Digital satellite broadcast system, transmission station, and receiver

• US 20060209738A1
• Filed: 02/16/2006
• Published: 09/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ikeda, Hitoshi
• Application Number:
  US11/354,873
• Publication Number:
  US 20060209738A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/316
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/26 Arrangements for switching distribution systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/90 specially adapted for satellite broadcast receiving
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/236 Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream multiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/434 Disassembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. demultiplexing audio and video streams, extraction of additional data from a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Extraction or processing of SI; Disassembling of packetised elementary stream demultiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6143 involving transmission via a satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/52 Systems for transmission of a pulse code modulated video signal with one or more other pulse code modulated signals, e.g. an audio signal or a synchronizing signal assembling of a multiplex stream by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, remultiplexing of multiplex streams, insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, assembling of a packetised elementary stream at server side H04N21/236; disassembling of a multiplex stream, remultiplexing of multiplex streams, extraction or processing of Service Information, disassembling of packetised elementary stream at client side H04N21/434

Abstract

A signal for each of channels to be sent to a receiver is provided with a time zone in which nothing needs to be received, so that if an instruction is given by a user to simultaneously receive a plurality of channels assigned to different frequencies, program information of the plurality of channels can be acquired when a tuner section switches the frequency for a specified channel by utilizing the time zone.

Claims

1. A digital satellite communication system comprising:

a transmission station for transmitting a signal including program information;

a satellite for relaying the signal transmitted from the transmission station; and

a receiver for receiving the signal relayed by the satellite to acquire the program information when predetermined processing is performed on the basis of the relayed signal, wherein

the receiver includes a tuner section for selecting a frequency of the signal to be received, and first and second output sections for outputting to an external device the program information acquired from the signal included in one frequency selected by the tuner section, and

when supplied with an instruction to receive a first channel included in the signal having a first frequency and a second channel included in the signal having a second frequency, the tuner section performs switchover control on the first frequency and the second frequency at a predetermined time interval, and the program information of the first channel is restored on the basis of the signal received, when the first frequency is selected, and sent out to the first output section and the program information of the second channel is restored on the basis of the signal received, when the second frequency is selected, and sent out to the second output section.

2. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the transmission station includes an information division section for dividing the program information into packets, a multiplexing section for multiplexing, on the basis of a predetermined rule, the packets into which the information is divided by the information division section to thereby generate a stream, and a transmission section for transmitting to the satellite the stream generated by the multiplexing section,

the receiver includes a demultiplexing section for separating the multiplexed packets from the stream included in a signal having one frequency selected by the tuner section, and a decoding section for restoring the program information from the packets separated by the demultiplexing section, and

the program information provided by the decoding section is output to an external device from the first and second output sections.

3. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 2, wherein

the multiplexing section generates the stream by multiplexing the plurality of packets into which the information is divided by the information division section, as inserting predetermined idle-time into the packets so that the packets are discontinuous in a time-wise manner.

4. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 3, wherein

the predetermined idle-time inserted into the packets is provided in a different time zone for each frequency.

5. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 4, wherein

when the receiver is instructed to receive the first channel included in a signal having the first frequency and the second channel included in a signal having the second frequency, the tuner section acquires the program information of both of the channels by switching a reception frequency between the first frequency and the second frequency as utilizing the predetermined idle-time included in each of the streams.

6. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 3, wherein

the multiplexing section generates the stream by arranging a plurality of the packets in which the same information is described serially in the predetermined idle-time.

7. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 6, wherein

when the receiver is instructed to receive the first channel included in a signal having the first frequency and the second channel included in a signal having the second frequency, the tuner section acquires the program information of both of the channels by switching a reception frequency between the first frequency and the second frequency by utilizing time in which the packets in which the same information is described are provided.

8. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 3, wherein

the transmission station is provided with the program information for a plurality of channels,

the information division section divides the program information for the plurality of channels to thereby generate packets one for each channel, and

the multiplexing section generates the stream by multiplexing the program information of the plurality of channels by serially arranging the packets for any other channel in the predetermined idle-time.

9. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 8, wherein

when the receiver is instructed to receive the first channel included in a signal having the first frequency and the second channel included in a signal having the second frequency, the tuner section acquires the program information of both of the channels by setting the reception frequency to the first frequency in time when the packets for the first channel of the packets included in the signal having the first frequency are provided and switching the reception frequency to the second frequency in time when the packets for any channel other than the first channel are provided to receive the packets for the second channel.

10. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 3, wherein

the transmission station is provided with the program information for a plurality of channels,

the information division section divides the program information for the plurality of channels to thereby generate packets one for each channel, and

the multiplexing section generates the stream by arranging, in the predetermined idle-time, the packets for any other channel wherein

in the stream the plurality of packets in which the same information is described is arranged.

11. The digital satellite communication system according to claim 10, wherein

when the receiver is instructed to receive the first channel included in a signal having the first frequency and the second channel included in a signal having the second frequency, the tuner section acquires the program information of both of the channels by acquiring the packets for the first channel as setting the reception frequency to the first frequency in time when the packets for the first channel of the packets included in the signal having the first frequency are provided and by receiving the packets for the second channel as switching the reception frequency to the second frequency in time when the packets are provided in which the same information as that for the packets provided in the time in which the packets for the first channel are provided is described or in time when the packets for any channel other than the first channel are provided.

12. A transmission station equipped to the digital satellite communication system according to claim 2, wherein

the multiplexing section generates the stream by multiplexing the plurality of packets into which the information is divided by the information division section, as inserting predetermined idle-time into the packets so that the packets are discontinuous in a time-wise manner.

13. The transmission station according to claim 12, wherein

the predetermined idle-time inserted into the packets is provided in a different time zone for each frequency.

14. The transmission station according to claim 12, wherein

the multiplexing section generates the stream by multiplexing a plurality of the packets in which the same information is described, as arranging the packets serially in the predetermined idle-time.

15. The transmission station according to claim 12, being provided with the program information for a plurality of channels, wherein

the information division section generates packets by dividing the program information for the plurality of channels, and

the multiplexing section generates the stream by multiplexing the program information of the plurality of channels by serially arranging the packets for any other channel in the predetermined idle-time.

16. The transmission station according to claim 12, being provided with the program information for a plurality of channels, wherein

the information division section generates packets by dividing the program information for the plurality of channels, and

the multiplexing section generates the stream by arranging, in the predetermined idle-time, the packets for any other channel and serially arranging the plurality of packets in which the same information as that for the packets for the other any channel is described and multiplexing the packets.

17. A receiver equipped to the digital satellite communication system according to claim 1, wherein

when the receiver is instructed to receive the first channel included in a signal having the first frequency and the second channel included in a signal having the second frequency, the tuner section acquires the program information of both of the channels by switching a reception frequency between the first frequency and the second frequency as utilizing the predetermined idle-time included in each of the streams.

18. A receiver equipped to the digital satellite communication system according to claim 1, wherein

when the receiver is instructed to receive the first channel included in a signal having the first frequency and the second channel included in a signal having the second frequency, the tuner section acquires the program information of both of the channels by switching a reception frequency between the first frequency and the second frequency as utilizing time in which packets in which the same information is described are provided.

19. A receiver equipped to the digital satellite communication system according to claim 1, wherein

when the receiver is instructed to receive the first channel included in a signal having the first frequency and the second channel included in a signal having the second frequency, the tuner section acquires the program information of both of the channels by setting the reception frequency to the first frequency in time when the packets for the first channel of the packets included in the signal having the first frequency are provided and switching the reception frequency to the second frequency in time when the packets for any channel other than the first channel are provided to receive the packets for the second channel.

20. The receiver according to claim 18, when supplied with an instruction to receive the first channel included in the signal having the first frequency and a third channel included in the signal having the second frequency, notifying that only one of the channels can be received if a time zone in which the packets for the first channel of the packets included in the signal having the first frequency are provided and a time zone in which the packets for the third channel of the packets included in the signal having the second frequency are provided overlap with each other.

21. A receiver equipped to the digital satellite communication system according to claim 1, wherein

when the receiver is instructed to receive the first channel included in a signal having the first frequency and the second channel included in a signal having the second frequency, the tuner section acquires the program information of both of the channels by acquiring the packets for the first channel as setting the reception frequency to the first frequency in time when the packets for the first channel of the packets included in the signal having the first frequency are provided and by receiving the packets for the second channel as switching the reception frequency to the second frequency in time when the packets are provided in which the same information as that for the packets provided in the time in which the packets for the first channel are provided is described or in time when the packets for any channel other than the first channel are provided.