KR100744383B1 - Method of managing preference channel in received terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for managing a preference channel in a terrestrial DMB(Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) receiving terminal is provided to manage the preference channel in consideration of synchronization with previously stored channel information in inter-area movement. A terrestrial DMB receiving terminal outputs a picture for displaying a list for one of respective service channels. The terrestrial DMB receiving terminal displays a menu capable of allowing a user to register at least one or more channels in the channel list as preference channels on the picture. The terrestrial DMB receiving terminal registers a channel selected through the menu by the user as a preference channel. The terrestrial DMB receiving terminal judges whether a broadcasting service area is changed according to inter-area movement(710). When the broadcasting service area is changed, the terrestrial DMB receiving terminal receives new broadcasting service configuration information(720). The terrestrial DMB receiving terminal judges whether changed channel information exists on the basis of the broadcasting service configuration information(730). The terrestrial DMB receiving terminal updates information about the registered preference channel on the basis of the changed channel information(740,750).

Description

METHOD OF MANAGING PREFERENCE CHANNEL IN RECEIVED TERRESTRIAL DIGITAL MULTIMEDIA BROADCASTING TERMINAL}

1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a structure of an ensemble used in a terrestrial DMB system;

2 is a diagram illustrating a general EPG data type;

3 is an internal block diagram of a terrestrial DMB receiving terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a view showing an example of an operation of performing a favorite channel registration / release using an EPG menu according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 illustrates an example of a screen displaying a menu for registering / deactivating a preferred channel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a screen example showing a method of displaying a preferred channel in an EPG menu in a table format;

7 is a control flow diagram for managing a preferred channel when moving between regions according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a terrestrial DMB receiving terminal, and more particularly, to a method of managing a preferred channel in a terrestrial DMB receiving terminal that enables a user to easily select and manage a desired channel.

Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) is a multimedia broadcasting service including video based on the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) (Eureka-147) system, a European digital radio broadcasting standard that provides CD-quality audio and data services simultaneously. Is the world's first domestic system standard to provide.

The advantage of terrestrial DMB broadcasting over general digital broadcasting such as ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) or DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) is that it can watch on the go. That is, if the DMB user has a DMB receiving terminal, the DMB user can watch the broadcast as much as he or she is on the move.

Another feature of terrestrial DMB broadcasting is that broadcasting services are not limited to video services, and audio and data services can also be received through broadcasting. Therefore, more channels and services are available through terrestrial DMB than fixed terrestrial digital broadcasting.

In general, the terrestrial DMB broadcast signal is composed of ensemble units, and one ensemble consists of several services. Each service includes service components.

That is, one ensemble becomes a basic element constituting the terrestrial DMB broadcast signal, and the user can listen to a specific service by selecting a service in the ensemble. Usually, one ensemble may have a plurality of video services, audio services, and data services.

1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a structure of an ensemble used in a terrestrial DMB system. Referring to FIG. 1, an ensemble used in a terrestrial DMB system includes a plurality of services and service components constituting each service. The structure of this ensemble follows the DAB standard proposed by Eureka-147. Thus, as shown, the ensemble 101 labeled "DAB ENSEMBLE ONE" is comprised of services called "ALPHA 1 RADIO" 102, "BETA RADIO" 103, and "ALPHA 2 RADIO" 104. It can be seen that each service is composed of a plurality of service components 105 to 110 again.

The service in this ensemble is included in a part of one ensemble frame called the main service channel (MSC) 114 to 118, and the broadcast service configuration information of the main service channel is a fast information channel (FIC). It may be found through the multiplex configuration information (MCI) 111 and the service information (SI) 112 received through a channel.

As described above, in addition to the advantage of being able to watch broadcasts on the go, one of the advantages of the digital broadcast service is that the channel efficiency is significantly higher than that of the analog broadcast service. That is, in analog broadcasting, only one program existed on one physical channel. However, in digital broadcasting, several programs can be simultaneously delivered to one physical channel. Therefore, digital broadcasting service can provide a great number of programs. Therefore, there is a need to provide program information so that viewers can easily select a desired program. The service created for this is the EPG (Electronic Program Guide) service.

The EPG service is a service that allows a viewer to refer to the program information by providing various program information about the broadcast to the viewer from a broadcasting station (or service operator (SO) of cable broadcasting) providing the program.

EPG defined by ETSI is based on DAB service, and standard work is currently underway on the DMB EPG part. 2 illustrates such an EPG data type. Referring to FIG. 2, three types of data types of EPGs in the XML-based EPG standard document proposed by ETSI are Service Information (SI), Program Information (PI), and Group Information (GI). The schema is defined by dividing by.

In the case of the service information in FIG. 2A, an ensemble tag is used to define a field indicating the information of the ensemble and each service information transmitted to the ensemble using the service tag. In the case of program information in FIG. 2B, program information, group, and event information are defined using schedule tags, program tags, and the like. In the case of group information in FIG. 2C, group information connected to a program is defined.

As described above, the DMB service includes a plurality of ensembles, and each ensemble also includes a plurality of video channels, audio channels, and data channels. Therefore, the sum of all these channels leads to dozens of channels. Accordingly, the user can receive a variety of services in a number of channels, but in reality the channel that the user frequently watches or listens, that is, the preferred channel is limited. Nevertheless, even if only the preferred channels are to be watched or listened to, the terrestrial DMB receiving terminal should get a list of all channels. It is very inconvenient to select a channel while checking the video and audio data channels one by one among all the channel list, and even when selecting a channel using EPG information, multiple key inputs are required to find the preferred channel information. .

Meanwhile, in the case of a terrestrial DMB receiving terminal, inter-regional movement may occur due to the characteristics of mobile broadcasting, and during the movement, different channel information is received for each region through the FIC channel. In this case, terrestrial DMB broadcasting may not maintain the same ensemble frequency among all regions, but each region may have its own broadcasting channel and broadcasting service. As a result, the broadcast service structure in the ensemble is different, and thus, synchronization between the prestored channel information and the actual channel may be inconsistent. Therefore, if the region changes, the link to the channel information connected to the EPG is also broken.

As mentioned above, in the case of terrestrial DMB broadcasting, the number of channels that users can watch is expected to increase enormously. However, assuming that the number of DMB channels that a user can watch in the future is about 200 to 300, if a user wants to find a broadcast channel that the user wants using the current normal broadcast program list, the user may select 200 from the channel information generated through the EPG. It is inconvenient to check the broadcast program list of the ~ 300 channels one by one. Therefore, in order to reduce this inconvenience, there was a channel memory function that allows a user to remember a specific channel in advance and change the channel only in the corresponding channels. However, if the inter-regional movement occurs, this function is disconnected due to inconsistent synchronization with the stored channel information.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for managing a preferred channel in a terrestrial DMB receiving terminal that enables a user to easily select and manage a desired channel.

The present invention also provides a method for managing a preferred channel in a terrestrial DMB receiving terminal considering synchronization with prestored channel information even when moving between regions.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing a preferred channel in a terrestrial DMB receiving terminal, the method comprising: outputting a screen displaying a list of any one channel of each service channel, and displaying the channel on the screen; Displaying a menu for registering at least one channel in the list as a preferred channel, registering a channel selected by the user as the preferred channel through the menu, and changing the broadcasting service area according to movement between regions; Determining whether the information is changed; receiving new broadcast service configuration information when the broadcast service domain is changed; determining whether there is changed channel information based on the broadcast service configuration information; and registering based on the changed channel information. And updating the information on the preferred channel. The.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and the annexed drawings, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted.

The present invention implements a function for allowing a user to easily select and manage a desired channel while considering the synchronization with prestored channel information even when moving between terrestrial DMB receiving terminals. To this end, whenever a broadcast service area is changed, synchronization is performed based on a result of comparing channel information received from a corresponding terrestrial DMB broadcasting station with prestored channel information. At this time, the pre-stored channel information includes a favorite channel, and the favorite channel registration / release operation is performed through the preferred channel registration / release menu.

For example, a user may register / cancel the current broadcast channel as a favorite channel by pressing a specific key while watching a broadcast for registering / deselecting the favorite channel, and prefers each channel for example in a video, audio, or data channel list. You can register / unregister a channel, or you can directly register / unregister a channel using a separate channel preference menu. At this time, a preference channel registration / cancellation menu may be implemented so that a user can easily manage a preference channel on a screen on which EPG information in the form of a table is displayed. In this way, since the terrestrial DMB receiving terminal to which the present invention is applied performs synchronization when moving between regions, it is possible to reduce the inconvenience of the user having to register / release a preferred channel again. In addition, the user can easily select and manage a desired channel through the favorite channel registration / cancellation menu.

Components and operations of the terrestrial DMB receiving terminal having the above-described functions will be described with reference to FIG. 3. 3 is an internal block diagram of a terrestrial DMB receiving terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the digital broadcast data receiver 210 receives digital broadcast data (hereinafter, referred to as broadcast data) through an antenna, demultiplexes a transport stream packet (hereinafter, referred to as a TS packet), and then performs a decoding process. Parse broadcast data into video and audio data. In this case, the demultiplexer and the decoder which perform demultiplexing may be implemented in the digital broadcast data receiving unit 210. Since the operation in each component implemented internally is obvious to those skilled in the art, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. do. On the other hand, the broadcast data received by the digital broadcast data receiving unit 210 is divided into multiplexing to fit the TS packet size so that the transmitting unit (not shown) of the external digital broadcasting system loads the image data and the audio data on the transmission channel. In other words, the TS packet is modulated and transmitted as an RF signal.

Subsequently, when broadcast data is parsed into video and audio data, the parsed video and audio data is transmitted to the multimedia unit 240. The multimedia unit 240 functions as a control unit in the broadcast service mode, and outputs each transmitted image and audio data to the display unit 230 and the audio processor 250.

The display unit 230 receives and displays the display data for the key input data input from the key input unit 260 under the control of the controller 270, or visually knows the state in setting or driving a function required by the user. To help. In addition, the display unit 230 according to the present invention displays the broadcast data received by the digital broadcast data receiving unit 210 and displays whether the preferred channel registration / cancellation is possible as the user registers / deselects the preferred channel. At this time, the user can toggle the preferred channel state using a specific key. In addition, when the preferred channel function is applied to the EPG service under the control of the controller 270, the display unit 230 outputs a screen for managing the preferred channel such as display, registration, and release of the preferred channel along with broadcast information. Accordingly, the user can select to register / cancel the preferred channel immediately after watching the broadcast, and can also easily manage the preferred channel because the user can view information on the preferred channel in the list for each channel displayed together with the broadcast information.

The audio processor 250 is connected to the microphone MIC and the speaker SPK, converts the audio signal transmitted from the multimedia unit 240, outputs the audio signal through the speaker SPK, and receives the audio from the microphone MIC. The signal is converted into data and transmitted to the multimedia unit 240.

The key input unit 260 outputs its own key input data according to input of each key provided as an apparatus for interface with a user, and the key input data output from the key input unit 260 is applied to the controller 270. As a result, it is detected that such key input data becomes key input data according to which key input, and according to the result, the control unit 270 performs the corresponding operation.

The controller 270 controls the overall operation of the terrestrial DMB broadcasting terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention based on a command input through the key input unit 260 and an operation program pre-stored in the memory 280.

In detail, the control unit 270 displays a menu for registering or releasing a favorite channel on the display unit 230 in the form of a pop-up window when there is a menu input from the user while the broadcast screen is displayed according to an embodiment of the present invention. do. In addition, the controller 270 controls to display the broadcasting information together with the information on the preferred channel based on the previously stored preferred channel information on the screen on which the list for each channel is displayed on the EPG service-based screen.

At this time, the terrestrial DMB broadcasting station may be changed according to the movement between regions while displaying the broadcasting, and thus the broadcasting service configuration information may also be changed. Accordingly, some of the information on the preferred channel managed by the controller 270 is not supported by the moved terrestrial DMB broadcasting station, and thus the broadcast may not be displayed. In order to prevent this, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the broadcast service zone is changed according to the movement between regions, the controller 270 receives new broadcast service configuration information from the terrestrial DMB broadcasting station corresponding to the changed broadcast service zone. In other words, when the broadcast service zone is changed, the controller 270 rescans the channel and receives a new service channel list for the corresponding zone through the fast information channel.

Then, the control unit 270 performs synchronization by comparing broadcast information including previously stored preferred channel information with new broadcast service configuration information. In detail, the controller 270 compares the service ID list of the new channel list with the service ID list of the existing channel list and determines whether there is a change. In this case, if there is no change, even if the broadcast service area is changed, this means that a preferred channel can be used as it is, that is, a state in which synchronization between databases is matched. If there is a change, it means that broadcast information including the preferred channel has been changed, so that the controller 270 synchronizes to update the information on the preferred channel. In detail, the control unit 270 compares the service ID of the previously stored preferred channel with the service ID of the received channel list one by one, and deletes if it does not match the service ID of the new channel list. In particular, since there is a change in EPG information, the controller 270 compares the service ID of each channel of the EPG database with the new service ID to perform synchronization or delete the additional channel information. . In addition, the controller 270 may download EPG data again through the MOT for the newly added service.

Hereinafter, the operation of the terrestrial DMB receiving terminal performing the function as described above will be described.

First, when a menu key is input by a user while displaying a broadcast, the terminal displays a menu for registering / releasing a favorite channel in the form of a pop-up window as shown in FIG. In this case, if the current channel is already registered as the preferred channel, the controller 270 may display only the preferred channel release menu, and register or release the preferred channel through a toggle using a specific key. In addition, the terminal may register / cancel the preferred channel in the channel list menu of video, audio, and data as shown in FIG. As shown in (b) of FIG. 5, after focusing a desired channel, a user may immediately register or release a favorite channel by using a favorite channel shortcut key, for example, a '#' key. In this case, the specific icon may be used to inform the registered state of the preferred channel. In addition, the preferred channel selected from each channel list may be managed as a separate preferred channel list as shown in (c) of FIG. 5. That is, the preferred channel may be registered / released through a separate preferred channel setting menu.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to display the preferred channel together in the EPG menu in a table form, which will be described with reference to FIG. 4. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation process of performing a preference channel registration / cancellation using an EPG menu according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the terminal determines whether an EPG menu is selected by the user in step 400. When the EPG menu is selected as a result of the check, the terminal displays corresponding channel information according to the video, audio, and data channel selection in step 410 as shown in FIG. In the state where such a screen is displayed, the terminal determines whether there is a cursor movement by a user's key input in step 420. If there is a cursor movement, the terminal displays whether a preferred channel is registered / released for the focused channel by moving the current cursor in step 430. For example, when the currently focused channel is registered as the preferred channel, the terminal displays the 'favorite channel release' function, and when the channel is not registered, the 'preferred channel registration' function is displayed. In this case, the channel registered as the preferred channel may be separately managed in the My Channel menu. In operation 440, the terminal determines whether one of the preferred channel registration / deselection functions is selected by the user. If the preferred channel setting is selected, the terminal registers the currently focused channel as the preferred channel in step 450 and adds the registered preferred channel to the my channel list. In contrast, if the preferred channel release is selected, the terminal releases the preferred channel in step 460 and deletes the released preferred channel from the mychannel list.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a method of displaying a preferred channel in a table-type EPG menu. Broadcast information according to an EPG service may be displayed in various forms in addition to the above. In FIG. 6A, a channel list and broadcast information of a video channel are displayed. A favorite channel registered using a specific icon such as a heart shape is displayed in the video channel list. At this time, when the user moves the cursor to the registered favorite channel name in the EPG table of the video channel and focuses, the 'preferred channel release' function that can release the currently registered preferred channel is displayed.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 6B, only a channel registered as a preferred channel and broadcast information about the channel are displayed through a my channel menu. This My Channel menu allows the user to view the broadcasting information of the preferred channel at a glance. For example, if the user moves the cursor key to move the focus to the 'my channel' and presses the confirmation key, the user can view the broadcasting information of all channels registered as the favorite channels in one screen. The application of the preferred channel management function to the EPG menu is an example of a customized service for each individual DMB user.

Meanwhile, as described above, the stored preferred channel may not be supported in the changed broadcasting service area when the terrestrial DMB broadcasting station is changed according to the movement between regions. Therefore, an embodiment of the present invention implements a function of managing a preferred channel in consideration of broadcast service configuration information changed when moving between regions so that a user can easily manage the preferred channel. Such broadcast service configuration information may also be changed. Accordingly, some of the information on the preferred channel managed by the controller 270 is not supported by the moved terrestrial DMB broadcasting station, and thus the broadcast may not be displayed. In order to prevent this, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the broadcast service zone is changed according to the movement between regions, the controller 270 receives new broadcast service configuration information from the terrestrial DMB broadcasting station corresponding to the changed broadcast service zone.

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A process of managing a preferred channel when moving between regions will be described with reference to FIG. 7. 7 is a control flowchart for managing a preferred channel when moving between regions according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the terminal determines whether the broadcast service area is changed in step 710. As a result of the determination, when the broadcasting service area is changed, that is, when the broadcasting service area is out of the current terrestrial DMB broadcasting station, the terminal rescans the channel in operation 720. Accordingly, after receiving the service channel list of the corresponding region, the terminal compares the service ID of the new channel list with the service ID of the existing channel list. Based on the comparison result, the terminal determines whether there is changed channel information in step 730. That is, if the comparison result does not match, the terminal recognizes that it needs to update its own broadcast information. Specifically, the terminal synchronizes the service ID of the memory in which the preferred channel is stored with the service ID of the new channel list by deleting the service ID that does not match the service ID of the new channel list.

Accordingly, the terminal reconfigures the channel information on the basis of the new service channel list received from the broadcast station changed in step 740, and likewise synchronizes the EPG information to update the preferred channel and the EPG database in step 750. FIG.

As described above, the preferred channel management method to which the present invention is applied can provide a personalized DMB service for an individual, and this can be extended to not only terrestrial DMB, but also to satellite DMB, where the number of channels continues to increase. In addition, it is possible to easily select and manage preferred channels, thereby increasing the satisfaction of DMB service and increasing the DMB market. In addition, even if a broadcast service region change occurs, EPG information including a preferred channel may be synchronized to increase user convenience when using a DMB service.

Claims (7)

In the method of managing a preferred channel in the terrestrial DMB receiving terminal, Outputting a screen displaying a list of any one of each service channel; Displaying a menu for registering at least one or more channels of the channel list as a preferred channel on the screen; Registering a channel selected from the user through the menu as a favorite channel; Determining whether the broadcasting service area changes according to the movement between regions; Receiving new broadcast service configuration information when the broadcast service area is changed; Determining whether there is changed channel information based on the broadcast service configuration information; And updating the information on the registered preferred channel on the basis of the changed channel information. The method of claim 1, Checking whether the channel on which the cursor is located can be registered as a preferred channel when the cursor is moved while the screen is displayed; And displaying a menu for releasing the preferred channel if the channel where the cursor is located is already registered as the preferred channel. The method of claim 1, Displaying corresponding channel information according to one channel selection of each service channel; And managing the preferred channel in the terrestrial DMB receiving terminal, further comprising outputting information indicating a possible state of registering and releasing the preferred channel to the focused channel when there is a cursor movement while the channel information is displayed. How to. The method of claim 1, Checking whether there is a service channel selection among the service channels; Displaying a channel list for the selected service channel; Outputting together EPG information on a channel that is focused according to the movement of the cursor and whether or not it can be registered as a preferred channel while the channel list is displayed; And if the focused channel is registered as the preferred channel, adding to the preferred channel list. The method of claim 4, wherein And if the focused channel is released from the preferred channel, deleting the preferred channel list from the preferred channel list. delete In the method of managing a preferred channel in the terrestrial DMB receiving terminal, Outputting a screen displaying a list of any one of each service channel; Displaying a menu for registering at least one or more channels of the channel list as a preferred channel on the screen; Registering a channel selected from the user through the menu as a favorite channel; Receiving a list of service channels in the current broadcast service area by rescanning the channel if the broadcast service area is changed according to the movement between regions; Comparing the service ID of the received service channel list with the service ID of the previously stored channel list; And deleting the channel that does not match the service ID of the received service channel list if there is changed channel information as a result of the comparison, to perform synchronization.

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