KR100689506B1 - Apparatus and method for providing electronic program guide of digital broadcasting and management method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system, and more particularly, to apparatuses and related methods of a broadcasting station and a receiver, which enable electronic program guide regarding audio and data services as well as video without using a separate data channel.

A method for providing electronic program guide information by a digital broadcasting device for an electronic program guide service includes generating label information and time information of a corresponding program when a new program is started, and generating the generated program label information and time information. Checking whether the value is a value, storing the generated program label information and time information when the new value is new, and selecting program information matched to the current time by comparing a current time and a running time of stored programs. And generating the quick information channel program label information using the selected program information, and transmitting the generated quick information channel program label information to a digital broadcasting receiver after multiplexing the fast information channel program label information. do.

Electronic Program Guide (EPG), Eureka-147, Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB)

Description

Apparatus and method for providing electronic program guide information for digital broadcasting and management method thereof {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ELECTRONIC PROGRAM GUIDE OF DIGITAL BROADCASTING AND MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREOF}

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a digital multimedia broadcasting station apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 illustrates the structure of a service label field according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of a program generator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of a quick information channel multiplexer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to digital broadcasting systems, and more particularly, to apparatuses and related methods of broadcast stations and receivers that enable electronic program guidance on audio and data services as well as video, without the use of separate data channels.

Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, developed in Korea based on ITU-R's Double Side Band system A (Eureka-147), has a bandwidth of 200 MHz per hour through a VHF band with a bandwidth of 1.5 MHz. It is a technology that can receive video CD (Compact Disc), high-quality picture quality and CD-quality stereo sound quality even at high speed receiver.

Terrestrial DMB uses MPEG-4 (Moving Picture Expert Group) -4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) video compressed data, MPEG-4 Bit-Sliced, through the stream mode defined by the European Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) standard. Audio Coding) Additional error after multiplexing audio compressed data and MPEG-4 BIFS (Binary Format for Scenes) data for interactive data broadcasting into MPEG-4 Sync Layer (SL) and MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) Send the stream to which the protection mechanism is applied.

In general fixed or satellite digital broadcasting, an electronic program guide (EPG), which transmits information about a currently viewed program as well as past or future viewing information to a user to help a user select a channel and a program. ) Exists.

The EPG service used in the existing digital broadcasting is based on various table information defined in the MPEG-2 Part1-system. However, terrestrial DMB services use MPEG-2 transport streams, but are limited to providing video services, so they cannot express EPGs for audio and data services. In addition, terrestrial DMB service to be introduced in Korea is planning EPG service using a separate data channel.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a digital broadcasting apparatus and method for providing electronic program guide information regarding audio and data services as well as video without using a separate data channel.

In addition, the present invention provides a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting apparatus and method for providing electronic program guide information regarding audio and data services as well as video without using a separate data channel.

delete

delete

In addition, the present invention provides a method for managing electronic program guide information in a digital broadcast receiver capable of displaying the electronic program guide.

The present invention also provides a method for managing electronic program guide information in a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting receiver capable of displaying electronic program guide.

To this end, the first invention is to provide an electronic program guide information providing apparatus of a digital broadcasting device that provides an electronic program guide service, so that the digital broadcast receiver can display the electronic program guide information, the program information when the new program starts; And a program generator for generating time information, and generating program label information by receiving program information and time information from the program generator, and performing fast information channel multiplexing to generate quick information channel information including the program label information. And a modulator that modulates the fast information channel multiplexer and modulates the fast information channel information according to a corresponding transmission medium to transmit the fast information channel information to the digital broadcast receiver.

To this end, the second aspect of the present invention provides a method of providing electronic program guide information by a digital broadcasting apparatus for providing an electronic program guide service, including generating label information and time information of a corresponding program when a new program is started, Checking whether the program label information and the time information are new values, storing the generated program label information and the time information if the new value is the new value, and comparing the current time and the show time of the stored programs at the current time. Selecting matched program information, generating quick information channel program label information using the selected program information, and multiplexing the generated quick information channel program label information to a digital broadcasting receiver after multiplexing the fast information channel program label information; Characterized by including the process of It shall be.

To this end, the third aspect of the present invention relates to a method of managing electronic program guide information in a digital broadcasting receiver capable of displaying electronic program guides, including a process of extracting program label information by analyzing a fast information channel, a previous program label information, and present And comparing the program label information and updating the program list if the previous program label information and the current program label information are not the same.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, specific details such as specific program name, running time, etc. are shown, which are provided to help a more general understanding of the present invention, and it is understood that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. It will be self-evident to those of ordinary knowledge. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The Eureka-147 DAB transmission frame is composed of a synchronization channel (SC), a fast information channel (hereinafter referred to as FIC), and a main service channel (hereinafter referred to as MSC).

The present invention provides information on video, audio, and various data services capable of terrestrial DMB services to users (eg, people watching terrestrial DMB with a DMB receiver), and can efficiently use limited frequency resources of operators. Use the information specified in

The user wants to identify a number of broadcasters (ensemble) and to distinguish the number of channel names provided by each broadcaster. This type of information is already defined in the DAB's Eureka-147 standard (ETSI EN 300 401 8.1.13 8.1.14). That is, names of broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC, etc.) are displayed on an ensemble label of FIG 1/0, and information on subchannels of the broadcaster is displayed on a program service label of FIG 1/1. . Using such information, the DMB receiver can provide the user with information about the broadcaster and the subchannels. For example, it will be in the form of "KBS VIDEO", "SBS FM1", "MBC TPEG". Here, "KBS" represents a broadcaster and "VIDEO" represents information on a service channel.

However, what the user wants is not information about the subchannel of the broadcaster that is fixed or rarely changed, but information about the program being broadcast on the subchannel of the broadcaster at the present time. For example, "KBS VIDEO Be Strong Geum Soon Ah", "SBS AUDIO Noon Hope Song", and the like. "Be strong," Geum Soon-ah, shows information about the program.

In order to provide such information to the user, it is necessary to change the information of the service program label at the time required by the transmitting end (the broadcasting station apparatus transmitting the DMB). To this end, each program server (101, 102, or 103 of FIG. 1 to be described later) provides synchronization information (program label information and time information) for the beginning and end of a program to the FIC multiplexer (107 of FIG. 1 to be described later). . In the FIC multiplexer, when generating program label information (FIG 1/1) of the FIC in a format as shown in FIG. 3 to be described later, it should be able to receive program information and time information from a digital program production tool (included in the program generator).

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a DMB broadcasting station apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The program generator generates corresponding program label information and time information when a new program is started. This embodiment includes a TV program generator (audio / video generation server) 101, a radio program generator (audio generation server) 102, and a data program generator (data content generation server) 103.

The determination of whether to start the new program is performed such that the multiplexing process and the processing time in the digital broadcasting receiver (eg, a terminal having a DMB function) are performed a predetermined time before the start of the actual program.

The audio / video encoder 104 encodes the audio / video output from the TV program generator 101. The audio encoder 105 encodes the audio output from the radio program generator 102. The data encoder 106 encodes data output from the data program generator 103. The FIC multiplexer 107 outputs FIC information including program label information through FIC multiplexing. The MSC multiplexer 108 inputs and multiplexes encoded audio / video, audio, or data. The FIC multiplexer 107 and the MSC multiplexer 108 are provided with service information and multiplexing information. The modulator 109 modulates a signal output from the MSC multiplexer 108 to a receiving end according to a transmission medium (eg, terrestrial wave or satellite).

2 is a diagram showing the structure of a service label field according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

SId is an identifier (service id) for identifying each program. The Character field is program information (e.g., the name of the program "Kim So-na"). The character flag field is for enabling the abbreviation display according to the display capability (eg, 8 letters, 16 letters, etc.) of the DMB receiver display unit, and designates the position of the character to be displayed. For example, if only four characters can be displayed, if "10" is displayed, only "Choose" and "Kum Soon" are not displayed.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of a program generator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In step 310, the program generator 101 or 102 checks whether a new program is started. If it is determined that a new program is started as a result of the check, the program generator updates program information and time information in step 320. That is, it stores the name and running time of the program. The program information and the time information may be composed of, for example, a program name such as "Be strong, Geum Soon A 08:15-08:55" and a screening time of "08:15-08:55".

After the update, in step 330, the program generator delivers program information and time information to the FIC multiplexer.

If the new program is not started at step 310, the process proceeds to step 330.

On the other hand, the start of step 310 is preferably made a few seconds earlier than when the new program is actually started in order to secure the time required for the multiplexing process and processing in the receiving end (DMB receiver). The table below shows specific examples to illustrate this. That is, the actual running time of the program "A" is "09:00-10:00", but the time at which the program information and the time information is sent out is "08:55-09:55".

program Running time Information sending time A 09:00-10:00 08:55-09:55 B 10:00-12:30 09:55-12:25 C 12:30-13:00 12:25-12:55

4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of an FIC multiplexer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In operation 421, the FIC multiplexer 107 checks whether program information and time information are received from the program generator. When the program information and the time information are received, the FIC multiplexer 107 checks whether the received program information and the time information are new values in step 423. If the received program information and time information are new values, the FIC multiplexer 107 stores the received program information and time information in the internal memory in step 425. If not, return to step 421 without saving.

If the program information and the time information are not received from the program generator in step 421, the FIC multiplexer 107 checks whether a cycle has arrived in step 427. If the cycle does not arrive, the process returns to step 421. If the cycle arrives, the process compares the current time with the show time of the stored programs and selects information (program, show time) matched with the present time. The program label information {FIB 1/1} is generated in the format as shown in FIG. 2 using the selected information. Fast Information Block (FIB) consists of 256 bits and constitutes an FIC. The FIC defines the structure and content of the MSC.

The selection is to select the label information and the running time information of the program having the smallest difference between the current time and 'the start time of a program minus the free time'. If it is assumed that the current time is T, the start time of the screening of the first program is P1, the start time of the screening of the second program is P2, and the spare time (time margin for sending the program information before the actual broadcasting starts) is D. The value obtained by subtracting the play time from the screening start time of the first program may be represented by (P1-D), and the value obtained by subtracting the play time from the screening start time of the second program may be represented by (P2-D). Therefore, if T- (P1-D) is larger than T- (P2-D), the program information of the second program must be selected.
The FIC multiplexer 107 obtains FIC information by FIC multiplexing the generated program label information in step 429, and then transmits the FIC information to the digital multimedia broadcasting receiver in step 430.

delete

5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of a DMB receiver according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In step 542, the DMB receiver extracts the program label (FIG 1/1) by analyzing the received FIC information.

In step 544, the DMB receiver compares the previous program label (stored program label) information with the current program label information, and if it is not the same, in step 546, the DMB receiver collects the program list (program label information for each broadcaster). Information for displaying program information currently being broadcast to the user in a list format.). If necessary, it can be used as basic information of various applications such as showing changed program information on TV or radio reception screen or scheduled recording.

On the other hand, if the previous program label information and the current program label information are the same, the process returns to step 542.

Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the scope of the following claims, but also by the equivalents of the claims.

As described above, the present invention enables the terrestrial DMB service to accommodate all video, audio, and data services. In addition, there is no need to use a separate data channel for the EPG service.

Claims (8)

In the digital broadcasting device for the electronic program guide service, A program generator which generates program information and time information when a new program is started, A quick information channel multiplexer for receiving program information and time information from the program generator, generating program label information, and performing fast information channel multiplexing to generate quick information channel information including the program label information; And a modulator configured to modulate the fast information channel information to a digital broadcast receiver according to a corresponding transmission medium. The method of claim 1, And the program generator determines whether to start the new program, and the determination is performed a predetermined time ahead of the start time of the actual program. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Electronic program guide information providing device for digital broadcasting, characterized in that the digital broadcasting receiver is a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting receiver. In the method for providing digital program guide information by the digital broadcasting device for the electronic program guide service, Generating new label information and time information when a new program is started, Checking whether the generated program label information and time information are new values; Storing the generated program label information and time information when the new value is a new value; Selecting the program information matched to the current time by comparing the current time and the show time of the stored programs; Generating quick information channel program label information using the selected program information; And transmitting the generated quick information channel program label information to a digital broadcast receiver after multiplexing the fast information channel. The method of claim 4, wherein The step of selecting the matching program information is a process of selecting the label information and the running time information of the program having the smallest difference between the current time and the start time of a program minus the extra time. To provide electronic program guide information. The method according to claim 5 or 6, And the digital broadcasting apparatus is a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting apparatus, and the digital broadcasting receiver is a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting receiver. A method of managing electronic program guide information in a digital broadcasting receiver capable of displaying electronic program guide, Quickly extracting program label information by analyzing information channels; Comparing the previous program label information with the current program label information, And updating the program list if the previous program label information is not the same as the current program label information. The method of claim 7, wherein And the digital broadcasting receiver is a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting receiver.

Images