Patent ID: 7864767

Claim:
A system of providing broadcast channel information, comprising: a broadcast channel information-providing server comprising a broadcast channel information table and a broadcast channel information multicast address in a first Internet Protocol (IP) packet, the broadcast channel information-providing server to send the first IP packet to a network, the broadcast channel information multicast address being the address of a set-top box arranged to receive the broadcast channel information table; and a set-top box to generate a first join message to join a broadcast channel information multicast group, to send the first join message to the network, to store the broadcast channel information table received from the network, to generate a second join message to join a multicast group for transmitting/receiving broadcast data of a broadcast channel included in the broadcast channel information table according to an access request for the broadcast channel, to send the second join message to the network, and to output the broadcast data of the broadcast channel received from the network, wherein the broadcast channel information table comprises entries indicating broadcast channel numbers, describing broadcast channels, representing broadcast channel multicast addresses arranged to transmit/receive broadcast data of broadcast channels, and indicating whether or not broadcast data of the broadcast channels can be copied, and wherein the set-top box comprises: a database to store the broadcast channel information multicast address and the broadcast channel information table; a broadcast channel information table receiver to generate the first join message to join the broadcast channel information multicast group, to send the first loin message to the network, to receive the broadcast channel information table and a changed broadcast channel information table from the network, and to store the broadcast channel information table and the changed broadcast channel information table in the database; and a broadcast data receiver to generate the second join message to join the multicast group for transmitting/receiving the broadcast data of the broadcast channel according to the access request for the broadcast channel, to send the second join message to the network, to output the broadcast data of the broadcast channel received from the network, and to regulate copying of the broadcast data of the broadcast channel according to an entry in the broadcast channel information table as to whether or not the broadcast data of the broadcast channel can be copied comprised in the broadcast channel information table.