KR19990055310A - Web Content Receiving Device for Internet TV - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an Internet television for receiving Internet web content when it is transmitted through a wireless broadcast signal.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises a TV broadcast receiving means; A web decoder 305 for receiving the horizontal signal of the vertical blank period from the TV broadcast receiving means and playing the web content; A data storage device 311 for storing web content; A modem 308 for modulating the digital data and transmitting the digital data to the network side and demodulating the modulated signal received from the network side to output the digital data; And providing access to the Internet through the modem in the Internet mode according to a user's key input, outputting information received from the Internet to the TV broadcasting means, and displaying the web content received through the web decoder. And an internet module for reading the web content stored in the data storage device and outputting the web content stored in the data storage device to the TV broadcasting means.

Accordingly, the Internet television according to the present invention may provide a variety of services related to the Internet by receiving web content received through a wireless broadcast signal, storing the web content in a data storage device, and providing the same if requested by the user.

Description

An apparatus for receiving web contents from broadcasting in an intenet TV

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to internet televisions capable of internet access, and more particularly to Internet televisions for receiving Internet web content when it is transmitted via wireless broadcast signals.

The Internet is an interworking network built to enable the transmission of information between various networks made up of various technologies and devices using a protocol set called TCP / IP. The Internet has become widely available to the general public with the development of the World Wide Web (WWW) technology, and now the number of websites is increasing more than twice a month. Using this Internet, you can watch the latest news from the inside of the room, view works of art from world-famous museums, and buy what you need.

However, because the Internet can only be accessed using a PC or a workstation, consumers who are not familiar with computer operation cannot use the Internet. In order to solve this problem, in October 1996, American Web TV Inc. released Internet TV, which provides easy access to the Internet through TV.

Internet television has been studied in various forms under the goal of 'interface easier than PC', and it can be divided into TV built-in type and set-top box type. The set-top box type is a system that connects a set-top box that can search the Internet to an existing TV and retrieves information of the Internet onto a TV screen. The built-in TV type is a system in which an Internet module is embedded in a general television.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a built-in Internet television. Referring to FIG. 1, the Internet TV is largely divided into the Internet module 110 and the TV part so as to receive a radio broadcast signal through an antenna and watch a TV broadcast. It is possible to provide internet access through a modem.

In FIG. 1, the TV portion includes a tuner 103, an IF module 104, a switching IC 105, a chroma IC 106, an audio amplifier 107, a video amplifier 108, a microcomputer 102, and a remote controller 101. After receiving and demodulating the designated television broadcast according to the user's key operation input through the remote control 101, and outputs a video signal to the CRT, the audio signal is output to the speaker (SP). The tuner 103 adjusts an internal local oscillation frequency according to a tuning signal input from the microcomputer 102 to output an intermediate frequency signal of a specific broadcast signal, and the IF module 104 amplifies and demodulates the intermediate frequency signal. Outputs composite video signal and audio signal.

The switching IC 105 selects an audio signal and a video signal output from the IF module 104 of the TV module in the TV mode according to the control signal of the microcomputer 102, and outputs a broadcast signal. The output of 110 is selected to allow the audio and video signals received from the Internet to be selected. The audio amplifier 107 amplifies and outputs the audio signal of the broadcast selected by the switching IC 105 or the audio signal of the Internet module to the speaker SP, and the chroma IC 106 outputs the video of the broadcast selected by the switching IC 105. A signal or a video signal of the Internet is processed to output an RGB signal to the CRT via the video amplifier 108.

The microcomputer 102 outputs a control signal for selecting a broadcast or operating in a TV mode or an Internet mode according to an operation signal input from the remote controller 101, and provides various control signals for screen adjustment.

The internet module 110 may include a PROM 114, a flash ROM 115, a DRAM 116 connected to the CPU unit 112 through a modem 111, a CPU unit 112, and an internal bus 113, respectively. An audio digital-to-analog converter 117 and an NTSC encoder 118 allow access to the Internet through the modem 111 and a telephone line.

The modem 111 is a modulator demodulator having a speed of 33.6 Kbps or 56 Kbps and modulates the digital data inputted through the CPU 112 to FSK or QAM, and outputs it to the Internet network through the telephone line, and receives the Internet information signal received through the telephone line. Demodulate and output the digital data to the CPU side.

The CPU unit 112 is implemented with, for example, an ARM7500 in which a video, a sound processor, and an input / output processor are implemented as a single chip based on an ARM710C CPU core to perform software as illustrated in FIG. 2. In addition, the PROM 114, the flash ROM 115, and the DRAM 116 connected to the CPU 112 and the internal bus 113 may include an operating system to be performed by the CPU 112 and various protocol programs and applications. In addition to the programs being stored, data received via the Internet is also stored.

Referring to FIG. 2, the program executed by the CPU unit 112 includes a system management layer, a network protocol layer, and an application program layer on a real-time operating system. In the system management layer, Darby is used for driving various devices in the Internet module. There is a driver. For example, a program for processing a modem, an input signal, and a program for driving an A / V output are located in the system management layer. The network protocol layer includes protocols such as PPP, TCP / IP, SMTP, POP, HTTP, HTML, and MIME for connecting to the Internet and transmitting and receiving data.The application layer includes a web browser and electronics related to the user interface. E-Mail and the like.

Here, the web browser is a client program running on the web, such as Netscape or MS Explorer, and supports reading the data or connecting the user. HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is a protocol used by a WWW server for transmitting and receiving hypertext, and HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a language used for creating a homepage on the Internet. MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) is an extension of the conventional Internet e-mail that only ASCII characters can be used. Multimedia that enables the transmission and reception of binary data such as extended character sets, GIF image data, voice, and digital video, etc. E-mail standard. Post Office Protocol (POP) is a protocol for receiving mail from an e-mail mail server. TCP / IP, as is widely known, is a communication protocol that forms the basis of the Internet. Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) is a telephone. It is a protocol that allows a computer (PC) to use TCP / IP using a line and a high-speed modem.

The microcomputer 102 processes user key input received from the remote controller 101 or key input input from the keyboard or mouse 119 and transmits them to the CPU, and provides various control signals and tuning signals to the existing TV module. do.

The audio digital-analog converter 117 receives audio data from the output of the CPU unit and converts it into an analog signal, and the NTSC encoder 118 receives the video-related signal processed by the CPU unit so that it can be displayed on the TV module. Convert to a video signal.

However, such a conventional internet television can download and process web content only through a modem when connecting to the Internet. In other words, Internet technology has a function of surfing webpages that have been taken offline in addition to online mode or pages previously received by PUSH technology. Receive web content and make it available to users when they want.

However, unlike conventional PCs, Internet TVs can receive information through wireless broadcasting. Therefore, if Internet TV contents are transmitted through wireless broadcasting signals and receive them, it can be very convenient and provide various services.

An object of the present invention is to provide a web content receiving apparatus for receiving a web content when it is transmitted through a wireless broadcast signal.

In order to achieve the above object, the apparatus of the present invention receives and demodulates a wireless broadcast signal transmitted through the air, provides a composite video signal and an audio signal, processes it, displays it on a CRT screen, and simultaneously delivers it through a speaker. TV broadcast receiving means for outputting sound; A web decoder for reproducing web content by receiving a horizontal signal of a vertical blank period from the TV broadcast receiving means; Data storage means for storing web content; A modem for modulating the digital data and transmitting the digital data to the network side and demodulating the modulated signal received from the network side to output the digital data; And providing access to the Internet through the modem in the Internet mode according to a user's key input, outputting information received from the Internet to the TV broadcasting means, and displaying the web content received through the web decoder. And an internet module for reading the web content stored in the data storage device and outputting the web content stored in the data storage device to the TV broadcasting means.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a general Internet TV;

2 is a structural example of a program executed by a CPU in an Internet TV;

3 is a block diagram of an Internet television receiving web content transmitted according to the present invention;

4 is a signal timing diagram of an example of transmitting web content to a broadcast signal.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

301: Tuner 302: IF module

303: chroma and video processor 304: display device

305: Web decoder 306: NTSC encoder

307: internet module 308: modem

309: microcomputer 310: memory

311: Data Storage (HDD) 312: Remote Controller

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

According to the present invention, when the web content is transmitted through a wireless broadcast signal, an Internet television for receiving it is shown in FIG. 3, including a tuner 301, an IF module 302, a chroma & video processor 303 and a display. Device 304, web decoder 305, NTSC encoder 306, internet module 307, modem 308, micom 309, memory 310, data storage 311, remote control 312, It includes a keyboard and mouse 313 to receive a radio broadcast signal through an antenna, so that users can watch television broadcasts. If a user wants to access the Internet, the user can provide an Internet connection through a modem connected to a public telephone network. Receive the web content to be transmitted.

According to an example of transmitting web content to a broadcast signal according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, digital data corresponding to web content is transmitted in a horizontal period during a vertical retrace period in which no screen is displayed. Referring to FIG. 4, a color synchronous signal (subcarrier) of about 3.8 KHz is transmitted following a horizontal synchronous signal, followed by a clock synchronous signal for data transmission, followed by a byte sync signal, and first 8-bit first data. And 8-bit second data are transmitted. In terms of timing of these signals, about 13.5 microseconds of clock synchronization, about 5.9 seconds of byte synchronization, and about 31.7 microseconds of data transmission are allocated during the entire horizontal period of about 63.5 microseconds. This timing is only one example and may vary according to the enactment of a broadcast standard for transmitting web content.

Referring to FIG. 3 again, the tuner 301 receives a radio broadcast signal including web content and outputs an intermediate frequency signal, and the IF module 302 demodulates it and outputs a composite video signal. At this time, since the flow of the audio signal is the same as in the related art, it is omitted in the drawing. The chroma & video processor 303 transmits the horizontal cycle signal including the web content among the composite video signals to the web decoder 305, processes the remaining horizontal cycle signal, and outputs the remaining horizontal cycle signal to the display apparatus. In the TV mode, the broadcast signal is output to the display apparatus, while in the Internet mode, a signal input from the NTSC encoder 306 of the Internet module is processed and output to the display apparatus 304. At this time, the chroma & video processor 303 should be able to extract the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals, the color burst signal, and the clock synchronization signal for data transmission included in the composite video signal.

The web decoder 305 is a device for reproducing digital data included in the composite video signal and reproduces the received digital data according to the extracted clock. The display device 304 is implemented as a CRT to display an image according to an RGB signal output from the chroma & video processor.

Modem 308 is a modulator demodulating speed of 33.6 Kbps or 56 Kbps and modulates digital data input through the Internet module to FSK or QAM and outputs it to the Internet network through the telephone line, and demodulates the Internet information signal received through the telephone line. Output data to the internet module.

The internet module 307 executes a real-time operating system and various softwares to provide an internet access function according to a user's operation input through the keyboard and mouse 313 and input web content received through the web decoder 305. Receive and store in an external data storage device 311. When the user is requested to surf the web content, the corresponding content stored in the data storage device 311 is read and displayed on the display device.

The memory 310 may store various programs as a flash ROM, a RAM, and the like, and store data. The data storage device 311 may store a large amount of data, such as a hard disk drive (HDD). As a storage device, web content is stored.

The microcomputer 309 processes input from the remote controller 312 or the keyboard and the mouse 313 and transmits them to the Internet module 307 and provides various control signals of the TV portion. For example, various control signals such as tuning signals for selecting a broadcast, brightness of a screen, contrast, color, and horizontal / vertical size are provided.

As described above, the Internet television according to the present invention can receive a web content received through a wireless broadcast signal, store it in a data storage device, and provide a variety of services related to the Internet by providing the user when requested. have.

Claims (2)

TV broadcast receiving means for receiving a demodulated radio broadcast signal transmitted through the air, demodulating and providing a composite video signal and an audio signal, processing the same, displaying the image on a CRT screen, and outputting sound through a speaker; A web decoder 305 for receiving a horizontal signal of a vertical blank period from the TV broadcast receiving means and playing web content; A data storage device 311 for storing web content; A modem 308 for modulating the digital data and transmitting the digital data to the network side and demodulating the modulated signal received from the network side to output the digital data; And Provides access to the Internet through the modem in the Internet mode according to a user's key input, outputs information received from the Internet to the TV broadcasting means, and displays the web content received through the web decoder. And an internet module for recording on the device and reading and outputting web content stored in the data storage device to the TV broadcasting means for display according to a user's request. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said data storage device (311) comprises a hard disk drive (HDD).