KR100782203B1 - Apparatus and method for channel information management in the digital broadcasting receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for managing channel information in a digital broadcast receiver, particularly for providing a user channel list defined by a user.

An apparatus for managing channel information in a digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention comprises: a system channel list storage unit configured with a channel list arranged in virtual channel order; A user channel list storage unit configured with a channel list in which a user arbitrarily edits a channel sequence; Means for selecting one of the channel lists stored in the system channel list storage unit or the user channel list storage unit as a default channel list; Means for up / down the channel corresponding to the channel up / down key signal of the user using the selected channel list, and used as a channel list for channel up / down using the channel list defined by the user. It can provide a convenience to the user.

Broadcast receiver, user channel

Description

Apparatus and method for channel information management in the digital broadcasting receiver

1 is a diagram showing an example of a channel map configuration in a conventional digital broadcast receiver.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of channel management in a conventional digital broadcast receiver.

3 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiver for channel management in the present invention.

4 is a detailed configuration diagram of the channel information management unit of FIG. 3.

5 illustrates a user interface for channel editing in accordance with the present invention.

6 is a flow chart illustrating a channel information management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flow chart for selecting a user channel list in accordance with the present invention.

8 is a flow chart for adding / deleting a user channel list according to the present invention.

9 is a diagram showing an example of a user channel list configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110 Tuner and demodulator 120 Demultiplexer

130 ... Decoder 131 ... Audio Decoder

132 Video Decoder 133 Data Decoder

141 Speaker 142 Display

150 ... memory 160 ... storage control

170 storage unit 180 graphics processing unit

190 ... controller 200 ... EPG generator

210 Channel Management Unit 211 Channel Management Unit

212 ... channel entity array 213 ... virtual channel DB

Physical channel DB 215 System channel list storage

216 ... User channel list storage 217 ... Switch

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for managing channel information in a digital broadcast receiver, particularly for providing a user channel list defined by a user.

Recently, as digital broadcasting is accelerating, high quality and high quality broadcasting through satellites, terrestrial waves, and cables are being started. Compared to the existing analog TV, digital broadcasting provides not only high definition and high sound quality but also various additional services. Such digital broadcasting compresses high quality / high quality A / V using video / audio compression method (ie MPEG-2, AC-3) and transmits QPSK / VSB / QAM through existing satellite / ground / cable band. Since it can be delivered to each user by using, it is possible to provide a variety of services in one channel accordingly.

In digital broadcasting, video and audio streams are compressed into digital information, and system information and program information are stored in a program and system information protocol (PSIP) table or a program specific information (PSI) table. Is broadcast through. At this time, the information related to the broadcast program is decoded from data other than the video and audio information, and the program related information is displayed on the screen and informed to the user through an electronic program guide (EPG).

Digital broadcasting receivers can provide more than 4 channels of SD class and 1 channel of HD class in the case of terrestrial wave, and receive various broadcasting channels through cable or satellite broadcasting unlike the past, which could only receive over-the-air channels. At the present time, there are several ways to effectively isolate and manage at least 50 and as many as 100 channels. That is, unlike an analog broadcast system, a digital broadcast system may contain one HDTV stream or multiple SDTV streams within a 6 MHz bandwidth. Here, the 6 MHz is called a physical channel, and each stream is called a virtual channel.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional channel map configuration.

Referring to FIG. 1, after receiving a program specific information (PSI) table from a physical channel (S11), a virtual channel number is parsed from the received PSI table (S12). That is, after receiving the PSI table from the physical channel and parsing it, the virtual channel number can be obtained. The parsed virtual channel numbers are sorted in ascending order (S13), and a channel map is constructed using the sorted channel list (S14).

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of conventional channel management.

Referring to FIG. 2, the channel manager 21 manages each piece of information related to a channel for the user's key input and channel map configuration. The channel entity array is a database (DB) of each channel used, and is filled in the order of randomly registered channels. The channels CH0, CH3, CH1, CH2, CH5, CH4, etc., filled in the channel entity array 22 are the numbers of the physical channels, and the order may be the order of the physical channels.

The virtual channel DB 23 is a virtual channel database DB to be stored in a memory (eg, NVRAM) and has a 1: 1 correspondence with a channel entity. Information of the virtual channel is stored. Physical channel DB 24 is a database that exists for storage in memory (eg NVRAM). The physical channel information is stored in the physical channel DB.

Since the system channel list storage unit 25 does not have an order of channels to be filled in the channel entity, it sorts them in a predetermined order. That is, sorting is performed according to the number of virtual channels included in the physical channel of the channel entity, and the sorted index is stored. The channel up / down function will refer to the index of the next channel.

As such many channels are managed only by a single fixed system channel list, users are increasingly difficult to manage a large number of broadcast channels. For example, since the user cannot remember the numbers of all the channels, the channel up / down function is frequently used for channel searching. However, there is a problem in that it takes too much time to actually search for a channel desired by the user.

It is a first object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for managing channel information which enables a user to arbitrarily change the order of channels.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for managing channel information, which enables a system channel list in which virtual channels are sequentially arranged and a channel list edited by a user.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for managing channel information that enables selecting one of a plurality of user channel lists and a system channel list sequentially arranged as a default channel list.

The fourth object of the present invention is to generate a list in which a virtual channel is arbitrarily arranged by a user through a user interface, provide the generated list as one channel list, and add / delete a channel list or a channel in each channel list. The present invention provides an apparatus and method for managing channel information.

A fifth object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for managing channel information, which enables a user channel list to be updated with a channel reflecting a user viewing pattern or history.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing channel information in a digital broadcast receiver, comprising: a system channel list storage unit configured with a channel list arranged in virtual channel order; A user channel list storage unit configured with a channel list in which a user arbitrarily edits a channel sequence; Means for selecting one of the channel lists stored in the system channel list storage unit or the user channel list storage unit as a default channel list; And means for up / down the channel corresponding to the channel up / down key signal of the user with reference to the selected channel list.

Preferably, the user channel list storage unit stores one or more user channel lists, and may add or delete a channel to the user channel list. Preferably, the user interface for storing the channel list of the user channel list storage unit is characterized in that for providing. Preferably, the user channel list storage unit is characterized in that the user channel list stored by day or by user is stored. Preferably, the user channel list is characterized in that the channel is automatically updated according to the user viewing pattern and usage history.

Meanwhile, a method of managing channel information in a digital broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention includes parsing a received channel number and sorting the received channel number in a predetermined order to construct a system channel list; Generating a user channel list edited by a user for the sorted channel numbers; And selecting one of the sorted system channel list or the user channel list as a default channel list.

The generating of the user channel list may include: executing a user interface for managing the channel list; And changing the channel sequence of the user through editing such as adding or deleting a channel to the user channel list based on the system channel lists on the user interface.

Preferably, when the default channel list is selected, the method may further include referring to a channel up / down index of the corresponding channel list in response to the channel up / down key. Preferably, the user channel list is one or more. Preferably, the editing in the user channel list includes a function of adding or deleting a channel or a channel list.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows.

3 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, one or more tuners and demodulators 110 for receiving and demodulating broadcast data, a demultiplexer 120 for demultiplexing the demodulated broadcast data into video, audio, and additional data; A decoder 130 for decoding and outputting multiplexed video, audio, and additional data, a speaker 141 for outputting the decoded audio to the outside, a display unit 142 for outputting the decoded video, and a channel; A memory 150 for storing additional information such as information, a storage control unit 160 for controlling storage of a broadcast program, a storage device 170 for storing a broadcast program, and various types of information for a user interface. Graphic processing unit 180 for processing and outputting to the display unit 142, the control unit 190 for guiding the broadcast program information, and performs functions such as watching, recording, reservation by the user's key input A configuration information including the channel information manager 210 for managing the channel information defined by the user EPG generating unit 200, and a system information channel and for generating EPG information from.

As shown in FIG. 4, the channel information management unit 210 manages channel information, a channel manager 211, a channel entity array 212, a virtual channel (VCH) and a physical channel ( DBHs 213 and 214 of the PCH, a system channel list storage unit 215 in which the channels are sorted in the order defined in the system, and a user channel list storage unit 216 in which the user arbitrarily changes the channel sequence. And a switch 217 for selecting the system channel list storage unit 215 or the user channel list storage unit 216.

The apparatus and method for managing channel information in a digital broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 3, the tuner and demodulator 110 tunes, demodulates, and outputs a broadcast signal. Here, one or more tuners and demodulators 110 may be configured for a function such as a PIP, and the broadcast signal includes a broadcast received through a satellite / terrestrial wave / cable.

The demultiplexer 120 demultiplexes the demodulated data in the inverse of the multiplexing method in the transmission system, and the demultiplexed audio, video, and additional information are output to the decoder 130.

The decoder unit 130 decodes the encoding scheme in the transmission system, and includes an audio decoder 131, a video decoder 132, and a data decoder 133. The audio decoder 131 decodes the demultiplexed audio signal and outputs the demultiplexed audio signal to the speaker 141. The video decoder 132 decodes the demultiplexed video signal and outputs the demultiplexed video signal to the display unit 142. Here, the display unit 142 processes the decoded video signal by a video processor (not shown) and outputs the processed signal.

The data decoder 133 decodes the demultiplexed side information and outputs side information data such as program specific information (PSI) and broadcast guide information. Here, the PSI information and the broadcast guide information may include a program map table (PMT), a program association table (PAT), a virtual channel table (VCT), a conditional access table (CAT), and a network information (NIT). Table) and the like. The virtual channel table is parsed from this PSI data.

The program specific information (PSI) includes information required to perform a basic operation of the receiver, and includes a program association table (PAT), a conditional access table (CAT), a program management table (PMT), and the like. Is composed of practical information for program guidance, and this includes a network information table (NIT), a service description table (SDT), a time date table (TDT), and an event information table (EIT).

Meanwhile, the digital broadcast program transmitted by the ATSC method may be recorded on a recording medium of a recording / reproducing apparatus through an external interface (for example, IEEE1394). For example, the IEEE 1394 is specified to transmit information on a program using PAT, PMT, etc. of PSI (Program specification information).

The EPG generator 200 processes the PSI and the broadcast guide information into EPG information and then outputs it through the display unit 142 if desired by the user. In this case, the graphic processor 180 is an on screen display (OSD) or a graphical user interface (GUI), and processes and outputs the EPG information or program information on a screen of the display unit 142 as a graphic. In addition, the graphic processor 180 provides a user interface (UI) so that a user can arbitrarily edit a channel sequence.

The memory 150 stores additional information such as the generated EPG information and other channel information. The memory 150 may be configured as EEPROM or non-volatile RAM (NVRAM).

The storage controller 160 records the broadcast program received from the user or data input from the outside in the storage device 170 when there is a recording request, a reservation recording request, recording playback, or the like from the user. Here, the storage device 170 may be configured as, for example, an HDD as a mass storage device.

The controller 190 receives a user's key signal and controls broadcast signal channel control, channel up / down, and a function corresponding to various setting items. In addition, a control is performed to sequentially search for a physical channel by a user's channel scan command, and the sorting and channel map configuration of the virtual channel number parsed from the PSI data of the searched physical channel are controlled. In addition, the user interface for constructing the user channel list is controlled to be implemented in the graphic processor 180.

The channel information management unit 210 manages channel information, and defaults only one channel list among a system channel list in which virtual channels are sorted in the order set in the system, and a user channel list whose channel sequence is changed by a user. It will be provided as a channel list. That is, one channel list operated in response to the channel up / down key is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the channel information management unit 210 includes a channel manager 211, a channel entity array 212, a virtual channel DB 213, a physical channel DB 214, and a system channel list storage unit 215. ), And a user channel list storage unit 216.

The channel manager 210 manages all information related to the channel, and the channel entity array 212 is a DB of each channel used in the system. This channel entity array 212 is populated in the order in which the channels are registered and the registration order may be the order of the physical channels.

The virtual channel DB 213 is a database for storing in the memory, and has a one-to-one correspondence with each channel entity, and information about the virtual channel is stored. The physical channel DB 214 is a database that exists to be stored in memory and stores information of the physical channel.

Since the system channel list storage unit 215 registers the physical channels in the channel entity array out of order, the system channel list storage unit 215 is a storage area of the channel list arranged in a predetermined ascending or descending order. Here, although the physical channel order of the channel entity array has been changed in the system channel list storage unit 215, the physical channel order is actually changed by the order of the virtual channels included in each physical channel. Here, since the physical channels disclosed in the system channel list storage are arranged based on the virtual channels, the physical channels are arranged in the order of the physical channels.

That is, the system channel list storage unit 215 stores the index in which channel entities are arranged in virtual channel order. That is, instead of sorting based on the physical channel number registered in the channel entity, the sorting is performed according to the number of the virtual channels included in the physical channel, and the index corresponding to the sorted virtual channel is stored. The order of these channel lists is referenced to find the index of the next channel in the channel up / down function.

The user channel list storage unit 216 arranges channels in a user's order separately from the system channel list storage unit 215. A channel list 227 for channel up / down of a user is added (221), inserted (222) or deleted (223) through the user interface 220 as shown in FIG. 5.

Here, in order to generate the user channel list 227, channels may be sequentially added 221 in the order desired by the user using the system channel list 226 through the remote controller key, or newly different from the existing channel. It may be inserted 222 between channels, and unnecessary channels may be deleted 223 from the list. The user channel list 227 generated as described above is stored in the user channel list area.

The user channel list storage unit 216 illustrated in FIG. 4 may be configured with one or more user channel lists. For example, the user channel list for channel up / down is selected by weekdays / weekends, days of the week, users, and time zones. It can also be configured as.

Channels in the system channel list area corresponding to the basic system channels cannot be edited (eg deleted) and stored in the memory for system use.

Once this user channel list is created, the user selects (224) (225) one of a system channel list (226) and a user defined list (227), which is the default that can be used in a real system. Select the channel list.

The user can compose several user channel lists. Therefore, one default channel list to be used in the channel up / down function can be determined among a plurality of channel lists defined by the user. This can be selected in the user interface function and performs the channel up / down function according to the order of the channels specified in the selected default channel list.

In addition, the switch 217 refers to the default channel list storage unit 215 or 216 selected above, so that the channel manager 211 uses the current viewing channel through the switch 217 by the channel up / down key of the user. Channel up / down is enabled by searching the corresponding channel index near.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a channel information management method according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, PSI data is received from a physical channel (S100), and a virtual channel number included in the PSI data is parsed (S101). The parsed virtual channel numbers are sorted according to system criteria to form a system channel list (S102), and a channel map is constructed using the sorted channel list (S103).

At this time, if a request for generating a new channel list is requested from the user (S104), a user interface is provided, and a system channel list is provided on the user interface (S105).

Using the provided system channel list, a user channel list configured in a user arbitrary channel order is generated and stored (S106). This user channel list may generate one or more.

In this way, after generating two channel lists, that is, a system channel list and a user channel list, it is checked whether there is a default list selection from the user (S107). If there is a selection of the default channel list, one of the system channel list and the user channel list is stored as the default channel list (S108).

However, if there is no selection of the default channel list, the system channel list is stored as the default channel list (S109).

When the default channel list is stored, the channel is up / down using adjacent up / down channels based on the current viewing channel in the default channel list in response to the user's channel up / down key.

7 is a flowchart for selecting a default channel list according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, when the channel list management user interface is executed (S111), the channel list management user interface is operated in a channel list selection mode (S112). In this case, in the channel list selection mode, it is checked whether the user channel list exists (S113). If the user channel list exists, both the system channel list and the user channel list (s) are provided (S114). At this time, the user selects one channel list as the default channel list (S115). If the user channel list does not exist, the system channel list is selected as the default channel list (S116). Thereafter, if there is no other operation, the channel list management user interface is terminated (S117).

8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of adding / deleting a user channel list according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, when the channel list management user interface is executed (S121), it is checked whether the user channel list is added / deleted (S122), and if the user channel list add mode is present (S123), the remaining storage space is checked (S123). If there is a storage space, the user channel list can be added (S124).

In the delete mode of the user channel list, it is checked whether the user channel list exists (S125). If the user channel list exists, all user channel lists are provided (S126), and the user channel list selected by the user is deleted. S127). Thereafter, if there is no other operation, the channel list management user interface is terminated (S128).

9 is a diagram illustrating another example of a configuration of a user channel list according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, after analyzing the search preferences through the viewing pattern / use history of the user (S131), the upper n channels are extracted from the analyzed result (S132). Here, the viewing pattern information is information representing the viewing pattern of the user divided by genre, channel, time zone, day of the week, user, and the like. The usage history information is a series of inputs that the user has recently entered (for example, one week). This is a record of commands, including the key signal being input, the most selected channel, a keyword, and so on.

Subsequently, in the update mode of the user channel list (S133), the user channel list is reconfigured with the extracted upper n channels (S134). Here, the list update mode may be executed by a certain period or by a user request.

In this way, a digital broadcast receiver (eg, a TV) allows a user to create a new user channel list for channel up / down using virtual channels arranged according to the criteria of the receiving system, thereby using the channel up / down function. The user channel list can be used to find the index of the next channel in the order of the channels desired by the user, thereby providing convenience in use.

So far, the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains to the detailed description of the present invention and other forms of embodiments within the essential technical scope of the present invention. Could be implemented. Here, the essential technical scope of the present invention is shown in the claims, and all differences within the equivalent range will be construed as being included in the present invention.

As described above, according to the apparatus and method for managing channel information in a digital broadcasting receiver according to the present invention, a channel list defined by a user is added to use a channel up / down function, and the next channel is arranged in the order of channels desired by the user. Since the index can be found, the user's convenience can be improved compared to the structure in which only the list of the existing virtual channel numbers is sorted in ascending order.

In addition, there is an effect that can be set to each desired channel according to time and user by having at least one user channel list.

Claims (12)

A system channel list storage unit storing channel lists arranged in virtual channel order; A user channel list storage unit for storing a channel list automatically edited by a user or a channel list automatically updated according to a user viewing pattern and a usage history; Means for selecting one of the channel lists stored in the system channel list storage unit or the user channel list storage unit as a default channel list; And And means for up / down the channel corresponding to the channel up / down key signal of the user using the selected channel list. The method of claim 1, And the user channel list storage unit stores one or more user channel lists. The method of claim 1, And the user channel list storage unit may add or delete a channel of the user channel list. The method of claim 1, And a user interface for editing a channel list of the user channel list storage unit. The method of claim 1, And the user channel list storage unit stores a user channel list divided by day or user. delete Parsing the received channel numbers into a sorted order and constructing a system channel list; Generating a user channel list edited by a user or automatically updated according to a user viewing pattern and usage history; And selecting one of the sorted system channel list and the user channel list as a default channel list. The method of claim 7, wherein Generating the user channel list, Executing a user interface for managing the channel list; And changing to a channel sequence of a user through editing such as adding or deleting a channel to a user channel list based on system channel lists on the user interface. The method of claim 7, wherein And if the default channel list is selected, referring to a channel up / down index of a corresponding channel list in response to a channel up / down key. The method of claim 7, wherein And the user channel list is one or more. The method of claim 7, wherein Editing in the user channel list includes a function of adding or deleting a channel list or a function of adding or deleting a channel in the channel list. The method of claim 7, wherein The user channel list is a channel information management method of the digital broadcast receiver, characterized in that the channel list divided by day or user.

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