JP2001024606A - Information transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance reliability of stream data by enabling prompt and exact coping operation, when a fault is found in the stream data for broadcast in broadcasting equipment. SOLUTION: A fault regarding data by every component to be included in a TS to be transmitted from a multiplexer 45 of the broadcasting equipment 200 is detected by a stream monitoring system 201, and the fault is notified by transmitting information to specify the component where the fault is defined to be generated when the fault is generated. The multiplexer 45 is controlled so that stream data for emergency is selected, transmitted by a stream 202 for emergency, TS is formed by the stream data for emergency instead of the data of the component, where the fault is defined to be generated and transmitted by an MUX control system 203 in response to reception of notification of the fault.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information transmission system for transmitting a broadcast data stream, for example, as broadcasting equipment for performing digital broadcasting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital satellite broadcasting has been widely used. Digital satellite broadcasting is more resistant to noise and fading than, for example, existing analog broadcasting, and can transmit high-quality signals. Further, the frequency use efficiency is improved, and it is possible to increase the number of channels. Specifically, in the case of digital satellite broadcasting, one satellite can secure several hundred channels. In such digital satellite broadcasting, a large number of specialty channels for sports, movies, music, news, etc. are prepared, and in these specialty channels, programs corresponding to the respective special contents are broadcast.

[0003] Data transmitted by such digital broadcasting includes, for example, video data and audio data of a large number of channels, and data of multimedia contents for so-called data services (these data for each type are hereinafter referred to as "data"). Component)
Are formed as stream data arranged in a time-division manner.

[0004] On the broadcasting station side of such a digital satellite broadcasting system, maintenance of the broadcasting equipment is performed so that normal broadcasting is performed. For this purpose, the broadcasting equipment is constructed. The device is monitored for any abnormality or failure of various devices.

[0005] For example, when the transmission of a certain component in the stream data is stopped due to a failure of an encoder or the like that encodes broadcast data (mainly compression signal processing), for example,
By switching to a data transmission system called a so-called redundant system in which processing by an encoder is not performed, recovery of stream data transmission is attempted.

[0006]

However, for example, when the transmission of stream data is stopped due to a failure of an apparatus relating to a component having no redundant data transmission system or an operational mistake. In this case, there is a possibility that the recovery of the stream data is delayed because the system cannot be switched to the redundant system as described above.

As a system corresponding to the occurrence of a fault in the current broadcasting equipment, for example, a monitoring system for monitoring the status of each component stored in the stream data to determine the presence or absence of a fault is provided. An emergency data transmission system for transmitting data as a component of a specific type prepared for the purpose of transmitting in response to a failure in advance is also provided.

[0008] However, the monitoring system and the emergency data transmission system do not have a linked configuration.
Therefore, for example, when the monitoring system informs that the transmission of a certain component has stopped, a digital broadcast operator sends, for example, data for the component whose transmission has stopped from the emergency data transmission system. It is necessary to do the work of making it. In other words, the recovery of the stream data to be transmitted involves human work, and the lack of reliability due to human factors such as a recovery delay or a determination error is inevitable.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration as an information transmission system. In other words, a component sending unit provided for each component data and sending the component data, and the component data sent from each of these component sending units are input and multiplexed to form a stream data for transmission. And a stream data output means for outputting. Also, by extracting identification information that can identify the component data inserted in the stream data, a component data identification unit that identifies the component data multiplexed in the stream data is provided. Failure detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a failure, and when the failure detection means determines that there is a failure in certain component data, the failure notification information specifies at least the component data determined to have a failure. A stream data monitoring device comprising: a failure notification unit that outputs component designation information via a predetermined network. One or more spare data for spare is prepared, and spare data corresponding to the component data designated by the component designation information received via the network is selected and outputted to the stream data output means. It has a sending device. And
The input of the component data designated by the component designation information received via the network to the stream data output means is invalidated. Alternatively, the spare data selected by the spare data transmitting device is output to the stream data output unit. And a control device for executing control so as to input to the means.

[0010] According to the above configuration, the failure of each component forming the stream data for broadcasting is detected by using the identification signal of the component stored in the stream data. Then, if a failure occurs, it becomes possible to input the required spare data selected in the spare data transmission device to the stream data output means instead of the component data in which the failure has occurred. It is performed automatically.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The information transmitting apparatus according to the present embodiment broadcasts a program using digital satellite broadcasting, and the receiving apparatus can download information such as music data (audio data) related to the program. It is assumed that they correspond. That is, it is a broadcasting facility of a digital satellite broadcasting system.

The following description will be made in the following order. 1. Digital satellite broadcasting system 1-1. Overall configuration 1-2. Operation on GUI screen 1-3. Ground station 1-4. Transmission format 1-5. IRD 2. Transmission system of the present embodiment

1. Configuration of Digital Satellite Broadcasting System 1-1. Overall Configuration First, prior to describing a transmitting apparatus according to the present embodiment, a digital satellite broadcasting system to which the present embodiment corresponds will be described.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a digital satellite broadcasting system according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the ground station 1 for digital satellite broadcasting includes a material for television program broadcasting from a television program material server 6, a material for music data from a music material server 7, and an additional audio information server 8 , And the GUI data from the GUI data server.

The TV program material server 6 is a server that provides materials for ordinary broadcast programs. The music broadcast material sent from the television program material server is a moving image and a sound. For example, in the case of a music broadcast program, using the video and audio materials of the TV program material server 6,
For example, a moving image and sound for promotion of a new song are broadcast.

The music material server 7 is a server that provides an audio program using an audio channel. The material of this audio program is only audio. The music material server 7 transmits materials of audio programs of a plurality of audio channels to the ground station 1. In the program broadcast of each audio channel, the same music is repeatedly broadcast for a predetermined unit time. Each audio channel is independent, and various usages can be considered. For example, one audio channel repeatedly broadcasts some of the latest Japanese pops for a certain period of time, and another audio channel repeatedly broadcasts some of the latest foreign pops for a certain period of time. .

The additional audio information server 8 is a server that provides time information of the music output from the music material server 7 and the like.

The GUI data server 9 provides "GUI data (broadcast content data)" for forming a GUI screen used by the user for operation. For example, in the case of a GUI screen related to downloading music as described later, image data, text data, and data for forming a still image of an album jacket for forming a list page of distributed music and an information page of each music. And so on. Further, on the receiving equipment 3 side, a so-called EPG (E
EPG data used to display a program guide called an electrical program guide is also provided from this. The “GUI data” is, for example, MHEG (Multi
media Hypermedia Information Coding Experts Group)
The method is adopted. MHEG is an international standard for scenario description for producing multimedia information, procedures, operations, etc., and their combinations as objects, encoding those objects, and producing them as titles (eg, GUI screens). Is done. In this embodiment, MHEG-5 is adopted.

The ground station 1 has the above-mentioned television program material server 6,
Music material server 7, audio additional information server 8, and GUI
The information transmitted from the data server 9 is multiplexed and transmitted. In the present embodiment, the video data transmitted from the television program material server 6 is MPEG (Moving Picture Expe
(rts Group) 2 system, and the audio data is compression-encoded by the MPEG2 audio system. The audio data transmitted from the music material server 7 corresponds to, for example, the MPEG2 audio system and the ATRAC (Adoptive
It is compressed and encoded by either one of the Tranform Acoustic Coding) method and the other method. These data are encrypted using key information from the key information server 10 at the time of multiplexing. An example of the internal configuration of the ground station 1 will be described later.

The signal from the ground station 1 is received by the receiving equipment 3 of each home via the satellite 2. The satellite 2 has a plurality of transponders. One transponder has a transmission capacity of, for example, 30 Mbps. As the receiving equipment 3 of each home, a parabolic antenna 11 and an IRD (Int
egrated Receiver Decorder) 12, a storage device 13, and a monitor device 14. In this case, a remote controller 64 for operating the IRD 12 is shown.

A signal broadcasted via the satellite 2 by the parabolic antenna 11 is received. This received signal is transmitted to the LNB (Low Noize Blo
ck Down Converter) 15
It is supplied to RD12.

As a general operation of the IRD 12, a signal of a predetermined channel is selected from a received signal, and video data and audio data as a program are demodulated from the selected signal to obtain a video signal and an audio signal. Output as In the IRD 12, a GUI multiplexed with data as a program and transmitted is transmitted.
An output as a GUI screen is also performed based on the data. The output of the IRD 12 is supplied to, for example, the monitor device 14. As a result, in the monitor device 14, I
The RD 12 performs image display and audio output of a program selected and received, and also allows a GUI screen to be displayed in accordance with a user operation as described later.

The storage device 13 is for storing audio data (song data) downloaded by the IRD 12. The type of the storage device 13 is not particularly limited.
An MD (Mini Disc) recorder / player, a DAT recorder / player, a DVD recorder / player, or the like can be used. In addition, a personal computer device is used as the storage device 13, and in addition to a hard disk,
It is also possible to store audio data in a recordable medium such as a CD-R.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the receiving equipment 3 of the present embodiment uses IEEE as a data transmission standard.
M with data interface compatible with 1394
The D recorder / player 13A can be used as the storage device 13 shown in FIG. The IEEE 1394-compatible MD recorder / player 13A shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the IRD 12 via an IEEE 1394 bus 16. As a result, in the present embodiment, audio data (download data) as music received by the IRD 12 can be directly captured and recorded in a state where compression processing has been performed by the ATRAC method. When the MD recorder / player 13A and the IRD 12 are connected via the IEEE 1394 bus 16, it is possible to record not only the audio data but also jacket data (still image data) of the album and text data such as lyrics. Have been.

The IRD 12 can communicate with the accounting server 5 via the telephone line 4, for example. An IC card in which various information is stored is inserted into the IRD 12 as described later. For example, if audio data of a music piece is downloaded, history information relating to the download is stored in the IC card. The information of the IC card is sent to the charging server 5 via the telephone line 4 at a predetermined opportunity and timing. The accounting server 5 sets an amount according to the sent history information, performs accounting, and charges the user.

As can be seen from the above description, in the system to which the present invention is applied, the ground station 1 includes the video data and audio data serving as the music program broadcast material from the TV program material server 6 and the music material server. Audio data as the material of the audio channel from 7,
The voice data from the voice additional information server 8 and the GUI data from the GUI data server 9 are multiplexed and transmitted. Then, when this broadcast is received by the receiving equipment 3 of each home, for example, the program of the selected channel can be viewed by the monitor device 14. First, an EPG (Electrical Program Guide) screen is displayed as a GUI screen using GUI data transmitted together with program data, and a program search or the like can be performed. Second, for example, by performing a required operation using a GUI screen for a specific service other than a normal program broadcast, in the case of the present embodiment, a normal service provided in a broadcast system is provided. Services other than viewing programs can be enjoyed. For example, if a GUI screen for a download service of audio (song) data is displayed and an operation is performed using this GUI screen, the audio data of the song desired by the user is downloaded and recorded in the storage device 13. It becomes possible to save.

In the present embodiment, a data service broadcast that provides a specific service other than a normal program broadcast, which involves an operation on the GUI screen as described above, may have an interactive property. Broadcast ".

1-2. Operation on GUI Screen Here, the above-mentioned use example of interactive broadcasting,
That is, an operation example on the GUI screen will be schematically described with reference to FIGS. Here, a case in which music data (audio data) is downloaded will be described.

First, the main operation keys of the remote controller 64 for the user to operate the IRD 12 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3 shows an operation panel surface on which various keys are arranged in the remote controller 64. here,
Among these various keys, the power key 101, the numeric key 10
2. The screen display switching key 103, the interactive switching key 104, the EPG key panel unit 105, and the channel key 106 will be described.

The power key 101 is a key for turning on / off the power of the IRD 12. Numeric keys 102
These keys are used to switch channels by designating a number, or to operate, for example, when a numerical input operation is required on a GUI screen. The screen display switching key 103 is a key for switching between a normal broadcast screen and an EPG screen, for example. For example, the screen display switching key 103
While the screen is being called, the EPG key panel unit 10
By operating the keys arranged in 5, a program search using the display screen of the electronic program guide can be performed. Also,
The arrow keys 105a in the EPG key panel unit 105 can be used for moving a cursor on a GUI screen for a service to be described later. The interactive switching key 104 is provided for switching between a normal broadcast screen and a GUI screen for a service accompanying the broadcast program. The channel key 106 is a key provided for sequentially switching the selected channel in the IRD 12 in ascending order and descending order of the channel number.

It should be noted that the remote controller 64 according to the present embodiment is configured to be capable of performing various operations on the monitor device 14, for example, and is provided with various keys corresponding thereto. Here, description of keys and the like corresponding to the monitor device 14 is omitted.

Next, a specific example of an operation on the GUI screen will be described with reference to FIG. When a desired channel is selected by receiving a broadcast by the receiving equipment 3, the display screen of the monitor device 14 displays a moving image based on the program material provided from the TV program material server 6 as shown in FIG. An image is displayed. That is, normal program contents are displayed. Here, it is assumed that, for example, a music program is displayed. It is assumed that the music program is accompanied by a download service (interactive broadcast) for audio data of the music. Then, for example, if the user operates the interactive switching key 104 of the remote controller 64 while the music program is being displayed, the display screen shows the audio data download as shown in FIG. Is switched to the GUI screen.

In this GUI screen, first, the TV program display area 21A at the upper left of the screen is displayed as shown in FIG.
The image based on the video data from the television program material server 6 displayed in (a) is reduced and displayed.
In addition, a list 21B of songs of each channel being broadcast on the audio channel is displayed in the upper right part of the screen. A text display area 21C is located at the lower left of the screen.
And the jacket display area 21D are displayed. further,
On the right side of the screen, a lyrics display button 22, a profile display button 23, an information display button 24, a reservation recording button 2
5. Reserved list display button 26, recording history display button 2
7, and a download button 28 are displayed.

The user searches for a song of interest while looking at the song names displayed in the list 21B.
Then, when a musical piece of interest is found, the arrow keys 105a of the remote controller 64 (EPG key panel unit 10)
5) to move the cursor to the position where the music is displayed, and then perform an enter operation (for example, press the center position of the arrow key 105a). As a result, it is possible to listen to the music piece with the cursor. That is, in each audio channel, the same music is repeatedly broadcast during a predetermined unit time.
The screen of the TV program display area 21A remains unchanged, and the IR
By switching to the audio channel of the music selected by the above operation by D12 and outputting the sound, the music can be heard. At this time, a still image of the MD jacket of the music is displayed in the jacket display area 21D.

Further, for example, the cursor is moved to the lyrics display button 22 in the above-mentioned state, and an enter operation is performed (hereinafter, referred to as “enter”).
When the cursor is moved to the button display and the enter operation is performed ("button is pressed"), the lyrics of the music are displayed in the text display area 21C at the timing synchronized with the audio data. Similarly, when the profile display button 23 or the information display button 24 is pressed, an artist profile or concert information corresponding to the music is displayed in the text display area 21C. In this way, the user can know what kind of music is currently being distributed, and can also know detailed information about each music.

The user presses the download button 28 when he wants to purchase the tune listened to. When the download button 28 is pressed, the audio data of the selected music is downloaded and stored in the storage device 13. Along with the audio data of the music, lyrics data, artist profile information, jacket still image data, and the like can be downloaded. Then, every time the audio data of the music is downloaded in this manner, the history information is stored in the IC card in the IRD 12. The information stored in the IC card is taken in by the charging server 5 once a month, for example, and the user is charged according to the usage history of the data service. Thereby, the copyright of the downloaded music can be protected.

When the user wants to make a reservation for download in advance, he presses a reservation recording button 25. When this button is pressed, the display of the GUI screen is switched, and a list of music pieces that can be reserved is displayed on the entire screen. For example, this list can display music searched for in units of one hour, one week, or channel. When the user selects a song to be reserved for download from this list, the information is registered in the IRD 12. Then, when the user wants to check the music whose reservation has already been reserved, the user can press the reserved list display button 26 to display the music on the entire screen. The music thus reserved is downloaded by the IRD 12 at the reserved time and stored in the storage device 13.

When the user wants to check the downloaded music, the recording history button 27 can be pressed to display a list of already downloaded music on the entire screen.

As described above, in the receiving facility 3 of the system to which the present invention is applied, a music list is displayed on the GUI screen of the monitor device 14. When a song is selected according to the display on the GUI screen, the song can be previewed, and the lyrics of the song, the artist profile, and the like can be known. Further, it is possible to perform downloading of music and reservation thereof, display of a download history and a list of reserved music, and the like.

Although the details will be described later, FIG.
The display of the GUI screen as shown in, the change of the display on the GUI screen in response to the user's operation on the GUI screen, and the voice output define the relationship between the objects by the scenario description based on the MHEG method described above. Is realized by: The object here is the one shown in FIG.
Image data as parts corresponding to the buttons shown in FIG. 3B and material data displayed in each display area. In this specification, the relationship between objects is defined by a scenario (script) description, such as the GUI screen, so that information is output according to a certain purpose (image display, audio output, etc.). An environment in which is realized is referred to as a “scene”. It is also assumed that the objects forming one scene include the scenario description file itself.

As described above, in the digital satellite broadcast system to which the present invention is applied, a broadcast program is distributed, and audio data of music is distributed using a plurality of audio channels. Then, the user can search for a desired music using a list of the music that has been distributed, and can easily store the audio data in the storage device 13. As services other than the program provision in the digital satellite broadcasting system, various other than the above-described downloading of the music data can be considered. For example, it is conceivable that after broadcasting a product introduction program called so-called TV shopping, a GUI screen that allows a purchase contract to be concluded can be prepared.

1-3. Ground Station The outline of the digital satellite broadcasting system according to the present embodiment has been described above, but the system will be described in more detail hereinafter. Therefore, the configuration of the ground station 1 will be described first with reference to FIG.

In the following description, the following is assumed. In the present embodiment, the satellite 2
In transmitting to the receiving equipment 3 via the DSM-CC, at least the GUI data is a DSM-CC (Digital Storage Media Command and Control; Di
gital Strage Media-Command and Control) protocol. As is already known, the DSM-CC (MPEG-part6) method extracts, for example, an MPEG encoded bit stream stored in a digital storage medium (DSM) via some network.
(Retrieve) or a command and control method for storing a stream in the DSM. In the present embodiment, this DSM
-The CC system is adopted as a transmission standard in a digital satellite broadcasting system. And DSM-
In order to transmit a content (a set of objects) of a data broadcasting service (for example, a GUI screen) by the CC method, it is necessary to define a description format of the content. In the present embodiment, the above-described MHEG is adopted as the definition of the description format.

The configuration of the ground station 1 shown in FIG. 5 is roughly divided into a broadcast facility 200 and a radio wave transmission system 46. First, in the broadcast facility 200, the television program material registration system 31 registers the material data obtained from the television program material server 6 in the AV server 35. The material data is sent to the television program transmission system 39, where the video data is compressed by, for example, the MPEG2 system, and the audio data is packetized by, for example, the MPEG2 audio system. The output of the television program transmission system 39 is sent to the multiplexer 45.

The music material registration system 32 supplies material data from the music material server 7, that is, audio data, to the MPEG2 audio encoder 36A and the ATRAC encoder 36B. MPEG2 audio encoder 36A, ATRAC encoder 36
In B, the supplied audio data is encoded (compressed and encoded), and then registered in the MPEG audio server 40A and ATRAC audio server 40B. MPEG audio server 40A
Is transmitted to the MPEG audio transmission system 43A, packetized here, and then transmitted to the multiplexer 45. AT
ATRAC registered in RAC audio server 40B
The data is sent to the ATRAC audio transmission system 43B as 4 × speed ATRAC data, where it is packetized and transmitted to the multiplexer 45.

The additional audio information registration system 33 registers additional audio information as material data from the additional audio information server 8 in the additional audio information database 37.
The additional audio information registered in the additional audio information database 37 is transmitted to the additional audio information transmission system 41,
Similarly, the packetized data from the multiplexer 4
5 is transmitted.

Further, in the GUI material registration system 34, the GUI data
The I data is registered in the GUI material database 38.

The GUI material data registered in the GUI material database 38 is stored in the GUI authoring system 42.
Here, processing is performed so that the data format becomes a GUI screen, that is, a data format that can be output as a “scene” described in FIG.

That is, the GUI authoring system 42
For example, in the case of a GUI screen for downloading music, still image data of an album jacket, text data such as lyrics, audio data to be output in response to an operation, etc. It is. Each of the above-mentioned data is called a so-called mono-media, but in the GUI authoring system 42, the MHEG
Using an authoring tool, these mono-media data are encoded and handled as objects. Then, for example, a scenario description file (script) defining the relationship between the objects so that the display mode of the scene (GUI screen) and the output mode of image and sound according to the operation as described with reference to FIG. Together with the MHEG-5 content. FIG.
In the GUI screen as shown in (b), image / audio data (M
PEG video data, MPEG audio data)
MPEG based on music material data of music material server 7
Audio data and the like are also displayed on the GUI screen, and an output mode according to the operation is given. Therefore, as the scenario description file, in the GUI authoring system 42, the image / audio data based on the material data of the TV program material server 6 and the MPEG audio data based on the music material data of the music material server 7 are used. Further, the voice additional information based on the voice additional information server 8 is also treated as an object as required, and is defined by the MHEG script.

The data of the MHEG content transmitted from the GUI authoring system 42 includes a script file, various still image data files as objects, text data files (and audio data files), and the like. The data is, for example, data of 640 × 480 pixels compressed by a JPEG (Joint Photograph Experts Group) method, and the text data is a file of, for example, 800 characters or less.

The data of the MHEG content obtained by the GUI authoring system 42 is transmitted to the DSM-CC encoder 44. The DSM-CC encoder 44 converts the data into a transport stream (hereinafter abbreviated as TS (Transport Stream)) in a format that can be multiplexed with a data stream of video and audio data according to the MPEG2 format, and packetizes the data.
5 is output.

In the multiplexer 45, the video and audio packets from the television program transmission system 39 and the MPEG audio transmission system 43
A, the 4 × speed audio packet from the ATRAC audio transmission system 43B, the audio additional information packet from the audio additional information transmission system 41, and the G packet from the GUI authoring system 42.
The UI data packet and the UI data packet are time-division multiplexed and encrypted based on the key information output from the key information server 10 (FIG. 1). The information multiplexed in this way is obtained as stream data as a TS. Further, in the multiplexer 45, the PSI,
Information about channels and programs such as SI is added.
Note that PSI and SI will be described later.

The stream data as TS obtained by the multiplexer 45 is transmitted to a radio wave transmission system 46, where the data is subjected to processing such as addition of an error correction code, modulation, and frequency conversion. 2 for transmission output.

It should be noted that the ground station 1 shown in FIG. 5 is assumed to have the basic configuration, and in the present embodiment, as described later, a failure has occurred in the TS to be transmitted. An emergency system is added and configured to handle the case.

1-4. Transmission Format Next, a transmission format according to the present embodiment defined based on the DSM-CC scheme will be described. FIG. 6 shows an example of data transmitted and output from the ground station 1 to the satellite 2. As described above, each data shown in this figure is actually time-division multiplexed. Further, in this figure, as shown in FIG. 6, one event is between time t1 and time t2, and the next event is from time t2. The event referred to here is, for example, a unit for changing a set of a lineup of a plurality of music pieces in the case of a music program channel, and is about 30 minutes or 1 hour in terms of time.

As shown in FIG. 6, from time t1 to time t2
In the event (1), a program having a predetermined content A1 is being broadcast in a program broadcast of a normal moving image. In an event starting from time t2, a program as content A2 is being broadcast. What is broadcast in this ordinary program is moving images and audio.

MPEG audio channel (1)-
(10) is prepared, for example, for ten channels CH1 to CH10. At this time, the same music is repeatedly transmitted on each of the audio channels CH1, CH2, CH3,... CH10 while one event is being broadcast. That is, during the event period from time t1 to time t2, the music B1 is repeatedly transmitted on the audio channel CH1, and the audio channel CH1 is transmitted.
2, the music C1 is repeatedly transmitted, and similarly, the music K1 is repeatedly transmitted on the audio channel CH10. This is common to the quadruple-speed ATRAC audio channels (1) to (10) shown below.

That is, in FIG. 6, those having the same number in parentheses, which are the channel numbers of the MPEG audio channel and the 4 × ATRAC audio channel, are the same music. The number in parentheses, which is the channel number of the additional audio information, is the additional audio information added to the audio data having the same channel number.
Still image data and text data transmitted as GUI data are also formed for each channel. These data are time-division multiplexed and transmitted in an MPEG2 transport packet as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7D, and are transmitted in the IRD 12 as shown in FIGS. 7E to 7H. It is reconstructed using the header information of each data packet.

Of the transmission data shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, at least the GUI data used for the data service (broadcast of MHEG contents synchronized with TV broadcasting (or audio broadcasting) or interactive broadcasting) , And are logically formed as follows according to the DSM-CC system. Here, DSM-CC
The description is limited to the data of the transport stream output from the encoder 44.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the data broadcasting service of the present embodiment transmitted by the DSM-CC system is all included in a root directory named Service Gateway. Service
Objects included in the Gateway include a directory (Directory) and a file (Fil).
e), a stream (Stream), and a stream event (Stream Event).

Of these, the files are individual data files such as still images, sounds, texts, and scripts described by MHEG. The stream is, for example, another data service or an AV stream (TV
MPEG video data and audio data as program material, MPEG audio data as music material, A
TRAC audio data). The stream event also includes link information and time information. A directory is a folder that stores related data.

In the DSM-CC system, FIG.
As shown in (b), these unit information and Serv
The Ice Gateway is regarded as a unit called an object, and each is converted into a format called a BIOP message. In the description relating to the present invention, the distinction between the three objects of file, stream, and stream event is not essential, and therefore, in the following description, these objects will be described as being represented by objects as files.

In the DSM-CC system, FIG.
A data unit called a module shown in (c) is generated. This module is a variable-length data unit formed by adding one or more objects converted into BIOP messages shown in FIG. 8B and adding a BIOP header thereto. It is the unit of buffering the received data on the side. Also, DSM-C
In the C method, when one module is formed by a plurality of objects, the relationship between the objects is not particularly defined or limited. In other words, at the extreme, even if one module is formed by two or more objects between scenes having no relation at all, DS
It does not violate the rules under the M-CC system.

This module is mechanically divided into data units of a fixed length in principle called "blocks" as shown in FIG. 8 (d) in order to transmit data in a format called a section defined by the MPEG2 format. You.
However, the last block in the module does not need to have a prescribed fixed length. The reason why the block division is performed is that there is a rule in the MPEG2 format that one section must not exceed 4 KB. In this case, the data unit as a block and the section are synonymous.

The block obtained by dividing the module in this way is converted into a message format called DDB (Download Data Block) with a header added as shown in FIG. 8 (e).

In parallel with the conversion to the DDB,
SI (Download Server Initiate) and DII (Download
Indication Information) is generated. The DSI and DII are on the receiving side (IRD1
The information required when acquiring a module from the received data in 2), and the DSI mainly includes an identifier of the carousel (module) described below and information related to the entire carousel (time during which the carousel makes one rotation, carousel rotation). Timeout value). In addition, the root directory of the data service (Service Ga
The information also has information for knowing the location of the keyword (the case of the object carousel method).

DII is information corresponding to each module included in the carousel, and has information such as the size, version, and timeout value of each module.

Then, as shown in FIG.
Three types of messages, DB, DSI, and DII, are transmitted periodically and repeatedly in correspondence with the data unit of the section. As a result, the receiver can always receive, for example, a module including an object necessary for obtaining a target GUI screen (scene). In this specification, such a transmission method is referred to as a “carousel method” by comparing it to a carousel, and FIG.
A data transmission form schematically represented as shown in FIG.

Here, a plurality of modules may be included in one carousel. For example, a plurality of modules required for one data service may be transmitted by one carousel. Here, the “carousel method” is divided into a “data carousel method” and an “object carousel method”. In particular, in the object carousel method, a directory structure can be handled by a method in which objects having attributes such as files, directories, streams, and service gateways are transferred as data using the carousel. On the other hand, in the data carousel method, for example, in the case of corresponding to MHEG content, for example, the directory structure of the file forming one scene is actually
In this method, data is managed by being collected (included) in one file, and the data in file units is transferred using a carousel. In the system according to the present embodiment, any system may be adopted.

FIG. 9 shows a file (MHEG application) as a data service conforming to the MHEG method.
2 shows an example of a directory structure of the application file.
As described above, the object carousel method is characterized in that it can handle this directory structure. In the data carousel method, for example, the directory structure in scene units is one file.
Normally, the entrance (MHEG application file) of the Service Domain is always located immediately below the Service Gateway.
It becomes a file called pp0 / startup. Basically, Service Domain (Service
Application d under Gateway)
directory (app0, app1,..., app)
N), an application file called “startup” under the directory, and a directory (scene) of each scene that constitutes the application.
dir0, scenedir1...). Furthermore, under the scenery directory,
The MHEG scene file and each content file constituting the scene are set.

The broadcast data including the GUI data transmitted by the carousel as described above, that is, the data output from the multiplexer 45 in FIG. 5, is output in the form of a transport stream. This transport stream has, for example, the structure shown in FIG. FIG. 10A shows a transport stream. The transport stream is a bit string defined in the MPEG system, and is formed by connecting 188-byte fixed-length packets (transport packets) as shown in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 10B, each transport packet has a header and an adaptation field for including additional information in a specific individual packet, and a payload (video / audio data or the like) indicating the contents of the packet (video / audio data or the like). Data area).

The header is, for example, actually 4 bytes. As shown in FIG. 10 (c), a header is always provided with a synchronization byte. A certain PID (Packet_I
D), scramble control information indicating the presence / absence of scrambling, and adaptation field control information indicating the presence / absence of a subsequent adaptation field, payload, and the like.

Based on these pieces of control information, the receiving apparatus can descramble packets in packet units, and can use a demultiplexer to separate and extract necessary packets such as video / audio / data. In addition, time information (P
Reproduction of CR (Program Clock Reference) can also be performed here.

As can be seen from the above description,
Video / audio / data packets for a plurality of channels are multiplexed in one transport stream.
In addition, a signal for controlling channel selection called PSI (Program Specific Information), information (EMM / ECM) necessary for conditional access (reception function for deciding whether or not a pay channel can be received or not according to an individual contract situation), SI (Service Information) for realizing services such as EPG
Are multiplexed simultaneously.

The PSI is composed of four tables as shown in FIG. Each table is
It is expressed in a section format, which is compliant with the MPEG System. FIG. 11A shows NIT (Net
work Information Table) and CAT (Conditional Acc
ess Table) is shown. In the NIT, the same content is multiplexed on all carriers. Transmission specifications for each carrier (polarization plane, carrier frequency, convolution rate, etc.)
And a list of channels multiplexed there. The PID of the NIT is PID = 0x0010.

The CAT also has the same content multiplexed on all carriers. The PID of an EMM (Entitlement Management Message) packet, which is identification information of the conditional access system and individual information such as contract information, is described. As PID, PID
= 0x0001.

FIG. 11B shows PAT as information having specific contents for each carrier. The PAT describes channel information in the carrier and the PID of the PMT representing the contents of each channel. PID
Is indicated by PID = 0x0000.

As information for each channel in the carrier, a PMT (Program Map T
able) table. In the PMT, content for each channel is multiplexed. For example, as shown in FIG. 11D, components (video / audio, etc.) configuring each channel and an ECM (E
ncryption Control Message) PID of the packet is described. The PID of the PMT is specified by the PAT.

Although SI is not shown, PSI
It is a table in section format in the same way as
Information about G is described. On the IRD side, necessary information is extracted from this table and displayed on the screen. As a typical table of the SI, SDT (Service Description Table) and EI
T (Event Information Table). SDT
Represents channel information, and describes a channel number, a channel name, channel contents, and the like. The PID is indicated by PID = 0x0011. The EIT indicates program information, and describes a program name, a program start time, a synopsis of a program, a genre, and the like. The PID is indicated by PID = 0x0012.
The information as PSI and SI is added to the data in the form of TS in the multiplexer 45 shown in FIG.

1-5. IRD Next, an example of the configuration of the IRD 12 provided in the receiving facility 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the IRD 12 shown in this figure, a reception signal converted to a predetermined frequency by the LNB 15 of the parabolic antenna 11 is input to the input terminal T 1 and supplied to the tuner / front end unit 51. In the tuner / front end unit 51, a CPU (Central Processing Uni
t) On the basis of a setting signal in which transmission parameters and the like are set from 80, a carrier (reception frequency) determined by the setting signal is received and subjected to, for example, Viterbi demodulation processing or error correction processing, thereby achieving a transformer. You get to get the port stream. The transport stream obtained by the tuner / front end unit 51 is supplied to a descrambler 52. Further, the tuner / front end unit 51 obtains a PSI packet from the transport stream, updates the channel selection information, obtains the component PID of each channel in the transport stream, and transmits it to, for example, the CPU 80. CP
In U80, the acquired PID is used for received signal processing.

In the descrambler 52, the IC card 65
The descramble key data stored in the CPU 8
0, and the PID is set by the CPU 80. Then, a descrambling process is executed based on the descrambling key data and the PID, and transmitted to the transport unit 53.

The transport section 53 comprises a demultiplexer 70 and a queue 71 composed of, for example, a DRAM or the like. The queue (Queue) 71 is formed such that a plurality of memory areas corresponding to each module are arranged in columns. For example, in the present embodiment, a memory area of 32 columns is provided. That is, information of up to 32 modules can be stored simultaneously.

The general operation of the demultiplexer 70 is as follows: according to the filter conditions set by the DeMUX driver 82 of the CPU 80, necessary transport packets are separated from the transport stream supplied from the descrambler 52. Using the queue 71 as a work area, data in the format as shown in FIGS. 7 (e) to 7 (h) is first obtained and supplied to necessary functional circuit units. The MPEG video data separated by the demultiplexer 70 is input to the MPEG2 video decoder 55, and the MPEG audio data is input to the MPEG audio decoder 54. M separated by these demultiplexers 70
The individual packet of PEG video / audio data is P
The data is input to each decoder in a format called ES (Packetized Elementary Stream).

The data of the MHEG content in the transport stream is separated and extracted from the transport stream by the demultiplexer 70 in the unit of the transport packet, and is written into a required memory area of the queue 71, so that the module unit is used. It is formed so that it may be put together. And
The data of the MHEG contents organized in units of the module is transmitted to the DSM-CC buffer 91 in the main memory 90 via the data bus under the control of the CPU 80.
Is written and held.

Also, 4 × speed ATRAC data (compressed audio data) in the transport stream is
For example, data necessary for each transport packet is separated and extracted by the demultiplexer 70, and the
Output to the 94 interface 60. Also,
Through the IEEE 1394 interface 60, it is possible to transmit video data and various command signals in addition to audio audio data.

In the MPEG2 video decoder 55 to which the MPEG video data in the PES format has been input, the MPEG5 video decoder 55
The decoding process is performed according to the G2 format. The decoded video data is supplied to the display processing unit 58.

The display processing unit 58 stores the video data input from the MPEG2 video decoder 55 and the MHEG buffer 92 of the main memory 90 as described later.
The video data such as a GUI screen for a data service obtained by the above is input. The display processing unit 58 performs necessary signal processing on the video data thus input, converts the video data into an analog audio signal according to a predetermined television system, and outputs the analog audio signal to the analog video output terminal T2. Thereby, the analog video output terminal T2
By connecting the monitor and the video input terminal of the monitor device 14, for example, the display as shown in FIG. 4 is performed.

In the MPEG2 audio decoder 54 to which the MPEG audio data by the PES is input, the MPEG4 audio decoder 54 uses the memory 54A as a work area while using the MPE.
The decoding process is performed according to the G2 format. The decoded audio data is supplied to the D / A converter 56 and the optical digital output interface 59.

The D / A converter 56 converts the input audio data into an analog audio signal and outputs the analog audio signal to the switch circuit 57. The switch circuit 57 switches the signal path so as to output an analog audio signal to one of the analog audio output terminals T3 and T4. Here, the analog audio output terminal T3
Is provided to be connected to the audio input terminal of the monitor device 14. The analog audio output terminal T4 is a terminal for outputting the downloaded music by an analog signal. The optical digital output interface 59 converts the input digital audio data into an optical digital signal and outputs it. In this case, the optical digital output interface 59 complies with, for example, IEC958.

The main memory 90 is used as a work area when the CPU 80 performs various control processes. In the present embodiment, the main memory 90
In the above, the DSM-CC buffer 91 and the MH
An area as the EG buffer 92 is allocated. The MHEG buffer 92 is a work area for generating image data (for example, image data of a GUI screen) generated according to the description of the script in the MHEG method, and the generated image data is displayed via a bus line. It is supplied to the processing unit 58.

The CPU 80 executes the overall control in the IRD 12. This includes control on data separation and extraction in the demultiplexer 70. In addition, by performing decoding processing on the acquired MHEG content data, processing for configuring and outputting a GUI screen (scene) in accordance with the description content of the script is also executed.

For this reason, the CPU 80 of the present embodiment includes, for example, at least a DeMUX driver 82 and a DS
An M-CC decoder block 83 and an MHEG decoder block 84 are provided. In the present embodiment, at least the DSM-CC decoder block 83 and the MHEG decoder block 84 are configured by software. The DeMUX driver 82 sets a filter condition in the demultiplexer 70 based on the PID of the input transport stream.
The DSM-CC decoder block 83 has a DSM-Man
It has a function as an ager, and DSM-C
The module unit data stored in the C buffer 91 is reconstructed into MHEG content data. In addition, according to the access from the MHEG decoder block 84, a process related to a required DSM-CC decoding or the like is executed.

The MHEG decoder block 84 has a DSM
-Data of the MHEG content obtained by the CC decoder block 83, that is, the DSM-CC buffer 91
To access the data of the MHEG content obtained in the above, and perform decoding processing for scene output. That is, a scene is formed by realizing the relationship between objects defined by the script file of the MHEG content. At this time, when forming a GUI screen as a scene, the MHEG
The buffer 92 is used to generate the GUI screen image data in accordance with the contents of the script file.

DSM-CC decoder block 83 and M
The interface between the HEG decoder blocks 84 includes a UU API (DSM-CC UU API (A
pplivation Portability Interface)).
The UU API is, for example, a client (MHEG decoder block 84) side in which a DSM Manager object (a server object that implements the function of DSM;
This is an interface for accessing the DSM-CC decoder block 83).
service Gateway, Directory,
The API is such that an object having attributes such as File, Stream, and Stream Event can be structurally accessed like a file system.

By accessing an object included in the carousel through this API, a program (client) using the carousel can access the object using the bus name without knowing the carousel receiving operation. become.

The UU API is a set of interfaces defined so that it can be used regardless of the lower layer data transfer method.
A program that uses a PI has the advantage that it can be used in any data transfer method that provides a UU API.

Here, an operation example for extracting a target object necessary to form one scene from the transport stream under the control of the CPU 80 will be described.

In DSM-CC, an IOR (Interop) is used to indicate the location of an object in a transport stream.
erable Object Reference) is used. In the IOR,
An identifier corresponding to a carousel for finding an object, an identifier of a module including the object (hereinafter, referred to as module_id), and an identifier for specifying an object in one module (hereinafter, object)
_Key), and a tag (a) for identifying a DII having information on a module including the object.
association_tag) information. The DII having module information includes information such as module_id, module size, and version for each of one or more modules, and a tag (association_id) for identifying the module.
tag) information.

When the IOR extracted from the transport stream is identified in the CPU 80, the process of receiving and separating the object indicated by the IOR is as follows, for example. (Pr1) In the DeMUX driver 82 of the CPU 80, an elementary stream having the same value as the association_tag of the IOR (hereinafter, referred to as ES)
From the ES loop of the PMT in the carousel to get the PID. The ES having this PID includes DII. (Pr2) This PID and table_id_exte
demultiplexer 7 with nsion as a filter condition
Set to 0. Thereby, the demultiplexer 7
At 0, DII is separated and output to CPU 80. (Pr3) Assoc of module corresponding to module_id included in the previous IOR in DII
Get the iation_tag. (Pr4) An ES having the same value as the association_tag is searched for from the ES loop (carousel) of the PMT to obtain a PID. The target module is included in the ES having this PID. (Pr5) The PID and the module_id are set as filter conditions, and filtering is performed by the demultiplexer 70. The transport module separated and extracted according to the filter condition is stored in a required memory area (column) of the queue 71, so that a target module is finally formed. (Pr6) object_ included in the previous IOR
An object corresponding to the key is extracted from this module. This is the target object. The object extracted from this module is, for example, D
Writing is performed in a predetermined area of the SM-CC buffer 91. For example, by repeating the above operation and collecting target objects and storing them in the DSM-CC buffer 91, MHEG contents that form a required scene can be obtained.

The man-machine interface 61 receives the command signal transmitted from the remote controller 64 and transmits it to the CPU 80. CPU80
Then, necessary control processing is executed so that the operation of the device according to the received command signal can be obtained.

In the IC card slot 62, the IC card 6
5 is inserted. Then, the inserted IC card 6
5 is written and read by the CPU 80.

The modem 63 is connected to the accounting server 5 via the telephone line 4 and controlled by the CPU 80
Control is performed such that communication between the RD 12 and the billing server 5 is performed.

Here, the flow of the signal of the video / audio source in the IRD 12 having the above configuration will be supplementarily described with reference to the display form described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4A, when a normal program is output, MPEG video data and MPEG audio data of a required program are extracted from an input transport stream, and decoding processing is performed for each. Will be applied. The video data and the MPEG audio data are output to the analog video output terminal T2 and the analog audio output terminal T3, respectively, so that the monitor device 14 performs image display and audio output of the broadcast program.

When outputting the GUI screen shown in FIG. 4B, the MHEG content data necessary for the GUI screen (scene) is separated by the transport unit 53 from the input transport stream. It is extracted and taken into the DSM-CC buffer 91. Using this data, the DSM-CC decoder block 83 and the MHEG decoder block 84 function as described above, so that the scene (G
The image data of the UI screen is created. The image data is supplied to the analog video output terminal T2 via the display processing unit 58, so that the
The I screen is displayed.

When a tune is selected from the tune list 21B on the GUI screen shown in FIG. 4B and the audio data of the tune is previewed, the MP of the tune is selected.
EG audio data is obtained by the demultiplexer 70. The MPEG audio data is M
An analog audio signal is output to the monitor device 14 via the PEG audio decoder 54, the D / A converter, the switch circuit 57, and the analog audio output terminal T3.

When the download button 28 is pressed on the GUI screen shown in FIG. 4B to download audio data, the audio data of the music to be downloaded is extracted by the demultiplexer 70, and the analog audio is downloaded. The signal is output to the output terminal T4, the optical digital output interface 59, or the IEEE1394 interface 60.

Here, especially when the IEEE 1394 interface 60 is connected to the IEEE 1394-compatible MD recorder / player 13A shown in FIG. , IEEE 1394
Recording is performed on the disk loaded in the MD recorder / player 13A via the interface 60. At this time, for example, still image data of the album jacket compressed by the JPEG system, text data such as lyrics and artist profile are also extracted from the transport stream by the demultiplexer 70, and are output to the MD recorder via the IEEE 1394 interface 60. / Player 13A. The MD recorder / player 13A can record these still image data and text data in a predetermined area of the loaded disc.

[0110] 2. Broadcast Facility of the Present Embodiment Next, the configuration of the broadcast facility that is a feature of the present embodiment will be described. In practice, the broadcast equipment of the present embodiment detects a failure in stream data transmitted for broadcast with respect to broadcast equipment 200 shown as the basic configuration in FIG. And an emergency system for sending emergency stream data (spare data).

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a broadcast facility 200 provided with such an emergency system. In this figure, among the systems in the broadcasting equipment 200 shown in FIG.
Audio transmission system 43A, ATRAC audio transmission system 43B, audio additional information transmission system 41,
It shows the DSM-CC encoder 42 and the multiplexer 45, and the illustration of the remaining systems (and servers, databases, etc.) is omitted. As described in FIG. 5, broadcast stream data called TS is transmitted from the broadcast equipment 200 and supplied to the radio wave transmission system 46.

Then, for this broadcasting facility 200,
As an emergency system, the stream monitoring system 20
1. An emergency stream transmission system 202 and a multiplexer (MUX) control system 203 are provided, and these are communicably connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) 204, for example.

The stream monitoring system 201 is constructed with, for example, a computer device, and takes in a TS transmitted from the multiplexer 45 via a predetermined interface, for example. Then, the presence / absence of a failure in the stream data as each component included in the TS is detected, and when the presence of a failure in a certain component is detected, a failure notification is output.

Here, according to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of the stream monitoring system 201 will be described. This processing is executed by, for example, a CPU in a computer device constituting the stream monitoring system 201. In the processing shown in FIG.
01, the TS fetched from the multiplexer 45
, The PMT of each channel (see FIG. 11C) is extracted. As described above with reference to FIG. 11, since the PMT stores the PID of each component, the type of component (video / video) constituting each channel is stored.
Audio / data) can be specified. Therefore, in the next step S102, the P
The PID is extracted from the MT to identify the type of the component constituting each channel. And
In the subsequent processing, first, as shown in step S103, the PID extracted from the PMT in the TS is monitored, and in the next step S104, it is determined whether or not any failure has occurred. You. If it is determined that no failure has occurred, the process returns to step S101. That is, unless there is a particular failure, the processing of steps S101 to S104 is continuously repeated. On the other hand, if it is detected that a failure has occurred in a certain component, for example, the PID of a certain component extracted from the TS is not detected, the process proceeds to step S105. .

Here, the above steps S103 → S104
Are performed by the TV program transmission system 39, the MPEG audio transmission system 43A, the ATRAC audio transmission system 43B, the additional audio information transmission system 41, and the DSM.
-This is an operation for determining whether or not a failure has occurred in each of the main stream data transmitted from the CC encoder 42.

In step S105, the emergency stream 202 and the MUX control system 203 are sent to the L
A process for sending a failure notification via the AN 204 is executed. Here, the failure notification includes identification information (for example, a channel number and information of a stream data type in the channel) indicating what the failed component is, information on a PID of the failed component, and the like. To be transmitted accompanying. However, the channel number is determined only by the PID,
If the component in the channel can be specified, only the PID may be transmitted together with the failure notification.

Next, the emergency stream transmission system 20
2 will be described. Emergency stream transmission system 2
02 also includes a computer device and the like.
Although not shown here, for example, a server (or database) in which stream data of various components to be transmitted as emergency is prepared in advance of the emergency stream transmission system 202, for example. Stream transmission system 202 for
The emergency stream data received from the server can be output to the multiplexer 45.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the emergency stream transmission system 202. Note that the operation shown in this figure is also performed by the C
It is assumed that the PU executes. As the processing shown in this figure, first, in step S201, it is determined whether or not the failure notification transmitted from the stream monitoring system 201 has been received. If it is determined that the failure notification has not been received, The control is performed such that the normal operation is performed by proceeding to step S202. Here, the normal operation of the emergency stream transmission system 202 is defined as TV
A program transmission system 39, an MPEG audio transmission system 43A, an ATRAC audio transmission system 43B,
Each of the streams transmitted from the additional audio information transmitting system 41 and the DSM-CC encoder 42 corresponds to a normal state in which there is no obstacle. In this case, the emergency stream transmitting system 202 particularly outputs stream data. Is not sent. It should be noted that the emergency stream data of some component may be transmitted as a normal operation, but at this time, the stream data transmitted from the emergency stream transmission system 202 is supplied to the multiplexer 45 as described later. Is invalidated so that it is not processed as data for TS conversion.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S201 that a failure notification has been received, the process proceeds to step S2.
Proceed to 03. In step S203, based on the content of the received failure notification, the stream data of the component prepared as a substitute for the component notified as having the failure is selected and taken in from, for example, the server described above. . Then, in the next step S204, a PID having the same value as the PID notified as the failure notification is added to the stream data of the component selected and captured. Thereby, for example, on the receiving side (IRD 12), it is possible to process the emergency stream data as stream data of a component having a failure. Then, the emergency stream data thus formed is sent to the multiplexer 45.

Next, the MUX control system 203 will be described. The MUX control system 203 is also provided with a computer device, and controls the operation of the multiplexer 45 in accordance with the failure notification transmitted from the stream monitoring system 201 as follows.

FIG. 16 shows a processing operation for realizing the operation as the MUX control system. This processing is also executed by the CPU in the computer as the MUX control system 203.

In the processing shown in FIG.
First, in step S301, it is determined whether a failure notification transmitted from the stream monitoring system 201 has been received. If it is determined that no failure notification has been received,
Proceeding to the process of step S302, the multiplexer 45
Is controlled so as to be a normal operation. That is, as a normal operation, the TV program transmission system 39,
Each of the main stream data transmitted from the MPEG audio transmission system 43A, the ATRAC audio transmission system 43B, the audio additional information transmission system 41, and the DSM-CC encoder 42 is subjected to time division multiplexing to form a TS, which is transmitted by radio waves. The control is executed so that the operation of sending the data to the system 46 is obtained. In other words, if the emergency stream transmission system 2
02 even if stream data is sent out,
This is invalidated and is not treated as data to be included in the TS.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S301 that a failure notification has been received, the process proceeds to step S301.
The process proceeds to 303. In step S303, the TV program transmission system 39, MPEG audio transmission system 43A, ATRAC audio transmission system 43B, additional audio information transmission system 41, DSM
-Invalidate the input of stream data of the component designated as the failure notification from among the main stream data transmitted from the CC encoder 42. Then, in the next step S304, the control of the multiplexer 45 is performed such that the emergency stream data transmitted in the emergency stream data transmission system 202 passes from the multiplexer 45 by the processing of steps S203 to S205 in FIG. Execute. In other words, the emergency stream data transmission system 202 is replaced by
The TS is formed so as to include the emergency stream data transmitted from the.

By performing such an operation, in the present embodiment, for example, the main data stream output system (TV program transmission system 39, MPEG audio transmission system 43A, ATRAC audio transmission system 43B, audio additional information Delivery system 41, DSM-CC
If it is determined that a failure has occurred in the stream data of the component output from each stream data output from the encoder 42), the appropriate emergency stream is replaced with the stream data in which the failure has occurred. The data is sent. And
In the present embodiment, the stream monitoring system 20
1, when a failure is detected in the component, the failure is transmitted as a failure notification to the emergency stream transmission system 202 and the MUX control system 203 via the network. 202 and MUX control system 203
Executes the control processing shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 in response to the failure notification. That is, in the present embodiment, the emergency stream data is automatically transmitted in response to the detection of a failure in the data stream of the component. In the present embodiment, as described above, information such as a PID extracted from a TS is used as notification information in order to realize such an automatic response to a failure.

The broadcasting equipment of the present invention, that is, the information transmitting apparatus, can be applied to digital broadcasting equipment having a configuration other than the broadcasting equipment (ground station) shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, for example. The present invention can be applied to a stream data format other than the present embodiment as long as the format includes identification information capable of specifying a component multiplexed in the stream data in the stream data. It is.

[0126]

As described above, the present invention detects a failure in data for each component included in the transmission stream data transmitted from the broadcasting equipment, and identifies the information (component By transmitting the component identification information), a failure notification is made. The transmission of the failure notification is performed from the stream data monitoring device (stream monitoring system) to the spare data transmitting device (emergency data transmitting system) and the control device (MUX control system) via the network. Then, in response to receiving the failure notification,
The spare data transmission device and the control device are configured to operate so as to form and transmit stream data using emergency stream data (spare data) instead of the data of the component in which a failure has occurred.

With such a configuration, when a failure occurs in the component data multiplexed in the stream data, an operation of transmitting the emergency stream data instead can be automatically executed. Become. This is quicker and more accurate than in the case where a broadcast operator performs a fault check and manually sends out an emergency stream, which requires manual work, and an operation corresponding to an emergency is performed more quickly. Means that That is, the present invention relates to an information transmission system such as a digital broadcast,
High reliability can be obtained as a response when a failure occurs in the transmission data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a digital satellite broadcast receiving system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a receiving facility according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the appearance of a remote controller for the IRD.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing switching between a broadcast screen and a GUI screen.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a ground station.

FIG. 6 is a chart showing data transmitted from a ground station.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a time division multiplexing structure of transmission data.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission format by DSM-CC.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a directory structure of a data service.

FIG. 10 is a data structure diagram of a transport stream.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a table structure of a PSI.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an IRD.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a broadcast facility including the emergency system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a process of the stream monitoring system.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing processing of the emergency stream transmission system.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing processing of the MUX control system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ground station, 2 satellites, 3 receiving facilities, 5 billing server, 6 TV program material server, 7 music material server,
8 voice additional information server, 9 GUI data server, 1
0 key information server, 11 parabolic antenna, 13
Storage device, 13A MD recorder / player, 14 monitor device, 16 IEEE1394 bus,
21A TV program display area, 21B list, 21
C text display area, 21D jacket display area, 22 lyrics display button, 23 profile display button, 24 information display button, 25 reservation recording button,
26 reserved list display button, 27 recording history button, 2
8 download button, 31 TV program material registration system, 32 music material registration system, 33 audio additional information registration system, 34 GUI material registration system,
35 AV server, 36A MPEG audio encoder, 36B ATRAC encoder, 37 audio additional information database, 38 GUI material database, 39
TV program transmission system, 40A MPEG audio server, 40B MPEG audio server, 41
Audio additional information transmission system, 42 GUI (MHEG)
Authoring system, 43A MPEG audio transmission system, 43B ATRAC audio transmission system, 44 DSM-CC encoder, 45 multiplexer, 46 radio wave transmission system, 51 tuner / front end unit, 52 descrambler, 53 transport unit, 54 MPEG2 audio decoder, 54
A memory, 55 MPEG2 video decoder, 55A
Memory, 56D / A converter, 57 switch circuit, 58 display processing unit, 59 optical digital output interface, 60 IEEE1394 interface,
61 man-machine interface, 62 IC card slot, 63 modem, 64 remote controller, 65 IC card, 70 demultiplexer, 71
Queue, 81 control processing unit, 82 DeMUX driver, 83 DSM-CC decoder block, 84 MH
EG decoder block, 90 main memory, 91 D
SM-CC buffer, 101 power key, 102 numeric key, 103 screen display switching key, 104 interactive switching key, 105a arrow key, 105 EPG key panel section, 106 channel key, T1 input terminal, T2 analog video output terminal, T3 analog audio Output terminal, T4 analog audio output terminal, 200 broadcasting equipment, 201 stream monitoring system, 202 emergency stream transmission system, 203 M
UX control system

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/00 H04N 7/08 Z 7/08 7/081 F term (Reference) 5C056 FA06 FA11 GA11 HA04 5C063 AB03 AB07 AB11 CA23 CA34 CA36 DA05 DA13 EA01 5K028 AA14 BB05 KK01 MM08 QQ02 SS01 5K030 JA01 JL02 LD07 MB01 MC06 9A001 BB04 CC09 DD10 JJ12 LL02 LL06

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A component transmitting means provided for each component data for transmitting component data, and a component stream input from the component transmitting means, multiplexed, and transmitted. A transmitting device including a stream data output unit that outputs the data as data; and identifying component data multiplexed in the stream data by extracting identification information capable of identifying component data inserted in the stream data. Component data identification means, failure detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a failure for each identified component data, and when the failure detection means determines that there is a failure for certain component data, the failure notification information A stream data monitoring device comprising: a failure notifying unit that outputs, via a predetermined network, component designation information for designating component data determined to have at least a failure, and one or more spare data for spare are prepared; A spare data sending device that selects spare data corresponding to the component data specified by the component designation information received through the network and outputs the spare data to the stream data output unit; The input of the component data designated by the component designation information to the stream data output means is invalidated, and instead, the spare data selected by the spare data transmission device is input to the stream data output means. control Controller, information transmission system characterized in that it comprises a city to be executed.