KR20070029513A - Method and apparatus for notice of electronic services guide update by using program specific information/ service information in digital broadcasting system - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for notifying the update of ESG(Electronic Service Guide) by using PSI/SI(Program Specific Information/Service Information) in a digital broadcasting system are provided to allow a terminal to receive accurate ESG information by informing information indicating whether the ESG is updated to a terminal by using the PSI/SI without delay although the update of the ESG information occurs without schedule. A PSI/SI processing unit(372) detects PSI/SI from a signal transmitted from a transmitter. An adjusting unit(382) judges whether the update of ESG occurs by referring to a descriptor included in the SI. If it is judged that the update of the ESG occurs, an ESG processing unit(380) detects ESG information from the signal transmitted from the transmitter.

Description

Method and device for performing electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in digital broadcasting system {Method and Apparatus for Notice of Electronic Services Guide update by using Program Specific Information / Service Information in Digital Broadcasting system}

1A to 1B are views showing the structure of a transmitter and a receiver in a digital broadcasting system of the prior art.

2 is a flow chart briefly illustrating an ESG acquisition procedure of a terminal in the prior art.

3A to 3B are diagrams showing the structure of a transmitter and a receiver of a broadcasting system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart schematically illustrating an ESG acquisition procedure of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation difference between an ESG acquisition method of a terminal and a prior art according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system, and in particular, program specific information / service information (hereinafter referred to as "ESG") of an electronic service guide of a digital broadcasting system is updated. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a service for notifying a terminal through PSI / SI ".

The digital broadcasting system is a digital TV broadcasting service having excellent mobile reception performance. As analog TV is converted to digital, it is possible to enjoy high definition television (HDTV) high quality and CD quality high quality TV service in the room. However, as the society is very diversified, the activity and life patterns of viewers are also very different from the past, and as portable devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, and notebook computers become more common, the demand for enjoying clear-quality TV on the go is rapidly increasing. . To cope with this, the digital broadcasting system, which is currently working on standardization and development, will provide ESG information to help users select programs. ESG information is intended to guide viewers on what services they can watch and help them choose a program. Unlike simple broadcast schedules in conventional printed form, ESG can provide more information efficiently.

1A to 1B are diagrams schematically illustrating structures of a transmitter and a receiver of a conventional digital broadcasting system.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a transmitter is inputted with a data IP (internet protocol) stream 100 and an ESG IP stream 101, which are information to be transmitted, to a DVB IP encapsulator 112, and a moving picture experts group (MPEG). The related information 102 and the service information 103 are input to the PSI / SI table generator 113. The digital video broadcasting (DVB) IP encapsulator 112 encapsulates the received data IP stream 100 and the ESG IP stream 101 and outputs them to the multiplexer 120. do. The PSI / SI table generator 113 generates a PSI / SI table based on the received MPEG related information 102 and the service information 103 and outputs the PSI / SI table to the multiplexer 120. The multiplexer 120 multiplexes the input encapsulated IP stream, PSI / SI table, and MPEG2 TV streams 110 and 111 and outputs them to the DVB modulator 130. The DVB modulator 130 modulates the data received from the multiplexer 120 and transmits the modulated data through the antenna 140.

Referring to the receiver of FIG. 1B, the signal received from the antenna 150 is demodulated through the DVB demodulator 151, and the demodulated signal is input to the demultiplexer 160. The demultiplexer 160 separates the input signal and outputs the received signal to the DVB IP decapsulator 170, the MPEG decoder 171, and the PSI / SI processor 172, respectively. The DVB IP decapsulator 170 decapsulates the encapsulated IP data and restores the encapsulated IP data to an IP stream and outputs the same to the ESG processor 180 and the data processor 181. The ESG processing unit 180 and the data processing unit 181 output information required by a user to a user interface (UI) 190 using the received IP stream. The MPEG2 TV streams 110 and 111 input to the MPEG decoder 171 are decoded by the MPEG decoder 171 and then output to the user interface (UI) 190. Finally, among the PSI / SI information input to the PSI / SI processing unit 172, information necessary for MPEG decoding processing is provided to the MPEG decoder 171, and the remaining service information is output to the adjusting unit 182. . The adjusting unit 182 outputs necessary information to the user interface (UI) 190 using the provided service information.

2 is a flow chart briefly illustrating an ESG acquisition, maintenance and update procedure of a terminal in the prior art.

Referring to FIG. 2, the terminal starts operation and receives ESG data in step 210. In step 220, if the ESG version received in step 230 is newer than the existing ESG by checking the version number of the received ESG, the process proceeds to step 240 and replaces the ESG information with a new one. If the version of the received ESG is the same as the existing ESG, the existing ESG information is maintained and the process proceeds to step 250.

After that, the terminal enters an ESG-related standby state, and in step 250, a period during which ESG information is provided, that is, a time limit for providing ESG information with program-related information (for example, if the implementation sends ESG information in a weekly manner). If it is determined, all ESGs have a validity period of one week after being received by the terminal.) If the ESG information is expired by checking whether it is over, return to step 210 and re-receive the ESG data. If the deadline is not over, go to step 260 to check if the implementation has expired. In this case, the implementation deadline refers to a cycle for periodically checking whether the ESG is updated while implementing the terminal. Since the cycle is not specified in the standard, the reasonable value determined by the manufacturer is used. (If the terminal manufacturer decides to check for ESG updates every 10 hours, the terminal will periodically check for ESG updates every 10 hours. In this case, the implementation deadline is 10 hours.)

If the implementation deadline is over, the process returns to step 210 to receive the ESG data. However, if the implementation deadline is not over, return to step 270 to check the end of the activity of the terminal, and if the activity of the terminal is not finished, return to step 250 to check whether the ESG-related time is terminated Repeat. If the terminal activity is terminated, the ESG-related activity is terminated.

According to the conventional method described above, the terminal receives the latest ESG information when the ESG update is performed as scheduled, but the terminal is updated when the ESG information update is not scheduled such as an emergency schedule according to the disaster situation. It is hard to receive ESG information. Therefore, there is a problem that the terminal provides the user with wrong ESG information for a considerable time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention, which was devised to solve the above problems, is to provide a method and apparatus for notifying a terminal of an ESG update through PSI / SI information when an electronic service guide (ESG) is updated in a digital broadcasting system. .

The present invention informs the terminal whether or not the electronic service guide (ESG) is updated in the digital broadcasting system without delay even in the case of unscheduled update of the ESG information by using the PSI / SI, thereby allowing the terminal to provide accurate electronic service guide (ESG) information. It is to provide a method and apparatus to be provided with.

An embodiment of the present invention, which was created to achieve the above object, is an apparatus for performing an electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in a digital broadcasting system, comprising: from a signal transmitted from a transmitter; A PSI / SI processor for detecting program specific information (PSI) / service information (SI) and an ESG update descriptor included in the service information to determine whether an electronic service guide (ESG) update has occurred. And an ESG processing unit for detecting ESG information from the signal transmitted from the transmitter, if it is determined that the ESG update has occurred.

Another embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for performing an electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in a digital broadcasting system, comprising: an input data internet protocol (IP) stream and an electronic service guide (ESG) IP An IP encapsulator for encapsulating the stream and outputting ESG update information indicating whether the ESG IP stream has been updated, and program-specific information / service information (PSI / And a PSI / SI table generator for generating SI tables, a multiplexer for multiplexing the encapsulated IP stream and the PSI / SI tables, and a modulator for modulating the multiplexed data and sending it to a receiver. .

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for performing an electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in a digital broadcasting system, demodulating a signal transmitted from a transmitter and demultiplexing the demodulated signal. ESG update occurs by outputting program specific information (PSI) / service information (SI), detecting service information from the PSI / SI information, and ESG update information included in the service information. And determining ESG information from the signal transmitted from the transmitter if it is determined that the ESG update has occurred.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for performing an electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in a digital broadcasting system, comprising: a data internet protocol (IP) stream and an electronic service input to a DVB IP encapsulator A process of encapsulating an ESG IP stream and outputting ESG update information indicating whether the ESG IP stream has been updated; Generating the (PSI / SI) tables, multiplexing the encapsulated IP stream and the PSI / SI tables, and modulating the multiplexed data and transmitting the modulated data to a receiver.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the operating principle of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the following description of the present invention, detailed descriptions of well-known functions or configurations will be omitted if it is determined that they may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention. Terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, and may be changed according to intentions or customs of users or operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

The present invention described below is not limited to the use of specific PSI / SI information or a specific descriptor in the method of notifying the terminal of the ESG update fact through the PSI / SI information. In addition, the ESG update information is informed to the terminal in an aggressive manner, thereby providing an implementation simplicity that can reduce the steps and procedures of the prior art.

3A to 3B are diagrams schematically illustrating a transmitter and a receiver structure of a broadcasting system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the data IP stream 300 and the ESG IP stream 301, which are information to be transmitted from the transmitter, are input to the DVB IP encapsulator 312, and the MPEG-related information 302 and service information 303. ) Is input to the PSI / SI table generator 313. The DVB IP encapsulator 312 encapsulates the received data IP stream 300 and the ESG IP stream 301 and outputs the encapsulated data to the multiplexer 320. In addition, it determines whether to update the ESG and transmits it to the PSI / SI table generator 313. The PSI / SI table generator 313 generates a PSI / SI table based on the received MPEG related information 302, the service information 303, and ESG update information received from the DVB IP encapsulator 312. It generates and outputs to the multiplexer 320. The determination of whether to update the ESG will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

The multiplexer 320 multiplexes the input encapsulated IP stream, PSI / SI table, and MPEG TV streams 310 and 311 and outputs them to the DVB modulator 330. The DVB modulator 330 modulates the data received from the multiplexer and transmits the data to the receiver through the antenna 340.

Referring to the receiver of FIG. 3B, the signal received from the antenna 350 is demodulated through the DVB demodulator 351, and the demodulated signal is input to the demultiplexer 360. The demultiplexer 360 separates the received signal and outputs the received signal to the DVB IP decapsulator 370, the MPEG decoder 371, and the PSI / SI processor 372, respectively. The DVB IP decapsulator 370 decapsulates the encapsulated IP data and restores the IP data to the IP stream, and then outputs them to the ESG processor 380 and the data processor 381. The ESG processing unit 380 and the data processing unit 381 output information required by a user to a user interface (UI) 390 using the received IP stream.

The MPEG2 TV streams 310 and 311 input to the MPEG decoder 371 are decoded by the MPEG decoder 371 and then output to the user interface (UI) 390. Finally, information necessary for MPEG decoding processing among the PSI / SI information input to the PSI / SI processing unit 372 is provided to the MPEG decoder 371, and the remaining service information is output to the adjustment unit 382. The coordinator 382 refers to a descriptor for informing the ESG update of the PSI / SI information, and informs the ESG processor 380 if an ESG update has occurred. When the ESG processor 380 is aware of the ESG update, the ESG processor 380 enters a procedure of receiving updated ESG information according to a procedure defined in the standard. The adjustment unit 382 also outputs necessary information to the user interface 390 using the provided service information.

4 is a flowchart schematically illustrating an ESG acquisition, maintenance, and update procedure of a terminal according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The terminal starts operation to receive the signal including the ESG information, etc. in step 410, check the deadline of the ESG information in step 420, and if the period has passed, proceed to step 440 to obtain the ESG information included in the received signal Update existing ESG information. On the other hand, if the time limit of the ESG information has not passed, the process proceeds to step 430 to check whether the ESG information update descriptor indicates the ESG information update in the PSI / SI included in the received signal, and the ESG information update proceeds to step 440 to receive the ESG information. The existing ESG information is updated by acquiring the ESG information included in the signal. On the other hand, if the ESG information is not updated or the ESG information update descriptor does not exist, the existing ESG information is maintained and the process returns to step 410 and the previous procedure is repeated. Step 450 indicates the termination of the reception terminal power or broadcast signal reception, and when the activity termination command is confirmed, the procedure for updating the ESG information is no longer performed. Here, step 450 is depicted as being performed after step 440, but may be performed at the moment when the end of the activity is recognized in all other steps 410 to 430. In addition, when this procedure is initialized of the terminal, that is, when the terminal is powered on for the first time or when the start of the reception of the broadcast data service is recognized, the ESG information must be obtained and stored (updated) from the received signal after the reception of the signal in step 410. do.

Here, the specific usage of the descriptor for notifying the ESG update using PSI / SI information is as follows. Table 1 below shows the positions of tables to which descriptors defined in the DVB system may belong. Each table is a group of descriptors of similar nature.

Descriptor Tag value EIT Etc ESG_update_descriptor 0xxx *

*: Descriptor belongs to the above table.

Referring to (Table 1), since the ESG update descriptor is closely related to the progress of the event, the event information table (EIT: Event Information Table) has a similar characteristic to the descriptor handled. Therefore, an ESG update descriptor may belong to an EIT. In addition, the IP / MAC Notification Table (INT) is a table that delivers information related to IP streams. In order to receive ESG information, you need to know the IP address and port, so you can find the association with the ESG update information. Finally, the Update Notification Table (UNT) is a table for updating system software. Therefore, EIT, INT, and UNT tables used for updating can be used to deliver information for ESG update. The detailed format of the ESG update descriptor is shown in Table 2 below.

Syntax Number of bits Identifier ESG_update_descriptor () { descriptor_tag 8 uimsbf descriptor_length 8 uimsbf Update_counter 2 bslbf }

Looking at each part of the above (Table 2) in detail, descriptor_tag is a unique value used to distinguish different descriptors. descriptor_length is information indicating the length of the entire descriptor. Finally, Update_flag is a part for informing the ESG update, and 2 bits are allocated to increase the number by one when an ESG update occurs. After opening the ESG_update_descriptor, the terminal compares a counter number indicating the number of reception of ESG information with Update_flag, and determines that the ESG is updated when Update_flag is large.

5 is a diagram illustrating a difference in operation between the ESG acquisition method and the prior art of the terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, in a typical situation, if the conventional transmitter updates the ESG in step 500, the terminal receives the updated ESG information after the support time limit of the existing ESG in step 501 and compares the ESG version with the existing ESG version. . Since the newly updated ESG has a later version number, in this case the terminal will replace the conventional ESG information with the new ESG information. Thereafter, when the time limit 502 is determined in the implementation of the terminal, the ESG information is received in step 503 to compare the ESG versions. In this case, since ESG information is not updated, the existing ESG information is not replaced after comparing the versions. If the ESG support time limit 504 ends, the terminal receives new ESG information in step 505 and replaces the existing ESG.

In the case of the scheme proposed by the present invention, if the transmitter updates ESG information in step 510, the terminal notifies the terminal of the update through PSI / SI in step 512. The terminal receives the updated ESG information in step 513 and replaces the existing ESG information. If the ESG support time limit 514 ends, the terminal receives new ESG information again in step 515 and compares it with conventional ESG information.

Compared with the conventional method, since the terminal knows the fact when the ESG is updated, the ESG version comparison procedure may be omitted. In addition, the process of periodically receiving ESG information and comparing the version numbers to check whether the ESG information is updated can be omitted.

In addition, if you look at the case of an emergency group situation,

If the conventional transmitter updates the ESG information in step 520, the terminal receives the updated ESG information after the existing ESG support time limit in step 521 and compares the updated version of the ESG with the existing ESG version. Since the newly updated ESG has a later version number, in this case, the terminal replaces the existing ESG information with the new ESG information. Then, when the time limit 522 defined in the terminal implementation, new ESG information is received to perform the task of comparing the ESG version. In this case, since ESG information is not updated, the existing ESG information is not replaced after comparing the versions.

However, if the ESG update is made by the dispatcher in step 523 by the transmitter, the terminal does not receive the ESG information until the end of the time limit 524 determined by implementation. In step 526, when the time limit 524 defined in the implementation is received and the new ESG information is received, the version number is checked and replaced with the conventional ESG. Therefore, from the step 523 at which the transmitter updates the ESG information to the end of the time limit 524 defined by the implementation, the discarded ESG misapplication section 527 is obtained. That is, during this period, the terminal cannot receive the correct ESG information and utilizes the ESG information including the incorrect program information previously stored.

In the case of the proposed scheme under an emergency configuration situation, when the transmitter updates the ESG information in step 530, the terminal notifies the terminal of the update through PSI / SI in step 531. In step 532, the terminal receives the updated ESG information and replaces the existing ESG information. However, in step 533, if an ESG update occurs due to an emergency configuration by the transmitter, in step 534, the transmitter immediately notifies the terminal of the update through PSI / SI. In step 535, the terminal receives the new ESG information and replaces the existing ESG information at the moment when it knows the ESG update. Likewise, after the ESG support time 537 ends, the ESG information is received in step 536 to compare the versions. In this case, it can be seen that the ESG unsupported interval existing in the conventional method does not exist in the proposed method.

In the present invention operating as described in detail above, the effects obtained by the representative ones of the disclosed inventions will be briefly described as follows.

According to the present invention, when the ESG is updated in the digital broadcasting system, the terminal can be provided with accurate ESG information in a timely manner using PSI / SI, and the gain of reducing the procedure of the related art can be obtained.

In the present invention operating as described in detail above, the effects obtained by the representative ones of the disclosed inventions will be briefly described as follows.

According to the present invention, when the ESG is updated in the digital broadcasting system, the terminal can be provided with accurate ESG information in a timely manner using PSI / SI, and the gain of reducing the procedure of the related art can be obtained.

Claims (12)

An apparatus for performing electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in a digital broadcasting system, A PSI / SI processor for detecting program specific information (PSI) / service information (SI) from a signal transmitted from a transmitter; An adjusting unit for determining whether an electronic service guide (ESG) update has occurred by referring to ESG update information included in the service information; And an ESG processor for detecting ESG information from the signal transmitted from the transmitter when it is determined that the ESG update has occurred. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ESG update information, It is included in any one of the event information table (EIT) for proceeding the event, the IP / MAC notification table (INT) for delivering information related to the IP stream, and the update notification table (UNT) for system software update. The device. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ESG update information, And a descriptor tag indicating a unique value used to distinguish different descriptors, a descriptor length indicating a length of all descriptors, and an update flag indicating the number of ESG updates. An apparatus for performing electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in a digital broadcasting system, An IP encapsulator for encapsulating the received data internet protocol (IP) stream and an electronic service guide (ESG) IP stream and outputting ESG update information indicating whether the ESG IP stream has been updated; A PSI / SI table generator for generating relevant information, service information, and ESG update information of the IP stream into program specific information / service information (PSI / SI) tables; A multiplexer for multiplexing the encapsulated IP stream and the PSI / SI tables; And a modulator for modulating the multiplexed data and transmitting the modulated data to a receiver. The method according to claim 4, wherein the ESG update information, It is included in one of the event information table (EIT) for proceeding with the event, the IP / MAC notification table (INT) for transmitting information related to the IP stream, and the update notification table (UNT) for system software update. The apparatus described above. The method according to claim 5, wherein the ESG update information, A descriptor tag indicating a unique value used to distinguish different descriptors, a descriptor length indicating the length of the entire descriptor, and an update flag for increasing the number of bits one by one when an ESG update occurs. Device. A method for performing an electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in a digital broadcasting system, Demodulating the signal transmitted from the transmitter, demultiplexing the demodulated signal and outputting program specific information (PSI) / service information (SI); Detecting service information from the PSI / SI information; Determining whether ESG update has occurred by referring to ESG update information included in the service information; If it is determined that the ESG update has occurred, detecting the ESG information from the signal transmitted from the transmitter. The method according to claim 7, wherein the ESG update information, It is included in any one of the event information table (EIT) for proceeding the event, the IP / MAC notification table (INT) for delivering information related to the IP stream, and the update notification table (UNT) for system software update. The method. The method according to claim 7, wherein the ESG update information, And a descriptor tag indicating a unique value used to distinguish different descriptors, a descriptor length indicating a length of all descriptors, and an update flag indicating the number of ESG updates. A method for performing an electronic service guide update notification using program specific information / service information in a digital broadcasting system, Encapsulating the data internet protocol (IP) stream and the electronic service guide (ESG) IP stream input to the DVB IP encapsulator, and outputting ESG update information indicating whether the ESG IP stream has been updated; Generating related information of the IP stream, service information and ESG update information into program specific information / service information (PSI / SI) tables; Multiplexing the encapsulated IP stream and the PSI / SI tables; Modulating the multiplexed data and transmitting the modulated data to a receiver. The method according to claim 10, wherein the ESG update information, It is included in one of the event information table (EIT) for proceeding with the event, the IP / MAC notification table (INT) for transmitting information related to the IP stream, and the update notification table (UNT) for system software update. Said method. The method according to claim 11, wherein the ESG update information, A descriptor tag indicating a unique value used to distinguish different descriptors, a descriptor length indicating the length of the entire descriptor, and an update flag for increasing the number of bits one by one when an ESG update occurs. Way.

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