KR101029813B1 - Apparatus for software upgrade in Digital receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a software upgrade apparatus of a digital receiver. The present invention provides a PSIP decoder for decoding a virtual channel table included in a received signal, a channel manager for transmitting a corresponding PID to a demultiplexer when signaling information for software upgrade is inserted as a result of the decoding, and the PID The present invention provides a software upgrade apparatus for a digital receiver including a demultiplexer for demultiplexing data for software upgrade and a data decoder for decoding the data for software upgrade. Therefore, according to the present invention, there is an effect of easily upgrading the software of the digital receiver.

PSIP, VCT, Software Upgrade

Description

Apparatus for software upgrade in Digital receiver

1 is a diagram illustrating a virtual channel table bit stream syntax of a North American terrestrial digital receiver according to the present invention.

2 is a diagram showing meaning according to a value of a service type field according to the present invention;

3 is a diagram illustrating a software upgrade method through the Internet according to the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a software upgrade method using a broadcasting network according to the present invention.

5 is a block diagram briefly illustrating a configuration of a digital receiver to which a technical idea according to the present invention is applied.

-Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings-

10: tuner 20: demodulator

30: demultiplexer 40: data decoder

50: audio decoder 60: video decoder

70: PSIP decoder 80: PSIP database

90: channel manager 100: channel map                 

110: application manager 120: NVRAM

The present invention relates to a software upgrade of a digital receiver, and more particularly, to a signaling method and a processing apparatus for upgrading a software in a North American terrestrial digital receiver.

As the broadcasting technology is rapidly changed from the conventional analog broadcasting to the digital broadcasting, an increase in the number of channels and new services are being provided one after another.

Therefore, it is difficult to release a product in response to a service to be provided in a digital receiver or a set top box that is currently on the market, and a new product is not available for a user because the purchased product does not correspond to a new service. The inconvenience of buying or buying can be caused.

In addition, the introduction of new, unpredictable services can potentially introduce errors in previously released products, in which case manufacturers are forced to upgrade their existing products at great cost.

For these reasons, research on the software upgrade method of the digital receiver is increasing.                         

On the other hand, if the digital receiver needs to upgrade the software, the conventional method is to use a method in which the manufacturer directly visits each home and upgrades the software, or in some countries, pays a certain fee to the broadcaster. By transmitting the software along with the general broadcast, only the receiver that needs to be upgraded was automatically upgraded.

However, both of the above methods are not carried out if they are not necessary because they require a lot of cost from the manufacturer. However, the latter method is defined only in European digital receiver transmission methods, so some European countries Only available method.

In addition, when software performance was improved or features were added, existing users could not benefit from the new model because of the additional cost of the manufacturer incurred when upgrading the software.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a device for performing a software upgrade, signaling for the software upgrade using the PSIP information used in the North American terrestrial digital receiver.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a PSIP decoder for decoding a virtual channel table included in a received signal, and a channel for transmitting a corresponding PID to a demultiplexer when signaling information for software upgrade is inserted as a result of the decoding. Provided is a software upgrade apparatus for a digital receiver comprising a manager, a demultiplexer for demultiplexing data for software upgrade through the PID, and a data decoder for decoding the data for software upgrade.

The signaling information for the software upgrade is included in the "service_type" field of the virtual channel table.

The value of the "service_type" field is a signaling value for software upgrades, and when the major channel number of the virtual channel table is 0, the data for the software upgrade is transmitted through the Internet.

When the value of the "service_type" field is a signaling value for software upgrades and the major channel number of the virtual channel table is not 0, the data for software upgrade is included in a broadcast channel.

Therefore, according to the present invention, there is an effect of upgrading a digital TV or a set top box at a low cost without having to visit each home from a manufacturer.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention that can specifically realize the above object will be described.

In addition, the term used in the present invention was selected as a general term currently widely used, but according to the emergence of a new technology, the term that the applicant deemed most appropriate in the present invention was arbitrarily used, and the meaning of the term in the corresponding description. It will be explained clearly. Therefore, in the understanding of the present invention, it is intended that the present invention should be understood as the meaning of terms rather than simple names of terms.

1 illustrates a virtual channel table bit stream syntax of a North American terrestrial digital receiver according to the present invention.

Terrestrial Virtual Channel Table (Terrestrial Virtual Channel Table), as shown in Figure 1 is one of a plurality of tables included in the Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP).

For reference, the PSIP is a protocol defined by the ASC (Adavanced Television Systems Committee) to provide program information to a user or set a channel.

As shown in FIG. 1, the virtual channel table (VCT) includes a transport stream identifier, a major channel number, a minor channel number, a short channel name, a carrier frequency, a program number, and the like, and additional information is a descriptor of the virtual channel table. Included in

In more detail, the virtual channel table VCT has a table identifier field "table_id" of "0xC8", and the value of the packet identifier PID for the virtual channel table is "0x1FFB". A version number field "version_number" indicates a version value of the virtual channel table, a section number field "section_number" indicates a number of the corresponding section, and a last section number field "last_section_number" indicates a last section number of the virtual channel table. The section number channel field "num_channel_in_section" indicates the number of all virtual channels existing in the sections of the virtual channel table.

Meanwhile, the short name field "short_name" in the loop "for" loop indicates the name of the virtual channel, and the major channel number field "major_channel_number" indicates the major channel number among the virtual channels defined in the loop. Each virtual channel number is linked to a major and minor channel number, and the major and minor channel numbers serve as a user reference number for the corresponding virtual channel.

Meanwhile, the program number field "program_number" includes information for connecting a virtual channel in which MPEG-2 PAT (Program Association Table) and PMT (Program Map Table) are defined, and the program number in the PAT and PMT. Matches. The PAT describes the components of the program for each program number, indicating a packet identifier (PID) of a transport packet for transmitting the PMT. The PMT describes a program identification number, a list relating to a packet identifier (PID) of a transport packet for transmitting a bit string of video signals and audio signals constituting a program, and accompanying information thereof.

The source identifier field "source_id" indicates a program source connected to the corresponding virtual channel. Here, the source refers to one specific source such as image, text, data or sound. The value of "source_id" has a unique value in the transport stream transmitting the VCT. The descriptor length field "descriptor_length" indicates the descriptor full length of the virtual channel, and the additional descriptor length field "additional_descriptor_length" indicates the total length of all additional descriptors of the virtual channel table. In other words, the virtual channel table carries data of each virtual channel through a loop in a loop "for".

Meanwhile, according to the present invention, the "service_type" field indicates the type of service transmitted to the corresponding virtual channel. In particular, the "service_type" field is used as signaling information for software upgrade using the "service_type" field. Referring to Figure 2 as follows.

2 is a diagram showing meaning according to a value of a service type field according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the value of the 6-bit assigned "service_type" field is 0x01, the corresponding virtual channel means an analog television program, and when 0x02, it means an ATSC digital television program. In addition, 0x03 means ATSC audio broadcasting, which means at least one sound and data component except for an image conforming to the ATSC digital receiver standard, and 0x04 means ATSC data broadcasting service.

Meanwhile, according to the present invention, in addition to the four service types assigned above, the software download service is informed by using a reserved field for future use of the remaining "service_type" field.

For example, in the present invention, when the value of the "service_type" field is 0x05, this means that the corresponding virtual channel is an ATSC software download service.

Meanwhile, according to the present invention, the software upgrade is performed by using the "major_channel_number" field and the "minor_channel_number" field value of the virtual channel table of FIG. 1 as described above. The explanation is as follows.

The "major_channel_number" field is a field indicating a major channel number associated with a virtual channel. Each virtual channel should be connected with a major channel number and a minor channel number. The major channel number is used as a user reference number for the corresponding virtual channel together with the minor channel number. In general, only the major channel numbers are used in analog broadcasting, and values from 1 to 99 are the same.

The "minor_channel_number" field is a field indicating a channel number called a 'minor' or 'sub' channel. The field has a value from 0 to 999, and in analog broadcasting, the field is set to zero.

For example, when channel 51-1 is present, '51' indicates a major channel number, and '1' on the right indicates a minor channel number. The reason for using two channel numbers in this way is to use a channel number (major channel number) in analog broadcasting as it is to give a user convenience in selecting a channel.

According to the present invention, the value of the "major_channel_number" field indicating the major channel number has a value of 0 in addition to the values from 1 to 99.

That is, when the value of the "major_channel_number" field has a value of 0 and the value of the "service_type" field described above has a value of 0x05 illustrated in the present invention, the binary code for software upgrade is not through a broadcast channel. It means that it is transmitted through the Internet.

In addition, when the value of the "major_channel_number" field has a value from 1 to 99 and the value of the "service_type" field has a value of 0x05, a binary code for software upgrade is transmitted together in the currently broadcast channel. It means to be.

This will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a diagram illustrating a software upgrade method through the Internet according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the value of the "major_channel_number" field indicating the major channel number on the virtual channel table (VCT) is 0, and the value of the "service_type" field is '5' as illustrated in the present invention. If so, that means software upgrades over the Internet.

In other words, when the software receiver needs to upgrade the software, the software receiver can directly perform the software upgrade for the corresponding digital receiver using an internet server.

4 is a diagram illustrating a software upgrade method using a broadcasting network according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the value of the "major_channel_number" field indicating the major channel number in the virtual channel table (VCT) is not 0, and the value of the "service_type" field is '5' as illustrated in the present invention. If so, that means software upgrades through the public broadcast network.

In other words, the binary code for software upgrade is transmitted to the general broadcast signal to upgrade the software of the corresponding digital receiver.

Meanwhile, FIG. 5 is a block diagram briefly illustrating a configuration of a digital receiver to which the technical idea according to the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 5, the digital receiver includes a tuner 10 that receives a transmitted broadcast signal, tunes and outputs a signal of a specific channel selected by a user, and a demodulator that demodulates a channel selected by the tuner 10. (Demodulator) 20, a demultiplexer (DeMUX) 30 to demultiplex the demodulated signal into audio, video, data and PSIP tables, and a data decoder to decode and output a data signal of the demultiplexed signal. (Data Decoder) 40, an audio decoder 50 for decoding and outputting an audio signal among the demultiplexed signals, and a video decoder 60 for decoding and outputting the video signal. A PSIP decoder 70 for decoding the PSIP table, a PSIP database (DB) 80 storing the decoded result, a channel manager 90 for channel management, Channel where channel information is recorded A channel map 100, an application manager 110 for a user interface, and a non-volatile memory (NVRAM) 120 in which the channel map information is stored. do.

The operation relationship of the digital receiver configured as described above is as follows. First, a channel selection key by a user is input through the application manager 110, and the channel manager 90 finds a frequency of a matching channel among channel information stored in the channel map 100 according to the channel selection key. .

The channel manager 90 sets the tuner 10 according to the found channel frequency so that the selected channel is tuned. The signal tuned through the tuner 10 is demodulated through the demodulator 20 and output to the demultiplexer 30.

On the other hand, when tuning is performed on the selected channel through the tuner 10, a signal indicating that tuning is performed is transmitted to the channel manager 90, and the channel manager 90 transmits the tuned channel information to the PSIP decoder 70. The base PID (Base PID: 0x1FFB) for searching the virtual channel table VCT is set in the demultiplexer 30.

The demultiplexer 30 finds and demultiplexes a virtual channel table using the base PID value from the signal demodulated by the demodulator 20. The virtual channel table demultiplexed by the demultiplexer 30 is decoded in units of sections in the PSIP decoder 70 and stored in the PSIP DB 80. The channel information stored in the PSIP DB 80 is transmitted to the channel manager 90.

In this case, when the value of the "service_type" field is '5' according to the present invention as a result of decoding the virtual channel table, and the major channel number has a value from 1 to 99, the binary for software upgrade on the transmitted broadcast signal You will notice that the code is included.

Accordingly, the channel manager 90 transmits the A / V PID of the selected channel and the PID of the data packet to the demultiplexer 30 according to the channel information, and the demultiplexer 30 according to the PID value. The demodulated signal is demultiplexed to be transmitted to the data, audio and video decoders 40, 50 and 60 for decoding.

According to the present invention, the binary code for the software upgrade is decoded in the data decoder 40 to perform a software upgrade of the digital receiver, and the audio and video signals decoded in the audio decoder 50 and the video decoder 60 are respectively. It is output to the speaker and the screen so that the user can enjoy the image.

On the other hand, when the PSIP decoder 70 decodes the virtual channel table (VCT) as a result of "Service_type" is '5' and the major channel number is 0, it is a software upgrade through the Internet, and thus is transmitted through a separate Internet line. The binary code for the upgraded software upgrade is decoded by the data decoder 40 to perform a software upgrade in the receiver.

On the other hand, the present invention will be particularly useful for North American terrestrial digital TV is not equipped with a separate specification for software upgrade.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and as can be seen in the appended claims, modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention.

 The effect of the software upgrade apparatus of the digital receiver according to the present invention described above is as follows.

First, manufacturers can upgrade digital TVs or set-top boxes at a low cost without having to visit each home.

Second, consumers always use new and improved versions of the software to increase product satisfaction.

Claims (4)

A PSIP decoder for decoding the virtual channel table included in the received signal; A channel manager for transmitting the PID to the demultiplexer when the decoding information includes the signaling information for software upgrade; A demultiplexer for demultiplexing data for software upgrade through the PID; And, And a data decoder for decoding the data for the software upgrade. The method of claim 1, And the signaling information for the software upgrade is included in the "service_type" field of the virtual channel table. The method of claim 2, When the value of the "service_type" field is a signaling value for software upgrades and the major channel number of the virtual channel table is 0, the data for the software upgrade is transmitted through an internet network. Upgrade device. The method of claim 2, When the value of the "service_type" field is a signaling value for software upgrades and the major channel number of the virtual channel table is not 0, the data for the software upgrade is included in the broadcast channel. Upgrade device.

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