JP2005210183A - Digital broadcast receiver and updating method of program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast receiver capable of transferring a program for update to an external apparatus, and a method of updating the program of an external apparatus of the digital broadcast receiver. <P>SOLUTION: The digital broadcast receiver 1 acquires a maker ID/type ID from a maker ID/type ID recorder 21 when an external apparatus 2 is firstly connected to an IEEE 1394 terminal 16 via an IEEE 1394 terminal 24, and acquires the version information of a program stored in a program 22 from a program management section 23. The acquired information is managed by an external apparatus information management section 14. After that, when an additional information decoder 13 extracts the program code of the new version of the external apparatus 2 from a digital broadcast signal, the program code is stored in a nonvolatile memory 15, and it is transferred to the external apparatus 2 when the external apparatus 2 is reconnected. The external apparatus 2 rewrites the program memory 22 with the transferred program code of new version to update the program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver, and more particularly to a digital broadcast receiver to which an external device is connected and a method for updating a program of the external device connected to the digital broadcast receiver.

  In a digital broadcast such as a digital television broadcast, a code of a program for controlling a device of a digital broadcast receiver is transmitted in addition to an original broadcast signal. For example, in digital television broadcasting, additional information including the above program code and the like is time-multiplexed with video and audio signals compressed by MPEG2 of the Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) standard, and a signal sequence called a transport stream packet It is broadcast as.

  A packet identifier PID is recorded at the beginning of the transport stream packet, and this PID identifies whether the current packet is a video packet, an audio packet, or an additional information packet. .

  In addition, an ID for identifying a model is assigned to each digital broadcast receiver, and the program code for the digital broadcast receiver includes header information such as the manufacturer ID, model ID, and program version of the model. The additional information packet described as is transmitted.

  When a digital broadcast receiver receives an additional information packet having its manufacturer ID and model ID written in the header information of the additional information packet, the digital broadcast receiver is digital if the program code included in the additional information packet is a new version. The program is downloaded to the program memory of the broadcast receiver and the device control program is updated (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

By the way, in order to connect an external digital device, the digital broadcast receiver is provided with a connection terminal of the IEEE 1394 standard, and is connected to an external device such as a digital recorder or a digital video camera. The external device connected to such a digital broadcast receiver also stores a device control program in a built-in program memory, like the digital broadcast receiver.
JP 2002-281402 (4th page, FIG. 1)

  However, when updating the program of these external devices, unlike the digital broadcast receiver, these devices are brought into the manufacturer and updated by the manufacturer.

  Therefore, it takes time until the update is performed, and there is a problem in that these external devices cannot be used until they are returned to hand.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcast receiver capable of transferring an update program to a device connected to an external device connection terminal and a method for updating a program of an external device connected to the digital broadcast receiver. There is to do.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, the additional information decoder that extracts additional information from the received digital broadcast signal, the external device connection terminal, the information that specifies the model of the external device connected to the external device connection terminal, and the An external device information management unit that manages version information of a program installed in the external device as external device information, and a version of the program for the external device included in the additional information extracted by the additional information decoder is the external A non-volatile memory for storing the program code of the program when the version is newer than the version described in the device information, and the program code stored in the non-volatile memory via the external device connection terminal A digital broadcast receiver is provided that transfers to the external device.

  Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, the information specifying the model of the external device connected to the external device connection terminal of the digital broadcast receiver and the version information of the program installed in the external device are acquired to obtain the external Generating device management data; extracting a program code of the program installed in the external device from a digital broadcast signal; and comparing the external device management data with the program code for the external device Determining whether it corresponds to the code of the program, and when the program code corresponds to the code of the program for the external device, the version of the program code is checked against the external device management data Determine if the version of the program code is a new version A step of storing the program code in a nonvolatile memory when the program code is a new version, and the program code stored in the nonvolatile memory to the external device via the external device connection terminal There is provided a program update method comprising the steps of: transferring and rewriting the contents of a program memory built in the external device into the transferred program code.

  According to the present invention, since the program code of the external device extracted from the digital broadcast signal can be transferred to the external device via the external device connection terminal of the digital broadcast receiver, the user can update the program of the external device. It can be done easily.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

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

  The digital broadcast receiver 1 includes a tuner 11 that selects a channel set by a user from a digital broadcast wave received by an antenna 3, video data, audio data, and additional information on a transport stream packet of the selected channel. A demultiplexer 12 that separates data and an additional information decoder 13 that extracts additional information from the transport stream packet separated by the demultiplexer 12 to extract additional information. Program information is included in the additional information extracted by the additional information decoder 13.

  The digital broadcast receiver 1 also has an IEEE 1394 terminal 16 that conforms to the IEEE 1394 standard as an external device connection terminal, and an external device information management unit 14 that manages information about the external device collected through the IEEE 1394 terminal 16 as external device management data. And a non-volatile memory 15 for storing an upgraded version of the program of the external device from the additional information extracted by the additional information decoder 13 based on the external device management data.

  Next, an operation in which the digital broadcast receiver 1 updates a program installed in an external device such as a digital recorder or a digital video camera will be described.

  Here, the external device 2 includes a manufacturer ID / model ID recording unit 21 in which a manufacturer ID and a model ID are recorded, a program memory 22 in which a program is installed, management of program version information and reading / writing of the program memory 22. It is assumed that a program management unit 23 that manages writing and an IEEE 1394 terminal 24 are provided. The external device 2 is connected to the digital broadcast receiver 1 by connecting the IEEE 1394 terminal 24 and the IEEE 1394 terminal 16 of the digital broadcast receiver 1 with an IEEE 1394 standard cable.

  First, when the external device 2 is connected to the digital broadcast receiver 1 for the first time, the digital broadcast receiver 1 sends the manufacturer ID of the external device 2 and the manufacturer ID / model ID recording unit 21 via the IEEE1394 terminals 16 and 24. The model ID is acquired, and the version information of the program installed in the external device 2 is acquired from the program management unit 23. Based on these pieces of information, the external device information management unit 14 generates external device management data related to the external device 2.

  In general, the connection of the external device 2 using the IEEE 1394 terminal 16 is often performed as necessary. Therefore, the external device information management unit 14 acquires the manufacturer ID / model ID every time the external device 2 is connected, and checks whether the external device has generated external device management data in the past.

  Thereafter, each time the program code is extracted from the additional information decoder 13, the external device information management unit 14 sets the manufacturer ID / model ID in the header information of the extracted program code to the external device 2 in the external device management data. If the manufacturer ID / model ID is collated, if they match, the version information in the header information and the version information of the program of the external device 2 in the external device management data are further collated.

  As a result of the collation, if the version of the program code extracted by the additional information decoder 13 is newer than the version of the program of the external device 2 in the external device management data (upgraded version), it is extracted by the additional information decoder 13. The stored program code is stored in the nonvolatile memory 15.

  Thereafter, when the external device 2 is connected to the IEEE 1394 terminal 16 again, the new version of the program code stored in the nonvolatile memory 15 is transferred to the external device 2 via the IEEE 1394 terminals 16 and 24. In response to this, the program management unit 23 of the external device 2 rewrites the contents of the program memory 22 with the transferred new version of the program code.

  When the transfer of the new version of the program code to the external device 2 is completed, the external device information management unit 14 updates the version information of the program in the external device management data of the external device 2 to the new version information. Also, a new version of the program code that is no longer needed is erased from the nonvolatile memory 15.

Next, a method for updating the program of the external device using the digital broadcast receiver 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the external device 2 of FIG. 1 is taken as an example of the external device. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for creating external device management data when the external device 2 is connected to the digital broadcast receiver 1 for the first time. is there.

  When the external device 2 is connected to the IEEE 1394 terminal 16 for the first time (step S11), the external device information management unit 14 sends the manufacturer ID of the external device 2 from the manufacturer ID / model ID recording unit 21 via the IEEE 1394 terminals 16 and 24. Then, the model ID is acquired (step S12), and the version information of the program installed in the external device 2 is acquired from the program management unit 23 (step S13).

  The program management unit 23 generates and manages external device management data based on the acquired information (step S14).

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure from obtaining the update program for the external device 2 from the digital broadcast signal to storing it in the nonvolatile memory 15. Note that the external device 2 does not need to be connected to the digital broadcast receiver 1 during the processing of this flow. In general, the external device 2 is connected to the digital broadcast receiver 1 as necessary, and usually the external device 2 is not connected to the digital broadcast receiver 1 in many cases.

  When the additional information decoder 13 extracts the program code from the digital broadcast signal (step S21), the external device information management unit 14 collates the header information of the extracted program code with the external device management data (step S22).

  If the manufacturer ID / model ID in the header information matches the manufacturer ID / model ID in the external device management data, it is determined that the program code extracted by the additional information decoder 13 corresponds to the program for the external device 2 (step S23). Then, the version information of the extracted program code is collated with the version information in the external device management data. As a result, when it is determined that the extracted version of the program code is a new version (YES in step S24), the extracted program code is stored in the nonvolatile memory 15 (step S25).

  When it is determined that the program code extracted by the additional information decoder 13 does not correspond to the program for the external device 2 (NO in step S23), or when it is determined that the version of the extracted program code is not new (NO in step S24) ends the processing of this flow as it is.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transferring a new version of the program code stored in the nonvolatile memory 15 to the program memory of the external device 2.

  When the external device 2 once disconnected is connected to the IEEE 1394 terminal 16 again (step S31), the external device information management unit 14 is externally connected from the manufacturer ID / model ID recording unit 21 via the IEEE 1394 terminals 16 and 24. The manufacturer ID and model ID of the device 2 are acquired (step S32).

  The external device information management unit 14 collates the acquired manufacturer ID and model ID with the managed external device management data to confirm that the external device 2 is an external device that has been connected in the past ( Step S33).

  When there is a new version of the program for the external device 2 in the nonvolatile memory 15 (YES in step S34), the new version of the program is transferred to the external device 2 via the IEEE 1394 terminals 16 and 24 (step S35).

  In response to the transfer of the new version of the program, the program management unit 23 of the external device 2 rewrites the contents of the program memory 22. As a result, the program code stored in the program memory 22 is updated to a new version (step S36).

  Thereafter, the external device information management unit 14 updates the external device management data so as to rewrite the version information in the external device management data with the new version information (step S37).

  Further, the program code that has become unnecessary after the transfer is completed is deleted from the nonvolatile memory 15 (step S38), and the processing of this flow is terminated.

  If there is no new version of the program for the external device 2 in the nonvolatile memory 15 (NO in step S34), the processing of this flow is terminated as it is.

  According to the present embodiment, the external device program code extracted from the digital broadcast signal is stored in the digital broadcast receiver, and the external device connection terminal is set when the external device is connected to the digital broadcast receiver. The stored program code can be transferred to an external device. Therefore, the user can easily update the program of the external device.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the digital broadcast receiver which concerns on the Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the update method of the program which concerns on the Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the update method of the program which concerns on the Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the update method of the program which concerns on the Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Digital broadcast receiver 2 External device 3 Antenna 11 Tuner 12 Demultiplexer 13 Additional information decoder 14 External device information management part 15 Non-volatile memory 16, 24 IEEE1394 terminal 21 Manufacturer ID / model ID recording part 22 Program memory 23 Program management part

Claims (5)

An additional information decoder that extracts additional information from the received digital broadcast signal;
An external device connection terminal,
An external device information management unit for managing information specifying the model of the external device connected to the external device connection terminal and version information of a program installed in the external device as external device information;
A non-volatile memory for storing a program code of the program when the version of the program for the external device included in the additional information extracted by the additional information decoder is newer than the version described in the external device information; Comprising
A digital broadcast receiver, wherein the program code stored in the nonvolatile memory is transferred to the external device via the external device connection terminal.   2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the external device information is acquired from the external device via the external device connection terminal when the external device is first connected.   3. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein after the program code is transferred, the version information of the program described in the external device information is rewritten to the version information of the transferred program.   4. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the program code stored in the non-volatile memory is deleted from the non-volatile memory after the program code is transferred. 5. Acquiring information identifying the model of the external device connected to the external device connection terminal of the digital broadcast receiver and version information of the program installed in the external device to generate external device management data;
Extracting a program code of the program installed in the external device from a digital broadcast signal;
Determining whether the program code corresponds to the code of the program for the external device by collating with the external device management data;
When the program code corresponds to the code of the program for the external device, the version of the program code is compared with the external device management data to determine whether the version of the program code is a new version When,
Storing the program code in a non-volatile memory when the program code is a new version;
Transferring the program code stored in the nonvolatile memory to the external device via the external device connection terminal;
Rewriting the contents of a program memory built in the external device to the transferred program code.

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