KR19990026876A - Program guide screen automatic update of satellite broadcasting receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of automatically updating a program guide screen of a satellite broadcasting receiver according to a stream change when a stream provided from a satellite is changed. The method of the present invention includes the steps of (a) receiving a master program guide of the stream. ; extracting a list of channels to be displayed on a program guide screen of the display unit from the master program guide; (c) storing, in a memory, parameters such as a start channel, a guide number, a start time, a guide mode, and a number of rows constituting the program guide screen when a user requests the program guide screen; (d) when the stream is changed, determining whether there is a start channel stored in the memory among channel information of the changed stream; (e) if a start channel stored in the memory does not exist among the channel information of the changed stream, selecting and updating a start channel of a parameter stored in the memory as a channel closest to the channel stored in the memory; (f) updating the program guide screen by using the updated parameters. Therefore, it is possible to promptly inform the user of the changed program guide information.

Description

Program guide screen automatic update of satellite broadcasting receiver

The present invention relates to updating a program guide screen of a digital satellite broadcasting receiver, and more particularly, to a method of automatically updating contents on a program guide screen when a stream provided from a broadcast satellite is updated.

As is well known, satellite broadcasting is capable of receiving broadcast signals from ground stations (broadcasting earth stations) using broadcast satellites in a stationary orbit about 36,000 kilometers above the equator, and receiving them directly from the satellite receiving antennas in each home. The broadcasting system is a broadcasting system in which the selection range of information is greatly expanded compared to the conventional terrestrial or cable broadcasting system.

The satellite broadcasting receiver used for such satellite broadcasting receives a bit stream provided from a broadcasting satellite, processes a broadcast signal of a selected channel, and then provides it to a display device such as a television set. In this case, various information such as program guide information, broadcast signals for each channel such as video and audio, data signals, and time data table (TDT) are included in the bit stream of the packet provided from the broadcast satellite. .

The program guide information is received from the satellite according to the program guide acquisition request and stored and used in a buffer in the satellite broadcasting receiver. By using a program guide mode in the satellite broadcasting receiver, various information provided from the broadcast satellite is displayed on the menu screen of the display device according to a user's request.

However, bit streams provided from broadcast satellites are repeatedly updated for the same reasons as changes in broadcast contents. Thus, when there is a stream update, the contents of the program guide displayed on the screen are not updated until a new program guide request is made from the user. Thus, there is a problem in that it is not possible to provide the user with a quick delivery of updated information.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for updating the contents of a program guide screen at the same time when a bit stream carrying channel information and program guide information of a current time zone is updated in a satellite broadcasting receiver.

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, a method for automatically changing the program guide screen of the satellite broadcasting receiver according to the change of the stream provided from the broadcast satellite, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving a master program guide of the stream; extracting a list of channels to be displayed on a program guide screen of the display unit from the master program guide; (c) storing, in a memory, parameters such as a start channel, a guide number, a start time, a guide mode, and a number of rows constituting the program guide screen when a user requests the program guide screen; (d) when the stream is changed, determining whether there is a start channel stored in the memory among channel information of the changed stream; (e) If there is no start channel stored in the memory among the channel information of the changed stream, the start channel of the parameter stored in the memory is updated with a new channel, and the new start channel is the channel closest to the channel stored in the memory. Selected step; (f) updating the program guide screen by using the updated parameters.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a satellite broadcasting receiver used in the present invention;

2 is a flowchart for explaining a method for automatically updating a program guide screen according to a change in a stream provided from a broadcast satellite according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

20: tuner and demodulator 30: microcomputer

40: MPEG decoder 50: signal processing unit

60: memory 70: OSD

The above and other objects and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the preferred embodiments of the present invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a satellite broadcasting receiver used in the program guide update method of the present invention. As shown, the satellite broadcasting receiver includes a key input unit 10, a tuner and demodulator 20, a microcomputer 30, an MPEG decoder 40, a signal processing unit 50, a memory unit 60, and an OSD unit 70. ).

The key input unit 10 is composed of key metrics on a remote controller or its own panel, and generates and provides a key signal corresponding to the request by the user, in particular, a key signal corresponding to a request for a program guide screen of the user, to the microcomputer 30.

The tuner and demodulator 20 tunes the bit stream of the channel corresponding to the tuning control signal of the microcomputer 30 among the bit stream from the satellite received through the antenna (not shown), and then demodulates it so that the MPEG decoder 40 To provide.

The MPEG decoder 40 separates and decodes a broadcast signal provided from the tuner and the demodulator 20 into an audio signal, a video signal, and various program information, and provides the decoded signal to the signal processing unit 50. Also, the OSD unit 70 Data about various information provided from the data is also provided to the signal processor 50 after a predetermined signal processing process.

The signal processing unit 50 converts the digital video signal in units of frames provided by decoding from the MPEG decoder 40 into an NTSC or PAL signal and displays it on a television monitor (not shown), and decoded from the MPEG decoder 40. The audio signal is converted into an analog signal and output to a speaker (not shown).

The memory unit 60 stores various program information decoded and output from the MPEG decoder 40 described above under the control of the microcomputer 30.

The microcomputer 30 of the satellite broadcasting receiver generates a control signal for performing a function corresponding to the key signal from the key input unit 10. According to the present invention, the microcomputer 30 stores parameters constituting the guide screen, such as a start channel, a guide number, a start time, a guide mode, and the number of rows, in the memory unit 60 and is stored in the memory unit 60. The parameter is used to reconstruct a new program guide picture when the bit stream is updated from the broadcast satellite.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 illustrating a method of updating a program guide screen of a satellite broadcasting receiver.

The program guide screen automatic update method performed in the satellite broadcasting receiver configured as shown in FIG. 1 includes channel information having skid information of video, audio, and data of a satellite broadcasting signal received through a satellite antenna (not shown) and a current time zone. Starting with receiving 110 a stream carrying the program guide information, e.g., a master program guide (for DSS) packet streams or a PAT packet stream (for green light satellite broadcasting). .

In step 120, the list of channels to be displayed on the program guide screen on the display device is extracted from the master program guide of the packet stream received from the broadcast satellite and stored in the memory unit 60.

In step 130, it is determined whether there is a program guide screen request by the user. If it is determined that there is a program guide screen request, the process proceeds to step 140.

In step 140, the memory unit 60 stores parameters including a start channel, a guide number, a start time, a guide mode, and the number of rows constituting the program guide screen. This is used according to the present invention for the purpose of reusing the parameters when the contents of the program guide screen are automatically updated when the stream changes.

In the state where the parameters are stored in the memory unit 60, in step 150, it is determined whether the stream provided from the broadcast satellite has changed, and if the change of the stream is determined, the process proceeds to step 160.

In step 160, it is determined whether there is a starting channel stored in the memory unit 60 among the channel information of the changed stream. In step 160, if it is determined that there is no start channel stored in the memory unit 60 among the channel information of the changed stream, the flow advances to step 170, and stored in the memory unit 60 among the channel information of the changed stream. If it is determined that the starting channel exists, the process proceeds to step 180.

In step 170, the start channel of the parameter stored in the memory unit 60 is updated to a new channel. When the stream provided to the satellite broadcasting receiver is changed, the start channel of the program guide screen that the user is currently watching may change rapidly. Such rapid fluctuations in the starting channel may confuse the user. Therefore, according to the present invention, the new start channel is selected as the channel closest to the channel stored in the memory unit 60.

Since there is a starting channel stored in the memory unit 60 among the channel information of the changed stream in step 180, the parameters stored in the memory unit 60 are newly updated as they are, and in step 190, a program guide is transmitted from the user. Although there is no screen request, the contents of the currently displayed program guide screen are updated with the new parameters using the updated parameters in steps 170 and 180.

As described above, according to the present invention, the program guide information that is changed can be promptly informed to the user by automatically updating the contents of the program guide screen with the fluctuation of the stream even while the user is currently viewing the program guide screen. In addition, the program guide screen content currently displayed, for example, guide mode, guide number, start channel, guide start time, number of rows, and the like are also applied to the updated screen content, thereby preventing confusion caused by a sudden change in the screen content by the user. Can be.

Claims (2)

In the method for automatically changing the program guide screen of the satellite broadcasting receiver according to the change of the stream provided from the broadcast satellite, (a) receiving a master program guide of the stream; extracting a list of channels to be displayed on a program guide screen of the display unit from the master program guide; (c) when the user requests the program guide screen, storing parameters such as a start channel, a guide number, a start time, a guide mode, and the number of rows constituting the program guide screen in a memory; (d) when the stream is changed, determining whether there is a start channel stored in the memory among channel information of the changed stream; (e) updating a start channel of a parameter stored in the memory to a new channel if there is no start channel stored in the memory among channel information of the changed stream; and (f) updating the program guide screen by using the updated parameters. The method of claim 1, wherein in the step (e), the new start channel is selected as the channel closest to the channel stored in the memory.