Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/436—Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
  • H04N21/43615—Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/436—Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/462—Content or additional data management, e.g. creating a master electronic program guide from data received from the Internet and a Head-end, controlling the complexity of a video stream by scaling the resolution or bit-rate based on the client capabilities
  • H04N21/4622—Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of digital television and more specifically to its distribution in the home.
• the broadcasting of digital television services via satellite, cable or even the radio channel is now common, the distribution of these same services via a home network is in its infancy. Solutions for home distribution of these digital TV services over IP networks should be offered.
• the architecture currently envisaged uses a broadcast gateway to receive broadcast multimedia services and their redistribution within the home via a home network.
• This gateway will have one or more reception modules, called “tuner” in the jargon. It can be cable, satellite, radio or other receptions modules.
• the broadcast gateway will be in charge of distributing these services on the home network. It can do this by using, for example, the DVB-IP ("Digital Video Broadcasting over IP Infrastructures") standard, documented in "DVB-IP Phase 1 Handbook Specifications" available from ETSI under the ETSI TS 102.034 v1.1.1 reference. ).
• a receiving module may connect to a transport stream containing a multiplex and extract one or more services. Once one of the reception modules is configured to receive one of the multiplexes in view of the distribution of a service contained in this multiplex to one of the clients of the home network, it will no longer be possible, at least in using this receiving module, receive a service belonging to another of the available multiplexes without interrupting the reception of the current service.
• the limited number of reception modules therefore entails constraints on the choice of services at a given moment, among all the services available, offered to a user according to the choices made by the other users of the system.
• a mode of diffusion on the ADSL line makes it possible to overcome the problem of the multiplexes (namely each service is theoretically accessible at every moment) but imposes others, typically the bandwidth of the link which makes it possible to broadcast simultaneously a number of services.
• a link at 15 Mbit / s may support three services at 4 Mbit / s or only one at 14 Mbit / s.
• the aim of the invention is to define a method of managing the access to services available within a system comprising clients accessing services broadcast within multiplexes via a limited number of reception modules.
• the invention also relates to an apparatus managing the reception of the services according to the proposed method.
• the invention relates to a method for selecting digital services by a device called a client connected to a local network, said local network comprising an apparatus called a distribution gateway, said distribution gateway having digital service receiving means as well as means for distribution on the local network of the services received, comprising at least the following steps at the client level: - the reception of a list of digital services accessible by the distribution gateway;
• the priority level associated with the request is a priority level relative to the user at the origin of the request on the client.
• the priority level associated with the request is a priority level relative to the device at the origin of the request on the client.
• the method further comprises a step of displaying the list of digital services accessible by the distribution gateway specifying for each service whether it can be selected according to the relative priority level to the customer's user.
• the method further comprises a step of displaying the list of digital services accessible by the distribution gateway specifying for each service whether it can be selected according to the relative priority level to the client device.
• the request also comprises a reservation mode of the reception means.
• the reservation mode comprises a mode in which access to a tuner is exclusive.
• the reservation mode comprises a mode in which access to a service is exclusive or a mode in which access to a service is authorized for at least a second client of the services transported. on the same transport stream as well as the service reserved by the customer.
• the invention also relates to a request service method by an apparatus called a distribution gateway connected to a local network, said distribution gateway having means for receiving digital services as well as distribution means for the digital services received on the local network.
• an apparatus called a distribution gateway connected to a local network said distribution gateway having means for receiving digital services as well as distribution means for the digital services received on the local network.
• devices called clients connected to the local network comprising at least the following steps:
• the method further comprises, in case of inability of the gateway to serve the request due to the service of at least one preceding request, a step of choosing the request to be privileged between the received request and the at least one previous request, according to the priority level included in the request.
• the requests furthermore comprise a reservation level of the reception means, the step of choosing the request to be privileged between the received request and the at least one preceding request is also done in according to this level of reservation.
• the invention also relates to a client device connectable to a local area network comprising means for receiving a digital service list from a digital service distribution apparatus having digital service receiving means, reception means for receiving digital services.
• digital services means for sending a request requesting the distribution of at least one digital service among the digital services of a list of received services, characterized in that the means for sending a request requesting the distribution at least one digital service among the digital services of a list of received services further comprises means for including in the request a priority level.
• the apparatus further comprises means for including in the request a reservation mode of the receiving means of the dispensing apparatus.
• the invention also relates to a device for distributing digital services on a local area network comprising means for receiving digital services, means for sending a client of the local network a list of digital services accessible by the device, means for receiving a request requesting the distribution of at least one of the accessible services, characterized in that, in case of the inability of the gateway to serve the request due to the service of at least one previous request, the device further has means for choosing the request to be preferred between the received request and the at least one previous request, depending on the priority level included in the request.
• FIG. 1 represents the overall architecture of an exemplary embodiment of the invention in its operating environment.
• FIG. 2 represents the hardware architecture of an apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 3 shows a block diagram of an apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 4 shows the architecture of services and customers in an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
• broadcast will be reserved for conventional broadcasting of digital services via satellite, cable or radio or other means, while the term distribution will be reserved for the distribution of services on an IP network.
• the exemplary embodiment of the invention is based on an apparatus, called a distribution gateway, which makes it possible to receive a first traditional digital service broadcasting service and make it accessible on a local network, for example a network. IP.
• This device is equipped with a receiving module called a tuner to receive a broadcast type satellite, cable, digital radio or other.
• This device is also able to provide on the local network information on the services offered by the broadcast to bring to the attention of the user the service offering.
• the distribution gateway transmits on the IP network the service broadcast in the same manner as an IP service distribution server. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the integration of this functionality can be done at various points of the local network and within various devices of this network.
• Each service will be distributed by one or more servers using a multipoint distribution address.
• a service provider There are many ways for a service provider to bring its offer to the attention of users.
• the receiver In the user, the receiver must, first of all, become aware of the services and addresses to which they are distributed. He builds a list that he can then propose to the user who will select the service he wants to receive. The receiver will then send a subscription request to the distribution address used by the service. This subscription request goes cause the configuration of intermediate routing devices between the server and the receivers. These will route the data packets constituting the stream including the service from the server to the receiver.
• the receiver When the user wants to stop receiving the service, the receiver will send an unsubscribe request to the address and will stop receiving the packets.
• DVB-IP Digital Video Broadcasting over IP Infrastructures
• DVB-IP Phase 1 Handbook Specifications available from ETSI under the ETSI TS 102.034 v1.1.1 reference.
• Figure 1 illustrates the overall architecture of an exemplary embodiment of the invention in its operating environment. It shows a local network over IP, referenced 1.3, connecting on the one hand customers, referenced 1.4 to 1.6, to an IP service distribution network.
• clients the device for receiving a digital data stream containing a service from an IP network.
• This device is the device that will be able to receive and decode the stream over IP.
• This device will generally be an IP decoder that will be equipped with an IP network interface and a demultiplexer for isolating the data packets corresponding to a service, then a decoder capable of decoding the different elementary streams constituting the service. and finally analog digital converters to create the analog signals that will be transmitted to a screen, speakers or other to restore the service.
• This unit can also be a digital TV incorporating all these functions directly.
• the distribution gateway is constructed as a device in itself, referenced 1.2, connected on the one hand to the local IP network and having a reception module connected to a satellite antenna, referenced 1.1.
• This receiving module is a satellite module in the exemplary embodiment, but could be a cable, radio or other reception module insofar as it allows the reception of digital data streams, typically DVB ("Digital Video Broadcast" in English).
• Figure 2 for its part illustrates the hardware architecture of the distribution gateway, referenced 2.2, of the exemplary embodiment.
• This gateway is connected to the IP network, referenced 2.5, via a network interface, referenced 2.9. It has a receiving module, referenced 2.3 and generally called tuner in the jargon of the skilled person.
• This tuner makes it possible to receive signals from the satellite and picked up by the satellite antenna referenced 2.1.
• This tuner can be tuned to a given frequency, pick up the signal transmitted at that frequency and reconstruct the digital data packets contained in this signal.
• These packets constituting the received digital data stream are then processed by a packet filter, referenced 2.8 and generally called demux in the jargon of those skilled in the art.
• This filter or demux can be programmed to extract from the stream packets meeting certain criteria such as the value of certain fields in the header of the packets.
• This demux is used, in particular, to extract a given service from the stream or to select information on the service offering that is contained in the stream. This offer information is generally referred to as service information by those skilled in the art.
• modules interact under the control of software stored in the read-only memory, referenced 2.6, of the device. These services are loaded into the RAM, referenced 2.7, in view of an execution by the processor, referenced 2.4. The details of the main software programs used in the operation of the distribution gateway are described below.
• FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention.
• the gateway referenced 3.2, connected to the IP network, referenced 3.5, and to the satellite antenna referenced 3.1.
• the interactions between the local network clients and the distribution gateway will be managed by a command interpreter, referenced 3.6.
• This command interpreter will receive commands or requests from clients via the network interface, which is symbolized by the arrow referenced 3.11. For the execution of these commands, this interpreter will have to control the tuner, arrow 3.13. He will also have to control the demux, arrow 3.15 and the player of flow, referenced 3.4 arrow 3.18 which will redistribute on the IP network the previously selected service.
• the tuner Under the direction of the command interpreter 3.6, the tuner will receive a stream of digital data packets that will be sent, arrow 3.16, to the demux. This one will filter, for example, packets belonging to to a service. These packets are sent to the stream player, arrow 3.17, which is responsible for sending this stream of data packets over the IP network. This sending, arrow 3.19, on the IP network can be done, for example, via the RTP protocol ("Real Time Transport Protocol" in English) as recommended by the DVB-IP standard.
• the service manager referenced 3.7, will be in charge of managing the service information, that is to say, information on the accessible service offering. This management will be done under the control of the shell, for example.
• the service manager will receive at the output of the demux, arrow 3.14, the signaling information contained in the stream and will be able to build the list of available services that it can provide on request, arrow 3.12, to the requesting client on the IP network, arrow 3.10.
• the management of the available services is detailed below.
• the distribution gateway performs the following tasks during its initialization.
• the tuner is started and put in a state where it is ready to receive commands.
• This tuner is a common tuner of the type found in satellite or cable or wireless decoders. It is therefore able to perform the usual tasks of a tuner. Among which we can mention the function of course of a range of frequencies in search of those used for the diffusion of a flow of service. The function of tuning to a given frequency using a given polarization, a given modulation, and all the current parameters.
• the tuner will also be able to provide the stream of digital data packets transmitted on said frequency.
• the list of services that can be received by the tuner is built.
• a broadcast link is organized as follows. The link is generally shared by several broadcasters. Each broadcaster offers a set of digital services, for example audio and / or video in the form of a set of services. These sets are broadcast by one or more transport streams. As a first step, it is common to build the list of broadcasters who share the broadcast link. In a second step we build the list of transport flows used and finally we can build the list of services contained in these flows. Specifically, in DVB, each broadcaster is identified by a unique identifier, the network identifier ("network id") and the information about it can be found in a table, the network information table. or NIT (Network Information Table). This table is normally found in each transport stream and contains, among other things, the list of flows used by each broadcaster.
• network id Network identifier
• DVB triplet the list of elementary audio and video stream identifiers (PID for "Program Identifier").
• Additional service information may be available in the stream according to the DVB-SI standard specification for "Service Information" in English.
• One way to do this is to browse the range of frequencies potentially used to detect those used to send streams. Whenever a flow is detected, the relevant information is extracted to build the list of available services. This is a usual function of tuners. This procedure is long and monopolizes the tuner that can not be used for receiving services during this time. It is also possible to build the list of available services according to a configuration file stored in the distribution gateway for example or elsewhere on the local network. This file can be in XML or other format.
• the XML format has the advantage of being the format retained by the DVB-IP standard for the coding of the service information during the distribution of DVB services over an IP network. This way of doing things is much faster, but presents the risk of the obsolescence of the information stored in relation to the reality of the services broadcast.
• This standard proposes to consider the list of IP services as a collection of objects. Each of these objects has, among others, the following information: an identifier which can for example be the DVB triplet, a service name, the service identifiers (PID) of the elementary audio and video streams of the service, the multipoint distribution address to which the service is distributed.
• This list will be made accessible to the customers via, for example an HTTP request ("Hyper Text Transport Protocol" in English).
• FIG. 4 illustrates how services are distributed to clients.
• the clients referenced 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6, are connected to a local network referenced 4.3.
• a distribution gateway not shown with a tuner.
• This tuner makes it possible to receive p transport stream, referenced M1, M2 and Mp. These are the available p streams.
• M1, M2 and Mp are the available p streams.
• Each of its streams is distributed, for example, by a satellite transponder on a given frequency.
• the tuner is able to calibrate itself on a frequency allowing it to receive the transport stream transmitted at this frequency. At a given moment, the tuner can therefore receive only one transport stream among the available streams.
• Each transport stream contains a number, say n, of services.
• the distribution of an IP service is done using the RTP real-time transport protocol.
• a customer wishes to receive a distributed RTP stream in multipoint distribution, it sends a subscription request called "join" in English on the multipoint distribution address. This request is interpreted by the routing devices between the server and the client to distribute the packets sent by the server to the client. This works well in a context where the server constantly plays the service.
• DVB-IP proposes the use of a request RTSP ("Real Time Streaming Protocol" in English) to inform a server that one of its services is requested by a client.
• This command is known as the command "connect"("setup” in English).
• the use of this "connect” command is used to allow the distribution gateway to manage the distribution of services.
• a "teardown" command will be sent when a customer stops being interested in receiving a service.
• These commands include a reference that allows the gateway to identify the service involved in the command. Let's first describe the selection of a first service by a first client. The client requests and builds the list of all available services.
• a "connects" command is sent to the gateway and is interpreted by the command interpreter to block the tuner on the stream containing the requested service.
• the demux is programmed to filter within the stream the requested service, this service will therefore be played by the stream player on the network at the distribution address that has been assigned. The customer by subscribing to this distribution address will therefore be able to receive the requested service.
• the gateway needs to know which customers have requested the reception of a service that it plays on the network so that it can interrupt the distribution of a service when no more customers are interested in its reception. .
• One way to do this is to manage, for each service played, a list of customers who have received a command "connected" for this service. So on receipt of a command "connects" and provided that this command can be satisfied, we will see that this is not always the case, the customer at the origin of the order is added to the list of customers requesting the receipt of this service. The customer will be removed when the Distribution Gateway will receive a "stop" order from this customer regarding this service.
• the tuner is set to the frequency transmitting the corresponding transport stream.
• a second user requests a second service
• It can be the same service, in which case the second user benefits from the distribution of the service.
• It can also be a service transported within the same transport stream as the first service.
• a simple programming of the demux makes it possible to extract the two services of the received stream and to distribute them on the internal network.
• a conflict occurs when the second service is broadcast on a different transport stream than the first service.
• the reception of the second service involves stalling the tuner on the frequency of the second transport stream. So we see that the reception of the second service is exclusive of the reception of the first.
• a first mode determines an exclusive access of the tuner. In this mode, once the user has received the service, no other user can use the tuner. That is, no one will be able to receive a service even transported on the same transport stream using the tuner.
• a second mode determines exclusive access to the service. In this mode, a second user will be allowed to receive another service carried by the same transport stream but not the first service reserved by the first user.
• a third mode referred to as a "shared” mode, will allow access to a second user of the services transported on the same transport stream as well as the service reserved by the first user.
• a fourth mode called “guest mode” will be the mode in which the second user can book a service carried by a transport stream already received by a first user in "my-service” mode or "shared” mode.
• a fifth mode referred to as a "no reservation" mode, will be the mode in which no particular reservation is requested.
• This reservation system allows the user to indicate in detail how a user wishes to share the service that he requests but does not prevent any conflict between users. It is therefore possible to mix the priority system already described and the reservation system so as to resolve conflicts that may occur in this system.
• the tuner To enable the construction of a list of accessible service information and associated reservation status, the tuner must provide the following information:
• the gateway does not keep the information of who booked what. In this case, it just checks that the reservation level and the selection action is valid to accept it. It will then be the responsibility of the application on the client to manage the priorities and modes of reservation. This way of doing things simplifies the development of the broadcast gateway.
• a gateway containing several tuners will distinguish these different tuners and provide the customer several lists of accessible services. The client will decide whether to unify them or not at the level of the user interface that he offers. Another possibility is the gateway that manages a single list by gathering the information of each tuner.
• Selecting a program will cause a command to be sent from the client to the gateway containing the service identifier, the reservation level if the reservation mechanism is used, and the priority level of the user.
• the exemplary embodiment of the invention describes the situation of a tuner allowing the reception of a multiplex, but the invention can also be generalized in the case of a reception module of streams sent on an IP network where the The limit will no longer be the transmission frequency of the transport streams but the bandwidth between the broadcast gateway and the service broadcast servers.
• physical limits generally constrain the number of services that can be received simultaneously in relation to all services. accessible. It is therefore possible to apply the invention to all types of service delivery mode.
• priority levels and reservation modes described are examples and other policies for applying priority levels and other reservation modes can be defined without departing from the invention.
• the policy applied to resolve a conflict between users with the same priority is free, it is possible to apply a rule of first come first served or on the contrary last arrived first served or any other policy without leaving the scope of the invention.
• the exemplary embodiment describes the distribution of services via an IP network within the home, but it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention operates in the same way regardless of the service distribution network behind the gateway. of diffusion. It can be a home network according to the IEEE 1394 standard or any other type of network for distributing multimedia services.
• the invention is generalized to all cases where a plurality of users use a resource for access to a plurality of accesses and where this access resource has limitations in the number of services that it can provide. users simultaneously among all the services to which it gives access.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)
• Computer And Data Communications (AREA)
• Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
• Small-Scale Networks (AREA)

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• 2005
  • 2005-04-15 FR FR0550970A patent/FR2884669A1/fr active Pending
• 2006
  • 2006-04-11 KR KR1020077023449A patent/KR101249784B1/ko active IP Right Grant
  • 2006-04-11 WO PCT/EP2006/061512 patent/WO2006108838A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2006-04-11 CN CN2006800125250A patent/CN101160969B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2006-04-11 JP JP2008505886A patent/JP5296528B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2006-04-11 EP EP06725703A patent/EP1869885A1/fr not_active Withdrawn

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