MX2008012828A

MX2008012828A - Apparatus for providing multiple screens and method for dynamic configuration of the same.

Info

Publication number: MX2008012828A
Application number: MX2008012828A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Kwang-Kee Lee; Glenn A Adams; Jong-Ho Lee; Un-Gyo Jung; Sung-Wook Byun
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2006-04-06
Filing date: 2007-04-05
Publication date: 2008-10-15
Also published as: KR20070100137A; MX2008012869A; KR20070100136A; CA2648619A1; CA2648467A1; MX2008012871A; MX2008012870A; MX2008012872A; CA2648944A1; CA2648960A1; MX2008012862A; CA2648572A1; CA2648466A1; CA2648928A1; MX2008012821A; CA2648347A1; KR20070100139A; MX2008012861A; KR20070100138A; MX2008012822A

Abstract

An apparatus for providing multiple screens and a method of dynamically configuring multiple screens are provided. The apparatus includes a digital signal processing module receiving at least one of video information, audio information, and data information and restoring a plurality of services based on the at least one of the video information, the audio information and the data information; a service processing module producing a display screen and a plurality of logical screens for displaying the restored services; and an output module mapping the plurality of logical screens provided by the service processing module to different locations on the display screen, wherein each of the logical screens includes an instance providing graphics, the instance includes a plurality of frames on which an application is executed, and each of the frames has arrangement attribute information indicating an arrangement order.

Description

- - APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MULTIPLE SCREENS AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC CONFIGURATION OF THE SAME FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the configuration of multiple displays, and more particularly to a method for dynamically configuring multiple displays which provides multiple contents in a single physical display device and an apparatus for supplying multiple displays.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional radio broadcast receivers such as digital TVs or digital decoders provide only one content element in a single physical display device or simultaneously display a main screen and a secondary display in a single physical display device. Although conventional radio broadcast receivers can simultaneously display the main screen and sub screen on the same display screen, they can only distribute the main screen and the secondary screen in a limited number of ways. In the case of a content displayed within the main screen, all the elements of Ref. : 196859 - - content, that is, video data, audio data and other data. On the other hand, in the case of a content displayed within a secondary screen only parts of the content elements are shown. The content sources include a broadcasting service such as a satellite broadcaster, a terrestrial broadcaster or a cabled broadcaster, a storage medium such as DVDs or an external device connected to an input terminal. However, it is very difficult to display content provided by such diverse content sources on a display screen using the existing radio broadcast receivers. In an interactive TV application program environment such as the multimedia home platform (MHP, for its acronym in English), the common advanced application (ACAP, by its acronym in English), the open cable application platform (OCAP, for its acronym in English) it is assumed that only one screen is transmitted on a physical display device. In an interactive TV application program environment, for example, the user interface (UI) based on home audio / video interoperability (HAVi) is adopted. According to the UI HAVi standard, although there is no limitation imposed on the number of screens displayed on a physical display device, usually only one screen is displayed on a physical display device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In such an environment, it is difficult to perform operations such as decoding, digital signal processing, user interaction processing, etc., with respect to one of the multimedia contents displayed on a screen while displaying the multimedia content. on separate screens. In addition, it is also difficult to dynamically control the duration cycles of the application programs and the use of resources in the units of the screens. Accordingly, there is a need for a method to display a diversity of contents on a dynamically configured screen. The present invention provides the dynamic configuration of multiple displays which provide a plurality of contents in a physical display device. The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will be described or will become apparent in the following description of the preferred embodiments. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for providing screens is provided - - multiple The apparatus includes a digital signal processing module that receives at least one of video information, audio information and data information and restore a plurality of services based on at least one of the video information, the audio and data information, - a service processing module that produces a display screen and a plurality of logic screens to display the restored services; and an output module that maps the plurality of logic screens provided by the service processing module to different locations on the display screen, where each of the logic screens includes an instance that provides graphics, the instance includes a plurality of frames in which an application is executed, and each of the frames has distribution attribute information that indicates a distribution order. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for dynamically configuring multiple screens is provided. The method includes (a) receiving at least one of video information, audio information and data information; (b) restoring a plurality of services based on at least one of the video information, the audio information and the data information; (c) producing a display screen of a plurality of logic screens to display the restored services; Y - - (d) mapping the plurality of logic screens to different places on the display screen, where each of the logic screens includes an instance that provides graphics, the instance includes a plurality of frames on which an application is executed, and each one of the frames has distribution attribute information indicating a distribution order.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent when describing in detail the preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 (a) -1 (h) are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a PiP screen, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between a logic screen and a display screen, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating sources of service in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 (a) to Figure 4 (b) are diagrams illustrating a non-abstract service and an abstract service in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; - - Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating attribute information and interfaces of a logic screen and a display screen; Fig. 6 (a) and Fig. 6 (b) are diagrams illustrating an "z-order" attribute of a logic screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 (a) and Fig. 7 (b) are diagrams illustrating an attribute of "Display_Area" (display area) of a logic display according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention; Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of mapping two services to a display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an apparatus for providing multiple screens in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method for dynamically configuring multiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating software architecture for providing multiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating the - - relationships between modules that constitute an application program interface (API) layer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method for displaying a plurality of services displayed on respective corresponding logic screens on a display screen by the modules illustrated in Fig. 12; and Figure 14 is a flow chart illustrating a method for exchanging services displayed on logic screens between the modules illustrated in Figure 12.

NAMES OF REFERENCES OF THE MAIN COMPONENTS THAT ARE DISPLAYED IN FIGURES 900: Apparatus for supplying multiple screens 910: Broadcasting signal receiving module 920: Storage medium 930: External input module 940: Digital signal processing module 950: 960 service processing module: output 965: user interface module / application 970: physical display device 980: storage medium 990: external output module.

- - DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The advantages and characteristics of the present invention and the methods for carrying it out can be more easily understood with reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the appended figures. However, the present invention can be embodied in many different forms and should not be considered as limited to the modalities set forth herein. Instead of this, these embodiments are provided so that this description is exhaustive and complete and fully presents the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art and the present invention will be defined only by the appended claims. Similar reference numbers refer to similar elements through a specification. The present invention is described in the following with reference to the flow chart illustrations of user interfaces, methods and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and combinations of blocks in the flow chart illustrations can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a purpose-built computer. a special or other programmable data processing apparatus for producing a machine, such that the instructions which are executed by means of the computer processor or other programmable data processing apparatus, generates a means to implement the functions specified in the block or flow chart blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a usable computer memory or in a computer readable memory that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, so that the instructions stored in the usable computer or in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture that includes a means of instruction that implements the function specified in the block or blocks of a flowchart. The computer program instructions may also be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be carried out on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process so that the instructions may be executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus by providing the steps for implementation of the functions specified in the block or flowchart blocks.

- - In addition, each block of the flowchart illustrations may represent a module, segment or code portion, which comprises one or more executable instructions to increment one or more of the specified logical functions. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions indicated in two blocks can be presented in a different order. For example, the blocks illustrated in succession of events may be executed substantially concurrently or sometimes the blocks may be executed in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved. For a better understanding of the present invention, the terms used in this description will be defined below. The term "service" indicates a group of multimedia contents displayed together, that is, a group of service components. Service components are elements of a service and include a video component, an audio component, and a data component. A data component is an application program in a service. The term "service context" indicates an object which can control the execution of a service and includes various resources, devices, and execution state information necessary to provide a service.

- - The term "physical display device" indicates a physical space which actually shows the content of a service. The term "display screen" indicates a screen actually displayed on a physical display device. An arbitrary service can be set directly on the display screen and the display screen can be displayed on a physical display device. Alternatively, at least one logical screen, which is mapped to a certain area of the display screen, can be displayed on the physical display device. The term "logical screen" indicates a space in which an arbitrary service is shown. A logical screen is a virtual screen before it is mapped to a display screen and therefore is not displayed on a physical display device. The logic screen and the display screen can be a combination of a fixed background image, a video frame and a graphic frame. The graphic frame can be a combination of text, lines, colors and images or a mix of video frames. The term "main service" indicates a service that is selected as the main service through a menu displayed on the physical display device or a - - remote controller by a user or through an API by an application and the screen on which the main service is displayed is referred to as a "main screen". The term "image-in-picture service (PiP service)" indicates a service that is selected as a secondary service in the main service through a menu displayed on a physical display device or a remote controller by a user via an API by an application and the PiP service can be displayed on a picture-in-picture screen (PiP screen) or a main screen. The PiP screen includes a screen that occupies a part of another screen, as illustrated in figure 1 (a) to figure 1 (d) and a screen that is displayed simultaneously with another screen without overlapping the other screen, as illustrated in Figure 1 (e) to Figure 1 (f). In this case, it is understood that the PiP screen may include a screen that is superimposed on another screen at an arbitrary location or area on the physical display device, as illustrated in Figure 1 (g) and Figure 1 (h). ). Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between a logic screen and a display screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. With reference to Figure 2, a service can be displayed using the logic screens, 210, 212 and 214. Logical displays 210, 212 and 214 are mapped to show - - screens 220, 222 and 224 through a mapping block 230. In detail, the logic displays 210 and 212 are mapped to the display 220, the logic displays 212 and 214 are mapped to the display 222 and the logic displays 210, 212 and 214 are mapped to the display 224. Briefly, at least one logical screen in which it shows a service is mapped to an arbitrary area of a display screen. The mapping block 230 is a group of various pieces of information necessary to map a logic screen to a display screen. The examples of the various pieces of information include coordinate information of a predetermined area on a display screen on which a plurality of logic screens, identification information of the logical displays and the display screen and information that specifies on which is mapped. In order, the logical screens are displayed on the display screen. The mapping block 230 may be embodied by interfaces or functions prepared by various computer program languages to be executed and created or by changing the relationship between the logic screen and the display screen using the above information as parameters. In addition, the services provided by various - - service sources can be displayed on a display screen and the display screen can be displayed on a physical display device, as illustrated in figure 3. There are service sources which provide broadcasting services such as a terrestrial 320 broadcaster and a cable broadcaster 330, the service sources which provide services stored in a storage medium such as a personal video recorder (PVR) 340 and service sources (not illustrated in Figure 3) which provide services via a wired network or a wireless network. A broadcasting receiver 310 receives service from the service sources and produces logical displays showing each of the received services. Then, an arbitrary service is directly established on the display screen to be displayed on a physical display device using a predefined method or a method established by a user or an application. Otherwise, at least one logical screen that is mapped to an arbitrary area on the display screen is displayed on a physical presentation device 350. Briefly, the services provided by the terrestrial broadcaster 320, the cable broadcaster 330 and the - PVRs are displayed at device 350 of physical presentation. The terrestrial broadcaster 320, the cable broadcaster 330 and PVR 340 are illustrated in FIG. 3 as service sources, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Any type of multimedia content source which provides multimedia contents that can be displayed together can be a source of service in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The services according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can be classified into abstract services and non-abstract services, as illustrated in Figure 4 (a) and Figure 4 (b). Abstract services are not services provided by broadcast signals transmitted in real time but services independent of broadcasting channels. Abstract services include only data components, that is, application programs, without a video component and audio components. Examples of abstract services include services that have unattached applications based on the Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP) standard. Non-abstract services are understood as services different from abstract services. In accordance with the current embodiment of the present invention, both abstract services and services - - Non-abstract have independence. For example, abstract services can be established directly on a physical display device, not through logical displays, and non-abstract services can be displayed on logical displays. Thus, the logical screens can be mapped to the display screen in which the abstract services are established. Subsequently, the display screen can be transmitted through the physical display device. By doing so in this way, abstract services can be displayed on the display screen independently of non-abstract services. In addition, abstract services and non-abstract services can be mapped on different logical screens. Subsequently, the logic screens can be mapped on a single display screen. In other words, abstract services can be displayed on the display screen independently of non-abstract services. According to the current embodiment of the present invention, the logic screen and the display screen can be categorized as different objects. Alternatively, a screen can serve as a logical screen or a display screen, according to the attributes information of a screen object. In detail, if the object attributes of - - screen corresponding to the characteristics of a logical screen have a previously defined value and other screen object attributes have fixed values, a screen object can serve as a logical screen. On the other hand, if the screen object attributes correspond to the characteristics of a display screen that have predefined values and other screen object attributes have fixed values, a screen object can serve as a display screen. The attribute information of the screen object includes a plurality of attributes of "z-order", "Display_Area" (display area), "visibility" (visibility), "Associated_Display_Screen" (associated display screen), "Associated_Service_Contexts" (Associated service context), "Associated_Logical_Screen" (associated logical screens) and "OutputPort" (output port). If the attributes "z command", "Display_Area", "visibility", "Associated_Display_Screen" and "Associated_Service_Contexts" have predefined values and the attributes "Associated_Logical_Screen" and "OutputPort" have fixed values, a screen object can serve as a logical screen. On the other hand, if the attributes - - "Associated_Service_Contexts", "Associated_Logical_Screen" and "OutputPort" have predefined values and the attributes "z-order", "Display_Area", "visibility" and "Associated_Display_Screen" have fixed values, a screen object can serve as a display screen. Figure 5 illustrates attribute information and interfaces of a logic screen and a display screen. With reference to Figure 5, a 510 attribute "type" is to determine a type of screen-a logical screen or a display screen. An "order z" attribute 520 is for determining in which order a plurality of logic screens are distributed along the z-axis. Figure 6 (a) and Figure 6 (b) illustrate different configurations of logic screens in a physical display device for different combinations of the "z-order" attribute values of the logic displays. With reference to Figure 6 (a), the first and second logical displays 620 and 630 are respectively mapped into predetermined areas of a display screen 610. In detail, the first logic display 620 is shown on the display screen 610 and the second logic display 630 is shown on the display screen partially superimposed on the first logic display 620. In others - - words, the display screen 610, the first logic screen 620 and the second logic screen 630 are distributed sequentially in the z-axis direction. In this case, a "z-order" attribute of the first logical screen 620 can be set to a value of 1 and a "z-order" attribute of the second logical 630 screen can be set to a value of 2. The attributes "z-order" of the first and second logical displays 620 and 630 can be set to any number of characters insofar as they can represent a certain order in which the first and second logical displays 620 and 630 are to be distributed to the along the z-axis. With reference to Figure 6 (b), when a value of the "z-order" attribute of the first logical screen 620 illustrated in Figure 6 (a) is changed from 1 to 2, and a value of the "z-order" attribute "of the second logic screen 630 is changed from 2 to 1, the first and second logic displays 620 and 630 are respectively mapped to predetermined areas of the display screen 610. In this case, the display screen 610, the first logic screen 620 and the second logic screen 630 are sequentially distributed in the z-axis direction according to the changed value of the "z-order" attribute. As described in the above, the "z-order" attribute indicates the order in which a plurality of logic screens are distributed. The attribute of "z-order" - - it can also indicate the order in which the components of a logic screen or a display screen are distributed. For example, as described above, a logic screen or a display screen may be a combination of a fixed background image, a video frame and a graphic frame. For convenience of description, an instance (or object) provides a fixed background image such as a background image, will be referred to as an "HBackgroundDevice" (background device H), an instance (or object) that provides a video such as a movie, it will be referred to as "HVideoDevice" (video device H) and an instance (or object) that provides graphics, such as application data, will be referred to as an "HGraphicsDevice" (graphics device H). In addition, the instances (or objects) "HBackgroundDevice", "HVideoDevice" and "HGraphicsDevice" will be collectively referred to as "HScreenDevice" (display device H). Here, the order in which the "HScreenDevice" instances of the logic screen or the display screen are distributed in the z-axis direction can be determined. Preferably, "HBrackgroundDevice", "HVideoDevice" and "HGraphicsDevice" can be sequentially distributed. Consequently, the value of the attribute - - "z-order" of the "HVideoDevice" instance is greater than the "HBrackgroundDevice" instance and the value of the "z-order" attribute of the "HGraphicsDevice" instance is greater than that of the "HVideoDevice" instance. If the "HBrackgroundDevice" instance exists in a current screen, the value of the "z-order" attribute of the "HBrackgroundDevice" instance placed at the bottom of the current screen (the actual bottom of the current screen from the observer's point of view) is zero. If the current screen does not have the instance "HBrackgroundDevice" but has "HVideoDevice", the value of the "z-order" attribute of the "" HVideoDevice "instance placed in the background of the current screen (in the true background of the current screen from the observer's point of view) is zero If the current screen does not have the "HBrackgroundDevice" instance or the "HVideoDevice" instance, the "z-order" attribute value of the "HGraphicsDevice" instance placed in the background of the current screen (in the true background) of the current screen from the point of view of the observer) is zero In addition, the value of the attribute "z-order" of the instance "HVideoDevice" included in the current screen is greater than that of any instance "HBrackgroundDevice" included in the screen current and the value of the attribute of - - "z-order" of the "HGraphicsDevice" instance included in the current screen is greater than that of any "HVideoDevice" instance included in the current screen. Since some of the "HScreenDevice" instances, which may have values greater than "z-order" attributes are placed closer to the front of the current screen, they are located at a shorter distance from the observer. Although the instances "HBrackgroundDevice", "HVideoDevice" and "HGraphicsDevice" are distributed in the default order as described above, the order of distribution of the "HScreenDevice" instances of the same type can be determined arbitrarily. The "HGraphicsDevice" instance can include a plurality of instances (or objects) and each of the instances that make up the "HGraphicsDevice" instance is referred to as "HScene" (scene H). Each "HScene" instance can be understood as a spatial framework in which an application is executed and a plurality of applications can be executed in the "HScene" instance. The order in which the "HScene" instances are distributed in the "HGraphicsDevice" instance can be determined by the "z-order" attribute. That is, the "z-order" attribute can indicate that the order of distribution of the logical screens or the order of distribution of the components of a logical screen or a - - visual display . In addition, the "z-order" attribute can indicate the distribution order of the components of the "HGraphicsDevice" instance. In order to identify the distribution order of the "HScene" instances using the "z-order" attribute, an object of class "HSceneManager" is established (Scene manager H). The class object "HSceneManager" can obtain the "z-order" attributes of the "HScene" instances The class object "HSceneManager" performs an application registration and a handler that processes the change of all "HScene" instances belonging to the instance "HGraphicsDevice". An attribute 530"Display_Area" (display area) is information regarding a display area of a logical screen, as illustrated in Figure 7 (a) and Figure 7 (b). Figure 7 (a) illustrates that the logical screen 710 is mapped over a full area of the display screen 720, and Figure 7 (b) illustrates that the logical screen 730 is mapped to a partial area of the display screen 740 . The "Display_Area" attribute may include information that specifies the two-dimensional coordinates of a predetermined portion of the display screen to which the logical screen is to be mapped and may include information that - - specify a default location on the display screen and a deviation value that indicates how much of the logical screen is diverted from the default location on the display screen. A 530"visibility" attribute determines whether a logical display will be displayed visibly or invisibly on a display screen. It is possible to make a logical screen appear or disappear from a display screen by altering the value of attribute 530"visibility". An attribute 540"Associated_Display_Screen" (associated display screen) is information about the display screens associated with a logical screen. A logical screen which is not associated with any display screens may not be displayed on a physical display device or transmitted to external output objects. An attribute 550"Associated_Service_Contexts" (associated service context) is information regarding service contexts connected to a logical screen or a display screen. The services established in such service contexts can be displayed on a logical screen or a display screen. An attribute 560"Associated_Logical_Screens" (associated logical displays "is information regarding - - Logical screens associated with a display screen. An attribute 570"OutputPort" (output port) is information regarding devices by means of which a display screen is to be transmitted and said device is included in the display screen, wired / wireless communication medium and various storage media . Interfaces may be provided to identify or alter the values of the attributes illustrated in Figure 5. With reference to Figure 5, the interfaces may include a "SET" interface to establish attribute or connection values of a screen logic to a display screen, an "ADD" interface (ADD) to add attribute values or connect a logical screen to a service, a "GET" interface (OBTAIN) to identify attribute values and a "RE OVE" interface ( REMOVE) to suppress attribute values. These interfaces may include processes, functions, procedures or methods that perform their functions, respectively. For example, a method "setZOrder (int order)" (set order Z (int order)) sets or alters the "Z-order" attribute described above. The "order" parameter refers to the attribute information that represents the order of presentation of the logic screens when the logic screens are displayed on the display screen. By way of - - In detail, the "setZOrder (int order)" method is an establishment interface to set the "Z-order" attribute. A handling exception can be carried out for the "setZOrder (int order)" method. This exception handling is carried out when the current screen is not a logical screen or the "Z-order" attribute of the current screen can not be changed due to characteristics of physical (hardware) or program (software) elements. Corresponding to "setZOrder (int order)" method, a "getZOrder (void)" method (to obtain Z order (empty)) provides attribute information of the "Order Z" of the current screen without setting any, and returns the value " Z order "that is not negative. If the current screen is a display screen, the "getZOrder (void)" method preferably returns to 0 and the logical screen preferably has a natural number greater than 1. The "getZOorder (void) method is an acquisition interface for acquiring information In addition, the method "setZOrder (HScreenDevice [])" (set order Z (display device H []) "sets or alters the values of the attributes" z-order "of the instances" HScreenDevice " "on a logical screen or a display screen A parameter of the" setZOrder (HScreenDevice []) "method is a collection of the" HScreenDevice "instances whose attribute values of - - "Z order" will be established or altered. In detail, the "setZOrder (HScreenDevice [])" method is an establishment interface to set "Z-order" attribute information of the "HScreenDivace" instances. An exception handling for the method "setZOrder (HScreenDevice [])" can be carried out. This exception handling is carried out when the "Z-order" attributes of the "HScreendevice" instances in the current screen can not be changed due to the characteristics of the physical elements or the program of a device to provide multiple screens. Corresponding to the method "setZOrder (HScreenDevice [])", a method "intgetZOrder (HScreenDevice)" (get int order Z (H screen device)) provides "Z-order" attribute information of the "HScreenDevice" instances in the current display screen or logic display and returns the attribute value of " Z order "that is not negative. The "getZOrder (HscreenDevice)" method is an acquisition interface for acquiring information of the "Z-order" attribute of the "HScreenDevice" instances. As described in the above, the class object "HScene anater" can include various methods in order to work with information of each instance "HScene" which forms the instance "HGraphicsDevice".

- - For example, the object of classes "HSceneManager" can include a method "getHSceneOrder" (get order of scene H) which returns an arrangement of instances "HSceneBinding" (union of scene H) corresponding to the "Hscene" instances that form the "HGraphicsDevice" instance of a requested application. The instances "HSceneBinding" can be understood as interfaces executed by a class which is predetermined in a platform in order to provide means of indicating the attributes of the instances "HScene". That is, since the direct access of an application to the "HScene" instances is not allowed, the "HScene" instances can be accessed through the "HSceneBinding" interfaces. A method "getHSceneOrder (HGrapicsDevice)" (get scene order H (graphics device H)) returns a distribution of instances "HSceneBinding" that correspond to instances "HScene" that form a default instance "HGraphicsDevice" of a called application. In this case, a first entry in the array corresponds to an "HScene" instance placed on the top (in the front of a current screen from the observer's point of view) of the "HScene" instances of the "HGraphicsDevice" instance default In addition, a last entry corresponds to an instance "HScene" placed in the background - - (to the back of the current screen from the observer's point of view) of the "HScene" instances of the particular instance "HGraphicsDevice". The class object "HSceneManager" also includes a method "sameScene (HSceneBinding sbl, HSceneBinding sb2)" (same scene (scene union H sbl, scene union H, sb2)). The "sameScene" method (same scene) determines whether the two "HsceneBinding" interfaces sbl and sb2 are associated with the same "HScene" instance. For example, the "sameScene" method can be used to avoid the overlap junction. A "getAppHSceneLocation" method (get H App scene location) provides z-order information of an implicit "HScene" instance from which the calling application is executed. Using the method "getAppHSceneLocation ()" (get location location H App)), the calling application can determine the location of the implicit instance "HScene" in the instance "HGraphicsDevice". A method "getAppHSceneLocation (HScene)" (obtain scene location H App scene H)), provides z information for a predetermined instance "HScene" in which the called application is executed. Using the method "getAppHSceneLocation (HScene)", the called application can determine the location of the default instance "HScene" in the instance "HGraphicsDevice".

- - According to another example, a "getDisplayScreen (void)" method returns a display screen associated with the current screen. In detail, if the current screen is a logical screen, the "getDisplayScreen (void)" method returns to the associated display screen. If the current screen is a display screen, the "getDisplayScreen (void)" method returns reference information regarding the current screen. Also, if the current screen is a logical screen but there is no associated screen, the "getDisplayScreen (void)" method returns to a value of "NULL". According to another additional example, a method "public void setDisplayArea (HScreenRectangle rect) throws SecurityException, IllegalStateException" (set empty public presentation area (rect rectangle of screen H) through security exception, except illegal state) provides a function to map the current logical screen to a predetermined area of the associated display screen. An instance that is provided as a parameter is a class "HScreenRectangle" (rectangle screen H) of a package "org.havi.ui" and has two-dimensional position information. The execution of the methods "SecurityException" (security exception) and "IllegalStateException" (illegal status exception) can be carried out as an operation - - exceptional for the method "setOutoputScreen (HScreen screen)" (set output screen (H screen screen)). The "IllegalStateException" method can be executed when the current screen is a logical screen or when a portion of the display screen associated with a current logical screen can not change due to the characteristics of a host platform. According to another example, a "getOutputArea (void)" get output area (empty)) returns regional information from a current screen as "HScreenRectangle" information. If the current screen corresponds to a display screen, the method "getOutputArea (void)" (get output area (empty)) returns information "HScreenRectangle" that have the same value as "HScreenRectangle (0,0,1,1) "(screen rectangle H (0,0,1,1)). If the current screen is a logical screen, the "getOutputArea (void)" method returns information regarding an area on the display screen occupied by the current screen. If the current screen is a logical screen but is not associated with any display screen, the method "getOutputArea (void)" returns a value of "NULL" (NULL). Certain terms are used throughout the following description to refer to particular interfaces. However, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that a particular function is called only - - to indicate its functionality. This document is not intended to distinguish between functions that differ in name but not in function. Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating a procedure where two services are established on a display screen to be mapped on a single screen. With reference to Figure 8, a first service includes all of the three service components, i.e., video, audio and data components and a second service includes only video and audio components. However, the present invention does not impose any restrictions on the service components and the first and second services illustrated in Figure 8 are exemplary. As illustrated in Figure 8, the first and second services are displayed in a physical display device in almost the same manner as in the related art. According to the current embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to display a plurality of services in a physical display device independently from each other without imposing any restrictions on the number of services that can be displayed on a single display screen. Figure 9 is a block diagram of an apparatus for supplying multiple screens according to a - - exemplary embodiment of the present invention. With reference to Figure 9, an apparatus 900 for providing multiple displays includes a digital signal processing module 940, a service processing module 950, an output module 960 and a user interface module 965. In addition, the apparatus 900 includes a broadcast signal receiving module 910, a storage means 920 and an external input module 930 as service sources and includes a display screen 970, a storage medium 980 and an output module 990 external as a means of service output. The term "module", as used herein, means, but is not limited to a program component or physical element such as the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or the Specific Integrated Circuit of application (ASIC, for its acronym in English) which perform certain tasks. Advantageously, a module can be configured to reside in an addressable storage medium and can be configured to execute one or more processors. In this way, a module can include, by way of example, components such as program components, object-oriented program components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of - - program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays and variables. The functional that is provided in the components and modules can be combined in fewer components and modules or can be further separated into additional components and modules. The digital signal processing module 940 receives various information from a service such as a multimedia content, for example video information, audio information or data information from the broadcast signal reception module 910, the storage means 920 or the external input module 930. The broadcast signal receiving module 910 receives a satellite, terrestrial or cable broadcast signal and transmits the received broadcast signal, the storage means 920 stores video information, audio information or data information of a service, and the external input module 930 receives video information, audio information or data information of a service from an external device such as a network interface module connected to a network. The digital signal processing module 940 restores a plurality of services using received service components. Restored services include abstract and non-abstract services.

- - Here, the phrase "a plurality of services" refers to two or more services transmitted by the broadcast signal reception module 910 or two or more services respectively transmitted by the broadcast signal reception module 910 and the broadcast medium 920. storage. The digital signal processing module 940 can restore services according to the selection by a user or an application with the help of a user interface / application module 965. In this case, the user or the application can select the connection between an arbitrary service and a screen. The service processing module 950 produces a logical display for displaying a service restored by the digital signal processing module 940. The output module 960 maps a plurality of logic screens produced by the service processing module 950 to the display screen. The mapping on the logic screens to the display screen can be carried out using a predefined method or a method set by the user with the help of the user interface / application module 965. A service restored by the digital signal processing module 940 may not be processed by the service module 950. Instead of this, a restored service - - by the digital signal processing module 940 can be mapped directly to a certain portion of a display screen produced by the output module 960. A display screen provided by the output module 960 may be displayed on the physical display device 970 or may be stored in the storage medium 980. Examples of the storage medium 980 include computer readable flexible disks, hard disks, CD-ROM, DVD, DVD-ROM, BD (Blu-ray Disc) and semiconductor memories. In addition, a display screen provided by the output module 960 can be transmitted to an external device connected to a network via an external output module 990. For this, the output module 960 can include a plurality of output ports by means of which a display screen can be provided. In this case, a display screen can be provided by means of the output port placed in advance as implied or an output port selected by the user with the help of the user interface module 965. The user or the application may select one of a plurality of services or restore desired services using the user interface module 965. In addition, the user may select one of a plurality of screens - - of presentation using the user interface module 965. Since the modules illustrated in Figure 9 are divided according to their functions, they may be connected to other modules. Fig. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for dynamically configuring multiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In general, the video information, the audio information and the data information constituting a multimedia content are transmitted in a predetermined format, for example, an MPEG stream format. In step S1010, an apparatus for providing a service such as a multimedia content service receives video information, audio information and data information and restores a service based on the video information, audio information and information of the user. data. Here, the service restored in step S1010 can be selected or pre-determined by a user or an application. The user can use the menu displayed on the display device or a remote controller to select the connections between an arbitrary screen and a screen. The application can select the connections using an API. In addition, the data information includes information - - of application with respect to the application program for a service and this application information includes signal information indicating whether the application program can be executed in a PiP screen. Examples of application information include an application information table (AIT) based on the MHP standard and the extended application information table (XAIT, as an acronym of English) based on the normal OCAP. The signal information can be added to the application. Subsequently, in operation S1020, the restored service is established so that it can be displayed on a logical screen. In operation S1030, the logic screen is mapped to a display screen. In operation S1040, the display screen is provided to the user using a display screen, a storage medium or a network. The restored service is illustrated in Figure 10 as displayed on a physical display device via a logic screen. However, the restored service can be displayed directly on a physical display device without going through the logical screen. When the user selects the PiP service, the PiP service is carried out in two modes. In the first mode, only the video component for PiP service selected on the main screen is provided without - - generate a separate logical screen for PiP service, that is, the PiP screen. In the second mode, a separate logic screen for PiP service is created to provide the PiP service selected in the created PiP screen. Figure 10 illustrates a method of mapping only a service to a display screen for simplicity. However, a plurality of services can be mapped to a display screen with or without passing through a plurality of logic screens. When a display screen is provided to the user in this manner, the user can perform a plurality of services. Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating a program architecture for providing multiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 11, a program architecture 1100 includes a first device driver layer 1110, an application program interface layer (API) 1120, and an application layer 1130. The device driver layer 1110 receives service components from various sources of multimedia content and decodes the received service components. Examples of service components - - received include video information, audio information and data information. The 1120 API layer generates a logical screen and a display screen and maps a service, the logic screen and the display screen to each other. The application layer 1130 provides a user interface so that the user can dynamically configure a logical screen which displays a service or transmits a user instruction to the 1120 API layer so that the 1120 API layer can execute the user instruction . The user enables the device driver layer 1110 with the help of the application layer 1130 to provide a display screen via a physical display device or to store the display screen on a storage medium. In addition, the user can enable the device actuator layer 1110 to transmit a display screen to an external device via a network. For this, the device actuator layer 1110 can include a plurality of output ports which can provide a display screen. Otherwise, an 1120 API layer may include the plurality of output ports. In order to dynamically configure a - - plurality of logic screens on a display screen, the 1120 API layer may include a plurality of program modules, for example a multi-screen manager module 1210"MultiScreenManager" (multi-screen manager), a multiple-screen context module 1230"MultiScreenContext" (multi-screen context), a multi-screen context listener 1250"MultiScreenContextListener" (multi-screen context listener) and a multi-screen context event module "MultiScreenContextEvent" 1240 (context event of multiple screens), as illustrated in Figure 13. The multi-screen manager module 1210 manages the multi-screen context module 1230, searches for the desired screen, displays specific information as to which devices are shared by the screens, registers the module 1250 multi-screen context listener or cancels the registration of the 1250 module of screen context listening. The multi-screen context module 1230 is an interface object associated with a screen object 1220 and determines whether the screen object 1220 becomes a logical screen or a display screen, according to an interface operation performed by the module 1230 of multiple screen context. You can set various - - attributes such as attributes 510 to 570 illustrated in figure 6 (a) and figure 6 (b), in the multi-screen context module 1230. The multi-screen context module 1230 can provide the functions "SET", "ADD" (add), "GET" (obtain) and "REMOVE" (removed) described in the foregoing with reference to FIG. 6 (FIG. a) and figure 6 (b). When the attribute information of the screen object 1220 is altered by the multi-screen context module 1230, the multi-screen context event module 1240 serves as an event class that announces that the screen 1220 attribute information is displayed. it can be changed and that the multi-screen context listening module 1250 serves as a listening interface object which can be embodied in a predetermined application class which attempts to receive an event driven by the context event module 1240 of multiple screens. An application 1260 is a module which is driven in the application layer 1130. The application 1260 allows the user a desired service and freely distribute a plurality of logic screens on a display screen. In detail, application 1260 transmits various instructions which allow the user - - dynamically configuring and managing logical screens to a 1210 multi-screen manager module and the multi-screen administrator module 1210 controls the operations corresponding to the various instructions to be executed through the multi-screen context module 1230. The multi-screen context module 1230 is associated with the screen object 1220 and manages the attribute information of the screen object 1220 which is illustrated in Figure 6 (a) and Figure 6 (b). In order to manage the attribute information of the screen object 1220, the multi-screen context module 1230 may include a variety of functions or methods. The multiple display manager module 1210 (not shown) receives service components provided by various service sources of the device driver layer 1110 and performs operations to present the received service components in a logical display or a display screen. Fig. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of displaying a plurality of services displayed on respective corresponding logic screens by the modules illustrated in Fig. 13 on a display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

- - With reference to Figure 13, in step S1310, the multi-screen manager module 1210 produces a display screen of a number of logical screens corresponding to the number of services to be performed. In step S1320, the multi-screen manager module 1210 connects the logic screens to the respective corresponding services received from the device driver layer 1110. The 1210 multi-screen manager module can request an "addServiceContexts" method (add service contexts) for each of the logical screens by setting service context objects of the received services as parameters for the logical screen services. The "addServiceContexts" method connects a logical screen to a service and can be provided by the multi-screen context module 1230. In step S1330, once the logic screens have been connected to the respective services, the multi-screen manager module 1210 connects the logic screens to the display screen. At this time, the 1210 multi-screen manager module can call a "setDisplayScreen" method (set display screen) for each of the logical screens when setting a display screen object to - - which the logic screens connect as a parameter. The "setDisplayScreen" method connects a logic screen to a display screen and can be provided by the multiple screen context module 1230. A "setDisplayScreensetDisplayScreen" method (set display screen set display screen) can be set with "setDisplayScreensetDisplayScreen (HScreen screen) throws SecurityException, Illegal StateException" (set display screen set public empty display screen (screen screen H) through security exception, illegal status section) and this method allows an instance "HScreen" which is provided as a parameter is associated with the current logical screen. In this case, the "HScreen" instance is preferably a display screen. A parameter of the "setDisplayScreen (HScreen screen)" method (set display screen (screen screen H)) can include a value of "NULL" (null). In this case, when the "setDisplayScreen (HScreen screen)" method is executed without exception handling, the current logical screen is no longer associated with the display screen. The execution of the methods "SecurityException" (security exception) and "IllegalStateException" (illegal status exception) can be carried out as an operation - - exceptional for the "setOutputScreen (HScreen screen)" method (set output screen (H screen)). The "IllegalStateException" method can be executed when a current screen is a logical screen or when a portion of a displayed screen associated with a current logical screen can not change due to the characteristics of a host platform. In step S1340, the areas on the display screen in which the logic screens are to be mapped are determined. At this time, a predetermined method provided by the multi-screen context module 1230 may be called to determine an area on the display screen where the logical screens are to be displayed. Fig. 14 is a flow chart illustrating a method of exchanging services displayed on the logic screens between the modules illustrated in Fig. 12 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In step S1410, the multi-screen manager module 1210 temporarily terminates a service that is to be exchanged between two logical screens. Subsequently, in operation S1420, the information regarding the service is exchanged between the two logical screens. At this time we request a "removeServiceContexts" method (remove service contexts) and a - - method "addServiceContexts" (add service contexts) for each of the two logical screens, so that service contexts established in the two logical screens between the two logical screens are exchanged. The "removeServiceContexts" method removes a service context connected to a logical screen and the "addServiceContexts" method adds a new service context to a logical screen. The "removeServiceContexts" and "addServiceContexts" methods can be provided by the multi-screen context module 1230. According to the current embodiment of the present invention, the service information regarding a service connected to the logical services is exchanged between the logical services, whereby the effect of exchanging a main screen and a secondary screen is obtained. In addition, according to the current embodiment of the present invention, even when performing 3 or more services on a display screen, they can be exchanged between an arbitrary number of logical displays. In the operation S1430, the presentation of an event is generated in which the connection between the service and the two logical screens has changed. Later. In step S1440, the multi-screen context event module 1240 transmits the event to the multi-screen context listener module 1250 and a service newly connected to the two logical screens begins to be performed.

- - Although the present invention has been illustrated and described particularly with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those ordinarily skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without thereby departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. the present invention as defined by the following claims. Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments described in the foregoing have been provided only in a descriptive sense and will not be considered as having any limitations with respect to the scope of the invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to perform a plurality of services provided by various sources such as cable broadcasts, terrestrial broadcasts, various storage means and external inputs, in various ways using a unique physical display screen. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS Having described the invention as above, the content of the following claims is claimed as property: 1. An apparatus for providing multiple screens, characterized in that it comprises: a digital signal processing module that receives at least one of video information, audio information and data information and restoring a plurality of services based on at least one of video information, audio information and data information; a service processing module that produces a display screen and a plurality of logic screens to display the restored services; and an output module that maps the plurality of logic screens provided by the service processing module to different locations on the display screen, where each of the logic screens comprises an instance that provides graphics, the instance comprises a plurality of frames in which an application is executed and each of the frames has distribution attribute information indicating a distribution order. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution attribute information can be acquired by a class object that manages the frames. 3. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 2, characterized in that the class object acquires the distribution attribute information using a method which returns a distribution of means providing attribute interfaces for the frames. 4. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 3, characterized in that a first entry of the distribution corresponds to a frame seen as placed in the upper part of the frames. The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the last entry in the distribution corresponds to a frame observed as placed in the lower part of the frames. 6. The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the class object further comprises a method that provides distribution information of an implicit frame in which a call application is executed. 7. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 2, characterized in that the class object further comprises a method for providing distribution information of a predetermined frame in which the calling application is executed. 8. A method for dynamically configuring multiple screens characterized in that it comprises: (a) receiving at least one of video information, audio information and data information; (b) restoring a plurality of services based on at least one of the video information, audio information and data information; (c) producing a display screen and a plurality of logical screens to display the restored services; and (d) mapping the plurality of logic screens to different places on the display screen, wherein each of the logic screens comprises an instance that provides graphics, the instance comprises a plurality of frames in which an application is executed and each one of the frames has a distribution attribute information indicating a distribution order. 9. The method of compliance with the claim 8, characterized in that the distribution attribute information can be acquired by a class object that manages the frames. 10. The method of compliance with the claim 9, characterized in that the class object acquires the distribution attribute information using a method which returns a means that provides attribute indication interfaces of the frames. 11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that a first input of the distribution corresponds to a frame observed as placed in the upper part of the frames. 12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the last entry in the distribution corresponds to a frame observed as placed in the lower part of the frames. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the class object further comprises a method for providing distribution information of an implicit frame in which a call application is executed. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the class object further comprises a method for providing distribution information of a predetermined frame in which the calling application is executed.