MXPA06002255A

MXPA06002255A - Apparatus and method for converting media stream for multimedia service in dab system.

Info

Publication number: MXPA06002255A
Application number: MXPA06002255A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Sam-Mo Cho
Original assignee: Korea Electronics Telecomm
Priority date: 2003-08-26
Filing date: 2003-12-30
Publication date: 2006-06-20
Also published as: KR20050021804A; AU2003288780A1; CN1860790A; CN1860790B; KR100576543B1; DE10394289T5; WO2005020580A1

Abstract

Disclosed are a media stream conversion apparatus and a method for providing a multimedia service in a digital audio broadcasting (DAB) transmission system. First, multimedia data stream based on a moving picture experts group-2 (MPEG-2) system is analyzed to transmit multimedia data following the MPEG-2 system standard. Then, with use of the analyzed information, the multimedia data stream is reconstructed as an ensemble transport interface (ETI) frame in compliance with the ETI frame transport standard. The ETI frames are then converted into a DAB data stream, thereby providing a multimedia service in a DAB transmission system.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING MEDIA FLOW FOR MULTIMEDIA SERVICE IN THE DAB SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for converting a flow Group 2 of moving image experts (MPEG-2) in a digital audio broadcast (DAB) data stream to provide a multimedia service in a DAB transmission system and a reproducible recording medium by computer in which record a program to implement the method. PREVIOUS ART There have been several attempts to find a high demand in providing a multimedia broadcast service that includes moving images still in a state of motion. A digital broadcasting system (DAB) that has improved reception in the state of motion is an affected approach. An initially developed DAB transmission system has been used mainly for the purpose of digitizing an audio broadcast and transmitting the digitized data at low speed. However, it has currently focused on applying the DAB transmission system to provide a multimedia service that includes moving images using the DAB transmission system. A Group-2 Expert system of moving images (MPEG-2) can be used to incorporate multimedia data encoded through various methods in the DAB transmission system. The use of the MPEG-2 system has advantages in multiplexing, synchronization and multimedia data transmission. However, although the DAB transmission system can take advantage of the MPEG-2 system, the DAB system does not have a standard interface that considers incorporating multimedia data. Thus, it is necessary to adjust the interface standards of the two systems in order to incorporate the multimedia data using the MPEG-2 system in the DAB transmission system. That is, an assembly transport interface (ETI) is one of the interfaces for the DAB transmission system and thus, it is necessary to have an apparatus to convert an MPEG-2 transport stream (TS) into ETI frames in real time. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an illustrative configuration of a conventional DAB transmission system. As shown, the DAB transmission system includes audio sources 101, audio encoders 102, an assembly multiplexer 103 and an orthogonal frequency division multiplexer (OFDM) 104 encoder. Since the conventional DAB transmission system is applied to To digitize an analog audio broadcast, the conventional DAB transmission system is mainly established with an audio broadcast approach. In detail, the audio sources 101 are encoded in the audio encoder 102 and then transmitted through the OFDM encoder 104 being multiplexed in the assembly multiplexer 103. Although a low speed digital data transmission is partially provided, it is difficult provide a multimedia service that includes moving images in real time through the use of the conventional DAB transmission system. Especially, a DAB transmission system based on the Eureka 147 that is typically used in Europe and the MPEG-2 system has different services from each other, and thus, these two systems have different interfaces, resulting in incompatibility with a system currently adopted .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a media flow conversion apparatus and a method thereof capable of providing a multimedia service by converting multimedia data in accordance with a Group-2 system. of moving image experts in a data stream for digital audio broadcast in a DAB transmission system. It is another object of the present invention to provide a computer reproducible recording medium in which a program is recorded to implement the method. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a media stream conversion apparatus for providing multimedia service in a digital audio transmission system (DAB), which includes: a media transport stream receiving unit for receiving a stream media transport; a media transport flow analyzing unit for estimating a transmission rate of the media transport stream received in the media transport flow receiving unit and verifying the state of the media transport flow received; a system administration unit for which the system administrator receives and sends control information through a graphical user interface; a system control unit for receiving a control signal from the media transport flow analysis unit and the system administration unit and transmitting the control signal to the system; storage units of the media transport stream for temporarily storing the transport stream of media issued by the media transport analysis unit; an assembly transport interface (ETI) frame management unit for controlling the storage unit of the media transport flow and processing the control signal provided by the system control unit for configuring the ETI frames; an ETI frame configuration unit for configuring the ETI frames using the media transport flow stored in the media transport flow storage unit and an ETI transmission unit for transmitting the frames ?? issued by the TSI frame configuration unit in a physical form. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for converting a media stream to provide a multimedia service in a DAB digital audio broadcast transmission system, which includes the steps of: arranging a stream of input media in a unit of package, estimate an effective transmission rate of the transport flows of input means and analyze the configuration information of the transport flow of input means; temporarily storing the transport stream of analyzed media in a temporary storage unit of the media transport stream; receive the necessary information to configure the ETI frames introduced by a system administrator through the use of a graphical user interface, which expresses the information analyzed in the configuration of the media transpose flow and implement the necessary information to configure the TSI frames; reading a transport fio necessary to configure an ETI frame of the storage unit of the media transport flow based on the information of the configuration of the ETI frames and configuring the ETI frames with the use of the media transport flow and transmit the ETI frames converted to physical form. In accordance with the present invention, a computer reproducible recording medium is provided which stores instructions for implementing a method for converting a media stream to provide a multimedia service in a digital audio broadcast transmission system, wherein the method includes the steps of: arranging a flow of input means in a packet unit, estimating an effective transmission rate of the media transport flow input and analyzing the configuration information of the transport stream of input means; temporarily storing the transport stream of analyzed media in a temporary storage unit of the media transport stream; receive the necessary information to configure the frames of the assembly transport interface (ETI) by a system administrator through the use of a graphical user interface, express the information analyzed in the configuration of the media transport flow and implement the information needed to configure the ETI frames; Read the flow of transport of necessary means to configure a plot ?? of the temporary storage unit of the media transport stream based on the configuration information of the ETI frames and the configuration of the ETI frames with the use of the media transport stream and transmitting the converted ETI frames to the physical form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an illustrative configuration of a system transmission of digital audio broadcast (DAB); Fig. 1 where: 101: Audio source, 102: Audio encoder, 103: Assembly multiplexing, 104: OFDM encoder. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a built-in configuration of a media flow conversion apparatus for providing a multimedia service in a DAB transmission system in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 where: 201: TS MPEG-2 reception unit, 202: TS MPEG-2 analysis unit, 203: Temporary storage unit TS MPEG-2, 204: Unit of configuration of TSI frames, 205: Unit system administration, 206: System control unit, 207: ETI frame management unit, 208: ETI frame transmission unit, 1: TS MPEG-2 transport stream, 2: ETI frames. FIG. 3 is a detailed diagram showing an embodiment of the assembly transport interface frame (ETI) frame unit of a media flow conversion apparatus in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 3 where: 203: TS MPEG-2 temporary storage unit, 204: ETI frame configuration unit, 207: ETI frame management unit, 208: ETI frame transmission unit, 301: Processing unit of messages, 302: FIC configuration unit, 303: ETI field configuration unit, 304: Multiplexer unit, 305: MSC configuration unit. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an illustrative case of the application of a media flow conversion apparatus in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 4 wherein: 1: Audio source, 2: Audio encoder, 3 : Assembly multiplexer, 4: OFDM encoder, 5: TS MPEG-2, 6: MPEG-2 flow conversion device. Fig. 5 is a flow diagram showing a method for converting a media stream to provide a multimedia service in a DAB transmission system in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 5 where: 501: Receives MPEG-2 TS, 502: Fixes MPEG-2 TS in packet unit, 503: Estimates the effective transmission rate of the incoming MPEG-2 TS and analyzes the configuration information, 504 : Temporarily stores analyzed MPEG-2 TS, 505: Receives the necessary information input to configure ETI frames of the system administrator, expresses the information of the MPEG-2 TS configuration analyzed and implements the information of the configuration of the TSI frames, 506: Reads the temporarily stored TS MPEG-2 and configures the TSI frames using the TSI frame configuration information, 507: Transmits the converted TSI frames to the physical form, 1: Start, 2: End.

THE PREFERRED MODE OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an apparatus and method for converting a media stream to provide a multimedia service in an audio digital broadcast (DAB) transmission system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a built-in configuration of a media flow conversion apparatus for providing a multimedia service in an audio digital broadcast (DAB) transmission system in accordance with the present invention.

As shown, the media flow conversion apparatus includes a transport stream receiving unit 201 (TS) of Motion Picture Expert Group-2 (MPEG-2) to receive a MPEG-2 TS, a unit analysis module MPEG-2 202 to estimate a transmission rate of the MPEG-2 TS received in the reception unit TS MPEG-2 and verify a status of the input TS MPGE-2, a system administration unit 205 in which a system administrator receives and issues control information through a graphical user interface (GUI), a system control unit 206 for receiving a control signal from the TS MPEG-2 analysis unit 202 and the system administration unit 205 and transmitting the control signal to a transport interface frame configuration unit. assembly (ETI) 204, a TS MPEG-2 temporary storage unit for temporarily storing the TS MPEG-2 issued by the TS MPEG-2 202 analysis unit, an ETI 207 frame management unit for controlling the temporary storage unit TS MPEG-2 203 and process a control signal from the system control unit 206 in order to configure the ETI frames, the ETI 204 frame configuration unit to configure the ETI frames using the MPEG-2 TS of the unit TS MPEG-2 203 temporary storage and an ETI transmission unit 208 for transmitting the ETI frames issued by the ETI frame configuration unit 204 at a physical level. The streams for providing a multimedia broadcast service introduced to the media stream conversion apparatus include a video stream, an audio stream, a system information stream and so on based on the MPEG-2 system. The MPEG-2 system based flow is introduced through a physical interface widely used in digital broadcast transmission. Examples of such physical interface are the 310 M standard defined by the society of moving images and television engineers (SMPTE). and the asynchronous serial digital video broadcast interface (DVB-ASI) standard. The TS MPEG-2 reception unit 201 arranges the input MPEG-2 stream in a packet packet unit and sends the arranged MPEG-2 stream to the TS MPEG-2 202 analysis unit, which in turn estimates a rate Effective transmission of the MPEG-2 stream and then this estimated transmission rate is sent by the system control unit 206. Also, the MPEG-2 TS 20 analysis unit analyzes the configuration information of the input MPEG-2 stream and sends this analyzed information to the system administration unit 205 through the system control unit 206. The information of the MPEG-2 flow configuration is obtained by analyzing a piece of the program-specific information (PSI) included in the MPEG stream -2 entry. The administration unit of the system 205 displays this analyzed information through a graphical user interface (GUI) for the system administrator to see it. The MPEG-2 stream analyzed by the TS MPEG-2 analysis unit is stored in the TS MPEG-2 203 temporary storage unit. The system management unit 205 is introduced with a piece of the information necessary to configure an TSI frame from the system administrator through a GUI and expresses the configuration information of the MPEG-2 flow analyzed.

Also, the system management unit 205 continuously shares information with the system control unit 206. Hence, among several data interfaces of the DAB transmission system, the TSI frame is a more suitable frame interface for transmitting the flow MPEG-2. The system control unit 206 plays the role of controlling the suggested system transmits the information to the analyzed stream MPEG-2 to the system administration unit 205 and receives the information necessary to configure the TSI frames of the system administration unit 205 This information needed to configure the ETI frames is transmitted to the ETI 207 frame management unit to be used when configuring the ETI frames. Also, the system control unit 206 sends the estimated rate of transmission of the MPEG-2 stream to the TSI 207 frame management unit.

The ETI frame management unit 207 manages the parts related to the configuration of the ETI frames and provides the values required to configure the ETI frames to the ETI frame configuration unit 204. Also, the ETI frame management unit 207 determines the amounts of the MPEG-2 streams needed to configure an ETI frame and provide this information in the estimated quantities to the ETI frame configuration unit 204. The ETI frame configuration unit 204 reads a flow required to configure an ETI frame of the frame. TS MPEG-2 temporary storage unit 203 on the basis of the information provided by the TSI 207 frame management unit and configures the TSI frames with the use of the read flow. The ETI frame transmission unit 208 converts the configured ETI frames to a physical form and then transmits them to the converted ETI frames. Fig. 3 is a detailed diagram showing an ETI frame configuration unit 204 of a media flow conversion apparatus in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present investment. As shown, the ETI frame configuration unit 204 includes a message processing unit 301, a fast information channel configuration unit (FIC) 302, an ETI field configuration unit 303, a multiplexing unit 304 and a main service channel (MSC) configuration unit 305. Hence, the message processing unit 301 obtains the information required to configure ETI frames of an ETI 207 frame management unit. The MSC 305 configuration unit analyzes a transmission rate of an MPEG-2 stream sent by a message processing unit 301 and determining an amount of the MPEG-2 stream that needs to be inserted in each TSI frame. Then, the MSC configuration unit 305 reads the MPEG-2 stream as much as the predetermined set amount set by the TS MPEG-2 203 temporary storage unit. The FIC 302 configuration unit configures an FIC based on the information of the FIC configuration provided by the message processing unit 301. The ETI field configuration unit 303 configures an ETI frame configuration field based on a value of the ETI frame configuration field provided by the message processing unit 301. The multiplexer unit 304 multiplexes the values obtained from the MSC configuration unit 305, the FIC configuration unit 302 and the ETI field configuration unit 303 to complete the configuration of ETI frames. Also, the multiplexer unit 304 receives a flow control signal from the message processing unit 301 such that the ETI frame has a period of approximately 24 msec. and transmits the completed TSI frames to an ETI frame transmission unit 208. Generally, the TSI frame includes an ETI frame configuration field, an FIC and an MSC, and an ETI frame including a period of approximately 24 msec. The message processing unit 301 obtains the information required to configure ETI frames of the TSI 207 frame management unit., that the information provided by the ETI frame management unit 207 includes the transmission rate of the MPEG-2 stream, the value of the ETI frame configuration field and the FIC configuration value. Meanwhile, the message processing unit 301 sends the transmission rate of the MPEG-2 stream, the value of the ETI frame configuration field and the configuration information to the MSC 305 configuration unit, the ETI field configuration unit 303 and the FIC configuration unit 302, respectively. Also, a programmed control signal is transmitted to the multiplexing unit 304 such that the configured ETI frames have a suitable transmission period corresponding to a cited standard.

The configuration unit MSC 305 analyzes the transmission rate of the MPEG-2 stream sent by the message processing unit 301 and determines an amount of the MPEG-2 stream that needs to be inserted in each ETI frame and reads the stream as much as the predetermined amount sent to the TS MPEG-2 temporary storage unit 203. The FIC configuration unit 302 configures the FIC based on the information about the FIC configuration provided by the message processing unit 301. The field configuration unit ETI configures the field configuration of ETI frames based on the ETI frame configuration field value provided by the message processing unit 301. The multiplexing unit 304 multiplexes each generated value of each block, for example, the MSC 305 configuration unit, the FIC configuration unit 302 and the ETI field configuration unit 303, to complete the ETI frames. Then the multiplexing unit 304 receives the flow control signal from the message processing unit 301 such that the ETI frames have a period of approximately 24 msec. and transmits the complete TSI frames to the TSI frame transmission unit 208. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an illustrative application case of an MPEG-2 stream conversion apparatus in accordance with the present investment. Especially, the MPEG-2 flow conversion apparatus is applied to a conventional DAB transmission system. Multimedia data based on MPEG-2 system are introduced to the conventional DAB transmission system through the MPEG-2 flow conversion apparatus and are used to provide a multimedia service with the use of a DAB network that is powerful in wireless reception . Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing a method for converting a media stream to provide a multimedia service in a DAB transmission system in accordance with the present investment. In step 501, a TS MPEG-2 is first introduced and in step 502, the MPEG-2 is arranged in a packet unit. Then, in step 503, an effective transmission rate of the introduced MPEG-2 TS is estimated and the configuration information of the introduced MPEG-2 TS is analyzed. In step 504, the analyzed MPEG-2 stream is temporarily stored in a TS MPEG-2 temporary storage unit. Then, in step 505, the information needed to configure ETI frames is entered by the system administrator through the use of a GUI and the analyzed information on the flow configuration is displayed. Also, the necessary information is implemented to configure the ETI frames. In step 506, a flow required to configure an ETI frame is read from the TS MPEG-2 temporary storage unit on the basis of the ETI frame configuration information. Then, the ETI frames are configured with the use of read flow. Finally, in step 507, the configured ETI frames are converted to a physical form and subsequently transmitted. The method described above can be implemented as a program that can be stored in a computer-reproducible recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a RAM, a ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic-optical disk or something similar.

In accordance with the present invention, it is indeed in effect that the multimedia data based on the MPEG-2 system can be applied to a conventional DAB transmission system to provide a multimedia broadcasting service that includes moving images even under a wireless reception condition . Also, the MPEG-2 stream is converted into an ETI frame compatible with the DAB transmission system so that the MPEG-2 stream is transmitted under the DAB transmission system. Thus, it is possible to provide a stable multimedia broadcasting service or through the use of a DAB network even under wireless reception conditions together with taking the advantages of the MPEG-2 system standard capable of multiplexing and synchronization.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as described in the claims that follow.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A media flow conversion apparatus for providing a multimedia service in a digital audio broadcast transmission system comprising: means for receiving a transport stream of means for receiving a media transport stream; means for analyzing a transport flow of means for calculating a transmission rate of a media transport flow received in the media transport flow receiving means and verifying a state of the transport stream of the received media; means for administering the system for receiving and issuing control information through a graphical user interface by a system administrator; control means of the system for receiving a control signal from the media transport flow analysis means and system administration means for transmitting the control signal to the system; means for storing the media transport stream for temporarily storing the media transport stream of media emitted by the media transport analysis means; an assembly transport interface (ETI) frame management means for controlling the means of storing the media transport stream and processing the control signal provided by the system control means for configuring the ETI frames; means for configuring the ETI frames for configuring the ETI frames using the media transport stream stored in the media transport flow storage means and an ETI transmission means for transmitting the ETI frames emitted by the frame configuration means TSI in a physical form. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means of receiving the media transport stream arranges a transport stream received from Group-2 of MPEG-2 moving image experts in a unit packet and then transmits the MPEG-2 transport stream to the media transport flow analysis means. 3. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the media transport flow analysis means play a role in estimating an effective transmission rate of the MPEG-2 transport stream introduced by the media. of reception of the media transport flow and transmitting the estimated effective transmission rate to the control means of the system and another role in analyzing the MPEG-2 transport flow configuration information and transmitting the information to the system administration means through the means of control of the system. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information about the MPEG-2 transport stream configuration is obtained by analyzing the program specific information (PSI) of the MPEG transport stream -2 input and analyzed information is displayed by the system management means through the use of the graphical user interface to make an acknowledgment by the system administrator. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the system management means receives the information necessary to configure the TSI frames by the system administrator through the use of a graphical user interface, displays the information analyzed in the MPEG-2 transport flow configuration and continuously shares the information with the system control means. 6. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the system control means transmits the information about the analyzed MPEG-2 transport stream to the system administration means, which receive the necessary information to configure the TSI frames by means of administration of the system and transmit the transmission rate estimated by the means of analysis of the flow of transport of media to the means of administration of TSI frames. 7. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ETI frame management means manages the information relating to the configuration of ETI frames, providing the necessary values for configuring the ETI frames to the ETI frame configuration means and determining a quantity of the media transport flow necessary for configure an ETI frame to provide the determined amount for the means of configuring the ETI frame. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for configuring the ETI frames include: a message processing means for obtaining the information for configuring the ETI frames of the management means of ETI frames; first configuration means for determining an amount of a media transport flow that need to be inserted in each TSI frame by analyzing a transmission rate of the media transport stream sent by the message processing means and then reading the transport stream of means as well as the determined amount of storage means of the media transport flow; second configuration means for configuring a fast information channel (FIC) based on the information of the FIC configuration provided by the message processing means; third configuration means for configuring the ETI frame configuration field based on the valve of the ETI frame configuration field provided by the message processing means and multiplexing means for multiplexing values obtained from the first configuration means to the third configuration means for completing the configuration of the ETI frames and transmitting the ETI frames to the transmission means of the ETI frames when a flow control signal is received from the message processing means such that the ETI frames include a predetermined period . The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the information necessary to configure the ETI frames provided by the message processing means includes a transmission rate of an MPEG-2 frame, a value of field of configuration of ETI frames and an FIC configuration value. 10. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined period of the multiplexing means is approximately 24 msec. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the media stream conversion apparatus is applied to a terrestrial DAB system, a satellite DAB transmission system and a broadcast system based on the Eureka standard. 147. The media flow conversion apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the MPEG-2 stream is converted into an ETI interface and an interface used in the broadcast system based on the Eureka 147 standard that includes a service transport inferium (STI) a transmission control protocol (TCP) / an Internet protocol (IP). 13. A method for converting a media stream to provide a multimedia service in an audio digital broadcast (DAB) transmission system, the method comprises the steps of: arranging a stream of input media in a packet unit, calculating a rate effective transmission of the transport flow of input means and analyzing the information on the configuration of the transport flow of input means; temporarily storing the analyzed flow of media transport in a temporary storage unit of the media transport stream; receive the necessary information to configure the ETI frames introduced by a system administrator through the use of a graphical user interface, expressing the information analyzed in the configuration of the media transport flow and implementing the information necessary to configure the ETI frames; read the transport flow necessary to configure an ETI frame of the storage unit of the media transport flow based on information about the configuration of ETI frames and the configuration of ETI frames with use of the media transport flow and transmit the ETI frames converted into a physical form. The method according to claim 13, wherein the information on the configuration of the media transport flow is obtained by analyzing the specific information of the program included in the transport stream of input means and the analyzed information is recognized by a system administrator through the use of a graphical user interface. 15. A computer reproducible recording medium that stores instructions for implementing a method for converting a media stream to provide a multimedia service in a digital audio broadcast transmission system, the method comprising the steps of: arranging a stream of input media in a package unit, calculate an effective transmission rate of the transport flow of input media and analyze the information on the configuration of the transport flow of input media; temporarily storing the analyzed stream of media transport to a temporary storage unit of the media transport stream; receive the necessary information to configure the frames of the assembly transport interface (ETI) by a system administrator through the use of a graphical user interface, expressing the information analyzed in the configuration of the media transport flow and implementing the information needed to configure the ETI frames; reading a media transport flow necessary to configure an ETI frame of the media transport flow temporary storage unit based on the information of the ETI frame configuration and configuring the ETI frames with the use of the media transport stream and transmit the converted ETI frames to a physical form.