KR100312428B1 - Interactive Broadcast Terminal System - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an interactive broadcast terminal system, in order to provide an interactive broadcast terminal system using MPEG-4 / 7, receiving MPEG-2 transport stream data input to the interactive broadcast terminal system. Demultiplexing means for dividing and outputting data according to each content by using MPEG-2 transport stream information included in MPEG-2 transport stream data; A plurality of first storage means for storing the demultiplexed data through the demultiplexing means according to the contents; Processing means for processing user requirements for the content, and the like; A plurality of processing and decoding means for processing and decoding the demultiplexed data received from the plurality of first storage means according to the information from the processing means and the control of the control means; A plurality of second storage means for storing the processed and decoded data; Control means for controlling and rewriting the change in the data stored in the second storage means; Synthesizing and image output means for receiving data stored in the second storage means and synthesizing and outputting an image; And an audio output means for receiving and outputting sound data stored in the second storage means, and used for multimedia.

Description

Interactive Broadcast Terminal System

The present invention relates to a two-way interactive broadcast terminal system using the MPEG-4 / 7 international standard.

In the related art, since the interactive terminal system uses only a web-based technology such as HTML, there is a limit to the degree of freedom of content use or production and use system when implementing interactive broadcasting in a broadcasting environment. In addition, since the technology used is not an international standard technology, there is a problem that compatibility between systems does not exist.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, to provide an interactive interactive broadcast terminal system using MPEG-4 (7) to implement an efficient two-way interactive broadcast in a digital TV or set-top box Has its purpose.

1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an interactive broadcast terminal system according to the present invention;

2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system suitable for content transmission in the interactive broadcast terminal system of FIG. 1 in accordance with the present invention.

3 is a detailed block diagram illustrating a relationship between a demultiplexer, a PES analyzer, and a peripheral device in the interactive broadcast terminal system of FIG. 1 according to the present invention;

4 is a tag and code table for news information processed in an interactive broadcast terminal system according to the present invention.

5 is a tag and code table for processing and stock information in the interactive broadcast terminal system according to the present invention.

6 is a tag and code table for weather information processed in an interactive broadcast terminal system according to the present invention.

7 is a tag and code table for movie information processed in an interactive broadcast terminal system according to the present invention.

8 is a tag and code table for the performance information processed in the interactive broadcast terminal system according to the present invention.

9 is a tag and code table for advertisement information processed in an interactive broadcast terminal system according to the present invention.

10 is a detailed block diagram showing a control unit and a connection configuration thereof in the interactive broadcast terminal system of FIG. 1 according to the present invention;

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: packet demultiplexer 102, 104: private section

106: private table 108,112 ~ 116: packet header processing unit

110: storage device 118, 122 ~ 128, 148 ~ 160: memory

130,132: Buffer 134 ~ 146: Decoder

162: IP unit 164: user conversation processing unit

166: synthesis unit 168: video output unit

170: audio output unit 172: control unit

174 control unit

The present invention for achieving the above object, in the interactive broadcast terminal system,

Receives MPEG-2 transport stream data input to the interactive broadcasting terminal system and divides the data into contents according to contents using MPEG-2 transport stream information included in MPEG-2 transport stream data. Demultiplexing means for outputting; A plurality of first storage means for temporarily storing demultiplexed data through the demultiplexing means according to the contents; Processing means for processing user requirements for the content; A plurality of processing and decoding means for processing and decoding the demultiplexed data received from the plurality of first storage means according to the information from the processing and the control of the control means; A plurality of second storage means for temporarily storing the processed and decoded data; Control means for controlling the decoding process and controlling and rewriting when a change occurs in data stored in the second storage means; Synthesis and image output means for receiving data stored in the second storage means and synthesizing and outputting an image; And audio output means for receiving and outputting sound data stored in the second storage means.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of the present invention;

1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an interactive broadcast terminal system according to the present invention. With reference to FIG. 1, the system structure of this invention is demonstrated in detail.

MPEG-2 transport stream (TS) data input to the interactive broadcast terminal system is input to the packet demultiplexer 100. The packet demultiplexer 100 multiplexes the MPEG-2 transport stream data and uses the Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) and the SI information in the MPEG-2 transport stream. PID) is identified and transmitted to the corresponding packet header analyzer 102, 108, 112 to 116,120.

Data is transmitted to decoders 134 to 146 appropriate to the corresponding contents of each packet. Thereafter, each content is transmitted to the packet header analyzer 102, 108, 112 to 116, 120, the private table 106, and the private sections 102 and 106. Each packet header analyzing unit 102,108,112 to 116,120 analyzes the data in the received packet header included in each packet and passes the data through the memory 118 to 128 or the buffers 130 and 132 under the control of the control unit 172 to code. Is transmitted to the decoding devices 134 to 146.

The temporary memory 118 through 128 and the buffers 130 and 132 are passed through. In particular, the XML data is passed through the DSM-CC processing unit 102. Each decoder 134 to 146 decodes the input data and transmits the decoded data to the combining unit 166 and the image output unit 168 or the audio output unit 170 through the temporary memory 148 to 160. At this time, the processing of the synchronization signal and time information between the contents is performed by the control unit 172, and the user's requirements for the contents are related to the decoders 134 to 146 and IP (Internet Protocol) related by the user conversation processing unit 164. Is transferred to the unit 162.

The packet demultiplexer 100 distinguishes Program Specific Infomation (PSI) and Elementary Stream (ES) data delivered to an MPEG-2 transport stream and delivers the separated data to a suitable module. Do this.

MPEG-2 transport stream used in the system includes: 1) program characteristic information-PAT (Program Association Table), PMT (Program Map Table); 2) Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) information; 3) Global Scene Discription (GSD) information; 4) MPEG-2 video data; 5) MPEG-2 audio data; 6) MPEG-4 system data is included.

The packet demultiplexer 100 extracts program characteristic information, stores the program characteristic information in a structured memory area, and extracts each elementary stream data using the same. Since the program characteristic information is transmitted through the MPEG-2 transport stream periodically as well as at system startup, a function for updating the information stored in the memory area is required each time.

Among the extracted elementary stream data, MPEG-2 video, audio data, and MPEG-4 and MPEG-7 system data are transmitted to the packet header analyzer 108, 112 to 116 to extract time information for synchronization. The data of is sent to the appropriate submodule.

If the header analysis result in the packet demultiplexer 100 determines the program characteristic information, the information is stored in the structured memories 126 and 128 and the buffers 130 and 132. If the program characteristic information has not yet been stored in the memories 126 and 128, the header analysis procedure is repeatedly performed to obtain the program characteristic information. After all the program characteristic information is obtained, the header analysis procedure is repeated and the transport stream packets are classified and transmitted to the lower module. If the program characteristic information is delivered again during the header analysis process, the program characteristic information stored in the memory is updated.

The packet header analysis unit 108, 112 to 116 includes a packetized elementary structure (PES), which contains time information for synchronizing MPEG-2 video, audio, and MPEG-4 and MPEG-7 system data. ) It analyzes packets, extracts time information and data, and delivers them to lower modules. There are two types of time information: decoding time information (DTS) and presentation time information (PTS).

The DMS-C processing unit 102 processes additional information encoded and transmitted according to an XML standard for data broadcasting. The additional information defined by the current XML tag is news information, stock information, weather information, movie information, performance information, advertisement information, and XML tags for each are as shown in FIGS. 4 to 4.

Such additional information is repeatedly transmitted at the same time intervals according to the DSM-CC data carousel specification. The DSM-CC processing unit 102 compares the generated information of the additional information to be transmitted with the currently stored information, and delivers the XML stream having the new information to the XML parser unit 136 when the stored information needs to be updated. The content passing through the XLM parser unit 136 is transferred to the combining unit 166 and the image output unit 168 or the audio output unit 170 through the memory 148 to 160. At this time, the processing of the synchronization signal and time information between the contents is performed by the control unit 172, and the user's requirements for the contents are related to the decoders 134 to 146 and IP (Internet Protocol) related by the user conversation processing unit 164. Is transferred to the unit 162.

The HTML browser 134 processes content related to web data transmitted through an MPEG-2 transport stream or an Internet Protocol, and processes user input information related to HTML.

The XML parser unit 136 processes the additional information transmitted in the XML form into a form that is easy to interpret and use and provides the synthesizer 166. The XML parser unit 136 receives the additional information in the XML form transmitted through the DSM-CC processing unit 120 as an input, converts the code into a binary coded form, and transmits it to the synthesis unit 166. Codes for XML tags in each additional information are shown in FIGS. 4 to 9.

This is to reduce XML document processing time with efficient memory management. The synthesizing unit 166 outputs the content of the additional information to the screen through the image output unit 168 according to the user's request.

The PSIP analysis unit 138 interprets data transmitted through a private section according to ATSC / PSIP standards for program organization-related information such as EPG in an easy-to-use form. After processing, the data is provided to the controller 172 through the memory 152. In addition, the PSIP analysis unit 138 receives additional information defined in the PSIP standard as an input and transmits output contents such as a program schedule to the synthesis unit 166 through a memory. Upon arrival of new information updated than the knitting information currently stored in the memory 152, the PSIP analyzing unit 138 updates the knitting information according to a signal generated by the controller 172.

If new update information arrives in the course of updating the organization information, after the previous update is finished, the control unit 172 generates a signal again to process all the update contents that occurred in the middle.

The MPEG-7 application unit 140 processes an application using metadata of MPEG-7. Content delivered through the MPEG-2 transport stream or the Internet transmission standard is stored in a storage device 110 such as a hard disk mounted in a terminal according to a user's request or a separate condition. Stored content information or metadata information directly transmitted through broadcast is used as an input of the MPEG-7 application unit 140. The MPEG-7 application unit 140 serves as an information retrieval tool as well as a function of a home VCR.

The MPEG-4 decoder 142 receives MPEG-4 data through the packet header analyzer 112 and the memory 128 of MPEG-2. The MPEG-4 decoder 142 processes the user interventionable information in the program using MPEG-4 data. The MPEG-4 decoder 142 starts according to the time information of the controller 172, and after starting the MPEG-4 decoder 142 according to the independent time information in the synchronization layer (SL) packet according to the internal clock of the system. It works by

In the interactive broadcasting terminal, the MPEG-4 decoder 142 is configured to interpret not only the input video and audio information but also scene description information (BIFS) and object descriptor information (Object Descriptor), which are one of the elements that characterize MPEG-4. -4 implemented throughout the system The MPEG-4 system standard (ISO / IEC 14496-1) defines the characteristics of each media object, its spatiotemporal relationship, and various information required for transmission in bit stream. The overall system operation is as follows.

First, the transmitting side sends the compressed audio / video signal together with the synchronization information to the delivery layer, and serves to multiplex each piece of transmitted information into one or several bit strings. The receiving side then decompresses and decompresses the received bit stream as the reverse of the transmission process. Each media object consists of scene description information and synchronization information, which is sent to the user. The protocol at the transport layer is not defined in the standard and may be via FlexMux for efficiency of multiplexing.

The data from the Flex Multiplexer is in the form of SL data, which is the basic component of the MPEG-4 bit stream. This SL data is received by the compression layer, and the decoder is adapted to each bit string to play MPEG-4 media in the final synthesis part. At this time, if the transmitted MPEG-4 content is composed of a single file format, it is transmitted through a private section, and when each content is separated, it is separated and transmitted through a PES or a private section depending on whether time information is used. .

The MPEG-2 video decoder 206 passes through the packet demultiplexer 100 and the packet header analyzer 114 and uses the transmitted data as input. At this time, the data included in one PES packet may be larger or smaller than one frame data which is a basic unit of decoding. Therefore, after proper pre-buffering, it is necessary to transfer data of one frame to the main decoders 134 to 146 that actually perform decoding. In addition, when the user switches the viewing program during the execution of the system, there is a case that the data of one frame is not received. In this case, the main decoders 134 to 146 are implemented.

The MPEG-2 image decoder 144 receives the decoding time information DTSV from the controller 172 and starts decoding the image accordingly. The decoded video information waits in the memory 158 and is output on the screen by the instant image output unit 168 at which the presentation time information PTS is transmitted from the controller 172.

Like the video decoder 146, the AAC audio decoder 146 uses the data transmitted through the packet demultiplexer 100 as an input. Unlike video, however, audio is sensitive to instantaneous loss of data, allowing users to react more sensitively. In this structure, Advanced Audio Coding (hereinafter, referred to as AAC) is used as an audio coding method. The AAC audio decoder 146 receives the decoding time information DTSV from the controller 172 and decodes the audio information accordingly, and then outputs the decoded audio signal through the audio output unit 170. The audio output unit 170 receives other audio signals generated from the MPEG-4 decoder 142 as well as the AAC audio decoder 146 through the memory 156 and mixes or selectively mixes the signals with each other to a certain degree. Will print

The synthesizing unit 166 and the image output unit 168 output a MPEG-2 screen on a full screen, and output the MPEG-4 screen, PSIP information, and additional information screens superimposed on the screen. This is the part. Chroma key technique is used for simultaneous display of various screens. In addition to synthesizing each image and outputting an image, the synthesizing unit 166 has an initial screen generation operation, a menu generation, and a simple user input information processing function. The initial screen creation task displays simple information on the full screen at system startup. The menu is a part that shows each piece of information such as organization information and additional information when the user calls the menu. A simple input routine has been added to allow easy menu selection and display of the selected information.

The IP unit 162 processes the transmission and reception of data through the return channel and web information. By connecting with the interactive server system, it is possible to build a variety of two-way interactive system. In the interactive broadcasting terminal system, the IP unit 162 has a TCP / IP bidirectional processing function and a synthesis and transmission / reception function of session channel information.

The user dialog processor 164 checks and analyzes the coordinates of the input device and the pressed state of the button, and transmits the same to the corresponding module. At this time, depending on which screen is currently displayed to the user, it goes through various processes. The user conversation processing unit 164 performs application processing related to organizational information such as program reservation, viewing program selection, system related processing such as user confirmation and access control and screen generation selection related thereto, and additional information related processing such as various menu selection and output. Include.

10 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a controller in the interactive broadcast terminal system of FIG. 1 according to the present invention. With reference to this, the structure of this invention is demonstrated in detail.

The controller 174 performs functions such as generation of all modules used in the interactive broadcast terminal, buffer management between modules, synchronization through time information management, and the like as in the tenth diagram. As shown in the drawing, the upper module is defined as the upper module and the lower module as the lower module. Each module operates as a thread and synchronization is performed by a media buffer connected between the modules. Synchronization between MPEG-2 video, audio and MPEG-4 video output is accomplished within the video output module. The control unit 172 is composed of an audio and video rendering unit 1004, a media buffer unit 1002, and a system control unit 1006.

The audio and video rendering unit 1004 receives a system clock and performs synchronization.

The media buffer unit 1002 uses a data transfer method that considers a system clock. For this purpose, the media buffer unit 1002 internally transfers data having presentation time information that matches the current system clock to the image output unit 168.

The media buffer unit 1002 provides a buffer used to transfer data from an upper module to a lower module. The buffer has two modes of operation, one for data transfer that does not take into account the system clock, and the other for data transfer that takes into account the system clock. Modules other than the image output unit use a general data transfer method, and the image output unit, which is a final consumption module of data, synchronizes MPEG-2 audio and video with MPEG-4 by using data transfer considering the clock of the system.

The media buffer unit 1002 stores data for each block, and each data block includes block size information and block time information. If an output is required, the data block corresponding to the system clock is received from the data block and the data block having the presentation time information smaller than the current time is deleted from the buffer. When the data block is called, the size and time information of the data block is transmitted along with the location of the buffer in which the data block is stored. After receiving a space for storing the data to be output, the output data is stored, and after the storing is completed, the data is transmitted to the media buffer unit 1002.

The system controller 1006 generates and destroys modules constituting the interactive broadcast terminal, controls the operation of the module, and transmits a user's request to a suitable module. In addition, it manages the system clock, creates a media buffer used to transfer data between modules, and performs system-wide management functions such as connecting to modules.

The system controller 1006 generates modules and operates sequentially from the lowest module. The operated modules wait for data to enter the media buffer unit 1002 in charge of the connection between the modules. Finally, when the demultiplexer 100 corresponding to the input unit is operated and data is input, all the modules perform a task to operate the interactive broadcast terminal system.

The present invention described above is capable of various substitutions, modifications, and changes without departing from the spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains, and the above-described embodiments and accompanying It is not limited to the drawing.

As described above, the present invention builds a two-way interactive broadcasting environment using MPEG-4 / 7 technology, which is currently enacted as an international standard or standard, thereby maintaining compatibility and improving the utility of use content.

Claims (8)

In the interactive broadcast terminal system, Receives MPEG-2 transport stream data input to the interactive broadcast terminal system and divides the data into contents according to contents using MPEG-2 transport stream information included in MPEG-2 transport stream data. Demultiplexing means for outputting; A plurality of first storage means for temporarily storing demultiplexed data through the demultiplexing means according to the contents; Processing means for processing user requirements and the like for the content; A plurality of processing and decoding means for processing and decoding the demultiplexed data received from the plurality of first storage means according to the information from the processing means and the control of the control means; A plurality of second storage means for temporarily storing the processed and decoded data; Control means for controlling the decoding process and controlling and rewriting when a change occurs in data stored in the second storage means; Synthesis and image output means for receiving data stored in the second storage means and synthesizing and outputting an image; And Audio output means for receiving and outputting acoustic data stored in the second storage means Interactive broadcast terminal system comprising a. The method of claim 1, Each of the contents includes XML data, DSM-CC data, PSIP data, MPEG-7 data, MP-4 data, MP-2 data, and ACC. (AAC) Interactive broadcasting terminal system, characterized in that the audio data. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The demultiplexing means may distinguish between program specific information (PSI) and elementary stream (ES) data delivered to the MPEG-2 transport stream, and deliver the separated data to a suitable module. Interactive broadcast terminal system, characterized in that performing. The method of claim 3, wherein The MPEG-2 transport stream includes program characteristic information, Program and System Information Protocol (PIP) information, Global Scene Discription information, MPEG-2 image data, MPEG-2 audio data, and MPEG-4 system data. Interactive broadcast terminal system comprising a. The method of claim 1, The processing and decoding means comprises: processing means for processing DSM-CC data and processing additional information encoded and transmitted according to a predetermined standard; Analysis means for processing the program-related information in accordance with a predetermined standard in a form convenient for analysis and use, and transmitting the data to the second storage means; MPEG-7 application means for processing an application using metadata of MPEG-7 and serving as an information retrieval tool as well as a function of a home VCR using contents delivered through an MPEG-2 transport stream or an Internet transport standard; MPEG-4 decoding means for receiving the MPEG-4 data, processing user intervention information in a program, and analyzing input video, audio information, scene description information (BIFS), and object description information (Object Descriptor); MPEG-2 video decoding means for decoding MPEG-2 video data; And Audio decoding means for receiving MPEG-2 audio signals and MPEG-4 audio signals and decoding image data Interactive broadcast terminal system comprising a. The method of claim 5, And the additional information is news information, stock information, weather information, movie information, performance information, advertisement information. The method according to claim 5, And the audio decoding means and the MPEG-2 image decoding means receive decoding time information (DTSV) from the control means and decode audio and MPEG-2 image information accordingly. The method of claim 7, wherein And the audio signal has priority over the MPEG-2 video signal.