JP2000134551A - Reception terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change-over software after the down-load of reception terminal equipment without obstructing the program viewing of a user by controlling a timing for starting the program in accordance with control data which is added to program data for down-loading. SOLUTION: When a power source is supplied to equipment, a boot program stored in a boot ROM: 9 is started by CPU: 5 and the control program of FROM: 7 or FROM: 8 is started. A parameter required for working the program is held in EEPROM: 10 and the identifying number of FROM where the effective control program is stored is held. The boot program refers to the contents of EEPROM: 10 in the case of an operation start, obtains which one of FROMs is started and starts the control program of FROM. A remote control receiving part 11 receives a remote control input by the user and CPU: 5 executes a prescribed operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a receiving terminal device used for digital broadcasting and data communication using a satellite.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital broadcasting and digital data distribution using communication satellites have been performed, and receiving terminal devices for receiving these and decoding video and audio have been widely used. Also, the software program of the receiving terminal device is multiplexed into a transport stream,
Downloading via a satellite and upgrading or changing the software program of the receiving terminal device have been implemented.

[0003]

In such a receiving terminal device having a download function, after the program is downloaded, a mechanism for switching the running program to the downloaded new program at an appropriate timing is required. is there. In order to switch to a new program, the running program is terminated and the program is booted, so it will not be possible to receive broadcasts and data for at least a few seconds required during this time,
If the program is being broadcast, the viewing of the program will be hindered. Therefore, it is necessary to have a mechanism for downloading program data and switching to a new program without hindering normal program operation.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform software switching after downloading a receiving terminal device without hindering a user's program viewing. It is another object of the present invention to be able to set the timing of software switching after downloading according to the operation.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, a receiving terminal device according to the present invention adds control data to program data to be downloaded, and receives program data downloaded via a satellite, Means for storing the downloaded program data, and means for activating the downloaded program,
It has a function of controlling the timing of starting a program according to control data added to the program data.

[0006] Further, there is provided a means for judging the transmission state of the radio wave of the selected channel, and activating the program downloaded in the previous period when the radio wave of the selected channel is stopped. Have.

[0007] Further, a standby mode and a power-on mode are provided, and a program downloaded in the standby mode is started in the standby mode.

With this configuration, the timing of starting a new program after downloading can be controlled by control data according to the operation. Also,
It is possible to switch to a new program at a timing that does not hinder program viewing, such as when the radio wave stops or during standby.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
This will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a receiving terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a radio wave received by a CS antenna is extracted by a CS tuner 1 as a TS (transport stream), and is decoded by a TS decoder 2 into packets such as video, audio, and private streams. Here, the video and audio packets are synchronized by PCR (Program Cl
ack Reference) packet and AV
The data is input to the decoder 3, decoded from the MPEG format, input to the NTSC encoder 4, and converted into a format that can be viewed on a television monitor.

The CPU 5 controls all operations of the receiving terminal device, and a control program is stored in the FROM 7 or FROM 8. When the receiving terminal device is powered on, the CPU 5 first starts a boot program stored in the boot ROM 9, and starts the FROM 7 or
The control program of the FROM 8 is started.

The EEPROM 10 holds parameters necessary for the operation of the program, and holds the identification number of the FROM in which a valid control program is stored. The boot program uses this EEPROM at startup.
With reference to the contents of M10, which FROM is activated is acquired, and the control program of the FROM is activated. The RAM 6 is used as a work area for running a program. Further, the remote control receiving unit 11 receives a remote control input by the user, and the CPU 5 performs a predetermined operation according to the remote control input.

The operation of the receiving terminal device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the receiving terminal device according to the present embodiment.

First, in the CS tuner 1, step S01 is performed.
, And the TS decoder 2 receives the TS included in the TS.
The I information is received, and the PID and data type of each elementary in the TS are obtained.
Video and private streams are determined, and if the private stream is download data, it is stored in the RAM 6.

The CPU 5 acquires the number of the currently activated FROM from the EEPROM 10, and determines the FROM in which the download data is to be stored in step S03. For example, if FORM1 is a currently running program,
The download data is stored in the FROM 8. here,
The download data is divided and transmitted in sections having a predetermined length, and a section header for identifying the download data is added to each section.

FIG. 3 shows the contents of the section header according to the present embodiment. The header identifies whether it is compatible with the receiving terminal device, identification information, the version number of the program being downloaded, the current section number, the last section number, and control data that defines how to start the program after downloading. Consists of The CPU 5 refers to the section header of the download data received in step S04, determines whether the identification information and the version number of the program correspond,
In step S05, it is determined whether or not the currently received download data can be received.

If it is determined that the data is the data to be received, the main body of the download data is received in step S06, and one section is written in the corresponding FROM in step S07. It is determined in step S08 whether the download data written in the FROM in step S08 is the last section, and the processing steps from step S04 are repeated until the download data of the last section is written.

If it is determined in step S05 that the continuity of the section numbers is lacking, the download data received so far is invalidated, and the processing steps from step S01 are repeated. When the FROM writing by download is completed in the determination of step S08, the new program is downloaded by download in step S09.
The flag indicating that the data has been written to the ROM and the number of the written FROM are stored in the EEPROM 10, and in step S10, the control data described in the section header is referred to, and the method of activating the downloaded program is determined.

That is, the operation of the transmitting side makes it possible to control the activation method of the new program of the receiving terminal device.

For example, when the content of the control data is "1", the process branches from step S10 to step S11. C
The S tuner 1 can detect the locked state of the frequency of the selected radio wave, and the state can be read from the CPU 5. C
The PU 5 constantly monitors the locked state of the frequency of the CS tuner 1 and can detect the stopped state of the radio wave on the transmitting side. After the program has been downloaded, step S11
In step S14, the CPU 5 determines the stop state of the radio wave, and if the stop of the radio wave is detected, stops all processing.
The valid FROM number of the PROM 10 is rewritten to the FROM number in which the downloaded program is written, starting from the head address of the boot ROM 9, and activating a new program. That is, after the download is completed, the current program is operated until the radio wave is stopped, and the user is not hindered from viewing even after the download is completed.

Next, for example, when the content of the control data is "0", the process branches from step S10 to step S12. In the case of a general receiving terminal device, a power-on state in which video and audio can be received and viewed while the power is on, and a power-on state, but no processing of video or audio There is a standby state that is a state. The receiving terminal device of the present embodiment can receive download data even in a standby state. That is, the CS tuner 1 and the TS decoder 2 perform normal processing even in the standby state. Here, it is determined in step S12 whether the standby state has been reached after the download is completed, and in the standby state, all the processing is stopped.
The valid FROM number of the OM 10 is rewritten to the FROM number in which the downloaded program is written, and the boot R
Starting from the top address of OM9, a new program is started. After starting the program, it goes to the standby state.

In addition, if the power is on after the download is completed, the program operates under the current program, and when the user designates the standby mode by operating the remote controller, the new program is activated. That is, the user switches to the new program in the standby state, so that the user is not hindered from viewing the program.

[0023]

As described above, the present invention provides a receiving terminal device capable of controlling the timing of starting a new program after downloading by control data of a header added according to the operation of the transmitting side. I can do it. Also, after the download is completed, the program will not be switched to a new program immediately, but will operate as it is until the radio wave stops or enters standby mode. However, it is possible to switch to a new program without interrupting program viewing during and after downloading.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a receiving terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the receiving terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a header added to download data according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 CS tuner 2 TS decoder 3 AV decoder 4 NTSC encoder 5 CPU 6 RAM 7 FROM 8 FROM 9 Boot ROM 10 EEPROM 11 Remote control receiving unit

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toyoka Yanamichi 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takashi Aoki 1006 Odakadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.F-term ( Reference) 5B089 GA23 GB03 HA12 JA34 JB07 KA00 KB09 KC28 MB02 5C025 BA27 BA30 DA01 DA04 DA05 5C064 DA09

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Means for receiving program data downloaded from a satellite, means for storing the downloaded program data, and means for activating the program in response to control data added to the program data Terminal device provided with 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for determining a transmission state of a radio wave of a selected channel, wherein the program is started when the radio wave of the selected channel is stopped. The receiving terminal device according to claim 1. 3. The receiving terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising a standby mode and a power-on mode, wherein the program is started in the standby mode.