KR101272260B1 - Virtual-channel configuration method and digital broadcasting receiver apparatus using the same method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a virtual channel configuration method and a digital broadcast receiving apparatus using the same, comprising: a receiver configured to receive a plurality of broadcast signals; A transcoder re-encoding the plurality of broadcast signals with the same property; A multiplexer multiplexing a plurality of broadcast signals re-encoded by the transcoder; And a storage unit for storing the multiplexed broadcast signal.

Description

VIRTUAL-CHANNEL CONFIGURATION METHOD AND DIGITAL BROADCASTING RECEIVER APPARATUS USING THE SAME METHOD}

The present invention relates to a virtual channel configuration method and a digital broadcast receiving apparatus using the same, and more particularly, to a virtual channel configuration method based on program re-encoding and re-multiplexing in a PVR device and a digital broadcast receiving apparatus using the same.

Recently, as digital broadcasting enters the commercialization stage, data broadcasting has attracted attention as a new medium having both the selectivity of the Internet and the information transmission efficiency of broadcasting. Unlike conventional analog TVs, data broadcasting is a digital broadcasting system that adds various data by adding various data while digitizing the TV transmission method through a broadcaster's channel, and provides multimedia data such as text, still pictures, graphics, documents, and software. By using broadcast media, it is well suited to the trend of the convergence of broadcasting and communication in which a client uses the information as a dedicated set-top box.

Digital broadcasting is a method of compressing and broadcasting television signals in the form of digital signals rather than analog signals. The digital broadcasting method encodes video and audio signals into digital information, and also encodes and transmits system information and program information according to PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) or DVB-SI (Digital Video Broadcasting Specification for Service Information) standard. Transmit with a stream (TS: Transport Stream).

The digital broadcast receiver then decodes the video and audio streams from the TS and displays them on the screen. In addition, information related to the broadcast program is extracted from data other than the video / audio information, and program related information such as electronic program guide (EPG) information is displayed on the screen to inform the user, and the database is created and stored. The viewer can conveniently view only the programs he / she prefers from the programs of numerous channels provided through the EPG information in the data broadcast.

As such, EPG information is an essential service for the viewer's choice in a digital media environment that provides many channels and on-demand services. In other words, EPG information is a new service that is different from the introduction of existing TV programs. It is a new concept information guide that can directly bring information about 200 channels of programs to the screen with the press of a button. Therefore, the viewer can conveniently view only the programs he prefers among the programs of numerous channels provided through the EPG information in the data broadcasting.

Receivers that provide a personal video recorder (PVR) function for recording a received broadcast signal are in the spotlight. This feature allows viewers to enjoy the recorded content at the time they want by simply or scheduled recording of the desired broadcast. In the general form before the present invention is applied, in order to watch the recorded broadcast, the client media player must obtain a separate play list and decode the list sequentially before showing the contents. Had a limit. This limitation leads to technical complexity and inconvenience in use, especially when an external media terminal accesses recorded content.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a virtual channel configuration method based on program re-encoding and re-multiplexing, and a digital broadcast receiving apparatus using the same, and more particularly, virtual channel configuration based on content re-encoding and re-multiplexing in a PVR device. A method and a digital broadcast receiving apparatus using the same are provided.

In order to achieve the above object, one feature of an embodiment of the present invention includes: a receiving unit for receiving a plurality of first broadcast streams; A storage unit which stores at least one broadcast stream selected from the plurality of first broadcast streams; And a plurality of second broadcast streams including at least one of a first broadcast stream received by the receiver in real time and a broadcast stream pre-stored in the storage unit, to form one broadcast stream of the same property to form a virtual channel. It comprises a component.

In the present invention, the virtual channel configuration unit includes a transcoder for re-encoding the plurality of second broadcast streams with the same property; And a multiplexer for multiplexing a plurality of second broadcast streams re-encoded with the same property to form a single broadcast stream.

In the present invention, the plurality of first broadcast streams may be broadcast streams received from at least one of a broadcast transmitter and a broadcast server.

In the present invention, the multiplexer may generate EPG information including information about the virtual channel.

In the present invention, the transcoder may re-encode the remaining broadcast streams with attributes of the plurality of second broadcast streams.

Another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention to achieve the above object, the receiving unit receives a plurality of first broadcast stream; A storage unit storing at least one broadcast stream selected from the plurality of first broadcast streams; And a plurality of second broadcast streams including at least one of a first broadcast stream received by the receiver in real time and a broadcast stream pre-stored in the storage unit as one broadcast stream of the same property. It comprises; configuring.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a broadcast signal having physically the same property is transmitted to a media player (client media player) by using a real-time conversion technique for broadcast signals having different properties recorded in real time or in a storage device. The broadcast signal configured by such a user using a plurality of arbitrary contents is called a virtual channel. This virtual channel technology dramatically simplifies access to content by hiding content's physical attributes and providing content in a consistent format optimized for the subject consuming it. For example, by accessing a virtual channel through a mobile terminal to watch it, a method of configuring a virtual channel for viewing a channel without having to obtain a separate playlist and sequentially decoding the list, and a digital broadcast receiving apparatus using the same are provided. It can work.

1 is a view for explaining a virtual channel configuration system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram for describing a virtual channel-configured digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual channel configuration method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A is a view for explaining conventional EPG information related to an embodiment of the present invention.
4B is a diagram for explaining EPG information related to an embodiment of the present invention.

The terms used in this specification will be briefly described and the present invention will be described in detail.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Also, in certain cases, there may be a term selected arbitrarily by the applicant, in which case the meaning thereof will be described in detail in the description of the corresponding invention. Therefore, the terms used in the present invention should be defined based on the meanings of the terms and the contents throughout the present invention, rather than the names of the simple terms.

Whenever a component is referred to as "including" an element throughout the specification, it is to be understood that the element may include other elements, not the exclusion of any other element, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, the term "part" or the like, as described in the specification, means a unit for processing at least one function or operation, and may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Throughout the specification, a 'broadcast server' is a computer system that performs main information or a task, and includes a server that provides a program to a user.

Throughout the specification, a 'broadcast transmitter' refers to a device for sending a broadcast stream produced by a broadcasting station to each user terminal. The broadcast transmitter includes a transmitter for cable broadcasting as well as a transmitter for terrestrial or satellite broadcasting of each broadcaster.

Throughout the specification, the term 'transcoder' provides a conversion function so that one broadcast signal can be commonly used in different networks, resolutions, processor performances, and user interfaces, thereby implementing the concept of "one source multi use." This is a device that processes, converts and sorts the original content to suit each network bandwidth, terminal characteristics and performance. For example, it refers to a device that converts an RGB signal into a DVI composite or HD signal without degrading the image quality and then views it on an HDTV.

Throughout the specification, 'multiplexer' is a combinational logic circuit that selects one of several input lines and outputs it as a single output.In order to select a specific input line, there must be n optional variables, and these n optional variables are specified by combination. The input line is selected and the device that passes the binary information of the selected input line to the output line. That is, the multiplexer performs a process of integrating two or more broadcast signals into one broadcast signal.

Throughout the specification, 'EPG information' refers to program-related information or program schedules for each channel by using an empty frequency band or a spare frequency channel among broadcasting frequencies of data broadcasting, and divides them into subjects, time zones, or viewer characteristics in real time. Refers to the data broadcasting service provided. In addition, when the receiving unit of the digital broadcasting receiver receives the program programming information for each channel, the data broadcasting service may include a real-time program selected by the user and virtual channel program programming information organized by the user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

1 is a view for explaining a virtual channel configuration system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the virtual channel configuration system may include a broadcast transmitter or a broadcast server 100 and a digital broadcast receiver 200. However, not all illustrated components are required. The virtual channel configuration system may be implemented by more components than the illustrated components, and the virtual channel configuration system may be implemented by fewer components.

The broadcast transmitter or broadcast server 100 includes a broadcast transmitter for providing a broadcast stream to a user in case of satellite, cable, and terrestrial broadcasting, or a broadcast server for providing a broadcast stream to a user in case of an IPTV or VOD service.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, each broadcast transmitter or broadcast server may transmit one or a plurality of first broadcast streams to the digital broadcast receiver 200.

The digital broadcast reception device 200 may receive a plurality of first broadcast streams from the broadcast transmitter or the broadcast server 100 and transmit them to the user terminal 300. The digital broadcast reception device 200 may go through a predetermined procedure before transmitting the received first broadcast stream to the user terminal 300. A detailed description thereof will be given later with reference to Fig.

The user terminal 300 may be implemented in various forms. The user terminal 300 may include a mobile terminal as well as a fixed terminal (eg, a desktop computer, a television, etc.). The mobile terminal described herein includes a mobile phone, a smart phone, a notebook computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), navigation, a tablet PC, an MP3 player, Cameras.

The digital broadcast reception device 200 may transmit the first broadcast stream to the user terminal 300 at a predetermined time. That is, the digital broadcast reception device 200 may transmit the broadcast signal to the user terminal 300 in real time or may transmit the signal in time delay. For example, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 200 may transmit the live broadcast to the user's mobile phone or transmit the delayed time by one hour rather than the live broadcast time.

Hard disk drives (HDDs) and flash disks, which are storage media, can be used for random access, and can be used as random access storage devices for digital broadcast receivers because they can be used at higher speeds than other auxiliary storage devices. It is widely used. A digital broadcast receiver having a random access storage device is a system that enables time shifting viewing at the same time as recording or reproducing a broadcast. The time shift operation for time delay viewing is a series of operations of processing and broadcasting broadcast signals received in real time and continuously recording and storing them on a hard disk, while transmitting and reproducing broadcast signals previously recorded and stored.

Hereinafter, the configuration of each of the digital broadcast receivers 200 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a diagram for describing a digital broadcast reception device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 200 may include a receiver 210, a storage 220, and a virtual channel composer 230. However, not all illustrated components are required. The digital broadcast receiver 200 may be implemented by more components than the illustrated components, or the digital broadcast receiver 200 may be implemented by fewer components.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the receiver 210 may receive a plurality of first broadcast streams from the at least one broadcast transmitter or broadcast server 100. The broadcast transmitter includes a broadcaster for transmitting a broadcast stream of satellite broadcasting or terrestrial broadcasting of MBC culture broadcasting, EBS education broadcasting, KBS Korean broadcasting, and SBS Seoul broadcasting, and a broadcaster broadcasting cable broadcasting. The broadcast server includes a server that provides a broadcast stream in the case of an IPTV or VOD service.

The first broadcast stream may be one or more broadcast streams related to advertisements provided from an advertiser.

The storage unit 220 may store at least one broadcast stream selected from the plurality of first broadcast streams. PVR (Personal Vedio Recorder), which is a kind of digital recording device, is a device that records and plays back information on a hard disk, unlike a VCR that stores a broadcast signal on a magnetic tape. It is a device that can record broadcast programs without VCR through hard disk drive. The basic function is the same as the existing VCR in that it saves and views the program exported from the broadcasting station, but it records the information on the hard disk and plays it in the file playback method such as a computer, and the CPU and operating system for playback. The difference is that there is a large hard disk containing playback software.

The virtual channel configuration unit 230 converts a plurality of second broadcast streams including at least one of a first broadcast stream received by the receiver in real time and a broadcast stream prestored in the storage unit into one broadcast stream of the same property. Create a virtual channel. The virtual channel means "my channel" composed of broadcast streams that a user of the user terminal 300 wants to watch.

The virtual channel configuration unit 230 includes a transcoder 233 and a multiplexer 235.

The transcoder 233 may re-encode the plurality of second broadcast streams transmitted from the storage unit 220 with the same property. The fact that the plurality of second broadcast streams have the same property means that the content property, that is, the property and resolution of the video / audio codec are the same, and the program specific information (PSI) of the broadcast is the same. The same property may be a re-encoding of the remaining second broadcast stream with the property of one of the plurality of second broadcast streams, or a plurality of second broadcasts with properties separate from the property of the plurality of second broadcast streams. It may be to re-encode the stream.

The multiplexer 235 multiplexes a plurality of second broadcast streams re-encoded with the same property to make one broadcast stream.

The multiplexer 235 may generate EPG information including information about the virtual channel. In general, a broadcast stream includes service information (SI). The service information may comprise a series of prescribed information tables (PAT, PMT, SDT) constituting a particular program in MPEG-TS format. In addition, separate EPG information may be generated through the multiplexer 235.

In the MPEG-TS, MPEG stands for 'Moving Picture Experts Group' and refers to a video expert group under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO / IEC), and TS refers to a 'transport stream'. The MPEG-TS is a communication protocol, specifically, a communication protocol for transmitting data, audio, and video information. It is standardized in MPEG2, part1 systems and also in ISO / IEC standard 13818-1. The purpose of the MPEG-TS design is to multiplex and synchronize video and audio information and transmit it to the other station. The transmission medium is insecure and provides an error correction capability for recovering loss of the transmission information. Applies to application environment.

Hereinafter, a method of configuring a virtual channel using each component of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 200 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual channel configuration method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the receiver 210 of the digital broadcast receiver 200 receives a plurality of first broadcast streams from at least one broadcast transmitter or broadcast server 100. It may include the step [S310].

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit 220 may include storing at least one broadcast stream selected from the plurality of first broadcast streams [S320].

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the virtual channel configuration unit 230 includes a plurality of first broadcast streams received by the receiver 210 in real time and at least one of pre-stored broadcast streams in the storage unit 220. And forming a virtual channel by making the second broadcast stream of one broadcast stream of the same property [S330].

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transcoder 233 may include re-encoding the plurality of broadcast signals with the same properties (S333). For example, when the transcoder 220 re-encodes the first broadcast signal received from the first server and the second broadcast signal received from the second server, it may be re-encoded as an attribute of the first broadcast signal. It may be re-encoded as an attribute of the second broadcast signal or may be re-encoded as a separate attribute from these.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multiplexer 235 may include multiplexing the plurality of broadcast signals re-encoded by the transcoder 233 [S235]. The multiplexing by the multiplexer 235 may be remultiplexing to multiplex again after a predetermined procedure such as a previous multiplexing process.

Hereinafter, the EPG information generated by the multiplexer 235 using each configuration of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 200 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

4A is a diagram for explaining conventional EPG information related to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a diagram for explaining EPG information related to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4A, according to the conventional EPG information related to an embodiment of the present invention, the user of the user terminal 300 may only use EPG information, which is pre-configured channel information, manually. For example, in the case of channel 6, the 6-1 program is between 9 and 10 o'clock, the 6-2 program is between 10 and 11 o'clock, and the 6-3 program is between 11 and 12 o'clock, and from 12 to 1 o'clock. 6-4 programs are broadcast in real time. The same way with the other channels.

 As shown in 4b, according to the EPG information related to an embodiment of the present invention, the user of the user terminal 300 can organize a virtual channel actively configured through the multiplexer 235 using the EPG information. . More specifically, the multiplexer 235 or the third module (not shown) is the EPG information when the receiver 210 of the digital broadcast receiver 200 receives the EPG information, that is, program programming information for each channel. Using EPG information may be generated EPG information including the virtual channel program programming information of the real-time program selected by the user and the program previously stored by the user. For example, in the case of the virtual channel 8, 6-1 programs are recorded in real time between 9:00 and 10 o'clock, from 10 to 11 o'clock, and 11-2 programs are real time from 11 to 12:30, It is broadcast from 12 o'clock to 1 o'clock as recorded. That is, when the user of the user terminal 300 selects the virtual channel 8, the predetermined programs are broadcast in sequence at the predetermined time.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, It belongs to the scope of right.

100: broadcast transmitter or broadcast server
200: digital broadcast receiving device
210:
220:
230: virtual channel configuration
233: transcoder
235: multiplexer
300: User terminal

Claims (7)

A receiver for receiving at least one first broadcast stream transmitted in real time;
A storage unit which stores one or more broadcast streams selected by a user among the first broadcast streams; And
A virtual channel configuration unit for configuring a virtual channel for providing broadcast streams that the user wants to watch by using at least one of the first broadcast stream and the stored broadcast stream;
Wherein the virtual channel configuration unit re-encodes a second broadcast stream that is a broadcast stream of the virtual channel with the same property, remultiplexes the re-encoded second broadcast stream, and the same property is the second broadcast stream. And at least one of an audio / video codec, a resolution, and program designation information for supporting a user terminal receiving the digital broadcasting receiver.
The method of claim 1,
The virtual channel configuration unit,
A transcoder re-encoding the plurality of second broadcast streams with the same attribute; And
And a multiplexer for multiplexing a plurality of second broadcast streams re-encoded with the same property into a single broadcast stream.
The method of claim 1,
The plurality of first broadcast streams,
And a broadcast stream received from at least one of a broadcast transmitter and a broadcast server.
The method of claim 2, wherein the multiplexer,
And an EPG information including information about the virtual channel.
The method of claim 2,
The transcoder,
And re-encoding the remaining second broadcast streams with the property of any one of the second broadcast streams.
In the method for the digital broadcast receiver to configure a virtual channel,
(a) receiving one or more first broadcast streams transmitted in real time;
(b) storing one or more broadcast streams selected by a user among the first broadcast streams;
(c) configuring a virtual channel using the one or more of the first broadcast stream and the stored broadcast stream to provide broadcast streams that the user wants to watch; And
(d) transmitting a second broadcast stream, which is a broadcast stream according to program programming information of the virtual channel, to a user terminal connected to the virtual channel;
Wherein the step (c) re-encodes the second broadcast stream with the same property, remultiplexes the re-encoded second broadcast stream, and the same property is an audio / video codec supporting the user terminal. And at least one of resolution and program designation information. delete

Images