JP2001218182A - Digital catv re-transmission device and digital broadcasting re-transmission method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital CATV re-transmission device which corresponds to the format of program information to be provided by the all networks having the probability of re-transmission when the plurality of networks are received and re-transmission is selectively performed if necessary. SOLUTION: The device is provided with a receiver for receiving digital satellite broadcasting waves and transmitting a digital broadcasting stream packet, a network information generating unit for detecting the packet with described program information requiring conversion, replacing detected program information by contents which are converted based on prepared program information and multiplexing the packet with replaced program information with an original digital broadcasting stream, a CATV program information setting unit for generating prepared program information and a digital modulator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital retransmitting apparatus for receiving a digital broadcast signal and thereafter outputting the signal or a signal processed based on the signal to a medium such as a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In satellite digital broadcasting, data is multiplexed in a transport stream, and a data unit is a transport packet, and all information of video, audio, and data is transmitted by this packet. Since the transport stream is time-division multiplexed and transmitted to each transponder of the satellite, programs of several channels are multiplexed on one transponder, so that channel selection, program selection, and program guide display can be easily performed. In general, the information to be transmitted is also time-division multiplexed and broadcast.

[0003] The contents of the program information include, for example, an international standard called the MPEG system and a private standard called the DVB standard, and are usually operated within the range specified therein. Broadly divided into the program information specified in these, the following network information, service information,
There are three types of event information.

[0004] Network information is information transmitted to indicate the configuration of a network, and includes a network identification number for uniquely identifying a network, a retransmission source network identification number for identifying a retransmission source network, and the network. Transport stream identification number for identifying a transport stream as a unit of multiplexing in the transmission information, transmission information including a frequency of a frequency band for transmitting each transport stream, etc., and a channel number belonging to each transport stream identification number Etc. are included.

[0005] Service information is transmitted to indicate information for each channel, and includes information elements such as a channel number and a channel name for uniquely identifying a channel in a network.

The event information is transmitted to indicate information on a broadcast program for each channel, and includes information elements such as a program identification number, a program name, a program content, a program start time, a program time length, and genre information. . This event information is further divided into short-term event information describing only the currently broadcasted program and the next scheduled program information, and long-term event information describing all program information included in a long period such as one week. .

[0007] These pieces of information are encoded in accordance with a section format defined in the MPEG system. For the program information, a description format using the section format is also specified.

[0008] As described above, it has become very common to multiplex and transmit program information to video and audio in digital broadcasting, but in actual operation, the program information format differs for each network. Many. This is usually due to the fact that the number of channels to be transmitted and the transmission band that can be secured differ depending on the characteristics of each network.
The elements that determine the program information format are various, but generally include the following items of a program information encoding method and a program information transmission method.

A description will now be given of the difference in the format that can normally occur in the program information encoding method. In the program information encoding method, as described above, a binary format called a normal section format is provided, but each information element (generally described in a format called a descriptor) described therein is not necessarily the same. Things are not always used. For example, there is a case where a descriptor for describing a program name differs for each network, or a case where a unique descriptor for describing an information element unique to a network is operated. Therefore, a receiver that receives and processes program information transmitted by such an encoding method needs to be aware of differences in encoding methods in individual networks even when using the same program name.

[0010] The method of transmitting program information means how to transmit the coded program information in each transmission band in the network, which is more independent operation for each network than the coding method. There are many examples of doing. Here, two representative examples will be described in order to explain that a difference occurs in the program information transmission method for each network.

In one example of the program information transmission method (transmission method example 1), network information, service information, and short-term event information are transmitted in all transport streams. Are transmitted together in one transport stream in the network. In a receiver that receives and processes program information transmitted by such a transmission method, for example, if a program table is to be created based on long-term event information, a transport stream from which long-term event information is transmitted is selected. It is necessary to receive it locally.

In another example of the program information transmission method (transmission method example 2), a program such as a network name, service information, short-term event information, and a program name in long-term event information is specified in all transport streams. Only the minimum necessary information (basic event information) is transmitted, and the remaining information (extended event information) of the long-term event information is transmitted for each transport stream only in a portion corresponding to a channel included in the transport stream. . In a receiver that receives and processes program information transmitted by such a transmission method, for example, it is possible to create a simple program guide regardless of which transport stream is selected.

When the transmission method example 1 and the transmission method example 2 are compared, the transmission method example 2 has a higher proportion of program information in each transport stream. Therefore, the transmission rate of each program information in the transmission method example 2 is the same as the transmission method example 1.
It is conceivable to operate the program at a lower speed than the program information transmission speed. Hereinafter, this communication method example 2 is referred to as a shared specification.

As described above, since the network is usually operated in a different program information format for each network, in order to create a receiver capable of receiving a plurality of networks, all the program information provided by all the receiving networks are required. It has to deal with the format, and the development is very expensive.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By the way, digital CA
In a case where a plurality of networks are received and selected and retransmitted as necessary, as represented by a TV, and the retransmission is performed, the above-described situation applies as it is. That is, digital CA
Due to the difference in the program information format specified for each transmission source network transmitted within one TV network, a receiver that receives a digital CATV may receive a program provided by any network that may be retransmitted. It must correspond to the information format.

An object of the present invention is to provide a retransmitting apparatus and a retransmitting method which can be realized at low cost without increasing the burden of receiver development.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve this problem, a digital CATV retransmission apparatus according to the present invention comprises a receiver for receiving a digital satellite broadcast wave and transmitting a digital broadcast stream packet, and a program information requiring conversion. And a network information generator that detects the packet in which is described, replaces the detected program information with the contents converted based on the previously prepared program information, and multiplexes the replaced packet with the original digital broadcast stream. It has a CATV program information setting device and a digital modulator for generating prepared program information.

A receiver for receiving a digital satellite broadcast wave and transmitting a digital broadcast stream packet and a packet in which program information requiring conversion is described are detected, and the detected program information is determined based on previously prepared program information. A network information generator that replaces the converted content with the replaced program information and multiplexes the replaced packet with the original digital broadcast stream, a CATV program information setting device that generates previously prepared program information, and the program information are transmitted together. A receiver that receives digital satellite broadcast waves from a transponder and sends out digital broadcast stream packets, detects a packet containing program information that needs to be converted, and decomposes the detected program information into predetermined program information elements A program information analyzing unit, and the program information analyzing unit A service composed of a program information storage / construction unit that stores group information and packetizes it according to a program information description format defined by itself, and an update program information generation unit that generates and stores update program information for the current program and the next program information It is characterized by having an event information converter, a transmitter for multiplexing these converted packets and a packet from the network information generator into the original digital broadcast stream, and a digital modulator.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a digital CATV retransmission apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a digital CATV network uses broadcasting and CS according to a common specification of a program information format such as BS digital broadcasting.
A case where a broadcast different from the common specification of the program information format is retransmitted by an individual broadcaster such as a digital broadcast is shown.

First, regarding network information in the case of broadcasting according to the shared specification of the program information format such as BS digital broadcasting, a network for uniquely identifying a network in the network information in the CATV network as shown in FIGS. The identification number is the CATV digital network identification number assigned to each CATV broadcaster. The source network identification number uses the BS digital network identification number as it is, and identifies the transport stream that is the unit of multiplexing in that network. For the transport stream identification number to be used and the channel number belonging to each transport stream identification number, the same channel number as that of the transmission source is used.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a network for uniquely identifying a network in a CATV network, as shown in FIGS. The identification number is a CATV digital network identification number assigned to each CATV broadcaster, and the source network identification number is one 64QAM
When only one arbitrary channel of one CS broadcaster is transmitted in one transport stream unit transmitted by the modulator, the CS digital network identification number is used as it is, and if the transmission source network identification number is 1
A CATV digital network identification number is used when transmitting an arbitrary channel of a large number of CS broadcasters or transmitting an independent broadcast in one transport stream unit transmitted by two 64QAM modulators. In addition, a transport stream identification number for identifying a transport stream serving as a unit of multiplexing in the network and a channel number belonging to each transport stream identification number use a channel number set in the CATV network.
This channel number is uniquely set in the CATV network so as not to overlap with the channel number of the BS digital broadcast.

As shown in FIG. 5, the transponder frequency of each digital satellite broadcast is 64QAM of the CATV network.
Replaced by the modulation frequency.

Referring to FIG. 1, the configuration on the BS digital broadcast side will be described. 1 is a receiver, 2 is a network information generator, and 3 is a modulator. The configuration on the CS digital broadcasting side is 4 receivers, 5 is a receiver, 6 is a network information generator, 7 is a service / event information converter, 8 is a transmitter,
9 is a modulator, 10 is a CATV program information setting device, and the operation of the digital broadcast retransmission device configured as described above will be described below.

First, a receiver 1 for receiving a BS digital satellite broadcast wave and transmitting a digital broadcast stream packet and a packet in which program information requiring conversion is described are detected.
It replaces the detected program information with the contents converted based on the previously prepared program information, and generates the network information generator 2 that multiplexes the packet with the replaced program information into the original digital broadcast stream, and generates the previously prepared program information. It comprises a CATV program information setting unit 10 and a digital modulator that maps a digital broadcast stream in which packets in which program information is replaced are multiplexed to a modulation system and sends out the digital modulation wave to a CATV network.

On the other hand, the CS digital broadcast wave is a digital broadcast which is one transport stream unit that receives a plurality of desired channels in a CS digital satellite broadcast wave and transmits each of them through one CATV 64QAM modulator. The receiver 4 that converts the stream into a stream packet and a packet in which the program information requiring conversion is detected are detected, and the detected program information is replaced with the content converted based on the previously prepared program information, and the program information is replaced. A block composed of a network information generator 6 for multiplexing packets into an original digital broadcast stream and a CATV program information setting unit 10 for generating program information prepared in advance, and occupies most of program information in CS digital satellite broadcast waves. A single event that collectively sends long-term event information It receives Nsu transport stream to detect the program information necessary to convert the receiver 5 has been described packet for transmitting a digital broadcast stream packets,
A program information analyzing unit for decomposing the detected program information into predetermined program information elements; storing the program information generated by the program information analyzing unit; and packetizing the program information in accordance with the program information description format of the BS digital broadcast defined by itself. A service / event information converter 7 comprising a program information storage / construction section and an update program information generation section for generating and storing update program information for the current program and the next program information, and the converted packet and network information generator 6 A transmitter 8 that multiplexes packets from the original digital broadcast stream into the original digital broadcast stream and makes the program information transmission method the same as that of the BS digital broadcast, and maps a digital broadcast stream in which the packets in which the program information is replaced are multiplexed to a modulation system. And a digital modulator 9 for transmitting the digital modulated wave to the CATV network.

Next, the network information generator of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, the operation of the network information generator constituted by the packet detection unit 11, the packet replacement unit 12, and the packet transmission unit 13 on the BS side will be described below. First, a BS digital broadcast stream packet is transmitted from the receiving unit 1 that has received the BS digital satellite broadcast wave to the packet detecting unit 11 and the packet transmitting unit 13. From the BS digital broadcast stream packet, a packet in which program information that requires conversion is described
And sends the detected packet to the CATV program information setting unit 10 and the packet replacing unit 12. The CATV program information setting unit 10 converts the program information in this packet into BS
The information from both the program information from the packet detector 11 on the side and the program information from the packet detector 14 on the CS side is replaced with program information reconstructed for the digital CATV network. One is to uniquely identify the network. The network identification number for this is a CATV digital network identification number assigned to each CATV broadcaster,
The source network identification number uses the BS digital network identification number as it is, and the other uses digital CA for transponder frequencies in satellite broadcasting in transmission information.
The conversion to the 64QAM modulation frequency in the TV network and other transmission information are also converted from satellite use to CATV use.

Further, the transport stream ID and the channel number of the BS digital broadcast are converted and set on the CS digital broadcast side in the CATV network so as not to overlap with the transport stream ID and the channel number of the BS digital broadcast. The new program information to which the identification number and the channel number are added is transmitted to the packet replacing unit 12. The packet replacement unit 12 replaces the new program information packet with the original program information packet and sends it to the packet sending unit 13. The packet transmitting unit 13 multiplexes the replaced new program information packet into a BS digital broadcast stream to form a digital CATV broadcast stream from the BS. This is the network information generator 2 on the BS side.

On the other hand, on the CS side, the packet detector 14
The operation of the network information generator 6 constituted by the packet replacement unit 15 will be described below. First,
The receiver 4 receives a plurality of channels to be retransmitted selected by the CATV station from the CS digital satellite broadcast wave and receives each of them.
The CS digital broadcast stream packet multiplexed in one transport stream unit transmitted by one 64QAM modulator is transmitted to the packet detector 1 in the network information generator 6.
4 and the service / event information converter 7 and the transmitter 8. From the CS digital broadcast stream packet, the packet detection unit 14 detects a packet in which program information that requires conversion is described, and sends the detected packet to the CATV program information setting unit 10 and the packet replacement unit 15.

The CATV program information setting unit 10 converts the program information in this packet into a digital CATV network based on information from both the program information from the packet detection unit 11 on the BS side and the program information from the packet detection unit 14 on the CS side. One is to substitute the network identification number for uniquely identifying the network with the CATV digital network identification number assigned to each CATV broadcaster, and the source network identification number is one 64QAM If only one CS broadcaster's multiple channels are transmitted in one transport stream unit transmitted by the modulator, the CS digital network identification number is used as it is, and one transport stream transmitted by one 64QAM modulator When sending multiple channels from multiple CS broadcasters in units The source network identification number using a CATV digital network identification number.

The other is that each transponder frequency in the satellite broadcast in the transmission information is set in the digital CATV network.
The conversion to 64QAM modulation frequency and other transmission information are also converted from those for satellite broadcasting to digital CATV. Furthermore, in the digital CATV network, the BS digital broadcasting side
Since the transport stream identification number and channel number of the BS digital broadcast are used as they are, the transport stream identification number and channel number on the CS digital broadcast side do not overlap with the BS.
The transport stream identification number and the channel number are set by conversion from the program information reconstructed for the digital CATV network. Then, the new program information including the transport stream identification numbers and the channel numbers of both the BS side and the CS side is transmitted to the packet replacing unit 15. The packet replacement unit 15 replaces the new program information packet with the original program information packet and sends it to the transmitter 8. This is the network information generator 6 on the CS side.

Next, the service / event information converter 7 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. service·
Event information selection unit 16, service / event information construction unit 17, program information analysis unit 18, program information construction / storage unit 1
The operation of the service / event information converter 7 including the update program information generating unit 20 and the service / event information reconstructing unit 21 will be described below.

The service / event information selecting section 16 includes:
A CS digital broadcast stream multiplexed in one transport stream unit, in which a plurality of channels to be retransmitted selected by the CATV station are received from the CS digital satellite broadcast waves from the receiving unit 4 and transmitted by one 64QAM modulator. A transport stream identification number and a channel number are input as packets and program information reconstructed for a digital CATV network in a CATV station from the CATV program information setting device 10. In this embodiment, only one receiving unit 4 is described, but there are 64 QAM modulators in the digital CATV network. The own 64QAM modulator, ie, the program information relating to the transport stream identification number, and the other 64QAM modulator, ie, the program information relating to the transport stream identification number, maintain their own relationships with each other. Normally.
We call ourselves actual and others as other.

The service / event information selecting section 16 selects only the actual service information and event information related to the transport stream identification number, and outputs it to the service / event information constructing section 17.

In the service / event information construction unit 17,
First, all the information elements related to the channel number in the service information of Actual are transmitted from the CATV program information setting device 10.
The CATV station performs conversion according to the program information reconstructed for the digital CATV network. Actual event information also converts all channel numbers to which it belongs.
In this way, the program information obtained by converting only the actual service information and the program information, which is the self for each 64QAM, is output to the service / event information restructuring unit.

On the other hand, the receiver 5 is a single transport stream for transmitting long-term event information, which occupies most of program information in a CS digital satellite broadcast wave, for all transponders of the CS digital satellite (commonly referred to as a transport stream). E
PG transponder) and sends the digital broadcast stream packet of the transponder to the program information analysis unit 18. The program information analysis unit 18 includes a CA
From the TV program information setting unit 10, all the 64QAM modulators in the digital CATV network, here the transport stream identification numbers of the transmission source and the channel numbers in the transport identification numbers are input. Also, the receiver 5 collectively inputs long-term event information of all channels of all transponders in the source CS digital satellite.

The program information analysis unit 18 determines the CA of the long-term event information of all channels at the transmission source from the receiver 5.
From the TV program information setting device 10, only long-term event information that matches the transmission source channel number selected and used in the digital CATV network is output to the program information construction / accumulation unit 19.

The program information construction / storage section 19 converts the information elements in the long-term program information from the program information analysis section 18 from the original CS digital program element contents to BS digital program element contents based on the prepared program information. And add to Then, it is converted and accumulated into long-term event information corresponding to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers set in the digital CATV network instead of the transmission source. The program element here is expressed as a table and a descriptor. The converted long-term event information is output to the update program information generator 20 and the service / event information reconstructing unit 21.

The update program information generator 20 describes the currently broadcast program and the next scheduled program information to be updated each time the program ends / starts from the long-term event information from the program information construction / accumulation unit 19. The generated short-term event information is created and stored for a program update during the period in the long-term event information for all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers, and is output to the service / event information restructuring unit 21.

The service / event information restructuring unit 21 receives the 64QAM from the service / event information constructing unit 17.
The program information obtained by converting only the actual service information and event information of each individual is input. The program information construction / storage unit 19 converts the information elements in the long-term program information from the original CS digital program element contents to BS digital program element contents based on the prepared program information, and converts the information elements into digital CATV instead of the transmission source. Long-term event information corresponding to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers set in the network is input. Also, from the update program information generator 20, short-term event information that is updated every time a program corresponding to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers is ended / started is input.

In the service / event information restructuring unit 21, first, each of the 6
The program information obtained by converting only the actual service information and the event information which are the own for each of the 4QAMs is output to the transmitter 8 first. Thereby, the delay due to the reconstruction of the program information is reduced with respect to the actuals which are each own for each 64QAM. Next, the program element contents in the original CS digital from the program information construction / storage section 19 are converted into the program element contents in the BS digital and correspond to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers set in the digital CATV network. The generated long-term event information is output to the transmitter 8. Further, of the short-term event information from the update program information generator 20, the short-term event information corresponding to the channel number in the transport stream identification number of the actual which is its own for each 64QAM is output to the transmitter 8 first. After the above process, the service information and short-term event information of the other than the actual in the CATV network are constructed and output to the transmitter 8. The above is the service event information converter 7 in FIG.

The transmitter 8 multiplexes each program information input from the service / event information reconstructing section 21 and network information input from the network information generator 6 from the receiver 4 into a CS digital broadcast stream, and transmits program information. How to transport network information in all transport streams,
Only the minimum necessary information (basic event information) for specifying the program such as the service information, short-term event information and the program name in the long-term event information is transmitted, and the remaining information (extended event information) of the long-term event information is For each transport stream, a BS digital system for transmitting only a portion corresponding to a channel included in the transport stream is output to the digital modulator 9 as a digital CATV broadcast stream.

The digital modulator 9 maps the digital broadcast stream to a modulation method and performs CA
Send to TV network.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 7 shows a case where a 110-degree CS digital broadcast is added to the configuration described in (Embodiment 1) of the present invention. And a case where a voluntary broadcast of a CATV station is added.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 8 shows a broadcast according to a shared specification of a program information format such as BS digital broadcast or 110-degree CS digital broadcast over a digital CATV network similar to (Embodiment 1) of the present invention. And the case where individual broadcasters, such as CS digital broadcasts, retransmit a broadcast different from the shared specification of the program information format. Here, broadcasting according to the shared specification of the program information format, such as BS digital broadcasting, is not retransmitted in units of transport identification numbers using only network information, but is performed in units of channels for reconstructing channel information and program information. This is shown as a transmission example. FIG.
In FIG. 10, the case of BS digital broadcasting and CS digital broadcasting has been described as an example.

First, regarding network information in the case of broadcasting according to the sharing specification of the program information format such as BS digital broadcasting, a network identification number for uniquely identifying a network in the network information in the CATV network is defined by each CATV broadcasting company. CAT allocated to
A source network identification number, which is a V digital network identification number, uses a CATV digital network identification number in consideration of 110-degree CS digital broadcasting, and a transport for identifying a transport stream that is a unit of multiplexing in the network. For the port stream identification number and the channel number belonging to each transport stream identification number, a channel number that does not overlap with the channel number of the 100-degree CS digital broadcast or the CS digital broadcast reconstructed by the CATV broadcaster is used.

For network information in the case of broadcasting different from the shared specification of the program information format such as CS digital broadcasting, the network identification number for uniquely identifying the network in the network information in the CATV network is different for each CATV broadcasting company. CAT allocated to
The source network identification number, which is the V digital network identification number, is CS when only one arbitrary channel of one CS broadcaster is transmitted in one transport stream unit transmitted by one 64QAM modulator.
The digital network identification number is used as it is, and if the source network identification number is used to transmit arbitrary channels from multiple CS broadcasters or transmit independent voluntary broadcasts in one transport stream unit transmitted by one 64QAM modulator If so, use the CATV digital network identification number.

A transport stream identification number for identifying a transport stream as a unit of multiplexing in the network and a channel number belonging to each transport stream identification number are CATV.
Use the channel number set in the network. This channel number is used for BS digital broadcasting and 10
C so that it does not overlap with the channel number of the 0 degree CS broadcast
It is set uniquely within the ATV network. Also, the transponder frequency of each digital satellite broadcast is replaced with the 64QAM modulation frequency in the CATV network.

In FIG. 8, BS digital broadcasting and 11
The configuration of the 0-degree CS digital broadcast side will be described. 1 is a receiver, 2 is a network information generator, 22 is a receiver,
23 is a network information generator, 26 is a transmitter, and 3 is a modulator. The configuration on the CS digital broadcast side consists of 4 receivers, 5 receivers
Is a receiver, 6 is a network information generator, 7 is a service / event information converter, 8 is a transmitter, 9 is a modulator, 10
The following describes the operation of the CATV program information setting device and the digital broadcast retransmission device configured as described above.

First, in the case of the BS digital broadcast and the 110 ° CS digital broadcast, a desired channel in the BS digital broadcast and a desired channel in the 110 ° CS digital broadcast are received, and each of them is received by one CATV 64QAM modulator. Receivers 1 and 22 for transmitting digital broadcast stream packets, which are one transport stream unit to be transmitted, and a packet in which program information requiring conversion is described, and the detected program information is converted into previously prepared program information. A network information generator 2 that replaces the contents with the contents converted based on the program information and multiplexes the packets with the replaced program information into the original digital broadcast stream;
23 and a block composed of a CATV program information setting unit 10 for previously generating program information prepared for reconstructing program information in a CATV station, and all transports in BS digital broadcasting and 110 ° CS digital broadcasting. All-station program information, which collectively transmits stream information, receives outputs from the receivers 1 and 22, detects packets in which program information requiring conversion is described, and defines the detected program information in advance as program information. A program information analyzing unit for decomposing the program information into elements, and storing the program information generated by the program information analyzing unit,
A service / event information converter 7 composed of a program information storage / construction unit that packetizes all transport stream information according to both S digital broadcast and 110 ° CS digital broadcast program information into all-station program information. And the converted packets, the packets from the network information generators 2 and 23, and the original digital broadcast stream. The original digital broadcast stream includes program information of each station carrying unique information for each transport stream. The original digital broadcast stream is multiplexed and the program information transmission method is changed to BS digital broadcast and 1
A transmitter 26 which is the same as the 10-degree CS digital broadcast, and a digital modulator 3 which maps a digital broadcast stream in which a packet in which the program information is replaced is multiplexed to a modulation system and sends out the digital modulated wave to a CATV network. Be composed.

On the other hand, the CS digital broadcast wave is a digital broadcast which is one transport stream unit that receives a plurality of desired channels in a CS digital satellite broadcast wave and transmits each of them through one CATV 64QAM modulator. The receiver 4 that converts the stream into a stream packet and a packet in which the program information requiring conversion is detected are detected, and the detected program information is replaced with the content converted based on the previously prepared program information, and the program information is replaced. A block composed of a network information generator 6 for multiplexing packets into an original digital broadcast stream and a CATV program information setting unit 10 for generating program information prepared in advance, and occupies most of program information in CS digital satellite broadcast waves. A single event that collectively sends long-term event information It receives Nsu transport stream to detect the program information necessary to convert the receiver 5 has been described packet for transmitting a digital broadcast stream packets,
A program information analyzing unit for decomposing the detected program information into predetermined program information elements; storing the program information generated by the program information analyzing unit; and packetizing the program information in accordance with the program information description format of the BS digital broadcast defined by itself. A service / event information converter 7 comprising a program information storage / construction section and an update program information generation section for generating and storing update program information for the current program and the next program information, and the converted packet and network information generator 6 A transmitter 8 that multiplexes packets from the original digital broadcast stream into the original digital broadcast stream and makes the program information transmission method the same as that of the BS digital broadcast, and maps a digital broadcast stream in which the packets in which the program information is replaced are multiplexed to a modulation system. And a digital modulator 9 for transmitting the digital modulated wave to the CATV network.

Next, the network information generator of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, the operation of the network information generator composed of the packet detection unit 11 and the packet replacement unit 12 on the BS side and the 110-degree CS side will be described below.

First, the receiver 1 receives a channel to be retransmitted selected by the CATV station from the BS digital satellite broadcast wave and the 110 ° CS digital satellite broadcast wave, and sets each of them to 1.
A digital broadcast stream packet multiplexed in units of one transport stream transmitted by two 64QAM modulators is transmitted to a packet detector 11 in the network information generator 2.
Is transmitted to the transmitter 26. The packet detection unit 11 detects a packet in which program information that needs to be converted is described from the digital broadcast stream packet, and sends the detected packet to the CATV program information setting unit 10 and the packet replacement unit 12. The CATV program information setting unit 10 reconstructs the program information in this packet from the information from both the program information from the packet detection unit 11 on the BS side and the program information from the packet detection unit 14 on the CS side for a digital CATV network. One is to replace the network identification number for uniquely identifying the network with the CATV digital network identification number assigned to each CATV broadcaster, and the source network identification number is a single 64QAM modulator. When transmitting a plurality of channels from a large number of broadcasters in one transport stream unit to be transmitted, the source network identification number uses the CATV digital network identification number.

The other is that each transponder frequency in the satellite broadcast in the transmission information is transmitted in the digital CATV network.
The conversion to 64QAM modulation frequency and other transmission information are also converted from those for satellite broadcasting to digital CATV. Further, the transport stream identification number and the channel number are converted and set from the program information reconstructed for the digital CATV network of the CATV program information setting device 10 so that the transmission sources do not overlap in the digital CATV network. The new program information including the BS and the transport stream identification numbers and the channel numbers of both the 110-degree CS side and the CS side is transmitted to the packet replacing unit 12. The packet replacement unit 12 replaces the new program information packet with the original program information packet and sends it to the transmitter 26. This is the network information generator 2 on the BS and 110 ° CS side.

On the other hand, on the CS side, the packet detector 14
The operation of the network information generator 6 constituted by the packet replacement unit 15 will be described below. First,
The receiver 4 receives a plurality of channels to be retransmitted selected by the CATV station from the CS digital satellite broadcast wave and receives each of them.
The CS digital broadcast stream packet multiplexed in one transport stream unit transmitted by one 64QAM modulator is transmitted to the packet detector 1 in the network information generator 6.
4 and the service / event information converter 7 and the transmitter 8. From the CS digital broadcast stream packet, the packet detection unit 14 detects a packet in which program information that requires conversion is described, and sends the detected packet to the CATV program information setting unit 10 and the packet replacement unit 15.

The CATV program information setting unit 10 converts the program information in the packet into a packet detection unit 11 on the BS and 110 ° CS side.
From the information from both the program information from the CS and the packet information from the packet detector 14 on the CS side, and replace it with the program information reconstructed for the digital CATV network. One is to assign a network identification number for uniquely identifying the network. CATV
CATV digital network identification number assigned to each broadcaster, and source network identification number is 1.
If only one CS broadcaster transmits multiple channels in one transport stream unit transmitted by two 64QAM modulators, the CS digital network identification number is used as it is, and one transformer transmitted by one 64QAM modulator is used. Many port stream units
When transmitting multiple channels from a CS broadcaster, use the CATV digital network identification number as the transmission source network identification number.

The other is that each transponder frequency in the satellite broadcast in the transmission information is set in the digital CATV network.
It converts to 64QAM modulation frequency and other transmission information from satellite broadcasting to digital CATV. Further, in the digital CATV network, the transport stream identification number and the channel number on the CS digital broadcast side are converted and set from the program information reconstructed for the digital CATV network of the CATV program information setting unit 10 so that the BS and 110 ° CS do not overlap. And the transport stream identification number and channel number. The new program information including the BS and the transport stream identification numbers and the channel numbers of both the 110-degree CS side and the CS side is transmitted to the packet replacing unit 15. The packet replacement unit 15 replaces the new program information packet with the original program information packet and sends it to the transmitter 8. This is CS
Side network information generator 6.

Next, the service / event information converter 7 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The service / event information selecting unit 16, service / event information constructing unit 17, program information analyzing unit 18, program information constructing / accumulating unit 19, update program information generating unit 20, and service / event information reconstructing unit 21. The operation of the service / event information converter 7 will be described below.

The service / event information selecting section 16 includes:
A plurality of channels to be retransmitted selected by the CATV station are received from the BS and the 110-degree CS digital satellite broadcast waves from the receiving unit 1 and multiplexed into one transport stream unit to be transmitted by one 64QAM modulator. A plurality of channels to be retransmitted selected by the CATV station are received from the digital broadcast stream packet and the CS digital satellite broadcast wave from the receiving unit 4 and multiplexed into one transport stream unit transmitted by one 64QAM modulator. The transport stream identification number and the channel number are input as the CS digital broadcast stream packet and the program information reconstructed for the digital CATV network in the CATV station from the CATV program information setting unit 10. In this embodiment, only one receiving unit 1 and one receiving unit 4 are described.
There are as many QAM modulators. And BS and 110 degree C
The S receiving side has its own 64QAM modulator, that is, the program information relating to the transport stream identification number, and the program information relating to the transport stream identification numbers of all other 64QAM modulators. Usually, one station is referred to as program information of each station, and all traps are referred to as program information of all stations. Also, the CS receiving side maintains the relationship between its own 64QAM modulator, that is, the program information related to the transport stream identification number of the other 64QAM modulator and the program information related to the transport stream identification number of the other 64QAM modulator. It is usually called itself and others are called other.

The service / event information selecting section 16
And the 110-degree CS receiving side selects only the service information and the event information related to the own transport stream identification number, that is, the service / event information constructing section 1
7 is output. The CS receiving side selects only the service information and the event information related to the transport stream identification number, that is, the actual service information, and outputs the selected service information and the event information to the service / event information constructing unit 17.

In the service / event information construction unit 17,
On the BS and 110-degree CS receiving side, first, all information elements related to the channel number in the service information of each station are CATV.
Digital CATV at the CATV station from the program information setting device 10
Convert according to the program information reconstructed for the network.
The event information of each station also converts all channel numbers to which it belongs. In this way, the program information obtained by converting only the actual service information and the program information, which is the self for each 64QAM, is output to the service / event information restructuring unit. The CS receiving side first converts all information elements related to the channel number in the actual service information in accordance with the program information reconstructed for the digital CATV network in the CATV station from the CATV program information setting device 10. Actual event information also converts all channel numbers to which it belongs. Thus each 64
The program information obtained by converting only the actual service information and the program information that is the QAM itself is output to the service / event information restructuring unit.

On the other hand, the receiver 27 has the BS and the 110 ° CS
In receiving and implementing each transponder in the digital satellite broadcast wave, the receiver 27 exists for the transponder to receive. To each transponder, a digital broadcast stream packet of all-station program information, which is transmitted collectively for all transponders, is sent to the program information analysis unit 18. The program information analysis unit 18 receives a digital signal from the CATV program information setting device 10.
All 64QAM modulators in the CATV network, here the source transport stream identification number and the channel number within that transport identification number are entered.
Further, the receiver 27 collectively inputs the source BS and all-station program information of all channels for all transponders in the 110-degree CS digital satellite.

The program information analysis unit 18 outputs the CATV information of the all-station program information on all channels at the transmission source from the receiver 27.
The program information setting unit 10 outputs to the program information construction / storage unit 19 only all-station program information that matches the transmission source channel number selected and used in the digital CATV network.

The program information construction / accumulation section 19 accumulates information elements in the all-station program information from the program information analysis section 18.
The program element here is expressed as a table and a descriptor. The all-station program information is output to the service / event information restructuring unit 21.

The service / event information restructuring unit 21 receives the 64QAM from the service / event information constructing unit 17.
Program information obtained by converting only each station's own program information and actual service information and event information is input. From the program information construction / storage section 19, all-station program information corresponding to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers set in the digital CATV network is input.

The service / event information restructuring unit 21 first receives each 6
For each of the 4QAMs, the program information obtained by converting only the program information of each station and the service information and the event information of the actual station itself is output to the transmitter 26 first. Thereby, the delay due to the reconstruction of the program information is reduced with respect to each station information and the actuals of all the stations, which are themselves for each 64QAM. Next, all-station program information corresponding to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers from the program information construction / storage section 19 is output to the transmitter 26.
After the above processing, the service information and short-term event information of the other in the CATV network other than the actual are constructed and output to the transmitter 26. The above is the service event information converter 7 in FIG.

The transmitter 26 multiplexes each program information input from the service / event information restructuring section 21 and network information input from the network information generator 2 from the receiver 1 into a digital broadcast stream, and Is output to the digital modulator 3 as a digital CATV broadcast stream transmitting program information of all stations and each station.

The digital modulator 3 maps the digital broadcast stream to a modulation method and performs CA
Send to TV network.

On the other hand, the receiver 5 is a single transport stream that transmits long-term event information occupying most of the program information in CS digital satellite broadcast waves for all transponders of the CS digital satellite (commonly known as a transport stream). E
PG transponder) and sends the digital broadcast stream packet of the transponder to the program information analysis unit 18. The program information analysis unit 18 includes a CA
From the TV program information setting unit 10, all the 64QAM modulators in the digital CATV network, here the transport stream identification numbers of the transmission source and the channel numbers in the transport identification numbers are input. Also, the receiver 5 collectively inputs long-term event information of all channels of all transponders in the source CS digital satellite.

The program information analysis unit 18 determines the CA of the long-term event information of all the channels at the transmission source from the receiver 5
From the TV program information setting device 10, only long-term event information that matches the transmission source channel number selected and used in the digital CATV network is output to the program information construction / accumulation unit 19.

The program information construction / storage section 19 converts the information elements in the long-term program information from the program information analysis section 18 from the original CS digital program element contents to BS digital program element contents based on previously prepared program information. And add to Then, it is converted and accumulated into long-term event information corresponding to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers set in the digital CATV network instead of the transmission source. The program element here is expressed as a table and a descriptor. The converted long-term event information is output to the update program information generator 20 and the service / event information reconstructing unit 21.

The update program information generator 20 describes the currently broadcasted program and the next scheduled program information to be updated each time the program ends / starts from the long-term event information from the program information construction / accumulation unit 19. The generated short-term event information is created and stored for a program update during the period in the long-term event information for all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers, and is output to the service / event information restructuring unit 21.

The service / event information restructuring unit 21 receives the 64 QAM from the service / event information constructing unit 17.
The program information obtained by converting only the actual service information and event information of each individual is input. The program information construction / storage unit 19 converts the information elements in the long-term program information from the original CS digital program element contents to BS digital program element contents based on the prepared program information, and converts the information elements into digital CATV instead of the transmission source. Long-term event information corresponding to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers set in the network is input. Also, from the update program information generator 20, short-term event information that is updated every time a program corresponding to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers is ended / started is input.

The service / event information restructuring unit 21 first receives each 6
The program information obtained by converting only the actual service information and the event information which are the own for each of the 4QAMs is output to the transmitter 8 first. Thereby, the delay due to the reconstruction of the program information is reduced with respect to the actuals which are each own for each 64QAM. Next, the program element contents in the original CS digital from the program information construction / storage section 19 are converted into the program element contents in the BS digital and correspond to all channel numbers in all transport stream identification numbers set in the digital CATV network. The generated long-term event information is output to the transmitter 8. Further, of the short-term event information from the update program information generator 20, the short-term event information corresponding to the channel number in the transport stream identification number of the actual which is its own for each 64QAM is output to the transmitter 8 first. After the above process, the service information and short-term event information of the other than the actual in the CATV network are constructed and output to the transmitter 8. The above is the service event information converter 7 in FIG.

The transmitter 8 multiplexes each program information input from the service / event information restructuring section 21 and network information input from the network information generator 6 into a CS digital broadcast stream from the receiver 4 and transmits the program information. How to transport network information in all transport streams,
Only the minimum necessary information (basic event information) for specifying the program such as the service information, short-term event information, and the program name in the long-term event information is sent out. For each transport stream, a BS digital system for transmitting only a portion corresponding to a channel included in the transport stream is output to the digital modulator 9 as a digital CATV broadcast stream.

The digital modulator 9 maps the digital broadcast stream to a modulation method and performs CA
Send to TV network.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the digital
In a CATV network, it is possible to retransmit broadcasts having different coding methods of program information and different transmission methods of program information, such as BS digital broadcasting and a plurality of CS digital broadcasting.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention, digital
Receivers that receive digital CATV due to differences in the program information format specified for each source network transmitted within one network of CATV are provided by all networks that may be retransmitted. It must correspond to the information format.

As described above, the advantageous effect of providing a retransmitting apparatus and a retransmitting method which can be realized at low cost without increasing the burden of receiver development can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a digital broadcast retransmission device and a digital broadcast retransmission method according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a network information generator according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a service / event information converter according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of network information according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of frequency replacement in transmission information in network information according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of network information according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a digital broadcast retransmission device and a digital broadcast retransmission method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a digital broadcast retransmission device and a digital broadcast retransmission method according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a network information generator according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a service / event information converter according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an overall configuration diagram of network information according to a conventional example.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram of network information according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 receiver 2 network information generator 3 modulator 4 receiver 5 receiver 6 network information generator 7 service / event information converter 8 transmitter 9 modulator 10 CATV program information setter 11 packet detector 12 packet replacement unit 13 Packet sending unit 14 Packet detecting unit 15 Packet replacing unit 16 Service / event information selecting unit 17 Service / event information constructing unit 18 Program information analyzing unit 19 Program information constructing / accumulating unit 20 Program information generating unit for updating 21 Service / event information reusing Construction unit 22 Receiver 23 Network information generator 24 Modulator 25 Independent broadcast headend 26 Transmitter 27 Receiver

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Koji Takeno 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 72) Inventor Kenichi Fujita 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kazuma, Osaka Prefecture F-term in Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A receiver for receiving digital satellite broadcast waves and transmitting digital broadcast stream packets, detecting a packet in which program information requiring conversion is described, and converting the detected program information into pre-prepared program information. A network information generator for multiplexing a packet in which the program information is replaced based on the content converted based on the content based on the original digital broadcast stream, a CATV program information setting device for generating program information prepared in advance, and a digital modulator A digital CATV retransmission apparatus, comprising: 2. A receiver for receiving digital satellite broadcast waves and transmitting digital broadcast stream packets, detecting a packet in which program information requiring conversion is described, and converting the detected program information into program information prepared in advance. A network information generator that replaces the program information with the converted content and multiplexes the packet with the replaced program information into the original digital broadcast stream; a CATV program information setter that generates previously prepared program information; A receiver that receives the digital satellite broadcast waves of the transponders that are being transmitted together and sends out digital broadcast stream packets, detects a packet in which program information that requires conversion is described, and defines the detected program information in advance. A program information analysis unit for decomposing the program information into elements; A program information constructing and accumulating unit for accumulating the program information and packetizing it according to a program information description format defined by itself, and an updating program information generating unit for generating and accumulating program information for updating the current program and the next program information. Service / event information converter, a transmitter that multiplexes these converted packets and packets from the network information generator into the original digital broadcast stream and also changes the program information transmission method, and a digital modulator. A digital CATV retransmission device, characterized in that: 3. A digital satellite broadcast wave is received, a digital broadcast stream packet is transmitted, a packet in which program information requiring conversion is described is detected, and the detected program information is converted based on previously prepared program information. A digital broadcast retransmission method characterized by multiplexing a packet in which program information has been replaced with the original content and the original digital broadcast stream. 4. A receiver for receiving a digital satellite broadcast wave and transmitting a digital broadcast stream packet, detecting a packet in which program information requiring conversion is described, and recognizing the detected program information based on previously prepared program information. A network information generator that multiplexes the packet with the program information replaced into the original digital broadcast stream, a CATV program information setter that generates previously prepared program information, and the program information are transmitted together. A receiver that receives a digital satellite broadcast wave of a transponder and sends out a digital broadcast stream packet, detects a packet in which program information that requires conversion is described, and converts the detected program information into a predetermined program information element. A program information analysis unit to be decomposed, and a program generated by the program information analysis unit. A service comprising a program information construction and storage unit that stores information and packetizes it according to a program information description format defined by itself, and an update program information generation unit that generates and stores update program information for the current program and the next program information. Digital broadcasting characterized by having an event information converter, a transmitter for multiplexing these converted packets and a packet from a network information generator into an original digital broadcast stream and also changing a program information transmission method, and a digital modulator. Retransmission method. 5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the program information format defined by the transmission source network and the program information defined by its own network are the same format. Digital broadcasting retransmission method characterized by using the method 6. When receiving and retransmitting a plurality of networks transmitting program information different from its own format, the packet detection unit and the program information analysis unit perform separate processing according to each format and store the program information. 5. The digital broadcast retransmission method according to claim 4, wherein the unit and the packet generator perform the same processing according to their own format. 7. Program information multiplexed in individual streams to be retransmitted is provided with source network identification information for identifying a retransmission source network, and the format of the program information in the stream is changed to the source network identification information. A digital broadcast retransmission method characterized by making it more distinguishable. 8. When retransmitting a network broadcasting in the same format as its own program information format, the network identification information provided by the transmission source network is added as it is as transmission source network identification information, and a different format is used. When retransmitting a network that is being broadcast on the network, the network identification information provided by the source network is added, so that the network differs from its own identification information and supports its own program information format 8. The digital broadcast retransmission method according to claim 7, wherein only the program information according to the retransmission source format is transmitted with a value indicating that the program is being transmitted.