KR20060115423A - Channel changing method and systemu sing fixed pid information - Google Patents

Abstract

A channel switching method using fixed PID(Packet ID) information and a system thereof are provided to reduce a channel switching time by fixing the PID if a channel change is requested on an IP set-top box and transmitting contents about the change via an embedded browser. A channel switching method using fixed PID(Packet ID) information comprises the following several steps. An IP set-top box receives an IR command that a channel switching is requested through an operation of a remote controller by a user(S50). The IP set-top box checks a flag included in EPG(Electronic Program Guide) when channels are switched(S60) and checks whether the flag included in the EPG information is set(S70). If the flag is not set, the IP set-top box gets PID information from an NVRAM(S80), performs a multicast channel join operation(S90), decodes a stream by using the fixed PID(S100) and then changes channels(S110). If the flag is set, the IP set-top box performs a multicast channel join operation(S120), parses PSI information(130), decodes a stream(S140), and then changes channels(S110).

Description

CHANNEL CHANGING METHOD AND SYSTEMU SING FIXED PID INFORMATION}

1 is a view showing an example of a conventional MPEG2 TS Stream transmission method of an IP set-top box according to the prior art.

2 is a diagram illustrating a process of changing a channel on an IP set-top box according to the related art.

3 is a view showing an example of a fixed PID setting using a remux according to the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a process of receiving fixed PID information when downloading EPG information according to the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating a process of a channel switching method according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: IP multicast server 20: Remux

30: DSLAM 40: IP Set Top Box

The present invention relates to a channel switching method and system using fixed ID information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a channel switching method using fixed PD information for changing a channel faster by obtaining fixed PID information when a channel change request is performed on an IP set-top box. It relates to a method and a system.

IP-TV, a TV service using a high-speed Internet network, is drawing attention as a fourth TV service instead of the existing terrestrial, cable and satellite broadcasting. This IP-TV is a high-speed Internet network of digital subscriber line (xDSL) shows a multi-channel TV.

In particular, the IP STB used at this time provides an IP TV service based on the IP network, and set-top box (STB) of terrestrial, cable, and satellite broadcasting method is limited by the bandwidth limitation of the IP network. Differently, one MPEG2 TS stream is configured per channel.

1 is a view showing an example of a conventional MPEG2 TS Stream transmission method of an IP set-top box according to the prior art.

As shown in FIG. 1, since the IP multicast server 4 uses an IP network, only one MPEG2 TS in a multicast set for one channel (Single Program Transport Stream: SPTS) is set to IP. To box 1. Thus, the service is composed of multiple channels of one MPEG2 TS.

2 is a diagram illustrating a channel change process on an IP set-top box according to the related art.

As shown in FIG. 2, when an IP TV is configured, a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) (hereinafter, referred to as a DSLAM) through the multicast router / switch 3 in the IP multicast server 4 Up to 2) all channels are transmitted (S1).

Subsequently, when the IP set-top box 1 located at the bottom of the DSLAM 2 sends a channel switch command S2 to the DSLAM 2, the DSLAM 2 processes the channel switch command and streams the required channel. ) Is transmitted to the IP set-top box 1 (S3).

Accordingly, when the IP set-top box 1 receives the MPEG2 TS stream newly transmitted from the DSLAM 2, the IP set-top box 1 goes through a general process of decoding the MPEG2 TS stream (S4).

That is, the program association table (PAT) is interpreted to obtain information for a program map table (PMT). After checking the information of the Viedo PID using the obtained PMT information, the video stream is searched for a video stream in the MPEG2 TS stream and the video decoding is performed.

However, due to the nature of the IP set-top box (IP STB), since the configuration of a single stream channel, such program specific information (PSI) information interpretation provides an unnecessary overhead in channel switching. There was this.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems, by using a method of fixing the PID when the channel change request on the IP set-top box and the change is transmitted through the embedded browser, it is possible to change the channel faster The present invention provides a channel switching method and system using fixed ID information.

According to an aspect of the broadcast channel switching method using the fixed PD information according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the process of simultaneously obtaining the fixed PID information when receiving EPG information, and when the channel switching request of the EPG information And determining whether to set a flag, decoding a stream of a transport channel using the fixed PID information, and switching to the stream transport channel when the flag of the EPG information is not set.

Simultaneously acquiring the fixed PID information upon receiving the EPG information includes receiving EPG information and storing fixed PID information when fixed PID information exists in the received EPG information. .

The fixed PID information includes at least one of PMT PID information and video PID information.

In the process of checking whether the flag of the EPG information is set, and if the flag of the EPG information is set, the step of analyzing the PSI information and switching to the stream transport channel.

On the other hand, according to an aspect of the broadcast channel switching system using the fixed PID information according to the present invention for achieving the above object, a multicast server for providing a plurality of channel information, and the stream transmitted from the multicast server And a fixed PID setting module configured to set a fixed PID, and an IP information receiving module which decodes a stream of a transmission channel using the fixed PID information set by the fixed PID setting module.

The IP information receiving module simultaneously acquires the fixed PID information upon receiving EPG information.

When the flag of the EPG information is not set, the IP information receiving module decodes the stream of the transport channel using the fixed PID information.

The fixed PID information includes at least one of PMT PID information and video PID information.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, detailed descriptions of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that reference numerals and like elements among the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals and symbols as much as possible even though they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a fixed PID configuration using a remux according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the present invention generally includes a plurality of IP multicast servers 10a, 10b, and 10c, and a remux configured to correspond to the plurality of IP multicast servers 10a, 10b, and 10c, respectively. 20a, 20b, and 20c, and the DSLAM 30 and the IP set-top box 40 is configured.

The IP multicast server 10a, 10b, 10c provides a plurality of encoded channel information to the service subscriber side. That is, the MPEG2 TS stream is transmitted through an encoder. At this time, the IP multicast server 10a, 10b, 10c has different program identification information (PID).

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the PMT PID of the first IP multicast server 10a is "0x10", the Viedo PID is "0x200", and the PMT PID of the second IP multicast server 10b is "0x15", the Viedo PID is "0x300", the PMT PID of the third IP multicast server 10c is "0x30", and the Viedo PID is "0x550".

The remuxes 20a, 20b, and 20c set MPEG2 TS streams transmitted through encoders as fixed PIDs corresponding to the IP multicast servers 10a, 10b, and 10c.

That is, the PMT PIDs of the first remux 20a, the second remux 20b, and the third remux 20c are set to the same PID information as "0x10" and the Viedo PID as "0x100".

The DSLAM 30 receives the MPEG2 TS stream set to a fixed PID through the remux 20a, 20b, and 20c and transmits the received MPEG2 TS stream to the IP set-top box 40.

Since each PID is fixed, the IP set-top box 40 obtains PID information through an electronic program guide (EPG).

That is, when downloading EPG information, PID information is also received and stored, and this PID value is used to interpret PSI information when MPEG2 TS is received.

As described above, since a single MPEG2 TS stream is transmitted per channel composed of multicast IP / port numbers due to the nature of the IP TV service, even if the same PID is used in different channels, the interference of each channel does not occur.

4 is a diagram illustrating a process of receiving fixed PID information when downloading EPG information according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, the IP set-top box checks whether PID information exists when receiving EPG information (S10).

Subsequently, when the PID information exists in the step S20, the IP set-top box stores the PID information on the NVRAM (S30) and acquires the PID information (S40).

As described above, a case of switching a channel at the time of requesting channel switching after acquiring a fixed PID will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is a diagram illustrating a process of a channel switching method according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the IP set-top box receives an IR command requesting a channel change by a user operating a remote controller or the like (Receive IR Command) (S50).

Subsequently, when the channel is switched, the IP set-top box checks a flag included in the EPG information (Check EPG Flag) (S60).

In other words, it is checked whether a flag included in the EPG information is set (S70).

As a result of the check, when the EPG flag is not set, the IP set-top box obtains PID information from the NVRAM (Get PID info from NVRAM) (S80).

Subsequently, the IP set-top box joins the multicast channel (Join Multicast Channel) (S90).

Subsequently, the IP set-top box decodes a stream using a fixed PID (S100) to change a channel (S110).

On the other hand, if the EPG flag (flag) is set in the process S70 to check whether the EPG flag (flag) is set by checking the flag (flag) included in the EPG information when switching the channel IP The set top box joins to the multicast channel (Join Multicast Channel) (S120).

Subsequently, the IP set-top box analyzes PSI information (Parse PSI Info) (S130), and then decodes the stream (S140) to change the channel (S110).

As described above, the present invention can shorten the channel switching time by reducing the PSI information analysis time during channel switching using a fixed PID (Fixed PID) value.

In the above, specific preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention, which is appended in the claims. It will be possible.

According to the present invention, by using a method of fixing the PID when the channel change request on the IP set-top box and transmitting the change through the embedded browser, it is possible to change the channel faster by reducing the channel switching time. have.

Claims (8)

In the broadcasting channel switching method of the IP network, Acquiring fixed PID information simultaneously upon receiving EPG information; Checking whether to set a flag of the EPG information when a channel switch request is made; If the flag of the EPG information is not set, decoding a stream of a transport channel using the fixed PID information; And switching to the stream transport channel. The method of claim 1, The process of simultaneously acquiring the fixed PID information when receiving the EPG information, Receiving EPG information, And when fixed PID information exists in the received EPG information, storing fixed PID information. The method of claim 2, The fixed PID information includes at least one of PMT PID information and video PID information. The method of claim 1, In the process of checking whether the flag of the EPG information is set, And converting the PSI information into the stream transport channel when the flag of the EPG information is set. In the broadcast channel switching system of the IP network, A multicast server providing multiple channel information, A fixed PID setting module for setting a stream transmitted from the multicast server to a fixed PID; And a IP information receiving module for decoding the stream of the transmission channel using the fixed PID information set by the fixed PID setting module. The method of claim 5, The IP information receiving module, And the fixed PID information is simultaneously acquired when the EPG information is received. The method of claim 6, The IP information receiving module, And when the flag of the EPG information is not set, decoding the stream of the transport channel using the fixed PID information. The method of claim 7, wherein The fixed PID information includes at least one of PMT PID information and video PID information.

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