JP2004032426A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast receiver that easily controls recording start and recording stop of a transport stream depending on an error or a defect of a digital signal. <P>SOLUTION: The digital broadcast receiver 2 transmits the transport stream resulting from demodulating a received carrier to an electronic apparatus 4 and transmits a control signal to control the transmitted transport stream to the electronic apparatus 4 via a network, and the electronic apparatus 4 controls the transport stream transmitted form the digital broadcast receiver 2 on the basis of the control signal received from the digital broadcast receiver 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus and a signal processing system that receive digital broadcasts to which a transport stream specified in MPEG-2 systems is applied as a broadcast signal.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, in the United States and European countries, video and audio signals are encoded by applying image compression encoding technology such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) -1 or MPEG-2, and the network such as the Internet is used. 2. Description of the Related Art Systems for broadcasting moving images such as television broadcasts are becoming widespread.
[0003]
In such a system, a receiving device for demodulating an encoded signal digitally transmitted through a network on a receiving side is required. The receiving apparatus includes a tuner that selects a transport stream of a desired channel from a digital signal in which data of a plurality of channels is multiplexed, and a separating unit that separates video data and audio data of a desired program from the selected transport stream. And a decoder for decoding the separated video data and audio data.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, an error or a defect of a received digital signal may cause troubles such as a disturbance of a sound processing system or a stop of processing of a decoder. Therefore, it is necessary to record the transport stream obtained by demodulating the received digital signal in an electronic device such as a personal computer, analyze the transport stream, determine the cause of the error, and take appropriate measures.
[0005]
However, it is difficult to predict when such an error or failure of the digital signal will occur, and therefore, it is necessary for an operator to start or stop recording the transport stream in all broadcast time zones. For this reason, there has conventionally been a demand for a system capable of reducing the burden of the operator's labor and improving efficiency.
[0006]
Also, recording a transport stream at any broadcast time requires a large-capacity hard disk, and even if a transport stream for the entire broadcast time is recorded within the allowable capacity of the hard disk, errors and problems may occur. It has been extremely difficult to identify the transport stream in the time zone in which it occurred, and there has been a problem that much time and effort are required. Therefore, it is possible to easily control the start and stop of recording of a transport stream in an electronic device in response to an error or a defect in a digital signal. In particular, it is possible to add / add units or change settings to an existing electronic device. A system that does not require one has been desired.
[0007]
Therefore, the present invention has been devised in view of the above-described problems, and a purpose thereof is to record a transport stream in an existing electronic device according to a digital signal error or a defect. An object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcast receiving apparatus and a signal processing system that can easily control start and stop of recording.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention is a digital broadcast receiving apparatus for receiving a digital broadcast in which a transport stream is applied as a broadcast signal in order to solve the above-described problem. Demodulating means for outputting, a stream transmitting means for transmitting the transport stream output from the demodulating means to an electronic device, and a control signal for transmitting a control signal for controlling the transmitted transport stream to the electronic device. Transmission means.
[0009]
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus transmits a transport stream generated by demodulating a received carrier wave to an electronic device, and transmits a control signal for controlling the transmitted transport stream to the electronic device via a network. Thus, the transport stream transmitted to the electronic device is controlled.
[0010]
In a signal processing system according to the present invention, a signal processing system that transmits a transport stream received by a digital broadcast receiving apparatus to an electronic device and performs a predetermined process, demodulates a received carrier wave to generate a transport stream. A digital broadcast receiving device that transmits the generated transport stream to the electronic device and transmits a control signal for controlling the transmitted transport stream to the electronic device via an interface; And an electronic device that controls the transport stream obtained based on the received control signal.
[0011]
This signal processing system transmits a transport stream generated by demodulating a carrier wave received by a digital broadcast receiving apparatus to an electronic device, and transmits a control signal for controlling the transmitted transport stream to the electronic device via a network. Then, the electronic device controls the transport stream transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving device based on the control signal received from the digital broadcast receiving device.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0013]
The present invention is applied to, for example, a signal processing system 1 as shown in FIG.
[0014]
The signal processing system 1 includes a digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 that receives a digital broadcast to which a transport stream (TS) specified in MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) -2 systems is applied as a broadcast signal, and processes the transport stream. And a TS transmission system 5 for transmitting a transport stream, and an interface 6 for transmitting a control signal to be described later.
[0015]
The TS transmission system 5 converts the electrical level of the transport stream output from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 and transmits the transport stream to the electronic device 4. The TS transmission system performs the electrical level conversion via the level converter 51, and converts, for example, a transport stream output at the TTL level into LVDS, which is an electrical standard of the electronic device 4.
[0016]
The interface 6 is a bus that can connect peripheral devices to the electronic device 4 such as a USB interface and a serial interface. The interface 6 is a serial transmission system bus including a power supply line for supplying power to the connected electronic device 4 and a communication line for transmitting and receiving data. The interface 6 can adopt a daisy chain or a node branching free connection form, and can transmit data preferentially. Further, the interface 6 can connect and disconnect the cable while the power is on, and can automatically reconfigure the network by the bus when a node is added or deleted.
[0017]
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 selects a transport stream of a desired channel from a digital signal in which data of a plurality of channels is multiplexed, separates video data and audio data of a desired program from the selected transport stream, and Is decoded and transmitted to the television receiver 7. Further, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 demodulates the received carrier wave to generate a transport stream, and transmits the generated transport stream to the electronic device 4 via the TS transmission system 5. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 transmits a control signal for controlling the transmitted transport stream to the electronic device 4 via the interface 6. The internal configuration of the digital broadcast receiving device 2 will be described later in detail.
[0018]
The electronic device 4 is a device having a hardware and software environment using Windows NT or Windows 2000 as an OS, such as a personal computer, for example. The electronic device 4 is a device operated by a user, such as a personal computer.
[0019]
The electronic device 4 includes a control signal input port 41, a TS input port 42, a user operation unit 43, a control unit 44, and a TS storage unit 45, as shown in FIG.
[0020]
The control signal input port 41 is a port to which an interface 6 such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface or a serial interface can be connected, and a control signal is transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 via the interface 6.
[0021]
A transport stream is transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 to the TS input port 42 via the TS transmission system 5.
[0022]
The user operation unit 43 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like for the user to input information to the electronic device 4 based on the above-described Windows program, and generates a predetermined control signal according to the input operation of the user.
[0023]
The control unit 44 controls the transport stream transmitted to the TS input port 42 based on the control signal transmitted to the control signal input port 41. Further, the control unit 44 controls the transport stream transmitted to the TS input port 42 based on the control signal generated by the user operation unit 43. Note that the code of the control signal transmitted to the control signal input port 41 is preferably the same as the code of the control signal generated by the user operation unit 43.
[0024]
The control unit 44 receives the control signal from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 to start recording the transport stream, and writes the transmitted transport stream into the TS storage unit 45. The control unit 44 receives a control signal from the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 to stop recording the transport stream, and stops writing the transmitted transport stream to the TS storage unit 45.
[0025]
The TS storage unit 45 includes a hard disk, a memory, and the like, and stores the transmitted transport stream at a predetermined address based on control by the control unit 44. Incidentally, the TS storage unit 45 may record a transport stream by repeatedly looping a part of its own hard disk or memory.
[0026]
Next, details of the internal configuration of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0027]
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 includes a tuning unit 20, a demodulation unit 21, a descrambler 22, a separation unit 23, a decoder 24, a synthesizer 25, an encoder 26, a CPU 27, an IC card interface 28, a modem 31, a flash memory 33, a RAM 34, and a ROM 35.
[0028]
A digital signal received by, for example, a parabolic antenna (not shown) is input to the tuning unit 20. The tuning unit 20 transmits information on the received digital signal to the CPU 27 or the like. The tuning unit 20 performs processes such as amplification, frequency conversion, and filtering, and outputs an IF signal. The output IF signal is supplied to the demodulation unit 21.
[0029]
The demodulation unit 21 performs digital orthogonal modulation, depuncturing, Viterbi decoding, deinterleaving, de-energy spreading, RS decoding, transport stream selection processing, and the like on the IF signal, and includes services that the viewer desires to receive. Output the transport stream that is being sent. In this transport stream, data is packetized in units of 188-byte transport stream packets. The transport stream output from the demodulation unit 21 is supplied to a descrambler 22.
[0030]
The descrambler 22 performs a descrambling process (decryption) on the transport stream scrambled using a predetermined encryption key. The descrambled transport stream is supplied to the separation unit 23 and the TS output port.
[0031]
The demultiplexing unit 23 refers to the PID (Packet Identification) of the supplied transport stream packet and converts the necessary transport stream packet (for example, video information, audio information, and data information of a program that the viewer desires to view). Filtering processing for extracting included transport stream packets and control transport stream packets in which information such as PSI (Program Specific Information) and SI (Services Information) required for reproduction of the program and the like are described. Do. A transport stream packet including video information, audio information, and data information is separated into video, audio, and data, respectively, and supplied to the decoder 24 as a video elementary stream (ES), audio ES, and data ES. You. The transport stream packet for control is supplied to the CPU 27.
[0032]
The decoder 24 performs a decompression process on the compression-encoded video ES, audio ES, and the like, and outputs baseband video ES, audio ES, and the like. The output video ES, audio ES, and the like are supplied to the synthesizer 25.
[0033]
The synthesizer 25 superimposes the supplied ES packets and simultaneously displays a plurality of videos via the display unit 22. The video ES and the audio ES that have been subjected to the superimposition processing are supplied to the encoder 26.
[0034]
The encoder 26 converts the supplied video ES, audio ES, and the like into an original analog signal. The converted analog signal is supplied to the television receiver 7.
[0035]
The CPU 27 controls the tuning unit 20, the demodulation unit 21, the descrambler 22, the separation unit 23, the decoder 24, the synthesizer 25, and the encoder 26. In addition, the CPU 27 generates a control signal based on the received information regarding the digital signal. Incidentally, the code of the control signal is the same as the code for controlling the transport stream in the electronic device 4. For example, if a code of a control signal corresponding to a left click of a mouse is generated as a control signal from the CPU 27 in the user operation unit 43, a code of a control signal corresponding to the above-described left click is transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 to the electronic device 4. Can also be sent. If a code of a control signal corresponding to “Alt + F” of the keyboard is generated as a control signal from the CPU 27 in the user operation unit 43, the digital broadcast receiver 2 sends the electronic device 4 a signal corresponding to “Alt + F”. A control signal code can also be transmitted.
[0036]
The IC card interface 28 is an interface for an IC card for conditional access (Conditional Access) to be provided in the digital broadcast receiver 1.
[0037]
The TS output port 29 is a port for transmitting the transport stream supplied from the descrambler 22 to the TS transmission system 5. That is, the digital broadcast receiving device 2 can extract the transport stream to be transmitted to the television receiver 7 and transmit the transport stream to the electronic device 4.
[0038]
The control signal output port 30 is a port to which an interface 6 such as a USB interface or a serial interface can be connected, and transmits a control signal generated by the CPU 27 to the electronic device 4 via the interface 6.
[0039]
In addition, the digital broadcast receiver 2 includes a modem 31 for connecting a telephone line for transmitting and receiving data to and from a public communication network, a flash memory 33 for storing predetermined data, and a work area used for storing and developing data. And a ROM 35 for storing a program to be executed.
[0040]
That is, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 having the above-described configuration generates a control signal including the same type of code as the control signal of the electronic device 4 based on the information of the received digital signal, and transmits the control signal via the USB interface or the like. Transmission to the device 4 is enabled. Thus, it is possible to freely control the electronic device 4 based on the content of the received digital signal. For this reason, the digital broadcast receiving device 2 can also freely control, for example, the start or stop of recording of the transport stream transmitted to the electronic device 4 based on the content of the received digital signal. .
[0041]
Next, an operation example of the signal processing system 1 to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.
[0042]
First, in step S11, the digital broadcast receiving device 2 is activated and starts receiving digital signals. In step S21, the electronic device 4 is activated, and in step S22, a program for recording a transport stream is operated.
[0043]
Next, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 determines whether or not recording of the transport stream is necessary in step S12, and shifts to step S13 if necessary. If it is not necessary to record the transport stream, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S12, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 may determine whether transport recording is necessary, for example, based on information of the received digital signal.
[0044]
In step S13, the digital broadcast receiving device 2 transmits a control signal for recording a transport stream to the electronic device 4 via the interface 6. The electronic device 4 receives the transport stream from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 and proceeds to step S23 to record the transport stream in its own TS storage unit 45. Even after shifting to step S13, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 always receives the digital signal, and determines whether to generate the next control signal from the information of the received digital signal. Incidentally, the electronic device 4 that has proceeded to step S23 may record the transport stream endlessly until the next control signal is transmitted, or may stop recording the transport stream after a predetermined time.
[0045]
In step S14, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 determines whether the received digital signal includes information indicating that transport recording is to be stopped. As a case where the information indicating that the recording of the transport stream is to be stopped is included, for example, "there is no return from the audio processing system", "the processing of the decoder 24 has stopped", or the like is determined in advance. Is also good.
[0046]
Next, the process proceeds to step S15, and the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 determines whether to continue or stop recording the transport stream being performed in the electronic device 4, based on the determination in step S15. As a result, when it is determined that the recording of the transport stream should be stopped, the process proceeds to step S16, and the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 instructs the electronic device 4 to stop recording the transport stream. Send a control signal. On the other hand, if it is determined that the recording of the transport stream should be continued, the process returns to step S14.
[0047]
Upon receiving the control signal from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 to stop recording the transport stream, the electronic device 4 proceeds to step S14, and stops recording the transport stream.
[0048]
As described in detail above, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 2 to which the present invention is applied starts recording the transport stream transmitted to the electronic device 4 based on the information of the received digital signal, Stream recording can be stopped. For this reason, for example, by linking a control signal for starting or stopping recording of a transport stream at the time of debugging of a program of a received digital signal or at the time of occurrence of an error, it is impossible to predict when the occurrence will occur in real time. The transport stream can be appropriately recorded even for debugging of the broadcast, and the transport stream at the location of the problem can be easily specified. As a result, the transport stream at the time of debugging or error can be automatically recorded without human intervention, and by analyzing the transport stream, the cause of the error can be determined and appropriate measures can be taken. .
[0049]
Further, in the electronic device 4, as a function of the TS storage unit 45, a transport stream can be recorded by repeatedly looping a part of a hard disk or a memory. For this reason, the electronic device 4 can appropriately stop the recording at the time of debugging or an error while repeatedly recording the transport stream in the recording area of the minimum capacity in the minimum time. As a result, even if an error or a defect of the digital signal that is difficult to predict occurs, a necessary transport stream can be written in the minimum recording area of the TS storage unit.
[0050]
Further, the code of the control signal transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 to the electronic device 4 can be the same type as the code of the control signal generated by the user operation unit 43 in the electronic device 4. Thus, the same type of control signal can be transmitted to an existing personal computer as long as a USB port or the like for connecting the interface 6 is built in. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to add or add a unit or change the setting to the existing electronic device 4, and the advantage can be maintained from the viewpoint of efficiency.
[0051]
Also, by using a personal computer or the like that can analyze the recorded transport stream each time as the electronic device 4, the transport stream at the start of recording or immediately before the stop of recording can be analyzed, and errors or defects in the digital reception signal can be analyzed. Can be easily identified as whether the cause is a defect in the transport stream itself or whether the program of the digital reception signal is misinterpreted.
[0052]
Further, by using a personal computer having a function of reproducing the recorded transport stream as the electronic device 4, it is possible to improve the debugging efficiency by constantly reproducing the recorded transport stream.
[0053]
In the present invention, an example in which the transport stream transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving device 2 to the electronic device 4 is mainly described has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. Any operation of the electronic device 4 such as reproduction may be controlled through a control signal.
[0054]
【The invention's effect】
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention generates a control signal including a code of the same type as a control signal of an electronic device based on information of a received digital signal, and transmits the control signal to the electronic device via a USB interface or the like. Can be.
[0055]
Thereby, based on the content of the received digital signal, it is possible to freely control the electronic device,
Further, in the signal processing system according to the present invention, in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, a control signal for controlling a transport stream transmitted by transmitting a transport stream generated by demodulating a received carrier wave to an electronic device and transmitting the transport stream to the electronic device via a network. Then, the electronic device controls the transport stream transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving device based on the control signal received from the digital broadcast receiving device.
[0056]
By linking the control signal when debugging a digital signal program or when an error occurs, the transport stream can be recorded properly even when debugging a real-time broadcast that cannot predict when it will occur. And the transport stream at the problem location can be easily specified. As a result, the transport stream at the time of debugging or error can be automatically recorded without human intervention, and by analyzing the transport stream, the cause of the error can be determined and appropriate measures can be taken. .
[0057]
Also, in an electronic device, a transport stream can be recorded by repeatedly looping a part of the TS storage unit, and even if an error or a defect of a digital signal that is difficult to predict occurs, a minimum recording of the TS storage unit is performed. The required transport stream can be written in the area.
[0058]
Also, by adding a control signal code transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving apparatus to the electronic device to the same type of control signal code generated by the user operation unit in the electronic device, a unit can be added to or added to the electronic device. Alternatively, there is no need to change the settings, and the superiority can be maintained from the viewpoint of efficiency.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a signal processing system to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a digital broadcast receiving device.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a signal processing system to which the present invention is applied.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 signal processing system, 2 digital broadcast receiving device, 4 electronic equipment, 5 TS transmission system, 6 interface, 7 television receiver, 20 channel selector, 21 demodulator, 22 descrambler, 23 separator, 24 decoder, 25 synthesizer , 26 encoder, 27 CPU, 28 IC card interface, 29 TS output port, 30 control signal output port, 31 modem, 33 flash memory, 34 RAM, 35 ROM

Claims (15)

In a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that receives a digital broadcast in which a transport stream is applied as a broadcast signal,
Demodulation means for demodulating a received carrier wave and outputting a transport stream;
Stream transmission means for transmitting the transport stream output from the demodulation means to an electronic device,
A digital broadcast receiving apparatus, comprising: control signal transmitting means for transmitting a control signal for controlling the transmitted transport stream to the electronic device. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control signal transmitting unit transmits a control signal of the same type as a code for controlling a transport stream in the electronic device to the electronic device. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control signal transmitting means transmits the control signal via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control signal transmitting means transmits said control signal via a serial interface. 2. The digital broadcast according to claim 1, wherein the control signal transmitting unit transmits a control signal indicating that recording of a transport stream is started or stopped in the electronic device to the electronic device. Receiver. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control signal generating means for generating the control signal according to a received carrier wave. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control signal transmitting means is constituted by a detachable unit. In a signal processing system that performs a predetermined process by transmitting a transport stream received by a digital broadcast receiving device to an electronic device,
A transport stream is generated by demodulating the received carrier wave, the generated transport stream is transmitted to the electronic device, and a control signal for controlling the transmitted transport stream is transmitted to the electronic device via an interface. A digital broadcast receiving device for transmitting,
A signal processing system comprising: an electronic device that controls a transport stream transmitted from the digital broadcast receiving device based on the received control signal. 9. The signal processing system according to claim 8, wherein the digital broadcast receiving device transmits a control signal of the same type as a code for controlling a transport stream in the electronic device to the electronic device. 9. The signal processing system according to claim 8, wherein the interface is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. 9. The signal processing system according to claim 8, wherein said interface is a serial interface. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast receiving device transmits a control signal indicating that recording of a transport stream is started or stopped in the electronic device to the electronic device. Receiver. 13. The signal processing system according to claim 12, wherein the electronic device receives a control signal from the digital broadcast receiving device to start the recording, and starts recording the transmitted transport stream. 13. The signal processing system according to claim 12, wherein the electronic device receives a control signal from the digital broadcast receiving device to stop the recording, and stops recording the transmitted transport stream. 9. The signal processing system according to claim 8, wherein the digital broadcast receiving device includes a control signal generating unit that generates the control signal according to a received carrier.

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