KR100962995B1 - System and Method for IPTV Streaming Using Independent Channel Change of Cable Modem in Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides IPTV stream data to subscribers through separate IPTV E-QAM and DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem without sending IPTV stream data through cable modem termination system (CMTS) when providing IPTV service in optical coaxial mixed network (HFC). The present invention provides an IPTV broadcasting transmission system and method using an independent channel change function by a cable modem in an optical coaxial mixed network which can provide IPTV service by transmitting a digital signal.

To this end, the present invention provides a channel map management server that provides channel map information for IPTV broadcasting in a system receiving Internet service and IPTV broadcasting service through an optical coaxial mixed network (HFC), and video for each channel of IPTV broadcasting. IP-TV E-QAM for transmitting the stream to DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem, and receiving channel map information from the channel map management server, and based on the channel map information according to the subscriber's IPTV reception channel change request (Join) It comprises a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem that tunes the desired broadcast channel in each channel of the broadcast to provide the subscriber with a video stream of the channel.

Description

System and Method for IPTV Streaming Using Independent Channel Change of Cable Modem in Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Network}

The present invention enables the reception of IPTV broadcasts through a cable modem terminal system (CMTS) in a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network capable of both Internet access and IPTV broadcast. Using the independent channel change function by the cable modem in the optical coaxial mixed network, which makes it possible to efficiently use the broadband downlink bandwidth of the optical coaxial mixed network for IPTV broadcasting without the bandwidth limitation of the modem termination system (CMTS). The present invention relates to an IPTV broadcast transmission system and a method thereof.

As is well known, subscribers of high speed internet services are provided with high speed internet services using a hybrid fiber coaxial network (HFC) that forms a network by mixing optical and coaxial cables. Internet service is mainly provided by terminal equipment such as cable modem terminal system (CMTS) and subscriber terminal equipment such as cable modem (CM).

The communication between the two devices is supposed to operate according to the industry standard Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) method established by the US CableLabs research institute. In recent years, the device is used not only for high-speed Internet service but also for Internet phone and on-demand VoD service. It provides the same multimedia service.

In the optical coaxial mixed network, many cable modems operated by the DOCSIS standard operate in the form of sharing a common channel of up / down with each other. Downlink port of the cable modem termination system (CMTS) shared by the cable modems and the frequency used by the down port are up to 256QAM modulation method using one 6MHz (or 8MHz) frequency band in the DOCSIS 1.x or 2.0 specification. In the 6MHz band, the theoretical IP transmission band can provide 42.8Mbps. In the DOCSIS 3.0 specification, at least four 6 MHz (or 8 MHz) frequency bands are bonded to each other and a cable modem is shared and used at 4 × 42.8 Mbps in the 6 MHz band. As such, many subscribers share the limited IP transmission band of the down port per DOCSIS standard, and when the number of subscribers increases, the number of subscribers of the cable modem shared through the down port expansion is reduced to prevent the slowdown. The transmission rate quality is maintained.

On the other hand, IPTV broadcasting traffic occupies the limited downlink IP transmission band when the IPTV service is performed using the cable modem termination system (CMTS) and the cable modem on the optical coaxial mixed network, thereby affecting the subscriber's Internet speed. This leads to insane service quality. In order to maintain subscriber speed quality, a large number of downports are required, which increases the burden on the related equipment and requires traffic management for continuous service quality management.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide IPTV without receiving cable modem termination system (CMTS) when receiving IPTV broadcast using downlink transmission band in optical coaxial mixed network (HFC). The present invention provides an IPTV broadcasting transmission system and method in an optical coaxial mixed network that enables direct reception through an E-QAM, thereby enabling the downlink IP transmission band to be expanded.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for transmitting IPTV broadcasts in an optical coaxial mixed network, which enables a broadcast channel change of an IPTV broadcast to be directly set by a cable modem without going through a server on a network.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the system of the present invention, a channel map management server for providing channel map information for IPTV broadcasting in a system receiving an Internet service and an IPTV broadcasting service through an optical coaxial mixed network (HFC). And IP-TV Edge QAM (E-QAM) for transmitting the video stream for each channel of IPTV broadcasting to DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem, and receiving channel map information from the channel map management server, and changing the subscriber's IPTV receiving channel. Optical coaxial mixing characterized in that it comprises a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem to tune the desired broadcast channel in each channel of the IPTV broadcast based on the channel map information according to the request (Join) to provide a video stream of the channel to the subscriber Provide IPTV broadcasting transmission system in network

According to the method of the present invention to achieve the above object, in the method of receiving Internet service and IPTV broadcasting service through the optical coaxial mixed network (HFC), in the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem connected to the optical coaxial mixed network (HFC) Downloading the channel map management server address and channel map file information from the authentication server, and requesting the channel map information of the IPTV broadcast based on the configuration file in the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem, the channel map management in the E-QAM Receiving channel map information from a server and transmitting the channel map information to the cable modem; transmitting the video stream for each channel of the IPTV broadcast to the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem through the E-QAM for IPTV; and in the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem It monitors the IPTV channel reception status of subscriber IP set-top box and receives the channel reception message when the broadcasting channel is changed by the subscriber's operation. And transmitting the stream of the broadcast program to the subscriber-side IP set-top box by selecting a corresponding broadcast channel among the broadcast channels based on the channel map information. To provide.

As described above, according to the present invention, when transmitting the IPTV stream using the downlink frequency band in the optical coaxial mixed network, the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem can receive through the E-QAM for IPTV without going through the cable modem termination system (CMTS) This reduces the down port requirements of the cable modem termination system (CMTS) and minimizes the impact of other services.

In addition, the channel change time due to the upstream channel load of the cable modem termination system (CMTS) can be changed by allowing the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem to acquire channel map information and monitor the receiving channel change signal of the subscriber side. No additional QoS measures are needed to prevent the increase of Zapping time, it consumes almost no upstream network resources, and there is no burden of additional equipment expansion due to the increase of IPTV subscribers. In addition, there is a feature that can be implemented to enable channel changes in the event of a cable modem termination system (CMTS) failure.

Hereinafter, the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an IPTV broadcasting transmission system in an optical coaxial mixed network according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an IPTV broadcasting transmission system in an optical coaxial mixed network according to the present invention includes a cable modem terminal system (CMTS) 10 and a channel map management server. (12), video source (14), IPTV Edge QAM (E-QAM) for IPTV (16) for IPTV, optical coaxial mixed network (HFC), DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem (18), home gateway ( 20), an IP set-top box 22, and a computer terminal 24.

The cable modem termination system 10 provides an Internet access service to the cable modem 18 connected to the optical coaxial mixed network and also receives IPTV channel map information from the channel map management server 12.

The channel map management server 12 provides channel map information on a broadcast program for each frequency channel of the IPTV provided from the video source 14 in real time.

The video source 14 holds video data according to channel-specific broadcast programs of IPTV broadcasting, and DOCSIS connects video data of each channel to an optical coaxial mixed network through a downlink transmission band interface of the IPTV E-QAM 16. 3.0 cable modem 18.

The IPTV E-QAM 16 receives video data for each channel from the video source 14 through a connection interface, loads the video data into a DOCSIS frame, converts it into an RF signal through QAM modulation, and transmits the DOCSIS through a downlink transmission band. 3.0 cable modem 18 to transmit.

The DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem 18 periodically receives channel map information on the IPTV from the channel map management server 12 through the E-QAM 16 for the IPTV, and the RF and RF that satisfy the DOCSIS standard. The IPTV signal of the downlink transmission band in the form of a DOCSIS frame is received through the E-QAM 16 for the IPTV. If there is a change in the broadcast reception channel by the subscriber from the IP set-top box 22, the channel map information is based on the channel map information. An internal tuner for IPTV is used to tune the desired channel among all broadcast frequency channels.

As shown in FIG. 2, the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem 18 includes a channel map information processor 30, a channel map memory 32, an IPTV broadcast reception control unit 34, a cable interface 36, and a tuner 38. ), The DOCSIS frame control unit 40 is configured.

The channel map information processing unit 30 periodically receives channel map information from the channel map management server 12 through the cable modem terminal system (CMTS) 10 and performs the channel map memory ( 32) to manage.

The channel map memory 32 stores channel map information periodically received from the channel map information processor 30.

The IPTV broadcast receiving control unit 34 monitors the IPTV channel join state of the IP set-top box 22 to receive a channel message when a broadcast receiving channel is changed by a user's operation and receives the channel map. Based on the channel map information from the memory 32, the tuner 38 tunes an RF frequency corresponding to the corresponding broadcast channel, and the DOCSIS frame controller 40 selects an IPTV multicast stream corresponding to the corresponding broadcast channel. Allow extraction.

The cable interface 36 performs a physical access interface operation for receiving IPTV multicast streams from the E-QAM 16 over an optical coaxial mixed network.

The tuner 38 tunes a downlink frequency band in which an IPTV broadcast channel, which a subscriber wants to watch, is located in a downlink frequency signal received through the cable interface 36 by tuner tuning control of the IPTV broadcast reception control unit 34. .

Here, the tuner 38 may configure an individual tuner capable of individually tuning each broadcast frequency channel, and the combination of the tuners is limited in frequency bands that can be simultaneously received when the total frequency channels are four. It is also possible to apply an integrated tuner capable of receiving all four channels, or to apply four separate tuners each capable of receiving four channels without limiting the frequency bands that can be received simultaneously. In the individual case, with two integrated tuners, the frequency band that can be received at the same time is limited and eight channels can be received respectively, one integrated tuner capable of receiving four channels, and an individual channel for receiving each channel. 4 channels with 4 separate tuners, which limits the frequency band that can be received simultaneously and 4 channels without limit of the frequency band It can be combined to allow God.

The DOCSIS frame controller 40 extracts an IPTV multicast stream of a broadcast channel to be tuned.

Next, the operation of the present invention made as described above will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3.

First, the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem 18 performs DOCSIS registration and IPTV service provisioning with the authentication server 42 through the cable modem termination system 10, and through this, the address of the channel map management server. And channel map file information (step S10).

Thereafter, the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem 18 requests the channel map file from the channel map management server 12 (step S11), and the channel map management server 12 sends the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem 18 to it. In step S12, a channel map file requested is provided.

In this state, the IP set-top box 22 is initialized (step S13), and it is determined whether to change the IPTV broadcasting channel according to the subscriber's operation (step S14), so that the subscriber determines that there is a channel change. If so, an IGMP Join message corresponding to the channel reception request of the IPTV is generated (step S15).

On the other hand, the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem 18 receives the IPTV video multicast stream for each channel from the video source 14 via the IPTV E-QAM 16 (step S16), the DOCSIS 3.0 The IPTV broadcast reception control unit 34 of the cable modem 18 monitors all IPTV channel join messages input through the home gateway 20 and matches the channel map information stored in the channel map memory 32. When a message including the IPTV multicast address is found, the downlink frequency of the corresponding broadcast channel is tuned through the tuner 38 and the DOCSIS frame control unit 40 to collect the broadcast program stream of the corresponding channel (step S17). The broadcast program stream is bridged to the IP set-top box 22 through the home gateway 20 to be provided to the IP set-top box 22 (step S18).

While specific embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated above, it will be apparent that the present invention may be embodied in various modifications by those skilled in the art. Such modified embodiments should not be understood individually from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention, but should fall within the claims appended to the present invention.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an IPTV broadcasting transmission system in a optical coaxial mixed network according to the present invention;

2 is a diagram showing the detailed configuration of the cable modem shown in FIG.

3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the IPTV broadcast transmission method in the optical coaxial mixed network according to the present invention.

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

10: cable modem termination system (CMTS),

12: channel map management server, 14: video source,

16: E-QAM for IPTV, 18: cable modem,

20: home gateway, 22: IP set-top box,

24: computer terminal, 30: channel map information processing unit,

32: channel map memory, 34: IPTV broadcasting receiver,

36: cable interface, 38: tuner,

40: DOCSIS frame processor, 42: authentication server.

Claims (5)

In the system receiving the Internet service and IPTV broadcasting service through the optical coaxial mixed network (HFC), A channel map management server for providing channel map information for IPTV broadcasting; IPTV Edge QAM (E-QAM) for transmitting the video stream for each channel of the IPTV broadcast to the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem; And Receives channel map information from the channel map management server, and tunes a desired broadcast channel in each channel of the IPTV broadcast based on the channel map information according to the subscriber's IPTV reception channel change request (Join). An IPTV broadcasting transmission system using an independent channel change function by a cable modem in an optical coaxial mixed network, comprising a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem for providing a subscriber to the network. The method of claim 1, The DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem is an IPTV broadcasting transmission system using an independent channel change function by a cable modem in the optical coaxial mixed network, characterized in that to receive and update the channel map information from the channel map management server periodically. The method of claim 1, The DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem includes a channel map information processing unit for receiving and receiving channel map information from the channel map management server through the IPTV E-QAM and storing the received channel map information in a channel map memory. A channel map memory for storing channel map information received from the channel map information processor; Tuner and DOCSIS frame processing based on the channel map information from the channel map memory by receiving the channel reception message when the broadcasting channel is changed by the subscriber's operation by monitoring the IPTV channel reception status (Join) of the subscriber IP set-top box. An IPTV broadcast reception control unit for additionally selecting a corresponding broadcast channel; Independent by the cable modem in the optical coaxial mixed network, characterized in that the tuner of the IPTV broadcast receiving control unit and DOCSIS frame processing unit tuning tuner for tuning the desired broadcast channel among the respective broadcast channels received by the subscriber. IPTV broadcast transmission system using the channel change function. In the method of receiving Internet service and IPTV broadcasting service through optical coaxial mixed network (HFC), A first step of downloading a channel map management server address and channel map file information from an authentication server in a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem connected to an optical coaxial mixed network (HFC); Requesting, by the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem, channel map information of an IPTV broadcast based on the file, receiving channel map information from a channel map management server in an E-QAM and transmitting the channel map information to the cable modem; A third step of transmitting a video stream for each channel of an IPTV broadcast to the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem through the E-QAM; And The DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem monitors the IPTV channel reception status of the IP set-top box of the subscriber and receives a channel reception message when the broadcast channel is changed by the subscriber's operation. And a fourth step of tuning the broadcast channel to provide a stream of the broadcast program to the subscriber side IP set-top box. The method of claim 4, wherein In the second step, the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem is configured to periodically receive and update the channel map information from the channel map management server IPTV broadcast transmission method in the optical coaxial mixed network, characterized in that.

Images