KR100831411B1 - Method for the efficient treatment of information list transmitted through inband of broadcast network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of efficiently processing a list of information transmitted in-band through a broadcasting network in a set-top box. According to the invention, a) receiving the information list in-band via a broadcasting network from a headend transmitting the information list, b) recording the received information list in a character array in memory, and c) the information. Indexing the first recording point of each individual information included in the list to generate an integer array for the indexing information. The set-top box efficiently processes the information list transmitted in-band through the broadcasting network. A method is provided. The method according to the present invention provides an advantage of efficiently managing an information list transmitted in-band through a broadcasting network while minimizing memory capacity.

Description

METHOOD FOR THE EFFICIENT TREATMENT OF INFORMATION LIST TRANSMITTED THROUGH INBAND OF BROADCAST NETWORK}

1 is a view for explaining a preferred embodiment of the method for efficiently processing in the set-top box the information list transmitted in-band through the broadcast network according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method of efficiently processing a list of information transmitted in-band through a broadcasting network in a set-top box.

The standardization of digital broadcasting is rapidly progressing, and various technical developments are progressing in the fields of transmission of digital signals through a broadcasting network, multiplexing of data, processing video and audio signals, and display of digital television. Digital broadcasting is capable of compressing information data compared to analog broadcasting, has a high transmission speed, and has excellent sound quality and image quality. In addition, unlike conventional analog broadcasting, digital broadcasting has an advantage of enabling efficient use of frequency by digital modulation. Thus, various information can be broadcasted through hundreds of channels, and the viewer can access various information through the television.

First of all, digital broadcasting enables the implementation of interactive television (interactive television) by data broadcasting. Interactive television allows viewers to interact with the TV beyond just channel, volume, and videotape manipulation. Thus, payment, banking, shopping, booking, gaming or forum can be performed.

However, current memory capacity of the set-top box is usually limited to about 6M, very limited. In order to solve the problems caused by such low memory capacity, storage may be provided in the set-top box. However, a large amount of data sent out in-band can cause a load on the memory.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for efficiently managing the information list while minimizing the memory capacity of the memory allocated to the processing of the specific information list in the set-top box.

Another object of the present invention is also to facilitate efficient use of the bandwidth required for transmission of a specific information list through a broadcasting network.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for performing an efficient search by using the information list.

Specifically, the present invention comprises the steps of: a) receiving the information list in-band through a broadcasting network from a headend transmitting the information list, b) recording the received information list in a character array into a memory, and c) indexing the first recording point of each individual information included in the information list to generate an integer array for the indexing information. Provide a method for efficient processing.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the individual information is composed of a combination of identification numbers and information associated with it, characterized in that the index of the first recording point of the identification number, the information list sent in-band There is provided a method of efficiently processing in a set-top box.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, when a search request by a user's key input value is received, in response to such a request, a recording area of specific individual information belonging to the information list is referred to with reference to the integer array. And a step of comparing a specific individual information value based on the integer array and a key input value of the user, wherein the set-top box efficiently processes the in-band information list. This is provided.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the individual individual information based on the integer array is the individual information located in the middle of the information list to efficiently process the in-band information list sent in the set-top box A method is provided.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as a result of comparing the individual information value located in the middle of the information list with the user's key input value with reference to the integer array, the individual information value and the user's key input value are determined. When the information is matched, the corresponding information is provided to the user screen, and when the comparison result shows that the user's key input value and the individual information value do not match, the individual information value is larger than the user's key input value. With reference to the arrangement again, the recording area of the individual information located in the middle of the front end of the information list is again confirmed, and based on this, the individual information value located in the middle of the front end of the information list is compared with the key input value, and the individual If the information value is smaller than the user's key input value, the individual located in the middle of the rear end of the information list with reference to the integer array The recording area of the beam is checked, and based on this, the process of comparing the individual information value located in the middle of the rear end of the information list with the key input value is repeatedly performed to obtain individual information matching the user's key input value. A method of efficiently processing a list of information transmitted in-band in a set top box is provided.

According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information list transmitted in-band through the broadcasting network is characterized in that a plurality of song song names and unique identification numbers are assigned to each of these song song names, and these are listed. A method of efficiently processing a list of information sent in-band in a set top box is provided.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information list transmitted in-band through the broadcasting network is characterized in that a plurality of on-demand content and a unique identification number is assigned to each of these on-demand content, they are listed, Provided is a method for efficiently processing in-band sent information list in a set-top box.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the in-band sent information list in the set-top box, characterized in that the generation of the integer array of step (c) is performed by an application using the information list. A method of processing is provided.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in more detail the present invention. In general, an information list, for example, an information list for implementing a karaoke function is provided by grouping a song song name and a unique identification number thereof. For example, as the individual information 1, a unique identification number 1023 (1a), a song song name "Yesterday" (1b), and a singer "Beatles" (1c) are provided. As the individual information 2, a unique identification number 1024 (2a), a song song name "hollow" 2b, and a singer "Jo Yong-pil" 2c are provided. Similarly, as the individual information 5000, a unique identification number 1098 (5000a), a song song name "Morning dew" 5000b, and a singer "Yang Hee Eun" 5000c are provided. Then, as the individual information N, a unique identification number "9999", a song song name "friend" (Nb), and a singer "Jo Yong-pil" are provided. The individual information 1, 2,... , N is combined to form an information list. The sub information values (unique identification information, song song name, singer, etc.) belonging to each individual information are information linked to each other, and the information linked to each other may be referred to as forming a group. As the sub information value, not only the above-mentioned unique identification information, song song name, singer, but also a composer, a song lyrics, a song lyrics, and the like may be further provided.

In order to implement the karaoke function in the set-top box, these grouped individual informations are usually required for information about more than 1,000 songs, preferably about about curves, and considering that the memory capacity of the set-top box is about 6M, Efficient processing of the information list is required.

The present invention is for efficient processing of these information lists, in which the information list received in-band is recorded in the memory in a character array. At this time, the character array means that no indexing for each individual information is given. That is, the information list composed of the combination of the individual information means that the whole is recorded in the memory as a series of information without any indexing for each individual information. When such a character array is used, the bandwidth required for sending the information list is also significantly reduced. Thereafter, in the set top box, the first start recording point of each individual information included in the information list is indexed to generate an integer array for the indexing information. At this time, indexing of the first starting recording point of each individual information is performed by an application using the information list. For example, if the information list is for the implementation of the karaoke function, the indexing is performed by the karaoke application. In this case, the karaoke application may be delivered to the set top box together with the information list, or may be pre-installed in the set top box. In Figure 1, the karaoke application, each of the individual information 1, 2. Based on the unique identification numbers 1a, 2a, ..., Na of N, the first starting recording point of the unique identification number is indexed, and an integer array is generated based on this. FIG. 1 (a) shows the character array of the information list, and FIG. 1 (b) shows the integer array generated based on the character array. In Fig. 1 (b), the first starting recording point of the individual information 1 on the memory is "0", the first starting recording point of the individual information 2 is "10", the first starting recording point of the individual information 3 is "20", and the individual The first starting recording point of information 4 is "31", and the first starting recording point of individual information 5 is "40". Further, the first start recording point of the individual information 5000 on the memory is "50002", and the first start recording point of the individual information N is "99990". From the integer array of FIG. 1 (b) described above, it can be seen that individual information 1 is recorded in " 0 " to " 9 " Similarly, a recording area of each individual information may be derived from the integer array. When a search using a specific key input value is requested from the user, in response to the request, the recording point of the specific individual information in the information list is identified with reference to the integer array, and the specific individual information value and the key input of the user are identified. Compare the values. Preferably, the individual information is located in the middle of the character array. In the case of an information list including even individual information, there are two intermediate values. In this case, as a default, the comparison may be performed based on any one of the two intermediate values. For example, suppose a user enters a unique identification number "1024" to perform a search. Referring to the integer array of FIG. 1B, a value located in the middle of the character array is extracted. Specifically, when N is 9999, the memory location ("50002" in Figure 1 (b)) of the individual information 5000 is extracted from the interposer arrangement of Figure 1 (b), and the individual information is based on the memory location. An information value of 5000, which is the primary median of the character array, is compared with the user's key input value. At this time, the unique identification number " 1024 " input by the user is smaller than the unique identification number " 1098 " In this case, again, the integer array is referred to and compared with the median of the character array. Specifically, referring to the integer array of FIG. 1 (b), the recording point of the individual information 2500 is identified, and the identification number value of the individual information 2500 (this is the secondary intermediate value of the character array) and the user's key input Compare the values, and if the user's key input value and the unique identification number of the individual information do not coincide, the comparison with the third intermediate value of the character array and the fourth intermediate value of the character array are sequentially repeated. Done. By repeating this process, matching individual information 2 will be derived. The obtained individual information 2 is displayed on the user screen.

Providing the information list in the above manner and searching using the information list can first reduce the bandwidth required for transmitting the information list by transmitting the information list in the character array. Specifically, when indexing each individual information and indexing the sub information values (unique identification number, song song name, singer, etc.) belonging to the individual information, an information list of less than about 500 songs is limited due to bandwidth limitation. It was confirmed that it was provided. Of particular importance, due to the limitations of the memory of the set-top box, it is not easy to process the indexing of the individual information and the sub information values belonging to them. Providing an information list by a character array, storing the information list as a character array in a set-top box memory, and indexing the first starting recording point of each individual information constituting the information list based on the character array and indexing the index. By creating an integer array of information, the above problem could be solved. As a result, the method according to the present invention has an advantage that it is possible to efficiently manage the information list transmitted in-band through the broadcast network, while minimizing the memory capacity. In particular, this approach facilitates the efficient use of bandwidth, allowing the information list to be provided over the same channel as the application using it. For example, when the information list is a song song name list, the information list may be provided through the same channel as the karaoke application. The information list processing method according to the present invention can be applied not only to an information list for implementing a karaoke function but also to an implementation of a content information list for implementing various information lists, for example, a VOD (VIDEO ON DEMAND) service.

Claims (9)

a) receiving the information list in-band through a broadcasting network from a headend transmitting the information list, b) recording the received list of information in a character array into the memory of the set-top box, and c) indexing the first recording point of each individual information included in the information list to generate an integer array for the indexing information. How to do it efficiently. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein in step c), the individual information is composed of a combination of an identification number and information associated with the identification number, and indexes the first recording point of the identification number. How to efficiently process information lists in set-top boxes. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to the request for retrieval based on a key input value of the user, identifying a recording area of specific individual information belonging to the information list with reference to the integer array; And comparing the specific individual information value based on the integer array with the key input value of the user. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the specific individual information based on the integer array is individual information located in the middle of the information list. The method of claim 4, wherein when the individual information value and the key input value of the user coincide with each other, the individual information value positioned in the middle of the information list is compared with the integer array. On the user screen connected to the set-top box, As a result of the comparison, when the key input value of the user and the individual information value do not match, If the individual information value is larger than the user's key input value, the recording area of the individual information located in the middle of the front end of the information list is checked again with reference to the integer array, and based on this, the front end of the information list. Compare the individual information value located in the middle of with the key input value, If the individual information value is smaller than the user's key input value, the recording area of the individual information located in the middle of the rear end of the information list is checked again with reference to the integer array, and based on this, the rear end of the information list. Iteratively repeating the process of comparing the individual information value located in the middle with the key input value, and extracts the individual information matching the user's key input value, the set-top box sent in the in-band information list How to do it efficiently The information list transmitted in-band through the broadcasting network is assigned a plurality of song songs and a unique identification number to each of these song songs, and they are listed, How to efficiently process information lists in set-top boxes. The information list transmitted in-band through the broadcasting network is assigned a plurality of on-demand content and a unique identification number to each of these on-demand content, they are listed, they are sent in-band How to efficiently process information lists in set-top boxes. 2. The set-top box according to claim 1, wherein the generation of the integer array of step (c) is performed on the set-top box and is performed by an application using the information list. How to do it efficiently The method of claim 8, wherein the information list and the application are provided in the same channel.

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