KR100457539B1 - Channel information providing method and apparatus thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a channel information providing method and apparatus that can easily access a variety of information desired by the user by providing channel information to include information related to the content type.

The channel information providing method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: detecting a program and system information protocol from the received broadcast signal; Parsing table information present in the detected program and system information protocols and generating them independently; If the user requests a content type list, the method includes forming and providing channel information including the content type list with reference to the generated table information.

Therefore, it is easier to access various information desired by the user.

Description

Channel information providing method and apparatus

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing broadcasting channel information in a digital TV, and more particularly, to a method for providing channel information including information on content types of a digital TV data broadcast. Relates to a device.

Digital TV data broadcasting services through various media such as terrestrial, satellite, and cable are rapidly spreading around the world. Relevant international standards include DASE of ATSC in the US, MHP of DVB in Europe, and OCAP of cable broadcasting. In Korea, data broadcasting service was started using digital channels during the 2002 World Cup and Asian Games. The digital TV data broadcasting service provided at the time was a linked service showing player information and game results, and a standalone service showing news, weather, traffic and securities.

Digital TV data broadcasting service provided by Korean broadcasting companies is based on ATSC's T3 / S17: DASE (DTV Application S / W Environment). Related standards include ATSC's Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) (A / 65), ATSC Data Broadcast Standard (A / 90), and the Data Application Reference Model, which provide program channel information. Model (A / 94) and the like.

Such data broadcasting provides various contents such as Java and HTML contents. However, as the number of channels used increases, finding content desired by a user is not easy. This is because the existing TV channel configuration method simply shows the channel to the user or the user arbitrarily sets the channel so that it is impossible to know what content is included in the channel. That is, the program title may be provided through the EPG (Electric Program Guide). However, the user cannot know whether the information contained in the program title alone is a security, a game, or the weather. Therefore, it is necessary to execute data content in each channel to know what content is provided by the channel.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-described problem, and provides a channel information providing method and apparatus for easily accessing various information desired by a user by providing channel information to include information related to a content type. There is this.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for providing channel information including content type information for data broadcasting that can be provided in a program guide or a favorite channel list.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for providing channel information that can provide content type information for data broadcasting using PSIP of ATSC.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing channel information in a video signal processing system, the method comprising: detecting a program and a system information protocol from a received broadcast signal; Parsing table information existing in the detected program and system information protocols and generating them independently; when a user requests a content type list, channel information including the content type list is formed by referring to the generated table information. It is preferred to include the step of providing.

The program and system information protocol preferably includes information related to the content type in an optional area. The program and system information protocol preferably includes information related to the content type in an ETT region. The forming and providing of the channel information may further include channel information including information related to the content type in an existing EPG according to a user's request.

In order to achieve the above objects, the apparatus for providing channel information according to the present invention is a channel information providing apparatus in an image signal processing system, comprising: data for independently storing and managing a program and a system information protocol included in a received broadcast signal for each table A base processor; It is preferable to include a channel information forming unit for forming and providing channel information composed of content type related information with reference to table information stored in the database processor according to a user's request.

The database processor (SI) preferably forms and manages the content type related information stored in an optional table of the program and system information protocol as an independent table.

The database processor preferably stores and manages content type related information included in the ETT of the program and system information protocol as a content type related table.

Preferably, the channel information forming unit may further form channel information including the content type related information in an existing EPG according to a request of the user.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing channel information in a video signal processing system, comprising: a database storing and managing a program and a system information protocol included in a received broadcast signal; A parsing unit for parsing programs and system information protocols stored in the database for each table; A table generator for independently generating and storing tables parsed by the parser; A channel information forming unit configured to form channel information including content type related information by referring to the table information generated by the table generator when a user requests content type related information; It is preferable to include a display unit for displaying the channel information formed in the channel information forming unit.

If the user requests the inclusion of the content type related information in the existing EPG, the channel information forming unit may refer to the table information generated by the table generator to provide channel information including the content type related information in the existing EPG. It is preferable to form.

1 is an ATSC-related standard diagram.

2 is a table hierarchy diagram.

3 is a channel related architecture diagram.

4 is a structural diagram of an SI task.

5 is a channel map configuration diagram.

6 is a conceptual diagram of channel information generation according to the present invention.

7 illustrates an example of a content channel list.

8 illustrates an example of a content type list for each category.

9 is a screen example of a content type list.

10 is an example of a program guide screen provided according to the present invention.

11 is a functional block diagram of a video signal processing system having a channel information providing apparatus according to the present invention.

12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing channel information according to the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention uses the Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) of ATIP. However, when applied to MHP of DVB or OCAP of cable broadcasting, the program information protocol set in the standard can be used. The PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) corresponds to A / 65 in the ATSC standard shown in FIG. 1. The PSIP is a protocol made for system information and a program guide. The PSIP is composed of various tables as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, STT (weakly referred to as STT) is a table indicating current time and weather, and MGT (Master Guide Table, hereinafter abbreviated as MGT) is a type of PSIP table except for STT (System Time Table). (Type), PID (Packet IDentifier), Version (Version), etc. to manage the table, RRT (Rating Region Table) is a table that provides a list of ratings to be assigned to the content. The VCT (Virtual Channel Table) of FIG. 2 is a table that defines a plurality of programs on the basis of MPEG-2 programs constituting a stream including VCT. Tables for a program guide include an event information table (EIT) and an extended text table (ETT). An event information table (EIT) transmits an event name, a start time, a length, and the like divided by three hours, and an extended text table (ETT) is a table containing a description of each event registered in the EIT.

An embodiment of the present invention provides information about a content type through the above-described ETT of the PSIP. However, since the ETT is an optional area, it is possible to provide information about a content type by using another optional area present in the PSIP. The content type information includes a category of content and a content name. For example, the corresponding content is a game, and the game name may include information called "Tetris." Therefore, the user can easily grasp which content is provided in which channel based on the displayed content type information.

The aforementioned PSIP is parsed and managed by SI (System Information). The SI parses and manages the PSIP / PSI in the broadcast signal received by interworking with a channel manager in the channel-related structure shown in FIG. 3, provides information required by the TV module, and forms information defined in the DASE API. Module that performs the role of providing to the application by processing. The task process of the SI is as shown in FIG. 4.

In the SI parser illustrated in FIG. 4, after setting the PAT, MGT, and STT from the SI HAL, which is a data filter, the PMT, VCT, RRT, EIT, DET, Set to monitor sub-tables such as channel ETT, event ETT, and data ETT. Each table is stored as a stream in the data queue provided by SI HAL, and the contents of the data queue are deleted or updated when the table is changed or PTC is changed.

The SI service manager of FIG. 4 loads a channel map stored in the memory at power-on for saving / restore of the channel map information. The memory may be configured as NVRAM, and may be provided in the data broadcasting receiver or in the set top. When the channel information is changed or when a new channel is found, the existing channel map is deleted and updated with the newly discovered channels when the save auto programming is performed to update the changed contents to the channel map and to store them in NVRAM. do.

After parsing the VCT, the SI sends a message to the channel manager shown in FIG. When the contents of the PMT in the VCT or PSI have been updated, the SI sends a message to the channel manager to reset the channel with the changed contents and change the status of the pipe line HAL shown in FIG. 3 to Confirmed. do. Even if the contents of the VCT or PMT do not differ from those in the channel map, the SI sends a message to the channel manager to change the status to Confirmed in the pipeline HAL shown in FIG. Accordingly, channel information can be transmitted to the physical layer.

The channel map as shown in FIG. 5 includes channel information as shown in Table 1 below.

Regardless of the RF frequency at which digital broadcasting is actually transmitted, a major channel number is defined in order to use the analog channel number used by a broadcaster for the digital broadcasting channel. For example, in case of MBC, even though UHF 32 is allocated for digital broadcasting, 11 can be used as a major channel number. Minor Channel Numbers are used to classify multiple digital channels, such as when sending multiple SD programs.

Existing analog channels are assigned a minor channel number "0." Each broadcasting station is assigned a unique Channel_TSID (Transport Stream ID) Source_ID is assigned a unique number for each channel, that is, a plurality of minor channels ) Each have a unique Source_ID.

Program guide data and channel data are obtained from the SI module and the channel module shown in FIG. 3. The data required by the PG includes major and minor channel numbers, channel names, time information, event information for each channel (event name, closed caption information), and the like in the channel map shown in FIG. Rating, show time, brief story, etc.

6 is a conceptual diagram of channel information generation according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the concept of generating channel information according to the present invention includes an application manager (AM) 501, a program guide (PG) 602, a system information (SI) 603, and a channel agent 604. It is composed of

When the PG start signal is received from the AM 601 in step (1) of FIG. 6, the PG 602 notifies the channel agent 604 of the PG start at (2) and requests data from the SI 603. do. At this time, if no data is received for about 20 seconds per channel, the PG 602 assumes there is no data and processes it.

In step (3) of FIG. 6, the PG 602 obtains major and minor channel numbers from the channel agent 604 to the current channel. In step (4), the channel agent 604 mutes audio / video internally. In the mute state, the SI 603 is notified that the channel is changing while scanning the channel from the SI 603. Accordingly, the SI 603 requests the PG 602 to collect information about an event and a channel in step (5) of FIG. 6. Accordingly, the PG 602 collects event and channel information from the channel information provided in the SI 603 and forms corresponding program guide (PG) information to provide the user with various information about the channel. At this time, the content type information is included in the PG information. Accordingly, the PG 602 forms channel information for providing channel information provided through the existing EPG, or forms channel information for providing only information about the content type according to the present invention, or provided through the existing EPG. Channel information for providing both channel information and content type information according to the present invention may be formed.

The PG 602 may independently configure a function block for generating an existing EPG and a function block for generating a PG related to a content type according to the present invention. That is, the user may construct a favorite channel list independent of the existing channel map with reference to the PG 602. To form the independent favorite channel list, the PG 602 obtains channel information such as major channel number, minor channel number, and PTC information from the SI 603. The PG 602 constructs a content channel list to provide content information of various channels to the user. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, content information may be divided and provided to a user for each type. That is, the channel map information obtained from the SI 603 includes EIT information. At this time, the content type list shown in FIG. 7 is configured as the title of the EIT program event. That is, all contents whose program title is news are classified as shown in FIG.

To this end, in the PG (Electric Program Guide), each program is divided into news, sports, talk shows, cartoons, and movies. That is, news categories are categorized into program titles such as NBC News, CNN Headline News, and CBS, cartoons are stored in respective content categories such as The Simpson, sports are NBA Football, Soccer, and the like. The corresponding table information is taken from the provided PG to construct a content type list. The corresponding table information may include, for example, EIT information. In addition, the content type list can be configured as shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. 8 for each desired category.

Therefore, if a user wants to watch a game while watching a TV, only the user can view the content type list and simply play the game. In the case of DASE, in case of DASE, PMT information is taken from PSIP to determine the presence or absence of data content in DST. If it contains DATA contents, that is, Java or HTML contents, it constructs a channel's content type list by retrieving relevant file information from DST. The actual screen configuration in TV is shown in Figure 9. Even while watching a sports channel, the newly added channel information can be added to the screen through the content type list generation process as described above. In this way, the user can easily view channels, games, and data contents such as games without complicated screen configuration.

Information about the content type may be provided as shown in FIG. 10. The existing EPG may be provided in a form in which a content type is included.

In order to provide information on the content type as described above, the image signal processing system may be configured as shown in FIG. 11. Referring to FIG. 11, a video signal processing system including a channel information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes a tuner 1101, a demultiplexer / filtering unit 1102, a PSIP database 1103, a parsing unit 1104, and a table. The generation unit 1105 includes a channel information forming unit 1106 including information related to the content type, and a display unit 1107.

The tuner 1101 receives the digital TV data broadcast received through the antenna and transmits it to the demux / filter 1110. The demux / filter 1102 demuxes, filters, and outputs PSIP, audio, and video, respectively, in the received digital TV data broadcast. The PSIP database 1103 stores PSI and PSIP included in the PSIP.

The parser 1104 parses various kinds of information stored in the PSIP database 1103. For example, PSI and PSIP are parsed, PAT and PMT present in PSI are parsed, and VCT and EIT included in PSIP are parsed.

The table generator 1105 independently generates and stores table information parsed and transmitted from the parser 1104. That is, PAT, PMT, VCT, EIT, and ETT tables are independently generated and stored.

When a user command is input, the channel information forming unit 1106 forms and outputs channel information according to the input command. For example, when the channel information composed of the existing EPG is requested, the channel information composed of the existing EPG is formed by referring to the corresponding table information in the table information generated in the table generator 1105 and the display unit 1107. To send). However, when a content type list is requested, the table type generator 1105 forms a content type list by referring to channel information necessary for forming the content type list. In this case, the table information referred to may be EIT and ETT information. In addition, when a content type is desired for each category, channel information is formed such that channel information can be output as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, and as shown in FIG. When the channel content information is desired to be provided together, the channel information as shown in FIG. 10 is formed by referring to the table information generated in the table generator 1105 and transmitted to the display unit 1107. The display unit 1107 displays the channel information transmitted from the channel information forming unit 1106 so that the user can recognize it.

The channel information providing method according to the present invention is operated as shown in FIG.

That is, the PSIP is detected from the broadcast signal by demuxing and filtering the broadcast signal received in operation 1201. In step 1202, the detected PSIP is stored. The PSIP includes not only the existing EPG information but also information related to the content type according to the present invention.

Parsing is performed for each table included in the PSIP information stored in operation 1203. For example, PAT, PMT, VCT, EIT, and ETT are parsed to be separated from each other. An independent table is generated based on the information parsed in step 1204. That is, PAT, PMT, VCT, EIT, ETT are generated independently. In operation 1205, channel information is formed by referring to table information generated according to a user's request. The channel information forming method is the same as the channel information forming unit 1106 of FIG. 11.

The channel information formed in step 1206 is displayed. Accordingly, the user can easily know what content is provided through which channel.

According to the present invention described above, by configuring the content type list using various program guide information included in the PSIP, it is possible to access a variety of information desired by the user more easily. That is, the user can conveniently find the broadcasting and the contents that he / she wants.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and variations of the present invention can be made by those skilled in the art within the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of claims in the present invention will not be defined within the scope of the detailed description will be defined by the claims below.

Claims (10)

In the method for providing channel information in a video signal processing system, Detecting a program and system information protocol from the received broadcast signal; Parsing table information present in the detected program and system information protocols and generating them independently; And when the user requests a content type list, forming and providing channel information including the content type list with reference to the generated table information. The method of claim 1, wherein the program and system information protocol includes information related to the content type in an optional region. The method of claim 1, wherein the program and system information protocol includes information related to the content type in an ETT region. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming and providing of the channel information may further include channel information including information related to the content type in an existing EPG according to a user's request. An apparatus for providing channel information in an image signal processing system, A database processor which independently stores and manages programs and system information protocols included in the received broadcast signal for each table; And a channel information forming unit for forming and providing channel information consisting of content type related information with reference to table information stored in the database processor according to a user's request. 6. The channel information providing method of claim 5, wherein the database processor (SI) forms and manages the content type related information stored in an optional table of the program and system information protocol as an independent table. Device. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the database processor stores and manages content type related information included in an ETT of the program and system information protocol as a content type related table. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the channel information forming unit may further form channel information including the content type related information in an existing EPG according to a request of the user. An apparatus for providing channel information in an image signal processing system, A database storing and managing a program and a system information protocol included in the received broadcast signal; A parsing unit for parsing the program and system information protocol stored in the database for each table; A table generator for independently generating and storing tables parsed by the parser; A channel information forming unit configured to form channel information including content type related information by referring to the table information generated by the table generator when a user requests content type related information; And a display unit for displaying the channel information formed by the channel information forming unit. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the channel information forming unit, when the user requests the inclusion of the content type related information in the existing EPG, the content type related information in the existing EPG with reference to the table information generated by the table generator Channel information providing apparatus, characterized in that for forming the channel information included.