Patent Publication Number: US-2005125830-A1

Title: Methods and apparatuses for transmitting data in a television broadcast

Description:
FIELD  
      The invention relates to an arrangement for transmitting data to a terminal of a radio system, a method for transmitting data to a terminal of a radio system, a method for providing interactive television, an interactive television system, a method for running a network game, a network game server, a local game server, and a game terminal.  
     BACKGROUND  
      The use of wireless terminals has radically spread. Cellular radio networks utilize valuable radio frequencies, valuable in the sense that the radio frequencies are a limited resource. Besides conventional cellular radio systems, new radio systems, utilizing WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) technology, for example, are emerging. Although the cell size is usually quite small in WLAN systems, it is important to. use radio resources as effectively as possible there as well because one aim of the WLAN technology is to provide service with very high bit rates at a reasonable cost. The optimization of the use of radio resources is therefore an important research topic with regard to all radio communication systems.  
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention seeks to provide improved methods and apparatuses for data transmission in a television broadcast.  
      According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an arrangement for transmitting data to a terminal of a radio system, the arrangement comprising: a receiver configured to receive a television broadcast; a processing unit configured to separate data from the received television broadcast; and a transmitter configured to transmit the separated data through a wireless connection to the terminal.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an arrangement for transmitting data to a terminal of a radio system, the arrangement comprising: receiving means for receiving a television broadcast; processing means for separating data from the received television broadcast; and transmitting means for transmitting the separated data wirelessly to the terminal.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for transmitting data to a terminal of a radio system, the method comprising: embedding data in a television broadcast; transferring the television broadcast to a receiver; separating data from the received television broadcast by the receiver; and transferring the separated data wirelessly from the receiver to a terminal.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing interactive television, the method comprising: processing data in a network server; embedding the data in a television broadcast; receiving the television broadcast in a receiver; separating data from the received television broadcast in the receiver; transmitting the data wirelessly from the receiver to a terminal; issuing response data by the terminal; transmitting the response data from the terminal to the network server through a radio system; and processing the response data in the network server.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an interactive television system comprising: a network server, including a processing unit configured to process data, and to embed the data in a television broadcast; a receiver configured to receive the television broadcast; a second processing unit configured to separate data from the received television broadcast; a transmitter configured to transmit the data wirelessly to a terminal; a terminal including a second receiver configured to receive the data, a user interface configured to issue response data, and a transmitter configured to transmit the response data to the network server through a radio system; process the response data.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for running a network game, the method comprising: processing game data in a network game server; embedding game data in a television broadcast; receiving the television broadcast in a local game server; separating. the game data from the received television broadcast in the local game server; transmitting the game data wirelessly from the local game server to a game terminal; issuing game commands by the game terminal; transmitting game commands from the game terminal to the network game server through a radio system; and updating the game data on the basis of the received game commands in the network game server.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network game server comprising: a processing unit configured to process game data; a first communication interface configured to communicate with a television broadcast system; a second communication interface configured to communicate with a radio system; wherein the processing unit is further configured to transmit game data via the first communication interface to the television broadcast system to embed the game data in a television broadcast, to receive game commands from individual players via the second communication interface from game terminals communicating with the radio system, and to update the game data on the basis of the received game commands.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a local game server comprising: a receiver configured to receive a television broadcast; a processing unit configured to separate game data from the received television broadcast, and to process the game data; and a display interface configured to communicate display information on the game to a display; a communication interface configured to communicate the game data wirelessly to a game terminal.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game terminal comprising: game controls configured to issue game commands; a first communication interface configured to receive game data wirelessly from a local game server; a second communication interface configured to communicate wirelessly with a radio system; and a processing unit configured to process the received game data and the issued game commands, and to transmit the issued game commands to a network game server via the second communication interface.  
      The invention provides several advantages. The invention utilizes both existing and emerging television broadcast systems for transferring data to a terminal of a radio system. The solution saves valuable radio resources of the radio system, such as cellular radio networks, WLAN systems and other radio communication systems. This is because some of the data may be transferred by the television broadcast system near to the terminal, and then short-range radio transmitters or other wireless communication techniques, such as infrared communication, may realize the last communication link between a television broadcast receiver and the terminal. Such communication technologies, as compared with the use of cellular radio network technology, may be priced very competitively, or they may even be free of charge. The use of valuable radio resources can then be optimized for other purposes. Some presented embodiments use radio resources for implementing a return communication channel. Some embodiments provide for interactive television or network gaming. 
    
    
     LIST OF DRAWINGS  
      In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, in which  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating the basic structures necessary for transmitting data in a television broadcast to a terminal of a radio system;  
       FIGS. 2, 3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6  and  7  illustrate various embodiments of the basic structures presented in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 8  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for transmitting data to a terminal of a radio system;  
       FIG. 9  illustrates a method for providing interactive television;  
       FIG. 10  illustrates an interactive television system;  
       FIG. 11  illustrates a method for running a network game;  
       FIG. 12  illustrates components of a network game system: a network game server, a local game server and a game terminal; and  
       FIG. 13  illustrates an exemplary implementation of a television set and a terminal. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS  
      With reference to  FIG. 1 , examine an example of a system whereto the embodiments of the invention can be applied. A television broadcasting system  100  is used for transmitting a television broadcast. Basically, any known television broadcast system, either analogue or digital, may be used. Examples of digital television broadcasting include the Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB). DVB is an industry-led consortium designing global standards for the global delivery of digital television and data services. DVB standards are available from ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). More information on DVB and the related standards can be found on the websites of DVB and ETSI: currently at the addresses www.dvb.org and www.etsi.org.  
      The television broadcast system  100  may utilize various transmission technologies for a television broadcast  102 . DVB, for example, defines the following technologies: DVB-S, which is a satellite transmission standard based on QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying); DVB-C, which is a cable delivery mechanism closely related to DVB-S and based around 64-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation); and DVB-T, which is a terrestrial transmission standard based on COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Divisional Multiplexing) and QPSK, 16 QAM and 64 QAM modulation. There is also an emerging standard called DVB-H, which is based on DVB-T standard, but as it is aimed at hand-held terminals it uses less power in the receiver than in the DVB-T standard. DVB-H enables the terminal to receive digital television broadcasting over a digital television network without using cellular radio networks at all.  
      An arrangement  104  for transmitting data to a terminal  108  of a radio system comprises a receiver  110  configured to receive a television broadcast  102 , a processing unit  112  configured to separate data from the received television broadcast  102 , and a transmitter  114  configured to transmit the separated data through a wireless connection  106  to the terminal  108 .  
      The separated data is data that is useful for the terminal  108 . The separated data may be an application, a game, a part of a game, a wallpaper for a display, an upgrade to software, an application for participating in a television show or competition, a picture, a message, a command, or some other data item usable by the terminal  108 .  
      In an embodiment, the data is embedded in a digital television transmission or analogue television transmission. In another embodiment, the data is embedded in a text television transmission. Thus, the separated data can be located in a special page of the text television area, and it may be opened with a command received from the terminal  108 , and then the separated data may be downloaded into the terminal  108 .  
      In an embodiment, the processing unit  112  is further configured, for separating data, to capture a screen shot from the received television broadcast  102 . In this embodiment, the data has not knowingly beforehand been embedded in the television broadcast  102 . Picture the following use case: A user is watching a travel program on television. In the program, the monument of Taj Mahal is shown. The user realizes that s/he wants Taj Mahal as wallpaper to a display of her/his terminal. S/he then sends a command from the terminal  108  to the processing unit  112 , ordering the processing unit  112  to capture the image of Taj Mahal from a screen shot of the travel program. The processing unit  112  may further be configured-to modify the size of the captured image to fit the size of the display of the terminal  108 . The image is then transferred to the terminal  108 . The captured screen shot may also be a screen shot of a game, whereby the screen shot may be used as a part of the game also in the future, after the screen shot has been downloaded into the terminal  108  and stored therein.  
      In an embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the receiver  110 , the processing unit  112  and the transmitter  114  are all integrated into a television set  200 .  
      In another embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the receiver  110  is integrated into a television set  300 , and the processing unit  112  and the transmitter  114  are integrated into a separate box  302  coupleable to the television set  300 .  
      In another embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the arrangement  104  is integrated into a separate box  402  coupleable to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)  402  access point  400 . WLAN may be as defined by standards in 802.11 series of the IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.), for example. The access point, or service access point as it is also known, forms an access zone. An access zone is also known as a hotspot. It is an area, such as an office, a university campus, a hotel or an airport, for example, where fast LAN-connections are offered to the users. Access to the Internet may be realized through the access point  400 . As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the television broadcast  102  is received by the WLAN network and further conveyed to the access point  400  from where it can be wirelessly transmitted to the receiver  110 . The box  402  could be integrated into a television set.  
      In another embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the arrangement  104  is integrated into a Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) receiver  500 .  
      As the wide variety of embodiments illustrated in FIGS.  1  to  5  proves, the arrangement  104  can be implemented on many platforms. Let us next, with reference to  FIG. 13 , illustrate an exemplary implementation of a television set  110  and a terminal  108 . Please note that reference numeral  110  is now used for referring to a television set instead of a mere receiver, because in this embodiment the rest of the parts of the arrangement  104 , namely the processing unit  112  and the transmitter  114 , are integrated into the television set  110 , which also implements the functionality of the receiver.  
      The television set  110  comprises a tuner  1300  for selecting a channel from broadcast, transforming the selected channel into base band or intermediate frequency, and demodulating a signal of the selected channel. The demodulated signal is then fed into a channel decoder  1302 , which digitalizes the signal and performs the necessary error correction. Next, the error corrected bit stream is fed into a decryption module  1304 , which decrypts the bit stream if it has been encrypted. The encryption module  1304  may need a smart card  1306 , i.e. a module with an embedded integrated circuit, which provides a secure medium for storing encryption keys and algorithms, for example. Such a smart card  1306  may have to be purchased from the television broadcasting company.  
      The bit stream, possibly decrypted, is then fed into a multiplexer  1308 , which separates the audio, video and data packets into streams of their own. Audio and video packets are fed into audio and video decoders  1310 . A video decoder may be an MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group) decoder, for example. The decoded audio and video streams may have to be digital-to-analogue (D/A) converted in a D/A-converter  1312  before being fed into a display  1314  and a loudspeaker  1324 .  
      The separated data packets are transferred from a multiplexer  1316  into a memory. The processing unit  112  then separates data from the data packets, and using a transmitter  114 , transmits the separated data through a wireless connection  106  to the receiver  1330  of the terminal  108 .  
      In an embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the arrangement further comprises a game server  600  configured to run a game, and a display interface  602  configured to communicate display information on the game to a display  604 . A game refers to electronic entertainment games. The term ‘video game’ may also be used.  FIG. 6  also illustrates an embodiment wherein the arrangement further comprises a game control receiver  606  configured to receive game commands from the terminal  108 . The game control receiver  606  and the transmitter  114  may be integrated into a transceiver. In the embodiment of  FIG. 6 , the game runs in the processor  112  that is not located in the terminal  108 , and game control commands are received from the terminal  108  over a wireless connection. In the embodiment of  FIG. 7 , the game runs in the processor  700  of the terminal  108 . Therefore, game controls  708  are coupled to a game server  702  running in the processor  700 , and a display interface  704  coupled to the game server  702  couples the terminal  108  to a display  706 . The display  706  may be a display of the terminal  108 , or it may also be a separate wider screen.  
      In an embodiment of  FIG. 13 , both the transmitter  114  and the receiver  1330  are actually transceivers, as bi-directional communication may be necessary between the television set  110  and the terminal  108  to implement control functions for the transfer, for example.  
      Both the transmitter  114  and the receiver  1330  may use any known wireless transmission technologies. Transmission technologies include wireless radio connection technologies, such as WLAN and Bluetooth™, and infrared technologies, but the embodiments are not limited to these technologies only. Bluetooth™ technology uses a radio link covering at most a few hundred meters on a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz. Infrared communication technologies include an IrDA (the Infrared Data Association) standard.  
      In an embodiment, the processing unit  112  is further configured to convert the separated data into a format suitable for the terminal  108 . The separated data may be compressed, for example, and it has to be decompressed before the terminal  108  is able house it. Naturally, the terminal  108  may also perform the decompression. Another example of conversion is such that an application located in the separated data is converted to match the user interface style of the terminal  108 .  
      The television set  110  may include a read/write unit  1318  capable of performing read/write data operations with a Multimedia Memory Card (MMC)  1320 . The separated data may be written into the MMC  1320 .  
      In an embodiment, the separated data comprises encrypted data, and the processing unit  112  is further configured to decrypt the separated data. Thus, the separated data may be encrypted twice, i.e. a television broadcast as a whole may be encrypted, and also the separated data may be encrypted with another encryption scheme. It is also possible that only the separated data is encrypted. The decryption of the separated data may be performed in the processing unit  112  with the aid of the decryption module  1304 , and possibly also with the aid of the smart card  1306 . The decryption may require the user to provide a code by means of a user interface  1322  of the television set. The user may acquire the required code from the television broadcasting company or some service provider that utilizes the described arrangement for transmitting its data to the end-customer&#39;s terminal.  
      The terminal  108  communicates with a radio system. The radio system may be a cellular radio network, such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio System) or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). Naturally, these systems are only examples and the terminal  108  can be a terminal of various other radio systems as well, a terminal of the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) based radio system or a terminal of the above-mentioned WLAN system, for example. The radio system may also use any other radio access technology known in the art. Besides the transceiver  1330  explained above, the terminal  108  also includes another transceiver  1344  for implementing a radio connection  1346  with the radio system.  
      Both transceivers  1330 ,  1344  of the terminal  108  are coupled to a processing unit  1332 . If the terminal  108  is a subscriber terminal of the radio system, it may include a read/write unit  1336  where a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module)  1338  may be placed. The terminal  108  may also comprise another read/write unit  1340  that may accommodate an MMC  1342 . The MMC  1342  may be used for storing the downloaded separated data. The MMC  1342  may already include a game, and the downloaded separated data may add a new functionality to the game, such as new game fields or other features present in modern video games. The terminal  108  also includes a user interface  1334 .  
      It is well understood by the skilled person that a contemporary television set  110  and a terminal  108  also include numerous other structures, but as they are not necessary for illustrating the embodiments, they are not further described herein.  
      Next, with reference to  FIG. 8 , a method for transmitting data to a terminal of a radio system is explained. The method starts in  800 . Data is embedded in a television broadcast in  802 . The television broadcast is then transferred to a receiver in  804 . The receiver then separates data from the received television broadcast in  806 .  
      In an embodiment, a screen shot is captured from the received television broadcast for separating data.  
      In an embodiment, the separated data is decrypted in  808 , because the separated data comprises encrypted data.  
      In an embodiment, the separated data is converted into a format suitable for the terminal in  810 .  
      Finally, the separated data is transferred wirelessly from the receiver to a terminal in  812 .  
      In an embodiment, a game is run in the terminal, and the separated data is inputted as input to the game.  
      The method ends in  814 . The arrangement described above may be used for implementing the method, but the method may also be applied to other systems where data may be transmitted in a television broadcast.  
      Next, with reference to  FIG. 9 , a method for providing interactive television is explained. The method starts in  900 . Data is processed in a network server in  902 . Next, the data is embedded in a television broadcast in  904 . The television broadcast is received in a receiver in  906 . Data is separated from the received television broadcast in the receiver in  908 . Next, the data is transmitted wirelessly from the receiver to a terminal in  910 . The terminal issues response data in  912 . In an embodiment, the separated data may include an application for participating in a television show or competition. The response data may be a message or a command, for example.  
      The response data is transmitted from the terminal to the network server through a radio system in  914 . The response data is processed in the network server in  916 . If the response data is an answer to a competition, the network server may check the answer, for example. The method may be used for implementing any interactive television where data may be embedded in the television broadcast. The method is ended in  918 . The method may be implemented with an interactive television system explained next, but the method may also be applied to other interactive television systems as well.  
      With reference to  FIG. 10 , let us examine an interactive television system. A network server  1000  includes a processing unit (not shown) configured to process data and embed the data in a television broadcast. The data may be embedded such that the network server  1000  transfers the data into a television broadcast system  100 . A service provider separate from the television broadcasting company may thus operate the network server  1000 , but the network server  1000  may also be a part of the television broadcast system. Either way, the service provider may be a separate company or the television broadcasting company.  
      The arrangement  104  explained above is then used for receiving the television broadcast. The arrangement  104  includes the receiver  110  configured to receive the television broadcast, the processing unit  112  configured to separate data from the received television broadcast, and the transmitter  114  configured to transmit the data wirelessly to a terminal  108 .  
      The terminal  108  may also be of the type presented above. The terminal  108  includes a receiver  1002  configured to receive data, a user interface  1006  configured to issue response data, and a transmitter  1008  configured to transmit the response data to the network server  1000  through a radio system  1010 . The terminal  108  may also include a processing unit  1004  configured to process the data received from the network server  1000  and the response data issued by the user of the terminal  108  by means of the user interface  1006 .  
      The network server  1000  thus includes a network interface (not shown) capable of receiving the response data from the radio system  1010 . The processing unit of the network server  1000  is further configured to process the response data.  
      As already explained above, the arrangement for transmitting data to a terminal of a radio system may also be used for gaming purposes.  FIG. 11  illustrates a method for running a network game. The method starts in  1100 . Game data is processed in a network game server in  1102 . The game data is embedded in a television broadcast in  1104 . The television broadcast is received in a local game server in  1106 . The game data is separated from the received television broadcast in a local game server in  1108 . The game data is transmitted wirelessly from the local game server to a game terminal in  1110 . The game terminal issues game commands in  1112 . The game commands are transmitted from the game terminal to the network game server through a radio system in  1114 . The game data is updated on the basis of the received game commands in the network game server in  1116 . This method forms an ongoing process, where operations  1102  to  1116  are repeated as long as the network game is running. If the network game is ended, the method ends in  1118 . In the following, a system for network gaming that can be used for implementing the method is explained. Besides this, also other gaming environments may be used for implementing the method.  
       FIG. 12  illustrates the components of the network game system: a network game server, a local game server and a game terminal.  
      A network game server  1200  includes a processing unit  1202  configured to process game data  1208 . The network game server  1200  also includes two communication interfaces: a first communication interface  1210  configured to communicate with the television broadcast system  100 , and a second communication interface  1212  configured to communicate with the radio system  1010 . The processing unit  1202  is further configured to transmit the game data  1208  via the first communication interface  1210  to the television broadcast system  100  to embed the game data  1208  in a television broadcast, to receive game commands  1204  from individual players via the second communication interface  1212  from the game terminals  108  communicating with the radio system  1010 , and to update  1206  the game data  1208  on the basis of the received game commands  1204 .  
      The local game server may be implemented by means of the above-described arrangement  104 . The local game server  104  includes the receiver  110  configured to receive a television broadcast, and the processing unit  112  configured to separate game data from the received television broadcast, and to process the game data. The local game server  104  may also include a display interface  1230  configured to communicate display information on the game to a display  1214 . The local game server  104  also includes a communication interface  114  configured to communicate the game data wirelessly to the game terminal  108 .  
      The game terminal  108  may be of the type explained above, i.e. a terminal capable of communicating with the radio system  1010 . The game terminal  108  includes game controls  1226  configured to issue game commands. The game terminal  108  also includes two communication interfaces: a first communication interface  1216  configured to receive game data wirelessly from the local game server  1216 , and a second communication interface  1228  configured to communicate wirelessly with the radio system  1010 . The game terminal  108  also includes a processing unit  1218  configured to process  1222  the received game data  1220  and the issued game commands  1224 , and to transmit the issued game commands  1224  to the network game server  1200  via the second communication interface  1228 . It is to be understood that game commands transferred from the game terminal  108  to the network game server  1200 , besides the actual game commands issued by the player of the game by means of the game controls  1226 , may also include game commands issued internally by the game software running in the processing unit  1218  of the game terminal  108 . Such internal game commands may arise from the combined processing of the issued game commands and game data.  
      The game controls  1226  may be part of the normal user interface of the terminal  108  of a radio system  1010 . A contemporary user interface includes buttons, a joystick, a trackball, a touch screen, acceleration sensor based sensing of movements of the terminal, just to name a few. The game controls  1226  may also be coupleable with the terminal  108 : a miniature steering wheel, for example. The user interface and the controls may, however, also be implemented in other ways known in the art of user interface design.  
      The term ‘processing unit’ has been used in the various embodiments presented above. Such a processing unit may be implemented in ways known in the art of computers and terminals. Implementation techniques include: one or more processors depending on the necessary processing power, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), one or more integrated circuits (IC), one or more electronic circuits. In the processor, software that implements part of the desired functionality may be run. A combination of these different implementation techniques may also be used: the terminal may include one or more ASIC&#39;s for processing the communication signals and further, one or more microprocessors for processing game data. Specialized processors, for example for processing game display data, may also be utilized. It is to be noted that this list of various implementation possibilities may not be exhaustive, but also other implementation techniques may be used.  
      Even though the invention has been described above with reference to an example according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the invention is not restricted thereto but can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims.