WO2008143445A2 - Method of receiving service guide information and apparatus for receiving service guide information - Google Patents

Method of receiving service guide information and apparatus for receiving service guide information Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2008143445A2
WO2008143445A2 PCT/KR2008/002777 KR2008002777W WO2008143445A2 WO 2008143445 A2 WO2008143445 A2 WO 2008143445A2 KR 2008002777 W KR2008002777 W KR 2008002777W WO 2008143445 A2 WO2008143445 A2 WO 2008143445A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
service guide
guide information
information
description information
signal
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR2008/002777
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
WO2008143445A3 (en
Inventor
Sun Young Choi
Jin Young Choi
Kyoung Soo Moon
Original Assignee
Lg Electronics Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Lg Electronics Inc. filed Critical Lg Electronics Inc.
Priority to EP08753573A priority Critical patent/EP2153651A4/en
Publication of WO2008143445A2 publication Critical patent/WO2008143445A2/en
Publication of WO2008143445A3 publication Critical patent/WO2008143445A3/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/435—Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/236—Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04H—BROADCAST COMMUNICATION
    • H04H60/00—Arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linking to broadcast information or broadcast space-time; Broadcast-related systems
    • H04H60/68—Systems specially adapted for using specific information, e.g. geographical or meteorological information
    • H04H60/72—Systems specially adapted for using specific information, e.g. geographical or meteorological information using electronic programme guides [EPG]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/235—Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/236—Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream
    • H04N21/2362—Generation or processing of Service Information [SI]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/431—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
    • H04N21/462—Content or additional data management, e.g. creating a master electronic program guide from data received from the Internet and a Head-end, controlling the complexity of a video stream by scaling the resolution or bit-rate based on the client capabilities
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/63—Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
    • H04N21/643—Communication protocols
    • H04N21/64315—DVB-H
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
    • H04N21/85—Assembly of content; Generation of multimedia applications
    • H04N21/854—Content authoring
    • H04N21/8543—Content authoring using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML]

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method of receiving service guide information and an apparatus for receiving service guide information.
  • Contents indicate contents or information including an image, a sound and a text which are provided to a user via wired/wireless communication. Recently, contents are manufactured by a digital method and provided via a variety of broadcast channels and interactive channels. For example, the user can download and view the contents via the Internet. With a combination of a broadcast system and a communication system, a method of receiving the same contents from the broadcast system and the communication system has been considered. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem
  • An object of the present invention devised to solve the problem lies on a method of receiving service guide information and an apparatus for receiving service guide information, which is capable of efficiently acquiring the service guide information.
  • the object of the present invention can be achieved by providing an apparatus for receiving service guide information, the apparatus including a receiving unit which receives and demodulates a signal including description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel, a controller which decodes the signal demodulated by the receiving unit and controls the service guide information including the description information of the service guide information to be output; and an output unit which outputs the description information of the service guide information under the control of the controller.
  • an apparatus for transmitting service guide information including, an encoder which encodes description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel; a multiplexer which multiplexes the service guide information including the encoded description information and content data and outputs the multiplexed signal, and a modulating and encoding unit which modulates, encodes, and transmits the multiplexed signal.
  • a method of receiving service guide information including receiving and demodulating a signal including description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel, decoding the demodulated signal and controlling the service guide information including the description information of the service guide information to be output, and outputting the description information of the service guide information by the control.
  • a method of transmitting service guide information including, encoding description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel, multiplexing the service guide information including the encoded description information and content data and outputting the multiplexed signal, and modulating, encoding and transmitting the multiplexed signal and transmitting the encoded signal.
  • FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a data model of service guide information.
  • FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of representing bootstrap information for receiving the service guide information in a descriptor format.
  • FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of entry point information of the service guide information.
  • FIGs. 4 and 5 are views showing description information of the service guide information which can be acquired by a terminal in the case where the service guide information is acquired.
  • FIG. 6 is a view showing an embodiment of an apparatus for transmitting contents.
  • FIG. 7 is a view showing a modulating and encoding unit shown in FIG. 6.
  • FIG. 8 is a view showing a signal arrangement according to a result of building a frame by a frame builder in the example of FIG. 7.
  • FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of transmitting a broadcast program, contents and data via a channel.
  • FIG. 10 is a view showing an apparatus for receiving the service guide information.
  • FIG. 11 is a view showing a system decoder of FIG. 10.
  • FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a protocol stack in the case where the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information are delivered.
  • FIG. 13 is a view showing an embodiment of a method of transmitting/receiving service guide information according to the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
  • service guide information information which is associated with serviced contents and can access the contents is called service guide information.
  • the service guide information includes service schedule information for allowing a user to select a service, and information for allowing the user to purchase, access and store items in a terminal.
  • the user can receive the service guide information and select and purchase a desired service via the terminal.
  • An interactive channel indicates a bidirectional communication channel and a broadcast channel indicates a unidirectional communication channel in which a user is not specified in a multicast.
  • the service guide information may be processed by a first process (hereinafter, referred to as a bootstrap process) of recognizing whether or not the service guide information is available or how the service guide information is acquired, a second process (hereinafter, an acquisition process) of acquiring and processing the service guide information by the terminal, and a third process (hereinafter, referred to as an update process) of updating the service guide information acquired by the terminal.
  • a bootstrap process of recognizing whether or not the service guide information is available or how the service guide information is acquired
  • a second process hereinafter, an acquisition process
  • an update process a third process of updating the service guide information acquired by the terminal.
  • the terminal can acquire information obtained by the first process from a received signal and then acquire the service guide information using the information obtained by the first process as trigger information.
  • the information obtained by the first process is called bootstrap information.
  • the terminal can acquire the service guide information via the bootstrap information and acquire service information or access contents from the service guide information.
  • FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of the service guide information. The basic structure of the service guide information will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
  • the service guide information may be provided to the user in sub-units.
  • the sub-unit of the service guide information is called a fragment.
  • the example of FIG. 1 includes a service fragment, a schedule event fragment, a content fragment, a service bundle fragment, a purchase fragment, a purchase channel fragment and an acquisition fragment. Arrows of FIG. 1 represent reference relationships.
  • the service fragment can refer to the service bundle fragment.
  • the numeral described on the arrow denotes information on the number of sub-units. For example, 0...n indicates that the sub-units of 0 to n (n is a natural number) are included.
  • the service fragment includes a service provided to the user, for example, information on a service such as a television channel.
  • the service bundle fragment includes information on a service bundle.
  • the service bundle may include, for example, a sports service bundle, a cinema service bundle and so on.
  • the content fragment includes metadata of contents. For example, the type of the contents, such as audio/video (AfV), a text and an image of the contents, may be included in the content fragment.
  • AfV audio/video
  • the schedule event fragment includes schedule information of contents included in the service.
  • the schedule event fragment includes the broadcast time of the contents.
  • the purchase fragment includes the purchase information of the service which can be purchased by the user.
  • the purchase channel fragment indicates an interface via which the terminal or the user communicates with a purchase system.
  • the purchase channel fragment includes information on a parameter associated with the purchase system or the management of a purchase channel.
  • the acquisition fragment includes information associated with the access of the service or the contents.
  • the user can access the service or the contents via the information associated with the acquisition fragment and purchase the service or the contents.
  • the service guide information may have a layered structure and the sub-unit of the layered structure is called the fragment.
  • the fragment is encoded, at least one fragment unit is encapsulated to build a large unit, and the large unit is transmitted.
  • the encapsulated unit is called a container.
  • the service guide information can be acquired from the bootstrap information.
  • a process of receiving the bootstrap information of the service guide information will be described.
  • An IP/MAC notification table (INT) of table information transmitted by at least one section in the broadcast signal includes mapping information between an IP address of an Internet protocol stream and a packet identifier (PI) of a transport stream in the transport stream of the broadcast signal.
  • the terminal acquires the IP address for receiving the bootstrap information of the service guide information from the INT which is the mapping information of the broadcast signal
  • the terminal can check the PID including the bootstrap information using a program number in a program map table (PMT) in which the acquired IP address is defined.
  • PMT program map table
  • the terminal can MPE-decapsulate the packet and acquire the bootstrap information.
  • FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of representing the bootstrap information for receiving the service guide information in a descriptor format.
  • the bootstrap information of the service guide information provides information on a provider of the service guide information and information which can acquire available service guide information.
  • FIG. 2 shows a descriptor (ESG access descriptor) associated with the acquisition of the service guide information
  • FIGs. 3 and 4 show an entry point (ESGEntry) parsed from the descriptor.
  • the descriptor which can acquire the service guide information describes the access to the entry point of the service guide information transmitted via the broadcast channel.
  • FIG. 2 may be, for example, transmitted according to an asynchronous layered coding/ layered coding transport (ALC/LCT) in a file delivery over unidirectional transport (FLUTE) session operated on an IP protocol.
  • ALC/LCT asynchronous layered coding/ layered coding transport
  • FLUTE unidirectional transport
  • FIG. 9 The example of the protocol for delivering the bootstrap information is shown in FIG. 9 in detail.
  • the terminal can acquire the bootstrap information of the service guide information from the IP address described in the table information (e.g., INT) according to program specification information/service information (PSFS I). For example, the terminal can acquire the bootstrap information from 224.0.23.14 in the case where the IP address is transmitted in an IP version 4 format according to a DVB-H system and from FF0X:0:0:0:0:0:0:12D in the case where the IP address is transmitted in an IP version 6 format.
  • n_o_ESGEntries indicates the number of pieces of entry information of the service guide information (the number of ESGEntries).
  • FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a field of the entry information (ESGEntry) of the service guide information shown in FIG. 2.
  • an "ESGEntry Version” field indicates the version of the entry information (ESGEntry) of the service guide information and may be set to 1.
  • An “ESGEntryLength” field indicates the length of the ESGEntry in byte units. If a "MultipleStreamTransport" field is 1, it is indicated that the IP address is provided via a session announcement channel for implementing the service guide information and the service guide information is provided to a location indicated by the IP address.
  • MultimediaStreamTransport If the "MultipleStreamTransport" field is 0, it is indicated that all containers of the service guide information are provided to a session for implementing the service guide information. If an "IPVersion ⁇ ” field is 1, it is indicated that SourceIP Address and Des- tinationIP Address are set according to the IP version 6.
  • the bootstrap information may describe access information of the entry information of the service guide information transmitted via the interactive channel as well as the broadcast channel.
  • a "BroadcastFlag" field is an identifier which can describe whether the service guide information is transmitted via the broadcast channel or the interactive channel. For example, if the "BroadcastFlag" field is 1, the service guide information is transmitted via the broadcast channel and, if the "BroadcastFlag” field is 0, the service guide information is transmitted via the interactive channel.
  • a "ProviderID” field which is set after a 5-bit reserved area is the identifier of the provider of the service guide information.
  • the bootstrap information of the service guide information may include SourceIP Address and DestinationIP Address which operate in a session (e.g., the FLUTE session) for transmitting the service guide information according to the value of the "IPVersion ⁇ " field.
  • the SourceIP Addres and DestinationIP Address may be described by IP version 6 or IP version 4 according to the value of the "IPVersion ⁇ " field.
  • a "Port” field indicates the port of the IP stream of the FLUTE session for transmitting the service guide information and a "TSI” field indicates a transport session identifier of the session for operating the service guide information.
  • the terminal can acquire the service guide information from the broadcast channel according to the "BroadcastFlag" field of the entry information (ESGEntry) of the service guide information.
  • a 2-bit “Mode” field indicates the mode information for setting a relationship between the service guide information received from the interactive channel and the service guide information received from the broadcast channel. For example, if the "Mode” field is 00, it is indicated that the service guide information received from the broadcast channel is replaced with the service guide information received from the interactive channel. If the "Mode” field is 01, it is indicated that the service guide information of the interactive channel is added to the service guide information received from the broadcast channel. If the "Mode” field is 00 or 01, it is indicated that the service guide information is transmitted in container units or fragment units.
  • the service guide information received from the broadcast channel is preferential, that is, the service guide information is generated using only the service guide information received from the broadcast channel.
  • the service guide information may be received in container units or fragment units according to the mode.
  • “FileDescURL” field indicates the positional information of the description information of a file including the service guide information and a "FileDes- cURLLength” field indicates the length of the description information.
  • a “RequestURL” field indicates the positional information of the service guide information in the case where the service guide information is received from the inactive channel in container units or fragment units, and a “RequestURLLength” field indicates the length of the positional information. Accordingly, in the case where the terminal receives the service guide information from the interactive channel, the description of the service guide information is received from the "FileDescURL” field in file units and the service guide information is received from the "RequestURL” field in predetermined units, for example, fragment units or container units.
  • a broadcast communication system for transmitting/receiving the service guide information or the bootstrap information of the service guide information shown in FIGs. 2 to 4 will be described.
  • FIGs. 4 and 5 are views showing description information of the service guide information which can be acquired by the terminal in the case where the service guide information is acquired.
  • the container indicates a transmission object for transmitting the service guide information. If the container is transmitted in fragment units, data transmission and data processing are efficient. Since the service guide information is transmitted in container units or fragment units, the container may become an element of the service guide information.
  • the description information of the service guide information may be generated in the form of a file including the information shown in FIGs. 4 and 5.
  • the description information of the service guide information may include the description information of the container and the description information of the fragment.
  • the description information of the service guide information may hierarchically include the description information of the fragment under the description information of the container.
  • FIGs. 4 and 5 indicate the description information of the service guide information in an extensible markup language (XML), that is, the information indicating an example in which the description information of the container (of which the element name is the container) includes the description information of the fragment (of which the element name is the fragment).
  • XML extensible markup language
  • the description information of the container may include at least one of an identifier
  • ID of the description information of the container (a), the version of the description information of the container (b), the encoding type of a file including the description information of the container (c), an original length of the file before encoding (d) and a transfer length of the file after encoding (e).
  • the description information of the service guide information may include the ID and the version type as the attributes.
  • the ID is the identifier of the description information and the version type is the version of the description information.
  • the description information of the fragment may be included in the description information of the container.
  • the type of the fragment element is defined by FragmentType in the container element.
  • the FragmentType may follow the example of FIG. 5. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the description information of the container may include the description information of the fragment.
  • the description information of the fragment includes at least one of the identifier
  • the terminal in the case where the terminal receives the container and the fragment via the interactive channel, the terminal can acquire the description information of the service guide information which can be acquired via the interactive channel as shown in FIGs. 4 and 5.
  • the terminal may receive the description information of the service guide information shown in FIGs. 4 and 5.
  • FIG. 6 is a view showing an embodiment of an apparatus for transmitting contents.
  • the embodiment of the apparatus for transmitting contents will be described with reference to FIG. 6.
  • the contents are transmitted via a broadcast service.
  • the broadcast system shown in FIG. 6 includes encoders 310, 320 and 330, a multiplexer 340 and a modulating and encoding unit 350.
  • the encoders include a first encoder 310, a second encoder 320 and a third encoder 330.
  • the first encoder 310 can encode the contents such as audio, video and data according to, for example, a transmission/reception protocol of an MPEG-2 transport stream (TS).
  • the data including the service guide information may be transmitted in units including the IP address.
  • the second encoder 320 can encode the data including the service guide information in an IP datagram format.
  • the IP datagram indicates a signal processing format for transmitting a signal by an Internet protocol (IP) packet and may include a header including the IP address and a data container for transmitting information.
  • IP Internet protocol
  • the data container may include data such as video, audio and service guide data. That is, in the example of FIG. 6, the video signal, the audio signal and the data signal are divided by packet units, and compressed and transmitted by an IP datacasting method.
  • the IP data may be encapsulated by the MPE and embedded in the MPEG-2 TS.
  • MPE may be MPE-FEC section data to which a forward error correction (FEC) code is added. If the transmitted signal is arranged by the MPE-FEC, a carrier-to-noise (CN) ratio of the transmitted signal can be improved.
  • the MPE-FEC data including the FEC or the MPE data including no FEC may include the transmitted signal of the IP data format.
  • the second encoder 320 may multiplex the IP datagram encapsulated by the MPE using a time slicing method in order to decrease power consumption.
  • the multiplexed signal is converted into the transport stream and multiplexed with the MPEG-2 TS packet in which the video or audio signal is carried.
  • the second encoder 320 may encode the service guide information.
  • the second encoder 320 may encode the description information of at least one of the container and the fragment as shown in FIGs. 4 and 5.
  • the third encoder 330 may encode the multiplexed information of the stream packet associated with the program or the service.
  • the multiplexed information includes table information on PSFSI.
  • the table information encoded by the third encoder 330 may include INT including mapping information between the PID including the IP datagram encoded by the second encoder 320 and the IP address of the IP datagram.
  • the multiplexer 340 may multiplex and output the transport packets output from the first encoder 310, the second encoder 320 and the third encoder 330, and the modulating and encoding unit 350 may modulate and encode the multiplexed signal and transmit the encoded signal.
  • the multiplexer 340 multiplexes the packet data encoded by the first encoder 310, the second encoder 320 and the third encoder 330 and outputs the multiplexed signal
  • the modulating and encoding unit 350 modulates and encodes the multiplexed signal according to a transmission system and transmits a radio frequency (RF) signal.
  • the modulating and encoding unit 350 may use the various modulating methods and the various encoding methods of the broadcast system, for example, a DMB method, a DVB-H method, a VSB method and an ISDB-T method.
  • the detailed example of the modulating and encoding unit 350 will be shown in FIG. 7 in detail.
  • FIG. 7 is a view showing the modulating and encoding unit shown in FIG. 6.
  • FIG. 7 is a view showing the modulating and encoding unit shown in FIG. 6.
  • the modulating and encoding method may use, for example, a digital video broadcasting-terrestrial/handheld (DVB -T/H) method.
  • DVD -T/H digital video broadcasting-terrestrial/handheld
  • a first encoder 410 includes an outer coder 411 and an outer interleaver 412.
  • the first encoder 410 may code and interleave multiplexed data in order to improve transmission capability of the multiplexed signal.
  • a Reed-Solomon coding method may be used as the outer coding method and a convolution interleaving method may be performed as the interleaving method.
  • a second encoder 420 includes an inner encoder 421 and an inner interleaver 422.
  • the inner coder 421 and the inner interleaver 422 code and interleave a signal to be transmitted in order to prevent an error from occurring in the transmitted signal.
  • the inner coder may code the transmitted signal according to a punctured convolution code.
  • a native interleaving method or an in-depth interleaving method may be used according the use of a memory based on transmission modes of 2k, 4k and 8k.
  • a mapper 430 may map the transmitted signal to a symbol according to formats such as 16QAM, 640QAM and QPSK in consideration of a transmission-mode-based pilot signal generated by a system signal generator 425 and a transmission parameter signaling (TPS).
  • formats such as 16QAM, 640QAM and QPSK in consideration of a transmission-mode-based pilot signal generated by a system signal generator 425 and a transmission parameter signaling (TPS).
  • a frame builder 440 modulates the mapped signal by an orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) method and builds a frame in which a guard zone is inserted in a data zone including the modulating signal.
  • Each frame includes 68 OFDM symbols and four frames build a super frame.
  • Each symbol includes 6817 carriers in the 8k mode and includes 1705 carriers in the 2k mode.
  • the guard zone is a cyclic continuation in which the data of the data zone is duplicated, and the length thereof may vary according to the transmission mode.
  • the OFDM frame includes a scattered pilot signal, a continual pilot signal and a TPS carrier.
  • the example of the signal frame built by the frame builder of FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. 8.
  • a digital/analog converter 450 converts a digital broadcast signal having the guard zone and the data zone into an analog signal, and a transmitter 460 transmits the analog signal converted by the digital/analog converter 450 by the RF signal.
  • FIG. 8 is a view showing a signal arrangement according to a result of building a frame by a frame builder in the example of FIG. 7.
  • Tu denotes the number of effective useful carriers
  • Dt denotes a distance between the scattered pilots in a time direction
  • Df denotes a distance between the scattered pilots in a frequency direction.
  • the distance Df between the scattered pilots in the frequency direction decides a delay range of ghost which can be estimated in a channel.
  • FIG. 8 shows a location where the signal is interpolated when the terminal receives the signal built by the frame builder.
  • FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of transmitting a broadcast program, contents and data via a channel.
  • a service using a DVB-H type slicing method and a service transmitted via a common channel of the DVB_T and the DVB-H may be transmitted by the broadcast system shown in FIGs. 6 and 7.
  • a program may be transmitted via the channels of the DVB-H and the DVB-T, and, according to the DVB-H, the program is time-divisionally multiplexed and transmitted by time slicing method.
  • the contents including the video/audio and the service guide information may be included in the IP datagram by the DVB-H system and processed by the MPE or MPE-FEC, and the MPEG-2 TS in which the MPE or MPE-FEC is embedded may be transmitted.
  • FIG. 10 is a view showing an apparatus for receiving the service guide information.
  • the apparatus for receiving the service guide information will be described with reference to FIG. 10.
  • the apparatus for receiving the contents via the service guide includes a receiving unit, an input unit 530, a memory 550, an output unit 560 and a controller 600.
  • the receiving unit may include a broadcast receiving unit 510 for receiving a signal from a broadcast channel and a communication unit 520 for receiving a signal from an interactive channel and transmitting a signal to the interactive channel.
  • the interactive channel of the communication unit 520 may be a wired/wireless channel for realizing bidirectional data communication.
  • the broadcast receiving unit 510 receives and demodulates a broadcast signal and outputs the demodulated signal.
  • the broadcast receiving unit 510 may include a tuner for receiving the DVB-H broadcast signal and a demodulator for demodulating a DVB signal frame according to the OFDM method.
  • the description information of the service guide information may be included in the broadcast signal received by the broadcast receiving unit 510. Since the service guide information may be received via the interactive channel, the description information of the service guide information may be included in the signal received by the communication unit 520.
  • the broadcast receiving unit 510 and the communication unit 520 output the received signals to the controller 600.
  • the controller 600 may include a system decoder 610, a decoder 620, a service guide controller 630 and a communication system codec 670.
  • the controller 600 may control the peripheral functional blocks shown in FIG. 10 and process control commands received from the user.
  • FIG. 11 is a view showing the system decoder 610 of FIG. 10.
  • the system decoder 610 may process the broadcast signal received from the broadcast receiving unit 510.
  • the system decoder 610 may include an IP decapsulator 611, a user datagram protocol (UDP) decoder 612, a RTP decoder 613, a FLUTE decoder 614, a container parser 615, a BiM parser 616 and an XML parser 617.
  • UDP user datagram protocol
  • the system decoder 610 decodes content data transmitted in real time according to a decoding scheme.
  • the system decoder may decode content data of a file format or data related to the service guide information.
  • the IP decapsulator 611 decapsulates data included in a pay load by referring to a header of an IP packet.
  • the UDP decoder 612 can acquire the content data transmitted in real time from the decapsulated payload.
  • the RTP decoder 613 controls a coding rate of the content data decoded by the UDP decoder 612 using a RTP control protocol (RTCP) and outputs coded content data.
  • RTCP RTP control protocol
  • the audio/video signal output from the RTP decoder 613 may be decoded by the decoder 620 for decoding the audio/video signal.
  • the FLUTE decoder 614 decodes the received signal and outputs a file obtained by decoding the data in a FLUTE (IETF RFC3926) format, for example, a file of binary data, image data and text or service guide information.
  • a FLUTE IETF RFC3926
  • the container parser 615 decodes a container-based file of the service guide information and outputs the decoded file. If the result output from the container parser is data of a BiM format, the BiM parser 616 decodes the data and transmits the decoded data to the XML parser 617.
  • the XML parser 617 may decode the file of the XML format output from the container parser 615 or the BiM parser 617.
  • the system decoder 610 and the communication system codec 670 may decode the description information of the service guide information shown in FIG. 5 in predetermined sequence. For example, the system decoder 610 may decode the description information of the service guide information via the broadcast signal even when the service guide information is generated in a file format based on the XML and encapsulated according to the FLUTE.
  • the decoder 620 may include a video decoder, an audio decoder, and a data decoder for deciding MPEG-2 TS data.
  • the video decoder may decode, for example, video data of a H.264 format and the audio decoder may decode, for example, audio data of an ACC+ format.
  • the service guide controller 630 receives the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information decoded by the system decoder 610 and outputs them via an application.
  • the service guide controller 630 may receive channel map information from the service guide information and store it in a channel map storage unit 633.
  • An application 635 associated with the service guide information for example, a browser is operated such that the service guide information is processed and output.
  • the memory 550 may store the service guide information or file information. In addition, the memory may store the data decoded by the decoder 620.
  • the input unit 530 may receive the control commands input by the user and output it to the controller 600.
  • the output unit 560 may output the audio or video signal output from the controller 600.
  • the application operated by the controller 600 can output an image and sound. For example, the application for the service guide information can provide the service guide information to the user.
  • the controller 600 may include the communication system codec 670 so as to realize transmission/reception with the interactive channel.
  • the communication system codec 670 may encode a signal to be transmitted to the interactive channel or decode a signal received from the interactive channel via the communication unit 520.
  • the communication unit 520 may demodulate the signal when the signal is received via the interactive channel, and may receive, modulate and output the encoded signal when the communication system codec 670 outputs the encoded signal.
  • the modulating and encoding method of the communication system codec 670 may follow the modulating and encoding method of the communication system which can realize the bidirectional data communication according to the interactive channel.
  • the terminal can receive the description information of the container and the fragment of the service guide information.
  • the terminal can receive the description information of the container and the fragment shown in FIGs. 4 and 5 via the interactive channel.
  • FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a protocol stack in the case where the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information are delivered by the DVB-H.
  • the service guide information is delivered according to the DVB-T/H 710
  • the delivered signal follows a protocol 720 associated with the transport stream defined by the DVB.
  • the transport stream may follow a time slicing rule 725 and may include a signal of an MPE or an MPE-FEC format (729). PSI/SI information may be delivered via the transport stream.
  • a signal of an IP datagram format 730 may be included in the transport stream.
  • the data according to the IP datagram follows the UDP 740 or TCP rule.
  • the contents transmitted/received in a real-time streaming format follows the RTP 750 and the contents delivered in the file format follows the FLUTE/ ALC.
  • the contents of the streaming format according to the RTP 750 may be transmitted according to H.264/AAC+.
  • the contents delivered in the file format may become data of an XML, a binary and a text or service guide information according to XML/SDP.
  • the XML is an object-oriented language, and the service guide information or the description information of the service guide information may be transmitted in a state of being included in a layered signal in object units via the FLUTE.
  • the description information of the service guide information is shown in FIGs. 4 and 5.
  • FIG. 13 is a view showing an embodiment of a method of transmitting/receiving service guide information according to the present invention. The embodiment of the method of transmitting/receiving the service guide information according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 13.
  • the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information received via the interactive channel are encoded (Sl 10).
  • the description information of the service guide information may be generated in the IP datagram format and encoded according to the ALC/FLUTE and UDP format.
  • the example of the description information of the service guide information may refer to FIGs. 4 and 5.
  • the process of encoding the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information is shown in FIG. 6.
  • the encoded description information of the service guide information is multiplexed according to a transmission system, the multiplexed signal is encoded and modulated, and the modulated signal is transmitted (S 120).
  • the process of encoding, modulating and transmitting the signal according to the transmission system may refer to FIGs. 6 and 7.
  • the signal including the description information of the service guide information received via the interactive channel is received (S 130).
  • the received signal is demodulated and decoded and the service guide information is output (S 140).
  • the process of receiving, demodulating and outputting the description information of the service guide information may refer to FIGs. 10 and 11. Accordingly, if the terminal acquires the service guide information from the interactive channel, the user can easily receive the description information of the service guide information and use the service guide information received from the interactive channel.
  • the present invention has an industrial applicability capable of transmitting/receiving contents using service guide information in broadcast and communication fields.

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of receiving service guide information and an apparatus for receiving service guide information. The present invention provides the apparatus including a receiving unit which receives and demodulates a signal including description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel, a controller which decodes the signal demodulated by the receiving unit and controls the service guide information including the description information of the service guide information to be output, and an output unit which outputs the description information of the service guide information under the control of the controller.

Description

Description
METHOD OF RECEIVING SERVICE GUIDE INFORMATION
AND APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING FOR RECEIVING
SERVICE GUIDE INFORMATION
Technical Field
[1] The present invention relates to a method of receiving service guide information and an apparatus for receiving service guide information. Background Art
[2] Contents indicate contents or information including an image, a sound and a text which are provided to a user via wired/wireless communication. Recently, contents are manufactured by a digital method and provided via a variety of broadcast channels and interactive channels. For example, the user can download and view the contents via the Internet. With a combination of a broadcast system and a communication system, a method of receiving the same contents from the broadcast system and the communication system has been considered. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem
[3] An object of the present invention devised to solve the problem lies on a method of receiving service guide information and an apparatus for receiving service guide information, which is capable of efficiently acquiring the service guide information. Technical Solution
[4] The object of the present invention can be achieved by providing an apparatus for receiving service guide information, the apparatus including a receiving unit which receives and demodulates a signal including description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel, a controller which decodes the signal demodulated by the receiving unit and controls the service guide information including the description information of the service guide information to be output; and an output unit which outputs the description information of the service guide information under the control of the controller.
[5] In another aspect of the present invention, provided herein is an apparatus for transmitting service guide information, the apparatus including, an encoder which encodes description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel; a multiplexer which multiplexes the service guide information including the encoded description information and content data and outputs the multiplexed signal, and a modulating and encoding unit which modulates, encodes, and transmits the multiplexed signal.
[6] In a further aspect of the present invention, provided herein is a method of receiving service guide information, the method including receiving and demodulating a signal including description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel, decoding the demodulated signal and controlling the service guide information including the description information of the service guide information to be output, and outputting the description information of the service guide information by the control.
[7] In a further aspect of the present invention, provided herein is a method of transmitting service guide information, the method including, encoding description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel, multiplexing the service guide information including the encoded description information and content data and outputting the multiplexed signal, and modulating, encoding and transmitting the multiplexed signal and transmitting the encoded signal.
Advantageous Effects
[8] According to a method of transmitting/receiving service guide information and an apparatus for transmitting/receiving service guide information of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently acquire the service guide information and description information of the service guide information. Brief Description of the Drawings
[9] FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a data model of service guide information.
[10] FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of representing bootstrap information for receiving the service guide information in a descriptor format.
[11] FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of entry point information of the service guide information.
[12] FIGs. 4 and 5 are views showing description information of the service guide information which can be acquired by a terminal in the case where the service guide information is acquired.
[13] FIG. 6 is a view showing an embodiment of an apparatus for transmitting contents.
[14] FIG. 7 is a view showing a modulating and encoding unit shown in FIG. 6.
[15] FIG. 8 is a view showing a signal arrangement according to a result of building a frame by a frame builder in the example of FIG. 7.
[16] FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of transmitting a broadcast program, contents and data via a channel.
[17] FIG. 10 is a view showing an apparatus for receiving the service guide information.
[18] FIG. 11 is a view showing a system decoder of FIG. 10.
[19] FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a protocol stack in the case where the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information are delivered.
[20] FIG. 13 is a view showing an embodiment of a method of transmitting/receiving service guide information according to the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
[21] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, information which is associated with serviced contents and can access the contents is called service guide information.
[22] The service guide information includes service schedule information for allowing a user to select a service, and information for allowing the user to purchase, access and store items in a terminal. The user can receive the service guide information and select and purchase a desired service via the terminal.
[23] An interactive channel indicates a bidirectional communication channel and a broadcast channel indicates a unidirectional communication channel in which a user is not specified in a multicast.
[24] The service guide information may be processed by a first process (hereinafter, referred to as a bootstrap process) of recognizing whether or not the service guide information is available or how the service guide information is acquired, a second process (hereinafter, an acquisition process) of acquiring and processing the service guide information by the terminal, and a third process (hereinafter, referred to as an update process) of updating the service guide information acquired by the terminal.
[25] The terminal can acquire information obtained by the first process from a received signal and then acquire the service guide information using the information obtained by the first process as trigger information. Hereinafter, the information obtained by the first process is called bootstrap information. The terminal can acquire the service guide information via the bootstrap information and acquire service information or access contents from the service guide information.
[26]
[27] FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of the service guide information. The basic structure of the service guide information will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
[28] The service guide information may be provided to the user in sub-units. The sub-unit of the service guide information is called a fragment. The example of FIG. 1 includes a service fragment, a schedule event fragment, a content fragment, a service bundle fragment, a purchase fragment, a purchase channel fragment and an acquisition fragment. Arrows of FIG. 1 represent reference relationships. In the example of FIG. 1, the service fragment can refer to the service bundle fragment. The numeral described on the arrow denotes information on the number of sub-units. For example, 0...n indicates that the sub-units of 0 to n (n is a natural number) are included.
[29] The service fragment includes a service provided to the user, for example, information on a service such as a television channel. The service bundle fragment includes information on a service bundle. The service bundle may include, for example, a sports service bundle, a cinema service bundle and so on. The content fragment includes metadata of contents. For example, the type of the contents, such as audio/video (AfV), a text and an image of the contents, may be included in the content fragment.
[30] The schedule event fragment includes schedule information of contents included in the service. For example, the schedule event fragment includes the broadcast time of the contents. The purchase fragment includes the purchase information of the service which can be purchased by the user. The purchase channel fragment indicates an interface via which the terminal or the user communicates with a purchase system. The purchase channel fragment includes information on a parameter associated with the purchase system or the management of a purchase channel.
[31] The acquisition fragment includes information associated with the access of the service or the contents. The user can access the service or the contents via the information associated with the acquisition fragment and purchase the service or the contents.
[32] The service guide information may have a layered structure and the sub-unit of the layered structure is called the fragment. The fragment is encoded, at least one fragment unit is encapsulated to build a large unit, and the large unit is transmitted. The encapsulated unit is called a container.
[33] As described above, the service guide information can be acquired from the bootstrap information. Hereinafter, a process of receiving the bootstrap information of the service guide information will be described.
[34]
[35] An IP/MAC notification table (INT) of table information transmitted by at least one section in the broadcast signal includes mapping information between an IP address of an Internet protocol stream and a packet identifier (PI) of a transport stream in the transport stream of the broadcast signal. In the case where the terminal acquires the IP address for receiving the bootstrap information of the service guide information from the INT which is the mapping information of the broadcast signal, the terminal can check the PID including the bootstrap information using a program number in a program map table (PMT) in which the acquired IP address is defined. In the case where the packet corresponding to the PID is is subjected to multiprotocol encapsulation (MPE), the terminal can MPE-decapsulate the packet and acquire the bootstrap information. [36]
[37] FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of representing the bootstrap information for receiving the service guide information in a descriptor format. The bootstrap information of the service guide information provides information on a provider of the service guide information and information which can acquire available service guide information. FIG. 2 shows a descriptor (ESG access descriptor) associated with the acquisition of the service guide information, and FIGs. 3 and 4 show an entry point (ESGEntry) parsed from the descriptor. The descriptor which can acquire the service guide information describes the access to the entry point of the service guide information transmitted via the broadcast channel.
[38] The service guide information transmitted by the bootstrap information shown in
FIG. 2 may be, for example, transmitted according to an asynchronous layered coding/ layered coding transport (ALC/LCT) in a file delivery over unidirectional transport (FLUTE) session operated on an IP protocol. The example of the protocol for delivering the bootstrap information is shown in FIG. 9 in detail.
[39] The terminal can acquire the bootstrap information of the service guide information from the IP address described in the table information (e.g., INT) according to program specification information/service information (PSFS I). For example, the terminal can acquire the bootstrap information from 224.0.23.14 in the case where the IP address is transmitted in an IP version 4 format according to a DVB-H system and from FF0X:0:0:0:0:0:0:12D in the case where the IP address is transmitted in an IP version 6 format. In FIG. 2, n_o_ESGEntries indicates the number of pieces of entry information of the service guide information (the number of ESGEntries).
[40]
[41] FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a field of the entry information (ESGEntry) of the service guide information shown in FIG. 2. In the entry information (ESGEntry) of the service guide information, an "ESGEntry Version" field indicates the version of the entry information (ESGEntry) of the service guide information and may be set to 1. An "ESGEntryLength" field indicates the length of the ESGEntry in byte units. If a "MultipleStreamTransport" field is 1, it is indicated that the IP address is provided via a session announcement channel for implementing the service guide information and the service guide information is provided to a location indicated by the IP address. If the "MultipleStreamTransport" field is 0, it is indicated that all containers of the service guide information are provided to a session for implementing the service guide information. If an "IPVersionβ" field is 1, it is indicated that SourceIP Address and Des- tinationIP Address are set according to the IP version 6.
[42] The bootstrap information may describe access information of the entry information of the service guide information transmitted via the interactive channel as well as the broadcast channel. In the bootstrap information of FIG. 2, a "BroadcastFlag" field is an identifier which can describe whether the service guide information is transmitted via the broadcast channel or the interactive channel. For example, if the "BroadcastFlag" field is 1, the service guide information is transmitted via the broadcast channel and, if the "BroadcastFlag" field is 0, the service guide information is transmitted via the interactive channel.
[43] If the "BroadcastFlag'Tield is 1, a "ProviderID" field which is set after a 5-bit reserved area is the identifier of the provider of the service guide information. The bootstrap information of the service guide information may include SourceIP Address and DestinationIP Address which operate in a session (e.g., the FLUTE session) for transmitting the service guide information according to the value of the "IPVersionβ" field. The SourceIP Addres and DestinationIP Address may be described by IP version 6 or IP version 4 according to the value of the "IPVersionβ" field.
[44] A "Port" field indicates the port of the IP stream of the FLUTE session for transmitting the service guide information and a "TSI" field indicates a transport session identifier of the session for operating the service guide information.
[45] The terminal can acquire the service guide information from the broadcast channel according to the "BroadcastFlag" field of the entry information (ESGEntry) of the service guide information.
[46] If the service guide information is received from the interactive channel when the
"BroadcastFlag" field is 0, a 2-bit "Mode" field indicates the mode information for setting a relationship between the service guide information received from the interactive channel and the service guide information received from the broadcast channel. For example, if the "Mode" field is 00, it is indicated that the service guide information received from the broadcast channel is replaced with the service guide information received from the interactive channel. If the "Mode" field is 01, it is indicated that the service guide information of the interactive channel is added to the service guide information received from the broadcast channel. If the "Mode" field is 00 or 01, it is indicated that the service guide information is transmitted in container units or fragment units. If the "Mode" field is 10 or 11, it is indicated that the service guide information received from the broadcast channel is preferential, that is, the service guide information is generated using only the service guide information received from the broadcast channel. The service guide information may be received in container units or fragment units according to the mode.
[47] If the service guide information is received from the interactive channel, a
"FileDescURL" field indicates the positional information of the description information of a file including the service guide information and a "FileDes- cURLLength" field indicates the length of the description information. A "RequestURL" field indicates the positional information of the service guide information in the case where the service guide information is received from the inactive channel in container units or fragment units, and a "RequestURLLength" field indicates the length of the positional information. Accordingly, in the case where the terminal receives the service guide information from the interactive channel, the description of the service guide information is received from the "FileDescURL" field in file units and the service guide information is received from the "RequestURL" field in predetermined units, for example, fragment units or container units. Hereinafter, a broadcast communication system for transmitting/receiving the service guide information or the bootstrap information of the service guide information shown in FIGs. 2 to 4 will be described.
[48]
[49] FIGs. 4 and 5 are views showing description information of the service guide information which can be acquired by the terminal in the case where the service guide information is acquired. The container indicates a transmission object for transmitting the service guide information. If the container is transmitted in fragment units, data transmission and data processing are efficient. Since the service guide information is transmitted in container units or fragment units, the container may become an element of the service guide information.
[50] The description information of the service guide information may be generated in the form of a file including the information shown in FIGs. 4 and 5. In the case where the container includes at least one fragment, the description information of the service guide information may include the description information of the container and the description information of the fragment. Alternatively, the description information of the service guide information may hierarchically include the description information of the fragment under the description information of the container. The examples of FIGs. 4 and 5 indicate the description information of the service guide information in an extensible markup language (XML), that is, the information indicating an example in which the description information of the container (of which the element name is the container) includes the description information of the fragment (of which the element name is the fragment).
[51] The description information of the container may include at least one of an identifier
(ID) of the description information of the container (a), the version of the description information of the container (b), the encoding type of a file including the description information of the container (c), an original length of the file before encoding (d) and a transfer length of the file after encoding (e).
[52] The description information of the service guide information may include the ID and the version type as the attributes. The ID is the identifier of the description information and the version type is the version of the description information.
[53] Meanwhile, the description information of the fragment may be included in the description information of the container. In FIG. 4, the type of the fragment element is defined by FragmentType in the container element. The FragmentType may follow the example of FIG. 5. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the description information of the container may include the description information of the fragment.
[54] The description information of the fragment includes at least one of the identifier
(ID) of the description information of the fragment (a), the version of the description information of the fragment (b), and the type of the description information of the fragment (c).
[55] Accordingly, as shown in FIGs. 3 and 4, in the case where the terminal receives the container and the fragment via the interactive channel, the terminal can acquire the description information of the service guide information which can be acquired via the interactive channel as shown in FIGs. 4 and 5. Alternatively, the terminal may receive the description information of the service guide information shown in FIGs. 4 and 5.
[56]
[57] Hereinafter, a broadcast communication system for delivering the service guide information will be described. FIG. 6 is a view showing an embodiment of an apparatus for transmitting contents. The embodiment of the apparatus for transmitting contents will be described with reference to FIG. 6. In the example of FIG. 6, it is assumed that the contents are transmitted via a broadcast service.
[58] The broadcast system shown in FIG. 6 includes encoders 310, 320 and 330, a multiplexer 340 and a modulating and encoding unit 350. The encoders include a first encoder 310, a second encoder 320 and a third encoder 330.
[59] The first encoder 310 can encode the contents such as audio, video and data according to, for example, a transmission/reception protocol of an MPEG-2 transport stream (TS). The data including the service guide information may be transmitted in units including the IP address. The second encoder 320 can encode the data including the service guide information in an IP datagram format. The IP datagram indicates a signal processing format for transmitting a signal by an Internet protocol (IP) packet and may include a header including the IP address and a data container for transmitting information. In the IP datagram of the packet unit, the data container may include data such as video, audio and service guide data. That is, in the example of FIG. 6, the video signal, the audio signal and the data signal are divided by packet units, and compressed and transmitted by an IP datacasting method.
[60] The IP data may be encapsulated by the MPE and embedded in the MPEG-2 TS. The
MPE may be MPE-FEC section data to which a forward error correction (FEC) code is added. If the transmitted signal is arranged by the MPE-FEC, a carrier-to-noise (CN) ratio of the transmitted signal can be improved. The MPE-FEC data including the FEC or the MPE data including no FEC may include the transmitted signal of the IP data format.
[61] The second encoder 320 may multiplex the IP datagram encapsulated by the MPE using a time slicing method in order to decrease power consumption. The multiplexed signal is converted into the transport stream and multiplexed with the MPEG-2 TS packet in which the video or audio signal is carried.
[62] The second encoder 320 may encode the service guide information. The second encoder 320 may encode the description information of at least one of the container and the fragment as shown in FIGs. 4 and 5.
[63] The third encoder 330 may encode the multiplexed information of the stream packet associated with the program or the service. The multiplexed information includes table information on PSFSI. The table information encoded by the third encoder 330 may include INT including mapping information between the PID including the IP datagram encoded by the second encoder 320 and the IP address of the IP datagram.
[64] The multiplexer 340 may multiplex and output the transport packets output from the first encoder 310, the second encoder 320 and the third encoder 330, and the modulating and encoding unit 350 may modulate and encode the multiplexed signal and transmit the encoded signal.
[65] The multiplexer 340 multiplexes the packet data encoded by the first encoder 310, the second encoder 320 and the third encoder 330 and outputs the multiplexed signal, and the modulating and encoding unit 350 modulates and encodes the multiplexed signal according to a transmission system and transmits a radio frequency (RF) signal. The modulating and encoding unit 350 may use the various modulating methods and the various encoding methods of the broadcast system, for example, a DMB method, a DVB-H method, a VSB method and an ISDB-T method. The detailed example of the modulating and encoding unit 350 will be shown in FIG. 7 in detail.
[66]
[67] FIG. 7 is a view showing the modulating and encoding unit shown in FIG. 6. In FIG.
6, the modulating and encoding method may use, for example, a digital video broadcasting-terrestrial/handheld (DVB -T/H) method.
[68] A first encoder 410 includes an outer coder 411 and an outer interleaver 412. The first encoder 410 may code and interleave multiplexed data in order to improve transmission capability of the multiplexed signal. For example, a Reed-Solomon coding method may be used as the outer coding method and a convolution interleaving method may be performed as the interleaving method.
[69] A second encoder 420 includes an inner encoder 421 and an inner interleaver 422.
The inner coder 421 and the inner interleaver 422 code and interleave a signal to be transmitted in order to prevent an error from occurring in the transmitted signal. The inner coder may code the transmitted signal according to a punctured convolution code. As the inner interleaving method, a native interleaving method or an in-depth interleaving method may be used according the use of a memory based on transmission modes of 2k, 4k and 8k.
[70] A mapper 430 may map the transmitted signal to a symbol according to formats such as 16QAM, 640QAM and QPSK in consideration of a transmission-mode-based pilot signal generated by a system signal generator 425 and a transmission parameter signaling (TPS).
[71] A frame builder 440 modulates the mapped signal by an orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) method and builds a frame in which a guard zone is inserted in a data zone including the modulating signal. Each frame includes 68 OFDM symbols and four frames build a super frame. Each symbol includes 6817 carriers in the 8k mode and includes 1705 carriers in the 2k mode. The guard zone is a cyclic continuation in which the data of the data zone is duplicated, and the length thereof may vary according to the transmission mode. The OFDM frame includes a scattered pilot signal, a continual pilot signal and a TPS carrier. The example of the signal frame built by the frame builder of FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. 8.
[72] A digital/analog converter 450 converts a digital broadcast signal having the guard zone and the data zone into an analog signal, and a transmitter 460 transmits the analog signal converted by the digital/analog converter 450 by the RF signal.
[73]
[74] FIG. 8 is a view showing a signal arrangement according to a result of building a frame by a frame builder in the example of FIG. 7. In FIG. 8, Tu denotes the number of effective useful carriers, Dt denotes a distance between the scattered pilots in a time direction, and Df denotes a distance between the scattered pilots in a frequency direction. The distance Df between the scattered pilots in the frequency direction decides a delay range of ghost which can be estimated in a channel. FIG. 8 shows a location where the signal is interpolated when the terminal receives the signal built by the frame builder.
[75] In the case where the signal arranged as shown in FIG. 8 is received, time interpolation is performed at a pilot location and symbols are arranged such that the same pilot pattern appears every four symbols. That is, if the same scattered pilot signal as a symbol which is input at t=5 is arranged in a symbol which is first input (t=l), the terminal which receives the signal can perform the time interpolation with respect to the symbols received at t=2, 3 and 4 at the locations of the scattered pilot signals.
[76] Since a symbol which is input at t=6 has the same scattered pilot pattern as the symbol which is input at t=2, the terminal which receives the signal may perform the time interpolation with respect to the signals of t=3, 4 and 5 on the scattered pilot locations of the symbol which is input at t=6 and the symbol which is input at t=2.
[77] If the time interpolation is performed by the above-described method after the symbol is input at t=7 at the time of the reception of the signal, since the scattered pilots are located at every four carrier locations in the symbol which is input at t=4, the interval between the scattered pilot signals in the frequency direction of the symbol which is input at t=4 is reduced to 1/4 of the original interval between the scattered pilot signals, and the symbol which is input at t=4 has a pattern in which the scattered pilot signal is located at every four carrier locations. Accordingly, the terminal which receives the signal can obtain the effect that the signal can be processed as if a larger amount of pilot signals is located at the symbol. Accordingly, if the signal is transmitted using the continual pilot signal and the scattered pilot signal, it is possible to adaptively compensate for the channel according to the status of the reception channel at the time of the reception of the signal.
[78]
[79] FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of transmitting a broadcast program, contents and data via a channel. A service using a DVB-H type slicing method and a service transmitted via a common channel of the DVB_T and the DVB-H may be transmitted by the broadcast system shown in FIGs. 6 and 7. A program may be transmitted via the channels of the DVB-H and the DVB-T, and, according to the DVB-H, the program is time-divisionally multiplexed and transmitted by time slicing method. The contents including the video/audio and the service guide information may be included in the IP datagram by the DVB-H system and processed by the MPE or MPE-FEC, and the MPEG-2 TS in which the MPE or MPE-FEC is embedded may be transmitted.
[80]
[81] FIG. 10 is a view showing an apparatus for receiving the service guide information.
The apparatus for receiving the service guide information will be described with reference to FIG. 10. The apparatus for receiving the contents via the service guide includes a receiving unit, an input unit 530, a memory 550, an output unit 560 and a controller 600. The receiving unit may include a broadcast receiving unit 510 for receiving a signal from a broadcast channel and a communication unit 520 for receiving a signal from an interactive channel and transmitting a signal to the interactive channel. For example, the interactive channel of the communication unit 520 may be a wired/wireless channel for realizing bidirectional data communication.
[82] The broadcast receiving unit 510 receives and demodulates a broadcast signal and outputs the demodulated signal. For example, the broadcast receiving unit 510 may include a tuner for receiving the DVB-H broadcast signal and a demodulator for demodulating a DVB signal frame according to the OFDM method. When the apparatus for receiving the service guide information receives the service guide information, the description information of the service guide information may be included in the broadcast signal received by the broadcast receiving unit 510. Since the service guide information may be received via the interactive channel, the description information of the service guide information may be included in the signal received by the communication unit 520.
[83] The broadcast receiving unit 510 and the communication unit 520 output the received signals to the controller 600.
[84] The controller 600 may include a system decoder 610, a decoder 620, a service guide controller 630 and a communication system codec 670. The controller 600 may control the peripheral functional blocks shown in FIG. 10 and process control commands received from the user.
[85]
[86] FIG. 11 is a view showing the system decoder 610 of FIG. 10.
[87] The system decoder 610 may process the broadcast signal received from the broadcast receiving unit 510. The system decoder 610 may include an IP decapsulator 611, a user datagram protocol (UDP) decoder 612, a RTP decoder 613, a FLUTE decoder 614, a container parser 615, a BiM parser 616 and an XML parser 617.
[88] The system decoder 610 decodes content data transmitted in real time according to a decoding scheme. In addition, the system decoder may decode content data of a file format or data related to the service guide information.
[89] An example of decoding the content data transmitted in real time by the system decoder 610 will now be described. The IP decapsulator 611 decapsulates data included in a pay load by referring to a header of an IP packet. The UDP decoder 612 can acquire the content data transmitted in real time from the decapsulated payload. The RTP decoder 613 controls a coding rate of the content data decoded by the UDP decoder 612 using a RTP control protocol (RTCP) and outputs coded content data. The audio/video signal output from the RTP decoder 613 may be decoded by the decoder 620 for decoding the audio/video signal.
[90] In the case where the system decoder 610 decodes the service guide data of the file format, the FLUTE decoder 614 decodes the received signal and outputs a file obtained by decoding the data in a FLUTE (IETF RFC3926) format, for example, a file of binary data, image data and text or service guide information.
[91] The container parser 615 decodes a container-based file of the service guide information and outputs the decoded file. If the result output from the container parser is data of a BiM format, the BiM parser 616 decodes the data and transmits the decoded data to the XML parser 617. The XML parser 617 may decode the file of the XML format output from the container parser 615 or the BiM parser 617. [92] The system decoder 610 and the communication system codec 670 may decode the description information of the service guide information shown in FIG. 5 in predetermined sequence. For example, the system decoder 610 may decode the description information of the service guide information via the broadcast signal even when the service guide information is generated in a file format based on the XML and encapsulated according to the FLUTE.
[93] The decoder 620 may include a video decoder, an audio decoder, and a data decoder for deciding MPEG-2 TS data. The video decoder may decode, for example, video data of a H.264 format and the audio decoder may decode, for example, audio data of an ACC+ format.
[94] The service guide controller 630 receives the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information decoded by the system decoder 610 and outputs them via an application. The service guide controller 630 may receive channel map information from the service guide information and store it in a channel map storage unit 633. An application 635 associated with the service guide information, for example, a browser is operated such that the service guide information is processed and output.
[95] The memory 550 may store the service guide information or file information. In addition, the memory may store the data decoded by the decoder 620. The input unit 530 may receive the control commands input by the user and output it to the controller 600. The output unit 560 may output the audio or video signal output from the controller 600. The application operated by the controller 600 can output an image and sound. For example, the application for the service guide information can provide the service guide information to the user.
[96] The controller 600 may include the communication system codec 670 so as to realize transmission/reception with the interactive channel. The communication system codec 670 may encode a signal to be transmitted to the interactive channel or decode a signal received from the interactive channel via the communication unit 520. The communication unit 520 may demodulate the signal when the signal is received via the interactive channel, and may receive, modulate and output the encoded signal when the communication system codec 670 outputs the encoded signal. The modulating and encoding method of the communication system codec 670 may follow the modulating and encoding method of the communication system which can realize the bidirectional data communication according to the interactive channel. Accordingly, in the case where the service guide information is acquired via the interactive channel, the terminal can receive the description information of the container and the fragment of the service guide information. The terminal can receive the description information of the container and the fragment shown in FIGs. 4 and 5 via the interactive channel. [97]
[98] FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a protocol stack in the case where the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information are delivered by the DVB-H. In the protocol stack, if the service guide information is delivered according to the DVB-T/H 710, the delivered signal follows a protocol 720 associated with the transport stream defined by the DVB. According to the DVB-H, the transport stream may follow a time slicing rule 725 and may include a signal of an MPE or an MPE-FEC format (729). PSI/SI information may be delivered via the transport stream. A signal of an IP datagram format 730 may be included in the transport stream. The data according to the IP datagram follows the UDP 740 or TCP rule. Among the contents delivered by the UDP, the contents transmitted/received in a real-time streaming format follows the RTP 750 and the contents delivered in the file format follows the FLUTE/ ALC. The contents of the streaming format according to the RTP 750 may be transmitted according to H.264/AAC+. The contents delivered in the file format may become data of an XML, a binary and a text or service guide information according to XML/SDP. The XML is an object-oriented language, and the service guide information or the description information of the service guide information may be transmitted in a state of being included in a layered signal in object units via the FLUTE. The description information of the service guide information is shown in FIGs. 4 and 5.
[99]
[100] FIG. 13 is a view showing an embodiment of a method of transmitting/receiving service guide information according to the present invention. The embodiment of the method of transmitting/receiving the service guide information according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 13.
[101] The service guide information and the description information of the service guide information received via the interactive channel are encoded (Sl 10). The description information of the service guide information may be generated in the IP datagram format and encoded according to the ALC/FLUTE and UDP format. The example of the description information of the service guide information may refer to FIGs. 4 and 5. The process of encoding the service guide information and the description information of the service guide information is shown in FIG. 6.
[102] The encoded description information of the service guide information is multiplexed according to a transmission system, the multiplexed signal is encoded and modulated, and the modulated signal is transmitted (S 120). The process of encoding, modulating and transmitting the signal according to the transmission system may refer to FIGs. 6 and 7.
[103] The signal including the description information of the service guide information received via the interactive channel is received (S 130). The received signal is demodulated and decoded and the service guide information is output (S 140). The process of receiving, demodulating and outputting the description information of the service guide information may refer to FIGs. 10 and 11. Accordingly, if the terminal acquires the service guide information from the interactive channel, the user can easily receive the description information of the service guide information and use the service guide information received from the interactive channel. Mode for the Invention
[104] The embodiments of the present invention are described in the best mode of the present invention. Industrial Applicability
[105] The present invention has an industrial applicability capable of transmitting/receiving contents using service guide information in broadcast and communication fields.

Claims

Claims
[1] An apparatus for receiving service guide information, the apparatus comprising: a receiving unit which receives and demodulates a signal including description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel; a controller which decodes the signal demodulated by the receiving unit and controls the service guide information including the description information of the service guide information to be output; and an output unit which outputs the description information of the service guide information under the control of the controller.
[2] The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the description information of the service guide information includes at least one of an identifier of description information of a container, the name of a file including the description information of the container, a packet identifier of a packet including the file including the description information of the container, an encoding type of the file including the description information of the container, an original length of the file before encoding, and a transfer length of the file after encoding.
[3] An apparatus for transmitting service guide information, the apparatus comprising: an encoder which encodes description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel; a multiplexer which multiplexes the service guide information including the encoded description information and content data and outputs the multiplexed signal; and a modulating and encoding unit which modulates, encodes, and transmits the multiplexed signal.
[4] The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the description information of the service guide information includes at least one of an identifier of description information of a container, the name of a file including the description information of the container, a packet identifier of a packet including the file including the description information of the container, an encoding type of the file including the description information of the container, an original length of the file before encoding, and a transfer length of the file after encoding.
[5] A method of receiving service guide information, the method comprising: receiving and demodulating a signal including description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel; decoding the demodulated signal and controlling the service guide information including the description information of the service guide information to be output; and outputting the description information of the service guide information by the control.
[6] A method of receiving service guide information, the method comprising: receiving and demodulating a signal including description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel; decoding the demodulated signal and controlling the service guide information including the description information of the service guide information to be output; and outputting the description information of the service guide information by the control.
[7] A method of transmitting service guide information, the method comprising: encoding description information of the service guide information received via an interactive channel; multiplexing the service guide information including the encoded description information and content data and outputting the multiplexed signal; and modulating, encoding and transmitting the multiplexed signal and transmitting the encoded signal.
[8] The method according to claim 7, wherein the description information of the service guide information includes at least one of an identifier of description information of a container, the name of a file including the description information of the container, a packet identifier of a packet including the file including the description information of the container, an encoding type of the file including the description information of the container, an original length of the file before encoding, and a transfer length of the file after encoding.
PCT/KR2008/002777 2007-05-18 2008-05-19 Method of receiving service guide information and apparatus for receiving service guide information WO2008143445A2 (en)

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WO2008143445A3 (en) 2009-01-15

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