KR20000076406A - Data processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

A receiver / decoder for a broadcast digital television system in which received signals are passed through a receiver to a receiver / decoder and then to a television set. The receiver / decoder decodes the compressed MPEG type signal and is controlled by a remote controller handset via an interface at the receiver / decoder. The operation of the receiver / decoder is controlled by a virtual machine (VM) that includes a run time engine (RTE). The receiver / decoder comprises a plurality of interfaces to an external unit and a logic driver device for the interfaces. The application controls the external unit by the RTE, which receives events via the queue set from the interface. The RTE comprises a plurality of processing sequencer units associated with the apparatus means and means for fetching events from the queue means and thus operating the associated processing sequencer unit.

Description

Data Processing System {DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a receiver / decoder for a digital television system.

The advent of digital transmission systems, intended primarily for broadcasting television signals but not exclusively used in satellite television systems, has opened up the possibility of using them for other purposes. One of them is to provide interactivity to the terminal user.

The present invention finds particular application in a broadcast digital television system where the received signal is passed through a receiver to a receiver / decoder and then to a television set. The receiver / decoder decodes the compressed MPEG signal into a television signal for a television set. It is controlled by a remote controller handset via the receiver / decoder interface.

One way of providing the above described bidirectionality is to operate the application at a receiver / decoder that receives a television signal. The code for the application could be stored permanently in the receiver / decoder. However, this is rather limited. Preferably, the receiver / decoder could download the code for the required application. More variety is provided in this way, and the application can be updated as needed without any action on the part of the user.

Many other manufacturers manufacture receivers / decoders. Obviously all manufacturers must meet certain common functional specifications, but it is desirable to follow them and make their own choices about the details of the design, including details of the hardware. However, the overall functionality of the receiver / decoder and in particular the functional way in which it handles the application must be the same for all receivers / decoders. The design of some of the control systems involved in the processing application should be common to all receivers / decoders and should be the responsibility of the system operator rather than the hardware manufacturer.

The two objectives (degrees of freedom in hardware design and common system functionality) are clearly difficult to harmonize. The object of the present invention is to overcome the difficulties.

1 shows an overall structure of a digital television system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a structural diagram of an interactive system of a digital television system;

3 is a file arrangement in a module downloaded to the memory of the bidirectional receiver / decoder.

4 is a schematic diagram of an interface of a receiver / decoder;

5 is an arrangement diagram of a memory volume of a memory of the bidirectional receiver / decoder.

6 is a functional block diagram of a receiver / decoder.

7 is a detailed view of the configuration of the virtual calculator and the operation time engine.

According to its principal aspect, a receiver / decoder for a digital television system is provided, and the receiver / decoder,

Means for receiving a compressed MPEG type signal; Means for decoding the received signal to provide a television signal; Means for supplying the television signal to a television; A user input interface; A computer system for controlling a receiver / decoder in accordance with an input signal received via the user input interface, the computer system comprising: device manager means for receiving a signal from a plurality of ports and providing data to the port; And a virtual machine means coupled to the device manager means for processing data received from the device manager means and having means for returning the data thereto.

Preferably, the virtual calculator means comprises an operation engine, a library of routines, an interpreter, storage means for storing a plurality of instruction sequences, queue management means, and buffer management means.

Preferably, the receiver / decoder further comprises a plurality of interfaces coupled to an external unit, the device manager means having at least one device means associated with at least one interface or at least one function of the receiver / decoder. Preferably the device manager means comprises at least one device means coupled to at least one device driver.

Preferably the receiver / decoder comprises a plurality of application sources each providing an application for controlling the receiver / decoder and / or television, where an operation engine is located between the application source and the logic device means and via the device manager means. Queue means for receiving the generated events and passing them to the engine. Preferably the operation engine comprises a plurality of processing sequencer units associated with the apparatus means and means for fetching events from the queue means and thus operating the associated processing sequencer unit. Preferably there is also filter means for matching the event against a list of event types before inputting the event to the queue means. Preferably the receiver / decoder comprises means for storing at least one application.

An additional aspect of the present invention provides a receiver / decoder for receiving broadcast signals, the decoder / receiver comprising:

Means for controlling the receiver / decoder in accordance with the received signal,

The control means,

Means for receiving signals from a plurality of ports and providing data to the ports;

And virtual calculator means for processing the data received from the receiving means and returning the data there.

Another aspect of the invention includes a system having a plurality of receivers / decoders each as described above, where the other receivers / decoders have a common virtual calculator means and different device manager means coupled to each other circuit.

Preferred features of the present invention are explained fully by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram of a digital television system 1000. The present invention includes the most common digital television system 2000 using the known MPEG-2 compression system to transmit compressed digital signals. More specifically, the MPEG-2 compressor 2002 of a broadcast center receives a digital signal stream (typically a stream of video signals). The compressor 2002 is connected to the multiplexer and scrambler 2004 by a linkage 2006. The multiplexer 2004 receives a plurality of additional input signals, collects one or more transport streams, and transmits the compressed digital signal to the transmitter of the broadcast center via linkage 2010, which linkage 2010 receives. It can be in a wide variety of forms, including communication links. Transmitter 2008 transmits an electromagnetic signal via satellite uplink 2012 towards satellite transponder 2014, where they are processed electronically and a terrestrial receiver 2018 in the form of a dish that is owned or leased by the terminal user. Is broadcast via the imaginary downlink 2016. The signal received by receiver 2018 is transmitted to an integrated receiver / decoder 2020 that is owned or leased by the terminal user and connected to the television set 2022 of the terminal user. Receiver / decoder 2020 decodes the compressed MPEG-2 signal into a television signal for television set 2022.

The conditional access system 3000 is connected to the multiplexer 2004 and the receiver / decoder 2020, partially located in the broadcast center and partially located in the decoder. It allows terminal users to access digital television broadcasts from one or more broadcast providers. A smart card capable of decrypting a message relating to a commercial item (ie, one or more television programs sold by a broadcast provider) may be inserted into the receiver / decoder 2020. When using the decoder 2020 and the smart card, the terminal user can purchase a commercial item by subscription or pay-per-view.

The interactive system 4000, which is also connected to the multiplexer 2004 and receiver / decoder 2020 and partly at the broadcast center and partly at the decoder, allows the end user to access the various channels via the modulated back channel 4002. Allows you to interact with your application.

2 shows the general structure of an interactive television system 4000 of a digital television system 1000 of the present invention.

For example, the interactive system 4000 allows a terminal user to purchase items from a catalog on the screen, ask for local news and weather maps on demand, and play games through the television set.

The interactive system 4000 has four main components as follows.

An authoring tool 4004 of a broadcast center (or somewhere) for causing broadcast providers to create, deploy, debug, and test applications;

Allows broadcast providers to prepare, authorize, and format applications and data delivered to multiplexers and scramblers (2004) for insertion into MPEG-2 transport streams (usually private parts) that are broadcast to end users. An application and data server 4006 in the broadcast center connected to the authoring tool 4004;

Executables that are executable code installed in the receiver / decoder 2020 owned or leased by the terminal user to enable the terminal user to receive, authorize, decompress, and load the application into the working memory of the decoder 2020 for execution. A virtual machine that includes a run time engine (RTE) 4008. Engine 4008 is independent of hardware and operating system.

Modulated demodulated back channel between receiver / decoder 2020 and application and data server 4006 to enable signals instructing server 4006 to insert data and applications into the MPEG-2 transport stream at the request of the terminal user. (4002).

Interactive systems operate using "applications" that control the functionality of the receiver / decoder and the various devices therein. The application is represented to engine 4008 as a "resource file". A module is a set of resource files and data. Several modules are needed to form the application. The "memory volume" of the receiver / decoder is the storage space for the module. The "interface" is used to download the module. The module may be downloaded from the MPEG-2 transport stream to the receiver / decoder 2020.

The parts mentioned in the previous paragraphs are described in more detail.

For purposes of this disclosure, the application is preferably part of computer code that controls the high level functionality of the receiver / decoder 2020. For example, when a terminal user positions the remote controller's focus on a button object shown on the screen of a television set 2022 and presses a confirmation key, the command sequence associated with the button is executed.

The interactive application proposes menus, executes commands on demand of the terminal user, and provides data related to the purpose of the application. The application is a resident application stored in a ROM (or FLASH or other nonvolatile memory) of the receiver / decoder 2020 or broadcast and downloaded to RAM or FLASH memory of the receiver / decoder 2020.

Examples of applications:

Initialization application. Receiver / decoder 2020 is equipped with a resident initialization application, which is an applicable collection of modules (defined in more detail below) that allows receiver / decoder 2020 to operate immediately in an MPEG-2 environment. If necessary, the application provides key features that can be changed by the broadcast provider. It also provides an interface between the resident application and the downloaded application.

Start application. The launch application allows the downloaded or resident application to run on the receiver / decoder 2020. The application acts as a bootstrap that runs upon arrival of the service to start the application. The start is downloaded to RAM and can be easily updated. It is configured such that interactive applications available in each channel can be selected or run immediately after download or after preloading. In the case of preloading, the application is loaded into memory 2024 and is activated by startup when needed.

Program guide. Program guide is an interactive application that gives enough information about programming. For example, it can give information about, for example, one week of television programs provided on each channel of a digital television set. By pressing a key on the remote controller 2026, the terminal user accesses an additional screen that overlays the event shown on the screen of the television set 2022. The additional screen is a browser that provides information on the current and next events of each channel of the digital television set. By pressing another key on the remote controller 2026, the terminal user accesses an application that displays a list of information on a week-long event. The terminal user can also investigate and classify the events on a simple and customized basis. The terminal user may also have direct access to the selected channel.

Paid viewing application. The paid viewing application is an interactive service available on each PPV channel of the digital TV set in connection with the conditional access system 3000. The terminal user can access the application using a TV guide or a channel browser. In addition, applications automatically start as soon as a PPV event is detected on the PPV channel. The terminal user can then purchase the current event via his daughter smart card 3020 or via a communication server 3022 (using a modem, telephone and DTMF code, MINITEL, etc.). The application may reside in the ROM of the receiver / decoder 2020 or may be downloaded to the RAM of the decoder 2020.

PC download application. Upon request, the terminal user can download the computer software using a PC download application.

Magazine browser application. The magazine browser application has a cyclical video broadcast as terminal user navigation via buttons on the screen.

Quiz application. The quiz application is preferably synchronized with the broadcast quiz program. For example, a number of selection questions are displayed on the screen of television 2022, and the user can select an answer using remote controller 2026. The quiz application can tell the user whether the answer is correct or not and can count the user's score.

• Teleshopping application. In one example of a teleshopping application, an item of merchandise for sale is sent to a receiver / decoder 2020 and displayed on a television set 2022. Using the remote control, the user can select a particular item to purchase. The order for the item is sent to the application and data server 4006 or to a separate sales system through the modulated back channel 4002, the telephone number of which is in the card reader 4036 of the receiver / decoder 2020. The order is billed to the account for the inserted credit card and possibly downloaded to the receiver / decoder.

Telebanking application. In one example of a telebanking application, a user inserts a bank card into one of the card readers 4036 of the receiver / decoder 2020. The receiver / decoder 2020 dials the user's bank using a phone number stored on a bank card or stored in the receiver / decoder, and the application then downloads an account statement via a telephone line, for example, and transfers funds between accounts. And a remote controller 2026 requesting a checkbook.

Internet browser application. In one example of an internet browser application, instructions from a user, such as a request to view a web page with a particular URL, are entered using remote controller 2026, and they are driven by the modulated back channel 4002. Sent to application and data server 4006. The appropriate web page is included in the transmission from the broadcast center, received by the receiver / decoder 2020 via uplink 2012, transponder 2014 and downlink 2016, and displayed on television set 2022. do.

The application is stored in a memory location of the receiver / decoder 2020 and displayed as a resource file. The resource file includes a graphic target description unit file, a variable block unit file, an instruction sequence file, an application file, and a data file.

The graphical target description unit file describes the screen, which is the man-machine of the application. The variable block unit file describes the data structure handled by the application. The instruction sequence file describes the processing operation of the application. The application file provides an entry point for the application.

Applications configured in this manner can use data files such as icon library files, image files, character font files, color table files, and ASCII text files. Interactive applications can obtain on-line data by validating inputs and / or outputs.

The engine 4008 alone loads the resource file that it needs at a set time into its memory. The resource file is read from the graphic target description unit file, the instruction sequence file, and the application file; The variable block unit file is stored in memory that follows the call to the procedure of loading the module and remains locked there until a particular call is made in the procedure of unloading the module.

In FIG. 3, a module 4010, such as a teleshopping module, is a resource file and a data set, and the set is

A single application file 4012;

An undetermined number of graphical target description unit files 4014;

An undetermined number of variable block unit files 4016;

An undetermined number of instruction sequence files 4018;

Preferably, data files 4020 are provided, such as icon library files, image files, text font files, color table files, and ASCII text files.

In an MPEG data stream, each module has a group of MPEG tables. Each MPEG table can be formatted in multiple parts. In an MPEG data stream, each part has a "size" of up to 4 bytes. For data movement via serial and parallel ports, for example, the module is similarly divided into tables and parts, the size of which varies with the transport medium.

The module is moved in an MPEG data stream, typically in the form of a 188 byte data packet, within each data stream form taking video data streams, audio data streams, and teletext data streams as an example. Each packet is preceded by a 13-bit packet identifier (PID) and there is one PID for every packet moved in the MPEG data stream. The program map table (PMT table) contains different data lists and forms the contents of each data stream according to each PID. The PID informs the device about the presence of the application in the data stream, and the PID is identified using the PMT table.

In FIG. 4, the receiver / decoder 2020 includes several interfaces, that is, in particular a tuner 4028 for MPEG signal flow, a serial interface 4030, a parallel interface 4030, and two card readers. 4036, one of the two card readers 4036 for smart cards forming part of the system and the other for bank cards (used for payment, home banking, etc.). The receiver / decoder includes an interface 4034 for the modulated back channel 4002 to the television signal generator so that the user can display preferences in preference to the television signal (program) generator.

The memory volume is a storage space for the module 4010. The storage space is located in the memory 2024 of the receiver / decoder 2020. Referring to FIG. 5, memory 2024 is divided into RAM volume 4022, flash volume 4024, and ROM volume 4026, but the physical organization is distinguished from logical organization. The memory is a memory volume associated with the various interfaces on which the module is downloaded to the receiver / decoder 2020, e.g. an MPEG volume storing the module downloaded from the MPEG bitstream and a serial volume storing the module received via the serial interface. It can be additionally divided into From one aspect, the memory can be considered part of the hardware; From another aspect, the memory may be considered to support or include the entire system as shown far from the hardware.

Receivers / decoders are designed and manufactured by various manufacturers. Therefore they conform to the same functional specification, of course, but they have a variety of different hardware designs. It is important that the configured application behave in the same way on all receivers / decoders, and that all applications run in the same and correct way.

The system may be considered to be concentrated on an operating time engine 4008 that forms part of the virtual calculator 4007. It is coupled to the application on one side ("high level" side) and the other side ("low level" side) to the receiver / decoder 4041 via the various intermediate logic units described above. As discussed above, the receiver / decoder hardware may have various ports or interfaces (interface 2030 for handset 2026, MPEG stream interface 4028, serial interface 4030, parallel interface 4032, interfaces for card readers). 4036, and an interface 4034 to the modulated back channel 4002.

In FIG. 6, various applications 4057 are coupled to unit 4007; Some commonly used applications reside in the system somewhat permanently, as indicated in 4057, while others are downloaded to the system from the MPEG data stream or, if necessary, from the remaining ports.

Unit 4007 includes a resident library function 4006 that includes toolbox 4058 in addition to operating time engine 4008. The library contains various functions in the C language used by the engine 4008. They include data manipulation such as compression, expansion or comparison of data structures, line drawing, and the like. Library 4006 includes information about firmware 4060 at receiver / decoder 2020, which information includes hardware and software version numbers and available RAM space, as well as when downloading new device 4062. Function. The function can be downloaded to a library stored in flash or RAM memory.

An operating time engine 4008 is coupled to a device manager 4068 coupled to a set of devices 4064 that are coupled to device drivers 4060 alternately to ports or interfaces. In a broad sense, the device driver may be considered to form a logical interface such that two different device drivers may be coupled to a common physical port. The device driver is generally coupled to one or more device drivers; When the device is coupled to a single device driver, the device is generally designed to incorporate sufficient functionality required for communication, thereby eliminating the need for a separate device driver. Certain devices can communicate among themselves.

As described below, there are three forms of communication from the device 4064 to the runtime engine: variables, buffers, and events that are passed through the event queue set.

In view of the designers or providers of the various functions, the application is generated by various service (program) providers. The run time engine is designed and provided by a system authority or designer. The device manager, device, and device driver are provided by the receiver / decoder manufacturer (hardware provider). However, the communication between the various levels of the receiver / decoder and the three levels of providers is generally not accurate. For example, a system authority may actually provide some applications, and a receiver / decoder manufacturer may be involved in logical device design and the like.

Each function of the receiver / decoder 2020 is represented as device 4082. The device can be local or remote. Local device 4064 includes smartcards, SCART connector signals, modems, serial and parallel interfaces, MPEG video and audio players, and MPEG section and table extractors. Remote device 4066 implemented at a remote location differs from local device in that the ports and procedures must be formed by the system authority or designer rather than by devices and device drivers provided and designed by the receiver / decoder manufacturer.

When a new device 4062 is created, it can be installed in an existing receiver / decoder 2020 by downloading the associated application 4056 from the broadcast center. The downloading checks the hardware and software version and, if correct, loads a software module indicating a new device 4062 and asks the application of the library 4006 for installing the new device code in firmware (in flash memory). Performed by receiver 4056 to receiver / decoder 2020. It can provide a flexible and secure installation of new functionality in the receiver / decoder 2020 without affecting the rest of the software.

The device manager 4068 is a common software interface between the application 4056 and specific functions of the receiver / decoder 2020. The device manager 4068 controls access to the device 4062, declares receipt of unpredicted events, and manages shared memory.

The run time engine 4008 operates under the control of a microprocessor and a common application programming interface. They are installed in all receivers / decoders 2020 so that all receivers / decoders 2020 are the same from an application point of view.

Engine 4008 runs application 4056 on receiver / decoder 2020. It executes an interactive application 4056 and receives events from outside the receiver / decoder 2020, displays graphics and text, calls a service device and connects to a library 4006 connected to a particular computational engine 4008. Use the function.

The runtime engine 4008 is executable code installed at each receiver / decoder 2020 and includes an interpreter for interpreting and operating the application. Engine 4008 is applicable to operating systems including a single mission operating system (such as MS-DOS). The engine 4008 is based on a processing sequencer unit (which causes various events such as key presses to perform various operations) and includes its own scheduler to manage the event queue from different hardware interfaces. It handles the display of graphics and text. The processing sequencer unit has an operation-group set. Each event causes the processing sequencer unit to move from the current action-group to another action-group and execute a new action-group action according to the nature of the event. As can be seen above, there may be two different logical channels using the same physical port, for example because the logical channel is different from the physical port. Events on the two logical channels are passed to different processing sequencer units. In addition, there may be two different logical channels of the same type using physical ports. In that case, each of the two channels requires of course its own processing sequencer unit, so two instances of the same processing sequencer unit are created.

Engine 4008 has a code loader to load and download application 4056 to receiver / decoder memory 2028. The necessary code is loaded into RAM or flash memory for optimal use. The downloaded data is verified by an authorization mechanism to prevent alteration of the application 4056 or the execution of unauthorized applications. Engine 4008 also includes a pressure reducer. As application code (in the form of intermediate code) is compressed to save space and quickly download from an MPEG-2 transport stream or via an embedded receiver / decoder scheme, the code must be reduced before loading it into RAM. The engine 4008 includes an interpreter for interpreting application code to update various variable values and to determine state changes, and an error checker.

The main loop of engine 4008 draws events from the queue means and thus activates the associated processing sequencer unit. In every traversal of the main loop, the procedure is called to receive external events (such as pressing a remote control key, an MPEG-2 section or one of the messages on the serial port) from the event interface. All events entered into the display function (discussed below) or received via the interface are processed by the engine 4008. For each detected event, the procedure includes a message called "event" with each priority level 0-4 placed in one of the five queues of the engine. After a call to the event interface that populates the queue with events, engine 4008 searches the queues in order of decreasing event priority (level 4 to level 0). The event so found is removed from the queue and used to run the intended processing sequencer.

Prior to using the services of device 4042, a program (application instruction sequence) must be declared to device 4066 or device manager 4068 as a logical client access method. The manager assigns the client a client number called all access to the device. The device 4066 may have several clients, and the number of clients for each device 4066 is specified according to the type of the device 4066. The client is introduced to the device 4066 by the procedure "device: open channel". The procedure assigns a client number to the client. The client may pull the client list out of the device manager 4068 by the procedure "Device: Closed Channel".

Access to device 4082 provided by device manager 4068 may be synchronous or asynchronous. For synchronous access, the procedure "device: call" is used. It is a means of accessing readily available data or functionality that does not include a wait for the desired response. For asynchronous access, the procedure "device: I / O" is used. It is a means of accessing data including, for example, scanning a tuner frequency to multiplex or waiting for a response to retrieve the table from the MPEG stream. When the requested result is available, the event is placed in the engine's queue to signal its arrival. An additional procedure "device: event" provides a means of managing an unexpected event.

As can be seen above, the main loop of the run time engine is coupled to various processing sequencer units, the main loop generates appropriate events, and control is transferred simultaneously to one of the processing sequencer units.

The communication between the runtime engine and the application is mainly performed via two types of processing sequencer units: a graphic target description unit processing sequencer unit and an instruction sequence processing sequencer unit.

The nature of the operation of the processing sequencer unit can be best explained by considering the operation of the graphical target description unit and the instruction sequence processing sequencer unit; The operation of the remaining processing sequencer units is similar. The graphical target description unit processing sequencer unit manages the human-machine interface, and the instruction sequence processing sequencer unit executes the instruction sequence in response to the instruction sequence execution request received from the graphical target description unit processing sequencer unit. (Instruction sequence is a sequence of reduced intermediate code instructions.)

The display function in communication with the engine 4008 causes text and graphics to be displayed to the terminal user and the operation of the terminal user to the engine 4008. Text and graphics are placed on the indicator of the television set 2022, and the user can be interactive with the application 4056 by the keyboard (including the remote controller 2026).

Graphical Target Description Unit Processing The sequencer unit processes the question by receiving a question event from the terminal user's television screen and beginning to read the corresponding interface file 4014. It uses the graphical capabilities of the interface to track the graphical targets on the screen of the television set 2022. The end user can use the four arrow keys of the remote controller 2026 to move around the graphical target. Each time the car is pressed, the event is processed by the graphical target description unit processing sequencer unit. When the user validates the selection using the valid key on the remote controller 2026, the code of the event is generated by the graphical target description unit processing sequencer unit which generates an event request instruction sequence that is operated and sends them to the instruction sequence processing sequencer unit. do. When the instruction sequence processing sequencer unit receives an instruction sequence execution request from the graphic target description unit processing sequencer unit, it reads the corresponding instruction sequence file 4018 and loads it entirely into memory. It starts to operate the instruction sequence and continues until the instruction sequence ends or it causes a function called rerouting.

When the instruction sequence is finished, the system returns to cycle through the main loop to request and reschedule the event.

There are several downloading processing sequencer units whose functions handle various protocols linked to other volumes, including the application 4056.

In FIG. 7, the device manager includes a queue 100 through which events from the device are passed for temporary storage. At reasonable intervals, the virtual calculator sends a signal to the queue and withdraws the first item from it. The event article is moved to the queue structure 101 in the virtual calculator. Depending on the priority level of the event item, it is inserted into the appropriate one of five queues (0-4). The event article is withdrawn from the queue structure 101 by the queue selector unit 102 under the control of the operating time engine.

When an event is selected from the queue structure 101, it is passed to a process sequencer unit engine 104, which is composed of a process sequencer unit driver 105 and a set of process sequencer units 106. Each processing sequencer unit is a set of action-groups linked together, so that each step from one action-group to the next action-group depends on the nature of the current action-group and the event. Other processing sequencer units have different sizes and complexity, including that the "next" action-group, which is the action-group in which the system is staged in response to the event, only depends on the nature of the event, but not the current action-group. . As shown on the right side of the processing sequencer unit block, there are several identical processing sequencer units that are several replicated processing sequencer units to process several separate data streams using the same protocol through a single port.

When an event is selected, it is passed to the appropriate processing sequencer unit. It selects the appropriate exit from the current operation-group on the processing sequencer unit. It generates the appropriate next action-group to be selected and the action-group action performed is, for example, sending a message to the device manager or executing an indication sequence. The action-group of the processing sequencer unit may send an event message to the remaining processing sequencer unit.

If an indication sequence is selected, an identification of the indication sequence is sent to the indication sequence selector 107. It obtains the preferred instruction sequence from instruction sequence memory 108 and passes it to instruction sequence interpreter 109 which executes the instruction sequence.

The system includes, for example, a filter 110 that is loaded in the form of an event from the processing sequencer unit 106. When an event item is passed from the device manager's queue 100 to the virtual calculator's queue structure 101, the form or text is matched against the list in the filter 110, and if it is an unrecognized form, it is rejected. . Thus, for example, if a device manager or keyboard generates an event of a type that the virtual calculator cannot handle, the event is not passed to the queue structure 101. (If the event types pass through the queue structure 101, they accumulate in that queue structure or they cause a failure in the processing sequencer unit engine 104.)

The invention has been described above by way of example, and variations of the details can be made within the scope of the invention.

Each feature disclosed in the description, the claims and the drawings can be provided independently or in any suitable combination.

In the above-mentioned preferred embodiment, certain features of the present invention have been carried out using computer software. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art, that some of the above features are performed using hardware. In addition, functions performed by hardware, computer software and the like are performed using electrical and similar signals.

References are co-pending applications with the same filing date and are named Signal Generation and Broadcasting (agent PC / ASB / 19707), smart cards for use with receivers of encrypted broadcast signals, and Smartcard for use with a Receiver of Encrypted Broadcast Signal and Receiver (Representative Document No. PC / ASB / 19708), Broadcast and Reception System and Conditional Access System therefor (Agent Documentation PC / ASB / 19710), Downloading a Computer File from a Transmitter via a Receiver / Decoder to Computer (Representative document number PC / ASB19711), TV Transmission and Reception of Televsion Programs and Other Data (Representative Document No. PC / ASB / 19712), Downloading Downloading Data (agent document number PC / ASB / 19713), Computer Memory Organization (agent document number PC / ASB / 19714), television or radio control system development ( Agent Document No. PC / ASB / 19715), Extracting Data Sections from a Transmitted Data Stream (Agent No. PC / ASB / 19716), Access Control System (Agent) Document number PC / ASB / 19717), data processing system (agent document number PC / ASB / 19718), broadcast and reception system and receiver / decoder and remote controller for it (agent document number PC / ASB / 19720) )to be. The disclosure of this document is incorporated herein by reference. The list of applications includes the invention.

Claims (12)

In a receiver / decoder for a digital television system, Means for receiving a compressed MPEG type signal; Means for decoding the received signal to provide a television signal; Means for supplying the television signal to a television; A user input interface; And a computer system for controlling the receiver / decoder in accordance with an input signal received via the user input interface, the computer system comprising: Device manager means for receiving signals from a plurality of ports and providing data to the ports; And a virtual machine means, coupled to the device manager means, for processing the data received from the device manager means and having a means for returning the data to the device manager means. 2. The receiver / digital television system according to claim 1, wherein the virtual calculator means comprises an operation engine, a library of routines, an interpreter, storage means for storing a plurality of instruction sequences, queue management means, and buffer management means. Decoder. 3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, further comprising a plurality of interfaces coupled to an external unit, wherein the device manager means comprises at least one device means associated with at least one interface or at least one function of the receiver / decoder. Features a receiver / decoder for digital television systems. 4. A receiver / decoder for a digital television system according to claim 3, wherein said device manager means comprises at least one device means coupled to at least one device driver. 5. A device as claimed in claim 3 or 4, comprising a plurality of application sources each providing a receiver / decoder and / or an application for controlling a television, wherein an operation engine is located between the application source and the device means and via the device manager means. Receiver / decoder for receiving a generated event and passing them to the engine. 6. The digital television of claim 5, wherein the operation engine comprises a plurality of processing sequencer units associated with the apparatus means and means for fetching events from the queue means and thus operating the associated processing sequencer unit. Receiver / decoder for the system. 7. Receiver / decoder for a digital television system as claimed in claim 5 or 6, comprising filter means for matching the event against a list of event types before inputting the event to the cue means. A receiver / decoder for a digital television system according to any preceding claim, further comprising means for storing at least one application. A receiver / decoder for receiving a broadcast signal, Means for controlling the receiver / decoder in accordance with the received signal, The control means, Means for receiving signals from a plurality of ports and providing data to the ports; And a virtual calculator means for processing the data received from the receiving means and returning the data therein. A system comprising a plurality of receivers / decoders according to any one of claims 1 to 8, The other receiver / decoder has a common virtual calculator means and different device manager means coupled to different circuits. Receiver / decoder as substantially described herein. A system as substantially described herein.