KR20100007439A - Digital television receiver, and method of entering data broadcast thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A digital television receiver, and a method of entering data broadcasting in the digital television receiver are provided to identify a service type of desired data broadcasting in advance before receiving the desired data broadcasting. CONSTITUTION: An UI unit(132) provides a key signal for checking data broadcasting according to selection of a user. A tuner(102) receives a TS(Transport Stream) from a broadcasting station. A controller(100) extracts additional information for data broadcasting and service type information of data broadcasting included in the additional information and provides a control signal according to the service type information. An OSD(On-Screen Display) generator(134) provides an OSD signal corresponding to independent or linked data broadcasting in response to the control signal.

Description

Digital television receiver and method of entering data broadcast

The present invention relates to a digital television receiver and a method for entering data broadcasting in a digital television receiver.

Data broadcasting is a new television broadcasting method that is made possible by the digitalization of television broadcasting as an interactive service that viewers can select and watch instead of unilaterally watching the program broadcaster sends.

Data broadcasting is divided into two types. The first data broadcasting type provides graphic and text-oriented additional data such as news, weather information, home shopping, and stock information separately from the original broadcasting program, so that viewers can selectively view data broadcasting corresponding to the text-based additional data. It is a standalone data broadcast. The second type of data broadcast is linked data broadcast, which provides related information while serving broadcast programs such as sports, drama, games, advertisements, and the like.

However, until now, until the actual data broadcast is received, there is no way to know whether the current data broadcast is the independent data broadcast or the linked data broadcast. Therefore, in order to know what type of data broadcast is a viewer, the viewer must select a channel of the data broadcast and then watch to find out whether the service type of the data broadcast is independent or linked.

1 is a diagram illustrating a typical standalone data broadcast screen. 2 is a diagram illustrating a general linked data broadcast screen. 3 is a flowchart showing a conventional data broadcasting entry routine.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the independent data broadcast is updated very slowly as information broadcasted independently of the contents of the corresponding broadcast program. Therefore, there is no reason to select the stand-alone data broadcast several times a day since it is updated after a considerable time (eg, one day cycle) after watching the stand-alone data broadcast once. As shown in FIG. 1, the independent data broadcast is independent of the broadcast content of the currently selected physical channel. If one of the data broadcast items displayed on the screen is selected through the user interface, broadcast content independent of the currently watched broadcast content is displayed in text form.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 2, the linked data broadcast is broadcast information linked to the contents of the corresponding broadcast program, and is updated in each broadcast program unit. That is, since the linked data broadcast is provided for each broadcast program, the viewer can select and view the data broadcast for each broadcast program.

Referring to FIG. 3, a conventional desired process of entering data broadcast will be described.

When the routine of Fig. 3 starts, it is first checked whether a broadcast logical channel change has been made. Then, if the broadcast logical channel has been changed, it is checked whether the confirmation key signal of the key section of the television receiver or the confirm key signal of the remote controller has been input or entered by the user. This confirmation key is used by the user as a key signal for confirming the service type of the desired data broadcast from the transport stream. This confirmation key may be replaced by another key for the same function. When the confirmation key signal is input, it is checked whether an application information table (AIT) exists in the additional information in the transport stream. If the application information table (AIT) does not exist, the routine is assumed to have no data broadcast through the transport stream, and the routine ends.

On the other hand, if the application information table is present, an icon indicating that data broadcasting exists on the screen of the digital television receiver is displayed as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the user may recognize that data broadcasting information exists in at least one logical channels corresponding to the currently changed physical channel. That is, several logical channels (for example, four logical channels 11-1 11-4) may be allocated to a physical channel corresponding to one frequency (for example, channel 11). For example, logical channel 11-2 may be allocated to data broadcasting. Subsequently, it is checked whether a key signal for entering data broadcast is input by the user. When the data broadcast entry key signal is input, the data broadcast entry key is received, and then the data broadcast entry key is entered.

In this case, when the data broadcast is displayed on the screen, the user may recognize whether the type of the data broadcast is a standalone data broadcast or a linked data broadcast. Subsequently, if the end key signal of the data broadcast is input by the user while the desired data broadcast is in progress, the routine is terminated.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the conventional method, when reception of a desired data broadcast is completed after the reception of a desired data broadcast is completed, a user views the desired data broadcast on a screen and directly checks whether the service type is a stand-alone data broadcast. You can check whether it is broadcast. Therefore, if the data broadcast is not the desired service type, it is a waste of time because the physical channel must be changed again or the ongoing data broadcast must be stopped.

Basically, in case of data broadcasting, since the rate of reception through the television receiver is very slow, that is, the data gathering rate is very slow, the desired data broadcasting is a stand-alone data broadcasting previously seen or linked data having new information. It was not known whether the broadcast was received after entering all the data of the data broadcast and entering the desired data broadcast. If the viewer recognizes that the entered data broadcast is a stand-alone data broadcast already seen after entering the desired data broadcast, this selection and entry process itself is often a waste of time. Therefore, there are many opinions that the usability of data broadcasting is basically inferior.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital television receiver and a method for entering a data broadcast in a digital television receiver capable of identifying a service type of a desired data broadcast in advance before receiving a desired data broadcast.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for entering a data broadcast in a digital television receiver and a digital television receiver in which a user is provided with information on a service type of a data broadcast in advance so that the user can efficiently select a desired data broadcast channel. There is.

In order to achieve the above objects, the present embodiment displays information on the service type of the desired data broadcast on a screen so that a viewer can recognize the service type of the desired data broadcast before directly entering the desired data broadcast channel. . That is, the service type information displayed on the screen relates to whether the service type of the desired data broadcast is a standalone data broadcast or a linked data broadcast.

In the present embodiment, the data broadcast type field (data_service_type) is an application information descriptor existing in an application information table (AIT) corresponding to data broadcast among additional information in a transport stream (PSIP in Europe and PSI in the USA). Use at least "1" bits in the reserved field of. Using the service type information contained in this field, the television receiver displays brief information about the service type on the screen through a user interface (UI) before entering a desired data broadcast. In order to recognize whether the service type of the desired data broadcast is independent data broadcast or linked data broadcast, the user can effectively select whether or not to enter the data broadcast.

According to this embodiment, the following effects are obtained.

First, in the case of data broadcasting, inherently inconvenient data gathering rate is very slow, and in the case of stand-alone data broadcasting, the update is not frequent so that the user does not want to watch the stand-alone data broadcasting once again. However, in the present embodiment, since the user can know in advance whether the data broadcast of the currently selected physical channel is a stand-alone service type or a linked service type before entering the data broadcast, data broadcasting can be conveniently used and time can be saved.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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

4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital television receiver according to the present embodiment. The digital television broadcast receiver is configured to generate OSD (On Screen Display) data under the control of the controller 100, the memory 133, the user interface 132, and the controller 100 that generally control the television broadcast receiver. OSD generator 134, antenna 101 for receiving broadcast signals, tuner 101 for receiving broadcast channels for viewing under control of the controller 100, digital broadcast signals from tuner 102 ( Or a transport stream: a digital broadcast signal processor 104 for processing a transport stream or TS, an output signal from the digital broadcast signal processor 104 for a video stream, a data stream, and the video audio and the data audio. Broadcast signal output, separated into an included audio stream and then converted to audible or displayable video, audio and data, respectively 200, an audio switch 135 for selectively outputting one of the video audio and the data audio output from the broadcast signal output unit 200 according to an audio switching control signal, and the selected output audio. An amplifier 136 for amplifying with an amplification degree, a speaker 137 for outputting the selected output audio output from the amplifier 136 as an audible signal, and the video output from the broadcast signal output unit 200. And a display module 138 for displaying the data on the screen. Here, although one tuner is used in this embodiment, more tuners may be used.

Hereinafter, the components will be described in more detail. Here, although the receiver according to the present embodiment uses a television broadcasting receiver as an example, the present invention can be applied to another receiver such as a set top box.

First, the controller 100 controls the television broadcast receiver as a whole. In particular, the tuner 102 is driven to tune a broadcast signal of a desired channel according to the data broadcast channel selection of the user watching the data broadcast, and among the audio for video and the audio for data according to the user's selection. It provides a switching control signal for selectively outputting either.

In addition, the controller 100 extracts additional information (PSI or PSIP) from the received transport stream (TS) according to the present embodiment. In particular, it is checked whether there is an application information table (AIT) corresponding to data broadcasting among these additional information. If the application information table exists, data broadcasting service type information is finally extracted from this table. If the application information table (AIT) is present, information indicating that a data broadcasting service exists on the screen is displayed, and then the application information table is parsed to extract the data broadcasting service type information. .

Then, according to the extracted type information, a control signal for displaying an icon corresponding to the corresponding service type on the screen is provided. In response to this control signal, the OSD generator 134 generates an OSD signal for the presence or absence of a data broadcast to be displayed on the screen and an OSD for the data broadcast service type (ie, standalone data broadcast or linked data broadcast). A signal is generated and sent to the video processor 125 as shown in FIG. Meanwhile, the video processor 125 adds the OSD signal to a video signal for display on the screen, processes the OSD signal, and sends the OSD signal to the display module 138.

In addition, the controller 100 controls the OSD generator 134 to generate a corresponding OSD signal according to the user's function selection. For example, the controller 100 may display the items of the two audios on the screen when the user presses a menu key to select one of the video audio and the data audio through the user interface 132. The OSD generator 134 is controlled to generate the OSD data having the same. The generated OSD signal is then input to the video processor 125, mixed with the video and provided to the display module 138. These items are displayed on the screen for the user to select. Meanwhile, the user may select one of the two audios directly through a preset function key among the keys of the user interface 132.

The memory 133 stores various information including a system program of the controller 100. Meanwhile, the memory 133 performs a function of storing a list of channels providing data broadcast updated by the controller 100 as described above, and stores the stored list at the request of the controller 100. To the display module 138. The user interface 132 is a keypad or a remote controller and the like, and provides various commands or information input from the user to the controller 100. As described above, the OSD generator 134 generates the OSD signal under the control of the controller 100 and provides the OSD signal to the broadcast signal output unit 200.

Meanwhile, the tuner 102 tunes one data broadcast channel to control of the controller 100 among broadcast signals received in the form of a transport stream (TS), and respectively corresponds to the transport stream of the tuned data broadcast channel. To the digital broadcast processor 104. The television broadcast receiver may receive signals from various sources such as an analog broadcast signal and an external input signal. However, in this case, the detailed description will be omitted since it is not related to the present invention.

The digital broadcast signal processing unit 104 is composed of a demodulator 106a and a decoder 106b. The demodulator 106 demodulates the transport stream provided by the tuner 102, and the decoder 106 decodes the demodulated transport stream and converts the demodulated transport stream into an audio stream, a video stream, and a data stream. Provided at 200.

The broadcast signal output unit 200 separates the audio stream, the video stream, and the data stream output from the digital broadcast signal processor 104 and outputs the demultiplexer 108 and the audio separated from the demultiplexer 108. An audio decoder 120 for decoding the stream, an audio processor 121 for making the decoded audio signal into the audible video audio and the data audio data, and the data decoding the data stream separated in the demultiplexer 108 A decoder 122, a data processor 123 for making the decoded data signal into displayable data, a video decoder 124 for decoding the video stream separated from the multiplexer 108, capable of displaying the decoded video signal Video Processor (125) It consists of.

Meanwhile, the OSD generator 134 provides the OSD signal generated under the control of the controller 100 to the video processor 125 of the broadcast signal output unit 200 to be mixed with the video and mixed together. To be displayed on the screen. In particular, the OSD generator 134 generates an OSD signal relating to the data broadcasting presence / data broadcasting service type according to the control signal of the controller 100 and sends it to the video processor 125. In this case, when the user wants to display a menu for selecting one of the video audio and the data audio through the user interface 132, the OSD generator 134 generates the OSD signal for audio selection. To the video processor 125. That is, the user may select one of the data broadcasting audio and the video audio directly from the user interface 132 or through the OSD menu.

On the other hand, the display module 138 includes an LCD module, a PDP module, a CRT module and the like. In the present embodiment, one digital broadcast signal processor and one broadcast signal output unit are used. However, when the number of tuners is two or more, the same number of digital broadcast signal processor and broadcast signal output units as the tuner may be used. On the other hand, when there is more than one tuner, it is obvious that two or more PIP (Picture In Picture) screen areas may be displayed on the screen by changing the system program of the receiver.

5 is a diagram illustrating an application information table portion (AIT) of additional information. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating detailed fields of an application signaling descriptor field in the application information table of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating contents of a reserved area field of an application signaling descriptor field of FIG. 6. 8 is a diagram illustrating a data broadcast entry process according to the present embodiment. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed routine for a data broadcast entry process according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an application information table (AIT) portion of additional information extracted in a transport stream in detail. This application information table (AIT) is provided in units of physical channels. Therefore, when one physical channel is selected, information of a logical channel corresponding to data broadcasting can be known in advance from an application information table (AIT) belonging to this physical channel. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when a broadcast station sends a transport stream TS, additional information including the application information table AIT is loaded into the transport stream TS by mutual appointment. In this embodiment, in order to carry service type information of each data broadcast, an application signaling descriptor field (application_signalling_descriptor) listed last among the fields of the application information table (AIT) in FIG. 5 is used. In FIG. 5, one or more descriptor fields may be used.

According to FIG. 6, the application signaling descriptor field (application_signalling_descriptor) in FIG. 5 includes several detail fields. First, the descriptor_tag is composed of 8 bits and has an identifier (uimsbf), and indicates which logical channel the data broadcast corresponds to among a plurality of logical channels corresponding to one physical channel. Descriptor_length consists of 8 bits and has an identifier (uimsbf), and indicates the length of the i-th application signaling descriptor field. Application_type consists of 16 bits, has an identifier (uimsbf), and indicates an application type of data broadcasting. reserved_future_use is composed of 3 bits and has an identifier (uslbf), and indicates a reserved field for future use. In this reserved field (reserved_future_use), service type information of data broadcasting (i.e., standalone data broadcasting or linked data broadcasting) is carried. On the other hand, AIT_version_number is composed of 5 bits, has an identifier (uimsbf), and indicates the version number of the application information table (AIT).

7 is a diagram showing detailed fields of the reserved field (reserved_future_use) consisting of the 3 bits. The reserved field consisting of the 3 bits (reserved_future_use) is assigned to the data_service_type field that distinguishes the data service type of the data broadcast, and 1 bit is allocated to the reserved field (reserved_future_use) for future use as originally intended. do. In the present embodiment, if the reserved 1-bit field (reserved_future_use) is written as "0", the service type of the data broadcast is independent. If it is written as "1", the service type of the data broadcast is linked. to be. However, "1" may be allocated standalone and "0" may be assigned interlockedly.

In FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a field (data_service_type) for distinguishing the data service type is included as part of a reserved field (reserved_future_use) for a future use of an application signaling descriptor included in the application information table, but the application signaling descriptor ( application_signalling_descriptor) field may be included as a separate field.

8 is a diagram schematically showing a data broadcasting entry process according to the present embodiment.

According to FIG. 8, a digital television receiver first receives a transport stream (TS) transmitted from a broadcasting station. This transport stream TS carries a video signal, an audio signal, data and additional information. In the present invention, the digital television receiver extracts and parses data broadcast service type information from side information carried in the received transport stream (TS) of each physical channel. This data broadcast service type information is carried in an application information table (AIT) of the additional information. More specifically, it is carried in a reserved field (data _service_type) in an application signaling descriptor field of the application information table. Subsequently, the presence or absence of data broadcasting and the type of service are displayed on the screen by using the obtained additional information for data broadcasting when changing the physical channel.

That is, "independent data broadcast" or "interlocked data broadcast" is displayed while the broadcast program of the physical channel is displayed on the screen. Accordingly, the user can determine whether the data broadcast exists in any one of the logical channels corresponding to the physical channel and whether the corresponding data broadcast is a standalone service type or a linked service type. You will know before you enter. Subsequently, it is determined whether to watch the data broadcast which is one logical channel while watching the corresponding physical channel broadcast according to the service type of the data broadcast displayed on the user always screen. When the user determines to enter the data broadcast, the content of the data broadcast is also displayed on the screen while watching the broadcast program of the corresponding physical channel.

Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 9. 9 is a flowchart showing a data broadcast entry routine according to the present embodiment.

First, when the physical channel is changed by user selection, the controller then checks whether a data broadcast confirmation key signal has been input by the user. If this confirmation key signal is not input, the routine ends and if it is input, checks whether there is the application information table (AIT) among the additional information extracted from the transport stream (TS). Since the information about the data broadcast is displayed in the application information table AIT, if the application information table AIT does not exist, the controller displays an icon Icon indicating that no data broadcast exists on the screen of the television receiver. Then the routine is terminated.

On the other hand, if the application information table (AIT) is present, the controller parses the extracted application information table and the reserved field (reserved_future_use) in the application signaling descriptor field (application_signalling_descriptor) in the application information table (AIT). It is checked whether one bit corresponding to the data broadcast service type field (data_service_type) is written as "1" or "0". That is, whether the reserved field corresponding to the data broadcast service type is a service type corresponding to a standalone data broadcast ("0") or a service type corresponding to a linked data broadcast ("1"). Check it. If the data broadcast service type field (data_service_type) is filled with "1", as shown in FIG. 9, the "interlocking data broadcast" icon is displayed on the screen, and the data broadcast service type field (data_service_type) is set to "1". If " 0 " is written, the " independent data broadcast " icon is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, it is checked by the user whether a selection key signal for selecting a data broadcast corresponding to the currently selected physical channel is input. If the selection key signal is not input for a predetermined time, the routine is terminated, and if the selection key signal is input, the controller receives data corresponding to the data broadcast. Subsequently, when all of the data has been received, the corresponding data broadcast is entered to display the data broadcast content together with the broadcast program of the currently selected physical channel on the screen. On the other hand, if the key signal for terminating the data broadcast is input by the user, the controller terminates the display of the data broadcast and then ends the routine, and if the end key signal is not input, continues to display the data broadcast. do.

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

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

1 is a diagram illustrating a typical standalone data broadcast screen.

2 is a diagram illustrating a general linked data broadcast screen.

3 is a flowchart showing a conventional data broadcasting entry process.

4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital television receiver according to the present embodiment.

5 is a diagram illustrating an application information table portion (AIT) of additional information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing detailed fields of an application signaling descriptor in the application information table of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating contents of a reserved region field of the application signaling descriptor of FIG. 6.

8 is a diagram illustrating a data broadcast entry process according to the present embodiment.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed routine for a data broadcast entry process according to the present embodiment.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

Reference Numerals 100: controller, 101: antenna, 102: tuner, 104: digital broadcast signal processor, 106a: demodulator, 106b: decoder, 108: demultiplexer, 120: audio decoder, 121: audio processor, 122: data decoder, 123: data processor 124: video decoder, 125: video processor, 132: user interface, 133: memory, 134: OSD generator, 135: audio switch, 136: amplifier, 137: speaker, 138: display module, 200: broadcast signal output

Claims (13)

Receiving a transport stream from a broadcast station; Extracting additional information corresponding to a data broadcast service type from the transport stream; And using the additional information corresponding to the data broadcasting service type, displaying the service type of the data broadcasting on a screen before the user directly enters the data broadcasting. How to. The method of claim 1, wherein the service type of the data broadcast is independent data broadcast or linked data broadcast. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the service type of the data broadcast is carried in a field of an application information descriptor present in an application information table (AIT). 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the field is at least one bit of a reserved field in the application information descriptor field. Receiving a transport stream transmitted from a broadcasting station; Checking whether there is additional information for data broadcasting of a physical channel currently selected from the transport stream; Displaying the presence or absence of data broadcasting corresponding to the physical channel on a screen according to the check result; Extracting service type information of the data broadcast from the data broadcast additional information; Displaying information indicating that the data is "independent data broadcast" or "interlocked data broadcast" on the screen of the broadcast program of the physical channel according to the extracted service type information; And And displaying the data broadcast program together on the screen of the broadcast program of the corresponding physical channel when the user selects the data broadcast according to the displayed service type information. How to enter. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the additional information for data broadcasting is an application information table (AIT). 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the service type information of the data broadcast is included in an application descriptor field of the application information table. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the service type information of the data broadcast comprises at least one bit in a reserved field of the application descriptor field. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the information indicating that the "independent data broadcast" or the "interlocked data broadcast" is in the form of an icon. A user interface unit providing a key signal for confirming data broadcast according to a user's selection; A tuner for receiving a transport stream from a broadcast station; A controller for extracting additional information for data broadcast and service type of data broadcast included in the additional information from the received transport stream and providing a control signal according to the extracted service type information in response to the key signal; An OSD generator for providing an OSD signal corresponding to independent data broadcasting or linked data transmission in response to the control signal; A video processor for processing the OSD signal and the video signal in the transport stream together for display; And a display module for displaying a signal output from the video processor on a screen. 12. The digital television receiver as claimed in claim 10, wherein the data broadcast side information is an application information table (AIT) and the service type information is included in an application signaling descriptor field in the application information table. 12. The digital television receiver of claim 11 wherein the service type information is included in a reserved field in the application signaling descriptor field. 13. The digital television receiver as claimed in claim 12, wherein the service type information consists of at least one bit in the reserved field.

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