KR101106835B1 - Display apparatus and channel searching method - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display apparatus including: a tuner unit sequentially searching for a broadcast signal for each channel input from an external device; A channel map is configured by controlling entry into a first channel search mode or a second channel search mode based on a predetermined condition, and determining whether a broadcast signal searched through the tuner unit is valid according to the entered channel search mode. A control unit; And a memory unit for storing the stop history information generated during the channel map and the channel search, wherein the first channel search mode is performed by the stop history information, and the second channel search mode starts from the first channel. Channel search is performed sequentially.

Description

DISPLAY APPARATUS AND CHANNEL SEARCHING METHOD}

The present invention relates to a display apparatus, and more particularly, to a display apparatus capable of partial channel searching and a method of channel searching thereof.

BACKGROUND In general, a display device includes a television, and in recent years, a television technology has developed a method of transmitting broadcast signals due to the development of broadcast technology, and accordingly, interest in digital television using a digital transmission method has increased.

Digital televisions transmit analog broadcast signals in digital form, minimizing the effects of noise and facilitating the reproduction of the original image.

Recently, such a display device can receive various broadcast channels through cable or satellite broadcasting, unlike the past, which can only receive over-the-air channels, thus providing a user with at least 50 channels and more than 100 channels.

In addition, the user may perform automatic channel search when a channel search is required due to a first installation of a display device or a change in signal environment.

Here, the automatic channel search refers to a technique of sequentially determining whether a channel is valid from a starting channel number to a last channel number, and thus configuring a channel map based on valid channel information.

Since the automatic channel search is performed for all channels, it takes a lot of time, and accordingly, a skip function for skipping a specific band or channel is provided for the user's convenience.

However, the current display apparatus does not provide any function when the channel search is stopped while performing the automatic search function, and thus, an efficient channel search function is required in the above situation.

In the proposed embodiment, if a channel discovery stop requirement is detected during channel discovery, the channel information at the point of time when the channel discovery stop requirement is detected is stored, and when the channel rescanning is performed later, the channel is stopped based on the stored channel information. A display apparatus and a channel searching method thereof for performing channel searching are provided.

In addition, it provides a channel search function that can reduce the frequency of searching the entire channel, resulting in a shorter channel search time and increased user convenience.

The technical problems to be achieved in the proposed embodiment are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned above are clear to those skilled in the art to which the proposed embodiments belong from the following description. Can be understood.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display apparatus including: a tuner unit sequentially searching for a broadcast signal for each channel input from an external device; A channel map is configured by controlling entry into a first channel search mode or a second channel search mode based on a predetermined condition, and determining whether a broadcast signal searched through the tuner unit is valid according to the entered channel search mode. A control unit; And a memory unit for storing the stop history information generated during the channel map and the channel search, wherein the first channel search mode is performed by the stop history information, and the second channel search mode starts from the first channel. Channel search is performed sequentially.

In addition, the channel search method of the display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of determining a predetermined condition; If the determined condition is a first condition, entering a first channel search mode; Performing a channel search from a broadcast signal of a channel where the channel search was previously stopped according to the entered first channel search mode; If the determined condition is a second condition, entering a second channel search mode; And performing channel search from the broadcast signal of the first channel according to the entered second channel search mode.

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According to the display device and the channel search method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a channel search stop requirement is detected while performing a channel search operation, the display apparatus stores information about a channel on which the stop requirement is detected, By performing the channel search from the stored channel subsequently, the frequency of searching the entire channel is reduced, and as a result, the channel search time can be reduced, and the user's convenience can be provided.

The proposed embodiment will be described.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented, and other inventions which are further deteriorated by addition, change, deletion, etc. of other components, or other embodiments included within the scope of the present invention can be easily made. I can suggest.

The term used in the present invention was selected as a general term widely used as possible, but in some cases, the term is arbitrarily selected by the applicant, in which case the meaning is described in detail in the description of the invention, the name of a simple term It should be clear that the present invention is to be understood as a meaning of terms.

In other words, in the following description, the word 'comprising' does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a tuner unit 110 that tunes a broadcast signal for a specific channel among broadcast signals input from the outside, and a broadcast tuned through the tuner unit 110. A video signal processor 120 for performing signal processing on the video signal among the signals, a display unit 130 for displaying the video signal processed through the video signal processor 120, and receiving a request command from the user. The user input unit 140 and the tuner 110 determine whether a broadcast signal tuned through is valid and construct a channel map, and detect whether or not a channel search stop requirement is generated during the channel search by performing a corresponding stop history. A controller 150 controlling to store information, a memory unit 160 storing the channel map and stop history information according to a control signal of the controller 150, and a channel from the outside When a search command is input, any one of a first channel search mode in which a channel search is performed based on the stored stop history information and a second channel search mode in which a channel search is performed regardless of the stored stop history information It comprises a menu screen generating unit 170 for generating a menu screen for setting the.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the display device will be described in detail.

The tuner 110 tunes a broadcast channel of a specific frequency band according to a tuning control signal of the controller 60 to be described later and receives a broadcast signal corresponding to the corresponding broadcast channel. Here, the tuner unit 110 may be implemented as an antenna, a cable connector, a receiver such as a set top box, a tuner, a demodulator, a decoder, or the like.

The image signal processor 120 receives an image signal among the broadcast signals received through the tuner unit 110 and processes the image signal so that the received image signal can be displayed on the display 130.

In this case, the video signal processor 120 may include a video decoder for decoding the video signal and a scaler for converting the decoded video signal to match the vertical frequency, resolution, aspect ratio, etc., according to the output standard of the display 130. Can be.

In addition, the display unit 130 may be applied to various types of display modules, such as digital light processing (DLP), liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display penal (PDP), and the like, which display video data.

The user input unit 140 is a means for receiving a request command from the user. The user input unit 140 receives a channel search command, a channel switching command, a volume up / down command, etc. input from the user, and transmits the received command to the controller 150.

The controller 150 controls the overall operation of the display apparatus.

In addition, the controller 150 determines whether the broadcast signal tuned through the tuner 110 is valid and constructs a channel map. When a channel search stop requirement is detected during the channel search, the corresponding channel search is performed. Stop history information according to the stop is stored.

In addition, when a channel search command is input later, the controller 150 determines whether there is previously stored stop history information. If the stop history information exists, the controller 150 stops the existing channel search stop requirement based on the stop history information. The channel that was being searched at the detected time point is determined as the start channel. That is, the controller 150 outputs a control signal so that the channel search is continuously performed from the channel that was being searched at the time when the stop requirement was detected during the channel search based on the stop history information.

The memory unit 160 is a storage means for storing various data, which may be configured as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) that is an electrically erasable and programmable read only memory.

In addition, the memory unit 160 may store a driving program necessary for the channel search operation of the tuner unit 110, and of the channel to which the actual valid signal of the broadcast signal found through the tuner unit 110 is input. A channel map composed of information and the stop history information are stored.

The menu screen generating unit 170 may select any one of a first channel search mode in which a channel search is performed based on the stored stop history information and a second channel search mode in which a channel search is performed regardless of the stored stop history information. Create a menu screen for setting the search mode.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described the operation of the display device according to an embodiment of the present invention configured as described above.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel search setting screen formed according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a channel related menu generally includes an automatic channel menu, a manual channel menu, a channel edit menu, and a data broadcast menu.

The automatic channel menu is a menu for constructing a channel map composed of channel information in which the channels configured in each band are sequentially searched for, and when the automatic channel menu is selected by a user, the controller 150. Controls the channel search operation of the tuner 110.

At this time, when the antenna connection is abnormal at the antenna input of the corresponding display device or when a valid channel is not searched after the automatic channel execution, the user informs the user through the message box to check the connection state of the antenna cable. Make sure to check.

The manual channel menu is a menu for executing a search operation on the input channel manually by inputting a channel number of a user. It is also used to delete specific channels from the channel map of channel editing.

In addition, when an indoor or outdoor antenna is used, a valid signal may or may not be inputted through a specific channel according to the direction of the installation antenna. Therefore, since all channels cannot be searched normally using only the automatic channel menu, The manual channel menu is used to search for a specific channel.

The channel edit menu is used to execute a channel edit function such as channel storage, channel erase, and favorite channel registration.

Accordingly, when the automatic channel menu item is selected by the user on the channel search setting screen, the controller 150 controls the tuner 110 to perform a sequential search of the broadcast signal for each channel. In this case, the controller 150 controls the operation of the tuner 110 based on the presence of pre-stored stop history information. In this case, the stop history information does not exist as an initial automatic channel search process. It is assumed and explained.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel search process screen formed by a proposed embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, when a channel search is started through the tuner unit 110, the channel search screen displays information of a band currently undergoing channel search and information on the number of channels in which a valid signal exists in the corresponding band.

In general, the channel search operation is performed in the order of antenna analog, antenna digital, cable analog, and cable digital, and the band currently being searched may be skipped using the next menu 210.

That is, FIG. 3 illustrates a current search for the antenna analog band, and when the next menu 210 is selected during the channel search of the antenna analog band, the channel search for the antenna analog band is terminated. After switching to the next band, the antenna digital band, the channel search operation is continuously performed.

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel map screen formed according to the proposed embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, in general, when a channel search operation for all bands is completed through the tuner unit 110 as described above, information on a channel in which a valid signal exists for each band is stored in the channel map. Here, the DTV 310 means antenna digital broadcasting, the TV 320 means antenna analog broadcasting, the DTV wired 330 means cable digital broadcasting, and the TV wired 340 means cable analog broadcasting. do.

That is, the controller 150 determines whether the broadcast signal tuned through the tuner 110 is valid. If the broadcast signal is determined to be valid, the controller 150 registers information on the corresponding channel in the channel map.

In this case, the controller 150 checks whether a requirement for stopping channel search is detected during the channel search operation.

Here, the channel search stop requirement includes a power off condition, a channel search stop command input, a specific channel watch command input, and the like.

In addition, when the channel search stop requirement is detected during the channel search operation, the controller 150 stores the stop history information according to the detection of the stop requirement in the memory unit 160.

Here, the pause history information includes band information and channel information that were being searched when the pause requirement is detected.

In addition, if the stop requirement is detected while performing the channel search as described above, only the information about the channel searched until the time when the stop requirement is detected is registered in the channel map, and the user cannot easily view the unsearched channel. do.

Accordingly, the controller 150 controls a channel search operation based on the pause history information according to three embodiments.

The first embodiment of the present invention automatically performs a channel search operation based on the stop history information when a specific condition is automatically detected.

That is, when a preset specific condition is detected, the controller 150 controls to perform a channel search operation on the undiscovered channel by using the stop history information.

Herein, the preset specific condition is a condition in which the tuner unit 110 is not used, and typically includes a viewing condition according to an external input mode.

That is, when the preset specific condition is detected, the controller 150 extracts the stored stop history information and performs a channel search operation on the undiscovered channels by using the extracted stop history information. do.

In other words, the controller 150 sets the channel that was being searched as the start channel at the time when the stop requirement is detected during the channel search, and performs the channel search from the set start channel.

In this case, the controller 150 maintains the channel map previously stored in the memory unit 160 without deleting it. That is, since the rescanning of the previously searched channel is not performed, the controller 150 additionally registers information on the newly searched channel in the channel map while maintaining the channel map as it is.

Second, when a channel search command is input later, the device automatically enters the first channel search mode or the second channel search mode based on the presence of previously stored history information.

That is, when the channel search command is input through the user input unit 140, the controller 150 checks whether the stop history information previously stored in the memory unit 160 exists.

The controller 150 enters a first channel search mode based on the pre-stored stop history information when there is pre-stored stop history information, and a second channel search mode when the pre-stored stop history information does not exist. Enter

That is, the controller 150 enters the first channel search mode when the pre-stored stop history information exists, and performs channel search from the channel where the search was previously stopped. In this case, when the first channel search mode is entered, the previously stored channel map is maintained as described above, and only information on a newly discovered channel is additionally registered in the channel map.

In addition, if there is no pre-stored stop history information, the controller 150 enters the second channel search mode and controls the channel search to be performed sequentially from the first channel. In this case, the controller 150 initializes the pre-stored channel map in the memory unit 160 and registers newly searched channel information in the initialized channel map.

Third, when a channel search command is input later, the first channel search mode or the second channel search mode is selectively entered according to a user's request.

That is, when a channel search command is input from the user, the controller 150 checks whether or not previously stored stop history information exists.

If the pre-stored stop history information does not exist, the controller 150 enters the second channel search mode as described above and controls the channel search operation to be performed.

In addition, the controller 150 displays a menu screen for selecting the channel search mode when the pre-stored stop history information exists.

5 is a screen illustrating a channel search mode setting screen formed according to an embodiment of the present invention.

That is, referring to FIG. 5, the channel search mode setting screen 400 includes a first setting item 410 for entering the first channel search mode and a second setting item for entering the second channel search mode ( 420 is included.

Accordingly, when the first setting item 410 is selected on the menu screen, the controller 150 controls the entry into the first channel search mode, and when the second setting item 420 is selected, the second setting item 410 is selected. Controls entry into the channel search mode. In addition, the first channel search mode and the second channel search mode are performed in the same manner as described in the second embodiment.

As described above, when a channel search stop requirement is detected while performing a channel search operation, the display apparatus stores information about a channel on which the stop requirement is detected, and subsequently stores the information on the channel when rescanning the channel. By performing the channel search, the frequency of searching the entire channel can be lowered, and as a result, the channel search time can be reduced and the user's convenience can be provided.

Hereinafter, a channel searching method of a display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a step-by-step method for searching a channel of a display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the channel searching method of the display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment, first, a channel searching command is input (step 110). That is, when a user inputs a channel search command through a remote controller, a local key, a touch screen, or the like, the user input unit 140 receives the input channel search command and transmits it to the controller 150.

If a channel search command is input through the user input unit 140, the controller 150 controls the channel search to be performed through the tuner unit 110 (step 120). That is, the tuner unit 110 performs the tuning for the first channel according to the control signal of the controller 150, and the controller 150 controls the first channel tuned through the tuner unit 110. It is determined whether the channel is valid or not, and whether or not to register the channel in the channel map. In addition, when the search process for the first channel is completed, the above process is repeatedly performed for the next channel.

The controller 150 determines whether a channel search stop requirement is detected while channel search is being performed through the tuner 110 as described above (step 130). That is, the controller 150 checks whether a situation in which the channel search should be stopped occurs during the channel search. Here, the situation in which the channel search should be stopped includes a situation in which a channel search stop command is input from a user, a situation in which a power off command is input, and the like.

If the channel search stop requirement is not detected in step 130, the controller 150 checks whether the channel search process to the last channel is completed (step 140). That is, the controller 150 checks whether all the searching processes for all channels have been performed.

The controller 150 ends when all the search processes for the entire channel have been performed (step 140). Otherwise, the controller 150 returns to step 120 to control the continuous channel search.

In addition, when detecting the channel search stop requirement, the control unit 150 checks whether or not all channels are currently searched (step 150). That is, the controller 150 checks whether the time when the channel search stop requirement is detected is the time when the channel search is completed for all the channels or whether the channel search is not yet completed.

If the search for all channels is completed, the controller 150 stops channel search (step 160). That is, since the search stop requirement is detected after the search for all channels is completed, the controller 150 stops the channel search without any further process.

In addition, if the search for all the channels is not completed, the controller 150 checks the channel information being searched at the time when the suspension requirement is detected (step 170). That is, the controller 150 checks the channel information tuned through the tuner 110 when the channel search stop requirement is detected.

In operation 180, the controller 150 stores stop history information corresponding to the stop of channel search based on the identified channel information. That is, the controller 150 has searched up to which channel, which channel has not been searched since, and in order to continuously carry out channel search in the future, what channel should be searched from which channel? Stop history information is stored in the memory unit 160.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a step-by-step method of rescanning a channel of a display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. Here, the difference between the channel search and the channel rescan is determined depending on whether or not the channel search has been performed previously.

The controller 150 determines whether a channel search command is input through the user input unit 140 (step 210).

If the channel search command is input, the controller 150 determines whether the stop history information is pre-stored in the memory unit 160 and determines whether the stop history information exists (step 220). Step 230).

The control unit 150 extracts the stop history information from the memory unit 160 when the previously stored stop history information exists (step 240).

In addition, based on the extracted stop history information, the controller 150 moves the search channel of the tuner 110 to the channel that was being searched at the time when the channel search stop requirement is detected (step 250). That is, the controller 150 sets the channel where the search is previously stopped as the start channel to start the channel search according to the stop history information.

Accordingly, the tuner 110 performs a channel search from the start channel set through the controller 150 (step 260). In this case, the controller 150 additionally registers only valid channel information according to whether the channel searched through the tuner 110 is valid while maintaining the channel map previously stored in the memory unit 160 as it is. Let's do it.

In addition, if the previously stored stop history information does not exist, the controller 150 initializes the previously stored channel map in the memory unit 160 (step 270). That is, the controller 150 deletes all channel information previously registered in the channel map.

In operation 280, the tuner 110 searches for a channel from the first channel according to the control signal of the controller 150.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a step-by-step method of rescanning a channel of a display apparatus according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, first, the controller 150 determines whether a channel search command is input through the user input unit 140 (step 310).

When the channel search command is input, the controller 150 determines whether the pause history information is stored in the memory unit 160 and determines whether the pause history information exists (step 320). Step 330).

The control unit 150 controls to display a menu screen for selecting a channel search mode when the stop history information pre-stored in the memory unit 160 exists (step 240). That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the controller 150 includes a first setting item for entering the first channel search mode and a second setting item for entering the second channel search mode. The search mode setting screen is displayed.

Subsequently, the controller 150 determines whether the first condition is selected by the user on the displayed channel search mode setting screen (step 250). Here, the case where the first condition is selected means a case where the first setting item is selected on the channel search mode setting screen.

In addition, when the first condition is selected on the channel search mode setting screen, the controller 150 outputs a control signal to enter the first channel search mode (step 260). That is, the controller 150 outputs a control signal so that the channel search is continuously performed from the channel where the channel search is previously stopped using the previously stored stop history information. Accordingly, the tuner unit 110 searches for the channel from the pause channel based on the control signal of the controller 150.

In addition, when the pre-stored stop history information does not exist or when the second condition is selected on the channel search mode setting screen (when the second setting item is selected on the channel search mode setting screen), the memory unit The channel map previously stored in step 160 is initialized (step 270).

In addition, the controller 150 outputs a control signal to sequentially search for a channel from the first channel, and accordingly, the tuner 110 selects a broadcast signal corresponding to the corresponding channel sequentially from the first channel. (Step 280).

9 is a flowchart illustrating a step-by-step method of rescanning a channel of a display apparatus according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, first, the controller 150 determines whether a predetermined condition is detected (step 310). That is, the controller 150 displays an image through the display 130, but the tuner 110 does not use a separate operation, that is, a viewing condition according to an external input mode. Check whether the back is detected.

When the preset condition is detected, the controller 150 determines whether the stop history information exists in the memory unit 160 by determining whether the stop history information exists previously (steps 320 and 330). ).

In addition, if the stop history information does not exist, the controller 150 ends. If the stop history information exists, the controller 150 extracts the previously stored stop history information (step 340).

Then, the controller 150 uses the extracted stop history information to continue the channel search from the channel where the search was previously stopped (step 350). At this time, the channel search operation is performed in the background so that the user does not recognize.

As described above, in the channel search method of the display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when a channel search stop requirement is detected while performing a channel search operation, the channel search method stores information about a channel on which the stop requirement is detected, and when the channel is searched again later, By performing the channel search from the stored channel subsequently, the frequency of searching the entire channel can be reduced, and as a result, the channel search time can be reduced as well as the user's convenience.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and changes without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention but to describe the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

1 is a view showing the configuration of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel search setting screen formed according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view showing an example of a channel search process screen formed by the proposed embodiment.

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel map screen formed by a proposed embodiment.

5 is a screen showing a channel search mode setting screen formed by an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a step-by-step method for searching a channel of a display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a step-by-step method of rescanning a channel of a display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a step-by-step method of rescanning a channel of a display device according to another exemplary embodiment.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a step-by-step method for rescanning a channel of a display device according to another exemplary embodiment.

Claims (14)

A tuner unit sequentially searching for a broadcast signal for each channel input from the outside; A channel map is configured by controlling entry into a first channel search mode or a second channel search mode based on a predetermined condition, and determining whether a broadcast signal searched through the tuner unit is valid according to the entered channel search mode. A control unit; And It includes a memory unit for storing the stop history information generated during the channel map and the channel search, In the first channel search mode, channel search is performed by the pause history information. And the second channel search mode performs channel searching sequentially from the first channel. The method of claim 1, The preset condition is determined by the presence or absence of the stop history information stored in the memory unit. The control unit controls to enter the first channel search mode or the second channel search mode according to the presence of the stop history information. 3. The method of claim 2, The control unit enters a first channel search mode when there is previously stored stop history information, and controls the channel search to be performed from a channel where the channel search is previously stopped. The method of claim 1, It further comprises a menu screen generating unit for generating a menu screen for setting any one of the channel search mode of the first channel search mode and the second channel search mode, And said predetermined condition is a setting condition on said menu screen. The method of claim 1, The control unit determines whether to initialize the channel map previously stored in the memory unit based on the entered channel search mode. Determining a preset condition; If the determined condition is a first condition, entering a first channel search mode and performing channel search from a broadcast signal of a channel where the channel search was previously stopped; And And if the determined condition is the second condition, entering the second channel search mode and performing channel search from the broadcast signal of the first channel. The method of claim 6, If the channel search stop requirement is detected during the channel search operation, storing stop history information including channel information that was being searched when the stop requirement is detected. The method of claim 7, wherein The determining of the preset condition And determining whether there is previously stored stop history information as a channel search command is input from the outside. The method of claim 8, The first channel search mode is performed when the pause history information exists. The second channel search mode is performed when the pause history information does not exist. The method of claim 8, Entering the second channel search mode is The channel search method of the display device further comprising the step of initializing the pre-stored channel map. The method of claim 7, wherein And performing a channel search from the channel where the search is stopped using the pre-stored stop history information when the third preset condition is detected. The method of claim 11, And the third condition is an unused condition of the tuner for channel search. The method of claim 7, wherein The method may further include displaying a menu screen for selecting a channel search mode. The first condition is when a first channel search mode is selected on the menu screen. And the second condition is a case where a second channel search mode is selected on the menu screen. The method of claim 6, According to the first channel search mode, performing the channel search from the broadcast signal of the channel where the channel search was previously stopped. Maintaining the pre-stored channel map, And performing channel searching from the paused channel, and registering channel information determined as an effective broadcast signal in the channel map.

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