JP2007067683A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a substantial switching speed when a channel switching operation is executed for digital broadcasting. <P>SOLUTION: Selected channels and other channels with long viewing times and provided with ranking data are allocated to a plurality of TV tuners 101 to 103. An MPEG decoding section 200 decodes only the selected channels. The ranking data are given to a channel preference information database 402 and the data are properly updated when the viewing time is counted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus.

  In recent years, digitalization of broadcasting has progressed, for example, BS digital broadcasting has already started, and terrestrial digital broadcasting has been gradually introduced from urban areas. Wave analog broadcasting will be completely replaced by terrestrial digital broadcasting. With the digitalization of broadcasting, the number of channels has been increasing, and the range of channel selection for viewers has increased. However, the expansion of the channel selection range makes it difficult for the viewer to efficiently find a favorite program, which is a cause of mental stress for the viewer. In order to cope with such a problem, a technique for facilitating selection of a favorite program by making it possible to register a key of a favorite program on the remote control of the TV receiver or classifying the key for each genre. Is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

By the way, in digital broadcasting, individual streams such as video, audio, and data are handled in a common signal format, and a multiple signal format called a transport stream that is transmitted as one stream is adopted. The transport stream is composed of a plurality of transport packets (TS packets). The TS packet is a 188-byte fixed-length packet, and includes a 4-byte fixed-length packet header, a variable-length adaptation field, and a payload. In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, OFDM demodulation / error correction is performed on such a signal, video and audio TS packets are separated therefrom, and then the MPEG compressed signal is decoded to obtain a video and audio signal. However, it takes some time to separate the TS packets and to decode the MPEG compressed signal. For this reason, in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, the display after switching the channel is usually about 0.5 to 2 seconds slower than the analog broadcast receiving apparatus in which the channel after the switching is immediately displayed only by switching the frequency, and the screen is displayed during that time. Problems such as freezing have occurred. Such a switching speed problem is a serious problem in a situation where the number of channels increases and the opportunities for channel switching increase, and is not sufficiently solved by the above-described conventional technology.
JP-A-2005-33268

  An object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcast receiving apparatus capable of shortening a substantial switching speed and reducing a viewer's mental stress when a channel switching operation is performed in digital broadcasting. .

  A semiconductor device according to one embodiment of the present invention outputs a plurality of tuners that demodulate a compressed signal from a received radio wave, a decoding unit that decodes a compressed signal demodulated by any one of the tuners, and a decoded signal An output unit, a channel selection unit that designates one of the arbitrary channels, and a preference that holds ranking data given to each channel based on the preference level of the channel or the preference level of content being broadcast in each channel An information database; and a tuner allocating unit that allocates a channel selected by the channel selection unit to one of the plurality of tuners and allocates a channel to the remaining tuners according to the ranking data, and the decoding unit includes the channel selection unit. It is configured to decode the output signal of the tuner to which the assigned channel is assigned. To.

  According to the present invention, when a channel switching operation is performed in digital broadcasting, it is possible to provide a digital broadcasting receiving apparatus capable of reducing the substantial switching speed and reducing the viewer's mental stress. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to this embodiment includes a tuner unit 100, an MPEG decoding unit 200, a display unit 300, a speaker 350, and a channel switching unit 400.

  The tuner unit 100 includes a plurality of, for example, three TV tuners 101, 102, and 103. A plurality of TV tuners 101, 102, and 103 are in charge of tuning the channel selected by the viewer, and others may be selected next by the viewer based on information described later. Responsible for tuning high channels.

  Each of the TV tuners 101 to 103 includes an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) demodulator 11, an error corrector 12, and a demultiplexer 13. The OFDM demodulator 11 has a function of extracting “0” and “1” digital signals from the carrier wave received by the antenna 1. The error corrector 12 has a function of correcting an error of a digital signal generated in the transmission path by using a Reed-Solomon code or the like and returning it to a TS packet transmitted from a broadcasting station. The demultiplexer 13 has a function of separating the video signal and the audio signal related to the selected channel from the error-corrected TS packet.

  The MPEG decoding unit 200 includes a plurality of MPEG decoders 201 to 203 provided corresponding to the plurality of TV tuners 101 to 103. The MPEG decoders 201 to 203 have a function of decoding a video signal and an audio signal from the TS packet separated by the demultiplexing unit 13. The decoded video signal and audio signal are output to the display unit 300 and the speaker 350. The TV tuners 101 to 103 and the MPEG decoders 201 to 203 are switched by the switching elements SW1 to SW2, and only the selected video and audio signals are decoded.

  The channel switching unit 400 includes a channel selection unit 401 for the viewer to select a favorite channel and a channel preference information database 402. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the channel preference information database 402 includes factors indicating the preference level (for example, viewing time) of each channel for the viewer, and ranking data of each channel determined based on the factor. It is a retained database. In FIG. 3, a higher ranking is given to a channel with a longer viewing time. Note that the preference degree data including the viewing time and the ranking data are appropriately updated as will be described later.

  The channel switching unit 400 includes a tuner assigning unit 403 that assigns channels to the TV tuners 101 to 103 based on the channel selection signal of the channel selection unit 401 and the data of the channel preference information database 402. That is, the tuner assigning unit 401 assigns the channel selected by the channel selecting unit 401 (here, channel (8)) to any one of the TV tuners 101 to 103 (here, the TV tuner 101). The remaining two TV tuners 102 and 103 are assigned channels with high rankings (here, channels (10) and (1)) based on data in the channel preference information database 402.

  Further, the tuner allocating unit 401 is current channel data (“1” or “0”) for distinguishing from the TV tuners 101 to 103 which are in charge of demodulation of the channel selected by the channel selection unit 401 from others. Is granted. “1” is assigned as the current channel data to the TV tuner (101 in this example) that is selected and demodulating the channel being displayed on the display unit 300, and the other TV tuners (102 and 103 in this example). "0" is assigned to.

  The channel switching unit 400 includes a channel allocation state storage unit 404 that stores channel allocation states to the TV tuners 101 to 103 by the tuner allocation unit 403. The channel assignment state storage unit 404 is preferably a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device such as a flash memory. After the channel assignment is completed, the tuner assignment unit 403 transmits data related to the assignment to the channel assignment state storage unit 404, and the channel assignment state storage unit 404 stores this data. The stored data is updated each time a channel is newly selected by the channel selection unit 401. When the power switch of the digital broadcast receiver is turned off and then turned on again, the stored data in the storage unit 404 is used as so-called “last channel data”, and the channel selection state before the power is turned off is reproduced. Is done.

  Further, the channel switching unit 400 includes a switching control unit 405 for switching and controlling the above-described switching elements SW1 to SW3 to connect any one of the TV tuners 101 to 103 to the MPEG decoders 201 to 203. .

  The switching control unit 405 receives the switching signal from the tuner allocating unit 403 and turns off the switching elements SW1 to SW3 connected to any one of the TV tuners 101 to 103 to which the current channel data “1” is given. Switch from conducting state to conducting state.

  The channel switching unit 400 includes a timer 406 and a data update unit 407. The timer 406 measures a time T until one channel is selected by the channel selection unit 401 and the next channel is selected. Then, the data update unit 407 updates the data in the channel preference information database 402 based on the measured time T.

  The operation of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the power switch of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus is turned on (S1), the tuner allocating unit 403 first reads out data stored in the channel allocation state storage unit 404 (S2). At this time, the channel assignment state storage unit 404 stores data of the channel assignment state (including the channel (last channel) viewed immediately before the power was turned off) immediately before the power switch was turned off last time. Here, as shown in FIG. 5A, immediately before the power switch is turned off last time, channels (8), (10), (1) are assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103, respectively. Consider that channel (8) was being watched. The channel assignment state data is read from the channel assignment state storage unit 404 and assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103 (S3). Thereby, the channel assignment state immediately before the power switch is turned off is reproduced after the power switch is turned on.

  Thereafter, when the channel (10) is newly selected by the channel selection unit 401 (S4), the tuner assignment unit 403 indicates that the newly selected channel (10) is currently selected by the TV tuners 101 to 103. Whether it is currently demodulated is confirmed by reading the data in the channel assignment state storage unit 404 (S5).

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the channel (10) is already assigned to the TV tuner 102. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, the tuner assignment unit 403 switches the current channel data of the TV tuner 102 from “0” to “1”, and changes the current channel data of the other TV tuners 101 and 103 to “0”. " In response to the switching of the current channel data, a switching signal is transmitted to the switching control unit 405 (S6), and the switching element SW1 is turned on and the other switching elements SW1 and SW3 are turned off. As a result, the channel (10) can be viewed instead of the channel (8). In this case, demodulation, error correction, demultiplexing, and the like of the video and audio signals of the channel (10) are performed in parallel before the channel selection operation (S4), that is, during viewing of the channel (8). Therefore, the display of the channel (10) on the display unit 300 is promptly performed after the channel selection operation of the channel (10) without waiting for the elapse of time such as demodulation and decoding required conventionally.

  Subsequently, the tuner assigning unit 403 acquires ranking data from the channel preference information database 402 (S7), and assigns channels with higher rankings to the remaining TV tuners 101 and 103 other than the TV tuner 102 (S8). Here, channels (8) and (1) are assigned. When channel assignment to all TV tuners 101 to 103 is completed in this way, the tuner assignment unit 403 overwrites the assignment information on the channel assignment state storage unit 404 and updates the data stored in the channel assignment state storage unit 404. (S9).

  Next, when the channel (6) is newly selected by the channel selection unit 401 (S10), the tuner assignment unit 403 indicates that the newly selected channel (6) is currently selected by each of the TV tuners 101 to 103. It is confirmed by reading the data in the channel assignment state storage unit 404 whether or not the signal is demodulated by (S11).

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the channel (6) is not assigned to any of the TV tuners 101 to 103. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5C, the tuner assigning unit 403 assigns the channel (6) instead of the channel (1) to the TV tuner 103, for example, and demodulates the video and audio signals ( S12). At the same time, the tuner assigning unit 403 switches the current channel data of the TV tuner 103 from “0” to “1”, and sets the current channel data of the other TV tuners 101 and 102 to “0”. In response to the switching of the current channel data, a switching signal is transmitted to the switching control unit 405 (S13), and the switching element SW3 is turned on and the other switching elements SW1 and SW2 are turned off. As a result, the channel (6) can be viewed instead of the channel (10). However, in this case, the demodulation of the video and audio signals of the channel (6) is started after the channel selection operation (S10). The time will be longer.

  Subsequently, the tuner assigning unit 403 acquires ranking data from the channel preference information database 402 (S14), and assigns channels with higher rankings to the remaining TV tuners 101 and 102 other than the TV tuner 103 (S15). Here, channels (8) and (10) are assigned. When channel assignment to all the TV tuners 101 to 103 is completed in this way, the tuner assignment unit 403 overwrites the channel assignment state storage unit 404 with the assignment information and updates the channel assignment state storage unit 404 (S16). ).

  Thereafter, when the power switch of the digital signal receiving apparatus is turned off (S17), the data updating unit 407 updates the channel preference information database 402 based on the viewing time of the channel that was viewed immediately before, and ends the operation. The power is turned off. Next, when the power switch is turned on, the first channel assignment is performed based on the channel assignment state data shown in FIG.

  During the power switch ON operation (S1) and the channel selection operation (S4, S10), the timer 406 measures the viewing time of the selected channel or the last channel. The measured viewing time data is transmitted to the data update unit 407, and the data update unit 407 updates the channel preference information database 402 based on this data. However, it is not necessary to update the data every time the channel selection operation is performed. For example, the data may be accumulated in the data update unit 407 and performed every predetermined time.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, one of a plurality of TV tuners 101 to 103 is assigned a selected channel, and the other TV tuners have a long viewing time (high ranking), and viewers Channels that are likely to be selected are assigned. For this reason, when a channel with a high ranking is selected, the channel switching time can be shortened. Sometimes, a channel with a low ranking is selected. In this case, as in the conventional case, a channel switching time of about 1.5 to 2.0 seconds is required, but the average switching time is shortened. be able to. As an example, consider a case where the probability of selecting the top three channels (8), (1), and (10) with high ranking is 75%, and the probability of selecting other channels is 25%. In this case, in the conventional apparatus, the channel switching time is always 1.5 to 2.0 seconds. On the other hand, in the case of the apparatus of the present embodiment, the channel switching time is substantially 0 seconds for the top three channels in the ranking, and the channel switching time is 1.5 to 2.0 seconds for the lower channels as in the prior art. . However, the average switching time is 1.5 to 2.0 × 0.25 = 0.5 seconds, which is ¼ of the conventional time. Therefore, the viewer's mental stress can be reduced.

  [Second Embodiment] Next, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the overall configuration of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 1 as in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted. In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of this embodiment, 99 channels (01) to (99) can be viewed, and the viewer first presses the 10th digit of the channel number with the remote controller or the like. Then, the channel is tuned by pressing the digit of the 1's digit.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the ranking data of each channel is stored in the channel preference information database 402 as in the first embodiment. Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, data of a channel (popular channel) having a high ranking among a plurality of channels having a common number of 10 is stored in the preference information database 402. For example, among the ten channels (01) to (09), three channels (05), (07), and (08) having a high ranking are extracted and shown as “popular channels” as shown in FIG. To store. In this embodiment, this data is used to substantially shorten the channel switching time.

  The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the user presses the button of the tenth digit of the channel for channel selection (S21), the data of the three channels having the highest ranking among the channels having the tenth digit are channel preference information. Read from the database 402 (S22). Here, assuming that (4) is pressed as the number of the tenth place, the channels (45), (46), (48) having the highest ranking among the channels (40) to (49) from the database 402. The channel number is read out. The channels (45), (46), and (48) are assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103 (S23), and the TV tuners 101 to 103 start demodulating the video and audio signals of the channels.

  Subsequently, the button with the number of the first digit of the channel number is pressed (S24). At this time, if the channel that is definitely selected in S21 and S24 has already been assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103 (Y in S25), the program of that channel can be immediately displayed on the display unit 300 (S26). ). On the other hand, if the selected channel number is different from the channel already assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103 (N in S25), the selected channel is assigned to one of the TV tuners 101 to 103 ( S27). The TV tuner which has received this channel assignment starts demodulation operation and the like, and for example, display on the display unit 300 is started after a required time of 1.5 to 2.0 seconds.

  According to such a processing procedure, for a popular channel with a high probability of being selected by the viewer, the channel switching time is significantly shortened compared to the conventional method. On the other hand, when a channel that is not a popular channel is selected, it is necessary to wait for the channel switching time to elapse as in the conventional case. However, as in the first embodiment, the average channel switching time of the entire apparatus is shorter than in the conventional case. Although an example in which the channel number is a two-digit number from 01 to 99 has been described here, the present invention is not limited to this, and a channel number having three or more digits is given. It is also applicable when

  [Third Embodiment] Next, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Since the overall configuration of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 1 as in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted. In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of this embodiment, the channel selection unit 401 changes the channel currently displayed in the order of so-called channel feed buttons (1 → 3 → 4 → 6... Or vice versa) This is intended to increase the channel switching speed when a button (which sequentially switches to adjacent channels) is operated continuously within a certain period.

  When the channel advance “+” or “−” button is pressed only once, the channel (N ± 1) next to the channel (N) being displayed and the channel preference are displayed as in the first embodiment. Channels whose ranking is high by the data in the information database 402 are assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103.

  On the other hand, if the currently displayed channel is channel (N) and the channel feed “+” or “−” button is continuously pressed for a long time, this channel (N ) Channels (N ± 1), (N ± 2), and (N ± 3) having numbers adjacent to each other in the feed direction are assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103. Thereby, the channel switching speed when the channel feed button is continuously pressed for a long time can be increased.

  Next, the operation of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When channel (N) is selected by pressing the channel advance “+” button and the channel advance “+” button is continuously pressed (S31), the tuner assigning unit 403 determines the channel with the highest ranking. Is assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103, and the selected channel (N) and two channels (N + 1) and (N + 2) whose channel numbers are adjacent in the sending direction are assigned to the TV tuners 101 to 103 ( S32). Thereby, when the channel feed button 101 is continuously pressed, the channel switching speed can be increased regardless of the ranking level. When the pressing of the channel advance “+” button is stopped (S33), the selected channel M and the channel with the highest ranking in the channel preference information database 402 are then set to the TV tuner, as in the first embodiment. 101 to 103 are allocated by the tuner allocation unit 403 (S34). The operation in the case of the channel feed “−” button is substantially the same as that of FIG. 9 except that the feed direction is different.

  Although the embodiments of the invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various substitutions, additions, deletions, and the like can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the ranking is determined based on the total viewing time, but in addition to this, the ranking is determined in consideration of other factors, and the data is stored in the channel preference information database 402. May be stored. For example, in the above embodiment, the preference level of the channel is determined based on the viewing time for each channel, and the ranking is given to each channel. In addition, the ranking of each channel may be determined and assigned based on the preference level of the content being broadcast in each channel. For example, if the data of the genre of the content preferred by the viewer is acquired in advance by some method, and there is a channel in which the content of this genre is aired, the channel regardless of the viewing time of the channel The ranking may be raised only during the broadcast.

  Also, for example, if you happen to watch a channel (A) that has a low ranking because you haven't watched it before, and you happen to see it often in the last few days, raise the ranking of that channel (A) in a timely manner. It is also possible to do so. Also, a total viewing time ranking may be created for each specific date and time, and channels may be allocated based on this ranking. For example, if a certain channel (B) has a low ranking because it is not usually seen, but it is often seen only in a certain time zone of a certain day, The setting that the ranking of the channel (B) is raised compared to other time zones is also possible.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the digital broadcast receiver which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. An example of the data structure stored in the channel preference information database 402 of FIG. 1 is shown. The function of the tuner allocating unit 403 is described. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the digital broadcast receiver which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The operation of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment is described. An example of the data stored in the channel preference information database 402 in the digital broadcast receiver which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is shown. An example of the data stored in the channel preference information database 402 in the digital broadcast receiver which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is shown. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the digital broadcast receiver which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. A third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Tuner part, 200 ... MPEG decoding part, 300 ... Display part, 350 ... Speaker, 400 ... Channel switching part.

Claims (5)

Multiple tuners that demodulate the compressed signal from the received radio waves,
A decoding unit for decoding the compressed signal demodulated by any one of the tuners;
An output unit for outputting the decoded signal;
A tuning section that specifies one of the arbitrary channels;
A preference information database that holds ranking data given to each channel based on the preference level of the channel or the preference level of the content being broadcast in each channel;
A tuner assignment unit that assigns a channel selected by the channel selection unit to one of the plurality of tuners and assigns a channel to the remaining tuners according to the ranking data;
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus, wherein the decoding unit is configured to decode an output signal of a tuner to which the selected channel is assigned. The tuner allocating unit, when channel selection is performed by the channel selection unit, and when the selected channel is allocated to any of the plurality of tuners, the decoding unit outputs a compressed signal output by the tuner Executes the switching control so that the
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein when the selected channel is not assigned to any of the plurality of tuners, the channel is assigned to any one of the plurality of tuners. Digital broadcast receiver.   The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit that stores a channel assignment state by the tuner assigning unit. The channel selection unit is configured to be able to perform channel selection by selecting a lower digit number in order after selecting a higher digit number of a channel number having a plurality of digits,
The channel preference information database holds the ranking data between channels having the same upper digit,
The tuner assigning unit, after the channel number is selected by the channel selection unit, assigns a channel having a higher ranking among the channels corresponding to the number to the tuner. The digital broadcast receiver according to 1. The channel selection unit includes a channel instruction mechanism that sequentially switches the currently displayed channel to a channel having an adjacent channel number,
The tuner assigning unit sequentially assigns a plurality of channels whose channel numbers are adjacent to the currently displayed channel in the feed direction to the tuner in a case where the instruction is continuously given within a certain period from the channel instruction mechanism. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1.

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