KR20060119547A - Apparatus and method for providing information in digital broadcasting - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for providing information in digital broadcasting are provided to efficiently use a blank generated in the event of channel change and reduce a time required to change a channel. An apparatus for providing information in digital broadcasting includes an information providing signal generator(100), a multiplexer(110), and a transmitter. The information providing signal generator receives guide information including image information about each channel and generates an information providing signal including all of received information. The multiplexer multiplexes the information providing signal and broadcasting data provided to a digital broadcasting receiving system and outputs a broadcasting signal including the broadcasting data for each channel. The transmitter transmits the broadcasting signal for each channel.

Description

Apparatus and method for providing information in digital broadcasting {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION IN DIGITAL BROADCASTING}

1 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast transmission system.

2 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiving system.

3 is a view showing an example of channel guide information provided in the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the information providing method in the digital broadcasting of the present invention at the digital broadcasting transmitting side.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the information providing method in the digital broadcasting of the present invention at the digital broadcasting receiving side.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing information in digital broadcasting, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing information in digital broadcasting which makes it possible to efficiently use a gap generated at the start of a digital broadcasting or a channel change.

Digital broadcasting efficiently compresses the amount of information of programs for each channel based on the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) coding standard and transmits multiplexing programs corresponding to a plurality of channels based on a digital modulation scheme for each transmission medium. do. Therefore, digital broadcasting can broadcast dozens or hundreds of channels without using a large amount of repeaters as in analog broadcasting. Digital broadcasting is an emerging technology due to several advantages including such characteristics.

However, digital broadcasting has a disadvantage in that it takes time to change a channel, unlike analog broadcasting, when a channel is changed. That is, in digital broadcasting, there is a problem in that broadcast provision is temporarily stopped until a channel change is actually completed after a channel change request from a user.

Conventionally, in digital broadcasting, several methods have been proposed to solve the interruption of broadcast provision when changing the channel. The methods include displaying previously received text information, displaying data broadcasting information, or displaying collected video information by traveling around the channel in advance while waiting for a new channel image to be received when the channel is changed.

However, in the case of showing character information among these conventional technologies, it is difficult for a user to grasp at a glance which program is currently being broadcast on the corresponding channel. In addition, the method of storing the video of the program currently being broadcast while moving around the channel in advance and displaying the video of the broadcast when the channel is changed in advance, requires a separate tuner or waits until the user does not watch. There is a possibility that the program can not be grasped at a glance from the provided image, depending on which image is provided at any moment. This is because the moment of receiving the image is made asynchronously. In addition, this method also has a problem that can not receive the image of the channel with a reception restriction.

In addition, in the related art, the user could wait for a predetermined time when changing a channel, and then confirm whether the desired content is broadcast on the corresponding channel only after the channel change is completed. Therefore, after changing the channel, the user needs to change back to another channel if the desired content is not the channel on which it is broadcasted, and thus the channel change takes much time.

Accordingly, in order to solve these problems, an apparatus and a method capable of effectively using a space generated when changing a channel in digital broadcasting are required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for providing information in digital broadcasting which can efficiently use a gap when changing a channel occurring in digital broadcasting.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for providing information in digital broadcasting that can quickly and easily check contents of broadcast data provided in a changed channel when changing a channel in digital broadcasting.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for providing information in digital broadcasting that can reduce the time required for changing a channel in digital broadcasting.

The present invention to achieve the above object; An information providing apparatus for digital broadcasting, comprising: an information providing signal generator for receiving guide information including image information for each service channel and generating an information providing signal including all the received information; A multiplexer which muxes the provided signal and the broadcast data to be provided to the digital broadcast receiving system and outputs a broadcast signal for each channel including the information providing signal and selected broadcast data among the broadcast data, and the broadcast signal for each channel. An apparatus for providing information in digital broadcasting, comprising a transmitter for transmitting audio signals.

In addition, the present invention; An information providing apparatus for digital broadcasting, comprising: a demultiplexer for separating and outputting an information providing signal and broadcast data from a channel-specific broadcasting signal including an information providing signal and broadcasting data received from a digital broadcasting transmission system, and another channel. And a controller for outputting guide information included in the information providing signal while a channel change request signal is input to the channel, and a display unit for displaying guide information output by the controller. An apparatus for providing information in digital broadcasting is proposed.

In addition, the present invention; In an information providing system in digital broadcasting, receiving guide information including image information for each service channel is generated, and generating an information providing signal including all input information, and generating the information in each of all channel signals. A digital broadcast transmission system for transmitting including the provision signal and a channel change request signal to a different channel from the channel signal including the information provision signal received from the digital broadcast transmission system, and inputting a channel change request signal to another channel. If so, it proposes an information providing system in a digital broadcasting system comprising a digital broadcasting receiving system for outputting guide information included in the information providing signal while the requested channel change is attempted.

In addition, the present invention; An information providing method in a digital broadcasting system, comprising: a first process of receiving guide information including image information for each of all serviced channels; and a second process of generating an information providing signal including all the received information; And a third process of muxing the generated information providing signal and broadcast data to be provided to a digital broadcast receiving system to generate a channel-specific broadcast signal including the information providing signal and selected broadcast data among the broadcast data; And a fourth step of transmitting the channel-specific broadcast signals to a digital broadcast reception system.

In addition, the present invention; An information providing method in digital broadcasting, comprising: a first process of receiving a broadcasting signal for each channel including an information providing signal and broadcasting data from a digital broadcasting transmission system; and the information providing signal and broadcasting data from the received broadcasting signal for each channel A second process of separating and outputting a signal, and a third process of outputting guide information included in the information providing signal while a channel change request signal to another channel is input, when a channel change request signal is input to another channel. A method of providing information in digital broadcasting is proposed.

In addition, the present invention; A method of providing information in digital broadcasting, the method comprising: receiving guide information including image information for each of all serviced channels, generating an information providing signal including all input information, and generating each of the channel signals. Receiving a channel signal including the information providing signal from the digital broadcasting transmission system, separating the information providing signal from the received signal, and changing a channel to another channel And a second process of outputting guide information included in the information providing signal when a requested channel change is attempted when a request signal is input.

The present invention to be described below is to efficiently use a gap generated when changing a channel in digital broadcasting. The present invention facilitates the user's channel selection by providing channel guidance information during this gap. In particular, the present invention is characterized by providing the user with representative image information for identifying the contents of the broadcast data provided through each channel.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

First, the information providing apparatus according to the present invention on the transmitting side of the digital broadcasting system will be described.

1 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast transmission system.

As shown in FIG. 1, the digital broadcast transmission system may include a satellite receiver, an MPEG encoder, an information providing signal generator 100, a multiplexer 110, a modulator, a synthesizer, and the like.

Here, broadcast data to be provided to a digital broadcast receiving system through a satellite receiver or an MPEG encoder is input. The encoder digitally creates and compresses input video and audio signals and data. The multiplexer 110 collects audio, video, and data signals into one by putting security and program information. The collected signals then go through error correction and go to the modulation stage. In digital broadcasting, data broadcasting contents are also encoded in this step and input to the multiplexer 110. As used in the present invention, an information providing signal including guide information may also be included in a broadcast signal through the multiplexer 110. The information providing signal included in the broadcast signal through the multiplexer 110 may be generated by the information providing signal generator 100. The multiplexer 110 generates a broadcast signal for each channel by multiplexing the broadcast data received from the satellite receiver or the MPEG encoder and the information providing signal received from the information providing signal generator 100. The channel-specific broadcast signal includes at least one broadcast data and the information providing signal, each of which is to be provided to the digital broadcast receiving system. Next, the information providing signal will be described.

The information providing signal generating unit 100 receives guide information for each channel, generates and outputs the form to be provided to the digital broadcast receiving system. In the present invention, the guide information, in particular, includes image information that can represent the content of each of the broadcast data included in all channels to be provided. Of course, the guide information may further include text information that can represent the content of the broadcast data to be provided. An example of guide information used in the present invention is shown in FIG. The information providing signal generation unit 100 may compress and provide the image information as needed. In addition, the information providing signal generation unit 100 may provide a plurality of guide information having different sizes with respect to the same contents as necessary. The reason for providing a plurality of guide information having different sizes as described above is to select and use suitable guide information according to the resource capacity of the system. According to the present invention, the information providing signal including the image information may be provided in the form of a service information (SI), an EPG, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the digital broadcast transmission system may further include a modulator for modulating each TS generated by the multiplexer 110, a synthesizer for synthesizing the modulated signal, and the like. In this case, the modulator and the synthesizer are represented by a transmitter. Since these modulators, synthesizers, etc. are not directly related to the present invention, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the digital broadcast transmission system has information input means for each program content, and based on this, the SI / EPG information is generated and replaced by a broadcast system having network means (for example, a network interface) for delivery to a receiver through a network. May be

Next, an information providing apparatus according to the present invention on the receiving side of the digital broadcasting system will be described.

2 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiving system.

As shown in FIG. 2, the digital broadcast reception system includes a tuner / demodulator that separates and extracts a TS by tuning a desired channel from a received broadcast signal, and demultiplexes extracting MPEG video packets and program guide information from the extracted TS. Demux (200), MPEG decoder to decode the extracted MPEG video packet to play a video, a control unit (CPU) 210 to restore the extracted program guide information, storage that can store the guide information The display unit 220 may include a graphic module 240 for converting the stored image information into an OSD form (On Screen Display), an image / OSD synthesis unit 250 for synthesizing the OSD and a video into one, and a display unit such as a TV. It may be configured to include a video encoder and the like that can output to. In addition, the digital broadcast reception system may further include a network interface 230 for a function of receiving guide information of a program through a network.

In this case, when a channel change request is input from the outside, the controller 210 outputs the broadcast contents of the corresponding channel included in the received guide information to the user while performing the change to the requested channel. The controller 210 terminates the provision of the guide information when the requested channel change is completed.

In addition, the controller 210 may further include a decompression function for decompressing guide information including the compressed image information.

The guide information may be provided in the form of OSD. In this case, the guide information may be provided in the form of superimposition on the existing broadcast content. Detailed description of the OSD will be omitted.

The conversion of the guide information into the OSD form may be performed by a separate graphics module 240 as shown in FIG. 2 or by a controller having an OSD conversion function.

As such, when the guide information is provided in the form of an OSD, the image / OSD synthesizing unit 250 for synthesizing and outputting the broadcast image and the guide information in the OSD form may be used.

On the other hand, the storage unit 220 used to store the received guide information may have a limit in its storage capacity.

Various methods may be considered as a method for solving the storage capacity limitation of the storage unit 220.

One of them is to provide a plurality of guide information of different sizes for broadcast contents of the same channel through a method of changing the resolution of image information used. In this case, the device of the present invention may determine the size of the received guide information after calculating the capacity of its storage unit 220. The present invention can provide a plurality of guide information of different sizes with respect to the same broadcast content and select guide information to be used in consideration of the capacity of the storage unit 220 of each system. When the capacity of the storage unit 220 is small, the smallest guide information among the provided guide information is selected and used, or the maximum size within the limit allowed by the capacity of the storage unit 220 among the provided guide information. Large guidance information can be selected and used. The selection of the guide information to be used may be performed by the controller 210.

As another method, there is a method of reducing the amount of information included in the guide information. For example, in the case of a system having a small capacity of the storage unit 220, the guide information may include only information on the content of broadcast data that is currently provided and the content of broadcast data to be provided immediately after the currently provided broadcast data. Can be. On the contrary, if the capacity of the storage unit 220 is small, the guide information may include scheduling information that sequentially shows all broadcast information about broadcast contents for one or more long periods of time. In this case, the scheduling information may be configured to include broadcast content information for a predetermined period from a current time point or broadcast content information from a predetermined start time to an end time.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of channel guide information provided in the present invention.

3 illustrates an example in which poster and work information of a corresponding movie is provided as guide information when broadcast data provided through a channel to be changed is a movie. The guide information of the present invention may be generated by using the title screen of the program, the image of the lead actor, or the character of the cartoon character.

4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the information providing method in the digital broadcasting of the present invention at the digital broadcasting transmitting side.

In operation 400 of FIG. 4, the apparatus of the present invention receives guide information including image information about contents of all programs being broadcast or scheduled to be included in all channels being serviced. When inputting image information, the program ID assigned to each program (Event ID), the network ID (TS) (ID), the channel ID (Service ID), and the number of horizontal and vertical pixels of the image are broadcasted. Etc. shall be specified.

In step 402, an information providing signal including the guide information is generated. Here, the information providing signal generation unit 100 collects image information including an image and an image size, a program identifier, a network identifier TS identifier, and a channel identifier based on the input information into a list to create an independent SI table.

In step 404, the information providing signal is added to all channels and transmitted. Operation 404 may be performed by the multiplexer 110, a modulator, and a synthesizer. The multiplexer 110 inserts all SI information related to the program image from the TS output by the information providing signal generator 100 into all the TSs and outputs the same to all the TSs. Each modulator modulates the received TS and transmits it to a digital broadcast receiving system through a synthesizer.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of the information providing method in the digital broadcasting of the present invention at the digital broadcasting receiving side.

In operation 500 of FIG. 5, the apparatus receives a channel-specific broadcast signal including an information provision signal from a digital broadcast transmission system. In step 502, an information providing signal is separated and extracted from the received signal. Guide information to be used in the present invention, included in the information providing signal may be stored in the storage unit 220. At this time, the stored information is stored together with information such as image information, program identifier, network identifier, TS identifier, channel identifier, image size, and the like.

In operation 504, the apparatus of the present invention receives a channel change request from the outside. Upon receiving the channel change request, the device of the present invention searches for image information of a program currently being broadcast on a new channel from the immediately stored guide information in step 506 and displays additional text information. When the channel is changed and the image is received, the provision of the guide information is terminated, and the image information disappears from the display unit.

Even when the guide information is received through the network, the present invention may operate in the same manner as described above.

In the case of applying the present invention, the user can directly move to the next channel in the case of an unwanted program by first checking a still image that can best represent the characteristics of the program currently being broadcast on the channel before the actual image is received.

By applying the present invention, the user can grasp in advance the contents of broadcast data to be provided in the channel after the change during the gap due to the channel change. In addition, the user can easily determine whether or not the broadcast data to be provided in the channel after the change is desired by viewing the displayed image information even before the channel change is completed. The user may move to another channel before the actual image is received according to the determination result, so that the time required for changing the channel may be reduced.

Claims (28)

An information providing apparatus in digital broadcasting, An information providing signal generator for receiving guide information including image information for each of all serviced channels and generating an information providing signal including all the received information; A multiplexer which muxes the information providing signal and the broadcast data to be provided to the digital broadcast receiving system and outputs a broadcast signal for each channel including the information providing signal and broadcast data selected from the broadcast data; And a transmitter for transmitting the channel-specific broadcast signals. The method of claim 1, And image information included in the guide information is image information showing contents of broadcast data provided through each channel. The method of claim 1, And image information included in the guide information is compressed information. The method of claim 1, And the guide information further includes character information showing contents of data provided through each channel. The method of claim 1, The guide information is an information providing apparatus in digital broadcasting, which includes the contents of broadcast data currently provided through each channel and information showing the contents of broadcast data to be provided immediately after the provision of the currently provided broadcast data ends. . The method of claim 1, And the guide information includes information showing contents of broadcast data provided through respective channels for a period from a predetermined start time to an end time. The method of claim 1, And the guide information includes information sequentially showing contents of broadcast data provided through respective channels for a predetermined period from a current time point. The method of claim 1, And the information providing signal generator generates and outputs a plurality of information providing signals having different sizes. The method of claim 1, And a network interface for transmitting the information providing signal through a network. An information providing apparatus in digital broadcasting, A demultiplexer for separating and outputting the information providing signal and the broadcasting data from the broadcasting signal for each channel including the information providing signal and the broadcasting data, received from the digital broadcasting transmission system; A control unit for outputting guide information included in the information providing signal while a channel change request signal to another channel is inputted, And a display unit for displaying guide information output from the controller. The method of claim 10, Further comprising a storage unit for storing the guide information included in the information providing signal output from the demux, And the control unit outputs the guide information stored in the storage unit when the channel change request signal to the other channel is input, when the requested channel change is attempted. The method of claim 11, And the control unit selects and outputs a guide item of a channel to be provided after the requested change among the guide information stored in the storage unit. The method of claim 11, When the plurality of information providing signals having different sizes are received from the digital broadcasting transmission system, the control unit has information having the largest capacity among the information providing signals having a smaller size than that of the storage unit among the plurality of information providing signals. An information providing apparatus for digital broadcasting, which selects a provided signal and stores the selected signal in the storage unit. The method of claim 10, And the controller converts the guide information into an OSD form and outputs the OSD form guide information together with the broadcast data. The method of claim 10, And the control unit terminates output of the guide information when the requested channel change is completed. The method of claim 10, And the controller is configured to decompress and output the guide information when the guide information is received in a data compressed form. The method of claim 10, And a network interface for receiving the information providing signal and outputting the information providing signal to the controller when the information providing signal is provided through a network. In the information providing system in digital broadcasting, Digital broadcast transmission for receiving the guide information including image information for each of the serviced channels, generating an information providing signal including all the received information, and transmitting the information providing signal in each of all channel signals. System, If the information providing signal is separated from the channel signal including the information providing signal received from the digital broadcasting transmission system, and a channel change request signal to another channel is input, the information while the requested channel change is attempted. An information providing system in a digital broadcasting system comprising a digital broadcasting receiving system for outputting guide information included in a provision signal. In the information providing method in a digital broadcasting system, A first process of receiving guide information including image information of each of all serviced channels; A second process of generating an information providing signal including all the received guide information; A third process of muxing the generated information providing signal and broadcast data to be provided to a digital broadcast receiving system to generate a channel-specific broadcast signal including the information providing signal and broadcast data selected from the broadcast data; And a fourth process of transmitting the channel-specific broadcast signals to a digital broadcast reception system. The method of claim 19, And the image information included in the guide information is image information showing contents of broadcast data provided through each channel. The method of claim 19, And the guide information further includes character information showing contents of data provided through each channel. The method of claim 19, The guide information is a method of providing information in a digital broadcast including the contents of the broadcast data currently provided through each channel and information showing the content of the broadcast data to be provided immediately after the end of the currently provided broadcast data is finished. . The method of claim 19, And the guide information includes information showing contents of broadcast data provided through respective channels for a predetermined period of time from a current time point. In the information providing method in digital broadcasting, A first process of receiving a broadcasting signal for each channel including an information providing signal and broadcasting data from a digital broadcasting transmission system; A second process of separating and outputting an information providing signal and broadcast data from the received broadcast signal for each channel; And when a channel change request signal to another channel is input, outputting guide information included in the information providing signal while the requested channel change is attempted. The method of claim 24, And storing guide information included in the information providing signal separated from the received broadcasting signal for each channel. The method of claim 24, The guide information output in the third process is a guide item of a channel to be provided after the requested change. The method of claim 24, And in the third process, the guide information is converted into an OSD form and output together with broadcast data. In the information providing method in digital broadcasting, A first process of receiving guide information including image information for each of the serviced channels, generating an information providing signal including all the received information, and transmitting the information providing signal to each of the channel signals. and, When the channel signal including the information providing signal is received from the digital broadcasting transmission system, the information providing signal is separated from the received signal, and the requested channel change is attempted when a channel change request signal to another channel is input. And outputting guide information included in the information providing signal.

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