Data selection/storage apparatus and data processing apparatus using data selection/storage apparatus

• US 7,061,930 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2001
• Issued: 06/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Socionext Inc.
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Mizobata, Norihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, PHUC H
• Application Number:
  US09/973,090
• Publication Number:
  US 20020064188A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,707 Days
• Field of Search: 370412-429, 370532-535
• US Class Current: 370/429
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42615 involving specific demultiplexing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42692 for reading from or writing on a volatile storage medium, e.g. Random Access Memory [RAM]
• 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 21/4435 Memory management allocation of memory to service a request G06F9/5016; addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures G06F12/02

Abstract

A demultiplexer is provided with a PID extractor for extracting a PID of each TS packet from an inputted transport stream; a PID comparator for detecting whether or not the extracted PID matches any of PIDs which are set on a PID table, and outputting an entry number of the PID table where the corresponding PID is set, as a matching PID entry number, when a match is detected; a packet selector for selecting TS packets whose PIDs are detected by the PID comparator; and a data storage controller for determining an area in a memory where each TS packet is to be stored, according to the matching PID entry number; wherein TS packets having different PIDs are multiplexed and stored into a video data storage area in the memory. Therefore, when plural kinds of video data are included in the same program on digital broadcasting, these plural kinds of video data can be reproduced simultaneously.

Claims

1. A data selection/storage apparatus having a data selection means for selecting specific kinds of data from multiplexed data in which plural kinds of data are multiplexed, and a data storage means having plural storage areas for holding the data selected by the data selection means, wherein

among the data selected by the data selection means, plural kinds of data which have previously been specified are multiplexed and stored in one storage area by the data storage means, wherein said data selection means comprises:

an identification number extraction means for extracting an identification number which indicates the kind of each data, from the multiplexed data in which plural kinds of data are multiplexed;

an identification number storage means having plural identification number entries which holds identification numbers of data to be selected;

an identification number matching detection means for detecting whether or not the identification number extracted from the multiplexed data matches at least one of the plural identification numbers stored in the identification number storage means;

a data extraction means for extracting, from the multiplexed data, the data which matches the identification number stored in the identification number storage means;

an identification code addition means for adding an identification code for identifying the kind of data, to the data extracted by the data extraction means;

a data storage control means for storing each data in a predetermined storage area in the data storage means, on the basis of the identification code which is added to the data by the identification code addition means; and

when it has previously been specified that plural kinds of data which are selected from the multiplexed data and have different identification numbers should be stored in one storage area in the data storage means, the data storage control means multiplexes the plural kinds of data and stores the multiplexed data in the storage area.

2. A data selection/storage apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein

said identification code addition means adds the number of an identification number entry in the identification number storage means, as an identification code, to the data having the corresponding identification number;

and

when it has previously been specified that plural kinds of data having different identification codes should be stored in one storage area, said data storage control means multiplexes the plural kinds of data and stores the multiplexed data in the storage area.

3. A data selection/storage apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein when there are plural correspondences between plural identification codes and one storage area, said data storage control means multiplexes the plural kinds of data having different identification codes and stores the multiplexed data in the corresponding storage area, on the basis of the correspondences between the identification codes and the data storage area, which have previously been specified.

4. A data selection/storage apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein

each of the identification number entries in the identification number storage means stores not only the identification number of data to be selected but also a storage area number which indicates a storage area in the data storage means wherein the data having the corresponding identification number should be stored;

said identification code addition means adds the storage area number in the identification number storage means, as an identification code, to each data extracted by the data extraction means; and

when the same storage area number is stored for different identification numbers in the identification number storage means, the data storage control means multiplexes the plural kinds of data having the different identification numbers and stores the multiplexed data in the storage area having the storage area number.

5. A data selection/storage apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein

when there are plural correspondences between different identification numbers and the same storage area number in the identification number storage means, the data storage control means multiplexes the plural kinds of data indicated by the different identification numbers and stores the multiplexed data in the storage area indicated by each storage area number, on the basis of the storage area number.

6. A data selection/storage apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein, when plural kinds of data having different identification numbers are to be storage in the same storage area in the data storage means, the data storage control means stores information for identifying each data together with the data.

7. A data selection/storage apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein information in each identification number entry which is stored in the identification number storage means can be arbitrarily set by an external control circuit.

8. A data selection/storage apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein

when the kind of data to be inputted to the data selection/storage apparatus should be changed, information indicating the kind of data to be newly inputted is transmitted, in advance of the change, to the external control circuit;

and

the information in each identification number entry which is stored in the identification number storage means is newly set on the basis of the information indicating the kind of data to be newly inputted.

9. A data processing apparatus comprising a data selection/storage apparatus according to claim 1, and a data reproduction apparatus for reading the data stored in the data storage means of the data selection/storage apparatus and reproducing the read data, wherein

said data reproduction apparatus reads, from a storage area wherein plural kinds of data having different identification numbers are multiplexed, the multiplexed data and reproduces the multiplexed data, which storage area is included in the data storage means of the data selection/storage apparatus.

10. A data processing apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein

a plurality of said data reproduction apparatuses are provided;

and

when the data selection/storage apparatus has plural storage areas, each holding multiplexed plural kinds of data, each of the plural data reproduction apparatuses reads the multiplexed data from the corresponding storage area, and reproduces the read data.

11. A data processing apparatus comprising:

a data selection/storage unit having a data selection means for selecting specific kinds of data from multiplexed data in which plural kinds of data are multiplexed, and a data storage means having plural storage areas for holding the data selected by the data selection means, wherein said data selection means comprises;

an identification number extraction means for extracting an identification number which indicates the kind of each data, from the multiplexed data in which plural kinds of data are multiplexed;

an identification number storage means having plural identification number entries which holds identification numbers of data to be selected;

an identification number matching detection means for detecting whether or not the identification number extracted from the multiplexed data matches at least one of the plural identification numbers stored in the identification number storage means;

a data extraction means for extracting, from the multiplexed data, the data which matches the identification number stored in the identification number storage means;

an identification code addition means for adding an identification code for identifying the kind of data, to the data extracted by the data extraction means;

a data storage control means for storing each data in a predetermined storage area in the data storage means, on the basis of the identification code which is added to the data by the identification code addition means; and

when it has previously been specified that plural kinds of data which are selected from the multiplexed data and have different identification numbers should be stored in one storage area in the data storage means, the data storage control means multiplexes the plural kinds of data and stores the multiplexed data in the storage area;

a data reproduction unit for reading the data stored in the data storage means of the data selection/storage unit, and reproducing the read data;

wherein said data selection/storage unit stores plural kinds of data, among the data selected by the data selection means, into plural storage areas, respectively; and

said data reproduction unit is able to output plural data request signals as many as the number of kinds of data to be reproduced simultaneously.