WO2010122572A2

WO2010122572A2 - Integrated digital television

Info

Publication number: WO2010122572A2
Application number: PCT/IN2010/000238
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ashutosh Joshi; Anil Gundecha
Original assignee: Dhoot Pradeepkumar Nandlal
Priority date: 2009-04-20
Filing date: 2010-04-13
Publication date: 2010-10-28
Also published as: WO2010122572A3

Abstract

A system adapted to stream and to provide control for reproducing audio and video signals synchronously, said system comprising: - receiving means adapted to receive encrypted audio-video signals on discrete channels; - decryption means adapted to selectively decrypt said encrypted signal transmitted on a selected channel, said decryption means remotely located from said receiving means; - reproducing means adapted to reproduce said decrypted signals; - first switching means adapted for switching channels whose signals are required to be reproduced; - second switching means adapted for switching ON & OFF said reproducing means and said decryption means in a single switching operation; and - a housing for housing said decryption means, said reproducing means, said first switching means, and said second switching means.

Description

INTEGRATED DIGITAL TELEVISION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of communication.

Particularly, the present invention relates to the field of television and broadcasting.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART

Television is the most widely used medium of communication. The varied channels which are aired on the television provide knowledge, information and entertainment. These channels are broadcast through various modes. One of the earliest modes of television broadcast was terrestrial television. Terrestrial television was the traditional mode of television broadcast before the advent of cable and satellite television.

Terrestrial Television: Terrestrial television involves aerial analog transmission of scheduled content to a conventional antenna at the consumer's home. The terrestrial transmitter is located on the ground. Typically, terrestrial television operates in LF, MF, FIF, VF£F and UHF frequencies, thus limiting its range of transmission, though repeaters can be used to extend the range further.

The terrestrial television suffers from drawbacks including short range of transmission, poor picture quality and limitation on the number of television channels that can be aired. Thus, the terrestrial television was replaced by cable televisions. Cable Television: Cable television is very similar to terrestrial television with the exception that the signal cable goes all the way to the cable provider where as terrestrial television goes over the air. Cable television provides television channels to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables. The main advantage with cable television is a much better picture. Weather, hills and line of sight have no effect on the picture quality.

The drawbacks of cable television include subscription costs as well as availability. Very few cable providers offer the basic cable service free of charge. Also, the user is limited to whatever is provided by their cable provider and signal reception too is dependent on cable television provider.

DTH: DTH stands for Direct-To-Home . DTH provide channel transmissions through satellite which are received with a personal dish in a consumer's home. DTH eliminates the need for a cable operator and directly connects with the consumer.

A DTH network consists of a broadcasting centre, satellites, encoders, multiplexers, modulators and DTH receivers. A DTH service provider has to lease Ku-band transponders from the satellite. Typically, the encoder converts the audio, video and data signals into the digital format and the multiplexer mixes these signals. DTH is an encrypted transmission that travels to the consumer directly through a satellite. DTH transmission is received directly by the consumer at his end through small dish antennas. A set-top box (STB) at the consumer's home, unlike the regular cable connection, decodes the encrypted transmission. Typically, the STB is connected to the television using RCA (Radio Corporation of America) cable which carries audio (Left and Right) and video information received from the dish antenna. In the current scenario, consumers have separate television and STBs and need separate AV (Audio Video) cable to connect to the television as seen in Figure 1.

Due to the above arrangement of the television and the set top box,:

• the television and STB are operated with different remote controls;

• space requirement is more as the STB has to be placed along with the television;

• the volume level control is separate for television and STB;

• servicing of television and/or STB, in case, of failure causes inconvenience as TV and STB is provided by different vendors; and

• power consumption is more as the two devices (TV and STB) operate at same time.

Therefore, there is a need for a product which can overcome the above shortcomings by:

• consuming less power;

• occupying less space; and

• which can be operate the devices using a single remote control. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a product which is power efficient.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a compact product.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a product which is easy to operate.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an economical product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an integrated digital television which incorporates an STB. Particularly, the integrated digital television envisaged by the present invention combines the features of digital television and STB in a single unit thus eliminating the need to have two independent electronic devices.

In accordance with the present invention, the integrated digital television provides superior digital picture quality and sound. The integrated digital television provides value added features including NVOD (Near Video On Demand), EPG (Electronic Program Guide) with weekly program schedule on each channel, reminder facility, multi-language radio and the like.

According to the present invention, the integrated digital television provides un-interrupted signal and no limitation to. the number of channels. The viewer only pays for the channel he/she wishes to view. In accordance with the invention, multi-language audio feed and x-active features have also been provided.

According to this invention, there is provided a system adapted to stream and to provide control for reproducing audio and video signals synchronously, said system comprises:

- receiving means adapted to receive encrypted audio-video signals on discrete channels;

- decryption means adapted to selectively decrypt said encrypted signal transmitted on a selected channel, said decryption means remotely located from said receiving means;

- reproducing means adapted to reproduce said decrypted signals;

- first switching means adapted for switching channels whose signals are required to be reproduced;

- second switching , means adapted for switching ON & OFF said reproducing means and said decryption means in a single switching operation; and

- a housing for housing said decryption means, said reproducing means, said first switching means, and said second switching means.

Particularly, the operations of the integrated digital television can be controlled through a single remote control which is simple and easy to use.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the integrated digital television consists of two modules namely, 'TV chassis' and 'DTH Module'. According to another embodiment of the present invention, DTH Module is integrated into the television based on the Conditional Access System (CAS) or pay TV system. A CAS has two goals:

• enabling access to legitimate subscribers to view the contents; and

• preventing unauthorized viewers from accessing the contents.

The CAS systems work by scrambling the video signal using a set of secret keys. These secret keys are protected using encryption.

Typically, said housing includes:

- first microcontroller means for controlling said reproducing means; and

- second microcontroller means for controlling said decryption means.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the integrated digital television consists of two micro-controllers, one for the television and the other for the DTH Module (STB integration). The remote control unit communicates with the television microcontroller (first microcontroller) using the NEC (Nippon Electrical Company) protocol and the television microcontroller (first microcontroller) in turn communicates with the DTH module (second microcontroller) using communication including but not limited to I2C,Blu tooth,I2S etc.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the television microcontroller (first microcontroller) acts as the master and the DTH microcontroller (second microcontroller) acts as a slave. A common RCU (remote control unit) controls the functions of both the television and the DTH module. RCU signals are received by the TV microcontroller and if the commands are for the DTH Module, then they are passed to the DTH module microcontroller.

According to the present invention, as the STB and the television are combined in a single integrated digital television, no additional Audio Video (AV) cable is required. The integration saves power and occupies less space. The integration also results in saving time and effort of consumers as they do not need to purchase an additional set-top-box along with the television. Moreover, the integration aids in minimizing the inconvenience caused on breakdown or failure of the product as servicing and maintenance of the integrated product is performed by a single company.

Typically, said system includes a controlling means for controlling the properties of the signal selected from a group of properties which includes volume, bass, treble, equalizer, brightness, contrast, intensity, luminance, and the like audio-visual signal related properties.

According to an alternative embodiment, there is provided a system adapted to stream and to provide control for reproducing audio and video signals synchronously, said system comprising:

- receiving means adapted to receive encrypted audio-video signals on discrete channels; . ,

- decryption means adapted to selectively decrypt said encrypted signal transmitted on a selected channel, said decryption means remotely located from said receiving means; - reproducing means adapted to reproduce said decrypted signals;

- second switching means adapted for switching ON & OFF said reproducing means and said decryption means in a single switching operation; and

- a housing for housing said decryption means, and said reproducing means.

Operation of the integrated product can be detailed as follows:

1. The consumer presses a key on the remote control of the integrated device;

2. the signal generated by pressing of a key on the remote control is transmitted to the television microcontroller using the NEC protocol;

3. the television microcontroller senses the received signal and checks if the received signal is for the television microcontroller;

4. if yes, then the television microcontroller performs the requested operation;

5. else, the signal is passed to the DTH microcontroller on the I C bus;

6. DTH microcontroller receives the signal and performs the desired operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 illustrates the conventional interface between a television and a

STB (Set Top Box);

Figure 2 illustrates the integration of the television with the set-top-box in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 3 illustrates a block diagram showing the operation of a remote control unit in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 4 illustrates the format of the NEC transmission signal, sent to the television from a remote control unit in accordance with the present invention; and

Figure 5 illustrates a data format of the I²C bus protocol sent to the 'DTH

Module' by the television controller in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which do not limit the scope and ambit of the invention. The description provided is purely by way of example and illustration.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 2 illustrates a schematic of the integrated digital television. The integrated digital television combines the hardware and software features of a television and a set top box into one product. The integration is achieved mainly by two important components:

1. a "TV Chassis" represented by the block 12 of Figure 1 ; and 2. a "DTH Module" represented by the block 14 of Figure 1.

The DTH module and the TV Chassis integration is performed by the below listed interconnections between the two components:

• The audio R&L signals, 'Audio R Out' and 'Audio_L Out' of the "DTH Module" 14 are interfaced with the "TV Chassis" 12 'Audio_R IN' and 'Audio_L IN" signals.

• The luminance and chroma signals 'YOut' and 'COut' respectively from 14 (or CVBSout etc signals from 14) are interfaced with the 'Yin' and 'Cin' signals of 12 (or CVBSin etc signals of 12).

• communication including but not limited to I2C ,Bhie tooth,I2S etc protocol is used for communication between the TV Chassis 12 and DTH Module 14.

• The television microcontroller (micon) acts as the 'Master' and the DTH microcontroller (micon) acts as the slave for the I C communication.

• The television microcontroller being the master communicates with the DTH module via two I²C signals 'SCL' (Serial Clock) and 'SDA' (Serial Data).

Referring to Figure 3, the RCU operation is based on NEC Protocol . According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a common RCU controls the functions of the "DTH Module" and the television. The RCU communicates with the TV Chassis using the NEC protocol. The RCU signals are received by the television micon represented by block 20 of Figure 3, and if the commands are for the "DTH Module", then the television micon passes the data to the "DTH Module" micon represented by block 22 of Figure 3, using the SDA and SCL signals of the I²C communication bus.

When a key is pressed on the remote control a signal as seen in Figure 4 is transmitted to the television microcontroller. The signal specifies the operation to be performed by the integrated device. The signal follows the NEC protocol format.

NEC protocol uses the pulse position modulation method and its transmission format consists of transmission of a leader code, 16-bit custom codes (8 bit custom code, 8 bit inverted custom code), and 16-bit data codes (8 bit data code, 8 bit inverted data code) at one time.

Initially, a sync pulse is sent to settle the sensitivity of TV chassis which is followed by an 8 bit custom code and an 8 bit Data code. The information is sent twice. The redundancy of data, once in normal way and the second time in inverted way helps to secure the transmission from errors.

In accordance with the invention, if the data code sent is not meant for TV micon, then it is passed over the I²C bus for the "DTH Module" micon. Figure 5 shows the data format of I²C bus protocol.

The I²C bus physically i consists of 2 active wires and a ground connection. The active wires, called SDA and SCL, are both bi-directional. SDA is the Serial Data line, and SCL is the Serial Clock line. Every device hooked up to the bus has its own unique address. Thus, the TV micon and the DTH micon are associated with unique addresses. Typically, the TV micon will issue a 'START' condition. This acts as an attention signal to the DTH micon. The DTH micon on receiving the 'START' signal listens to the bus for incoming data. Then, the TV micon sends the 'ADDRESS' (slave address) of the DTH micon along with an indication whether the access given is for a read or a write operation. Having received the address, the DTH micon compares it with its own address. If it matches, DTH micon produces a response called the 'ACKNOWLEDGE (ACK)' signal which act as an acknowledgement. Once the TV micon receives the acknowledgement, it starts transmitting the data received from the RCU. When transmission is complete, the TV micon issues a 'STOP' (to stop all the actions) condition. This is to signal that the bus has been released and the transmission of the data is complete.

Specifically, the data is of two bytes. Out of the two bytes, One byte is a Key Code and other byte is a header for "DTH Module" microcontroller. On the basis of the header, "DTH Module" microcontroller recognizes the functionality to be performed corresponding to the received Hex Code.

The product in accordance with this invention can be adapted to include/collate with/integrate with other devices such as a DVD/video player, an audio/cassette/CD player or the like.

The technical advances of the present invention include:

• providing a single integrated product which incorporates the hardware and software of a television and a set-top-box;

• providing a compact integrated product;

• providing an economical integrated product;

• providing an integrated product that gives superior digital picture quality and sound; • providing an integrated product which facilitates easy and fast servicing as the product is manufactured by one company;

• providing an integrated product that controls the operations of the television and set-top-box using a single remote control;

• providing an integrated product that provides value added features including NVOD (Near Video On Demand), EPG (Electronic Program Guide) with weekly program schedule on each channel, reminder facility, multi-language radio and the like; and

• providing an integrated product which provides multi-language audio feeds.

While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the particular features of this invention, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made, and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other modifications in the nature of the invention or the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

Claims

Claims:

1. A system adapted to stream and to provide control for reproducing audio and video signals synchronously, said system comprising:

- reproducing means adapted to reproduce said decrypted signals;

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said housing includes:

- first microcontroller means for controlling said reproducing means; and

- second microcontroller means for controlling said decryption means.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein, said first microcontroller means and said second microcontroller means are connected in a master-slave configuration respectively.

4. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein, said switching means communicates with said first microcontroller means using the NEC (Nippon Electrical Company) protocol.

5. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein, said first microcontroller means communicates with said second microcontroller means using the I²C (Inter-IC) communication.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said system includes a controlling means for controlling the properties of the signal selected from a group of properties which includes volume, bass, treble, equalizer, brightness, contrast, intensity, luminance, and the like audio-visual signal related properties.

7. A system adapted to stream and to provide control for reproducing audio and video signals synchronously, said system comprising:

- reproducing means adapted to reproduce said decrypted signals;

- second switching means adapted for switching ON & OFF said reproducing means and said decryption means in a single switching operation; and - a housing for housing said decryption means, and said reproducing means.

8. A system as claimed in claim 7 wherein, said housing includes:

- first microcontroller means for controlling said reproducing means; and

- second microcontroller means for controlling said decryption means.

9. A system as claimed in claim 8 wherein, said first microcontroller means and said second microcontroller means are connected in a master-slave configuration respectively.

10. A system as claimed in claim 8 wherein, said switching means communicates with said first microcontroller means using the NEC (Nippon Electrical Company) protocol.

1 LA system as claimed in claim 8 wherein, said first microcontroller means communicates with said second microcontroller means using the I²C (Inter-IC) communication.

12.A system as claimed in claim 7 wherein, said system includes a

^" controlling means for controlling the properties of the signal selected from a group of properties which includes volume, bass, treble, equalizer, brightness, contrast, intensity, luminance, and the like audio-visual signal related properties.