WO2011076146A1

WO2011076146A1 - Method for downloading application data, digital television reception terminal and system

Info

Publication number: WO2011076146A1
Application number: PCT/CN2010/080244
Authority: WO
Inventors: 刘卫星; 何安松
Original assignee: 深圳市同洲电子股份有限公司
Priority date: 2009-12-25
Filing date: 2010-12-24
Publication date: 2011-06-30
Also published as: CN101795392B; CN101795392A

Abstract

A method for downloading application data includes the following steps: sending an application list version number request to an application download proxy server of a digital television system; receiving a latest application list version number returned by the application download proxy server; comparing whether the local list version number is same with the latest application list version number; if they are not same, then requesting for obtaining the updated application data from the application download server. The embodiments of the present invention also disclose a digital television reception terminal, an application management system and a digital television system. By implementing the present invention, a network load and a load of the application download server are reduced.

Description

Method for downloading application data, digital television receiving terminal and system

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 200910239026.0, entitled "Method of Downloading Application Data, Digital Television Receiving Terminal and System", filed on December 25, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Combined in this application. Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communication applications, and in particular, to a method for downloading application data, a digital television receiving terminal, an application management system, and a digital television system. Background technique

The existing digital television receiving terminal generally downloads an application list from an application download server in the digital television system through a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), compares the application list with the local application list, and determines whether to execute the application. Update or upgrade. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a method for downloading application data by a digital television receiving terminal in the prior art, which specifically includes the following steps:

S101: The digital television receiving terminal requests an application list from the application download server by using a timed loop mechanism;

S102: The application download server returns application list data to the digital television receiving terminal.

S103: The digital television receiving terminal compares the returned application list data with the local list, and if the comparison needs to download the application list, proceed to S104;

S104: The digital television receiving terminal sends a download application request to the application download server.

S105: the application download server traverses the application list, and downloads the application data that needs to be downloaded; S106: the digital television receiving terminal receives the application data returned by the application download server;

S107: The digital television receiving terminal updates or installs application data;

S108: The digital television receiving terminal updates the local list.

It should be noted that before the digital TV receiving terminal performs the upgrade and download of the application, the digital television receiving terminal needs to obtain the description information of the application from the application download server in the digital television system, and the information is generally saved in the application list. Describes the name, ID, version number, application download address, etc. of all downloadable apps. Under normal circumstances, the digital TV receiving terminal will periodically pass HTTP. The protocol requests the application download server to return the application list data to the application download server in the digital television system. After comparing the application data to be downloaded, the application download server is requested to download the application through the HTTP protocol, so as to upgrade and update the application data.

However, the application list data and application data in the prior art are saved in the application download server. The digital television receiving terminal periodically downloads the application list data to the application server. After comparing with the local inventory data, if a new application update needs to be downloaded, the application server needs to download the application data, thereby increasing the application download server. The load requirement, and the application download server also receives the list of requested applications in the digital television receiving terminal, which affects the download speed of the downloaded application data. Summary of the invention

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method and system for downloading application data by a digital television receiving terminal, and a digital television receiving terminal, which solves the load of the existing application download server by storing the application version number data and the application data in different data. Heavy problem.

In order to achieve the above technical effects, the embodiment of the present invention provides a method for downloading application data, including:

Sending an application manifest version number request to an application download proxy server in the digital television system; receiving a latest application manifest version number returned by the application download proxy server;

Comparing whether the local manifest version number is the same as the latest application manifest version number;

If not, the application download server is requested to obtain updated application data.

Correspondingly, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a digital television receiving terminal, including:

a first requesting unit, configured to send an application inventory version number request to an application download proxy server in the digital television system;

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a latest application manifest version number returned by the application download proxy server;

The analyzing unit is configured to compare whether the local manifest version number is the same as the latest application manifest version number; when the manifest version number is different, request the application download server to obtain the application data to be updated. Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an application management system, including:

The application download proxy server is configured to receive an application manifest version number request sent by the digital television receiving terminal, and return the latest application list version number to the digital television receiving terminal;

An application download server, configured to receive a download application data request sent by the digital television receiving terminal, and return the updated application data to the digital television receiving terminal;

Receiving a digital television receiving terminal, for updating or installing the acquired updated application data after acquiring the updated application data, and updating the local application manifest version number.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention also provide a digital television system including the application management system as described above.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the digital television receiving terminal first obtains the application list version number from the download proxy server, and compares with the local application list version number after obtaining the application list version number. If the version numbers are the same, the number is The television receiving terminal does not need to request the application download server to obtain the updated application data, and the processing manner reduces the number of times the digital television receiving terminal accesses the application download server, thereby reducing the network load of the application download server. DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only It is a certain embodiment of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained from those skilled in the art without any inventive labor.

1 is a flow chart of a method for downloading application data by a digital television receiving terminal in the prior art; FIG. 2 is a flow chart of updating application data in an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart of a method for downloading application data in a technique in an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a digital television system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a digital television receiving terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description

In order to make the technical problems, the technical solutions and the beneficial effects of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The digital television receiving terminal of the embodiment of the present invention mainly sends an application manifest version number request to an application download proxy server in the digital television system; and receives an update from the application download proxy server in the digital television system according to the application manifest version number request. Applying a manifest version number; analyzing whether the local manifest version number is the same as the latest application manifest version number; if the local manifest version number is the same as the latest application manifest version number, sending an application to the digital television system Downloading the request; if the local manifest version number is different from the latest application manifest version number, requesting the updated application data from the application download server in the digital television system.

In detail, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an update application data in an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart mainly relates to synchronously transmitting application data and an application manifest version number to an application download proxy server and an application when an administrator uploads application data. In the process of downloading the server, the following steps are included:

S201: The application management server receives the application data uploaded by the operator;

S202: The application management server traverses all the uploaded application data, and generates an application manifest file.

S203: The application management server generates an application manifest version number.

S204: The application management server transmits the application manifest file to the application download proxy server.

S205: The application management server transmits the application manifest file and the application data to the application download server. It should be noted that S204 and S205 are performed synchronously, and there is no strict order constraint after S203. When the front-end operator uploads the application to the application management server, after the application management server traverses all the uploaded applications, generates an application manifest file, where the application manifest file carries the application list version number and the type number of the digital television receiving terminal, and the application manifest file Each time the version number is updated, it will be updated, for example, the version number is incremented by 1. The application management server transmits the application manifest file and application data to the application download server; and transfers the application manifest file to the application download proxy server. The application manifest file and the application manifest version number have the following relationship: Different terminals download different applications, and the application management server assigns a type number identifier to each type of terminal according to the agreed rules, for example: STB_TYPE_ID, for The type number identifier generates an application manifest file, and each application manifest file has its own version number.

The application manifest file format here can be as follows: The application manifest file will save the STB_TYPE_ID and the version number correspondingly, and the format is as follows: I STB_ TYPE_ID | VER | STB TYPE ID I VER |... Where: STB— TYPE—ID and VER are both expressed in hexadecimal numbers.

If there are currently three types of digital TV receiving terminals, the types are STB— TYPE—ID=1, STB— TYPE—ID=2, STB— TYPE—ID=3; the corresponding versions are 1, 3, 12; The generated version number file is: 00010001000200030003000C, where: the first 0001 represents Model STB with type ID 1 - TYPE - ID = 1, the second 0001 represents the version number of the model with type ID 1 and the model number is 1 for the type ID. 0002 represents the model STB with type ID 2 - TYPE - ID = 2 The first 0003 represents the version number of the model with the type ID of 2, and the second 0003 represents the model with the type ID of 3, STB_TYPE_ID=3, 000C represents the version number of the model with the type ID of 3 is 12.

The application manifest file format here can be as follows: The file name format is as follows: AppList. STB_ TYPE—ID

For example, there are currently three types of digital television receiving terminals, the types are STB_TYPE_ID=1, STB_TYPE_ID=2, STB_TYPE-ID=3, and the generated application manifest files are: AppLisU, AppList. 2, Applist.3.

It can be seen from the above text that the application manifest file and the application manifest file can be matched according to the digital television receiving terminal type STB_TYPE_ID.

Correspondingly, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for downloading application data in an embodiment of the present invention. The application download proxy server and the application download server have synchronously established related application data and application list version numbers in the manner of flowchart 2. Data and so on, the specific program includes the following steps:

S301: The digital television receiving terminal requests the application download proxy server to apply the manifest version number. It should be noted that the digital television receiving terminal of the embodiment sends the application to the digital television system by using a UDP protocol command, or a TCP protocol command, or an HTTP protocol command. The manifest version number request, of course, can also be sent to the digital television system via other agreed communication protocols.

The digital television receiving terminal requests the application list from the application download server of the digital television system. The version number instruction is: I STB — TYPE — ID I CMD VER |CRC |, where:

STB— TYPE—ID occupies 4 bytes, indicating the ID value of the terminal model of the digital TV receiving terminal. Each model of the terminal corresponds to an ID value, and the application download proxy server returns the version number of the application corresponding to the model according to the ID value. In the future, if you need to add a new model, you can add an ID value without modifying the existing model.

CMD - VER occupies 4 bytes, indicating the version number of the "Request Application List Version Number" instruction. If you want to modify the order in the future, judge by the version number. For example, if the request instruction is modified to I STB TYPE ID I STB_ID | VER | CRC |, the VER field can be used to judge the instruction well. Whether the update is performed; the application download server provides different processing methods for different versions of the terminal according to the field, and fully achieves forward compatibility of the protocol;

The CRC occupies 4 bytes, and the cyclic redundancy check of the data before it prevents the system from processing the erroneous data in the transmission.

In this embodiment, the digital television receiving terminal can transmit an application manifest version number request to the digital television system through a preset timing transmission mechanism.

S302: The application download proxy server returns the application list version number to the digital television receiving terminal. It should be noted that the TCP protocol or the HTTP protocol may be used in steps S301 and S302. Since UDP is a connectionless protocol, it occupies less server system resources. In the case where the real-time application downloading requirements are not too high, the UDP protocol is used. Although the UDP protocol has data packet loss, it passes the CRC value check. The correctness of the data can be guaranteed. The TCP and HTTP protocols are network protocols that are connected to each other. Compared with UDP, they consume more system resources, but TCP is a reliable protocol and data integrity is guaranteed.

The application download proxy server of the digital television system returns a data packet format to the digital television receiving terminal as: I VERSION | CRC |, where:

VERSION: 4 bytes, indicating the version number corresponding to STBTYPE-ID;

CRC: 4 bytes, cyclic redundancy check on the data before it

When the application download proxy server is started or after the application manifest file is updated, the application download proxy server reads the file content into the memory and calculates the CRC value of the corresponding data; after receiving the digital television receiving terminal requesting the application list version number instruction, The STBTYPE_ID in the instruction is matched with the STBTYPE_ID of the in-memory application manifest file, and the data packet is returned to the digital television receiving terminal.

S303: The digital television receiving terminal compares the returned application list version number with the locally saved application list version number. If the version number is different, the S304 is required, otherwise the S304 is not performed, and the exit is performed;

S304: The digital television receiving terminal sends a download application list request to the application download server. Specifically, when the digital television receiving terminal returns the returned application list version number and the locally saved application list version number, the digital television receiving terminal downloads the server to the application. Sending a download application list request, the request including a digital television receiving terminal type number.

S305: The application download server returns application list data to the digital television receiving terminal. S306: The digital television receiving terminal compares the received application list with a local application or a locally saved application list, calculates an application to be downloaded, and obtains a list of applications to be updated;

S307: The digital television receiving terminal sends a request for downloading application data to the application download server. It should be noted that, in step S307, in order to fully consider the scalability and maintainability of the system, the UDP protocol command is taken as an example for description, and the digital television is used. The receiving terminal sends a request for downloading the application data to the application download server according to the application list to be updated obtained in step S306, where the request includes the digital TV receiving terminal type number and the application data link to be downloaded corresponding to the digital television receiving terminal type number.

S308: traverse the application list to find the application data to be downloaded;

Specifically, the application download server traverses the application list after receiving the request for downloading the application data sent by the digital television receiving terminal, and searches for the digital television receiving terminal to download according to the application data link corresponding to the digital television receiving terminal type number in the application data. Application data.

S309: The application download server returns application data to the digital television receiving terminal.

It should be noted that, in S304 to S309, the digital television receiving terminal establishes a communication connection with the application download server through the HTTP protocol, downloads the application list to the application download server, and downloads the application data to be updated, and the like.

S310: The digital television receiving terminal updates or installs application data;

S311: The digital television receiving terminal updates the local list.

It should be noted that the digital television receiving terminal accumulates the original application list version number 1 to obtain a new application list version number.

It can be seen from the flow in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 that the digital television receiving terminal needs to first obtain the list version number from the application download proxy server, and the digital television receiving terminal does not access the application download server when the version numbers are the same. This processing method reduces the number of times the digital television receiving terminal accesses the application download server and reduces the load of the application download server. The interaction between the digital TV receiving terminal and the proxy server reduces the network bandwidth load because the amount of data of the version number of the application list is much less than the entire application list. The request packet initiated by the UDP protocol has only 10 bytes, and the response packet has 8 bytes, so the space occupied by the packet is small, and is convenient to be transmitted through the network. The CRC redundancy check in the packet can effectively verify the data. In the network, UDP is a connectionless network protocol. Under the premise that the real-time application downloading update is not high, UDP can effectively reduce the performance requirements of the server. Reduce system costs.

Correspondingly, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a network architecture of a digital television system in an embodiment of the present invention, where the network architecture includes:

An application management server 40, which mainly provides an operation interface for an operator to receive application data uploaded by an operator, and assigns a digital television receiving terminal type number to the digital television receiving terminal, according to the assigned digital television The final type number generates an application manifest file, the application manifest file carries an application manifest version number and a digital television receiving terminal type number, and sends the application manifest file to the application download proxy server 41 and the application download server 42;

The application download proxy server 41 is configured to receive an application manifest file sent by the application management server 40, and receive an application manifest version from the terminal (here, the digital television receiving terminal 43, the digital television receiving terminal 44, and the digital television receiving terminal 45 are taken as an example). Request, and return the latest application manifest version number to the terminal according to the request;

The application download server 42 is configured to receive a download application data request sent by the digital television receiving terminal, and return the updated application data to the digital television receiving terminal according to the download application data request; or for downloading the application list according to the digital television receiving terminal. Data request, returning application list data;

The digital television receiving terminal (such as the digital television receiving terminal 43, the digital television receiving terminal 44, and the digital television receiving terminal 45) is configured to send an application list version number request to the application downloading proxy server 41 in the digital television system to receive the digital television system. The application download proxy server 41 requests the latest application manifest version number returned according to the application manifest version number; analyzes whether the local manifest version number is the same as the latest application manifest version number; analyzes the local manifest version number and the latest application manifest When the version number is the same, the application download request is not sent to the digital television system; when it is analyzed that the local list version number is different from the latest application list version number, the server is downloaded to the application in the digital television system.

42 requesting to obtain the application data to be updated; or sending the download application list request to the application download server 42 in the digital television system when the local list version number is different from the latest application list version number, and the received application list and Compare the list of applications with local applications or locally saved, calculate the applications that need to be downloaded, and get a list of applications to be updated.

Correspondingly, FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a digital television receiving terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. The digital television receiving terminal includes: The first requesting unit 501 is configured to send an application manifest version number request to an application download proxy server in the digital television system;

It should be noted that the request unit 501 here sends an application manifest version number request to the digital television system through a UDP protocol command, or a TCP protocol command, or an HTTP protocol command. The request unit 501 transmits an application manifest version number request to the digital television system through a preset timing transmission mechanism.

The first receiving unit 502 is configured to receive, by the application download proxy server in the digital television system, a latest application manifest version number returned according to the application manifest version number request;

The analyzing unit 503 is configured to analyze whether the comparison local list version number is the same as the latest application list version number;

a second requesting unit 504, configured to send a downloading application list request to the application downloading server, a second receiving unit 505, configured to receive application list data returned by the application downloading server, and a comparing unit 506, configured to send the second receiving unit 505 The received application list is compared with the local application or the locally saved application list, and the application to be downloaded is calculated to obtain the application list to be updated. The processing unit 507 is configured to analyze the local list version number and the location in the analyzing unit 503. When the latest application list version number is the same, the application download request is not sent to the digital television system; and when the analysis unit analyzes that the local list version number is different from the latest application list version number, the digital television is The application download server in the system requests to obtain the application data to be updated.

Further, the digital television receiving terminal further includes:

The update installation unit 508 is configured to update or install the obtained updated application data after acquiring the updated application data, and update the local manifest version number.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present invention further provides an application management system, where the system includes an application download proxy server and an application download proxy server, and the application download proxy server is configured to receive an application manifest version number request sent by the digital television receiving terminal. And returning the latest application manifest version number to the digital television receiving terminal according to the application manifest version number request. The application download server is configured to receive a download application data request sent by the digital television receiving terminal, and return the updated application data to the digital television receiving terminal according to the downloading the application data request; or to download the application list data according to the digital television receiving terminal. Request, return application list data.

In summary, the embodiment of the present invention implements the digital television receiving terminal first to download the proxy server. Obtaining the application manifest version number, and comparing with the local application manifest version number after obtaining the application manifest version number, if the two version numbers are the same, the digital television receiving terminal does not need to request the application download server to obtain the updated application data. This processing method reduces the number of times the digital television receiving terminal accesses the application download server, thereby reducing the network load of the application download server. The interaction between the digital TV receiving terminal and the proxy server, because the version number data volume is much less than the application list, will reduce the network bandwidth load. The request packet initiated by the UDP protocol has only 10 bytes, and the response packet has 8 bytes, so the space occupied by the packet is small, and is convenient to be transmitted through the network. The CRC redundancy check in the packet can effectively verify the data. In the network, UDP is a connectionless network protocol. Under the premise that the real-time requirements of application download updates are not high, UDP can effectively reduce the performance requirements of the server and reduce the system cost.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Therefore, the equivalent changes made by the claims of the present invention are still within the scope of the present invention. The digital television receiving terminal includes but is not limited to: a set top box, a digital television integrated machine, a television mobile phone and the like having a function of receiving digital television.

Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present invention can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary hardware platform, and of course, all can be implemented by hardware. Based on such understanding, all or part of the technical solution of the present invention contributing to the background art may be embodied in the form of a software product, which may be stored in a storage medium such as a ROM/RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or the like. A number of instructions are included to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform the methods described in various embodiments of the present invention or portions of the embodiments.

Claims

Rights request

A method for downloading application data, comprising:

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

Generating an application manifest file according to the digital television receiving terminal type number allocated by the application management server for the terminal, where the application manifest file carries an application manifest version number, a digital television receiving terminal type number, and a cyclic redundancy check code;

The application manifest file is sent to the application download proxy server and the application download server. The method of claim 2, wherein the requesting the application download server in the digital television system to obtain updated application data comprises:

Sending a download request instruction to the application download server, where the download request command carries the digital TV receiving terminal type number and the application data link to be downloaded corresponding to the digital television receiving terminal type number;

Obtaining application data returned by the application download server according to the request instruction.

The method of claim 3, wherein the sending the download request command to the application download server further comprises:

Sending a download application manifest request to the application download server;

Receiving application list data returned by the application download server;

Comparing the obtained application list data with a local application or a locally saved application list to obtain a list of applications to be updated. The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises: After obtaining the updated application data, update or install the acquired updated application data, and update the local application manifest version number.

6. A digital television receiving terminal, comprising:

And an analyzing unit, configured to compare whether the local manifest version number is the same as the latest application manifest version number; and when the manifest version number is different, request the application download server to obtain the application data to be updated.

The digital television receiving terminal according to claim 6, wherein the digital television receiving terminal further comprises:

a second requesting unit, configured to send a download application list request to the application download server, a second receiving unit, configured to receive application list data returned by the application download server, and a comparison unit, configured to receive the application list received by the second receiving unit The data is compared to a local application or a locally saved list of applications to get a list of applications to be updated.

The digital television receiving terminal according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the digital television receiving terminal further comprises:

The update installation unit is configured to update or install the acquired updated application data after obtaining the updated application data, and update the local manifest version number.

9. An application management system, comprising:

An application download server, configured to receive a download application data request sent by the digital television receiving terminal, And returning updated application data to the digital television receiving terminal;

Receiving a digital television receiving terminal, for updating or installing the acquired updated application data after acquiring the updated application data, and updating the local application manifest version number. 10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the application download server is further configured to return application list data according to the download application list data request sent by the digital television receiving terminal.

The system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the system further comprises: an application management server, configured to store application data uploaded by an operator, and assign a digital television receiving terminal type number to the digital television receiving terminal ;

The receiving digital television receiving terminal is further configured to: generate an application manifest file according to the allocated digital television receiving terminal type number, and send the application manifest file to the application download proxy server and the application download server; The application manifest file carries the application manifest version number and the digital television receiving terminal type number.

A digital television system, comprising the application management system according to any one of claims 9 to 11.