KR101285663B1 - Broadcasting signal receiver and method for processing Emergency Alert Message - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for processing an emergency alert message in a two-way broadcast signal receiver capable of receiving cable broadcasts. In particular, the host in the bidirectional broadcast receiver according to the present invention generates an emergency alert message based on the received emergency alert message so as to execute the emergency alert message in a data broadcast related application when an emergency alert message is received, and provides the data broadcast related application. do. By doing so, the present invention can prevent abnormal operation of a data broadcasting related application when an emergency alert message is received and executed.

EAS, OCAP, Applications

Description

Broadcasting signal receiver and method for processing Emergency Alert Message}

1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a cable broadcasting network including a host and a cable card according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a software and hardware structure of a bidirectional broadcast receiver according to the present invention;

3 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention showing an embodiment of hardware resources in the broadcast receiver of FIG.

4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a syntax structure for an emergency alert message transmitted from a host to a data broadcasting related application.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for processing an emergency alert message of an application related to data broadcasting according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

100: host 101a: first tuner

101b: second tuner 102: first demodulator

103: multiplexer 104: demultiplexer

105: decryption unit 106: second demodulation unit

107: third tuner 108: switching unit

109: modulation unit 110: control unit

200: cable card

The present invention relates to a broadcast receiver, and more particularly, to a method for processing an emergency alert message in a broadcast receiver capable of receiving cable broadcasts.

The cable broadcasting system of the digital broadcasting system is largely composed of a cable broadcasting station which is a transmitting side for transmitting cable broadcasting, and a broadcasting receiver capable of receiving the transmitted cable broadcasting. The cable station is also called a headend.

And the open cable type broadcast receiver adopted as a domestic standard is divided into hardware part and software part.

First, the hardware consists of a cable card that separates security and conditional access (CA) functions from the set-top box and the set-top box. In this way, the set-top box can be retailed at the same time as providing an easy replacement function of the security system, there is an advantage that can supply a low-cost cable broadcast receiver. The cable card may also be referred to as a point of deployment (POD) module. For example, a PCMCIA card is used. The set top box into which the cable card is inserted may also be referred to as a host. For example, a digital built in TV or a digital ready TV may be a host, and the host and the cable card may be referred to as a cable broadcast receiver.

On the other hand, in the open cable type broadcast receiver, software is the core application platform for data broadcasting. The data broadcasting related application platforms are various, such as multimedia home platform (MHP), open cable application platform (OCA), advanced common application platform (ACAP), etc. Among these, the OCAP is mounted for data broadcasting in an open cable broadcasting receiver. do.

That is, the OCAP is a standard that becomes an application production base for a cable type interactive data broadcasting service. In other words, the OCAP is a data broadcasting middleware standard for an interactive service in an open cable method. The open cabling method enables the sharing of application software and content using a common middleware platform called OCAP, thereby inducing the activation of the content industry.

In addition, in the cable broadcasting system, when a transmitter transmits an Emergency Alert message in preparation for an emergency situation, a basic protocol is received and processed.

That is, when an emergency alert message is transmitted through a specific frequency of the terrestrial wave or the cable, the host in the broadcast receiver receives it. The host outputs information on channel change and emergency alert to an emergency broadcast channel in order to effectively provide information on emergency alerts to viewers watching TV.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a broadcast receiver, an emergency alert message processing method, and a signal structure for preventing abnormal operation of an OCAP application when executing an emergency alert message received by a broadcast receiver.

In order to achieve the above object, in a method for receiving and processing an emergency alert message in a data broadcasting related application platform-based broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention, the host receiving the emergency alert message may include information on the received emergency alert message. And generating a platform-based emergency alert message including channel information currently viewed, and transmitting the generated platform-based emergency alert message to a data broadcasting related application, wherein the data broadcasting related application receiving the platform-based emergency alert message is a transmitted platform-based emergency. And executing an emergency alert message according to the content of the alert message.

The transmitting may further include exception channel information for controlling switching to an emergency broadcast channel in the platform-based emergency alert message and transmit the data to an application related to data broadcasting.

The execution step instructs to switch to the emergency broadcast channel in the transmitted platform-based emergency alert message, and does not switch to the emergency broadcast channel if the current viewing channel information is included in the exception channel information.

The execution step instructs the switching of the transmitted platform-based emergency alert message to the emergency broadcast channel, and if the current viewing channel information is not included in the exception channel information, switches to the emergency broadcast channel included in the platform-based emergency alert message.

The executing step may further include switching to the original viewing channel by referring to the current viewing channel information included in the transmitted platform-based emergency alert message when the running emergency alert message ends.

When the emergency alert message is received by the data broadcasting related application platform based broadcast receiver according to the present invention, the signal structure of the platform based emergency alert message for transmitting to the data broadcasting related application is for uniquely distinguishing the received emergency alert message. An event ID field indicating information; A time field indicating the start and remaining time of the received emergency alert message; A priority field indicating the importance of the received emergency alert message; An emergency broadcast channel information field indicating emergency broadcast channel information to be switched; A text information field indicating an emergency alert related content to be displayed; A current viewing channel information field indicating channel information currently being viewed; And an exception channel information field indicating exception channel information for controlling switching to the emergency broadcast channel.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention includes: a host for generating a platform-based emergency alert message including information on a received emergency alert message and channel information currently viewed when an emergency alert message is received and transmitting the data to a broadcast application related application; A platform for downloading and installing data broadcasting related applications; And a data broadcasting related application for executing the emergency alert message according to the contents of the platform-based emergency alert message transmitted from the host.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. At this time, the configuration and operation of the present invention shown in the drawings and described by it will be described as at least one embodiment, by which the technical spirit of the present invention and its core configuration and operation is not limited.

In addition, the terminology used in the present invention is a general term that is currently widely used as much as possible, but in certain cases, the term is arbitrarily selected by the applicant. In this case, since the meaning is described in detail in the description of the present invention, It is intended that the present invention be understood as the meaning of the term rather than the name.

1 conceptually illustrates a cable broadcast network between a cable broadcast receiver and a headend according to the present invention. The headend / plant 10 receives a broadcast signal through a television station 20, a satellite, an antenna, and the like, and then reaches each cable broadcast receiver 31 through 34 through a cable network including a node. To pass. In addition, the cable broadcast receiver and the headend / plant can transmit and receive various data including data broadcasting related applications through a cable network infrastructure capable of transmitting data in both directions. The cable broadcast receiver includes a cable card that is removable.

The present invention describes a cable broadcast receiver that simultaneously includes an OOB QPSK modem and a DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications) modem and supports a DOCSIS Settop Gateway (DSG).

In addition, the present invention describes a cable broadcast receiver equipped with OCAP for an interactive data broadcast service as an embodiment.

Here, the data broadcast is a service that enables various additional information in addition to the existing A / V (Audio / Video) broadcast (or also called a TV program). The additional information may include additional information related to the TV program being displayed (e.g., program introduction, personal details, etc.), and additional information not related to the TV program being displayed (e.g., news, stock, weather, Travel information, etc.). In addition, when interactive data services are available, viewers can use interactive services such as home shopping, home banking, games, life information, entertainment, and education with a simple remote control. The data service corresponds to an application and is implemented using an OCAP mounted in a broadcast receiver.

When the emergency alert message is received, the present invention provides status data of the received emergency alert message to the data broadcast related application so that the emergency alert message can be executed in the data broadcast related application.

2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an OCAP-based cable broadcast receiver according to the present invention, and is largely composed of applications, an OCAP, an operating system, and hardware resources. Application Program Interfaces (APIs) exist between the applications and the OCAP.

The OCAP is a platform for data broadcasting related applications adopted in the open cable method, and provides high level APIs and services to the corresponding applications using hardware resources and an operating system.

The OCAP may include an execution engine and an presentation engine. The execution engine interprets and executes an application written in Java, and the expression engine interprets and executes an application written in HTML. As an example, the OCAP-J (Java) application is executed by an execution engine.

The applications are classified into data broadcasting related applications and native applications.

The data broadcasting related applications use an API to utilize hardware resources. That is, all data broadcasting related applications do not deal directly with hardware resources, and maintain compatibility by using hardware resources only through API. For compatibility of the data broadcasting related applications, OCAP separates the data broadcasting related applications from hardware resources.

Here, the data broadcasting related applications refer to software that operates using an execution environment and API defined by OCAP, and for this reason, it is also referred to as an OCAP application.

The OCAP application type may be classified into a bound application and an unbound application.

The bound application is an application associated with or bound to a currently tuned channel, for example, a game or information services. At this point, if a channel switch occurs and is not related to the newly tuned channel, the bound application must be terminated. That is, the application is started when going to a specific channel, the application is terminated when switching to another channel.

The unbound application is an application that is not bound to a particular channel. For example, a monitor application, a video on demand (VOD), an electronic program guide (EPG), an e-mail, a chatting, a game, and the web Browsers, and personal video recorders (PVRs). That is, the unbound application is downloaded and stored when the broadcast receiver boots up, and starts and ends regardless of the viewing channel.

The monitor application is a service operation software using an API defined in the OCAP standard, and can control start and end of other applications. That is, the monitor application is a special unbound application made according to the purpose of the cable broadcasting company, and provides an API (for example, rebooting the receiver, reporting an error, etc.) that only the monitor application can use. In addition, the monitor application can adjust when there are collisions of various applications with respect to receiver resources such as memory, and can first exercise control over almost all receiver functions.

The monitor application may control channel management and cable card functions. That is, basic channel switching and operation in the host where the cable card is inserted are basically controlled by the monitor application. You can also download and run applications for driving TV or other additional services (EPG, VOD).

For example, in the data broadcast mode, when the host sends a channel switch key input from an input device such as a remote controller to OCAP, a data broadcast related application that manages a channel, for example, a monitor application is connected to a channel switch key received from the host. Accordingly, the state change of the various applications related to the channel switching and the pause and termination of the bound application which is dedicated to the channel are executed.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 2, a native application receives a digital broadcast signal, demultiplexes video and audio information, other broadcast program information (EPG), etc. from the received digital broadcast signal, and implements it on a device. Do this. That is, the native application is an application related to performing a basic function, and is embedded at the time of shipment of the broadcast receiver.

The hardware resource is also called host device hardware, and is mainly composed of a host and a cable card.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hardware resource to which the present invention is applied, and includes a host 100 and a cable card 200 that can be attached to or detached from the host 100.

The host 100 may receive only cable broadcast, or may receive one or more digital broadcasts of cable broadcast, terrestrial broadcast, or satellite broadcast. In the above embodiment, the host 100 considers an example in which one or more broadcasts among cable broadcast, terrestrial broadcast, and satellite broadcast may be received.

On the other hand, there are two types of bidirectional communication methods between the cable broadcast receiver and the headend. An OOB (Out Of Band) method and a DOGSIS Settop Gateway (DSG) method are possible. Accordingly, the viewer may select and view a desired program through the host using either of the two methods. Alternatively, the viewer may directly participate in the broadcast program or select and view necessary information, and a data broadcast service may be provided through the OOB / DSG scheme.

In FIG. 3, the host 100 includes a first tuner 101a, a second tuner 101b, a first demodulator 102, a multiplexer 103, a demultiplexer 104, a decoder 105, and a third tuner. A second demodulator (DOCSIS) 106, a third tuner 107, a switching unit 108, a modulator 109, a controller 110, and an OCAP memory controller 120 may be included.

The cable card 200 is either a single (S) -card capable of processing a single stream or a multi (M) -card capable of processing multiple streams.

The first tuner 101a tunes only a specific channel frequency among terrestrial A / V (Audio / Video) broadcasts transmitted through an antenna or cable A / V broadcasts transmitted in-band through a cable. Output to the first demodulator 102.

Here, since the terrestrial broadcast and the cable broadcast have different transmission schemes, the first demodulator 102 may perform different demodulation processes on signals of different transmission schemes. For example, a terrestrial A / V broadcast modulated and transmitted in a VSB (Vestigial Sideband Modulation) method performs demodulation in the inverse of VSB modulation. In addition, a cable A / V broadcast modulated and transmitted in a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) scheme performs demodulation in reverse of the QAM.

The signal demodulated by the first demodulator 102 is output through the multiplexer 103 in a stream form. At this time, if there are a plurality of in-band tuners capable of receiving cable A / V broadcast, and different channels are tuned simultaneously in each in-band tuner and demodulated in each demodulator, the multiplexer 103 Multiplexed at output.

If the signal demodulated by the first demodulator 102 is a stream of terrestrial broadcast, the demodulated stream is output to the demultiplexer 104 through the multiplexer 103, and the multiplexer 103 if the stream is cable broadcast. It is output to the demultiplexer 104 through the cable card 200 mounted in the slot. The cable card 200 includes a conditional access (CA) system for copy protection and limited access to high value-added broadcast content, and is also referred to as a point of deployment (POD) module.

That is, the cable card 200 descrambles the single stream or the multi-stream of the cable broadcast output from the multiplexer 103 to descramble and output the descrambler 104. If the cable card 200 is not mounted, the single stream or the multi-stream of the cable broadcast demodulated by the first demodulator 102 is directly output to the demultiplexer 104. In this case, the scrambled cable broadcast cannot descramble and thus cannot be viewed normally.

The demultiplexer 104 separates the audio, video, and data streams from the multiplexed broadcast stream and outputs them to the decoders 105. The decoder 105 may include an audio decoder, a video decoder, and a data decoder.

That is, the demultiplexer 104 decodes the audio stream demultiplexed in the audio decoder, the video stream in the video decoder, and the data stream in the data decoder.

The second tuner 101b tunes a specific channel frequency of the data broadcast transmitted through the cable by the DSG method and outputs the specific channel frequency to the second demodulator 106. The second demodulator 106 may demodulate the DSG data broadcast and then output the demodulated broadcast signal to the controller 110.

The third tuner 107 tunes a specific channel frequency for the downlink data broadcast transmitted through the OOB method through the cable and outputs the specific channel frequency to the cable card 200.

When bi-directional communication is possible between the headend and the cable broadcast receiver, uplink information transmitted from the cable broadcast receiver to the headend (for example, application for a paid program or diagnostic information of the host) is transmitted by OOB or DSG. Can be. Therefore, an embodiment of the cable broadcast receiver according to the present invention may be provided with a switching unit 108 to transmit information by selecting one of the above schemes.

In the OOB method, user information or system diagnostic information is output to the modulator 109 through the cable card 200 and the switching unit 108, and the modulator 109 transmits the output signal to a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK). Modulation can be modulated and transmitted to the headend via cable. If broadcast information of the user is transmitted in a DSG manner, the information is output to the modulator 109 through the control unit 110 and the switching unit 108, and the modulator 109 transmits a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)- It can be modulated with 16 modulation schemes and then sent to the headend via cable.

Meanwhile, the emergency alert message cable_emergency_alert () is defined in MPEG-2 table format to be compatible with MPEG-2 transport, and the table is divided into at least one or more sections and transported through in-band and OOB. It is sent in the form of a packet.

If the cable card 200 is inserted into the host, the emergency warning message tabled according to the SI protocol and transmitted to the OOB is output to the cable card 200 via the third tuner 107. The cable card 200 parses the received emergency warning message and outputs it to the controller 110. On the contrary, if the cable card 200 is not inserted into the host, the emergency warning message transmitted in-band by being tabled according to the PSIP protocol is demultiplexed by the demultiplexer 104 without passing through the cable card 200. Output to the control unit 110.

The controller 110 outputs an emergency alert message received through in-band or OOB to the OCAP memory controller 120. When an emergency alert message is input from the controller 110, the OCAP memory controller 120 generates information necessary for executing an emergency alert message in a data broadcasting related application, for example, an OCAP application, and transmits the generated information to the OCAP application.

In the present invention, for convenience of description, information necessary for executing an emergency alert message in an OCAP application will be referred to as an OCAP emergency alert message.

The operation of the controller 110 and the OCAP memory controller 120 may be performed by any one of hardware, firmware, middleware, and software, or may be performed by a combination of at least two of them.

In addition, the controller 110 may serve as the OCAP memory controller 110, in which case the OCAP memory controller 120 may be omitted. In this case, the host controller 110 or the OCAP memory controller 120 transmits the OCAP emergency alert message to the OCAP application, but does not process the actual emergency alert message.

The OCAP applications, native applications, OCAP middleware, APIs, operating systems, and other necessary software shown in FIG. 2 are stored in a memory (not shown), when the broadcast receiver is powered on, or other applications or users. Is executed upon request.

In the present invention, the OCAP-based application may be newly added to process an emergency alert message in an OCAP application, or an emergency alert message processing function may be added to an existing OCAP application. Here, the OCAP application for processing the emergency alert message may be downloaded from the headend through a broadcasting network or a communication network. Alternatively, it may be downloaded through another interface (for example, a USB interface) except for the broadcast network or the communication network, or may be built in when the broadcast receiver is shipped.

At this time, the OCAP application for the emergency alert message performs forced tuning to the emergency broadcast channel according to the contents included in the OCAP emergency alert message transmitted from the host, or outputs the contents of the emergency alert message in a text form on the screen. The forced tuning to the emergency broadcast channel and the message display may be executed simultaneously or only one of them. One of the message display methods is a method of scrolling and displaying an emergency alert content in a text form on a screen. Alternatively, there is a method of outputting audio. In the present invention, the display in the form of a text on the screen is described as an embodiment, but the method for outputting the audio can also be applied to the present invention.

The OCAP application may also temporarily stop or terminate another application currently running to process the received OCAP emergency alert message.

In addition, when the execution of the OCAP emergency alert message is finished, the OCAP application may re-execute the temporarily stopped or terminated application for the processing of the OCAP emergency alert message, or may switch the emergency broadcast channel to the original viewing channel.

For this purpose, the OCAP emergency alert message includes event ID, sequence number, start time and remaining time information, priority information of the emergency alert message for determining whether to switch channels or display messages, and emergency broadcast to be forced to switch. Channel information, text information to be displayed, and original viewing channel information to be returned.

The OCAP emergency alert message may further include information for executing the emergency alert message only in a designated region.

The OCAP emergency alert message may further include exception channel information for not switching to an emergency broadcast channel according to a channel currently being viewed.

4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a syntax structure of an OCAP emergency alert message OCAP_EAS_report () generated based on an emergency alert message received at a host when an emergency alert message is received at a host in a broadcast receiver according to the present invention. to be. The generated OCAP emergency alert message is sent to the OCAP application for execution.

Referring to FIG. 4, the OCAP emergency alert message OCAP_EAS_report () displays an EAS_Event_ID field indicating an event ID, an EAS_Alert_Priority field indicating a priority, and a start time, so that an OCAP application switches to an emergency broadcast channel or performs a message display. EAS_Start_Time field, EAS_Time_Remaining field for remaining time, EAS_Details_OOB_Source_ID field for emergency broadcast channel number for OOB, EAS_Details_Major_Channel_Number field for emergency broadcast major channel number for in-band, emergency broadcast minor channel number for in-band It may include an EAS_Details_Minor_Channel_Number field, a length (EAS_Alert_Text_Length) field indicating a text length to be scrolled, and a text (EAS_alert_text) field including text to be scrolled.

The OCAP emergency alert message OCAP_EAS_report () may include a repetition statement repeated according to the value of the EAS_Location_Code_Count field and the EAS_Location_Code_Count field so that the OCAP application executes the emergency alert message only in a designated region. The loop may include a first position (state_code) field, a second position (county_subdivision) field, and a third position (county_code) field.

The OCAP emergency alert message OCAP_EAS_report () is a Cur_in_band_reference field indicating a band of the current viewing channel for returning to the original viewing channel and for exception channel processing when the running emergency alert message is terminated, and for in-band to be returned. It may include a Cur_Major_Channel_Number field indicating a current major channel number, a Cur_Minor_Channel_Number field indicating a current minor channel number for in-band to return, and a Cur_OOB_Source_ID field indicating a current channel number for OOB to return. Here, only one of the Cur_Major_Channel_Number field / Cur_Minor_Channel_Number field and Cur_OOB_Source_ID field may be included according to the Cur_in_band_reference field value.

The OCAP emergency alert message OCAP_EAS_report () is repeated in accordance with the EAS_Exception_Count field and the EAS_Exception_Count field value indicating the number of exception channels for limiting switching to the emergency broadcast channel so as not to switch to the emergency broadcast channel according to the channel currently being viewed. It can contain a loop statement. The loop includes an In_band_reference field indicating a band of an exception channel to limit emergency broadcast channel switching, an Exception_Major_Channel_Number field indicating an exception major channel number for in-band, an Exception_Minor_Channel_Number field indicating an exception minor channel number for in-band, and an OOB It may include an Exception_OOB_Source_ID field indicating an exception channel number. Here, only one of the Exception_Major_Channel_Number field / Exception_Minor_Channel_Number field and the Exception_OOB_Source_ID field may be included according to the In_band_reference field value.

In FIG. 4 configured as described above, the EAS_Event_ID field represents a specific emergency alert (EA) event. Each time a new EAS_Event_ID is assigned, a new EAS_Event_ID shall be assigned.

The EAS_Start_Time field indicates a start time of a received emergency alert event, and is represented as a second in an example (Designates the start time of this alert event as the number of seconds).

The EAS_Time_Remaining field indicates the remaining output time of the emergency alert message being processed. For example, the EAS_Time_Remaining field may be set in units of 0-120 seconds (Designates the time remaining in the alert message). A value of zero shall indicate an alert message period of indefinite duration if the value of the EAS_Time_Remaining field is 0.

The EAS_Alert_Priority field represents the priority of an emergency alert. Processing of the received emergency alert message is determined according to the value of the EAS_Alert_Priority field. That is, it is determined whether to ignore the received emergency alert message unconditionally, or ignore only in a specific condition, or to forcibly switch to an emergency broadcast channel (details channel) included in the received emergency alert message. For example, when the value of the EAS_Alert_Priority field is 11 or less, there is no change to the emergency broadcast channel, and only the information on the received emergency alert message is displayed in text form on the screen, so that the viewer can know the emergency situation. In addition, when the EAS_Alert_Priority field value is 15, the viewer can watch the emergency broadcast by forcibly switching the channel currently being watched to the emergency broadcast channel included in the emergency alert message. The above-described numerical values are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the numerical values.

The EAS_Details_OOB_Source_ID field indicates a source ID of a virtual channel for an emergency broadcast channel to be tuned when an emergency alert message is transmitted to an OOB. Here, the source ID refers to the virtual channel described in the OOB SI. The EAS_Details_OOB_Source_ID field is ignored if the OOB SI is not valid.

The EAS_Details_Major_Channel_Number field and the EAS_Details_Minor_Channel_Number field indicate major and minor channel numbers of an emergency broadcast channel to be tuned when an emergency alert message is transmitted in-band.

The EAS_Alert_Text_Length field defines the total length of the immediately following EAS_Alert_Text () field in bytes. If the value of the EAS_Alert_Text_Length field is 0, this indicates that the EAS_Alert_Text () field is not included in the emergency alert message.

The data structure of the EAS_Alert_Text () field includes multiple_string_structure () indicating a textual description of the emergency alert. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the text information of the emergency information obtained by parsing the alert_text () is scrolled from the right side to the left side of the top of the screen.

The EAS_Location_Code_Count field indicates the number of regions to which an emergency alert message is to be delivered. Next to the EAS_Location_Code_Count field is a 'for' loop that is repeated as many times as the number of regions to which the emergency alert message is to be delivered (that is, the value of the EAS_Location_Code_Count field).

At least one of the first to third location fields in the 'for' loop is set to a code value for identifying an area where an emergency alert message is transmitted. At this time, the values set in the first to third location fields are appropriately set according to the predetermined administrative area. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the unit of the administrative area is determined in the order of the first position (state_code) field> second position (county_subdivision) field> third position (county_code) field. That is, the first location field, the second location field, and the third location field are divided into a wide administrative area from a narrow administrative area, and a code value indicating the area is set, whereby an area to which an emergency warning message is to be delivered is determined. It can be specified.

The Cur_in_band_reference field indicates band information to be returned when the running emergency alert message ends. According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the Cur_in_band_reference field value is 1, the original channel information to be returned is displayed in the Cur_Major_Channel_Number field and the Cur_Minor_Channel_Number field, and when the Cur_in_band_reference field value is 1, the Cur_OOB_Source_ID field is displayed.

That is, the Cur_Major_Channel_Number field and Cur_Minor_Channel_Number field indicate a major and minor channel number for in-band to be returned when an emergency alert message ends (Cur_Major_Channel_Number and Cur_Minor_Channel_Number field Indicate the major and minor channel number associated with an interrupted channel by EAS). The Cur_OOB_Source_ID field indicates a source ID of an OOB virtual channel to be returned when an emergency alert message ends (Cur_OOB_Source_ID Indicates the Source ID of a virtual channel associated with an interrupted OOB Source by EAS).

The EAS_Exception_Count field indicates the number of exception channels for limiting switching to the emergency broadcast channel even if the emergency broadcast channel is transmitted. The 'for' loop following the EAS_Exception_Count field includes exception channel information for limiting switching to the emergency broadcast channel.

That is, if the channel currently being watched is included in the exception channel information in the 'for' loop, even if the priority field value indicates switching to the emergency broadcast channel, the OCAP application does not switch to the emergency broadcast channel. In other words, if the current channel information is included in the exception channel information, this means that the OCAP application does not perform emergency warning message processing such as switching to an emergency broadcast channel.

For example, assuming that the channel currently being watched is CNN and the exception channel information includes CNN, the received OCAP emergency alert message includes emergency broadcast channel information, and the priority field value is an emergency broadcast channel. It does not switch to the emergency broadcast channel even if the switch is instructed.

The 'for' loop repeated as much as the EAS_Exception_Count field value includes an Exception_Major_Channel_Number / Exception_Minor_Channel_Number field or an Exception_OOB_Source_ID field according to an In_band_reference field indicating a band of an exception channel and an In_band_reference field value.

The current viewing channel information, that is, the Cur_in_band_reference field, Cur_Major_Channel_Number field, Cur_Minor_Channel_Number field, and Cur_OOB_Source_ID field are not only referred to for the above-mentioned exception processing, but also when the emergency warning message ends and returns to the originally viewed channel. .

5 is an operation flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for processing an emergency alert message in an OCAP application according to the present invention.

That is, when an emergency alert message is received through in-band or OOB, the host generates an OCAP emergency alert message as shown in FIG. 4 based on the received emergency alert message and transmits it to the OCAP application.

When the OCAP application receives an OCAP emergency alert message from the host (step 501), the OCAP application checks whether forced tuning is necessary to the emergency broadcast channel by referring to the priority (EAS_Alert_Priority) field value in the received OCAP emergency alert message (step 502). .

If it is determined in step 502 that forced tuning to an emergency broadcast channel is not necessary, an emergency alert operation is performed according to the contents of the received OCAP emergency alert message (step 503). For example, if a message display is needed, the contents of the emergency alert are scrolled in a text form by referring to the EAS_Alert_Text_Length field and the EAS_Alert_Text () field in the received OCAP emergency alert message.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 502 that switching to the emergency broadcast channel is necessary, it is checked whether the channel information currently being viewed is included in the exception channel information (step 504). To this end, the current viewing channel information (Cur_Major_Channel_Number / Cur_Minor_Channel_Number field, and Cur_OOB_Source_ID field) and exception channel information (Exception_Major_Channel_Number / Exception_Minor_ Channel_Number field, and Exception_OOB_Source_ID field) in the received OCAP emergency warning message are compared.

If it is determined in step 504 that the current viewing channel information is included in the exception channel information, the priority field value does not switch to the emergency broadcast channel included in the OCAP emergency warning message even if the priority field value indicates switching to the emergency broadcast channel (step 505). . For example, assuming that the channel being watched is CNN and the CNN is included in the exception channel information, the received OCAP emergency alert message includes emergency broadcast channel information called KBS, and the priority field value is emergency broadcast. Even if the instruction to switch to the channel does not switch to the emergency broadcast channel called KBS.

On the contrary, if it is determined in step 504 that the current viewing channel information is not included in the exception channel information, the system switches to the emergency broadcasting channel by referring to the EAS_Details_OOB_Source_ID field and the EAS_Details_Major_Channel_Number / EAS_Details_Minor_Channel_ Number fields in the received emergency alert message (step 506).

When the channel is switched to the emergency broadcast channel, it is determined whether the current emergency alert message is terminated by referring to the EAS_Start_Time field and the EAS_Time_Remaining field included in the received OCAP emergency alert message (step 507).

When the termination of the emergency alert message executed in step 507 is confirmed, the channel is switched to the originally viewed channel with reference to the current viewing channel information (Cur_in_band_reference field, Cur_Major_Channel_Number / Cur_Minor_Channel_Number field, and Cur_OOB_Source_ID field) in the received OCAP emergency alert message (step 508).

As described above, the OCAP application for the EAS processes an OCAP emergency alert message transmitted from the host, thereby preventing a malfunction of the OCAP application that may occur by processing the emergency alert message at the host.

Meanwhile, in the embodiment of the present invention described above, a descrambling module is provided in the cable card, and the cable card is attached to or detached from the host. In this case, the broadcast signal from the broadcasting station (or headend) is descrambled through the descrambling module of the cable card and provided to the user.

However, according to an embodiment, a descrambling module may be provided inside the host without a cable card, and a broadcast signal from a broadcasting station may be provided to a user by descrambling in the descrambling module inside the host. In this case, the descrambling module may be configured to be downloaded from a broadcasting station. In other words, the descrambling module (or software CAS) downloaded from the broadcasting station or the like may have a different configuration to be stored in a predetermined memory in the host.

An example of a method of downloading the descrambling module is a method of automatically downloading a CA (Conditional Access) image from a headend when a security processor built in a host is connected to a network.

However, it is natural that the difference in configuration does not change the scope of the present invention.

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.

According to the broadcast receiver, the method for processing an emergency alert message, and a signal structure according to the present invention described above, a host in an OCAP-based bidirectional cable broadcast receiver may execute the emergency alert message in an OCAP application when an emergency alert message is received. Based on the received emergency alert message, the OCAP emergency alert message is generated and provided to the OCAP application. As such, when the host of the present invention receives an emergency alert message, the host does not process the received emergency alert message, and generates an OCAP emergency alert message including the contents of the received emergency alert message and transmits the generated OCAP emergency alert message to the OCAP application, thereby providing an emergency alert message in the host. It is possible to prevent abnormal operation of OCAP applications that could occur during processing.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (21)

A method of processing an emergency alert message in a broadcast receiver based on a data broadcasting application platform, Receiving an emergency alert message; Generating and providing a platform-based emergency alert message including information of the received emergency alert message, current viewing channel information, and exception channel information to a data broadcasting application; And Executing the emergency alert message not to switch to the emergency broadcast channel when the information on the platform-based emergency alert message indicates switching to an emergency broadcast channel, when the current viewing channel information is included in the exception channel information; Emergency alert message processing method comprising a. delete delete The method of claim 1, wherein said executing step And instructing a switch from the platform-based emergency alert message to an emergency broadcast channel, and switching to the emergency broadcast channel if the current viewing channel information is not included in the exception channel information. The method of claim 1, wherein said executing step The method for processing an emergency alert message further comprises switching to a corresponding channel by referring to the current viewing channel information included in the platform-based emergency alert message when the running emergency alert message ends. The method of claim 1, wherein the platform-based emergency alert message is Unique information for distinguishing the emergency alert message, priority information for determining whether to execute the received emergency alert message, time information for knowing start and remaining time, emergency broadcast channel information to be switched, execution target region information, Or an emergency alert message to be displayed. A tuner for receiving an emergency alert message; When the emergency alert message is received through the in-band in the tuner, the emergency alert message is input from a demultiplexer, and when the emergency alert message is received through an out-of-band (OOB), the emergency alert message is input from a cable card. Receiving control unit; And Generates a platform-based emergency alert message including information of the emergency alert message, the current viewing channel information, and the exception channel information output by the controller, and indicates that the information included in the platform-based emergency alert message is switched to the emergency broadcast channel. And a memory controller configured to provide a data broadcasting application that does not switch to the emergency broadcast channel when the current viewing channel information is included in the exception channel information. delete delete The method of claim 7, wherein the data broadcast application is A broadcast signal receiver instructing to switch to the emergency broadcast channel in the platform-based emergency alert message and to switch to the emergency broadcast channel if the current viewing channel information is not included in the exception channel information. The method of claim 7, wherein the data broadcast application is The broadcast signal receiver for switching to the corresponding channel by referring to the current viewing channel information included in the platform-based emergency alert message when the running emergency alert message ends. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

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