JP4592282B2 - Reception method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a bit stream information display method for displaying bit stream information and a recording medium storing the bit stream information.

  In a device that displays bit stream information (eg, a moving image bit stream, an audio bit stream; a moving image bit stream may accompany audio in a moving image), in connection with the display of the bit stream information It is possible to execute a program.

  Conventionally, for example, when handling multimedia data in which a moving image bit stream and a program are mixed, synchronization of moving image display and program execution has been realized in the following manner.

(A) A moving image bit stream is received and displayed on the screen as appropriate in accordance with the execution of the program.

(B) The program detects the end of the screen display and starts the next reception operation.

  However, for example, a situation in which multimedia data in which a moving image bit stream and a program are mixed by broadcasting is transmitted and reproduced in real time, or a moving image bit stream and a program are mixed from a recording medium such as a DVD. In the situation where multimedia data to be read is read out and reproduced in chronological order, the following problems occur.

(A) At the time of moving image reproduction accompanying program execution, reception or reading of moving image bit stream information is not completed.

(B) At the end of image display, reception or reading of the program code to be executed is not completed.

  Furthermore, since it is not known when the program code is called, it is necessary to always put all the program code in an execution standby state. Therefore, there is a problem that the receiving terminal requires a large amount of resources.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and can effectively reproduce the bit stream information and synchronize the program, and can efficiently use the resources. An object is to provide a display method and a recording medium.

  The present invention relates to a bit stream information display method for displaying bit stream information, wherein a program unit having at least one method, which is multiplexed and input to the bit stream information, is extracted and stored in a storage means. The instruction information for the program unit that is stored and multiplexed and input to the bit stream information is extracted, the program unit specified by the extracted instruction information is read from the storage means, and the instruction information is read out The method specified in is executed.

  Preferably, when the program unit specified by the extracted instruction information is not stored in the storage unit, the instruction information may be processed as not present.

  Preferably, the storage unit may store a program unit uniquely for the same name. Preferably, when the method specified by the instruction information is a program unit deletion method, the corresponding program unit may be deleted from the storage means.

  The present invention relates to a bit stream information creation method for creating and editing bit stream information, which extracts a program unit used in association with bit stream information and embeds it in the bit stream information The instruction information for the program unit is extracted and the bit stream information, the program unit, and the arrangement of the instruction information for the program unit based on the temporal position information of the instruction information for the program unit in the bit stream information It is characterized by determining.

  Preferably, for each program unit, the instruction information for erasing the program unit is inserted at a predetermined position after the position where the corresponding instruction information is finally embedded in the bit stream information. You may make it do.

  Preferably, each program unit is arranged so that the code of the program unit is recorded twice or more until the corresponding instruction information is finally embedded in the bit stream information. Also good.

  The recording medium according to the present invention includes bit stream information, instruction information for a program unit multiplexed at a predetermined time position in the bit stream information, and the first corresponding to each program unit. A program unit multiplexed so that the end of the program unit is located before a predetermined time has passed before the time position of the instruction information is recorded.

  The bit stream information transmission method according to the present invention includes bit stream information, instruction information for a program unit multiplexed at a predetermined time position in the bit stream information, and each program unit. Multimedia data comprising a program unit multiplexed so that the tail end of the program unit is located before a predetermined time before the time position of the corresponding first instruction information It is characterized by transmitting.

  The present invention also relates to a bit stream information display device for displaying bit stream information, wherein a program unit for extracting a program unit having at least one method that is multiplexed and input to the bit stream information. Unit extraction means, program unit storage means for storing the program unit extracted by the program unit extraction means, and a method call of the program unit inputted by being multiplexed with the bit stream information is extracted An instruction extracting means, and a program executing means for receiving a method call of a program unit from the instruction extracting means and executing a method of the program unit stored in the program unit storing means .

  Preferably, when the program execution means receives the program unit method call from the instruction extraction means, and the program unit storage means does not store the corresponding program unit, the program execution method call May not be performed.

  Preferably, the program unit storage means may store the program unit uniquely for the same name. Preferably, the program execution unit may receive a program unit deletion method and delete the program unit held by the program unit storage unit.

  The present invention is a bit stream information creation device for creating and editing bit stream information, the program unit extracting means for extracting the program unit used from the recorded information, Program unit specification state extraction means for extracting program unit method calls from the recorded information, and arrangement of bit stream information, program units, and program unit method calls based on the extraction results It is characterized by comprising arrangement determining means for determining.

  Preferably, it may further comprise recording means for recording an instruction to erase the program unit at a position after the method of the program unit was last called.

  Preferably, the arrangement determining means may be arranged to record the code of the program unit twice or more up to a position after the method of the program unit is last called.

  The invention according to each method described above is also established as an invention related to a device, and the invention related to each device is also established as an invention related to a method. The above-described invention can also be realized as a machine-readable medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute a corresponding procedure or means.

  In the present invention, the bit stream information includes a program unit including at least one method, instruction information for the program unit (for example, information such as identification information of the program unit, a method to be executed, and necessary arguments). Information) is multiplexed and provided, and the user receiving the information displays the bit stream information and extracts and holds the program unit. Then, the method of the program unit is executed according to the instruction information.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, the reproduction of the bit stream and the execution of the program can be naturally synchronized. In addition, as an instruction to the program unit, an instruction to cancel the execution standby state of the program unit or an instruction to save the code of the program unit in the data storage medium can be given. For example, a program unit that has received an instruction to cancel the execution standby state releases its own resources by deleting its own code from the main memory. As a result, the resource consumption of the bit stream information display device can be reduced. Further, by storing the program unit code in the data storage medium, it is possible to temporarily release the resources of the bit stream information display device and to prepare for later needs.

  Thus, according to the present invention, reproduction of bit stream information and program synchronization can be naturally realized. Further, the operation of the bit stream information display device can be finely controlled by the program unit.

  According to the present invention, the bit stream information includes a program unit including at least one method, instruction information for the program unit (for example, identification information of the program unit, a method to be executed, a necessary argument, etc. Information including information) is received, the bit stream information is displayed, the program unit is extracted and held, and the method of the program unit is executed according to the extracted instruction information Therefore, the reproduction of the bit stream and the execution of the program can be naturally synchronized. Further, since an instruction to save, read, or delete the program unit can be given as an instruction to the program unit, it is possible to use resources efficiently. In addition, various operations can be finely controlled at a necessary timing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention provides a mechanism for realizing the synchronization between the display of bit stream information and the execution of a program provided by being multiplexed with the bit stream information. For example, consider a case where multimedia data in which a moving image bit stream and a program are mixed is provided by broadcasting or stored on a disc.

The bit stream information display apparatus according to the present embodiment holds a program unit that is packetized and embedded in bit stream information as an executable program unit. Execution control of the executable program unit is performed based on an instruction embedded in the bit stream information input after holding the program unit.

  According to the present embodiment, the reproduction of the bit stream and the execution of the program can be naturally synchronized. Further, as an instruction to the program unit, an instruction to cancel the execution standby state of the program unit or an instruction to save the code of the program unit in the data storage medium can be given. For example, the program unit that has received the instruction to cancel the execution standby state releases the resources of the bit stream information display device by deleting its own code from the main memory. As a result, the resource consumption of the bit stream information display device can be reduced. Further, by storing the program unit code in the data storage medium, it is possible to temporarily release the resources of the bit stream information display device and to prepare for later needs.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, reproduction of bit stream information and program synchronization can be naturally realized. Furthermore, the operation of the bit stream information display device can be finely controlled from a program.

  First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a bit stream information display device according to the present embodiment. In this embodiment, for example, a case where bit stream information given by broadcasting is displayed as in a broadcast receiving apparatus will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the bit stream information display device 20 according to the present embodiment includes a receiving unit 22, a program unit extracting unit 24, a program unit storing unit 26, an instruction extracting unit 28, a program executing unit 30, and data. A synthesis unit 32 and a moving image reproduction unit 36 are provided. Further, a display unit (display device) 38 is connected to the bit stream information display device 20. Here, the disk device 34 shown in FIG. 1 is arbitrarily provided.

  The receiving unit 22 receives the digital broadcast wave, performs D / A conversion, and transfers a bit stream of a predetermined appropriate size to the program unit extracting unit 24. The program unit extracting unit 24 receives the bit stream received by the receiving unit 22 one after another.

  The program unit extraction unit 24 extracts a program unit, transfers it to the program unit storage unit 26, and sequentially transfers bit strings that do not belong to the program unit to the instruction extraction unit 28.

  The program unit storage unit 26 stores program units. The instruction extraction unit 28 extracts an instruction for the program unit, transfers the instruction to the program execution unit 30, and transfers other bit strings to the moving image reproduction unit 36 one after another.

  The program execution unit 30 reads and executes the corresponding program unit in accordance with the instruction for the program unit transferred from the instruction extraction unit 30. The moving image reproducing unit 36 reproduces the moving image bit stream transferred via the instruction extracting unit 28 by decoding the moving image bit stream. For example, when the moving picture bit stream is encoded by the MPEG system, the video bit stream is decoded by a procedure corresponding to this.

  The data synthesizing unit 32 synthesizes the display data generated in accordance with the program / unit execution by the program executing unit 30 with the moving image output from the moving image reproducing unit 36 and outputs it. If display data to be combined is not given, the moving image output from the moving image reproducing unit 36 is output.

  The display unit 38 displays the input moving image. FIG. 2 shows the basic operation of the bit stream information display device of this embodiment. When a digital broadcast wave is received by the receiving unit 22 and a bit stream is input to the program unit extracting unit 24 (step S11), the program unit extracting unit 24 extracts a program unit from the bit stream (step S11). This is transferred to the program unit storage 26 (S12). Further, the bit string that does not belong to the program unit is successively transferred to the instruction extracting unit 28 (step S14).

  While the instruction extraction unit 28 does not extract an instruction for the program unit from the bit stream, the bit stream is transferred to the moving image reproduction unit 36 (step S20) and is reproduced by the moving image reproduction unit 36 (step S22). ) Via the data synthesis unit 32 (step S23), transferred to the display unit 38 (step S24), and displayed on the screen.

  On the other hand, when the instruction extraction unit 28 extracts an instruction for the program unit from the bit stream (step S15), the subsequent control is divided into two flows a and b operating in parallel. The flow “b” relates to the reproduction of the above-mentioned moving image information stream. The flow “a” relates to the execution of the method of the program unit according to the instruction as described later. When image data to be displayed is generated by executing the method of the program unit, the data is synthesized on the video information stream by the data synthesis unit 32 and then displayed on the screen.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of information (information sent from the receiving unit 22 to the program / unit extracting unit 24) transmitted by a digital broadcast wave broadcast from a broadcasting station. In FIG. 3, a plurality of pieces of information are expressed in the same time zone, which means that these pieces of information are multiplexed and transmitted in a time division manner. FIG. 3A shows a case where the bandwidth of the bit stream information (moving image information stream) is variable, and FIG. 3B shows a case where the bandwidth of the bit stream information (moving image information stream) is constant. Note that reference numeral 100 in FIG. 3 represents an instruction for the program unit.

  A program unit is a unit of a program executed by the program execution unit 30. Each program unit is assumed to have a name (for example, a unit identifier) uniquely determined for each program unit. Each program unit includes at least one method (program unit operation description), and each method is identified by a name (for example, a method identifier). It is assumed that the bit string of each program unit is sent while being sandwiched between bit strings indicating the start and end of the program unit.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the operation of the program unit extraction unit 24. The bit stream sent from the receiving unit 22 to the program unit extracting unit 24 is divided into short packets, and each packet includes one of the following three types of bit strings and only one type.

・ Program unit ID and part of program unit code
・ Instructions for program units
・ Flag indicating moving image data and part of moving image data
The program unit extraction unit 24 examines the received bit stream (steps S31 and S32), detects the bit string indicating the start / end of the program unit, and extracts the code and data of the program unit, It is transferred to the program unit storage unit 26 (steps S33 and S34). The program unit extraction unit 24 sequentially transfers only the bit strings that do not belong to the program unit to the instruction extraction unit 28 (steps S33 and S35).

  FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of the program unit storage unit 26. FIG. 6 shows an example of the operation of the program unit storage unit 26 when storing the program unit.

  In this configuration example, the program unit storage unit 26 includes a program unit registration unit 261, a buffer 262, a program unit holding unit 263, and a program unit search unit 264.

  The program unit storage unit 26 classifies the received packets by the program unit ID in the program unit registration unit 261 (steps S41 and S42) and stores them in the buffer 262 in the order of arrival (steps S43 and S44). There is a packet including the program unit ID including a symbol indicating the end of the code of the program unit. The program unit storage unit 26 (the program unit registration unit 261) includes a packet including the symbol. Upon receipt (step S43), the program unit is read from the buffer 262 (step S45), transferred to the program unit holding unit 263 (step S46), and held as an available program unit.

  There are cases where program units having the same name are repeatedly transferred. In this case, the program unit holding unit 263 of the program unit storage unit 26 overwrites the previously held program unit with a new program unit having the same name. Alternatively, ignore the newly transferred program unit with the same name. Accordingly, the program unit held in the program unit storage unit 26 is uniquely determined with respect to the name.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the operation of the instruction extraction unit 28. The instruction extraction unit 28 examines the received bit stream (steps S51 and S52), and if an instruction for the program unit is included (step S53), transfers it to the program execution unit 30 (step S54). . The instruction extraction unit 28 sequentially transfers other bit streams to the moving image reproduction unit 36 (steps S53 and S55).

  The instructions for the program unit include the name of the program unit that has been received, the method of the program unit, and the arguments to the method. The argument may be empty.

  When the program execution unit 30 receives an instruction for the program unit (step S16), the program execution unit 30 reads the code of the corresponding program unit from the program unit storage unit 26 (step S17), and the method specified by the given argument Is executed (step S18).

  Various functions can be considered as functions obtained by executing the method. For example, those that control the display of bit stream information, those that control the recording of bit stream information, those that handle program units, and those that provide functions related to the user interface, etc. Conceivable.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of the operation on the program unit storage unit 26 side when the program execution unit 30 requests the program unit storage unit 26 to read the program unit.

  In FIG. 8, the program execution unit 30 requests the program unit storage unit 26 to read the program unit by transferring the program unit ID (step S61).

  In the program unit storage unit 26 that has received the request, the program unit search unit 264 searches the program unit holding unit 263 for a program unit having the ID (step S62). When the corresponding program unit exists (step S63), the code of the program unit is transferred from the program unit holding unit 263 to the program unit search unit 264 (step S64), and this is transferred to the program unit search unit 264. To the program execution unit 30. On the other hand, when the corresponding program unit does not exist (step S63), the program execution unit 30 is notified of the absence of the program unit (step S66).

  If there is no corresponding program unit and the program execution unit 30 receives a notification that the program unit does not exist, the program execution unit 30 does not execute an instruction related to the program unit.

  For example, when the bit stream information starts to be received from the middle (for example, when the program starts to be viewed from the middle), there may be a case where the corresponding program unit has been transmitted. In the case described above, the system can be prevented from falling into an abnormal state on the way.

  In addition, assuming the above case, it is effective to transmit the same program unit a plurality of times. By the way, in some cases, it is necessary to display an image or text on the screen as the program unit is executed. In this case, the display data is sent to the data synthesizing unit 32 (step S19) and synthesized with the moving image output from the moving image reproducing unit 36 (step S23). For example, a text and a display position of the text are sent from the program execution unit 30 to the data synthesis unit 32.

  The data synthesizer 32 synthesizes data so that the text is overlaid at the designated display position on the screen (step S23). It can also be envisaged that the program unit contains a moving picture bit stream in its data area. In this case, in FIG. 1, a moving image reproducing unit is interposed between the program executing unit 30 and the data synthesizing unit 32 (a moving image reproducing unit is provided). The moving image reproduction unit converts the moving image bit stream sent from the program execution unit 30 into a displayable moving image and sends the converted moving image to the data synthesis unit 32.

  The output of the data synthesizing unit 32 is transferred to the display unit 38 (step S24) and displayed on the screen. With the configuration as described above and the operation of each unit, it is possible to achieve synchronization between the moving image and the execution of the program unit.

  Since the instruction to the program unit is execution of a method, the program execution unit 30 can perform various operations. For example, it is possible to instruct the program unit to disappear as an instruction to the program unit. In that case, the program execution unit 30 transfers the program unit ID and the disappearance command to the program unit storage unit 26. The program unit search unit 264 of the program unit storage unit 26 searches the program unit holding unit 263 and deletes the code of the program unit having the ID. As a result, the used program unit can be erased, and the resources of the program unit storage unit 26 (the program unit holding unit 263) can be saved.

  Note that erasure of a program unit is not necessarily caused only by execution of an erasure method. Program units can also have their own lifetime. Such a program unit is executed as a thread (a program unit executed in parallel) or a task (a program unit executed periodically) in the program execution unit 30. The program unit checks the time at regular intervals, and when a predetermined date and time has passed, performs a termination process to release its own resources to the system.

  As an instruction to the program unit, there may be an instruction to save the code of the program unit. The program execution unit 30 reads the code of the program unit from the program unit storage unit 26 and executes the program unit storage method. The save method stores the code of the program unit in the disk device 34 (circle numeral 8 in FIG. 1).

  Reading of the program unit code from the disk device 34 is performed by an operation according to reading from the program unit storage unit 26. That is, when the program execution unit 30 receives an instruction for a program unit from the instruction extraction unit 28, the program execution unit 30 tries to acquire the code of the program unit indicated by the instruction from the program unit storage unit 26. If the program unit has already been erased from the program unit storage unit 26, the program unit storage unit 26 notifies the program execution unit 30 that the program unit cannot be found. In that case, the program execution unit 30 searches the disk device 34 to find and read the code of the program unit (circled number 6 'in FIG. 1).

  It is also possible to instruct the operation of each part of the bit stream information display device 20 by an instruction to the program unit. As an example, the bit stream information is stored in the disk device 34. It is assumed that the program unit storage unit 26 holds a code of a control program unit for the moving image playback unit 26 as one of the program units that are always stored. It is assumed that the program unit has a method for starting to save bit stream data to the disk device 34.

  When the method call is included in the packet in the bit stream, the program execution unit 30 reads the program unit from the program unit storage unit 26 and executes the save start method as described above. . As a result, a bit stream information storage start instruction is issued from the program execution unit 30 to the moving image reproduction unit 36 (circle numeral 9 in FIG. 1). When receiving the instruction, the moving image playback unit 36 writes the input bit stream to the disk device 34 one after another (circle numeral 12 in FIG. 1).

  The same operation is performed when this writing is stopped. By such a method, for example, the recording function of the receiving terminal can be operated using a digital broadcast wave.

  An example of controlling a playback device of the media from bit stream information included in a digital storage media (for example, DVD) will be given. It is assumed that the program unit storage unit 26 holds a control program for the playback device as one of the program units that are always stored. It is assumed that the control program has a data block skip function as one method, and also has a skip function invalidation function and a skip function validation function as methods. It is assumed that the bit stream stored in the medium includes a data block in which information (such as an advertisement and a copyright notice) that the user wants to ensure viewing is recorded.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of the operation of the playback apparatus in such a case. If an instruction to call the skip invalidation method of the control program is included immediately before the data block, this instruction is transferred from the instruction extraction unit 28 to the program execution unit 30 (steps S71 and S72), and the program execution unit In 30, the control program is read from the program unit storage unit 26 (step S73), and the skip function invalidation method is executed (step S74). After the data block is reproduced (step S75), the skip function is enabled again by the skip function enable method call instruction recorded immediately after the data block (steps S76 to S79).

  In this way, it is possible to reproduce information that is desired to be viewed without being skipped by a user operation. In the present embodiment, digital broadcast waves are received. However, the present invention can also be applied to the case of receiving information by cable broadcasting and the case of reading information from a recording medium.

  In the above description, the display unit (display device) 38 is connected to the outside of the bit stream information display device. However, the display unit 38 may be configured as a bit stream information display device. Good.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the program execution unit 30 acquires the code of the program unit from the bit stream (that is, from the program unit storage unit 26) or from the disk device 34. In the present embodiment, the code of the program unit can be acquired via a network.

FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the bit stream information display apparatus according to this embodiment. In the first embodiment, the case of receiving a digital broadcast wave has been mainly described. However, in this embodiment, for example, a case where information is read from a recording medium like a disk player device such as a DVD will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the bit stream information display device 120 according to the present embodiment includes a reading device 123, a program unit extraction unit 124, a program unit storage unit 126, an instruction extraction unit 128, a program execution unit 130, data A synthesizing unit 132, a network access device 135, a moving image reproducing unit 136, and a clock 137 are provided. In addition, a display unit 138 is connected to the bit stream information display device 120.

  The bit stream information display device of the present embodiment has a configuration in which the code of the program unit can be acquired via the Internet, and the basic configuration other than the network access device 135 and the clock 137 is the same as FIG. It is. That is, the program / unit extraction unit 124, the program / unit storage unit 126, the instruction extraction unit 128, the program execution unit 130, the data synthesis unit 132, the moving image reproduction unit 136, and the display unit 138 according to the present embodiment are each a first unit. The program / unit extraction unit 24, the program / unit storage unit 26, the instruction extraction unit 28, the program execution unit 30, the data synthesis unit 32, the moving image reproduction unit 36, and the display unit 38 of the embodiment have the same basic functions. In FIG. 2, the operation of the bit stream information display apparatus of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, instead of including the receiving unit 22, the present embodiment includes a reading device 123 that reads information from the disk device 100, but the information given to the program unit extracting unit 124 is the first This is the same as the information given to the program unit extraction unit 24 in the embodiment.

  In the following, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described. It is assumed that the program unit storage unit 126 stores the program unit A read from the bit stream information. Program unit A holds part of the advertisement information, and when the display method of program unit A is executed, the date and time are obtained from the clock 137, and different texts are displayed depending on whether the time is in the morning or in the afternoon. It shall be displayed in the advertisement. In addition, it is assumed that the program unit A holds the expiration date information of the program unit A itself. The program unit A also holds information necessary for updating the program unit A when the expiration date has passed. That is, it is assumed that the name (or address information) of the server providing the new version of the program unit A is held.

  Further, it is assumed that a program unit that realizes a network access function resides in the program unit storage unit 126. FIG. 11 shows an example of an operation for updating advertisement information via the Internet in the bit stream information display device of the present embodiment. FIG. 11 shows operations after the instruction extraction unit 128 sends a call instruction for the display method of the program unit A to the program execution unit 130. Considering the time required for network access, it is assumed that the expiration date of the program unit A is confirmed sufficiently before the display method call of the program unit A is performed.

  When the instruction extraction unit 128 extracts a call instruction for the display method of the program unit A from the bit stream, this instruction is transferred to the program execution unit 130 (step S81).

  The program execution unit 130 loads the program unit A (step S82), executes the expiration date confirmation method of the program unit A (step S83), and acquires the date and time from the clock 137 (step S84).

  If the date / time is not before the expiration date of the program unit A (step S85), the program execution unit 130 instructs the network access device 135 to access a predetermined server (step S86). The network access device 135 acquires the program unit A from the designated server in response to this instruction (step S87), and transfers it to the program execution unit 130 (step S88). Further, the program unit A is transferred and stored from the program execution unit 130 to the program unit storage unit 126 (step S89). If the date / time is before the expiration date of the program unit A (step S85), the update processing of the program unit A as described above is unnecessary.

  Thereafter, the instruction extraction unit 128 extracts a call instruction for the display method of the program unit A from the bit stream, and when this is transferred to the program execution unit 130 (step S90), the program execution unit 130 becomes a program unit storage unit. The program unit A is loaded from 126, and the display method of the program unit A is executed (step S91).

  In the present embodiment, information is read from a recording medium. However, the present invention can also be applied to cases where information is received by wireless broadcasting or cable broadcasting. In the above description, the display unit (display device) 38 is connected to the outside of the bit stream information display device. However, the display unit 38 may be configured as a bit stream information display device. Good.

  Next, a third embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, a bit stream information creation device that creates and edits bit stream information displayed by the bit stream information display devices of the first and second embodiments will be described.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the bit stream information creation screen. In this example, an editing operation for adding an event such as displaying a message to a moving image viewer at a specific frame of a moving image stream is performed. The editor plays the moving image and pauses playback at the frame 101 where the event starts. In FIG. 12, a program creation screen 102 is displayed in front. The editor describes the event to be generated on the program creation screen 120.

  The above example is an example in which a program unit is directly created, but a more visual editing operation is also possible. For example, a CG moving image is created in advance using another tool. In this case, as in the previous example, the playback is paused at the event occurrence frame (that is, the CG video playback start frame) 101, and the file storing the CG video is dragged and dropped onto the editing screen. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, an interface in which the initial state of the CG moving image is displayed on the screen so as to overlap (image in the lower right part of FIG. 13) can be considered.

  The data created / edited by the above operation is stored in a file. This file has a format as shown in FIG. 14, for example. 14A shows data in which an instruction (program unit method call) 300 for a program unit is embedded in a moving image stream, and FIG. 14B shows data made up of the program unit to be used. It is. Alternatively, one or a plurality of program units may be scattered in the data shown in FIG.

  The bit stream information creation apparatus according to the present embodiment converts intermediate data stored in a file as described above into a format as shown in FIG. 3 so that the intermediate data can be released and distributed. It is.

  FIG. 15 shows the configuration of the bit stream information creation device (part of the data conversion function) according to this embodiment. FIG. 16 shows an example of the operation of the bit stream information creation apparatus of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the bit stream information creating apparatus includes a program unit extracting unit 212, a program unit usage state extracting unit 214, an arrangement determining unit 216, a program unit database 218, and a recording unit 220. Yes. It is assumed that the file as exemplified above is stored in the disk device 200.

  First, when one or a plurality of program units are interspersed in the data of FIG. 14A, the program unit extraction unit 212 uses the file from the file on the disk device 200. The program unit being taken out is taken out and registered in the program unit database 218 (steps S101 and S102). In the case where the program units used as shown in FIG. 14B are collected, the program unit extraction unit 212 extracts the program unit group from the file on the disk device 200. And is registered in the program unit database 218 (step S102).

  The data from which the program unit is removed or the data shown in FIG. 14A is transferred to the program unit usage state extraction unit 214 at the next stage (step S103). The program unit use state extraction unit 214 extracts a method call of the program unit (step S104), and registers the position on the bit stream data (for example, the time from the beginning) in the program unit database 218. (Step S105).

  By the above operation, all program units used in the file and the position of each method call are recorded in the program unit database 218.

  The program unit usage state extraction unit 214 records the remaining data (that is, moving picture bit stream data) on the disk device 200 (step S106).

  Next, the arrangement determining unit 216 refers to the program unit database to determine the data arrangement (steps S107 and S108). That is, it determines how to divide program units and method calls into packets of an appropriate size and merge them into packets of a moving picture stream.

Hereinafter, the arrangement determination algorithm will be described. Suppose the bandwidth is 1000. That is, a maximum of 1000 packets can be transmitted per unit time (assuming that the packet size is constant). Further, it is assumed that the moving image stream data has a fixed bandwidth of 900. A program unit registered in the program unit database is an array {P _j } _{j = 1} ^{n in} which the range of the subscript j is from 1 to n. Further, the position where the program unit P _j is first called T (P _j), the last calls location and t (P _j), (as measured in packets) of P _j size and S (P _j) To do.

FIG. 17 shows an example of the operation of the arrangement determining unit 216. Arrangement determination unit 216, the range of subscript k holds a positive integer array of {R (k)} k = 1 Te until T _e 1. However, _Te is the end position of the video stream. Assume that each element of the array is initialized with the bandwidth 900 of the moving image stream.

In step S111, the array {R (k)} is initialized with 900, {P _j } is sorted in descending order of S (P _j ) in step S112, and the sorting result is stored as {O _j } in step S113. In step S114, j = 1 is set.

If j ≦ n in step S125, the process proceeds to step S126. If j ≦ n is not satisfied, the process ends. If it moves to step S126, it sets k = 1, and if it is k <= T { _Oj } in step S115, it will move to step S116, and if it is not k <= T { _Oj }, it will move to step S119.

When the process proceeds to step S116, if R (k) + S (O _j ) / T {O _j } ≦ 1000, the process proceeds to step S117, k is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step S115. If at step S116 R (k) + S ( O j) / T {O j} is not a ≦ 1000, it proceeds to step S118, O _j is decided to place the head, the flow proceeds to step S123.

If No in step S115 and the process proceeds to step S119, k = 1 is set. If k ≦ T {O _j } in step S120, the process proceeds to step S121, and R (k) is changed to S (O _j ) / T {O. _j } is increased, k is increased by 1 in step S122, and the process returns to step S120.

If it is not k <= T { _Oj } in step S120, it will move to step S123. If step S116 is followed by step S118, or if step S120 is followed by step S123, the deletion method call of O _j is called immediately after t (O _j ). Is added, j is incremented by 1 in step S124, and the process returns to step S125.

  In this way, the processing of steps S111 to S114 in FIG. 17 is performed, and the repeated processing of steps S125, S126, and S115 to S124 is executed until No in step S125, thereby obtaining the arrangement shown in FIG. It is done.

Next, the arrangement of the program units (the program unit O ₃ and the program unit O _{5 in} FIG. 18) whose arrangement at the head is determined is determined. First, the time for recording only the program unit packet (measured in unit time) is determined at the head. This is set sufficiently large. In other words, the packets of the program unit O ₃ and the program unit O ₅ are evenly arranged at the head.

  FIG. 19 shows an arrangement determined by the arrangement determining unit 216. Note that the above-described operation of the arrangement determination unit 216 is an example. For example, the arrangement determination is performed such that the program unit is multiplexed into a video stream and repeatedly recorded until the last call instruction of the method of the program unit. You can also. Such an arrangement is effective particularly when a recorded bit stream is distributed by means such as broadcasting. In the case of broadcasting, the viewer may watch from the middle of the program. By repeatedly transmitting the program unit, a user who has started viewing from the middle can acquire the necessary program unit.

  Now, the arrangement determining unit 216 transfers the determined arrangement instruction to the recording unit 220 (step S109). The recording unit 220 records the program unit, its calling instruction, and the moving image stream based on the arrangement instruction determined by the arrangement determining unit 216 (step S110). Specifically, for example, packets at each time are mixed at a ratio defined in FIG.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 18, the necessary program unit is transmitted for a predetermined time τ from the position where the program unit is first called (the position where the instruction for the corresponding program unit is first multiplexed). _It is desirable to determine the placement so that it is completed before the previous position. In other words, it is desirable to arrange the program units so that a margin of a predetermined time τ ₁ or more is provided between the last position of the program unit and the position where the program unit is first called. This is in consideration of a time lag from when the data of the program unit is taken into the system until it can be used for execution.

This time lag changes depending on a plurality of factors such as the CPU operating speed of the system and the data length of the program unit. Therefore, for the predetermined time τ ₁ , a method of setting a predetermined value in advance, a method of setting each time by a predetermined mathematical formula or table considering only the data length of the program unit as a parameter, and the like can be considered.

There is no particular restriction on the time τ ₂ between the position at which a program unit is last called and the position of the erase method call to be inserted immediately thereafter. The effective range of a certain program unit can be, for example, the range from the time when τ _{1 has} elapsed from the end of the program unit to the time when that program unit is called last. For example, within this range, an instruction for this program unit may be newly inserted into the data that has been recorded as shown in FIG. Also, for example, if the same program unit is inserted within this range (provided that it is possible), the program unit can be obtained even when a bit stream starts to be input midway.

  It should be noted that all of the above functions can also be realized as software. Further, the present invention can also be implemented as a machine-readable medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute each procedure or means described above is recorded. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications within the technical scope thereof.

The figure which shows the structural example of the broadcast receiver which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. A flowchart showing a basic operation of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the embodiment. Diagram showing an example of a received bit stream A flowchart showing an example of the operation of the program unit extraction unit Diagram showing an example of the configuration of the program unit storage A flowchart showing an example of the operation of the program unit storage unit The flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of an instruction | indication extraction part The flowchart which shows an example of other operation of a program unit storage part Flow chart showing an example of skip prohibition operation by method invocation of program unit The figure which shows the other structural example of the broadcast receiver which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of the broadcast receiver of FIG. A diagram for explaining an example of video stream information creation / edit screen Diagram for explaining an example of video stream information creation / editing results Diagram showing an example of file recording format The figure which shows the structure of the data converter which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the basic operation | movement of the data converter which concerns on the same embodiment A flowchart showing an example of the operation of the arrangement determining unit The figure which shows an example of the arrangement | positioning determined by the operation | movement of FIG. The figure which shows an example of the arrangement | positioning determined by the arrangement | positioning determination part

Explanation of symbols

20, 120 ... Bit stream information display device 22 ... Receiving unit 24, 124, 212 ... Program unit extraction unit 26, 126 ... Program unit storage unit 261 ... Program unit registration unit 262 ... Buffer 263 ... Program unit holding Unit 264 ... Program unit search unit 28, 128 ... Instruction extraction unit 30, 130 ... Program execution unit 32, 132 ... Data composition unit 34, 100, 200 ... Disk device 36, 136 ... Moving image reproduction unit 38, 138 ... Display Unit 123 ... reading device 135 ... network access device 137 ... clock 214 ... program unit usage state extraction unit 216 ... arrangement determination unit 218 ... program unit database 220 ... recording unit

Claims (3)

A receiving device for receiving bitstream information,
First instruction information for instructing the receiving apparatus to execute a program having a first identifier to be executed by the receiving apparatus is inserted into the bitstream information, and the insertion position of the first instruction information Later, second instruction information for instructing the receiving apparatus to erase the program having the first identifier is inserted, and each of the plurality of programs having the first identifier is included in the bitstream. Receiving means for receiving the bit stream information multiplexed at a plurality of positions in a section from the beginning of the information to a predetermined time before the insertion position of the first instruction information;
Means for displaying on the display means the bitstream information received by the receiving means;
Extraction means for extracting the program from the bitstream information received by the reception means by detecting a bit string indicating the start and end of the program;
Storage means for uniquely storing the program extracted by the extraction means for the same identifier;
When the first instruction information is extracted from the bitstream information received by the receiving means, the first identifier specified by the first instruction information from among the programs stored in the storage means Search means for searching for the program having
Execution means for executing the searched program;
Means for erasing the program having the first identifier from the storage means when the second instruction information is extracted from the bitstream information received by the receiving means ;
Equipped,
The program having the first identifier retrieved by the retrieval means
If the program having the first identifier does not exist, the execution means
A receiving apparatus that does not execute an instruction based on the instruction information of 1 . The program having the first identifier is a program for controlling the display of the bitstream information, a program for controlling the recording of the bitstream information, and a program for providing a function related to a user interface The receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving apparatus is any one of the following. A receiving method in a receiving device for receiving bitstream information,
First instruction information for instructing the receiving apparatus to execute a program having a first identifier to be executed by the receiving apparatus is inserted into the bitstream information, and the insertion position of the first instruction information Later, second instruction information for instructing the receiving apparatus to delete the program having the first identifier is inserted, and each of the plurality of programs having the first identifier is included in the bitstream. A receiving step of receiving the bitstream information multiplexed at a plurality of positions in a section from the beginning of the information to a predetermined time before the insertion position of the first instruction information;
Displaying the bitstream information received in the receiving step on a display means;
An extraction step of extracting each program by detecting a bit string indicating the start and end of the program from the bitstream information received in the reception step;
Storing the extracted program in the storage means uniquely for the same identifier;
When the first instruction information is extracted from the bitstream information received in the reception step, the first identifier specified by the first instruction information from the program stored in the storage unit A search step for searching for the program having
An execution step of executing the searched program;
Erasing the program having the first identifier from the storage means when the second instruction information is extracted from the bitstream information received in the receiving step;
The program having the first identifier was searched in the search step.
However, if the program having the first identifier does not exist, the execution step
In the receiving method, the instruction according to the first instruction information is not executed.

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