Digital signal receiving apparatus and receiving method

• US 6,691,311 B1
• Filed: 02/08/2000
• Issued: 02/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Yuichiro, Yuchi, Hirofumi, Yata, Haruhiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoye, Michael W.
• Application Number:
  US09/499,993
• Time in Patent Office: 1,463 Days
• Field of Search: 725/48, 725/49, 725/53, 725/56, 725/37-39, 725/50, 725/54, 725/59, 725/131-134, 725/139-142, 725/151-153, 725/68-72
• US Class Current: 725/68
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4344 Remultiplexing of multiplex streams, e.g. by modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• 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 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/20 Adaptations for transmission via a GHz frequency band, e.g. via satellite

Abstract

A digital signal receiving apparatus for receiving a digital broadcast signal having a first information table and a second information table is disclosed, the first information table representing the relation between physical information of transmission paths and deliverable data, the second information table representing deliverable data, the apparatus comprising a means for successively searching services represented with the second information table, a means for generating a list that represents services represented with the first information table, and a means for performing a predetermined process corresponding to the generated list.

Claims

1. A digital signal receiving apparatus for receiving a digital broadcast signal having a first information table and a second information table, the first information table representing a relation between physical information of transmission paths and first deliverable services, the second information table representing second deliverable services, the apparatus comprising:

means for searching the second information table to determine those second deliverable services also represented on the first information table;

means for generating a list that represents those first deliverable services represented only on the first information table and those second deliverable services also represented on the first information table; and

means for performing a predetermined process corresponding to the generated list.

2. The digital signal receiving apparatus as set forth in claim 1,

wherein the predetermined process is a process for displaying information of the deliverable service to the user.

3. The digital signal receiving apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast signal is a digital satellite broadcast signal, and wherein the first information table is a Network Information Table (NIT).

4. The digital signal receiving apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast signal is a digital satellite broadcast signal, and wherein the second information table is at least a Program Association Table (PAT) or an Event Information Table (EIT).

5. A digital signal receiving method for receiving a digital broadcast signal having a first information table and a second information table, the first information table representing a relation between physical information of transmission paths and first deliverable services, the second information table representing second deliverable services, the method comprising:

(a) searching the second information table to determine those second deliverable services also represented on the first information table;

(b) generating a list that represents those first deliverable services represented only on the first information table and those second deliverable services determined in step (a); and

(c) performing a predetermined process corresponding to the generated list.

6. The digital signal receiving method as set forth in claim 5,

wherein the predetermined process is a process for displaying information of the deliverable service to the user.

7. The digital signal receiving method as set forth in claim 5, wherein the digital broadcast signal is a digital satellite broadcast signal, and wherein the first information table is a Network Information Table (NIT).

8. The digital signal receiving method as set forth in claim 5, wherein the digital broadcast signal is a digital satellite broadcast signal, and wherein the second information table is at least a Program Association Table (PAT) or an Event Information Table (EIT).

9. A broadcast receiver, comprising:

a front-end for receiving a digital broadcast signal having a Network Information Table (NIT) and at least a Program Association Table (PAT);

a memory for storing the NIT and the PAT; and

a processor for creating a list of services for display from the stored NIT and the stored PAT such that the list consists of services listed only on the NIT and services listed on both the NIT and the PAT.