KR20040023009A - Multi channel recordable PVR - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A personal video recorder of a recording multiple channels is provided to allow a user to record multiple television channels at the same time and a television channel even during the recording of the other television channel. CONSTITUTION: A personal video recorder comprises a plurality of channel processing units(100,200,300) for receiving broadcasting signals of one or more channels, demodulating the received broadcasting signals, and outputting the broadcasting signals in transport streams; an audio/video decoder(400) for decoding the transport stream of the desired channel from among the transport streams output through the channel processing units, outputting the decoded transport stream of the desired channel to a speaker and a television screen, bypassing the transport stream of the channel to be stored, decoding the transport stream of the channel to be reproduced through a storage medium(600), and outputting the transport stream to the speaker and the television screen; and the storage medium for receiving the transport streams of one or more channels being bypassed from the audio/video decoder, creating files for each of channels, and storing the transport stream of the relevant channel in the relevant file.

Description

Multi-channel recordable personal video recording device {Multi channel recordable PVR}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcast program recording apparatus in a personal video recorder (PVR), and more particularly to a multi-channel recordable personal video recording apparatus capable of simultaneously recording several channels.

In general, with the development of digital technology, the digitization of analog broadcasting is being actively promoted around the world. As broadcasting has been digitally converted, multi-channel and high quality are possible, and digital TV has advantages in that it can be developed into various applications besides a simple TV receiver function. Applications include WEB TV and PVR (Private Video Recorder), which are currently being developed in each country.

PVR, also called DVR (Digital Video Recorder), is a product that has a built-in hard disk drive (HDD) that stores and plays digital video streams in real time. Unlike the conventional analog VCR tape, the PVR is equipped with a hard disk drive to digitally store audio and video information, thereby guaranteeing an image quality without loss of information even when recording or playing indefinitely.

The function of the PVR includes a time shift function that enables a viewer to simultaneously store and play a broadcast program being viewed. For example, if you receive a call while watching a current program, press the Pause button on the remote control to save the broadcast stream received thereafter, and press Play again after the phone call is over. The scene after the paused screen stored in the above can be viewed. In other words, storage and playback are simultaneously performed at regular time intervals. Scheduled and instant recordings are also available.

Other functions of the PVR include functions such as playing, fast forwarding, rewinding, and slow motion of a broadcast program that are stored or buffered in a function similar to a conventional VCR. This is possible. You can also watch the scene you want to watch again and again with instant replay.

This allows instant replay in conjunction with a time shift function as well as stored broadcast programs.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a general PVR, in which an HDD is added to a digital TV module.

Referring to FIG. 1, the PVR includes a channel processor 100, an audio / video decoder 101, a controller 102, and a storage device 103.

Here, the channel processor 100 for receiving and demodulating a broadcast of a specific channel includes a tuner 100-1, a SAW filter 100-2, a down converter 100-3, and a VSB demodulator 100-4. do.

The controller 102 may be configured as a CPU or an MPU, and the storage device 103 may be configured as an HDD or a flash memory.

For example, assuming that a broadcast signal is transmitted in a VSB transmission scheme, if a RF (Radio Frequency) signal modulated in a VSB scheme is received by the tuner 100-1 through an antenna, the tuner 100-1 is a user. Selects only the specific channel frequency desired, then lowers the VSB signal of the RF band carried on the channel frequency to a fixed primary intermediate frequency band (IF (typically 44 MHz or 43.75 MHz is widely used)) and filters out other channel signals appropriately.

The output signal of the tuner 100-1, which lowers the spectrum of an arbitrary channel to a fixed primary IF band, is a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter employed as a function of removing adjacent channel signals and removing noise signals. 100-2).

At this time, the digital broadcast signal, for example, since all information exists in the band of 6 MHz from the intermediate frequency of 44 MHz, the SAW filter 100-2 leaves only the 6 MHz band in which the information exists from the output of the tuner 100-1 and the rest. After removing all sections, the output is output to the down converter 100-3.

The down converter 100-3 down-converts the signal filtered by the SAW filter 100-2 to an oscillation frequency for generating a second IF signal, converts the signal into a second IF signal, and then converts the VSB demodulator 100-. Output to 4).

The VSB demodulator 100-4 performs digital processing on the second IF signal and outputs it to the A / V decoder 101 in the form of a transport (TP) stream.

The A / V decoder 101 separates the audio and video streams from the TP stream in which the audio and video streams are multiplexed, decodes each of the decoders, and outputs them to the speaker and the TV screen, respectively.

In addition, when recording a broadcast signal to the storage device 103, the TP stream is directly stored in the storage device 103 without decoding. Subsequently, when the broadcast signal recorded in the storage device 103 is reproduced, the TP stream stored in the storage device 103 is decoded by the A / V decoder 101 and then output to the speaker and the TV screen.

As described above, the operation of the PVR can be broadly divided into a function 11 for immediately decoding and playing back a TP stream received from airwaves, a function 12 for recording a TP stream, and a function 13 for playing back a stored TP stream. At this time, the control unit 102 controls each block so that the above-described functions can be performed.

That is, when the stream received from the airwaves is reproduced in real time, the A / V decoder 101 separates the TP stream into audio and video, decodes the separated audio and video, and sends the image and sound to the TV screen and the speaker. When storing the stream received from the airwaves in the storage device 103, the A / V decoder 101 bypasses the TP stream without decoding and stores the stream in the storage device 103. When the stream stored in the storage device 103 is played back, the TP stream is read from the storage device 103 and separated into audio and video, and the separated audio and video are decoded by the A / V decoder 101 to decode the video and sound. Send to TV screen and speaker.

However, the above-described PVR does not have a function of simultaneously recording or simultaneously recording two or more TV channels. In addition, there is no function to record another channel immediately while one channel is scheduled recording. Here, the scheduled recording refers to recording when the recording time is set, and instant recording refers to recording immediately during viewing. Similarly, in the case of the existing VCR, there was no function to schedule or immediately record two or more TV channels simultaneously. In the case of the VCR, since the recording method is a sequential recording method, in order to simultaneously record two or more TV channels, two or more video decks having a recording function are provided, and then each broadcast is simultaneously recorded on two or more video tapes. It is only.

The present invention provides an apparatus for simultaneously recording several channels in a PVR using the characteristics of an HDD for recording data in an arbitrary recording method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that enables reservation recording of multiple channels simultaneously in a PVR.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for simultaneously recording multiple channels simultaneously in a PVR.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for enabling immediate recording in a state where a scheduled recording is in progress in a PVR.

1 is a block diagram of a general PVR

2 is a block diagram of a PVR according to the present invention;

3 is a block diagram of a PVR configuration of the present invention showing a data flow when a viewer simultaneously records several channels while watching a specific channel broadcast.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a PVR configuration of the present invention showing a data flow when a viewer simultaneously records several channels while performing a time shift function.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a PVR configuration of the present invention showing a data flow when a viewer simultaneously records several channels while playing a stream stored in a storage device.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

100,200,300: Channel processing unit 400: A / V decoder

500: control unit 600: storage device

In order to achieve the above object, a multi-channel recordable PVR according to the present invention includes a plurality of channel processing units for receiving and demodulating at least one channel or more, and outputting the result in a transport (TP) stream form, and the plurality of channels. Of the at least one TP stream output through the processor, the TP stream of the desired channel is decoded and output to the speaker and the TV screen, and the TP stream of the desired channel is bypassed as it is, and the storage medium (eg, HDD) A / V decoder which decodes the TP stream of the channel to be played through) and outputs it to the speaker and the TV screen, and generates a file for each channel by receiving at least one TP stream bypassed by the A / V decoder. At the same time, the process of storing the TP stream of that channel in that file can be done simultaneously for all channels Which it is characterized in that comprises a storage medium.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating the configuration and operation of the embodiment of the present invention, the configuration and operation of the present invention shown in the drawings and described by it will be described as at least one embodiment, By the technical spirit of the present invention described above and its core configuration and operation is not limited.

2 is a conceptual block diagram of a multi-channel recordable PVR according to the present invention, and includes first to third channel processing units 100, 200, and 300, an A / V decoder 400, a control unit 500, and a storage device 600. do. The controller 500 may be configured as a CPU or an MPU, and the storage device 600 may be configured as an HDD or a flash memory.

Each of the first to third channel processors 100, 200, and 300 has the same configuration, and each channel processor includes a tuner, a SAW filter, a down converter, and a VSB demodulator.

That is, according to the present invention, in order to schedule recording or instant recording of a plurality of channels at the same time, a plurality of channels must be simultaneously received, and a plurality of channel processing units are provided for this purpose.

In this case, the A / V decoder 400 decodes a signal of a channel to be displayed among a plurality of input channels, and bypasses the decoding of the channel to be recorded in the storage device 600. Output to the storage device 600. To this end, the A / V decoder 600 can be solved by placing a switching unit at the front end.

If the viewer wants to display a double screen or picture in picture (PIP) for two or more channels, the A / V decoder 400 can decode a plurality of TP streams simultaneously. A multi A / V decoder may be used or a plurality of A / V decoders 400 may be provided. That is, the A / V decoder 400 may simultaneously decode a plurality of TP streams by increasing the operating frequency inside the chip or using an external memory having a high bandwidth.

In addition, the storage device 600 has a sufficient bandwidth to simultaneously store several TP streams.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, three channel processing units are provided so that one channel can be simultaneously recorded while watching one channel. Here, the number of channel processing units may vary by the designer.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a broadcast viewing pattern of a user when the PVR has three channel processing units 100, 200, and 300 is as follows. For convenience of explanation, the description will be made with two channels that can be recorded simultaneously.

A. When the viewer is watching (simple watch) the broadcast

a-1. Simply watching

a-2. If you record one channel immediately while watching

a-3. When recording one channel while watching

a-4. When recording two channels at the same time while watching

a-5. When recording two channels at the same time while watching

a-6. If you record another channel immediately while certain channels are being recorded while watching

B. The TV is Off

b-1. When one channel is reserved

b-2. When two channels are reserved at the same time

C. When viewers are time shifting

c-1. When recording one channel immediately during time shift

c-2. When recording one channel during time shift

c-3. When simultaneously recording two channels during time shift

c-4. When scheduled recording of two channels simultaneously during time shift

c-5. When another channel is recorded immediately while a certain channel is being recorded during time shift

D. When the viewer reads and plays the TP stream stored in the storage device 600.

d-1. When recording one channel immediately during play

d-2. When recording one channel during playback

d-3. When simultaneously recording two channels during playback

d-4. When recording two channels at the same time during playback

d-5. If you record another channel immediately while certain channels are being recorded during playback

In this case, the maximum number of channels that need tuning is three. For example, while watching channel 11, channel 7 and channel 9 are simultaneously recorded.

In addition, the TP stream recording process according to the above-described broadcast viewing pattern will now be described. In this case, for convenience of description, the channel selected by the first channel processor 100 is displayed or time-shifted, and the channel selected by the second and third channel processors 200 and 300 is recorded. Explain. This can be applied to a wider variety of applications by the designer and will not be limited to the example given above.

A. When the viewer is watching (simple watch) the broadcast

When the viewer is watching a broadcast, the viewer has a data flow as shown in FIG. 3.

For example, if the viewer merely sees one channel as in a-1, only the first channel processor 100 operates, and the A / V decoder 400 operates on the TP stream of the channel output from the first channel processor 100. Decode it and output it to the TV screen and speakers. That is, data moves as shown in FIG. At this time, the second and third channel processing units 200 and 300 do not operate.

Meanwhile, to reserve or immediately record another channel while watching one channel, such as a-2 or a-3, the first and second channel processing units 100 and 200 operate, and the A / V decoder 400 operates the first channel. Decode the TP stream of the channel output from the processing unit 100 and outputs to the TV screen and the speaker (31), the TP stream of the channel output from the second channel processing unit 200 does not decode the storage device directly through the bus Output to 600 and store (32).

In order to record two channels while watching one channel as in any of a-4 to a-6, all of the first to third channel processing units 100, 200, and 300 operate. At this time, the A / V decoder 400 decodes the TP stream of the channel output from the first channel processing unit 100 and outputs it to the TV screen and the speaker (31), and the second and third channel processing units 200 and 300. The TP stream of the channel output from is output to the storage device 600 directly through the bus without decoding (32, 33).

In this case, the storage device 600 uses a hard disk as an embodiment. Since the hard disk is a random storage system, a plurality of channels may be simultaneously stored through a file system.

That is, when the TP stream of the channel to be recorded is input, the storage device 600 forms files one by one on one channel. For example, if two channels are recorded simultaneously, two files are formed. The TP streams of the corresponding channels are stored at the same time under each of the generated files. This is possible because the hard disk is a random (or direct) storage method.

B. The TV is Off

When the TV is turned off, one channel may be reserved recording such as b-1 and two channels may be reserved recording such as b-2.

That is, when one channel is reserved and recorded, only the second channel processor 200 operates. The A / V decoder 400 outputs and stores the TP stream of the channel output from the second channel processor 200 directly to the storage device 600 via a bus without decoding (32). In the case of reserved recording of two channels, the second and third channel processing units 200 and 300 operate. The A / V decoder 400 outputs and stores the TP streams of the channels output from the second and third channel processing units 200 and 300 directly to the storage device 600 via a bus without decoding (32). , 33).

C. When viewers are time shifting

When the viewer is time shifting the broadcast, it operates as shown in FIG. 4.

If the viewer simply performs time shift, only the first channel processing unit 100 operates, and the A / V decoder 400 bypasses the TP stream of the channel output from the first channel processing unit 100 without decoding it. Record on the storage device 600. Thereafter, the TP stream stored in the storage device 600 is input to the A / V decode 400 again according to a viewer's request. The A / V decoder 400 decodes the input TP stream and outputs it to the speaker and the TV screen (41).

When one channel of time shift is reserved or immediately recorded as in c-1 or c-2, the first and second channel processing units 100 and 200 operate (41 and 42). The A / V decoder 400 outputs and stores the TP streams of the channels output from the first and second channel processing units 100 and 200 directly to the storage device 600 via a bus without decoding them. Thereafter, the TP stream corresponding to the channel selected by the first channel processor 100 among the streams stored in the storage device 600 is read and decoded by the A / V decoder 400 and then output to the TV screen and the speaker.

As in the case of any one of c-3 to c-5, when simultaneously recording two channels of the time shift, the first to third channel processing units 100, 200, and 300 operate (41, 42, 43). The A / V decoder 400 outputs and stores the TP streams of the channels output from the first to third channel processing units 100 to 300 directly to the storage device 600 via a bus without decoding them. . Thereafter, the TP stream corresponding to the channel selected by the first channel processor 100 among the streams stored in the storage device 600 is read and decoded by the A / V decoder 400 and then output to the TV screen and the speaker.

At this time, to record two TP streams at the same time during the time shift as in any of c-3 to c-5 described above, four data paths are read and written to the storage device 600 as shown in FIG. 4. In the case of the HD stream, since it is about 20 Mbps (2.5 MBytes / sec), the data path between the A / V decoder 400 and the storage device 600 should be 4 * 2.5 = 10 Mbytes / sec or more. . If a PCI bus is used as the bus, the speed is 132 MBytes / sec, so the above functions are possible. In this case, an interface of the storage device 600 may be Ultra SCSI, Ultra2 SCSI, or USB 2.0.

D. When a viewer is playing by reading a stream stored in the storage device 600.

When the viewer reads and reads the TP stream stored in the storage device 600, the viewer operates as shown in FIG. 5.

If only playback is performed, the first to third channel processing units 100 to 300 do not operate. Then, only the stream of the file selected by the user among the streams stored in the storage device 600 is input to the A / V decoder 400 and decoded, and then output to the TV screen and the speaker (51).

If, for example, d-1 or d-2, one channel is to be recorded while reproducing one stream, the second channel processing unit 200 operates. That is, only the stream of the file selected by the user among the streams stored in the storage device 600 is input to the A / V decoder 400 and decoded and then output to the TV screen and the speaker, and the second channel processing unit 200. In operation 51 and 52, the TP stream outputted from the N-B decoder is bypassed by the A / V decoder 400 and stored in the storage device 600.

Then, as in any of d-3 to d-5, in order to simultaneously record two channels during reproduction of one stream, the second and third channel processing units 200 and 300 operate. Similarly, only the stream of the file selected by the user among the streams stored in the storage device 600 is input to the A / V decoder 400 and decoded and then output to the TV screen and the speaker, and the second and third channels. An operation in which the TP stream output from the processing unit 200, 300 is bypassed by the A / V decoder 400 and stored in the storage device 600 simultaneously occurs (51, 52, 53).

At this time, in order to simultaneously record two TP streams during playback as in any one of d-3 to d-5 described above, three data paths are read and written to the storage device 600. Since the HD stream is about 20 Mbps (2.5 MBytes / sec), the data path between the A / V decoder 400 and the storage device 600 should be 3 * 2.5 = 7.5 Mbytes / sec or more.

As described above, according to the multi-channel recordable PVR device according to the present invention, in the PVR, the viewer can simultaneously record or immediately record several TV channels during viewing, playback, or time shift of one channel. In addition, the viewer can immediately record another channel while one TV channel is being reserved.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (2)

A plurality of channel processing units for receiving and demodulating broadcasts of at least one channel and outputting the demodulated data in the form of a transport (TP) stream; Of the at least one or more TP streams output through the channel processing unit, the TP stream of the desired channel is decoded and output to the speaker and the TV screen, and the TP stream of the desired channel is bypassed as it is, and the storage medium An audio / video decoder for decoding the TP stream of the channel played through the speaker and outputting the TP stream to the TV screen; And A storage medium that receives a TP stream of at least one channel bypassed by the audio / video decoder to generate a file for each channel and simultaneously stores a TP stream of the channel in the corresponding file for all input channels. Multi-channel recordable personal video recording device characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage medium is A multi-channel recordable personal video recording device, comprising a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory.