KR20020022667A - Real-time signal strength display of terrestrial digital television signals - Google Patents

Abstract

An HDTV receiver connected to the terrestrial antenna displays the real time signal strength of the terrestrial digital television signal. The graphical user interface preferably displays a variety of data relating to the terrestrial television signal in a scrollable grid format. This grid is displayed within the active video display of the television signal selected from this grid. Audio for the selected channel is also activated. The entire channel list that has been tuned or selected is maintained to assist in searching. The channel list is updated during the specific channel search.

Description

Real-time signal strength display of terrestrial digital television signals {REAL-TIME SIGNAL STRENGTH DISPLAY OF TERRESTRIAL DIGITAL TELEVISION SIGNALS}

High definition television (HDTV) sets and other digital digital set-top boxes must be able to receive digital signals, such as terrestrial television signals. Typically terrestrial digital television signals as well as digital television signals from other sources may be received by a television set. These other sources, such as cables and satellites (ie, DBS), generally provide a television signal with a standard signal strength sufficient to allow a television receiver to process and use an incoming digital television signal.

For both analog off-air television signals and digital off-air television signals, it is necessary to connect an antenna to the television set. If several digital channels are available, the user may need to manually adjust the antenna to receive the best possible reception from all available channels. It is known to provide a channel search routine that can take a discrete sample or "snapshot" of all channels currently available on several antenna inputs. The channel retrieval routine then deletes any previously stored channels that are not currently available now, while storing the channels detected while retrieving memory (e.g., EEPROM). When the unit is powered up, the channels in the EEPROM become a channel list. If the user attempts to adjust or reposition the antenna, the signal strength of some digital signals (channels) may be too low to tune (or receive). Thus, at power-up or if the user performs a channel search, several channels can be deleted. Moreover, the weak channel is eliminated to account for the case where the user moves to another broadcast location (off-air, cable or DBS).

Some digital television signals may only be available to the user if the antenna is manually adjusted to achieve the best reception for the various channels. In order to effectively achieve the best antenna placement, the user needs to know the signal strength of several digital television channels. Also, using a rotor and control electronics, if the signal strength of each of the digital television channels is known, the best position of the antenna relative to each of the digital television channels can be achieved, stored, and used.

This application is a non-patent application based on a joint pending patent application with serial number 60 / 139,467 filed on June 16, 1999 and a serial provisional patent application with serial number 60 / 143,341 filed on July 12, 1999. (non-provisional patent application).

The present invention relates to digital television signals and, more particularly, to the reception and measurement of off-air digital television signals.

1 illustrates a multimedia system capable of receiving and using digital television signals.

2 is a program flow diagram of a search routine caused during channel search in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

3 is a program flow diagram of a search routine for adding channels to a resultant Channel List and an Antenna Info List of individual digital entries, in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

4 is a program flow diagram of a power up routine in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

5 is a program flow diagram of a search routine caused during antenna information retrieval in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

6 shows a program screen as displayable on a display unit, in particular showing Antenna Information Results, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

The dish antenna pointing screen (on-screen display or OSD) is the orientation of the dish antenna without displaying and / or playing back audio / video signals simultaneously or without indicating the signal strength of the off-air digital television channel. It is currently used in Digital Broadcast Satellite (DBS) products that represent orientation. In one aspect of the invention, the currently tuned channel may be displayed on its background, and each entry of the desktop may be highlighted. If no valid channel is displayed, then the first channel in the list can be highlighted.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method and apparatus for displaying real time signal strength of an off-air digital television signal is provided. The Antenna Information (Info) program / routine, preferably using a graphical user interface, edits the list of received channels for any antenna input, signals for some or all of the received digital channels. It is adapted to display the intensity in real time, and to play audio and video of any particular channel. Since audio and video are active during the real-time display of signal strength, this allows the user to find the lowest signal strength, or cutoff threshold, that provides an acceptable level of audio and video quality. Finding the cutoff threshold is particularly useful when digital broadcasts come from different directions and when the terrestrial antenna cannot be directed in two directions.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the user can switch to another antenna input while the antenna information routine is active. Doing this is intended to refresh the channel list to show the channels available on the new antenna input. All channels obtained by channel search over time intervals are maintained in the Antenna Information List (AI list) for use by the antenna information routine. The antenna information may thus be a list of all channels that have been added to the channel list even by channel search. For every channel in the channel list, the antenna information routine will allow the tuner (or selector) to connect to one of several channel frequencies. If the tuner succeeds in receiving an available television signal, the channel remains in the channel list. If the television signal is digital, the strength of the signal can be measured at least and possibly displayed.

The value of the antenna information is to check the signal strength of the digital channel while changing the antenna position. Antenna information typically only includes the current antenna rather than both antennas at the same time.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a user may scroll through a list of channels that are currently within a list of channels. When a particular channel is selected, the tuner can play audio and video for that channel because the real-time signal strength is updated on-screen (digital channels only). The list of currently available channels makes it easy to see the effects of antenna tuning for both digital and analog channels, including both analog and digital channels, to provide users with an integrated channel screen.

The invention will be better understood with reference to the drawings below.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Referring to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of a multimedia system 10 is briefly shown. The multimedia system 10 includes a set top box receiver 14 that is communicatively connected to the TV 12 via a TV or monitor 12 and a DBS and / or communication line 16 as known in the art. can do. The DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) receiver 14 is communicatively connected to the dish antenna (ie, the antenna 18) through a communication line 20 as is known in the art. The dish-shaped antenna 18 is focused on and received by the feedhorn / LNA (low noise amplifier) unit 22, for example a digital multimedia signal and / or a data signal, for example a television. , Music, and / or Internet signals (hereinafter collectively referred to as "TV signals"). Feedhorn / LNA unit 22 generally receives and slightly amplifies the received television signal and sends the amplified television signal to DBS receiver 14 for processing. DBS unit 14 may also be connected to a CATV or cable system (not shown) via cable input line 24. The TV 12 may be connected to an antenna, ie aerial antenna 26, via a communication line 28. Antenna 26 is designed to receive off-air or non-satellite broadcast digital or analog television signals. Thus, the antenna 26 is generally adjustable either manually or automatically. The off-air television signal is fed to the tuner 30 to identify or tune several channels and receive any data signal as is known in the art.

Tuner 30 is communicatively coupled with microcontroller unit (“μC”) 32 such that digital television signals received from antenna 26 are received and processed by microcontroller unit 32 as is known in the art. It is. In addition to other functions as is known in the art, the microcontroller unit 32 provides control and / or implementation of various software programs / routines and can communicate with various components in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. The microcontroller unit 32 may be in communication with an additional memory 34, for example EEPROM, RAM, ROM, and the display device 36. The TV 12 may also include a left speaker 38a and a right speaker 38b respectively connected to the microcontroller unit 32 via audio communication lines 40a and 40b to provide audio output to the user. have.

Additionally, microcontroller unit 32 includes the ability to generate, process, and display OSD information / data on display device 36. The OSD information / data may be part of the received television signal or may be generated internally. Such OSD information may include channel number, time, signal strength, on-screen electronic program guide (EPG), internet data, pop-up windows, on-screen electronic programming menu, and the like. The microcontroller unit 32 is also known in the art and additionally executes various software necessary to process and / or use the input digital signal as provided herein.

It will be appreciated that the microcontroller unit 32 forms a module that can implement the present invention on its own or with the tuner 30 and the memory 34. This module is entirely separable (detachable module) or can merge existing constituents of several components (virtual modules). As such, this module may be incorporated into the TV 12, DBS / Set Top Receiver Unit 14, or any other digital component capable of receiving and / or using digital television signals.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a display device 36 showing a program screen 44 is shown. Program screen 44 is an exemplary screen that represents a typical programming / menu / information (“program”) screen into which the present invention may be incorporated. Included on the program screen 44 are a plurality of menu items / programs / functions 50 that are available for the user to select arbitrarily and which can be implemented by the unit. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, one such menu item 50 is “Antenna Info (AI)” 52.

Antenna information 52 is a menu choice that results in an antenna information program, function, or routine from the primary or secondary screen or through individual buttons on the remote. When selecting antenna information by either a button or menu selection, a context sensitive textual help may be displayed on part 66 of program screen 44 to assist the user.

Antenna information processing provides real-time signal strength of received digital signals (e.g., terrestrial television signals or satellite television signals) and uses a terrestrial antenna to receive the maximum number of digital television channels that meet a minimum signal strength threshold. For example, the user helps to adjust the antenna 26 of FIG. 1. Thus, the actual addition of both analog and digital channels to the current tuning performance of a television or set top box and the formation of a channel list representing analog and digital channels is accomplished by the channel search function / routine. The search performed by the antenna information may be separate from the channel search function and may result from other program screens. When a signal or channel scan is performed by a channel search routine, only analog and digital channels that have signal strengths above a certain threshold criteria are added to the channel list stored in memory (eg, EEPROM). Thus, the channel list is a stored list of currently available analog and digital television channels that can be displayed during channel scanning / surfing by the user.

The actions performed by the channel search can be summarized in the following Table 1, which identifies what happens to the channel list and the antenna information list that is stored separately from the channel list and used for other purposes during the channel search. .

action Channel list Antenna Information List Excellent Channel Discovery Add Add Bad channel found remove No change

Referring again to FIG. 2, a program flow diagram 70 for a channel search routine is shown. Upon selection, the channel search begins (72) and the next frequency starting from the selected frequency is scanned (74). If there is no next frequency, the routine is completed (76). Then when the frequency appears, it is determined 78 whether there is a signal available for the frequency / channel. Usability can be determined by applying a threshold signal strength or other parameter or set of parameters that the input signal must overcome. For each input frequency / channel that does not meet the threshold signal strength requirement or other method, the channel is removed from the channel list (75) and then the frequency is determined (74). If there is no continuous reception of available channels, it loops until there is no next available frequency. For each input frequency / channel that meets the threshold signal strength requirement or other method, that channel is added in step 80 to the channel list and antenna information list. This process is repeated until there is no next frequency, as determined in step 74.

3, a program flow diagram 82 is shown for automatically adding a channel to a channel list. The program is started when a user generally enters 84 an individual digit for a particular channel from a remote's keypad (not shown). Upon receiving the channel number, it is determined 86 whether there is a signal available for the frequency / channel. If no signal is available, the program terminates (88). If there is a signal available, the channel is added to the channel list and antenna information list (90).

4, a program flow diagram 92 is shown for adding a channel to a list of antenna information, generally unknown to the user. When the power supplied to the unit is turned on in step 94, the next channel in the EEPROM is scanned (96) to determine if there is a signal available. If no signal is available, the program terminates (98). If an available signal is present (available), the signal is added to the antenna information list (100). The program then determines whether other channels are available for viewing. These routines thus add the available channels to the channel list as well as the antenna information list.

The operations performed by the antenna information retrieval can be summarized by the following Table 2, which shows when a good strength signal is received (available) or when a bad strength signal is received (low or absent). When, identify what happens during the antenna information retrieval.

action Channel list Antenna Information List Excellent Channel Discovery Add Signal strength update Bad channel found No change Signal strength update

5 is a flow chart 104 of an antenna information search routine. When initiating 106 antenna information retrieval, the next frequency / channel in the antenna information list is scanned 108 for the signal. If there are no more frequencies / channels and / or at the end of the predetermined list, the program ends (110). If an available signal is present on the channel, it is determined 112 whether the signal is an analog signal or a digital signal. The analog signal is added (posted) to the channel list (114). The unit then prepares for scanning to the next frequency (108). If the signal is digital, the signal strength is measured in real time and updated in the antenna information list, and the channel is added to the channel list (116). The unit then prepares for scanning to the next frequency (108).

At the same time as the various antenna information screens prompting the user, the channel data grid 54 is a row 64 with information about the channel being received or received from the terrestrial antenna (s). One information per column, i.e., the channel number in column 58, the station name in column 60 (e.g., NBC [if available]), in column 58 whether the channel is digital or analog, At 60, which antenna is picking up that channel, and at column 62 it will be filled with the current signal strength for the digital channel only. Other types of information may also be displayed for several channels. Channel data grid 54 includes screen name 56 (antenna information) and displays a number of rows, where five rows 64a, 64b, 64c, 64d, 64e are displayed at a time. Arrows 67 and 68 indicate that there are more channels that can be viewed by scrolling up or down the grid.

The antenna information screen may maintain channels that were previously measured during past antenna information measurement but did not have sufficient strength to pass the "signal strength threshold criteria / level" to be added to the channel list from channel search. This is desirable because the user may not know if a local channel is available, but once the user knows which channel is available, the antenna (s) to have a sufficient strength for a particular channel to be added to the channel search list. It is up to the discretion of the user to try and adjust).

Once the signal strength measurement is completed, the antenna information result screen shown on the program screen 44 will be shown on the display device 36. The user can use the current antenna position to scroll up and down the looping / wrap-around list to know that the channel is available, so that the channel number and various attributes or characteristics (rows 64 and 58, 60, 62). For example, these digital channels with non-numeric "-" indicate that the signal strength is not enough to see the channel and not enough to add that channel to the channel list from channel search (see 64c). All analog channels may cause "N / A" to appear as an indication that signal strength measurements are not available for these channels (see 64c). These channels that are not currently available through channel search may appear in a list from previous signal strength measurements, or may be obtained from a guide or in a list from information as shown herein.

If the user selects the "Antenna Info" function, the signal strength for that channel will be measured and / or updated. As the user scrolls through the other channels, the tuner attempts to connect to the highlighted channel. If a channel is detected, signal strength measurements are made and / or updated. Because the channel is never automatically discarded for insufficient signal strength, this allows the user to know that the channel is available and to try the antenna (s) to ensure that the channel has enough signal strength to be added to the channel list. It helps to adjust.

The list may be classified from the lowest channel number at the top to the highest channel number at the bottom. If the analog and digital channels are channels that share the same virtual channel number, the analog channel appears adjacent to the digital channels in the list.

The user can update 64b information for each channel simply by moving the highlight to that channel in the antenna information screen. Furthermore, the video behind the antenna information display area shows the current channel, including audio, to help the user tune the antenna. To change the antenna or antenna input, the user presses an antenna (ANTENNA) on the remote or by menu selection. Each time a full antenna information retrieval is performed, coral intensity for all digital channels is measured. Each channel highlighted in the grid has an updated signal strength in real time as the audio and video for that channel is played behind the program screen 44 on the display device 36. In alternative embodiments, the signal strength of each available channel is not automatically displayed. Signal strength is displayed when you select that channel.

When the signal strength measurement process is completed, a dialog box typically appears on the display device 36 overlapping or within the current screen. When the user selects "Continue", the highlight of the antenna information screen moves to the first channel row 64a in the channel data grid 54. If the user stops the signal measurement processing, a dialog box is displayed informing the user, and the intensity displayed in the channel data grid 54 is determined until the processing is stopped.

When a channel in the list is highlighted 64b, information about the channel is updated continuously. This is an analog channel in which the digital channel carrying the Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) (ATSC Document A / 65) guide has the same primary channel number (simply defined as primary channel) as the digital channel. This is particularly useful when changing the channel lineup to include. In this case, the antenna information list expands to include this new analog channel as a separate entry (row 64) in the channel data grid 54. This new analog channel has the same channel number as the digital channel, but is represented as an analog channel in column 58, as opposed to being represented as a digital channel. This update and expansion of the list is fully automatic and real time.

In order to align the terrestrial antenna to obtain the best signal strength for a given set of digital channels, it is necessary to perform an antenna information search several times for each terrestrial antenna receiving the digital television signal. Signal strength for several digital television channels needs to be monitored regarding the antenna's orientation while the antenna is positioned. By performing the antenna information search several times, the optimal antenna position can be found. After the antenna is properly positioned, it is necessary to perform a channel search to add that channel to the channel list.

One example illustrates the above principle. A new terrestrial antenna (reference antenna 26 in FIG. 1) adapted for receiving off-air digital television signals is connected to a receiving unit (reference TV 12 in FIG. 1). Suppose after power-up, the initial state of both the channel list and the antenna information list is empty. Channel search is performed by the user because some new channels have been added since the previous channel search or during the initial setup of the unit. The initial channel search finds two channels, that is, channels "10" and "20", that have a signal above a given threshold level for minimal reception. At this point, the channel list includes channels "10" and "20" and the antenna information list includes channels "10" and "20". The user then adjusts antenna 26 and performs another channel search. This search finds two additional channels with signals above the given threshold level for minimum reception, that is, channels ("30" and "40"), but because of the new antenna orientation, the previous channels ("10" and " 20 ") is not detected. Now, the channel list includes channels "30" and "40", while the antenna information list includes channels "10", "20", "30", and "40". Since the user knows that there are four channels available, an antenna information search is performed each time the position of the antenna changes slightly to determine the optimal position of the antenna. Channel "10" is checked according to the program flow diagram of FIG. Now assume that channel " 10 " has a greater signal strength than a predetermined threshold. Thus, the channel "10" is added to the channel list making up the contents of the channels "10", "30", and "40" in the channel list, but the antenna information list is not changed. Other adjustments are made to the antenna and other antenna information retrieval. Now assume that channel "20" now has a greater signal strength than a predetermined threshold. Channel " 20 " is added to the channel list that makes up the contents of both the channel list and the antenna information list channels " 10 ", " 20 ", " 30 ", and " 40 ".

Although the present invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention may be further modified within the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, this application should cover any modifications, uses of the inventive modifications using the general principles of the invention. Moreover, the present application should cover its departure from the present disclosure as is known in the art or within routine practical knowledge.

The present invention applies to the reception and measurement of digital television signals, more particularly off-air digital television signals.

Claims (11)

A video processing apparatus that receives a television signal and generates an output signal suitable for connection to a display device that produces a displayable image, Means for selecting one television signal from a plurality of received television signals; Control means for controlling the video processing apparatus; Means for determining a signal strength of the selected television signal, Wherein the control means comprises a first mode of operation in which the selected television signal is included in the output signal for displaying in the displayed image, And cause the video processing apparatus to operate in any one of a second mode of operation in which the signal strength is displayed on the display device simultaneously with the selected television signal. 2. The video processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for determining signal strength comprises means for updating the signal strength of the selected television signal, and wherein the second mode of operation includes an operation to show signal strength update. 3. The video processing of claim 2, wherein the means for updating comprises means for determining whether a television signal is digital or analog and the second mode of operation includes means for indicating whether the television signal is digital or analog. Device. As a video processing device, Means for receiving a plurality of television signals having audio and video information components; Means for displaying a video information component of the selected television signal on a display device connected to the video processing apparatus; Means for determining a signal strength of each of the plurality of television signals; Means for selectively displaying signal strength of the selected television signal while audio and video of the selected channel are active. 5. The video of claim 4, wherein the means for selectively displaying comprises means for selectively displaying signal strengths of a plurality of television signals in a grid format while audio and video of the selected television signal are activated. Processing unit. 5. The video processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the selectively displaying means comprises means for selectively displaying whether a television signal is analog or digital. 6. The video processing apparatus of claim 5, further comprising means for updating in real time the signal strength of the selected television signal. 5. The video processing apparatus of claim 4, further comprising means for storing a channel number associated with the television signal in a memory when the signal strength exceeds a predetermined threshold level. A method of positioning an antenna for receiving a digital television signal, (a) selecting an initial position for the antenna; (b) displaying the signal strength of each received digital signal; (c) selecting a final reception position of the antenna based on the measured signal strength of at least one channel. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the initial position selection step and the display step are repeated until the signal strength of each received digital signal is optimized. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the digital signal is audible and visible at the same time while displaying the signal strength of the selected channel in real time.