JP2001209544A - Receiver for digital broadcasting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a receiver for digital broadcasting which can download upgraded programs much larger in size, with a nonvolatile writable memory that has the optimum size under the current system. SOLUTION: The system controller 13 is monitoring data in PSI(Program Specific Information) separated at a demultiplexer 3. If requested to download program data, a controller receives the data and stores them temporarily in a volatile memory 14A. It then erases the designated area of a nonvolatile memory 14B, reads the data in the memory 14A, compresses and stores them in the erased area with data which indicate the way they are compressed. During the reboot processing, the newly stored program in the memory 14B is expanded and executed in the memory 14A.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus for receiving a digital broadcast, and more particularly, to a receiving apparatus configured to download an upgrade program on a broadcast wave.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Image compression using digital signal compression technology
There is digital broadcasting that compresses audio signals and broadcasts a stream (transport stream) obtained by time-division multiplexing of video and audio digital signals of a plurality of programs via a transponder (satellite repeater). On the other hand, a broadcast receiving apparatus that receives such a digital multi-channel broadcast selects one of a plurality of transponders of the digital broadcast received through a dedicated antenna by a tuner, and selects a plurality of channels included in the one transponder. One of them is selected by demultiplex processing, and a video / audio signal is output by decoding a digital signal of the selected channel.

[0003] In such digital television broadcasting, in addition to transmitting video and audio in the same manner as conventional analog broadcasting, it is possible to transmit other information. Other information includes program information and the like, and may further include programs necessary for various processes of the receiving apparatus (version upgrade programs with added functions and bug countermeasures, update data, etc.).

In downloading the above-mentioned program, the receiving apparatus determines whether or not the program is a download program for its own device, and if the download program is for its own device, stores the program in a writable nonvolatile memory. become. Then, after storing all the download programs in the non-volatile memory, the receiving apparatus is started by the new program.

[0005]

As the above-mentioned writable nonvolatile memory, a memory having an optimum capacity in the current system is generally mounted, and a slightly larger version upgrade program can be stored. However, if the upgraded version of the program is downloaded due to a significant functional upgrade, the capacity may be exceeded. In such a case, it is necessary to review the version upgrade program and to significantly change the program configuration. On the other hand, since writable nonvolatile memories are expensive, it is desirable to avoid mounting a large-capacity memory that greatly exceeds the capacity required for the current system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a digital broadcast receiving system capable of responding to the download of an increased version upgrade program while mounting a writable nonvolatile memory having an optimum capacity in a current system. It is intended to provide a device.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention includes a volatile memory, a writable nonvolatile memory, and a program received by download. Download program writing means capable of compressing and writing to the memory, program management means for managing additional information about the program written to the non-volatile memory, and the program written to the non-volatile memory to the additional information And a program execution means for executing a program written in the volatile memory by decompressing the volatile memory if necessary.

[0008] With the above configuration, for a download program having a size that would exceed the capacity of the nonvolatile memory, the download program can be compressed on the receiving device side and stored in the nonvolatile memory. become. When the receiving device is started, the program written in the non-volatile memory is decompressed and written in the volatile memory if necessary, and the program expanded in the volatile memory is executed.

The program storage mode may be changed based on the size of the program. Further, the program storage form may be changed for each program area. That is, a download program having a size that does not cause the capacity to exceed the capacity of the nonvolatile memory is stored in the non-volatile memory without compression, or the capacity of the download program is slightly increased with respect to the capacity of the nonvolatile memory. For a download program having a large size, various forms such as changing to a compression method with a small compression ratio or compressing only a part of the program may be adopted. By adopting the optimal form, the time required for program development can be reduced.

[0010] The compressed program and the attached information of the program may be received by download and stored in a non-volatile memory. According to this, the receiving device does not need to have the program compression means.

Receiving the uncompressed program and the specified compression method of the program by download,
A compressed program obtained by compressing the program by the designated compression method and information attached to the program may be stored in a nonvolatile memory. According to this, the download program can be compressed by the receiving device by the compression method specified by the program providing side.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
3 will be described with reference to FIG.
(Communication Satellite)
The case where a digital broadcast is viewed is illustrated. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a digital broadcast receiving apparatus 30 of this embodiment for receiving a CS digital broadcast, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing when the digital broadcast receiving apparatus is powered on, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time.

The antenna 1 is arranged outdoors in a predetermined direction, and receives a digital broadcast signal sent from the CS. The antenna 1 generally includes a frequency converter, and supplies a received / frequency-converted signal to a tuner 2.

The tuner 2 extracts a signal of a specific frequency from high-frequency digital modulation signals including video and audio data. That is, a process of selecting one from a plurality of digital broadcast transponders is performed. In addition, the tuner 2 includes a deinterleave circuit, an error correction circuit, and the like, and thus demodulates the selected digital modulation signal and outputs a transport stream. This transport stream includes, for example, a plurality of transport packets for 4 to 8 channels.

The demultiplexer (DEMUX) 3 converts the transport stream received from the tuner 2 into an MPEG2 (Moving Picture Ex
Parts Transport Group 2) Video Transport Packet, Audio Transport Packet, PSI
(Program Specific Information
and download program packets. The demultiplexer 3 converts the video transport packet and the audio transport packet into AV
The information is supplied to the decoder 4 and the service information and the download program included in the PSI are supplied to the system controller 13. As described above, a plurality of channels are multiplexed in the transport stream, and a process for selecting an arbitrary channel from the multiplexed channel is performed by selecting an arbitrary channel from the PSI in the transport stream. This becomes possible by extracting data such as whether the data is multiplexed by the packet ID. Also, the download program itself and the ID for extracting it are:
Can be retrieved from the PSI. Further, selection of a transport stream (selection of a transponder) can also be performed based on PSI information.

The AV decoder 4 includes a video decoder for decoding video transport packets and an audio decoder for decoding audio transport packets. The video decoder is
The input variable length code is decoded to obtain a quantization coefficient and a motion vector, and inverse DCT transform and motion compensation control based on the motion vector are performed. The audio decoder generates audio data by decoding the input coded signal. The video data generated by the decoding is output to the video processing circuit 5, and the audio data is output to the audio processing circuit 6.

The video processing circuit 5 receives video data from the AV decoder 4, performs D / A conversion, and performs, for example, NTSC.
Convert to a composite signal of the format. The audio signal processing circuit 6 receives the audio data output from the AV decoder 4, performs D / A conversion, and generates a right (R) sound analog signal and a left (L) sound analog signal. The video output circuit 7 and the audio output circuit 8 include an output resistor, an amplifier, and the like. The AV output terminal 9 is provided with an output unit (a set of left and right audio output terminals and a video output terminal).

An OSD (On Screen Display) display circuit 12 adds bitmap data based on character information output from the system controller 13 to the adder 2.
Output to 0. The adder 20 performs a process of incorporating the bitmap data into a video signal output from the video processing circuit 5. The OSD display circuit 12 receives an EPG (Electronic Pr) based on service information included in the PSI received by the system controller 13.
(Guide Guide) screen display can be realized, and also an operation guide screen can be displayed.

The remote control transmitter 10 is a transmitter for sending a command to the broadcast receiving device 30. When a key (not shown) provided on the remote control transmitter 10 is operated, a signal light (remote control signal) indicating a command corresponding to the key is transmitted from a light emitting unit (not shown). The remote control light receiver 11 receives the signal light, converts the light into an electric signal, and supplies the electric signal to the system controller 13.

The system controller 13 performs a program selection process by a user using the remote control transmitter 10 and the like. Then, as processing according to the present invention, the download program separated by the demultiplexer 3 is compressed and written into the non-volatile memory 14B as necessary, and additional information (storage) about the program written into the non-volatile memory 14B is stored. Program management for managing form information (presence / absence of compression, compression method when compression is performed, version information, etc.), and decompresses, if necessary, a program written in the non-volatile memory 14B based on the accessory information. A program development process for writing to the volatile memory 14A and a program execution process for executing the program written to the volatile memory 14A are performed.

Volatile memory (for example, DRAM) 14
A has a sufficient capacity in consideration of the fact that an uncompressed program is expanded. The nonvolatile memory (for example, a flash memory) 14B has an optimum capacity in the current system. The non-volatile memory 14B includes a compression program,
The program attachment information and the boot program are stored.

The processing at the time of downloading will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that the compressed program is sent from the program providing side. The system controller 13 controls the PS separated by the demultiplexer 3
The information contained in I is monitored to determine whether there is a program download request (step S1). If there is no download request, normal processing is executed (step S7). On the other hand, if there is a download request, the compressed program and the attached information are downloaded and temporarily stored in the volatile memory 14A (step S2). Next, it is determined whether or not all compressed programs and attached information have been received (step S3). If not all received programs have been received, the receiving process is continued.

When all the data has been received, a predetermined area of the nonvolatile memory 14B in which the compressed program and the attached information are to be stored is deleted (step S4). Next, the compressed program and the attached information are read from the volatile memory 14A and written into the erased area of the nonvolatile memory 14B (Step S5). Then, the process proceeds to a reboot process (step S6). The reboot process is the same as the process performed when the power is turned on.
The program stored in 4B will be executed.

The processing at power-on will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the power is turned on, initialization processing of the system itself is performed (step S11). Next, the auxiliary information is read from the non-volatile memory 14B to know which compression method is used for the compression program (step S12). Next, a decompression process is performed using a decompression method corresponding to the compression method, and the decompressed download program is expanded in the volatile memory 14A (step S13). Then, the program developed in the volatile memory 14A is executed (Step S14).

As described above, even if the download program is large enough to cause the capacity of the nonvolatile memory 14B to exceed its capacity, the compressed program is stored in the nonvolatile memory 14B. As 14B, it is sufficient to mount the one having the optimum capacity in the current system. When the receiving device is started, the compressed program stored in the non-volatile memory 14B is decompressed, expanded on the volatile memory 14A having a sufficient capacity, and the expanded program is executed. Volatile memory 14A (DRAM etc.)
Is cheaper than the non-volatile memory 14B (flash memory or the like), and can suppress an increase in cost even if a memory having a sufficient capacity is mounted.

In the above description using the flowchart of FIG. 2, the compressed program is sent from the program providing side. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The non-compressed download program may be compressed by a predetermined compression method and stored in the nonvolatile memory 14B. In this case, the accessory information indicating which compression method is used on the receiving device side is also stored in the nonvolatile memory 14B. The receiving device is
The nonvolatile memory 14B may have a compression function program for compressing the download program and a decompression function program for decompression. When the compression method is fixed (when the compression method is not changed), the ROM may have a compression function program and a decompression function program.

The program storage form may be changed based on the size of the program to be downloaded. That is, a download program having a size such that the capacity of the nonvolatile memory 14B is not exceeded is stored in the nonvolatile memory 14B without compression, or the capacity of the download program is slightly increased to the nonvolatile memory 14B. For a download program having such a large size, a compression method with a small compression ratio may be adopted. The information about the size of the program may be transmitted by the program provider or may be determined by the receiver.

The program storage form may be changed for each program area. For example, OSD
(On-Screen Display) Assuming that there is a program area and a display font area, the OSD program is compressed and stored, and the display font data is stored without compression, or both are compressed and stored, but the compression method is mutually different. You may perform the process of making it different. Also, a part of the OSD program may be compressed and stored, and the other part may be stored uncompressed.

Further, in addition to the configuration that can support both the downloading of the compressed program and the downloading of the non-compressed program, a configuration that supports only the downloading of the compressed program may be employed. In this configuration,
The receiving device does not need to have program compression means.

[0030] Alternatively, the compression designation information of the program may be received by downloading, and the program received by downloading may be written into the non-volatile memory 14B in a designated compression form. According to this,
The download program can be compressed by the receiving device by the compression method specified by the program providing side.

In this embodiment, the case where the user watches CS digital broadcasting has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to the case of viewing CATV broadcasting and the like.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, a compressed program is stored in a nonvolatile memory,
Since the decompressed program is expanded into the volatile memory and the program is executed, the program can be downloaded even if the size of the program exceeds the capacity of the non-volatile memory in the non-compressed state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process at power-on.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a download process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Tuner 3 Demultiplexer (DEMUX) 4 AV decoder 5 Video processing circuit 6 Audio processing circuit 12 OSD circuit 13 System controller 14A volatile memory 14B nonvolatile memory

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/44 G06F 9/06 420J F-term (Reference) 5B060 DA08 5B076 BB06 EA18 5B089 GA23 GB03 JA34 JB07 KA11 KB09 KH28 5C025 BA01 BA25 BA27 DA01 DA05 5K061 BB06 BB10 BB17 FF00 FF11 JJ07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A volatile memory, a writable nonvolatile memory, a program writing unit capable of compressing and writing a program received by download into the nonvolatile memory, and writing the program into the nonvolatile memory. Program management means for managing information attached to the program, program expansion means for decompressing the program written in the non-volatile memory if necessary based on the information attached and writing the program in the volatile memory, A digital broadcast receiving apparatus, comprising: a program executing means for executing a program written in a memory. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program storage form can be changed based on the size of the program. 3. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a program storage mode can be changed for each program area. 4. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the compressed program and the attached information of the program are received by downloading and stored in a nonvolatile memory. Digital broadcast receiving device. 5. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an uncompressed program and a specified compression method of the program are received by download, and the program is compressed by the specified compression method. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus storing a compressed program and information attached to the compressed program in a nonvolatile memory.