Method and system for accessing and implementing declarative applications used within digital multi-media broadcast

• US 7,512,955 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2001
• Issued: 03/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Schwalb, Eddie M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen; Li B
• Assistant Examiner(s): PRICE, NATHAN E
• Application Number:
  US09/924,136
• Publication Number:
  US 20030033607A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,793 Days
• Field of Search: 719/311, 719/328, 717/117
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4381 Recovering the multiplex stream from a specific network, e.g. recovering MPEG packets from ATM cells transmission of MPEG streams over ATM H04L12/5601
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• 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 7/173 with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

A method and system are described that enable the construction of declarative applications, such as XDML, that can access DASE System services. DASE System services include among other things, channel switching and electronic program guide application within a broadcast environment established under the standards of Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC). For example, when a Program and System Information (PSI) application is stored in a Document Object Model (DOM) data structure or database, an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) application can be automatically generated using an EPG-transform method in accordance with the present invention. This method would: 1) Convert DOM structure into an XML document; 2) Apply an XML Style Sheet Transformation (XSLT) to the XML document; and 3) Render the resulting XML document using a conventional web-browser or XML renderer.

Claims

1. A method of providing access to one or more services within a Digital TV Application Software Environment (DASE), the method comprising:

receiving a transport stream having content and one or more applications, wherein the one or more applications provide the one or more services within the Digital TV Application Software Environment (DASE);

using a renderer to interpret and prepare the content for rendering on a display device;

mapping at least one XDML document to a Document Object Model (DOM) structure, the XDML document having at least one atomic element defined as a “

tag” and

the DOM having an atomic element defined as a “

node;

” and

using a declarative application program interface to access Program System Information Protocol (PSIP) data, wherein the declarative application program interface comprises an XDML application program interface module that introduces new tags having semantics that enable HTML pages to perform an active dynamic discovery of at least one of (i) the content and (ii) the services, wherein the XDML application program interface module includes a rule structure for;

defining a condition within the node;

upon satisfaction of the condition, realizing an action defined by the at least one tag, which action is found within the PSIP data; and

otherwise, realizing an action defined by the node.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of rendering the XDML document based on the realized action.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the mapping step comprises identifying all tables via a master guide table.

4. The method according to claim 3 further comprising the steps of:

defining an object class for each table identified;

parsing each table;

for each parsed table, constructing an object instance;

generating a DOM root document object;

adding a virtual channel as a child of the DOM root document object; and

adding an event information table as a child of a virtual channel table based on source ID.

5. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of rendering the realized action for display on the display device.

6. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of automatically and dynamically updating all referenced actions.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the services comprise at least one of:

(i) an electronic program guide;

(ii) a weather reports;

(iii) a stock market report;

(iv) television commerce;

(v) a game;

(vi) interactive advertising;

(vii) interactive news

(viii) an interactive TV show;

(ix) an interactive sports broadcast;

(x) TV-gaming;

(xi) TV-auctioning;

(xii) email; and

(xiii) web-browsing.

7. A system that receives DASE-compatible broadcast streams containing video, audio, or data components, or any combination thereof, and renders the component(s) in a manner useful to an end user, the system comprising:

a plurality of smart cards;

PSIP data preserved within a PSIP database, in which service information pertaining to the plurality of smart cards is stored as well as further service information provided by the system independent of the services of the plurality of the smart cards; and

a declarative application program interface configured to access the PSIP data, wherein the declarative application program interface comprises an XDML application program interface module that introduces new tags having semantics that enable HTML pages to perform an active dynamic discovery of at least one of (i) content and (ii) services of a transport stream, wherein a render is configured to interpret and prepare the content of the transport stream for rendering on an output device.

8. The system according to claim 7 wherein the system further includes means for mapping XDML declarative applications to a Document Object Model (DOM), which is used to enable JavaScript access to the PSIP database.

9. The system according to claim 7 wherein the new tags include associated unique identification values to access content.

10. The system according to claim 7 wherein the content can be generated based on user-inputs.

11. The system according to claim 7, wherein the services comprise at least one of:

(i) an electronic program guide;

(ii) a weather reports;

(iii) a stock market report;

(iv) television commerce;

(v) a game;

(vi) interactive advertising;

(vii) interactive news

(viii) an interactive TV show;

(ix) an interactive sports broadcast;

(x) TV-gaming;

(xi) TV-auctioning;

(xii) email; and

(xiii) web-browsing.

13. A method of providing access to one or more services within a Digital TV Application Software Environment (DASE), the method comprising:

receiving a transport stream having content and one or more applications, wherein the one or more applications provide the one or more services within the Digital TV Application Software Environment (DASE);

using a renderer to interpret and prepare the content for rendering on a display device; and

using a declarative application program interface to access Program System Information Protocol (PSIP) data, wherein the declarative application program interface comprises an XDML application program interface module that introduces tags having semantics that enable performance of an active dynamic discovery of at least one of (i) the content and (ii) the services.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the XDML application program interface module includes a rule structure for:

defining a condition within a node;

upon satisfaction of the condition, realizing an action defined by a tag, wherein the action is found within the PSIP data; and

otherwise, realizing an action defined by the node.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of rendering the XDML document based on the realized action.

16. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of rendering the realized action for display on the display device.

17. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of automatically and dynamically updating all referenced actions.

18. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the services comprise at least one of:

(i) an electronic program guide;

(ii) a weather reports;

(iii) a stock market report;

(iv) television commerce;

(v) a game;

(vi) interactive advertising;

(vii) interactive news

(viii) an interactive TV show;

(ix) an interactive sports broadcast;

(x) TV-gaming;

(xi) TV-auctioning;

(xii) email; and

(xiii) web-browsing.