System and method for digital communication

• US 6,588,014 B1
• Filed: 09/24/1998
• Issued: 07/01/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hayashi, Tsutomu
• Primary Examiner(s): Faile, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUYNH, AN SON PHI
• Application Number:
  US09/159,631
• Time in Patent Office: 1,741 Days
• Field of Search: 725/54, 725/67, 725/63-72, 370/537, 370/538
• US Class Current: 725/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2362 Generation or processing of Service Information [SI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4332 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. local EPG data repository interfaces, Database management systems or updating for information retrieval G06F16/23; details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video database G06F16/739
• 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 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• 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 digital broadcasting system capable of quickly acquiring long term program information. An SI generating part SG2 generates a long term program information S_EIT which is multiplexed in a transport stream TS2 only. The SI generating part SG2 gives information on whether the long term program information S_EIT is present or not for each service to other SI generating parts SG1 and SG3. The SI generating parts SG1 and SG3 multiplex the given presence information in transport streams TS1 and TS3. In this way, the presence information is multiplexed in all the transport streams. Therefore, the presence information may be acquired whichever transport stream is being received. If the presence information is retained beforehand, the information may be quickly used as required.

Claims

1. A digital broadcasting system comprising (a) a transmitter for sending a plural number of transport streams, and (b) a receiver for selecting and receiving services in said transport streams,

said transmitter comprising:

(a1) long term program information multiplexing means for making at least one transport stream a specified transport stream and for multiplexing long term program information for each service in said specified transport stream, and

(a2) presence information multiplexing means for multiplexing, in all said transport streams including at least one service, presence information for each service on whether said long term program information is multiplexed or not in said specified transport stream, and

said receiver comprising;

(b1) presence information retaining means for acquiring and retaining said presence information for each service multiplexed in said transport stream currently being received, and

(b2) long term program information acquiring means for determining whether said long term program information for said service in question is present or not on the basis of said presence information retained in said presence information retaining means, said long term program information acquiring means acquiring said long term program information for only those in which said long term program information is present.

2. A digital broadcasting system of claim 1, wherein said presence information multiplexing means multiplexes said presence information also in all said transport streams that do not include services.

3. A digital broadcasting method wherein a plural number of transport streams are sent out, and on the receiving side, services in said transport streams are selected and received, and wherein

on said sending side,

at least one transport stream is made a specified transport stream and long term program information on each service is multiplexed in said specified transport stream, and at the same time

for each service, presence information on whether said long term program information is multiplexed or not in said specified transport stream is multiplexed in all said transport streams including at least one service, and

on said receiving side

presence information on each service multiplexed in said transport stream currently being received is acquired and retained beforehand, and

whether said long term program information on the service in question is present or not is determined from said presence information retained beforehand in the case it is necessary to learn whether said long term program information is present or not for the service.

4. A digital broadcasting method of claim 3, wherein said presence information is further multiplexed in all said transport streams that do not include services.

5. A transmitter for sending a plural number of transport streams, comprising

long term program information multiplexing means for making at least one transport stream a specified transport stream, said long term program information multiplexing means multiplexing long term program information on each service in said specified transport stream, and

presence information multiplexing means for multiplexing, for each service, presence information on whether said long term program information is multiplexed or not in said specified transport stream in all said transport streams including at least one service.

6. A transmitter of claim 5, wherein said presence information is further multiplexed in all said transport streams that do not include services.

7. A digital communication method for sending a plural number of transport streams, wherein

at least one transport stream is made a specified transport stream and long term program information on each service is multiplexed in said specified transport stream, and

for each service, presence information on whether said long term program information is multiplexed or not in said specified transport stream is multiplexed also in transport streams other than said specified transport stream.

8. A digital communication method of claim 7, wherein said presence information is multiplexed in all said transport streams including at least one service.

9. A digital communication method of claim 8, wherein said presence information is multiplexed also in all said transport streams that do not include services.

10. A digital communication method of claim 7, wherein said presence information is described in a service description table (SDT).

11. A digital communication method of claim 10, wherein said presence information is described in a descriptor area of said service description table (SDT).

12. A digital communication method of claim 7, wherein said presence information is described in a network information table (NIT).

13. A digital communication method of claim 12 wherein said presence information is described in a description loop for each transport stream in said network information table (NIT).

14. A receiver for selecting and receiving services in a plural number of transport streams, comprising:

presence information retaining means for acquiring and retaining said presence information on each service multiplexed in said transport stream currently being received, and

long term program information acquiring means for determining whether said long term program information about the service in question is present or not in the case it is necessary to acquire said long term program information about a service, said long term program information acquiring means performing said long term program information acquiring process for only that in which said long term program information is present.

15. A receiver of claim 14, wherein said long term program information acquiring means acquires said long term program information without changing said transport stream to be received if said transport stream currently being received is a specified transport stream, and acquires said long term program information after changing said transport stream to be received into said specified transport stream if said transport stream currently being received is not a specified transport stream.

16. A receiver of claim 14, wherein said presence information retaining means acquires and retains said presence information for all said services at specified time intervals during said receiving operation.

17. A receiver of claim 14, wherein said presence information retaining means acquires and retains said presence information for all said services when a power supply is turned off.

18. A receiver of claim 14, further comprising:

long term program information memory means for storing said long term program information acquired with said long term program information acquiring means,

search receiving means for receiving search instruction for program information, and

search execution means which searches long term program information stored in said long term program information memory means according to said search instruction, and outputs search results,

wherein said long term program information starts its process by receiving said search instruction and stores said long term program information in said long term program information memory means, and

wherein said search execution means starts its process after said long term program information is stored in said long term program information memory means by said long term program information acquiring means.

19. A receiver for selectively receiving services in a plural number of transport streams, comprising:

a transport stream selecting part for selecting and receiving a transport stream according to an instruction from a processing part,

a separating part for separating and acquiring desired data from said transport stream selected with said transport stream selecting part according to said instruction from said processing part,

a processing part for controlling the operation of said transport stream selecting part and said separating part,

a program recording part for storing the program for determining the process contents of said processing part, and

a data recording part for recording data,

wherein said program causes a computer to execute the following processes;

while a desired transport stream is being received in said separating part, to acquire said presence information on said long term program information for each service multiplexed in said transport stream in question and record it in said data recording part,

upon receiving an instruction to acquire said long term program information about a service, to determine whether said long term program information about the service is present or not from said presence information recorded in said data recording part,

not to perform an acquiring process for those where no long term program information is present, and

for those where said long term program information is present, to control said transport stream selecting part to receive said transport stream in which said long term program information is multiplexed, control said separating part to separate and acquire said long term program information from said transport stream in question.

20. A recording medium on which a program is recorded for controlling processes of selecting and receiving services in a plural number of transport streams, wherein said program controls,

while a desired transport stream is being received in a separating part, to acquire presence information on a long term program information for each service multiplexed in said transport stream in question and record it in a data recording part,

upon receiving an instruction to acquire said long term program information on services, to determine whether said long term program information is present or not for the service in question according to said presence information recorded in a data recording part,

not to perform said acquisition process for those where no long term program information is present, and

for those where said long term program information is present, to control a transport stream selecting part to receive said transport stream in which said long term program information is multiplexed, and control said separating part to separate and acquire said long term program information from said transport stream.

21. A digital communication method for selecting and receiving services in a plural number of transport streams, wherein

presence information on each service multiplexed in said transport stream being received is acquired and retained, and

in the case it is necessary to acquire long term program information on said service, determines whether said long term program information is present or not for the service in question according to said presence information retained in a presence information retaining means, and performs an acquisition process for only those where said long term program information is present.