Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8161511B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 23:36:02+00:00

Document:
A digital broadcast receiver and a control method thereof are disclosed. The digital broadcast receiver includes a reception unit for receiving a broadcast signal which mobile service data and main service data are multiplexed, an extractor for extracting transmission parameter channel signaling information and fast information channel signaling information from a data group in the received mobile service data, an acquirer for acquiring a program table describing virtual channel information and a service of an ensemble, using the extracted fast information channel signaling information, the ensemble being a virtual channel group of the received mobile service data, a detector for detecting a descriptor defining additional information of an image file, using the acquired program table, and a controller for controlling such that the image file is displayed, based on the additional information of the detected descriptor.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/957,714, filed on Aug. 24, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Also, this application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/974,084, filed on Sep. 21, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/977,379, filed on Oct. 4, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/044,504, filed on Apr. 13, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/076,686, filed on Jun. 29, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This application also claims the priority benefit of Korean Application No. 10-2008-0082584, filed on Aug. 22, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system, and more particularly, to a digital broadcast receiver and a control method thereof.
A digital broadcasting system is made up of a digital broadcast transmitter, a digital broadcast receiver, etc. The digital broadcast transmitter processes data such as a broadcast program in a digital manner and transmits the processed data to the digital broadcast receiver. This digital broadcasting system has gradually replaced an analog broadcasting system owing to various advantages thereof including efficiency of data transmission.
Also, in a conventional digital broadcasting system, it is the current reality that interactive services provided between a digital broadcast transmitter and a digital broadcast receiver are not so many, and a digital broadcasting standard capable of more efficiently providing interactive services is also not clearly defined. Particularly, even in a mobile digital broadcasting environment, it is the current reality that there is little discussion on the aforementioned interactive services.
An object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcasting system and a data processing method that are highly resistant to channel changes and noise.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcasting system which is capable of more systematically managing an image file, etc. transmitted using a digital data broadcasting network.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcasting system which is capable of clearly defining the type of a download service and the usage of an image file downloaded.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcasting system which is capable of providing an interactive URL service even in a mobile digital broadcasting environment.
To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a digital broadcast receiver comprises a reception unit, an extractor, an aquirer, a detector, and a controller. The reception unit receives a broadcast signal which mobile service data and main service data are multiplexed. The extractor extracts transmission parameter channel (TPC) signaling information and fast information channel (FIC) signaling information from a data group in the received mobile service data. The acquirer acquires a program table describing virtual channel information and a service of an ensemble, using the extracted fast information channel signaling information, the ensemble being a virtual channel group of the received mobile service data. The detector detects a descriptor defining additional information of an image file, using the acquired program table. And the controller controls such that the image file is displayed, based on the additional information of the detected descriptor.
In another aspect of the present invention, a control method of a digital broadcast receiver comprises the steps of receiving a broadcast signal into which mobile service data and main service data are multiplexed, extracting transmission parameter channel signaling information and fast information channel signaling information from a data group in the received mobile service data, acquiring a program table describing virtual channel information and a service of an ensemble, using the extracted fast information channel signaling information, the ensemble being a virtual channel group of the received mobile service data, detecting a descriptor defining additional information of an image file, using the acquired program table, and controlling such that the image file is displayed, based on the additional information of the detected descriptor.
In a further aspect of the present invention, a control method of a digital broadcast transmitter comprises the steps of generating a broadcast signal including a descriptor defining additional information of an image file, and transmitting the generated broadcast signal including the descriptor defining the additional information of the image file to a digital broadcast receiver, wherein the descriptor defining the additional information of the image file includes a field defining type information of a usage of the image file, a field defining type information of a path along which the image file is downloaded, and a field defining a string of the path along which the image file is downloaded.
FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating step S3260 of FIG. 33 in detail.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram showing a structure of a digital broadcasting receiving system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The digital broadcast receiving system according to the present invention includes a baseband processor 100, a management processor 200, and a presentation processor 300. The baseband processor 100 includes an operation controller 110, a tuner 120, a demodulator 130, an equalizer 140, a known sequence detector (or known data detector) 150, a block decoder (or mobile handheld block decoder) 160, a primary Reed-Solomon (RS) frame decoder 170, a secondary RS frame decoder 180, and a signaling decoder 190. The operation controller 110 controls the operation of each block included in the baseband processor 100.
Additionally, the data group includes a signaling information area wherein signaling information is assigned (or allocated). In the present invention, the signaling information area may start from the 1st segment of the 4th MH block (B4) to a portion of the 2nd segment. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the signaling information area for inserting signaling information may start from the 1st segment of the 4th MH block (B4) to a portion of the 2nd segment. More specifically, 276 (=207+69) bytes of the 4th MH block (B4) in each data group are assigned as the signaling information area. In other words, the signaling information area consists of 207 bytes of the 1st segment and the first 69 bytes of the 2nd segment of the 4th MH block (B4). The 1st segment of the 4th MH block (B4) corresponds to the 17th or 173rd segment of a VSB field. Herein, the signaling information may be identified by two different types of signaling channels: a transmission parameter channel (TPC) and a fast information channel (FIC).
The MH payload may include mobile service data as wekk as signaling data. More specifically, an MH payload may include only mobile service data, or may include only signaling data, or may include both mobile service data and signaling data. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the MH header may identify (or distinguish) the data types included in the MH payload. More specifically, when the MH TP includes a first MH header, this indicates that the MH payload includes only the signaling data. Also, when the MH TP includes a second MH header, this indicates that the MH payload includes both the signaling data and the mobile service data. Finally, when MH TP includes a third MH header, this indicates that the MH payload includes only the mobile service data. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the RS frame is assigned with IP datagrams (for example, IP datagram 1 and IP datagram 2) for two service types.
Referring to FIG. 13, each MH ensemble (i.e., Ensemble 0, Ensemble 1, . . . , Ensemble K) includes a stream information on each associated (or corresponding) virtual channel (e.g., virtual channel 0 IP stream, virtual channel 1 IP stream, and virtual channel 2 IP stream). For example, Ensemble 0 includes virtual channel 0 IP stream and virtual channel 1 IP stream. And, each MH ensemble includes diverse information on the associated virtual channel (i.e., Virtual Channel 0 Table Entry, Virtual Channel 0 Access Info, Virtual Channel 1 Table Entry, Virtual Channel 1 Access Info, Virtual Channel 2 Table Entry, Virtual Channel 2 Access Info, Virtual Channel N Table Entry, Virtual Channel N Access Info, and so on). The FIC body payload includes information on MH ensembles (e.g., ensemble_id field, and referred to as “ensemble location” in FIG. 13) and information on a virtual channel associated with the corresponding MH ensemble (e.g., major_channel_num field and minor_channel_num field, and referred to as “Virtual Channel 0”, “Virtual Channel 1”, “Virtual Channel N” in FIG. 13).
The short_channel_name field indicates the short name of the virtual channel. The service id field is a 16-bit unsigned integer number (or value), which identifies the virtual channel service. The service_type field is a 6-bit enumerated type field, which identifies the type of service carried in the corresponding virtual channel as defined in Table 2 below.
FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary bit stream syntax structure of an MH current event descriptor according to the present invention. The MH_current_event_descriptor( ) shall be used as the virtual_channel level_descriptor( ) within the SMT. Herein, the MH_current_event_descriptor( ) provides basic information on the current event (e.g., the start time, duration, and title of the current event, etc.), which is transmitted via the respective virtual channel. The fields included in the MH_current_event_descriptor( ) will now be described in detail.
FIG. 24 illustrates a flow chart for accessing a virtual channel using FIC and SMT according to the present invention. More specifically, a physical channel is tuned (S501). And, when it is determined that an MH signal exists in the tuned physical channel (S502), the corresponding MH signal is demodulated (S503). Additionally, FIC segments are grouped from the demodulated MH signal in sub-frame units (S504 and S505). According to the embodiment of the present invention, an FIC segment is inserted in a data group, so as to be transmitted. More specifically, the FIC segment corresponding to each data group describes service information on the MH ensemble to which the corresponding data group belongs.
Therefore, by using the information parsed from the SMT, the IP stream component belonging to the virtual channel requested for reception may be accessed (S513). Accordingly, the service associated with the corresponding virtual channel is provided to the user (S514). If it is determined in Step 512 that the SMT includes information indicating that an EMT exists in the corresponding ensemble (S515: ‘YES’), the EMT may be parsed in the corresponding ensemble so as to acquire the additional information (S516). Thereafter, by using the information acquired in Step 516, the additional services, which cannot be described by the SMT, may be described, and the corresponding additional services may then be provided.
FIG. 25 illustrates an exemplary bit stream syntax structure of an EMT according to another embodiment of the present invention. The above-described SMT may describe a stream included in the service-providing virtual channel and channel information on the corresponding virtual channel. And, when the EMT_activity_flag field of the SMT is set up, an EMT, which is added to the SMT so as to describe the services that are to be provided, is transmitted. Accordingly, the SMT may enable audio/video/data streams of the broadcast signal to be swiftly or quickly outputted from the digital broadcast receiving system. And, the EMT may either provide more detailed information on each virtual channel or describe the additional services. Contents of the EMT will now be described in detail.
The table_id field is an 8-bit table identifier, which may be set up as an identifier for identifying the EMT. The section_syntax_indicator field corresponds to an indicator defining the section format of the EMT. For example, the section format may correspond to MPEG long-form syntax. The Private_indicator field indicates whether or not he EMT follows (or is in accordance with) a private section. The reserved field corresponds to a non-designated field, and the value of the reserved field may, for example, be set to ‘1’. The section_length field indicates the section length of the corresponding EMT. The transport_stream_id field represents a transport_stream indicator of a physical channel through which the corresponding EMT is being transmitted. Herein, also, the reserved field corresponds to a non-designated field, and the value of the reserved field may, for example, be set to ‘1’.
The version_number field indicates the version number of the corresponding EMT. The current_next_indicator field indicates whether the data included in subsequent EMT sections are currently applicable. The section_number field indicates the section number of the corresponding EMT. The last_section_number field indicates the last section number of the corresponding EMT. The EMT_protocol_version field indicates the protocol version of the corresponding EMT section. The ensemble_id field indicates an identification number of the ensemble which the EMT describes. The num_channels field indicates the number of channels included in the corresponding ensemble. The major_channel_number field indicates the major channel number of the corresponding virtual channel, and the minor_channel_number field indicates the minor channel number of the corresponding virtual channel. The num_components field indicates the number of components included in the corresponding virtual channel.
The EMT may include a descriptor with respect to each level. For example, the EMT may include a descriptor for a component level (i.e., component_level_descriptor), a descriptor for an event level (i.e., event_level_descriptor), a descriptor for a virtual channel level (i.e., virtual_channel_level_descriptor), and a descriptor for an ensemble level (i.e., ensemble_level_descriptor). More specifically, the component_level_descriptor may include information on the corresponding component. The num events field indicates a number of events included in an event. And, the event_level_descriptor may include information on the corresponding event. Furthermore, the virtual_channel_level_descriptor and ensemble descriptor for each virtual channel may respectively include information on the corresponding virtual channel and the corresponding ensemble (i.e., ensemble_level_descriptor).
For example, the SMT describes basic information on a virtual channel of an ensemble, whereas the EMT may deliver (or transmit) additional service information or detailed information on additional service with respect to the virtual channel included in the corresponding ensemble via descriptors for each level. The descriptor for the EMT may include program guide information for the virtual channel, information associated with data broadcasting, information associated with interactive services, permission information associated with whether or not access to each virtual channel has been permitted, and so on. Furthermore, a descriptor for an audio component among the virtual channel components shown in FIG. 18, a descriptor for which the virtual channel describes a current/next event, as shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, and a descriptor describing a system time, as shown in FIG. 22, may be included in the EMT so as to be transmitted and received. Also, the above-described EMT (or SMT according to the second embodiment of the present invention) may be divided into constant units, such as section units. Herein, each of the section units may describe an ensemble.
When an SMT is received, the SI handler 240 of the receiving system shown in FIG. 1 may parse the SMT. Herein, when the SI handler 240 acquires information indicating that an EMT included in the SMT is being received, the SI handler 240 may receive the EMT from the IP network stack 220. The SI handler 240 may include an EMT parser, which parses detailed information on the virtual channel included in the EMT and, then, stores the parsed information in the storage unit 290. The MH management processor 200 reads the information parsed from the EMT from the storage unit 290. Then, the MH management processor 200 delivers (or sends) the read information to the MH baseband processor 100 or the MH presentation processor 300. For example, when the information parsed from the EMT corresponds to information associated with a current or next event, or when the information parsed from the EMT corresponds to information associated with data broadcasting, the MH presentation processor 300 may control the system so that the information associated with an event or information associated with data broadcasting, which is delivered to the EMT, can be displayed to the user.
Furthermore, when the additional information parsed from the EMT corresponds to permission information on the storage or copying of specific broadcast data content, the MH management processor 200 may store or copy the broadcast data content received from a broadcast signal based upon the corresponding permission information. For example, when the application manager activates an application for additional service, such as data broadcasting, and when the additional service information transmitted to the EMT is read from the storage unit 290, the corresponding additional service information may be used to provide the additional service to the user. Therefore, by using the information delivered to the above-described EMT (or SMT according to the second embodiment of the present invention), the receiving system (or receiver) may provide additional service information, which is associated with the corresponding ensemble, virtual channel, and component of the virtual channel, to the user along with the broadcast signal.
As described above, the present invention may provide a service transmitted through a virtual channel by using the SMT. The present invention may also identify that the EMT is being transmitted from the SMT. Furthermore, the present invention may acquire detailed additional information associated with the component included in the virtual channel, the event, the virtual channel, and the ensemble from the EMT. Thereafter, the present invention may provide the detailed additional information acquired from the EMT as an additional service.
Meanwhile, a digital broadcast receiver, etc. according to one embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail based on the above description of FIGS. 1 to 25. Therefore, some or all of the description of FIGS. 1 to 25 can be applied to the digital broadcast receiver, etc. according to one embodiment of the present invention. However, it should be noted that the scope of the invention must be in principle defined depending on contents described in the appended claims.
FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the functions of constituent elements of the digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 26. For reference, FIG. 26 schematically shows the baseband processor 100, management processor 200 and presentation processor 300 shown in FIG. 1, and those skilled in the art will readily appreciate the present invention throughout the entire description of this specification. Also, the scope of the present invention is not limited to contents described in the drawings and should be in principle interpreted based on contents described in the appended claims.
As shown in FIG. 26, the digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention, denoted by reference numeral 2600, includes a tuner 2601, baseband processor 2602, RS frame memory 2603, A/V decoder 2604, A/V output unit (display/speaker) 2605, FIC memory 2606, SMT/EMT memory 2607, host 2608, channel/service map DB 2609, image file storage 2610, Internet connect module 2611, and so forth.
For example, the blocks shown in FIG. 26 are designable by a module unit, the module unit can correspond to one unit that processes a specific function or operation. Also, each module can be implemented with hardware or software or may be implemented with a combination of hardware and software.
The host 2608 acts to control the constituent elements of the digital broadcast receiver 2600 and decode or process desired data. The tuner 2601 detects data transmitted through a frequency set by the host 2608. The data detected by the tuner 2601 is transmitted to the baseband processor 2602, which acts to demodulate the transmitted data. Output data from the baseband processor 2602 may be, for example, RS frame data, FIC data, etc.
In the mean time, the RS frame data is detected at a regular time interval based on criteria set by the host 2608, and stored in the RS frame memory 2603. Also, the FIC data is detected as needed in response to a request from the host 2608, and stored in the FIC memory 2606. For reference, a time interval at which the FIC data is detected corresponds to about ⅕ the time interval required to detect the RS frame data.
Meanwhile, the A/V decoder 2604 processes audio and video streams and the resulting A/V data is outputted through the A/V output unit 2605. The channel/service map DB 2609 stores information about a service map accessible by the digital broadcast receiver 2600, and the host 2608 can process desired information using the channel/service map DB 2609.
Also, the tuner 2601 of the digital broadcast receiver 2600 according to one embodiment of the present invention receives a broadcast signal which mobile service data and main service data are multiplexed. For example, a module taking charge of this function may be named a reception unit.
Meanwhile, the host 2608 controls the tuner 2601, baseband processor 2602, RS frame memory 2603, FIC memory 2606, SMT/EMT memory 2607, channel/service map DB 2609, etc. to extract transmission parameter channel (TPC) signaling information and fast information channel (FIC) signaling information from a data group in the received mobile service data. For reference, a module taking charge of this function may be named an extractor.
Also, the host 2608 controls the tuner 2601, baseband processor 2602, RS frame memory 2603, FIC memory 2606, SMT/EMT memory 2607, channel/service map DB 2609, etc. to acquire a program table describing virtual channel information and a service of an ensemble, which is a virtual channel group of the received mobile service data, by using the extracted fast information channel signaling information. For reference, a module taking charge of this function may be named an acquirer.
Furthermore for example, the program table is designable to correspond to a service map table (SMT) about configuration information of the mobile service data or an extended service map table (EMT) about an additional service of the mobile service data.
Also, the host 2608 controls the tuner 2601, baseband processor 2602, RS frame memory 2603, FIC memory 2606, SMT/EMT memory 2607, channel/service map DB 2609, etc. to detect a descriptor defining additional information of an image file, using the acquired program table. For reference, a module taking charge of this function may be named a detector.
Furthermore, for example, the image file corresponds to a file in the form of digital data into which a video image was converted, and may be named an image format file. There is no special limitation in the image file and, for example, the image file can be BMP, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, SVG, etc. Also, the descriptor defining the additional information of the image file may be defined in any one of an ensemble level descriptor, virtual channel level descriptor or component level descriptor of the program table.
Also, the host 2608 controls the tuner 2601, baseband processor 2602, RS frame memory 2603, FIC memory 2606, SMT/EMT memory 2607, channel/service map DB 2609, etc. to control such that the image file is displayed, based on the additional information of the detected descriptor. For reference, a module taking charge of this function may be named a controller.
Also, in some cases, the SMT/EMT memory 2607 stores the detected descriptor. For reference, a module taking charge of this function may be named a storage.
In the case where a signal for selection of a specific usage is applied through, for example, a user interface module, etc., the host 2608 controls such that a specific image file pre-stored to correspond to the usage is displayed.
In detail, the controller checks a field of the descriptor defining type information of a path along which the image file is downloaded, and a field of the descriptor defining a string. Then, the controller controls such that the image file is downloaded from the corresponding path to the image file storage 2610 by using the check results. Provided that the check results indicate that the path along which the image file is downloaded is, an URL, the image file will be received through the Internet connect module 2611.
Also, the controller checks a field of the descriptor defining type information of the usage of the image file. Then, the controller controls such that the downloaded image file is displayed according to the corresponding usage by using the check result.
Meanwhile, for example, in the case where a signal for selection of a usage will be applied later, the controller may control such that a specific image file pre-stored to correspond to the usage is displayed.
As described above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to readily perform a process of displaying an image file directly or indirectly related to digital broadcast data by using a digital data broadcasting network. Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a descriptor defining additional information of an image file can be newly prescribed, and an interactive service can be provided between a digital broadcast provider side and a digital broadcast receiver user side even during digital broadcasting by using the descriptor. In addition, according to one embodiment of the present invention, all the foregoing effects can also be attained by a digital broadcast receiver even while in motion.
Furthermore, for example, the above-stated data group may include a plurality of known data sequences, and the transmission parameter channel signaling information and the fast information channel signaling information may be designed to be positioned between a first known data sequence and a second known data sequence, among the known data sequences. Therefore, a known sequence detector included in the digital broadcast receiving system according to the embodiment of the present invention detects known data included in the received broadcast signal. Then, an equalizer included in the receiving system uses the detected known data, thereby channel-equalizing the mobile service data corresponding to the detected known data. Details on the functions of the known sequence detector and the equalizer have been sufficiently described in FIG. 1.
Furthermore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the equalizer uses a known data symbol sequence received from the known sequence detector, thereby enhancing the equalization performance.
FIG. 27 shows the syntax of a descriptor defining additional information of an image file according to one embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 27, a description will hereinafter be given of main fields of the syntax of the descriptor defining the additional information of the image file according to one embodiment of the present invention.
The descriptor defining the additional information of the image file according to one embodiment of the present invention, shown as in FIG. 27, may be added to a technical standard related to digital broadcasting or may be added to a technical standard related to mobile digital broadcasting (for example, ATSC-M/H). Also, the descriptor shown in FIG. 27 may be named, for example, ATSC_MH_Download_Image_descriptor.
The descriptor newly proposed in the present invention includes a field defining type information of the usage of the image file, a field defining type information of a path along which the image file is downloaded, a field defining a string of the path along which the image file is downloaded, and so forth.
In detail, in FIG. 27, a ‘download_image_usage_type’ field defines the type information of the usage of the image file. In other words, the ‘download_image_usage_type’ field may define, for example, a broadcaster logo display usage, a channel change image display usage, a channel logo display usage, a background image display usage, etc., as shown in FIG. 28.
Meanwhile, a ‘download_path_type’ field defines the type information of the path along which the image file is downloaded. In other words, the ‘download_path_type’ field may define, for example, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) path, a Digital Storage Media Command and Control (DSM-CC) path, a File delivery over Unidirectional Transport (Flute) path, a table path, etc., as shown in FIG. 29.
Also, a ‘download_path’ field defines the string of the path along which the image file is downloaded. In other words, the ‘download_path’ field may be defined, for example, as shown in FIG. 29. When the value of the ‘download_path_type’ field is ‘11’, the ‘download_path’ field signifies that the downloaded image file is transmitted in the form of a table section. This will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 30. Also, in the case where the image file is transmitted along the Flute path, an FDT_URI_Descriptor may be defined, for example, as shown in FIG. 31. The FDT_URI_Descriptor of FIG. 31 defines an URI indicating location information.
FIG. 30 shows a table structure of an image file transmitted, according to one embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 30, a description will hereinafter be given of main fields of the table structure of the transmitted image file according to one embodiment of the present invention.
In the case where the type information of the path along which the image file is downloaded, of the descriptor newly proposed in the present invention, corresponds to the type information of the table path, the string of the path along which the image file is downloaded includes a field identifying the ID of a content corresponding to the image file, a field defining the length of the content, a field defining raw data of the content, and so forth as shown in FIG. 30.
In detail, in FIG. 30, a ‘content_id’ field identifies the ID of the content corresponding to the image file. In other words, the ‘content_id’ field defines a unique IDentification identifying a content transmitted.
Furthermore, in FIG. 30, a ‘content_length’ field defines the length of the content, and a ‘content_raw_data’ field signifies data of the transmitted content itself. Also, for example, the transmitted content may be configured in fragment form.
Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a digital broadcast receiver receiving the descriptor shown in FIG. 27 stores an image file transmitted from a specific path to a storage (for example, an image file storage or the like) by parsing the ‘download_path_type’ field, the ‘download_path’ field, etc. Also, the digital broadcast receiver parses the ‘download_image_usage_type’ field, etc., and outputs the stored image file appropriately to a corresponding usage when the parsing results indicate that there is a request to display the stored image file.
Furthermore, because pre-stored image files were mapped respectively to corresponding usage types as stated previously, it is possible to provide embodiments in which the pre-stored image files can be used or displayed as follows.
In the case where the usage type of an image file pre-stored according to one embodiment of the present invention corresponds to a broadcaster logo display usage, a logo corresponding to a broadcaster of a digital broadcast program transmitted can be used according to the user's convenience.
For example, in the case where the user intends to identify a broadcaster providing a digital broadcast program being currently broadcast, a digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention can display a logo of the broadcaster at any time. In some cases, the position of the logo being displayed may be changed, and the logo may be preset to be displayed in only a specific environment (for example, a channel change environment or periodic display environment).
Also, in the case where the usage type of an image file pre-stored according to one embodiment of the present invention is defined as a channel change image display usage, the user's favorite image file can be displayed at the moment that a channel is changed.
For example, a digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention can store the user's favorite image file and automatically display the stored image file upon a channel change. Therefore, it is possible to completely solve a conventional problem that a simple black image is displayed upon a channel change.
Also, in the case where the usage type of an image file pre-stored according to one embodiment of the present invention is defined as a channel logo display usage, a logo corresponding to a channel of a digital broadcast program transmitted can be used according to the user's convenience.
For example, in the case where the user intends to identify a channel providing a digital broadcast program being currently broadcast, a digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention can display a logo of the channel at any time. In some cases, the position of the logo being displayed may be changed, and the logo may be preset to be displayed in only a specific environment (for example, a channel change environment or periodic display environment).
Also, in the case where the usage type of an image file pre-stored according to one embodiment of the present invention is defined as a background image display usage, it is useful to an audio broadcast program having no video signal.
For example, a digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention can store the user's favorite image file, and display the stored image file when a digital broadcast program with no video signal is provided as in radio broadcasting. Therefore, it is possible to solve a conventional problem with the radio broadcasting that only one fixed image is displayed. Also, it is possible to raise the radio broadcasting's preference by together displaying the user's favorite image file.
Meanwhile, the descriptor shown in FIG. 27 may be defined as any one of an ensemble level descriptor, virtual channel level descriptor or component level descriptor of an SMT or EMT, so that the above-stated image file may correspond to information related to an ensemble among digital broadcast data, the above-stated image file may correspond to information related to a virtual channel among digital broadcast data, or the above-stated image file may correspond to information related to a component among digital broadcast data.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, designed in this manner, a digital broadcast receiver can display an image file received through, for example, a download service, etc. appropriately to a corresponding usage. For detailed example, the digital broadcast receiver can output a broadcaster logo, a channel change image, a channel logo, a background image, etc. at any time in response to the user's requirement, etc.
FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 32, a brief description will hereinafter be given of the control method of the digital broadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention. For reference, FIGS. 32 to 34 relate to a method invention, which can be interpreted with the description of the above-stated apparatus invention supplementarily applied thereto.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the digital broadcast receiver performs channel tuning according to ATSC_MH (S3110). The digital broadcast receiver parses an SMT or EMT including an ATSC_MH_Download_Image_descriptor shown in FIG. 27 (S3120). The digital broadcast receiver stores the parsed SMT or EMT in an SMT/EMT memory (S3130). The digital broadcast receiver checks a ‘download_path_type’ field, ‘download_path’ field, etc. of the stored ATSC_MH_Download_Image_descriptor (S3140) and stores an image file transmitted from a specific path in a storage (for example, an image file storage or the like) in accordance with the check results (S3150).
Then, the digital broadcast receiver checks a ‘download_image_usage_type’ field, etc. of the stored ATSC_MH_Download_Image_descriptor (S3160) to output the stored image file appropriately to a corresponding usage (S3170). For example, this step S3170 may be carried out when there is a request from the user, etc.
FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a digital broadcast receiver and digital broadcast transmitter according to one embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 33, a detailed description will hereinafter be given of the control method of the digital broadcast receiver and digital broadcast transmitter according to one embodiment of the present invention.
The digital broadcast transmitter generates a broadcast signal including a descriptor defining additional information of an image file (S3210). Then, the digital broadcast transmitter transmits the generated broadcast signal including the descriptor defining the additional information of the image file to the digital broadcast receiver (S3220).
Meanwhile, the digital broadcast receiver receives, from the digital broadcast transmitter, a broadcast signal into which mobile service data and main service data are multiplexed (S3230), extracts transmission parameter channel signaling information and fast information channel signaling information from a data group in the received mobile service data (S3240) and acquires a program table describing virtual channel information and a service of an ensemble, which is a virtual channel group of the received mobile service data by using the extracted fast information channel signaling information (S3250).
Then, the digital broadcast receiver detects a descriptor defining additional information of an image file by using the acquired program table, and controls such that the image file is displayed, based on the additional information of the detected descriptor (S3260).
FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating step S3260 of FIG. 33 in detail. With reference to FIG. 34, a detailed description will hereinafter be given of step S3260 of FIG. 33.
The digital broadcast receiver checks a field defining type information of a path along which the image file is downloaded, and a field defining a string (S3261). Then, the digital broadcast receiver downloads the image file from the corresponding path to an image file storage or the like using the check results (S3262).
Also, the digital broadcast receiver checks a field defining type information of the usage of the image file (S3263). Then, the digital broadcast receiver displays the downloaded image file according to the corresponding usage using the check result (S3264).
Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the type of a download service and the usage of an image file downloaded are clearly defined, so that the efficiency of an advertisement such as a broadcaster logo or channel logo can be increased at a digital broadcast transmitter side and image file information can be readily confirmed at a desired time at a digital broadcast receiver side.
The present method invention can be implemented in the form of program commands executable by a variety of computer means, and recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium can include program commands, data files, data structures, etc. individually or in combination. The program commands recorded on the medium may be ones specially designed and configured for the present invention or ones known and available to those skilled in computer software. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as a hard disk, a floppy disk and a magnetic tape, optical media such as a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) and a digital versatile disc (DVD), magneto-optical media such as a floptical disk, and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program commands, such as a ROM, a random access memory (RAM) and a flash memory. Examples of the program commands include high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, etc., as well as machine language codes such as those produced by a compiler. The above-stated hardware devices can be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operation of the present invention, and vice versa.
Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with the limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible from this description.
Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the description of the exemplary embodiments and should be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
As apparent from the above description, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital broadcast receiver which is robust against a channel variation and noise, and a control method thereof.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital broadcasting system which is capable of more systematically managing an image file, etc. transmitted using a digital data broadcasting network.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital broadcasting system which is capable of clearly defining the type of a download service and the usage of an image file downloaded. For detailed example, the efficiency of an advertisement such as a broadcaster logo or channel logo can be increased at a digital broadcast transmitter side and image file information can be readily confirmed at a desired time at a digital broadcast receiver side.
In addition, according to a further embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital broadcasting system which is capable of providing an interactive URL service even in a mobile digital broadcasting environment.
wherein the ensemble is RS-CRC (Reed Solomon-cyclic redundancy check) encoded through a 2-dimensional Reed-Solomon (RS) frame, and each row of a payload of the RS frame includes a transport packet of the mobile data.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling table includes a service map table (SMT) which provides IP address information and IP component level information for the service.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the signaling table is identified from a different signaling table by using a table_id field and a table_id_extension field in a table section header of the signaling table.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the signaling table includes a service map table (SMT) which provides IP address information and IP component level information for the service.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the signaling table is identified from a different signaling table by using a table_id field and a table_id_extension field in a table section header of the signaling table.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the signaling table includes a service map table (SMT) which provides IP address information and IP component level information for the service.
wherein the RS frame is a 2-dimensional data frame through which the ensemble is RS-CRC (Reed Solomon-cyclic redundancy check) encoded, and each row of a payload of the RS frame includes a transport packet of the mobile data.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the signaling table is identified from a different signaling table by using a table_id field and a table_id_extension field in a table section header of the signaling table.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the signaling table includes a service map table (SMT) which provides IP address information and IP component level information for the service.

References: Application No. 60
 Application No. 60
 Application No. 60
 Application No. 61
 Application No. 61
 Application No. 10