EP0994589B1 - Receiver for receiving Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) programmes - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a receiver for digital radio (DAB).

In digital radio (DAB), ensembles are formed which contain programs and data services, each forming a unit which is received and processed by the receiver. The ensembles consist of a set of closely spaced orthogonal carriers.

As with conventional broadcasting, ensembles can be tuned via a frequency search. However, in the DAB such a search is very slow, since the examination of the individual transmission frequencies takes a relatively long time.

From the EP 0 866 566 A1 a receiver for digital radio programs is known in which features of the received ensembles are stored in a table and both the reception time and the reception time of the respective ensemble are stored. This list is sorted according to actuality and when recording a new record the oldest record is deleted. By means of an operating element it is possible to search up and down within this list and to select an ensemble already received in the past, to which the receiver is set.

From the JP 09 23 29 81 a DAB receiver is known in which a table is stored in which the content of a DAB ensemble is stored and is displayed to facilitate the selection of a new transmitter. For this, the frequency of the ensemble received is stored in a table and a relationship between the ensemble frequency and the ensemble identifier, which is contained in the fast-information-channel and the frequency is stored in the table. Further, a relationship between the ensemble identifier and the service identifier, which is also included in the fast-information channel, is recognized and the service identifier is also stored in the table to establish a relationship between the service identifier and the service identifier. Displayed in the display, also inscribed in the table.

The object of the present invention is to provide an easier operation in that the search of a receivable ensemble takes less time. This object is achieved by a receiver having the features ··· of claim 1.

In order to store non-identical ensembles, which are transmitted on several central frequencies, several times, it is particularly advantageous in the invention to store the ensemble identifier (EId) and the central frequency as a feature of each ensemble.

In the receiver according to the invention thus a number of ensembles is gradually stored, which has received the respective user, so that he can make a choice of these very fast because of the much lower number, for example by by pressing a button each in the table is set as the next dropped ensemble (up and down) or targeted an ensemble can be selected.

The invention allows further entries in the table, which go beyond the previously received ensembles, characterized in that the characteristics of other ensembles (OE) are also taken from the respectively received ensemble and entered into the table.

In order to prevent the table from being filled with ensembles that have been entered long ago and that storage of current ensembles is no longer possible, it is provided according to the invention that the features entered in the table are accompanied by indicators which reflect the relevance. Preferably, this development can be designed such that when adding an ensemble in the memory of the table contents is re-sorted and / or that upon reaching the capacity of Table, a record with the lowest actuality is deleted.

In order to provide for the selection of ensembles from the table as possible only those who are still current, it is provided in the invention that an entry whose indicator falls below a minimum value is deleted.

Fig. 1

ein Ablaufdiagramm beim Eintragen eines Ensembles in die Tabelle,

Fig. 2

ein Ablaufdiagramm zur Auswahl eines Ensembles aus der Tabelle und

Fig. 3

ein Blockschaltbild eines erfindungsgemäßen Empfängers.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawing with reference to several figures and explained in more detail in the following description. It shows:

Fig. 1

a flow chart when entering an ensemble in the table,

Fig. 2

a flow chart for selecting an ensemble from the table and

Fig. 3

a block diagram of a receiver according to the invention.

At the in Fig. 3 shown receiver, the signals received via an antenna 1 are fed to a receiving part 2, the output signal of which is fed to a decoder 3. This in turn has an output which is connected via a low-frequency amplifier 4 with loudspeakers 5 (for the sake of simplicity, only one loudspeaker has been shown). In addition, signals from the decoder 3 are fed to a controller 6, which controls the entire signal processing sequence in the receiver. This includes, among other things, the processing of inputs on the keyboard 7 and the display of information on a display 8.

The controller 6 is further connected to a memory 9, in which, inter alia, according to the invention, the list of ensembles is stored. In addition, the controller 6 is connected to a control input of the Epfangsteils 2 to set this to the respectively desired ensemble.

The flowchart ( Fig. 1 ) returns the part of the program in the controller 6 ( Fig. 3 ), which is used to create or update the table. After a start 11 of the program, at 12, an ensemble is selected by the user he wishes to receive. Thereafter, in the program part 13, the ensemble information EI is read out and formed at 14 a record containing the ensemble identifier (EId) and the frequency f of each ensemble. In the above-mentioned embodiment of the invention, identifiers of other ensembles can be read from the ensemble information at 13, so that then incurred at 14 a plurality of records.

At 15 it is checked whether an identical data record already exists in the memory. If this is the case, at 16 a re-sorting of the m table entries takes place on the basis of an indicator I, which identifies the actuality and is stored together with each new entry. Thereafter, at 17, one or more entries that fall below a minimum update Imin are deleted and the program exits at 18.

However, if at 16 an entry that is similar to the record created at 14 does not yet exist, it is checked at 19 whether the number of entries m is still smaller than the number k of the maximum possible entries, ie whether there is still free space. If this is the case, at 20 the data set consisting of EId and f, together with a standard indicator Is is entered in the table. If it is determined at 19 that the table is already filled, at 21 the record with the smallest indicator becomes deleted and then entered at 20 a new record.

The in Fig. 2 illustrated flowchart illustrates the choice of one of the stored ensembles, wherein in Fig. 2 only the associated frequencies are indicated. At 22, an input follows that the ensemble following in the list should be set. Then, at 23, it is checked if the current frequency is fx <fm. If this is the case, it is increased by 1 at 24 x and the frequency f (x + 1) is set at 25. However, if the frequency fm has already been reached, then 26 is set to 0.

Claims (3)

1. Receiver for digital radio (DAB), in which features of respectively received ensembles are entered into a table stored in a memory (9) and in which an operator control operation calls an entry from the table and the receiver is set to receive the associated ensemble, where the feature stored is the ensemble identifier (EId) and the respectively received ensemble also has features of other ensembles (OE) taken from it which are entered into the table, the features taken for the other ensembles (OE) being their identifiers (EId), characterized in that additionally the feature stored is the central frequency of the respectively received ensemble, in that identical ensembles which are sent on a plurality of central frequencies are not stored a plurality of times, and in that the features entered into the table have indicators attached to them which reflect the level of currentness and in that an entry whose indicator is below a minimum value is erased.
2. Receiver according to Claim 1, characterized in that the addition of an ensemble to the memory (9) prompts the table content to be re-sorted.
3. Receiver according to one of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that when the table's capacity is reached an entry with the lowest level of currentness is erased.

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