit 1050.

The receiving unit 1010 receives at least one transport frame having a predetermined size. The receiving unit 1010 may be configured to receive an ATSC frame and obtain at least one transport frame c3 from the ATSC frame.

i o The transport frame processing unit 1020 obtains a service from the transport frame usage information to access at least one broadcast service. Thereafter, the transport frame processing unit 1020 obtains from the transport frame σ> g 30 at least one transport packet to transport at least one broadcast data packet using service usage information. If the service usage information is located within a predetermined area of the received transport frame, the transport frame processing unit 1020 obtains the service usage information from a predetermined area of the received transport frame. On the other hand, if the service usage information is not located within a predetermined area of the received transmission frame, the transmission frame processing unit 1020 obtains service usage information from the received transmission frame based on the location information contained in the previous service usage information. The location information included in the current service usage information denotes information relating to the location of the next service usage information.

More specifically, the transport frame processing unit 1020 interprets the LMT field and the LIT field, which are service usage information, thereby accessing the sub-data channels of each service. When one of the plurality of services transmitted along the transport frame is selected, the transport frame processing unit 1020 transmits the transport packet processing unit 1030, transport packets included in the 15 sub-data channels that constitute the selected service.

The operation of selecting a service from a service transmitted from a plurality of transmission frames may be performed on a user input unit 1050 based on a user input signal received. When the user selects a service, only 20 transport packets contained in the sub-data channels that make up the selected service can be transmitted to the transport packet processing unit 1030 and processed further. Accordingly, there is no need for a conventional operation to interpret all PIDs included in transport packets and to filter only transport packets having a predetermined PID.

° 25 i v The transport packet processing unit 1030 processes the at least one transport packet received from the transport frame processing unit 1020, thereby obtaining

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£ at least one broadcast data packet from at least one transport packet. The transfer g] packet processing unit 1030 may further include a header change unit o g 30 (not shown). When errors occur in the acquired broadcast data packet, the initial exchange name of the invalid broadcast data packet changes to the predetermined value of the initial name of the broadcast data packet. In this case, the header change unit may change the value of the header value of the 27 invalid broadcast data packets to the value of the header, which the header of the generic packets cannot have. For example, the initial name of an invalid broadcast data packet may include both information indicating that the invalid broadcast data packet is not the first packet and information indicating that the decoding information is included in the invalid broadcast data packet. The above header of the invalid broadcast data packet is invalid because decoding information is assumed to be transmitted in the first packet. According to the present invention, an invalid packet can be detected without the use of bits, contrary to the conventional way in which bits are used to indicate an invalid packet. Thus, the amount of data to be transmitted can be reduced.

The broadcast data processing unit 1040 processes at least one broadcast data packet. The broadcast data processing unit 1040 may be imple-15-encoded as a decoder in accordance with the MPEG-4 system standard for processing encoded broadcast data.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a receive service of a broadcast service in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

20

Referring to Figure 11, operation S1110 receives at least one transport frame having a predetermined size.

In operation SI 120, service usage information for using at least one broadcast service 25 is acquired from a transport frame and at least one transport packet v for transporting at least one broadcast data packet is also obtained from a transport frame using service usage information.

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g] In operation SI 130, at least one transport packet is processed such that at least one broadcast data packet is acquired from at least one transport packet.

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In operation SI 140, the broadcast data packet is processed.

28

The invention may also be carried out in machine language codes in machine language storage media. Functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily constructed by programmers of ordinary skill in the art. The machine-language tal-5 flight media is any data storage device that stores data that can then be read by a computer system. Examples of machine language media include hard disk drive (ROM), random access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic cassettes, floppy disks, optical disks, flash memories, and so on. The machine-language storage media may also be distributed over a network connected to the computer 10 system, such that the machine-language code is stored and executed in a distributed style.

Although the present invention has been specifically shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many changes in form and detail can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

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Claims (9)

A broadcasting device for a broadcasting service comprising: a broadcasting service data packing unit (S810), which packets at least one type of broadcasting data to generate at least one broadcasting packet (S910); a transmission packet generation unit (S820) which generates at least one transmission packet for transmitting at least one broadcast data packet 10 (S920); a transmission frame generation unit (S830), which generates a transmission frame of a predetermined size, for transmitting at least one broadcast service formed in at least one transmission packet (S930); and a transmission unit (S840) transmitting the transmission frame (S940) wherein the transmission frame generating unit generates the transmission frame so that the service usage information for use of the at least one broadcast transmission service transmitted through the transmission frame is included in the transmission frame that the CO service usage information includes position information on the following position for the service usage information in the following transfer frame. CC CL σ> 2. Broadcasting method for a broadcast service, wherein: σ> LO 0) at least one type of broadcast data is packaged to generate at least one broadcast data packet (S910); 34 at least one transmission packet is generated to transmit at least one broadcast data packet (S920); a transmission frame of a predetermined size is generated for transmission of at least one broadcast service which is formed with at least one transmission packet (S930); and a transmission frame (S940) is transmitted, wherein the transmission frame is generated to include the service usage information for use of the at least one broadcast service transmitted through the transmission frame, characterized in that the service usage information includes position information about the position of the service usage information in the service frame. the following transmission frame. The broadcast method of a broadcast service according to claim 2, wherein the service usage information includes a position map table (LMT) which contains information indicating a physical position of the subchannels corresponding to the service components forming the service frame included in the transmission frame and at least one broadcast service. a contact information table (LIT) containing information related to the configuration of the at least one broadcast transmission service included in the transmission frame. v 25 δ 4. Broadcasting method for a broadcast service according to claim 3, wherein | The LMT contains type information indicating the type of data transmitted via the g> transmission frame, version information indicating the version of the LMT, σ> g number information about the sub-data channels indicating the number of sub-data channels corresponding to each data type, and the channel pointer information indicating the sub-data channel positions. 35 The broadcasting method of a broadcast service according to claim 4, wherein the LMT further contains at least one piece of identical LMT version number information indicating the number of LMTs having the same version as in question LMT, LMT pointer information indicating the location of the following LMT, number information for supplementary data indicating the number of additional data portions associated with at least one broadcast service, and the pointer information of the supplementary data indicating the positions of the supplementary data. The broadcasting method of a broadcasting service according to claim 4, wherein LIT contains number information about the services indicating the number of broadcasting services transmitted via the transmission frame, version information indicating the LTT version, and service information indicating the broadcasting services configuration. 15 The broadcast method of a broadcast service according to claim 6, wherein the service information comprises LMT index numbers which are allocated to the pointer information of the channel indicating the positions of the sub-data channels. A reception method for a broadcast service, wherein: a predetermined size transmission frame 20 (SI 110) is received; from the transmission frame, service usage information is provided for use of at least one broadcast service, and furthermore, from the transmission frame, at least one transmission packet for transmitting at least one broadcast data packet is provided using the service's usage information (S 1120); X tr □ _ o, at least one transmission packet is processed to obtain at least one C \ 1 g broadcast transmission packet from at least one transmission packet (S1130); and O) § 30 C \ 1 at least one broadcast data packet (SI 140) is processed 36 characterized in that the service usage information includes position information on the following position for the service usage information in the following transmission frame. 9. Machine medium storage medium on which a program is stored as a reception method for a broadcast service, wherein: a transmission frame of a predetermined size (SI 110) is received; from the transmission frame, service usage information is provided for using at least one broadcast service, and furthermore, from the transmission frame, at least one transmission packet is provided for transmitting at least one broadcast transmission packet using the service's usage information (S1120); at least one transmission packet is processed to obtain at least one broadcast data packet from at least one transmission packet (S1130); and at least one broadcast transmission packet (SI 140) is characterized in that the CO δ ™ 25 service usage information includes position information of the following position for the service usage information in the following transmission frame. X cc CL CD C \ l O) m O) o o CM