JP2000236499A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast receiver that attains continuous recording by automatically selecting a program with high propriety when detecting the end of a program that is being recorded. SOLUTION: The digital broadcast receiver is provided with a demodulation section 11 that demodulates a digital broadcast signal supplied from an antenna to output a stream signal including a plurality of program signals in response to the signal configuration, an automatic selection function 28 that automatically selects one program signal among a plurality of program signals when the program of the digital broadcast signal is finished and a decoding section 17 that decodes this program signal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, digital broadcasting has been widely put into practical use. In digital broadcasting, signals having various service forms such as video, audio, and data are encoded, packetized, and multiplex-transmitted. Can be realized.

[0003] MPEG-2, which is an international standard, is used for video and audio encoding systems and their multiplexing systems. Actually, as an example of applying these MPEG standards to a digital broadcasting system, there is a DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) standard established in Europe. The DVB standard is now widely adopted worldwide as a de facto industry standard for satellite / cable / terrestrial digital broadcasting systems. In particular, regarding the multiplexing method, TS (Tr) which is a multiplex signal format of the MPEG2 system is used.
ansport Stream). In the TS standard of the MPEG2 system, PSI (Program Specific Information) describing the configuration of a plurality of multiplexed programs and the like.
Defines the transmission format of demultiplexing information called
Video and audio are multiplexed and transmitted in fixed-length packets. P
In the SI, a PAT (Program Associat) that describes a transmission identifier of detailed information of each program for all multiplexed programs.
ion table) and a PMT (Program Map Table) that describes detailed information such as the configuration of each program and its transmission identifier.

[0004] In DVB, in addition to this PSI, MPEG
SI (Service In
A new format for transmission of related information of the broadcasting service called "formation" is newly defined and multiplexed. For example, there are an SDT (Service Definition Table) describing detailed information of a service (logical channel), an EIT (Event Information Table) describing detailed information of a program, and the like.

On the receiving side, various functions can be provided to the user by acquiring and using such information.

[0006] A receiving apparatus for receiving and decoding such a digital broadcast signal is particularly called a set-top box or an IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder).

When digitally recording a digital broadcast signal, a storage medium such as a DVCR, HDD, or DVD may be connected to the IRD via a digital interface such as IEEE 1394 and used. Methods for designating digital broadcast recording include reservation recording for each program and normal recording for each service (logical channel). In the normal recording, the user usually designates the recording start from an arbitrary timing including the middle of the program, and is continuously executed as long as there is a remaining amount of the storage medium until the user designates the recording stop at an arbitrary timing. .

[0008] In the digital broadcasting, a usage form in which signals having different video formats are switched in a time-division manner, such as HDTV / multi-SDTV, in a transmission band, is assumed. It is called broadcasting. FIG. 1 shows an example. In this example, the program A, the program B, and the program C
Are transferring one program. Further, in the next time zone (T2), the program X and the program Y having a slightly higher image quality are transferred.

As described above, in the mixed broadcast, there is a high possibility that the video format of the program and the component configuration in the program have changed before and after the change of the broadcast. For this reason, it is not possible to specify which program to view after the configuration change, that is, after program A, which of program X and program Y should be viewed, and the user gives an instruction to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus. Otherwise, there is a possibility that an unwanted program may be selected and recorded. Therefore, if there is a change in the composition during viewing or recording of digital broadcasting, the user must actively re-designate the program or component. Without this operation, continuous recording in mixed broadcasting cannot be performed. Come.

[0010]

In the above-described digital broadcast receiving apparatus and the image recording / reproducing apparatus including the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, when recording a digital broadcast signal by mixed broadcast, the user actively records the digital broadcast signal after the change in the broadcast. There is a problem that continuous recording cannot be performed unless the program is specified again.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a digital broadcast receiving apparatus capable of enabling continuous recording by automatically selecting a highly appropriate program when the end of a program currently being recorded is detected. With the goal.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided an output means for outputting a stream signal containing one or a plurality of program signals to a recording device, and when the program contained in the stream signal ends, the recording means A digital broadcast receiver, comprising: automatic selection means for automatically selecting a predetermined program signal to be output to the apparatus from the stream signals and outputting from the output means.

According to the present invention, the automatic selecting means
When the program of the digital broadcast being recorded ends, this is detected and the program signal of the next program is automatically selected.
The most appropriate program is assigned. This allows
This eliminates the need for the user to specify a required program, and enables continuous image recording when recording an image using the image recording / reproducing apparatus.

The present invention further comprises output control setting means for setting in advance the control of the output of the program signal decoded by the decoding means. It is a digital broadcast receiving device described.

According to the present invention, the output control setting means makes it possible for a user to input in advance what information is to be selected by a user.

According to the present invention, there is provided an output unit for outputting a stream signal including one or a plurality of program signals to a recording device, and an end of a program of the digital broadcast signal demodulated by the demodulation unit, for example, to the stream signal. EIT added
(Event Information Table), automatic selection means for automatically selecting a predetermined program signal from one or more program signals of the stream signal, and the predetermined program selected by the automatic selection means. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: decoding means for decoding a signal.

According to the present invention, the automatic selection means
The end of the program of the digital broadcast signal is detected by referring to information in an EIT (Event Information Table) added to the stream signal. Thereby, by automatically selecting the subsequent program signal, the operation of inputting the program selection information by the user as in the related art, for example, to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus is not required, and the image recording / reproducing apparatus is not required. Is connected to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus, a continuous program can be recorded.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) In the first embodiment, a case will be described in which a specific service (program) in a multiplex signal is recorded, and continuous automatic recording is performed before and after a subsequent change in composition.

FIG. 2 shows a digital broadcast receiving apparatus (hereinafter, IRD). This IRD comprises a tuner 10 connected to the antenna, a demodulator 11 and a FEC decoder 12
A descrambler 13, a selector 14 connected thereto, a second selector 25 linked to the selector,
It has a broadcast program selector 16 and a reproduced program selector 26 connected thereto. The system further includes a microcontroller 22 connected to the terminals of the selectors 25 and 14, a SIT creation unit 29, a DIT creation unit 30 for outputting discontinuity information, a transport processor 15, and a discontinuity information detection unit. , An automatic reproduction program selector 28, a program-related information reproducer 19, an MPEG video decoder 17,
It has an MPEG / AC3 audio decoder 18 and an adder 21.

In such a system configuration, the RF digital broadcast signal input from the antenna terminal is
The signal is input to the demodulator 11 via 0. A / D in demodulator 11
After the conversion, for example, a signal that has been subjected to digital modulation processing on the transmission side, such as QAM or QPSK, is demodulated and subjected to FEC (error correction).
Output to the decoder 12. The FEC decoder 12 decodes a signal that has been subjected to convolutional coding such as Viterbi coding or RS (Reed-Solomon) coding on the transmitting side and outputs the signal to a descrambler 13. The descrambler 13 descrambles the scrambled video or audio signal of the designated program based on the scramble key, and outputs the descrambled signal to the transport processor 15 via the selector 14.

The transport processor 15 selects a predetermined service specified by a broadcast program selector 16 such as a remote controller from a plurality of services (broadcast programs) which have been multiplexed in a TS format. The video and audio signals constituting the program are demultiplexed and depacketized to return to the respective compressed signals, which are output to the MPEG video decoder 17 and the MPEG / AC3 audio decoder 18. In addition, it also separates program-related information such as PSI and SI multiplexed together with video and audio, and outputs it to the program-related information reproducer 19.

In the MPEG video decoder 17, D
While storing decoded video frames in a RAM (not shown), a signal coded by the MPEG2 video high-efficiency coding method is decoded and output as Y, Cb, and Cr digital component signals. Then, if necessary, the graphic output of the OSD processor 20 and the adder 21 are superimposed and output. Similarly, the audio is compressed and decoded by the MPEG / AC3 audio decoder 18 and output.

When the IRD performs analog output, the video output of the adder 21 is converted into an NTSC analog composite signal via an NTSC encoder, for example, and output. The output of the MPEG / AC3 audio decoder 18 is output to an audio D / A unit, converted into an analog audio signal, and output.

In order to appropriately perform these signal processes, a microcontroller 22 is prepared to support peripheral devices. For example, microcontroller 2
2, the PSI reproduced by the program-related information reproducer 19 in accordance with the service designation input from the broadcast program selector 16 or the like.
The data is analyzed and transmission identifiers such as video and audio constituting the designated service (program) are set in the transport processor 15. Further, it analyzes related information necessary for the descrambling process, and sets this transmission identifier in the descrambler 13. Further, the MPEG video decoder 1
7. It controls the reproduction operation of peripheral circuits such as the MPEG / AC3 audio decoder 18, the program-related information reproducer 19, and the OSD processor 20. In particular, the OSD processor 20 is instructed to process and edit the data held and managed by the program-related information reproducer 19 and execute an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) display, if necessary.

The recording / reproducing device 23 is connected to the IRD via a digital interface 24. When recording start of a program of a specific service is designated from a multiplex signal of a digital broadcast being received by a recorded program selector 27 such as a remote controller, the microcontroller 22 receiving this notification designates the same as in the case of normal reproduction. The program-related information obtained is analyzed, and each transmission identifier is set in the transport processor 15 and the descrambler 13. As a result, the transport processor 15 demultiplexes necessary signals and outputs them to the recording / reproducing device 23 via the digital interface 24.

In DVB, when a multiplex program is selected (a plurality of programs) and recorded (this stream is called a partial TS) as described above, an SMI (Storage Media Intero) is used.
It specifies that storage-related information called perability table) should be created by IRD and inserted instead of the SI.
The SMI contains an SIT describing information of the program selected for recording.
(Selection Information Table) and DIT (Discontinuity Information Tabl) describing discontinuity information of SI.
e).

The SIT is a transport processor 15 created by extracting and editing only information relating to a program or service selected and recorded from the SI multiplexed in the broadcast signal by the selection information generator 29. Multiplexed.
The DIT is also inserted into the recording stream as an indication of the point where the SI information may become discontinuous in the discontinuity information generator 30.

By the way, in the case of reproduction processing, both the selectors 14 and 25 select and output the input on the recording / reproduction processing side. The transport processor 15 selects a predetermined service specified by a program information selector 26 such as a remote controller from among multiplexed signals in the TS format, and executes The audio signal is demultiplexed, subjected to depacket processing, returned to the respective compressed signals, and converted to the MPEG video decoder 17 and the MPEG /
Output to the AC3 speech decoder 18. In addition, PSI and SIT program-related information multiplexed together with video and audio are separated and output to the program-related information reproducer 19.

By the way, when the program specified as described above ends and a configuration change occurs as shown from T1 to T2 in FIG. 1, the microcontroller 28, the program automatic selector 28, and the program-related information automatic For example, a recording control process as shown in FIG. 3 is executed between the selectors.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining recording control in the first embodiment. In FIG. 3, the microcontroller 28 receives the recording start notification (S1).
1) Unless instructed to stop halfway (S12), program end detection processing is performed (S13), and when this is detected (S12)
14) Automatically select a program, determine a new recording service (program), and start recording again (S15).

Here, the program end detection processing (S13) and the automatic program selection processing (S15) will be described below.

First, the program end detecting process is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, an EIT (Event Information Table) corresponding to the program being recorded by the program-related information reproducer 19 is referred to (S21). If this information is obtained for the first time or the information is updated (S22), The program start time and the program length of the program are acquired (S23). Then, by referring to the timer inside the IRD (S24), it is checked whether the current time has passed the program end time indicated by (start time + program length) (S25), and if it has passed, the program is ended. (S2
6).

In connection with the automatic program selection process, the automatic program selector 28 determines the program to be selected after the end of the program is detected by the procedure shown in FIG. 5, for example.

First, the PMT and EI immediately before the end of the program being listened to which are being reproduced by the program-related information reproducer 19 are displayed.
With reference to T and SDT (S31), if the service (B) or program to be selected next from the service (A) or program selected immediately before the end of the program is described (S32). The selected service immediately after the end of the program is designated as B (S33). If not described (S32), the PAT acquired immediately after the end of the program is referred to (S34), and if the same service as the service (A) selected immediately before the occurrence of the discontinuity is described (S35). ),
The selected service immediately after the occurrence of the discontinuity is designated as A (S3
6). Further, if there is no description (S37), the PAT acquired immediately after the end of the program is referred to, and the first service (C) entered therein is specified (S3).
8).

As described above, after detecting the end of the program currently being listened to, the service (program) to be recorded next is automatically selected and designated, thereby realizing continuous recording with high validity without active designation by the user. it can.

In the above description, in the program end detection processing, the end is considered to be the end of the program when the current time has passed the program end time indicated by (start time + program length). In order not to lose as much as possible, the end detection may be performed earlier by this time in consideration of the time required from the subsequent program automatic selection processing to the start of recording of the next program.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the second embodiment, a case will be described in which a mode can be set to stop listening or recording or continuous automatic listening or recording by user input, and all program recording can be selected in the continuous recording mode. I do.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
In this digital broadcast receiving apparatus, a tuner 10 connected to an antenna, a demodulator 11, and an FEC decoder 1
2, a descrambler 13, a selector 14 connected thereto, and a second selector 25 linked to this selector.
, And a broadcast program selector 16 and a reproduced program selector 26 connected thereto. The system further comprises a microcontroller 22 connected to the terminals of the respective selectors 25 and 14, a SIT creation unit 29, a DIT creation unit 30 for outputting discontinuity information, and a transport processor 15
, A discontinuity information detector 27, and a reproduced program automatic selector 28
, Program-related information reproducer 19 and MPEG video decoder 1
7, an MPEG / AC3 audio decoder 18, and an adder 21
And the microcontroller 22
Is provided with a recording mode designator 32.

The recording mode designator 32 allows the user to determine in advance the recording operation of the IRD after the occurrence of the composition change point. The recording mode designator 32 selects between continuous automatic recording and recording stop. In the recording mode, a specific program record or all program records in a transmission channel is selected.

FIG. 7 shows this recording control. When receiving the recording start notification (S41), the microcontroller 28 performs a program end detection process (S43) unless instructed to stop recording in the middle (S42), and detects this (S4).
4), it is confirmed whether or not a recording reservation exists in this time zone (S45). If there is, this is executed, and if not, the set recording mode is confirmed (S46). If this is the continuous automatic recording mode, it is confirmed whether the recording mode is the specific program recording mode or the entire program recording mode (S47), and if it is the specific program recording mode, it is further confirmed whether there is a designated service (S4).
8). If there is a designated service, the recording is started. If not, a recorded program automatic selection process is performed, a new recording service (program) is determined, and recording is started again (S49). If it is not a specific program record, recording is started as an all program record (S50).

Note that the same processing as in the first embodiment is executed for the program end detection processing (S43) and the recorded program automatic selection processing (S47).

As described above, by enabling the user to set the mode of stopping recording or performing continuous automatic recording, it is possible to realize a recording operation reflecting the user's intention when a composition change point occurs.

In the above description, in the program end detection processing, the end of the program is considered to be ended when the current time has passed the program end time indicated by (start time + program length). In order not to lose as much as possible, the end detection may be performed earlier by this time in consideration of the time required from the subsequent recording program automatic selection processing to the start of recording of the next program.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it goes without saying that it is easy for those skilled in the art to make modifications in many ways within the scope of the invention. Therefore, all of these various modifications should be within the scope of the present invention. For example, not only the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention but also a DVD-RA
Recording / reproducing devices such as M and HDD, and systems derived therefrom are all considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

[0047]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, when recording a digital broadcast signal by mixed broadcast, when the end of the program currently being recorded is detected, the next highly appropriate predetermined record is recorded. By automatically selecting the program, it is possible to continuously record without the user's active selection input before and after the change of the schedule.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a mixed broadcasting set handled by a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating recording control according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for detecting the end of a program.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of automatic selection of a recorded program;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing a processing procedure of recording control according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Tuner, 11: Demodulator, 12: FEC decoder,
13 descrambler, 14 selector, 15 transport processor, 16 broadcast program selector, 17 MPE
G video decoder, 18 ... MPEG audio decoder, 19 ...
Program related information reproducer, 20 OSD processor, 21 adder, 22 microcontroller, 23 recording / reproducing device, 24 digital interface, 25 selector, 26 reproduced program selector, 27 recorded program selector , 2
8 ... Recorded program automatic selector, 29 ... Selected information generator, 30
… Discontinuous information creator

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/081

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An output unit for outputting a stream signal including one or a plurality of program signals to a recording device, and when a program included in the stream signal ends, a predetermined program signal to be output to the recording device next Automatically selecting from among the stream signals and outputting from the output means. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein said automatic selection means automatically selects a program signal of the same logical channel as that of the program output immediately before the completion of the program to be output to said recording device. Item 2. A digital broadcast receiver according to Item 1. 3. The automatic selection means automatically selects, when a program to be output to the recording device ends, a program output immediately before the end or a program signal specified by a logical channel. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1. 4. When the program to be output to the recording device ends, the automatic selection means automatically selects a program signal of the first logical channel described in the program association information (Program Association Table) obtained immediately after the end. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast receiver is selected. 5. When the program to be output to the recording device ends, the automatic selection means automatically selects program signals of all logical channels described in the program association information (Program Association Table) obtained immediately after the end. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast receiver is selected. 6. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a selection method setting means for setting in advance a selection method of the plurality of program signals. . 7. Decoding means for decoding the stream signal from the output means, and control means for stopping output of the decoded signal of the decoding means when the program ends. Digital broadcast receiver. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising output control setting means for presetting control of output of the program signal decoded by said decoding means. Digital broadcast receiver. 9. A DIT (Discontinuit) for detecting and describing discontinuity of the signal configuration of the stream signal.
9. The DIT output unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a DIT output unit for adding the information signal to the program signal decoded by the decoding unit. Digital broadcast receiver. 10. The EIT (Event In Event In) which adds the end of the program to the stream signal.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined program signal is automatically selected from one or a plurality of program signals of the stream signal detected by a formation table). Digital broadcast receiver.