JP2006157595A - Portable digital terrestrial broadcasting receiver and reception method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable digital terrestrial broadcasting receiver which shortens a starting time as a whole. <P>SOLUTION: A nonvolatile storage unit 112 is provided for accumulating an initialization parameter that is acquired when a digital terrestrial broadcasting is received, particularly for a demodulation unit 103, an audio synthesizing unit 105 and a video synthesizing unit 107. When next turning on a power source, before acquiring a parameter contained in broadcasting data, an initial setting means 114 implements initialization utilizing the parameter of the last reception stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 112, thereby shortening starting processing of an entire system. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver having a function of shortening a startup time.

  In recent years, it has become common to digitize broadcast media such as video and audio and handle them flexibly as multimedia. Along with this, various devices that have been commercialized with analog technology have been digitized, creating a large market for replacing conventional analog devices as “digital home appliances”.

  Among them, the receiver for terrestrial digital television broadcasting is considered to replace the terrestrial analog TV that is prevalent in almost 100% of all households.

  In digital terrestrial television broadcasting, transmission can be performed in a plurality of layers, and mobile reception / mobile reception using a portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver is performed using one layer. Yes. For example, a television receiver integrated with a mobile phone is assumed, so that the user can easily enjoy television on the go.

  In general, portable devices including such portable terrestrial digital broadcast receivers are battery-driven. For the limited battery capacity, the function block that is not currently used in the device is completely turned off for the purpose of reducing the current consumption and extending the driving time as much as possible, and reducing the number of times of charging as much as possible. Processing is generally implemented.

  For example, in the case of a mobile phone having a terrestrial digital broadcast reception function, in order to make the normal telephone standby time as long as possible, it is conceivable to perform a control to turn off all the functional blocks related to terrestrial digital broadcast reception except when watching TV.

  By the way, digital home appliances that handle multimedia generally tend to have a slower initial startup of the device than analog devices that have been used for similar purposes. The reason for this is that data that has been digitized as multimedia is compressed to take into account transmission efficiency and storage efficiency, additional information is added to multiplex multiple types of data, and data is rearranged. This is because, unlike analog data, the contents of the data cannot be confirmed simply by cutting a part of the data. In order to restore such data to the original data, it is necessary to accumulate a certain amount of data and prepare key information for restoration.

  Digital home appliances have a high user interface and high convenience, but generally have a tendency to make the system complex, and have a demerit that the scale of software for controlling the entire system becomes large. As a result, there is a problem that the number of processing steps that must be passed before starting a certain function increases, and it takes time to activate the function.

  Especially in the case of a portable device, since the control to turn off the power of unused function blocks is performed as described above, it takes a very long time until the target function can be finally used. .

  From the user's standpoint, it is a problem that the absolute value of the startup time itself is long, but the gap with the startup time of the analog devices used so far is the most dissatisfied. It seems to be a part that seems to be.

  In order to solve such problems peculiar to digital devices, for example, in the case of a receiver for digital broadcasting, a method for predicting restoration information in a video signal based on previous information and reducing a time during which an image signal cannot be restored It is shown. (For example, see Patent Document 1)

JP 2001-69414 A (page 9, FIG. 1)

  However, in the conventional startup time shortening method in Patent Document 1, the main purpose is to reduce the startup time of only one functional block (video signal decoding process), and the startup of the entire system that the user should experience There was a problem that it was insufficient to make the entire time efficient.

As described above, the conventional portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver has a problem that it takes a very long time until the intended function can be finally used after activation.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver that shortens the startup time of the entire apparatus.

A portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention includes a demodulator that demodulates a received digital broadcast wave and outputs a demodulated signal, and converts the demodulated signal into an audio digital signal and a video based on a control parameter received from the demodulated signal. A separation unit that separates the digital audio signal; an audio decoding unit that decodes the audio digital signal into an audio signal based on a control parameter obtained from the audio digital signal output from the separation unit; and an image output from the separation unit A terrestrial digital broadcast receiving means comprising: a video decoding unit that decodes a video signal based on a control parameter obtained from the digital signal; and a power supply unit that supplies power to the demodulation unit, the separation unit, the audio decoding unit, and the video decoding unit;
Non-volatile storage means for storing the latest parameters obtained by the terrestrial digital broadcast receiving means, which are control parameters of the separation unit, the audio decoding unit, or the video decoding unit,
It comprises an initial setting means for reading out the control parameters stored in the non-volatile storage means when the power supply section is turned on and initially setting the demodulation section, separation section, audio decoding section, and video decoding section.

  According to the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver of the present invention, the parameters obtained at the time of normal reception before the previous power-off are saved, and the activation is performed by reusing them in the appropriate procedure at the time of this activation. The time has been shortened. As a result, even when the power-off control of the unused function block generally performed in the battery drive device is performed, the function can be restarted in a short time. As a result, it is possible to extend the battery driving time while maintaining the convenience when using the apparatus, and the convenience for the user can be enhanced.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
The portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 includes an antenna 101 for receiving a terrestrial digital broadcast wave, a receiving unit 102 that converts a frequency of a signal received by the antenna 101 and selectively amplifies the signal with a predetermined bandwidth, The demodulator 103 that demodulates the signal output from the unit 102 and outputs a digital signal that is converted into a data string, and the digital signal output from the demodulator 103 is separated into an audio digital signal, an image digital signal, and other control digital signals. A separation unit 104 is provided.

  Further, an audio decoding unit 105 that obtains an audio signal from each digital signal, an audio output unit 106 that outputs the audio signal as a sound wave, a video decoding unit 107 that obtains a video signal from each digital signal, a teletext data and a channel A presentation display unit 108 for presenting character data such as a display, a video / image output unit 109 for displaying an image by a video signal, a system bus 110 for exchanging signals between the units, and a user (not shown) An operation unit 111 including a key for inputting an operation for watching a television broadcast, a non-volatile storage unit 112 that stores a control parameter to be described later even after the power is turned off, and reproduces the memory when the power is turned on next time, A main storage unit 113 used when performing control and a control / arithmetic unit 114 for executing the various controls described above are provided.

Next, the operation of the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 will be described. In FIG. 1, the entire portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 is controlled by a control / calculation unit 114. Each processing unit described above constituting the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 is connected to and controlled by the control / arithmetic unit 114 via the system bus 110. Here, for convenience, the system bus 110 is described in common, but of course, it is not necessary for all the processing units to use the same system bus, and the same operation can be performed even when a plurality of system buses exist. it can. In addition, since the physical form of the system bus 110 is either a parallel bus or a serial bus is not an essential problem in the present invention, it is represented by a single line in FIG. Further, for convenience, the control / arithmetic unit 114 is expressed as one block, but there may be a configuration in which a plurality of processors physically exist and the entire control is performed while adopting mutual cooperation. .

  The receiving unit 102 down-converts the UHF band terrestrial digital broadcast wave input from the antenna 101 to a frequency band that can be processed by the demodulation unit 103. The demodulating unit 103 converts the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Modulation) signal down-converted by the receiving unit 102 into an TS (Transport Stream) by performing OFDM demodulation processing, and outputs it to the separating unit 104 I do. The demodulated TS, which is a demodulated data string, has a format in which a plurality of media such as video signals, audio signals, data broadcasting data, and control parameters (described later) are packet-multiplexed (not shown).

In the separation unit 104, the TS demodulated by the demodulation unit 103 is separated into packets for each media type (here, the media type is a signal such as audio, video, data broadcasting image, control parameter, etc.) To the processing unit corresponding to the media. In other words, the voice-related packet is transferred to the voice decoding unit 105, and after the decoding process is performed, the voice output unit 106 reproduces the voice. Similarly, a packet related to video is transferred to the video decoding unit 107, and after decoding processing is performed, the presentation / display unit 108 synthesizes a screen with a still image by data broadcasting, and finally the video / image output unit. 109.
The control parameters are processed as described below.

  That is, control parameters for controlling the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver and data for data broadcasting are transferred to the main storage unit 113 and the control / calculation unit 114 via the system bus 110. Data broadcasting packets are repeatedly multiplexed in the TS using the same repetitive transmission method called carousel transmission. Therefore, packets can be stored for a certain period of time, combined and analyzed at any point in time. Even if the reception of the broadcast is started, the same information can be received. Therefore, the control / arithmetic unit 114 checks the received packet, confirms that the data amount for one cycle of the carousel has been normally received, and then converts the data into significant data. The converted data includes not only information visible to the user but also various information such as information that can be displayed on the video / image display unit 109 by synthesizing the video data with the video data in the presentation display unit 108. It is possible. The separating unit 104, the audio decoding unit 105, the video decoding unit 107, and the like of FIG. 1 can perform normal processing by setting various setting conditions for processing a digital signal. This setting condition is called a control parameter.

  Before explaining the operation of the present invention, first, a general startup procedure for operating the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. This flow is executed in the control / arithmetic unit 114. Here, in order to help understanding, it is assumed that a broadcasting station for viewing is determined in advance. In the case of digital terrestrial television broadcasting, the physical channel number and the broadcasting station have a one-to-one correspondence, so that the setting parameters (in this case, the receiving frequency) for the receiving unit 102 are fixed at this stage.

First, in step S101, an activation start instruction is executed for all functional blocks. As for the receiving unit 102 and the demodulating unit 103, in step S102, parameters relating to the broadcasting station to be viewed are set, and the receiving operation is started.
Next, the control / calculation unit 114 checks whether or not the synchronization of the demodulation unit 103 has been established (S106). If OK, the separation unit starts to be activated in S504. That is, the TS data sent from the demodulator is analyzed and the initialization parameter is set in the separator (S505). Since this step S505 includes an analysis operation, it requires 5 to 10 times as much processing time as the other steps. If the separation start is OK, the video / audio decoding unit starts to be started (S507). That is, the ES data sent from the separation unit is analyzed, and initialization parameters are set in the video / audio decoding unit (S508). Since this step S508 also includes an analysis operation, the processing time is 5 to 10 times that of the other steps. After the initialization of the decoding unit is confirmed (S109), video / audio output is started (S110).

Thus, in terrestrial digital broadcasting, all necessary parameters are included in the data received by the functional blocks in order to operate the functional blocks of the separation unit 104 and the decoding units 105 and 107 in accordance with the broadcast contents. It has become a mechanism to receive. In other words, basically, initialization cannot be performed until the correct data arrives from the previous function block, and since the previous process includes analysis operations, it takes a long time to start. End up.
However, in the case of terrestrial digital broadcasting for mobile reception, the degree of freedom is limited compared to broadcasting for fixed reception. For example, there are restrictions due to a narrow transmission band of broadcasting and functional restrictions of receiving terminals that prioritize downsizing. As a result, there are a plurality of parameters themselves, but the parameters that are operated (used) by actual broadcasting are limited as compared with broadcasting for fixed reception. This means that there are more opportunities to use the same parameter. In fact, there are many cases where operation is always continued with fixed parameters.
Therefore, the start-up time of the entire system is shortened by modifying the start-up procedure of the process of the conventional control / calculation unit 114 (FIG. 3) as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  That is, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of FIG. 1. First, in step S101, an activation start instruction is executed for all functional blocks. Of course, it is not necessary that the time is strictly the same time. For example, the control / arithmetic unit 114 may perform processing step by step at the speed of the clock signal. Regarding the receiving unit 102 and the demodulating unit 103, in step S102, parameters relating to the broadcasting station to be viewed are set, and a normal receiving operation is started.

  Next, the control / calculation unit 114 reads the control parameter at the time of the previous normal reception from the non-volatile storage unit 112 in the process of S103 (the process of storing in the non-volatile storage unit 112 will be described later). The control parameters read out here are usually the same as the results obtained by analyzing the data currently received by each functional block (separation unit, audio / video decoding unit) or taking out from the received data. Strictly speaking, it may be different from the control parameter broadcast at the present time, but it is a value with a track record of operation, and is not a value that may cause an error in the functional block itself.

  The initial setting means 114a in the control / calculation unit 114 is based on the control parameter at the time of the previous normal reception obtained in the process of S103, and in the processes S104 and S105, the separation unit 104, the audio decoding unit 105, and the video decoding unit 107. Set initialization parameters for. Unlike the general processing procedure of FIG. 3, the demodulator 103 does not necessarily have to be synchronized at this point.

  After the initialization process for each functional block (separation unit, audio / video decoding unit) is completed, the synchronization of the demodulation unit 103 is confirmed in step S106. At this time, since another process is performed at the time from the initialization of the demodulator 103 to the synchronization confirmation, the number of confirmation loops until the synchronization is established is different from the general processing procedure in FIG. 3 (NG in S503). Thus, it is expected that the number of times of repeating the reconfirmation as NG in S106 is smaller than the number of times of repeating the reconfirmation).

  After the synchronization establishment of the demodulator 103 can be confirmed in step S106, it is confirmed in step S107 whether the separation unit 104 has correctly started the separation operation. The demodulator 103 can output correct data to the separator 104 even if the control / arithmetic unit 114 has not confirmed the state as long as synchronization is established. Therefore, if the previous parameter read in step S103 matches the parameter at the present time, the separation unit 104 is already operating normally when the initial setting unit 114a of the control / calculation unit 114 starts the processing S107. It becomes possible to proceed to the next processing quickly. Only when a difference from the current parameter is detected (NG in step S107), the initialization procedure is re-executed using the received new control parameter in the same manner as in the general method by the process of S108. It becomes possible to proceed to the next processing. At this time, the new control parameter is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 112 in step S90. In this way, the latest control parameter is always stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 112.

Similarly, in step S109, it is confirmed whether the audio decoding unit 105 and the video decoding unit 107 have correctly started the decoding operation. In the separation unit 104, as long as the initialized parameters are consistent with the data actually obtained, the correct data can be transmitted to the speech decoding unit 105 even if the control / calculation unit 114 does not confirm the state. It is possible to output to the video decoding unit 107. Therefore, if the previous control parameter read in step S109 matches the current control parameter, the audio decoding unit 105 and the video decoding unit 107 are already operating normally when the control / calculation unit starts the process S109. Therefore, it is possible to proceed to the next process quickly. Only when a difference from the current parameter is detected (NG in S109), the initialization procedure is re-executed using the received new control parameter in the same manner as in the general method by the process of S110, and the following is performed. It is possible to proceed to the process. At this time, the new control parameter is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 112 in step S91. In this way, the latest control parameter is always stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 112. In the above description, the separation unit control parameter and the decoding unit control parameter have been described without distinguishing them. Of course, both are different, and the nonvolatile storage unit stores them separately. Needless to say.
Note that step S504, step S107, and step S108 in FIG. 2 are separation procedures according to the present invention. Steps S507, S109, and S110 in FIG. 2 are an audio decoding procedure and a video decoding procedure according to the present invention. Steps S90 and S91 are storage procedures referred to in the present invention. Steps S103, S104, and S105 in FIG. 2 are initial setting procedures according to the present invention.

As described above, by the method shown in the flow of FIG. 2, the control parameters stored at the previous normal reception in the series of startup procedures are read out at the next startup and the initialization process of each functional block is performed in advance, so that FIG. Compared with a method of starting sequentially as in general processing, there is an advantage that the entire system can be controlled effectively and the entire starting time can be shortened. In order to explain this shortening effect, a time comparison time chart is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the processing time passage of the flow of FIG. 2 is indicated by 202, and the processing time passage of the flow of FIG. The reference numerals shown on the time chart indicate the corresponding steps in the flow of FIGS. The flow of FIG. 2 has three steps S103, 104, and 105 increased compared to the flow of FIG. 3, but steps S505 and 508 have decreased, and the decreased steps include steps that include analysis operations. Therefore, the time reduction effect appears.
Even if the parameter currently being received is different from the parameter at the time of normal reception last time, it is only necessary to analyze the data and reset the parameter in the same way as in general processing, and the time saving effect can be obtained. However, there is no problem that the entire portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 cannot be activated.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the startup time of the entire system is shortened by using the parameters at the time of normal reception last time. However, if the number of days has elapsed since the last reception last time, the possibility that the parameters have changed has increased compared to the case of receiving the same day again or receiving it several days ago. End up. Even in the case of the same day, the possibility that the parameter is changed increases as the time difference increases. Therefore, if the schedule for viewing is known in advance (for example, reception reservation is set), the normal parameter is obtained immediately before the reception start time, so that it can be compared with the case of the first embodiment. It becomes possible to perform highly accurate initialization settings.

  For example, when viewing a television broadcast, a target program is determined in advance, and it is often known when the program starts. Therefore, the user reserves a program to be viewed in advance for the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1. The portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 automatically performs a series of start-up processes shown in FIG. 2 when the scheduled time approaches (for example, 5 minutes before), and after starting reception with the stored control parameters, Get the current normal parameters (if they have changed). After the result is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 112, the processing of each functional block is temporarily stopped.

  Thereafter, when it is time to actually watch the program, the control / calculation unit 114 starts activation of each functional block in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. At this time, the parameters for the previous normal reception stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 112 are just obtained immediately before. Therefore, the credibility is greatly increased as compared with the case where the parameter storage time is not limited. As a result, the chances of performing the recovery processing by the processing S108 and processing S110 in FIG. 2 are reduced, and the entire system can be started quickly. It becomes.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to shorten the start-up time of the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 by storing the parameter obtained at the time of normal reception last time and reusing it by an appropriate procedure. Become. As a result, even when the power-off control of the unused function block generally performed in the battery driving device is performed, the function can be restarted smoothly. As a result, it is possible to secure the battery driving time while maintaining the convenience when using the device, and the added value of the product can be increased.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver in Embodiment 1 and 2 by this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the starting procedure of the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the general starting procedure for operating a portable terrestrial digital broadcasting receiver. It is a time chart for demonstrating the time shortening effect of the flow of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver, 101 antenna,
102 receiving unit, 103 demodulating unit, 104 separating unit,
105 audio decoding units, 106 audio output units, 107 video decoding units,
108 presentation display unit, 109 video / image output unit,
110 system bus, 111 operation unit, 112 nonvolatile storage unit,
113 Main storage unit 114 Control / calculation unit 114a Initial setting means.

Claims (4)

A demodulator that demodulates the received digital broadcast wave and outputs a demodulated signal into a data string; and a separator that separates the demodulated signal into an audio digital signal and a video digital signal based on a control parameter extracted from the demodulated signal; An audio decoding unit that decodes the audio digital signal into an audio signal based on the control parameter output from the demultiplexing unit; a video decoding unit that decodes the audio signal into a video signal based on the control parameter output from the demultiplexing unit; A terrestrial digital broadcast receiving means having a power supply unit for supplying power to the demodulation unit, the separation unit, the audio decoding unit, and the video decoding unit;
Non-volatile storage means for storing the latest parameters obtained by the terrestrial digital broadcast receiving means, which are control parameters of the separation unit, the audio decoding unit, or the video decoding unit,
A portable device comprising: initial setting means for reading out the control parameters stored in the non-volatile storage means when the power supply section is turned on and initially setting the control section in the separation section, the audio decoding section, and the video decoding section. Type digital terrestrial broadcast receiver. Reservation means for setting an arbitrary reception start time and an arbitrary broadcast channel number,
Pre-starting means for automatically turning on the power of the portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver a predetermined time before reaching the reception start time, and the initial setting means before the reception time, the separation unit and voice decoding The portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein an initialization unit and a video decoding unit are initialized.   The portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined time is 10 seconds or more and 3 minutes or less. A demodulation procedure for demodulating the received digital broadcast wave and outputting a demodulated signal into a data string;
A separation procedure for automatically separating the demodulated signal into an audio digital signal and a video digital signal based on a control parameter extracted from the demodulated signal;
A voice decoding procedure for automatically decoding the voice digital signal into a voice signal based on the control parameter output from the separation unit;
A video decoding procedure for automatically decoding into a video signal based on the control parameters output from the separation unit;
In the reception procedure of the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver including the power control procedure for controlling the power supplied to the separation unit, the audio decoding unit, and the video decoding unit,
A storage procedure for automatically storing the latest one of the control parameters of the separation unit, the audio decoding unit, or the video decoding unit in a nonvolatile storage unit;
An initial setting procedure for reading out the control parameters stored in the non-volatile storage means when the power is turned on according to the power control procedure, and automatically initializing the parameters in the separation unit, the audio decoding unit, and the video decoding unit. A portable terrestrial digital broadcast receiver receiving method.

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