KR20050098080A - Opencable applying apparatus capable of communicating with a serial interface device and communication method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an open cable application apparatus and a communication method capable of communicating with a serial interface device. The PCMCIA card interface unit may be equipped with a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card, and the control unit determines whether the serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is installed in the PCMCIA card interface unit. Reset to operate in a communication card operating mode that can communicate, the multimedia processor, under the control of the control unit, converts the data received from the serial interface device into a viewable signal. Therefore, according to the present invention, an open cable application apparatus capable of communicating with a serial interface device using a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card can be provided.

Description

OpenCable applying apparatus capable of communicating with a serial interface device and communication method

The present invention relates to an open cable application device and a communication method, and more particularly, to an open cable application device and a communication method capable of communicating with a serial interface device.

The open cable application device is a digital cable broadcasting receiver that adopts an open cable method, and is a device that can selectively receive broadcast signals depending on whether a cable card (also called a POD module or a conditional access module) is installed. . When the cable card is installed, the open cable application device processes the pay broadcasting signal as a viewable signal, but when the cable card is not installed, the open cable application device does not process the pay broadcasting signal as a viewable signal. Typical open cable applications include open cable set-top boxes and open cable TVs.

The open cable method generally refers to the standard specification for digital cable broadcasting in the United States (hereinafter referred to as the “US open cable standard”). The open cable method in the United States is QAM and video compression as modulation. The multiplexing method uses MPEG2 method and the audio compression method uses Dolby AC-3, and the POD interface is used as a security module interface. In such a digital cable broadcasting, subscribers can perform two-way transmission and reception between a broadcasting station, which is a head end, and a subscriber's digital terminal (that is, a set-top box), text transmission, service communication, and authentication. Content such as entertainment, information, and home shopping can be conveniently used in real time. On the other hand, the Republic of Korea also referred to the standard for digital cable broadcasting (Digital Wired Broadcast Telecommunications Standards (TTAS.KO-07-0020, September 18, 2002)) (hereinafter referred to as the `` Korea Open Cable Standard '') (2002. 9).

The serial interface device is a device having a serial interface (for example, USB, IEEE1394), and examples thereof include an external hard drive, an external DVD player, a digital camera, a digital camcorder, a CD player, and an MP3 player.

In general, open cable applications have a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) interface for scalability. Products employing the PCMCIA interface include POD modules, flash memory, modems, LAN cards, and hard disk drives.

However, even though the PCMCIA interface supports scalability, the conventional open cable application device only receives data such as a wired broadcast signal or an EPG (Elecronic program guide) but does not provide other additional functions.

The present invention has been proposed to meet the above needs, and therefore an object of the present invention is to provide an open cable application apparatus and a communication method capable of communicating with a serial interface device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an open cable application device, PCMCIA card interface unit; A controller for determining whether the serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is installed in the PCMCIA card interface unit and resetting the open cable application device to operate in a conversion card operation mode capable of communicating with the serial interface device if it is determined to be mounted; And under the control of the control unit, and provides an open cable application device that can communicate with the serial interface device including a multimedia processor for converting the data received from the serial interface device into a viewable signal.

The above-described open cable applying apparatus may further include an external device that receives a viewable signal from a multimedia processor and outputs the image and the audio. It is preferable that the above-described multimedia processor further converts data to be transmitted to the serial interface device into a signal that can be transmitted. When it is determined that the serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is installed in the PCMCIA card interface unit, the controller may be configured to use at least one of the OOB (Out of Band) lines of the PCMCIA card interface unit as the address line. . The above-described serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is preferably a USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card or an IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a communication method of an open cable application device, comprising the steps of: a) providing a PCMCIA card interface unit for mounting a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card in the open cable application device; b) determining whether a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is installed in the PCMCIA card interface unit and resetting the open cable application device to operate in a conversion card operation mode capable of communicating with the serial interface device if it is determined to be mounted; And c) converting the data received from the serial interface device into a viewable signal.

The communication method with the serial interface apparatus of the open cable application apparatus may further include outputting a viewable signal, which is a result of performing step c), as an image and an audio. In addition, the above-mentioned step c) preferably further includes a step of converting data transmitted to the serial interface device into a signal that can be transmitted. In step c), if it is determined that the serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit, at least one line of an OOB line (Out of Band) of the PCMCIA card interface unit is used as an address line. It is preferable to include. The serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card described above is preferably a USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card or an IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card.

In the present specification,

"Open cable application device" means "applied open cable device",

"Open Cable Applied Device" means "device referred to as subscriber terminal" and "device in which subscriber terminal and external device are integrated" in the Korean Open Cable Standard. OC-SP-HOST-CFR-I15-031121 (Nov. 21, 2003) refers to devices that may be referred to as "OpenCable Host Device", "Set-top Host Device", and "Terminal Host Device",

"Cablecard" means "what is referred to as a cable card or POD module" in the US Open Cable Standard, and "what is referred to as a Limited Receive Module" in the Korean Open Cable Standard,

"Serial Interface Device" means "data storage device having a serial interface", for example, such as an IEEE1394 device or a USB device described later,

"IEEE1394 device" means "data storage device with an IEEE1394 interface", "USB device" means "data storage device with a USB interface",

"PCMCIA card interface" means "interface standardized by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA)."

"PCMCIA card" means "any card that can be mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit". For example, a cable card, a USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card, and an IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card described below. Means something like

"USB / PCMCIA Interface Conversion Card" means "a device for connecting a USB device with any device having a PCMCIA interface."

"IEEE1394 / PCMCIA Interface Conversion Card" means "a device for connecting an IEEE1394 device with an arbitrary device having a PCMCIA interface."

"Broadcast signal" means "broadcast content transmitted from a signal repeater for cable broadcasting",

"Data" means "data received (or transmitted) from (or to) a serial interface device such as a USB device or an IEEE1394 device."

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

1 is a block diagram schematically showing an open cable application apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an open cable application apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a tuner 105, a demodulator 110, and an out of band receiver (hereinafter referred to as “OOB”). , OOB transmitter 120, PCMCIA card interface unit 125, demultiplexer (hereinafter referred to as DeMUX) 130, multimedia processor 135, control unit 140, ROM 145, RAM 150 , A multiplexer (hereinafter referred to as a 'MUX') 155.

When the PCMCIA card 200 mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 is a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card, the device 100 can receive data from a serial interface device (not shown) and listen to or display the data. (I.e., a viewable signal), and the data stored in the ROM 145 can be converted into a transmittable signal and transmitted to the serial interface device. In more detail, when the PCMCIA card 200 mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 is an IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card, the device 100 receives data from the IEEE1394 device as a signal that can be listened to or displayed. The data stored in the ROM 145 can be converted into a transmittable signal and transmitted to the IEEE1394 device. In addition, when the PCMCIA card 200 mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 is a USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card, the PCMCIA card 200 may receive data from the USB device and convert the data into a signal that can be listened to or displayed. The stored data can be converted into a transmittable signal and transmitted to a USB device. In addition, when the PCMCIA card 200 mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 is a cable card, the apparatus 100 can receive a broadcast signal and convert the signal into a viewable signal. Serial / PCMCIA interface conversion cards such as USB / PCMCIA interface conversion cards or IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion cards used in the present invention can be easily purchased from PCMCIA card manufacturers.

Referring to FIG. 1, the tuner 105 tunes a predetermined channel among broadcast signals transmitted from the head-end 10. The head end 10 is a signal repeater for cable broadcasting. The demodulator 110 demodulates the broadcast signal of the tuned channel.

The multimedia processor 135 converts the input image data or audio data into a displayable signal or an audible signal, and transmits the image or audio data input from the ROM 145 to the serial interface device. Convert. For example, the multimedia processor 135 decodes an input MPEG-2 TS.

The signal received from the DeMUX 130 by the multimedia processor 135 may be a broadcast signal provided from the headend or data provided from a serial interface device. The broadcast signal or data may be controlled according to the control of the controller 140 to be described later. Is converted into a viewable signal and output to the external device 20. The external device 20 that receives the signal output from the multimedia processor 135 outputs an audio or video. In another embodiment, the multimedia processor 135 may output a signal converted into a viewable signal to the external devices 20a and 20b through an output unit (not shown). The output unit may include, for example, an RF output terminal, a baseband video / audio signal output terminal (s), an S-Video signal output terminal, and a digital audio signal output terminal, and external devices 20a and 20b of these output terminals. The matching conditions with) are described in detail in the Korean Open Cable Standard, and reference can also be made to the US Open Cable Standard literature, which forcibly uses IEEE1394 to output HDTV compressed streams.

In addition, the multimedia processor 135 converts the data received from the ROM 145 into a transmittable signal under the control of the controller 140 to be described later and outputs the converted signal to the MUX 155. The muxed data is then converted into a serial signal via a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card and transmitted to the serial interface device.

The ROM 145 is a nonvolatile memory device, and stores various control programs necessary to implement the functions of the open cable application device 100. In addition, the ROM 145 stores identification information for determining the type of the PCMCIA card mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125. That is, identification information different for each type, such as a cable card, a USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card, and an IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card, is stored in the ROM 145. In another embodiment, the video / audio data received from the serial interface device is stored. The stored video / audio data is transmitted to another serial interface device under the control of the controller 140 described later.

The RAM 150 is a volatile memory device in which a program executed by the controller 140 to be described later is loaded and stored, or the result data processed by the controller 140 to be described later is stored.

The controller 140 drives various programs stored in advance to process the overall operations of the apparatus 100. In the present embodiment, the controller 140 determines the type of the PCMCIA card mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125. For example, in identifying the type of the PCMCIA card, the control unit 140 reads out the identification information (ID) from the mounted PCMCIA card and compares it with the identification information (ID) stored in the ROM 145 to determine the type of the PCMCIA card. Judge. Thereafter, the controller 140 resets the hardware configuration according to the determined type of the PCMCIA card and processes the software application corresponding thereto. In one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 140 resets the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 such that some or all of the existing address pins and the existing OOB pins among the 68 pins of the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 are used as address pins. The control signal confirms the status of the serial interface device and transmits or receives data. In the present specification, the term "open cable operation mode" refers to the "operation state in which it is determined that the cable card is mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 and the hardware configuration is set accordingly, and the corresponding software application is executed." The term "USB operation mode" means that the USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card is installed in the "PCMCIA card interface unit 125, the hardware configuration is reset accordingly, the operating state that the corresponding software application is executed The term "IEEE1394 operation mode" means that the IEEE1394 interface conversion card is installed in the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 so that the hardware configuration thereof is reset and the corresponding software application is executed. "Means. In addition, the term "conversion card operation mode" is meant to include the above-described USB operation mode and IEEE1394 operation mode, it is determined that the "serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 and accordingly hardware configuration Is reset and the corresponding software application is executed. "

The DeMUX 130 outputs the broadcast signal to the multimedia processor 135 in the open cable operation mode under the control of the controller, and divides the data into the audio signal and the video signal in the conversion card operation mode. Output to (135).

The MUX 155 muxes the data transmitted from the multimedia processor 135 in the conversion card operation mode and outputs it to the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 under the control of the controller.

The external device 20 includes a video display device 20a and a speaker 20b. The image display apparatus 20a displays signals processed to be displayed on the multimedia processor 135 as images, and the speaker 20b outputs audibly processed signals from the multimedia processor 135 as audio.

Hereinafter, the open cable operation mode will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, when the PCMCIA card 200 mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 is a cable card, the apparatus 100 operates in an open cable operation mode. In the open cable operating mode, the cable card performs bidirectional communication with the head end 10 using the OOB receiver 115 and the OOB transmitter 120. For example, the cable card interprets a command received from the head end 10 through the OOB receiver 115 and then communicates with the controller 140 to perform the instructions indicated by the head end 10. That is, the cable card transmits the command requested by the user to the head end 10 through the OOB transmitter 120, and if the received broadcast signal is a scrambled signal, the deMUX 130 is processed after unscrambled. Send to. On the other hand, in the case of the unscrambled broadcast signal, the cable card is bypassed and sent to the DeMUX 130. The broadcast signal sent to the DeMUX 130 is separated into an audio signal or a video signal, input to the multimedia processor 135, converted into a viewable signal under the control of the controller 140, and output to the external device 20. The matching requirements between the cable card and the PCMCIA card interface are described in detail in the Korean Open Cable Standards divided into System Architecture, Extended Channel Data Flow, Physical Layer, Link Layer, and Application Layer, and also in the US Open Cable Standards document. Described. Korean Open Cable Standard and US Open Cable Standard documents are incorporated as part of this specification.

The conversion card operation mode will be described below.

Referring to FIG. 1, when the PCMCIA card 200 mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 is a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card, the apparatus 100 operates in the conversion card operation mode. The device 100 and the serial interface device communicate in both directions through a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card. In the USB operation mode, an operation of receiving data from a USB device through a USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card, converting the received data into a signal that the multimedia processor 135 can watch, and outputting the signal to the external device 20 is performed. In addition, an operation of converting the video / audio data stored in the ROM 145 into a signal transmittable by the multimedia processor 135 and transmitting the converted data signal to the USB device through the USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card is performed. This series of operations is performed under the control of the controller 140. In another embodiment, multimedia data from a USB device is input to a USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card via a USB cable (not shown).

Similarly, in the IEEE 1394 operation mode, under the control of the control unit 140, data is received from the IEEE 1394 device through an IEEE 1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card, and the received data is converted into a signal that the multimedia processor 135 can watch and the external device. An operation for outputting to 20 is executed, and the video / audio data stored in the ROM 145 is converted into a signal which can be transmitted by the multimedia processor 135, and the converted data signal is converted into an IEEE1394 via an IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card. The operation to send to the device is executed.

2A is a flowchart illustrating a signal flow when the cable card is mounted in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a flowchart illustrating a signal flow when the USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2A, when the cable card 200a is mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125, the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 uses a control line and an address signal using 68 lines. The OOB signal (Out-of-Band signal), data signal (data signal) and the like to transmit and receive with the cable card (200a). In addition, the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 applies power to the mounted cable card or identifies the cable card using 68 lines.

Referring to FIG. 2B, when the serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit 125, the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 transmits and receives a control signal, an address signal, a data signal, and the like using 68 lines. That is, when the serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit 125, at least one of the OOB signal lines is used as an address line for controlling the serial interface device.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method between an open cable application device and a serial interface device according to the present invention.

1 to 3, in step S310, the controller 140 determines whether a PCMCIA card is mounted. When the PCMCIA card 200 is mounted on the PCMCIA card interface unit 125, power of the controller is applied to the PCMCIA card, and the controller detects whether the PCMCIA card 200 is mounted. This step is performed when the power of the apparatus 100 is turned on or the PCMCIA card 200 is replaced. If it is determined that the PCMCIA card 200 is mounted, the operation of step S320 described later is performed. If it is determined that it is not mounted, the demodulated broadcast signal is directly input to the DeMUX 130 and converted into a viewable signal by the multimedia processor 135.

In step S320, the controller 140 determines the type of the PCMCIA card 200 mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit 125. The controller 140 checks the identification information stored in the memory of the PCMCIA card 200 and then compares the identified identification information with the identification information stored in the ROM 145. If there is matched identification information, it is determined that the PCMCIA card is mounted, and the operation of step S330 described later is performed. If there is no matching identification information, the operation of step S320-1 described later is preferably performed.

In step S320-1, the controller 140 determines to be a card error and controls to output a card error message to an external device, preferably performing step S320-2 periodically. In step S320-2, the controller 140 monitors whether the mounted PCMCIA card is removed. If it is determined that the PCMCIA card is removed, the above operation of step S310 is performed again.

In step S330, the control unit 140 controls to perform step S34O to be described later if the card is a cable card, and control to perform step S350 to be described later if not the cable card.

In step S340, the controller 140 resets the hardware / software configuration so that the apparatus 100 can operate in the open cable operation mode.

In step S350, the controller 140 resets the hardware / software configuration so that the apparatus 100 can operate in the conversion card operation mode. In this embodiment, the hardware configuration of the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 is reset to use at least one of the 68 OOB lines provided in the PCMCIA card interface unit 125 as an address line.

In operation S360, the apparatus 100 operates in the open cable operation mode or the conversion card operation mode. Accordingly, the apparatus 100 receives the broadcast signal transmitted from the head end 10 and outputs a viewable signal, or transmits and receives data with the serial interface device.

Figure 4a is an exemplary view showing an example of use in the open cable operation mode of the open cable application apparatus according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4A, the apparatus according to the present invention may receive and output a broadcast signal as in the conventional open cable application apparatus.

4B is an exemplary view showing an example of use in the conversion card operation mode of the open cable application apparatus according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4B, the device according to the present invention can not only watch TV, but also adopt a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card to adopt a serial interface standard, for example, an external hard drive, an external DVD player, and a digital camera. Digital camcorders, CD players, MP3 players, and more.

On the other hand, the open cable application device according to the present invention is applicable to open cable TV, it is also possible to communicate with a serial interface storage device having a serial interface other than the USB device and IEEE1394 device.

As described above, according to the open cable application device and the communication method which can communicate with the serial interface device according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a communication function capable of transmitting and receiving data with the serial interface device as well as the open cable broadcast. That is, according to the apparatus for applying an open cable according to the present invention, when a cable card is mounted, pay-per-view broadcasting can be watched, and when a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted, communication with the serial interface device can be performed. .

Embodiments of the present invention and the configuration shown in the drawings are only exemplary embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, various equivalents and modifications that can be substituted for them at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be examples.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing an open cable application apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2a is a flow chart for explaining the signal flow when the cable card is mounted in Figure 1,

2B is a flowchart for explaining a signal flow when a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted in FIG. 1;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method between an open cable application device and a serial interface device according to the present invention;

Figure 4a is an exemplary view showing an example of use in the open cable operation mode of the open cable application apparatus according to the present invention, and

4B is an exemplary view showing an example of use in the conversion card operation mode of the apparatus for applying an open cable according to the present invention.

Description of the main parts of the drawing

10: head end 20: external device

100: open cable application device 125: PCMCIA card interface unit

130: demultiplexer 135: multimedia processor

140: control unit 155: multiplexer

200: PCMCIA card

Claims (12)

In the open cable application device, PCMCIA card interface unit; A control unit for determining whether a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is installed in the PCMCIA card interface unit and resetting the open cable application device to operate in a conversion card operation mode capable of communicating with a serial interface device if it is determined to be mounted; And Under the control of the control unit, an open cable application device that can communicate with the serial interface device including a multimedia processor for converting the data received from the serial interface device into a viewable signal. The method of claim 1, And an external device that receives the viewable signal from the multimedia processor and outputs the video and audio signals. The method of claim 1, And the multimedia processor is further configured to convert the data to be transmitted to the serial interface device into a transmittable signal. The method of claim 1, The control unit, if it is determined that the serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit, to use at least one line of the OOB (Out of Band) line of the PCMCIA card interface unit as an address line An open cable application device that can communicate with a serial interface device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is an open cable application device that can communicate with the serial interface device, characterized in that the USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is an open cable application device that can communicate with the serial interface device, characterized in that the IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card. In the communication method of the open cable application device, a) providing a PCMCIA card interface unit in the open cable application apparatus for mounting a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card; b) determining whether a serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is installed in the PCMCIA card interface unit and resetting the open cable application device to operate in a conversion card operation mode capable of communicating with a serial interface device if it is determined to be installed. ; And and c) converting the data received from the serial interface device into a viewable signal. The method of claim 7, wherein And outputting the viewable signal, which is a result of performing step c), as a video and an audio signal. The method of claim 7, wherein The step c) further comprises the step of converting the data transmitted to the serial interface device into a transmittable signal, the communication method with the serial interface device of the open cable application device. The method of claim 7, wherein In step c), when it is determined that the serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is mounted in the PCMCIA card interface unit, at least one of the OOB lines of the PCMCIA card interface unit is used as an address line. Communication method with a serial interface device of the open cable application device, characterized in that it comprises a step of. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, And said serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is a USB / PCMCIA interface conversion card. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, The serial / PCMCIA interface conversion card is a communication method with a serial interface device of an open cable application device, characterized in that the IEEE1394 / PCMCIA interface conversion card.