JP2001086440A - Digital broadcasting decoding and reproducing device and digital broadcasting receiving terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable automatic reproducing by judging possibility of continuous reproducing even when discontinuous information is inserted. SOLUTION: A discontinuous information detecting part 10 detects discontinuous information outputted from a transport processing part 4. A continuous reproducing discriminating part 11 discriminates possibility of continuous reproducing with the existence of the same program before and after the detection of discontinuous information and the comparative small difference of time information before and after the detection of discontinuous information as references of discrimination. When continuous reproducing is instructed on the basis of the discriminated result, a microcontroller 6 controls respective parts and performs continuous automatic reproducing before and after the detection of discontinuous information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcast decoding / reproducing apparatus suitable for reproducing recorded digital broadcast signals and a digital broadcast receiving terminal apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been developed and studied digital broadcasting which realizes multi-channels by encoding various types of component signals such as video, audio and various data, packetizing them and multiplexing them.

[0003] Images used in digital broadcasting,
Regarding audio coding schemes and their multiplexing schemes,
It is defined by the MPEG2 standard, which is an international standard. An example in which the MPEG standard is actually applied to a digital broadcasting system is the DVB (Digita1 Video Broadcasting) standard established in Europe. The DVB standard is now widely adopted worldwide as a de facto industry standard for satellite / cable / terrestrial digital broadcasting systems. The multiplexing method of the DVB standard is MP
TS (Tr, which is a multiplex signal format of EG2 Systems)
ansport Stream).

[0004] The MPEG2 Systems TS standard defines a transmission format of demultiplexing information called PSI (Program Specific Information) that describes the configuration of a plurality of multiplexed programs. The demultiplexing information is multiplexed and transmitted with fixed length packets together with video, audio, and the like.

[0005] The PSI is a PAT (Prog) describing a transmission identifier of detailed information of each program for all multiplexed programs.
PMT (Program Map Tabl) that describes detailed information such as the configuration of each program and its transmission identifier.
e) etc. are included.

In DVB, in addition to this PSI, MPE
SI conforming to G2 Systems TS standard
(Service lnformation), which defines a new transmission format for information related to broadcast services in general.
This SI is also stipulated to be multiplexed with video and audio signals.

The SI is, for example, an SDT (Service Definition) that describes detailed information of a service (composition channel).
Table) and EI that describes detailed information of programs in the service
T (Event Information Table) and the like. On the receiving side, by acquiring and using such information, various functions can be provided to the viewer.

A receiver for receiving and decoding such a digital broadcast signal is particularly called a set-top box or an IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder).

By the way, such an IRD has a DVCR.
A digital broadcast signal may be digitally recorded by connecting a storage medium such as a (digital video cassette recorder), an HDD (hard disk drive), or a DVD. DVB defines a method of connecting an IRD to a storage medium via a digital interface such as IEEE1394. That is, in DVB, a partial stream to be recorded (hereinafter, referred to as a partial TS) among the broadcasted TSs can be selected and recorded and output on a storage medium. Media Interoperabilit
The storage related information called y) is inserted instead of SI.

[0010] The SMI includes an SIT (Selection Information Table) in which information of a program selected for recording is described, and an SMI.
DIT (Discontinuity lnfo) describing discontinuity information of I
rmation Table). DIT indicates a change point where the program-related information of the partial TS may be discontinuous. In the IRD, DIT is inserted when discontinuity of a recording signal occurs due to interruption by a viewer, recording service, change in selection of a program component, or the like.

[0011] The DIT simply indicates discontinuity of the stream, and it cannot be determined from the DIT whether or not the streams before and after the DIT are based on the same organization channel. Further, even when the streams before and after the DIT have the same composition channel, the component signals included in the composition channel are not necessarily the same before and after the DIT.

In other words, when a broadcast signal recorded by a storage medium is reproduced and a DIT is included in a reproduction signal, the organization channel designated to be reproduced before the DIT detection after the DIT detection disappears. In some cases, the component signal for which reproduction has been specified has disappeared.

[0013] Therefore, it is conceivable that the playback device stops playback when DIT is detected. That is,
Even if the same channel and the same component signal are interrupted, and the discontinuity occurs simply due to the discontinuity of the time base, the reproduction stops at the discontinuity and the viewer is active. Unless the playback start is specified again, continuous playback cannot be performed.

[0014]

As described above, conventionally, when a discontinuous point is detected during reproduction of a recorded partial transport stream, the same channel and the same component signal are recorded before and after the discontinuous point. Even in this case, there is a problem that continuous reproduction cannot be performed unless the viewer actively specifies reproduction start.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and it is possible to enable continuous reproduction by detecting discontinuity information, confirming the presence or absence of the same service, and determining whether or not reproduction is possible. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital broadcast decoding / reproducing apparatus and a recording apparatus capable of performing the same.

[0016]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital broadcast decoding / reproducing apparatus for detecting discontinuous information inserted in an input stream; A continuous playback determination unit for determining whether or not to continuously play the stream before and after the detection of the discontinuity information by the detection unit; and a discontinuous playback when continuous playback is instructed by a determination result of the continuous playback determination unit. A digital broadcast receiving terminal device according to claim 6 of the present invention, comprising: a broadcast signal receiving / demodulating unit; a broadcast signal recording / reproducing unit; And a digital broadcast decoding and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the discontinuous information detecting means detects the discontinuous information inserted in the stream. When the discontinuous information is detected, the continuous reproduction determining unit determines whether or not to continuously reproduce the stream before and after the detection of the discontinuous information. When continuous playback is instructed according to the determination result, the decoding and playback unit continuously plays back the stream before and after the detection of discontinuous information.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the receiving and demodulating means receives a broadcast signal. The recording and reproducing means records the received broadcast signal and reproduces the recorded broadcast signal.
The digital broadcast decoding / reproducing apparatus detects discontinuous information in the stream of the reproduced signal by the discontinuous information detecting means. When discontinuous information is included in the reproduced signal, when continuous reproduction is instructed by the result of the determination by the continuous reproduction determining means, the decoding and reproducing means continuously reproduces the stream before and after the detection of the discontinuous information.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital broadcast decoding and reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

The present embodiment is directed to an example in which, even when a discontinuity occurs in a reproduced signal, continuous automatic reproduction is performed before and after the discontinuity occurs.

The digital interface 3 supplies a reproduced signal from the recording device 2 to the digital broadcast decoding and reproducing device 1. As the recording device 2, for example, an HDD or a DVD
-It is possible to use a RAM or the like. The recording service selection unit 5 is designed to specify a service to be processed (a stream of a program in a set channel) based on a user operation. The output of the recording service selection unit 5 is supplied to the microcontroller 6. The microcontroller 6 controls each unit based on the output of the recording service selection unit 5.

For example, the recording service selecting section 5 selects a predetermined program of a predetermined channel from a plurality of channels multiplexed in the form of TS from the digital interface 3 in the same manner as in broadcast reception / reproduction. specify. The transport processing unit 4 of the digital broadcast decoding / reproducing apparatus 1 is controlled by the microcontroller 6 to select a predetermined program of the specified predetermined organization channel, and to separate video and audio signals constituting the program. , And performs depacket processing to return to a compressed signal such as video and audio.

The compressed video signal from the transport processing unit 4 is supplied to an MPEG video decoding unit 7, and the compressed audio signal is supplied to an MPEG / AC3 audio decoding unit 8. MPEG
The video decoder 7 decodes the input compressed video signal and outputs a digital component signal including a luminance signal Y and color difference signals Cb and Cr to the adder 13. Further, the MPEG / AC3 audio decoding unit 8 decodes and outputs the input compressed audio signal.

The output of the transport processing unit 4 includes not only video and audio signals but also program-related information and discontinuity information. Program-related information such as PSI and SIT is supplied to a program-related information reproducing unit 9. Program-related information reproducing unit 9
Reproduces the input program-related information and outputs the reproduced information to the OSD processing unit 12. The OSD processing unit 12 generates a display signal for displaying the input information on-screen, and outputs the display signal to the adder 13. The adder 13 calculates the MP
The video signal from the EG video decoding unit 7 and the display signal from the OSD processing unit 12 are combined and output to a display device (not shown).

When an analog output is supplied to the display device, the video output of the adder 13 is converted to, for example, NTSC.
It is necessary to convert to an NTSC analog composite signal by an encoder. Also, the output of the MPEG / AC3 audio decoding unit 8 can be supplied to a speaker or the like by performing a digital-to-analog conversion process.

The control of each section described above is performed by the microcontroller 6. For example, the microcontroller 6
Analyzes the PSI data reproduced by the program-related information reproducing unit 9 in accordance with a service designation input from the recording service selecting unit 5 or the like, and identifies each transmission identifier such as video and audio constituting the designated service (program). It is supplied to the transport processing unit 4. The processing of the transport processing unit 4 is performed according to the supplied transmission identifier. Further, for example, the microcontroller 6 issues an instruction to the OSD processing unit 12, processes and edits data held and managed by the program-related information reproducing unit 9 as needed, and executes an EPG (electronic program guide) display. Let it.

The discontinuity information detecting section 10 detects the discontinuity information included in the transport processing section 4. The discontinuity information detecting section 10 outputs the result of detecting the discontinuity information to the microcontroller 6. The output of the transport processing unit 4 is also supplied to the continuous reproduction determination unit 11. When a notification indicating that the discontinuity information has been detected is generated, the microcontroller 6 determines that the continuous reproduction determination unit 11
Then, it is inquired whether or not the same reproduction service exists on the stream immediately before the detection of the discontinuity information. The continuous playback determination unit 11 detects a playback service on the stream based on, for example, the retained PAT entry and the PCR immediately before the detection of the discontinuity information, and determines whether continuous playback is appropriate. .

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the continuous reproduction judging section 11 in FIG.

The continuous reproduction judging section 11 has a memory 25 for storing information of a reproduction service designated to be reproduced immediately before detection of discontinuous information, and a holder 26 for storing PCR immediately before detection of discontinuous information. ing. The PAT reference unit 21
The identifier of the reproduction service immediately before the detection of the discontinuity information is supplied from the memory 25, and the identifier of the reproduction service immediately after the detection of the discontinuity information is also supplied from the transport processing unit 4. The PAT reference unit 21 refers to the PAT immediately after the detection and searches for the same entry in order to check whether or not the reproduction service immediately before the input discontinuous information is detected exists after the detection. When the same entry exists, the PAT reference unit 12 outputs an active control signal to the comparison determination unit 22.

The comparison / determination unit 22 receives the STC
(System time clock) The PCR (PCR0) immediately before the discontinuity information detection, which is the time reference of the counter, is also input, and the PCR (PCR1) corresponding to the current service is also input from the transport processing unit 4. The PCR from the transport processing unit 4 is also input to the adder 23, and the adder 23 adds the threshold value TH from the threshold value generation unit 24 to the PCR1 and outputs the addition result to the comparison determination unit 22.

When the active control signal is input and the difference between the PCRs before and after the detection is relatively small, for example, when the following equation (1) is satisfied, continuous reproduction is appropriate. Then, an active control signal is output to the microcontroller 6.

PCR0 <PCR1 <PCR0 + TH (1) When the determination result indicating that the continuous reproduction is appropriate is input, the microcontroller 6 performs the same processing as the normal broadcast signal input, and restarts the PCR. Load and rebuild the time base to continue playing video and audio signals. In FIG. 2, PCR0 may be an STC value immediately before discontinuity detection.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

The recording service selecting section 5 outputs information for designating a service to be reproduced to the microcontroller 6 based on a user operation. The microcontroller 6 controls the transport processing unit 4 and the like based on the output of the recording service selection unit 5. The reproduction signal from the recording device 2 is supplied to the transport processing unit 4 via the digital interface 3.

The transport processing section 4 selects a program of the organization channel specified by the recording service selecting section 5, separates its video and audio signals and performs depacket processing. The compressed video signal and the compressed audio signal from the transport processing unit 4 are output to the MPEG video decoding unit 7 or the MPEG video decoding unit 7, respectively.
/ AC3 audio decoder 8. Further, the transport processing unit 4 extracts program-related information from the input transport stream and outputs it to the program-related information reproducing unit 9.

The MPEG video decoder 7 decodes the compressed video signal and outputs the video signal to the adder 13. On the other hand, the program-related information reproducing unit 9 reproduces the program-related information and outputs information for displaying the program-related information to the OSD processing unit 12. The OSD processing unit 12 generates a display signal based on the program-related information and outputs the display signal to the adder 13. The adder 13
The image of the program is output, and the image of the program in which the display based on the program-related information is displayed on-screen is output as a video output to a display device (not shown). The compressed audio signal is decoded by the MPEG / AC3 audio decoding unit 8,
The audio output is supplied to a speaker unit (not shown). Thus, it is possible to view a program based on the reproduction signal from the recording device 2.

Here, it is assumed that discontinuity information (DIT) is inserted in the reproduction signal of the recording device 2. The discontinuity information detection unit 10 acquires a packet of discontinuity information from the output of the transport processing unit 4 and issues a notification to the microcontroller 6 indicating that a DIT packet has been inserted. Then, the microcontroller 6 requests the continuous reproduction determination unit 11 to determine whether continuous reproduction is possible.

The continuous playback determination section 11 determines whether or not the same playback service exists on the stream immediately before the discontinuity information is detected. That is, the continuous playback determination unit 11 determines from the memory 25 that the playback service PA
With reference to T and the PAT of the reproduction service immediately before and after the detection of the discontinuity information from the transport processing unit 4, the presence or absence of the same entry is determined.

Further, the continuous playback determination section 11 compares the PCR immediately before and after the discontinuity information and determines whether or not the period during which the playback service is discontinuous is shorter than a threshold. The continuous reproduction determination unit 11 determines that continuous reproduction is appropriate when the same entry exists immediately before and immediately after the detection of discontinuous information and the PCR difference immediately before and after the detection of the discontinuous information is smaller than a threshold value. Then, an active control signal is output to the microcontroller 6.

For example, at the time of recording, if the recording of the service is stopped for a short time due to a user operation or some other reason, the continuous reproduction determination unit 11 will output an active control signal. Conversely, when recording is stopped for a long time, or when recording is performed by switching to a different composition channel, the continuous reproduction determination unit 11 outputs a non-active control signal.

The microcontroller 6 instructs continuous reproduction when an active control signal is input from the continuous reproduction determination section 11 and instructs stop of reproduction when a non-active control signal is input from the continuous reproduction determination section 11. . When continuous playback is instructed, the PCR is reloaded,
The time base is also rebuilt.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when discontinuity information is detected, it is determined whether or not continuous reproduction is appropriate. If continuous reproduction is appropriate, continuous reproduction is automatically performed. Playback is performed, and continuous playback can be realized without the viewer actively specifying.

In the above embodiment, the PCR value immediately before detection is used for comparing the time information before and after the discontinuity information is detected, but the system time clock value may be used. A component, for example, a PTS value of a video signal may be used.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 3, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, it is possible to specify a setting mode for temporarily stopping playback or performing continuous automatic playback. Further, in the present embodiment, the IRD including the decoding / reproducing portion is used.
An example is shown in which the present invention is applied to a system combining a printer and a recording device.

High frequency (RF) from an antenna (not shown)
The digital broadcast signal is supplied to a tuner (not shown), and is selected based on a user's selection operation. The broadcast signal selected by the tuner is input to the demodulator 31. A broadcast station converts a program signal into a digital signal, and then performs digital modulation processing such as QAM or QPSK, and transmits the digital signal. The demodulator 31 digitally demodulates the input broadcast signal and performs FEC (error correction).
Output to the decoding unit 32.

On the transmitting side, a convolutional encoding process such as a Viterbi code and an RS (Reed-Solomon) encoding process are performed on the program signal. The FEC decoding unit 32 performs a decoding process on these encoding processes of the program signal, and outputs the result to the descrambler 33. On the transmitting side, the program signal is scrambled. The descrambler 33 descrambles the designated program using the scramble key, and outputs the descrambled program to the transport processing unit 4 via the selector SE1.

The selection of the broadcasting service is performed by the broadcasting service selecting section 34. The broadcast service selecting unit 34 is designed to specify a service to be received based on a user operation. The output of the broadcast service selector 34 is supplied to the microcontroller 6 via the selector SE1.
Supplied to

The selectors SE1 and SE2 operate in conjunction with each other, and when the selector SE1 selects the output of the broadcast service selecting section 34, the selector SE2 is switched to the descrambler 33.
Is supplied to the transport processing unit 4 and the selector SE
When 1 selects the output of the recording service selecting unit 5, the selector SE2 supplies the output of the digital interface 3 to the transport processing unit 4.

In this embodiment, a reproduction mode designating section 35 is provided. Playback mode designator 35
Allows the viewer to pre-determine the IRD playback operation after a discontinuity has occurred. That is, the reproduction mode designating unit 35 determines whether the continuous reproduction determining unit 1
The microcontroller 6 is instructed whether or not to execute the continuous automatic reproduction using the result of the determination of 1.

The microcontroller 6 analyzes related information necessary for the descrambling process, and sets a transmission identifier obtained by the analysis in the descrambler 33. Also,
For example, an HDD, a DVD-RAM, or the like can be used as the recording device 3, and the present embodiment can also be configured as an IRD in which this is mounted.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

When the user instructs the reception of the broadcast service, the selector SE 1 selects the output of the broadcast service selecting section 34 and supplies it to the microcontroller 6. The RF digital broadcast signal from the antenna is selected by the tuner and then input to the demodulation unit 31. Digital demodulation processing is performed by the demodulation unit 31 and the FEC decoding unit 32
Performs an error correction process. The microcontroller 6 gives the descramble key to the descrambler 33,
As a result, the descrambler 33 descrambles the reception service. The output of the descrambler 33 is supplied to the transport processing unit 4 via the selector SE2.

When the user instructs the reproduction of the recording service, the selector SE1 supplies the output of the recording service selecting section 5 to the microcontroller 6, and the selector S1
E2 supplies a reproduced signal from the digital interface 3 to the transport processing unit 4.

The operation of obtaining video output and audio output from the transport stream in the stages after the transport processing unit 4 is the same as that of the embodiment of FIG.
When the discontinuity information is detected, the microcontroller 6 requests the discontinuous reproduction determination unit 11 for the determination result of the discontinuous reproduction, similarly to the embodiment of FIG.

In this embodiment, the user can set in advance whether or not to enable continuous automatic reproduction. The continuous reproduction mode designating section 35 controls the microcontroller 6 based on a setting operation by the user.

For example, when the user performs an operation for enabling continuous automatic reproduction, the microcontroller 6 performs the same processing as in the embodiment of FIG. When the user sets the non-execution of the continuous automatic reproduction, the microcontroller 6 sends the DIT from the discontinuity information detecting unit 10 even if the determination result indicating that the continuous reproduction is appropriate is input to the microcontroller 6. Upon receiving a notification indicating that is detected, for example, control for stopping or temporarily stopping reproduction is performed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the same effect as in the embodiment of FIG. 1 can be obtained, and the viewer can determine whether or not continuous automatic reproduction of the selected service is enabled. There is an advantage that it can be set.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention, continuous reproduction can be made possible by detecting discontinuity information, confirming the presence or absence of the same service, and determining whether or not reproduction is possible. Having.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital broadcast decoding / playback apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a continuous reproduction determination unit 11 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 recording device, 4 transport processing unit, 5 recording service selection unit, 6 microcontroller, 7 MPE
G video decoder, 8 ... MPEG / AC3 audio decoder, 10
... Discontinuous information detector, 11... Continuous playback determiner.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 5C052 AA01 AA04 AB03 AB04 CC06 CC11 DD04 DD10 EE02 EE03 5C059 KK00 MA00 RC01 RC04 RC32 SS02 SS12 SS13 TA00 TC00 TD05 TD12 UA05 5D044 AB05 AB07 BC01 BC06 CC01 CC04 DE22 DE42 DE49 G

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A discontinuous information detecting means for detecting discontinuous information inserted in an input stream, and whether or not to continuously reproduce the stream before and after the detecting of the discontinuous information by the discontinuous information detecting means. Continuous playback determining means for determining whether or not the stream is continuously played back before and after the discontinuous information when continuous playback is instructed by the determination result of the continuous playback determining means. Digital broadcast decoding and reproducing apparatus. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the continuous playback determination unit determines whether or not to continuously play back the stream based on whether or not the same program as the playback program before the detection of the discontinuity information exists after the detection of the discontinuity information. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
2. A digital broadcast decoding and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The continuous playback determination means determines whether or not to continuously play back the stream by comparing a system time clock value or a decoded playback timing information value immediately before and after the detection of the discontinuity information. 2. The digital broadcast decoding and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said decoding / reproducing means reloads a clock reference information value and a decoding / reproducing timing information value after detecting said discontinuity information to reconstruct a system time clock. The digital broadcast decoding and reproducing apparatus according to any one of the above. 5. The digital broadcast decoding / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the decoding / reproducing means designates execution or non-execution of continuous reproduction of the stream before and after the discontinuity information by a user setting. . 6. A digital broadcast receiving terminal device comprising: a broadcast signal receiving / demodulating means; a broadcast signal recording / reproducing means; and the digital broadcast decoding / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1.