CHANNEL CHANGE LATENCY REDUCTION

• US 20080209499A1
• Filed: 02/25/2008
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maxlinear Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Maxlinear Incorporated
• Inventors: Ling, Curtis, Akella, Ramakrishna, Ramesh, Sridhar, Lee, Brenndon
• Granted Patent: US 8,973,070 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/138
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/26 Arrangements for switching distribution systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/40 Arrangements for broadcast specially adapted for accumulation-type receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/11 Arrangements for counter-measures when a portion of broadcast information is unavailable
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4384 involving operations to reduce the access time, e.g. fast-tuning for reducing channel switching latency

Abstract

A wireless communication system is enhanced to allow for low-latency channel surfing and to enable a user to quickly see the content carried over a selected channel while searching channels for desired content. The techniques for reducing the channel change latency may be implemented in a transmitter, receiver, or in a combination of transmitter and receiver. The wireless communication system is optionally a DVB-H communication system. The transmitter may generate and transmit one or more auxiliary channels, where each auxiliary channel contains reduced resolution content corresponding to one or more channels. The receiver may process the one or more auxiliary channels to present the reduced resolution content while processing the full resolution channel for display. The receiver caches portions of content from one or more non-selected channels and presents the cached content when the channel is selected while concurrently searching and processing the full resolution channel content.

Claims

1. An apparatus adapted to transmit digital video signal, the apparatus comprising:

a input device configured to receive one or more digital video signals corresponding to one or more channels;

an encapsulator configured to encapsulate the one or more digital video signals, the encapsulator comprising;

a multiprotocol encapsulating module configured to improve the carrier-to-noise ratio of the one or more digital video signals; and

an auxiliary stream processor module configured to generate one or more auxiliary data streams, each auxiliary data stream including a portion of a content associated with one channel;

a multiplexer; and

a modulator.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an aggregator adapted to aggregate portions of the content of at least two of the channels so as to generate a composite auxiliary data stream.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the portion of a content includes reduced resolution content.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the reduced resolution content includes reduced quality of images.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the reduced resolution content includes a reduced frame rate.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the reduced resolution content includes content with a compression ratio higher than a full resolution content.

7. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said apparatus transmits the digital video signal in accordance with the DVB-H communications standard and said encapsulator is a DVB-H encapsulator.

8. An apparatus adapted to receive digital video signal, said digital video signal comprising content associated with one or more channels, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver adapted to capture the digital video signal;

a decapsulator configured to divide content disposed in the received digital video signal into a plurality of microslices, each microslice comprising a portion of content associated with a channel;

one or more storage units configured to hold the microslices; and

a microslice management module configured to operate on the microslices in response to a user input.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the microslice management module operates on the microslices to configure a list of channels frequently requested by the user.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the list of channels is specified by the user.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the list of channels is generated by the microslice management module using an automated process in response to user input.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the microslice management module defines a caching policy based on a capacity of the one or more storage units, power usage, and desired user experience.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the microslice management module operates on the microslices according to a predetermined caching policy.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said apparatus receives the digital video signal in accordance with the DVB-H communications standard and said decapsulator is a DVB-H decapsulator.

15. A method for transmitting digital video broadcast signal for use in wireless handheld communication, the method comprising:

receiving one or more digital video broadcast signals including content information of one or more channels to be broadcasted;

converting the one or more digital video broadcast signals into an auxiliary data stream comprising a portion of content of the one or more channels to be broadcasted;

dividing the said auxiliary data stream into a plurality of time-slices;

each time-slice including a portion of the content of the one or more channels to be broadcasted; and

distributing the plurality of time-slices over a wireless medium.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

prior to generating the time-slices, aggregating the portions of content from a plurality of channels to provide a composite auxiliary data stream.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the portions of the content comprises low resolution content corresponding to a full resolution of the one or more channels to be broadcasted.

18. A method for displaying digital video signals associated with a plurality of channels and received via a wireless communication medium by a receiving device, the method comprising:

dividing the digital video signals into a plurality of time slices, each time slice including a portion of associated with one of the channels;

forming a plurality of microslices from the plurality of time slices, each microslice comprising a portion of information from one or more of the time slices;

storing the plurality of microslices in a storage medium; and

displaying data representative of one or more of the microslices in response to a user input.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said digital video signals are received via the wireless communication medium and in accordance with the DVB-H standard.

20. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

caching the microslices associated with channels not selected for display;

using the cached microslice associated with a channel when a user selects the previously unselected channel.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the plurality of microslices are continuously updated to provide latest content information about their associated channels.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the associated channels comprise frequently viewed channels.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the frequently viewed channels are user specified.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the frequently viewed channels are determined by a microcache manager based on a use pattern.

25. The method of claim 18 wherein the plurality of microslices are periodically updated so as to conserve power.

26. The method of claim 18 wherein a size of the microslice is predetermined.

27. The method of claim 18 wherein the user input is characterized by a request for displaying adjacently located channels.

28. The method of claim 18 wherein storing the microslices in the storage module is defined by a caching policy.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the caching policy is specified by the user.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the caching policy is generated by a management module based on the receiving device'"'"'s memory, power usage, and tracking of user experience.

31. The method of claim 28 wherein the caching policy is predefined.