KR100648347B1 - Method for manupulating EPG information in Digital Multimedia Broadcasting receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver using two or more processors or modules.

The electronic program guide information processing method of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the present invention comprises the steps of: extracting electronic program guide information transmitted from a digital multimedia broadcasting transmitter, and storing electronic program guide information for buffering the extracted electronic program guide information. Determining a memory area in a common buffer for the electronic buffer; buffering electronic program guide information in a memory in the determined common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information; and electronically buffered in a memory in the common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information. And storing the program guide information in a table for each item and storing the program guide information in the storage means.

According to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to significantly reduce the memory required for processing the electronic program guide information of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver, and also provides an advantage of reducing the startup time of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver.

Electronic program guide, EPG information processing, single buffer, DMB

Description

Method for processing electronic program guide information of digital multimedia broadcasting receiver {Method for manupulating EPG information in Digital Multimedia Broadcasting receiver}             

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional general digital multimedia broadcasting receiver.

2 is a view for explaining an electronic program guide information processing method of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the prior art.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

110: tuner 120: demultiplexer

130: image signal processing unit 140: program guide screen generation unit

150: switching unit 160: display unit

170: storage means 180: control unit

190: user command input unit

The present invention relates to a method for processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) receiver.

In general, the standard of digital broadcasting is divided into European DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) method and American VSB (Vestigial Sideband Broadcasting) method. In both of the above schemes, the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver generally employs an electronic program guide (EPG) function to assist the user in using the digital multimedia broadcasting service.

In order to display the electronic program guide information to a user in a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver, a program specific confirmation (PSI) / service information (SI) table including the electronic program guide information must be received.

The digital multimedia broadcasting receiver receives an event information table (EIT), which is electronic program guide information included in the PSI / SI table, and displays electronic program guide information.

Short-term broadcast program information such as a current event information table (present EIT: p EIT) including information of a currently broadcast program and a following event information table (f EIT) including information about a program to be broadcasted next ( Schedule event information table (s EIT: s EIT), which shows information of a currently broadcast program using p / f EIT, and is a long-term broadcast program information including information about a program scheduled to be broadcast after the next program to be broadcast. ) Shows full electronic program guide information for 24 hours or 48 hours or more.

A process of displaying the electronic program guide information in a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver will be described.

1 is a block diagram showing an apparatus for implementing a program guide screen of a conventional digital multimedia broadcasting receiver.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus for implementing a program guide screen of a conventional general digital multimedia broadcasting receiver includes a tuner 110 for tuning a broadcast signal and a broadcast signal tuned through the tuner 110, that is, multiplexed in time. A demultiplexer 120 for demultiplexing the transport stream, a video signal processor 130 for image processing to display the demultiplexed broadcast information through the demultiplexer 120, and a program A program guide screen generation unit 140 constituting a program guide screen in the form of an OSD using guide related information, and a switching for selectively switching the output of the image signal processing unit 130 and the output of the program guide screen generation unit 140. The unit 150, a display unit 150 for displaying the output of the switching unit 150 on the screen, and stores the program guide information The control unit 170, and controls the operation of each part of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver, and stores the program guide screen configuration information of the output of the demultiplexer 120 in the storage means 170, and stores according to the user's program guide screen request command A control unit 180 for reading the program guide screen configuration information stored in the means 170 and transmitting the program guide screen generating unit 140 to a program guide screen generating unit 140, and a user command input unit for a user to input a program guide screen request command and various operation-related commands ( 190).

Referring to the program guide screen implementation method according to the prior art configured as described above are as follows.

First, the transport stream tuned through the tuner 110 is demultiplexed through the demultiplexer 120 and separated into additional information including broadcast information and program guide related information, and additional information including program guide related information is controlled. Under the control of 180 is stored in the area of the storage means 170.

Subsequently, the broadcast information is signal-processed to be displayed on the screen by the image signal processor 130 and displayed on the screen through the display unit 160 via the switching unit 150.

On the other hand, when the user requests a program guide screen output by operating a user command input unit 190, that is, a key of the remote control or the main body, the controller 180 reads the program guide screen configuration information stored in the storage means 170 and guides the program. The screen generator 140 transmits the screen.

Subsequently, the program guide screen generation unit 140 processes the program guide screen configuration information transmitted by the controller 180 and is displayed through the switching unit 150 and the display unit 160.

As described above, the electronic program guide needs to receive the electronic program guide information from the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver and store the electronic program guide information in a storage unit 170 such as a RAM or a nonvolatile memory.

2 is a view for explaining a method for processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the prior art.

In order to process the electronic program guide information of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the prior art, first, the electronic program guide information transmitted from the digital multimedia broadcasting transmitter is extracted (S210).

Next, an area to buffer the extracted electronic program guide information for temporary storage is allocated (S220).

To this end, first, a memory for each channel is determined (S221). In addition, the memory for each section is determined (S222), and the memory for each double buffer to buffer the short-term and long-term electronic program guide information, respectively (S223).

When the memory for each double buffer is determined in step S220, the electronic program guide information is buffered in the memory area of the determined buffer (S230).

Subsequently, the electronic program guide information buffered in the memory in the electronic program guide information storage buffer is tabulated for each item and stored in the storage means (S240).

Thereafter, when the electronic program guide information display command is input by the user, the electronic program guide information stored in the memory or the like is displayed (S250).

On the other hand, when two or more processors are used or when two or more modules are used to enhance the function separation or stability of each module, IPC (interprocess communication) is used for data communication between modules. Electronic program guide information is also transmitted to the IPC.

In general, s EIT and p / f EIT information occupy the largest capacity among EPG tables including electronic program guide information.

As described above, according to the method for processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the related art, in order to stably operate the electronic program guide information in the system, different buffer spaces are allocated for each channel and each section, It also uses a double buffer, which requires a large amount of memory.

For example, if there are 50 channels and 128 sections of the digital multimedia broadcasting specification (48 hours EPG), the memory requirement of the s EIT is 50 * 128 * 2 * 4 KB = 50 MB.

In the case of p / f EIT, since there are two sections, 50 * 2 * 2 * 4KB = 7.8MB.

After all, s EIT, p / f EIT has a disadvantage of using a large memory of about 57MB.

The present invention is to be broadcasted after the short-term electronic program guide information (p / f EIT) and the next program to be broadcasted during the process of receiving and storing the electronic program guide information transmitted from the digital multimedia broadcasting transmitter in the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver. By operating as one common buffer without distinguishing buffers for processing long-term program guide information (s EIT) corresponding to information about a program, the memory capacity required for processing electronic program guide information is reduced and the startup time of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver is reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver which can be reduced.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver, the method including extracting electronic program guide information transmitted from a digital multimedia broadcasting transmitting apparatus, and extracting the extracted electronic program guide information. Determining a memory area in a common buffer for storing electronic program guide information to be buffered, buffering electronic program guide information in a memory in the determined common buffer for storing electronic program guide information, and storing the electronic program guide information in common; And storing the electronic program guide information buffered in the memory in the buffer in a table for each item and storing the same in the storage means.

The common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information is characterized by using the same number of N-buffers as the maximum number of interprocessor communication buffers.

Features of the electronic program guide information processing method of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the present invention configured as described above, the long-term electronic program guide information (s EIT) and the short-term electronic program guide information (p / f EIT) of the electronic program guide information table ) It operates as a common buffer without distinguishing two table buffers.

According to the present invention according to the above configuration, the electronic program guide information transmitted from the digital multimedia broadcasting transmission device is not divided into the channel and section by the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver, the electronic program guide information is stored in the memory in the common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information. By buffering the program guide information, the memory required for processing the electronic program guide information of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver can be significantly reduced, and the startup time of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver can be reduced.

Hereinafter, an electronic program guide information processing method of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An electronic program guide information processing method of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

First, electronic program guide information transmitted from a digital multimedia broadcasting transmission device is extracted (S310).

A memory region in the common buffer for storing the extracted electronic program guide information is determined (S320).

As a buffer used in the process of determining a memory area in the common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information to buffer the extracted electronic program guide information, the long-term electronic program guide information (s EIT) and the short-term electronic program in the electronic program guide information table are used. Guidance Information (p / f EIT) Use one common buffer that does not separate two table buffers.

According to the related art, in order to stably operate the electronic program guide information in the system, a different buffer space is allocated to each channel and each section, and a double buffer is used, which requires a large amount of memory. In the present invention as described above, it is possible to minimize the necessary system resources by operating a buffer for temporarily storing the long-term electronic program guide information (s EIT) and the short-term electronic program guide information (p / f EIT) as one common buffer.

In the long-term electronic program guide information s EIT, one common buffer is used without dividing the buffer for each channel and section.

 In this case, use N-buffer instead of double buffer for system stability. At this time, the synchronization between two processors using IPC (interprocess communication) should be considered to determine the size N of the buffer. By using the same number of N-buffers as the IPC maximum buffer in consideration of the data throughput of the transmitting side and the receiving side, the stability of the IPC system and the stability of the EPG transmission system are ensured. Therefore, it is preferable to use the same number of N-buffers as the IPC maximum buffer.

Calculating the memory required in this way requires 500 * 4KB = 2MB for N = 500.

After the memory area in the common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information is determined in the above process, the electronic program guide information is buffered in the memory in the determined common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information (S330).

After the buffering of the electronic program guide information is performed in the common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information according to the above process, the electronic program guide information buffered in the memory in the common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information is tabulated for each item. To be stored in the storage means (S340).

Thereafter, when the electronic program guide information display command is input by the user, the electronic program guide information stored in the memory is displayed (S350).

As described above, when the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver using two or more processors or modules uses a common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information, the system resource can be minimized and the common resources can be minimized. The time required for tabulating the electronic program guide information buffered in the memory in the buffer for each item is shortened, thereby reducing the startup time of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver.

In the above description, the electronic program guide information processing method of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the present invention has been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, but the present invention may be included in the present invention even if the present invention is carried out without change and modification without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the fact will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

According to the method for processing electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to the present invention, a buffer for processing electronic program guide information received upon reception of electronic program guide information of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver is operated as one common buffer. Accordingly, the memory capacity required for processing the electronic program guide information can be reduced, and the startup time of the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver can be reduced.

Claims (2)

Extracting electronic program guide information transmitted from the digital multimedia broadcasting transmission device; Determining a memory area in a common buffer for storing the extracted electronic program guide information; Buffering electronic program guide information in a memory in the determined common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information; And storing the electronic program guide information buffered in the memory in the common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information for each item and storing the table in the storage means. . The method of claim 1, wherein the common buffer for storing the electronic program guide information, A method for processing electronic program guide information for a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver, wherein the number of N-buffers equal to the maximum number of interprocessor communication buffers is used.

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