Patent ID: 8614770
Filing Date: 2013-12-24
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A digital broadcast receiver comprising: a tuner for selecting, demodulating, and correcting errors in a received signal of a digital broadcast channel; an unreceivability detector for detecting, based on information obtained from a broadcasting station of a digital broadcast multiplex stream currently being tuned to, that it is currently impossible or is about to become impossible to receive the received signal from the broadcasting station of the multiplex stream currently being tuned to, and outputting an unreceivability notification; a broadcasting station memory for storing at least channel information of the broadcasting station of the multiplex stream currently being tuned to and, when a multiplex stream of an affiliated broadcasting station affiliated with the broadcasting station broadcasting the multiplex stream currently being tuned to and a multiplex stream having an MFN (multi-frequency network) relationship with the multiplex stream of the broadcasting station broadcasting the multiplex stream currently being tuned to are found through selection by the tuner, storing at least channel information of the multiplex stream of the affiliated broadcasting station and the MFN-related multiplex stream in association, as related by affiliation, with the at least channel information of the broadcasting station of the multiplex stream currently being tuned to, the channel information being necessary for performing station selection; and a tuning control unit for, upon receiving the unreceivability notification from the unreceivability detector, retrieving the channel information of the multiplex stream of the affiliated broadcasting station or the MFN-related multiplex stream from the broadcasting station memory, the multiplex stream of the affiliated broadcasting station and the MFN-related multiplex stream having been received, the channel information of the multiplex stream of the affiliated broadcasting station or the MFN-related multiplex stream being stored as related to the channel information of the broadcasting station of the multiplex stream currently being tuned to, if the channel information of the multiplex stream of the affiliated broadcasting station or the MFN-related multiplex stream can be retrieved, based on the retrieved channel information, deciding whether the received signal is currently in the ‘currently receivable state’, and, based on the decision that the received signal is in the ‘currently receivable state’, permitting the channel of the received signal to be tuned to a channel of the affiliated broadcasting station or to a channel of the station having a MFN relationship with the broadcasting station currently being tuned to, and if no channel information of the multiplex stream of the affiliated broadcasting station or the MFN-related multiplex stream can be retrieved, outputting a command to the tuner to make a channel search for a further multiplex stream of an affiliated broadcasting station and a further MFN-related multiplex stream, and if all of the received signal based on the retrieved channel information is ‘currently unreceivable’, outputting a command to the tuner to make a channel search for the further multiplex stream of the affiliated broadcasting station and the further MFN-related multiplex stream.