Patent ID: 7468994

Claim:
An apparatus for interleave processing, the apparatus comprising: structural information output means for outputting structural information on structures of respective multiple bit streams to be interleaved; and interleave-defining means for defining interleave processing by defining interleave-processing segments in said respective multiple bit streams based on said structural information in a backward direction of the bit streams relative to a flow direction thereof and arranging said interleave-processing segments thus defined in the flow direction of said bit streams, wherein said interleave-defining means defines said interleave-processing segments each time said interleave-defining means has set one interleave-processing segment for each of said multiple bit streams; and wherein said interleave-defining means sets said interleave-processing segments with said interleave-processing segment of one bit stream being set to follow the set interleave- processing segment of other bit stream.