# Patent

## Title
Method and system for transmitting data between a central radio station and at least one transmitter

## Abstract

First data is transmitted between a central radio station and at least one transmitter, where the first data is in first data fields of data packets and useful data is in second data fields of the data packets. The first data fields in this context are pre-reserved by the central radio station for the transmission of second data between the transmitter(s) and the receivers.

## Background
BACKGROUND
1. Field
The invention relates to a method and system for transmitting data between a central radio station and at least one transmitter.
2. Related Art
Before modulation with a high-frequency carrier, transmission systems for digital radio pack the audio and/or video data to be transmitted in datastreams consisting of data packets arranged in rows, wherein Internet-Protocol-based data packets are used by preference.
Alongside the transmission of useful data of this kind between a central radio station and the receivers of the radio subscribers, operational data of various content must also very frequently be transmitted from the central radio station to the individual transmitters of the digital radio-transmission system.
With regard to the application of the invention, reference can be made, for example, to a television signal according to the ATSC standard, as known, for example, from WO2006/094050A2.
The additional transmission of operational data of this kind exclusively between the central radio station and the transmitters of the transmission network unnecessarily increases the required bandwidth of the transmission system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Example aspects of the present invention provide methods and transmission systems for transmitting operational data between a central radio station and transmitters, in such a manner that does not unnecessarily increase the bandwidth required for the transmission of the audio and/or video data from the central radio station to the receivers of the radio subscribers.
According to one embodiment, the individual data packets of a datastream transmitted between a central radio station and individual receivers of the radio subscribers within a digital radio-transmission system include first data fields, which are reserved at the origin of the transmission of second data between the individual transmitters and the individual receivers. The individual data packets are used, before the transmission of the second data, for the transmission of first data between the central radio station and the individual transmitters and include second data fields, which are used for the transmission of useful data between the central radio station and the receivers of the radio subscribers.
Preferably, the digital radio system corresponds to the Advanced Television Systems Committee standard (ATSC standard) and generates data packets for the digital datastream with first data fields, which are reserved for data for channel equalization—so-called SRS training sequences, and second data fields, which contain “payload” data (or “useful data”) with digital audio and/or video data.
The first data between the central radio station and individual transmitters are, on one hand, operational data for the targeted, active influence of the operation of the individual transmission devices by the central radio station (such as a software-update data, configuration data, data for remote diagnosis, data for remote servicing, data for remote inspection, control data for remote action, and the like); and, on the other hand, operational data of the operational information system between the central radio station and individual transmission devices.
The second data between the individual transmitters and the individual receivers are used for maintenance and optimization of the physical signal transmission between transmitters and receivers, for example, training data for channel estimation, synchronization data for the synchronization of the receivers with the transmitters or additional data for signal equalization.
The first data can be routed to every transmission device and can include, for example, a general operational message from the central radio station to all transmitters. Alternatively, the first data can be generated only for one transmitter or a sub-group of transmitter and can include, for example, data for remote diagnosis of one or more transmission devices which may be operating incorrectly.
To address the respective transmitters and to provide the correct supply of the individual transmitters with the respectively-associated first data, the first data fields are subdivided into an address part including the transmitter addresses of those transmitters to be supplied with first data and a data part with the respective first data generated for the individual, addressed transmitters.
The first data can be transmitted in every data packet of the digital datastream—for example, in the case of a continuous remote inspection of the individual transmitter devices—or only in every nth data packet of the digital datastream—for example, in the case of cyclical software updates, or only acyclically, as required—for example, in the case of a remote diagnosis for a defective transmitter device.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The features and advantages of the example embodiments of the invention presented herein will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with following drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a block-circuit diagram of the digital radio-transmission system.
FIGS. 2A, 2B show a data structure of a data packet used in the digital datastream during the transmission from the central radio station to transmitters and during the transmission from transmitters to receivers, in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a process for transmitting data between a central radio station and at least one transmitter in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Example embodiments of the invention presented herein are directed to a method and system for transmission of data between a central radio station and at least one transmitter using a data structure of the data packets within the digital datastream TSOUT. FIG. 1 depicts the basic structure of a digital radio-transmission system and FIGS. 2 and 3 show example data structures of data packets in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a central radio station 1, the individual audio and/or video data of several TV channels or TV programs are generated to form a common digital datastream TSOUT consisting of several data packets 5 arranged in rows. This digital datastream TSOUT is supplied to individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N via a transmission channel 2—for example, via signal lines. The baseband signal processing of the digital datastream TSOUT—modulation, coding, interleaving and so on—and the conversion and amplification of the baseband signal to be transmitted into the high-frequency band are implemented in the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N. The high-frequency transmission signal broadcast from the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N with the digital datastream TSOUT is received and further processed by receivers 41, 42, 43, . . . , 4M-1, 4M of the radio subscribers.
Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the data structure according to the invention of the data packets 5 used within the digital datastream TSOUT consists of a header 6, first data fields 7 and second data fields 8. Signatures and keys of the encodings, source and target addresses of the respective data packets, and classification and status data are typically stored in the header 6 of the data packet 5.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the first data fields 7 are reserved with regard to their data length for the transmission of second data 2_Data1, 2_Data2, . . . , 2_Datan associated respectively with the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N (i.e., for transmission from the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N to the individual receivers 41, 42, 43, . . . , 4M-1, 4M of the radio subscribers). The first data fields 7, contain, during the transmission from the central radio station 1 to the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N, a data part 10 with up to n stored first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan and an address part 9 with up to n address fields Adr1, Adrn, in which, respectively up to n addresses each associated with the n transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N for the addressing of the up to n first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan stored in the data part 10, are stored.
Accordingly, in the supply of every transmitter 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N respectively with individual first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan, n different first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , l_Datan are stored in the data part 10, and respectively, a single address of that transmitter, which is supplied with the respective first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan, is stored in every address field Adr1, Adr2, . . . , Adrn of the address part 9. If all transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N are supplied with identical first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan, the data part 10 contains only one data record first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan and only the address field Adr1 of the address part 9 relating to the first data 1_Data1 with the addresses of all n transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N. If sub-groups of transmitters draw respectively identical first data, the data part 10 contains only a number of first data corresponding to the number of sub-groups of transmitters, and the address part 9 contains only a number of address fields corresponding to the number of sub-groups of transmitters with a number of transmitter addresses corresponding to the number of transmitters per sub-group of transmitters.
The first data between the central radio station and individual transmitters are, on one hand, operational data for the targeted, active influence of the operation of the individual transmitter devices by the central radio station—for example, software-update data, configuration data, data for remote diagnosis, data for remote servicing, data for remote inspection, control data for remote action, etc.—and, on the other hand, operational data of the operational information system between the central radio station and individual transmission devices.
In the case of software-update data, additional data classifying the update, such as the following classification data, are transmitted alongside the actual data for the software update of the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N:

    
    
        update version
        length of the update software
        update method
        update time
        software compatibility
    
    


As shown in FIG. 2B, the first data fields 7 of every data packet 5 defined with first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan, and addresses of the transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N, during the transmission from the central radio station 1 to the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N, are inscribed by the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N, with second data 2_Data1, 2_Data2, . . . , 2_Datan associated respectively with the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N. The second data 2_Data1, 2_Data2, . . . , 2_Datan, which are transmitted in the first data fields 7 of every data packet 5 from the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N, to the individual receivers 41, 42, 43, . . . , 4M-1, 4M of the radio subscribers, contain data for channel estimation, for synchronization of the receivers with the transmitters and for signal equalization, for example, SRS training sequences for channel estimation in the case of the ATSC standard.
Audio and/or video useful data of the digital radio, especially according to the Advanced Television Systems Committee standard, are stored in the second data field 8 of every data packet of the digital datastream TSOUT.
The method according to the invention for the transmission of data between a central radio station 1 and at least one transmitter 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N, is described in the following section with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 3.
In step S10, the unique specification of the data structure for the individual data packets 5 of the digital datastream TSOUT is implemented by the central radio station 1. In this context, the length of the first data fields 7 for the transmission of the first data or respectively of the second data and the length of the second data fields 8 for the transmission of the audio and video data of the digital television (television signal) is specified in number of bytes. Furthermore, the structure of the first data fields 7 in the transmission of the data packets 5 from the central radio station 1 to the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N,—number n of data records of the first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan in the data part 10 and corresponding number n of address fields Adr1, Adr2, . . . , Adrn in the address part 9—and the structure of the first data fields 7 in the transmission of the data packets 5 from the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N, to the individual receivers 41, 42, 43, . . . , 4M-1, 4M of the radio subscribers—number n of data records of the second data 2_Data1, 2_Data2, 2_Datan, is determined.
In the subsequent procedural stage S20, on the basis of the unique specification of the data structure of the individual data packets 5 of the digital datastream TSOUT, the cyclical inscription of the first data fields 7 of the individual data packets 5 with the first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan or respectively transmitter addresses and of the second data fields of the individual data packets 5 with digital audio and video useful data of the digital television (television signal) and the cyclical transmission of the data packets 5 defined with data from the central radio station 1 to the individual transmitters TSOUT in operational running is implemented.
The transmission of the first data 1_Data1, 1_Data2, . . . , 1_Datan in this context can be implemented in every data packet 5 of the digital datastream TSOUT—for example, in the case of a continuous remote inspection of the individual transmitter devices—in every n-th data packet 5 of the digital datastream TSOUT—for example, in the case of cyclical software updates—or acyclically, as required—for example, in the case of a remote diagnosis for a defective transmitter device.
In the final procedural stage S30, the first data fields 7 of the received data packets 5 from the individual transmitters 31, 32, 33, . . . , 3N-2, 3N-1, 3N, are each overwritten with second data 2_Data1, 2_Data2, . . . , 2_Datan, and routed to the individual receivers 41, 42, 43, . . . , 4M-1, 4M of the radio subscribers.
The invention is not restricted to the embodiment of the method and the system according to the invention for the transmission of data between a central radio station and at least one transmitter. In particular, the requirements of other, in particular, future digital television standards which implement data structures of data packets in digital datastreams, can be modified and/or used to carry data as described herein.

## Claims

1. A method for transmission, comprising:
transmitting data packets between a central radio station and a plurality of receivers via at least one transmitter, the data packets having first data fields and second data fields,
wherein the first data fields contain first data to be communicated between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter,
wherein the first data include operational data assigned to the at least one transmitter to control each transmitter by the central radio station,
wherein the second data fields contain useful data to be communicated between the central radio station and the plurality of receivers, and
wherein, in the at least one transmitter, at least a portion of the first data in the first data fields is overwritten with second data to be communicated from the at least one transmitter to the plurality of receivers.

2. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the useful data are video data and/or audio data of a digital television or radio signal according to the Advanced Television Systems Committee standard.

3. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the first data between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter include operational data assigned to at least one targeted transmitter to control each targeted transmitter by the central radio station.

4. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the first data between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter are operational data, for at least one targeted transmitter, to control each transmitter by the central radio station, the operational data being at least one: of software-update data, configuration data, data for remote diagnosis, data for remote servicing, data for remote inspection, and control data for remote action.

5. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the first data between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter include operational data of an operational information system between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter.

6. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the second data between the at least one transmitter and the plurality of receivers include data for channel estimation, for synchronization of the receivers with the at least one transmitter and for signal equalization.

7. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the first data are transmitted for each transmitter.

8. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein either one of a given partial volume of the first data or an entire volume of the first data is determined respectively for one of the transmitters and displayed by addressing to the respective transmitter.

9. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the first data are transmitted in every data-stream packet between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter.

10. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the first data are transmitted in every nth data-stream packet between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter.

11. The method for transmission according to claim 1, wherein the first data are transmitted acyclically between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter.

12. A transmission system, comprising:
a central radio station transmission unit, in a central radio station, operable to transmit data packets between the central radio station and a plurality of receivers via at least one transmitter, the data packets having first data fields and second data fields,
wherein the first data fields contain first data to be communicated between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter,
wherein the first data include operational data assigned to the at least one transmitter to control each transmitter by the central radio station,
wherein the second data fields contain useful data to be communicated between the central radio station and the plurality of receivers, and
wherein, in the at least one transmitter, at least a portion of the first data in the first data fields is overwritten with second data to be communicated from the at least one transmitter to the plurality of receivers.

13. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the useful data are at least one of video and audio data of a digital television or radio signal according to the Advanced Television Systems Committee standard.

14. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the first data between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter include operational data assigned to at least one targeted transmitter to control each targeted transmitter by the central radio station.

15. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the first data between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter are operational data for the operation of individual transmitters by the central radio station, the operational data being at least one of: software-update data, configuration data, data for remote diagnosis, data for remote servicing, data for remote inspection, and control data for remote action.

16. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the first data between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter include operational data of an operational information system between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter.

17. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the second data between the transmitters and the receivers include data for channel estimation, for synchronization of the receivers with the transmitters and for signal equalization.

18. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the first data are transmitted for each transmitter.

19. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein either one of a given partial volume of the first data or an entire volume of the first data is determined respectively for one of the transmitters and displayed by addressing to the respective transmitter.

20. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the first data are transmitted in every data-stream packet between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter.

21. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the first data are transmitted in every nth data-stream packet between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter.

22. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the first data are transmitted acyclically between the central radio station and the at least one transmitter.