Method and a device for the efficient transmission of program and service data for national and regional broadcast

• US 8,387,104 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2010
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Company KG
• Original Assignee: Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Company KG
• Inventors: Rusch-Ihwe, Jens, Herzog, Norman
• Primary Examiner(s): Goodarzi, Nasser
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRAHAM, PAUL J
• Application Number:
  US12/890,929
• Publication Number:
  US 20110099599A1
• Time in Patent Office: 883 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/117
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/06 among broadcast stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/42 Arrangements for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23608 Remultiplexing multiplex streams, e.g. involving modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers

Abstract

A method and a device for transmitting a transport stream according to a digital television-transmission standard for stationary and/or mobile receivers with program and service data for a national and a regional broadcast determines the transmission capacity in the transport stream provided in each case for the national and the regional broadcast through a first multiplexer within a centrally positioned headend. The first multiplexer then fills the transport stream with program and service data for national broadcast within the transmission capacity of the transport stream provided for the broadcast and marks the transmission capacity provided within the transport stream for the regional broadcast. Second multiplexers provided in the regional headends and/or in the regional transmitters in each case fill the marked transmission capacity of the transport stream, transmitted in each case from the central headend to several regionally positioned headends and/or regionally positioned transmitters, with program and service data for regional broadcast.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting a transport stream according to a digital television-transmission standard, for stationary and/or mobile receivers with program and service data for a national and a regional broadcast with the following method steps:

determining the transmission capacity in the transport stream provided respectively for the national and the regional broadcast through a first multiplexer in a centrally positioned headend;

filling the transport stream with program and service data for national broadcast to the transmission capacity of the transport stream provided for the broadcast through the first multiplexer;

marking the transmission capacity in the transport stream provided for the regional broadcast through the first multiplexer and

filling the marked transmission capacity of the transport stream transmitted in each case from the central headend to several regionally positioned headends and/or regionally positioned transmitters with program and service data for regional broadcast through a second multiplexer provided in each of the regional headends and/or regional transmitters.

2. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the transmission capacity within the transport stream marked for regional broadcast is filled with null transport packets.

3. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the transmission capacity within the transport stream marked for regional broadcast is determined through a marking information in the transport stream.

4. The method according to claim 3,

wherein the marking information is contained in the signalisation data of the transport stream and contains the number of transport packets provided for program and service data for regional broadcast and the time sequence of the transport packets provided for program and service data for regional broadcast within the transport stream.

5. The method according to claim 3,

wherein the marking information is stored at the beginning of the transmission capacity provided in each case for the program and service data for regional broadcast and contains the number of transport packets provided for program and service data for regional broadcast.

6. The method according to claim 3,

wherein the transmission capacity marked for program and service data for regional broadcast is filled up with null transport packets by the respective second multiplexer.

7. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the null transport packets provided for program and service data for regional broadcast are entirely filled in each case with program and service data of one or more programs by the respective second multiplexer.

8. The method according to claim 2,

wherein a part of the null transport packets provided for program and service data for regional broadcast is filled with program and service data provided for the regional broadcast of one or more programs or services, and the other part of the null transport packets provided for program and service data for regional broadcast remain as null transport packets.

9. The method according to claim 1,

wherein program and service data for national broadcast in the respectively established transmission capacities of the transport stream are replaced partially or entirely with program and service data for regional broadcast in the respective second multiplexer.

10. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the second multiplexers of each regionally positioned transmitter in each case insert different program and service data for regional broadcast into the received transport stream, and each regional transmitter broadcasts a transport stream with different program and service data for regional broadcast.

11. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the second multiplexers in each case insert different program and service data for regional broadcast into the received transport stream, and the regional transmitters allocated to the second multiplexers in each case directly or indirectly via the respective regional headend form a shared-channel network and broadcast a transport stream with identical regional program and service data.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein several second multiplexers in each case insert identical program and service data for regional broadcast or no program and service data for regional broadcast into the received transport stream, and the regional transmitters allocated in each case to several second multiplexers form a shared-channel network and in each case broadcast a transport stream with identical regional program and service data.

13. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the un-coded program and service data for national broadcast for mobile receivers are transmitted from the central headend to the regional headends and/or regional transmitters and are coded in the respective second multiplexer according to the transmitted coding parameters.

14. The method according to claim 13,

wherein those transport packets which are provided for program and service data for national broadcast for mobile receivers and are not required by the un-coded program and service data for national broadcast for mobile receivers are not transmitted from the central headend to the regional headends and/or regional transmitters.

15. The method according to claim 14,

wherein the number of transport packets not transmitted because of lack of coding and the coding parameters is indicated through an information stored in the transport stream at the position of the non-transmitted transport packets or an information stored in the signalisation data to the respective second multiplexers, which insert the number of additional transport packets into the transport stream required for the coding of the un-coded program and service data for national broadcast for mobile receivers.

16. The method according to claim 13,

wherein those transport packets which are provided for program and service data for national broadcast for mobile receivers and are not required by the un-coded program and service data for national broadcast for mobile receivers are used for the transmission of program and service data for regional broadcast from the central headend to the regional headends and/or regional transmitters.

17. The method according to claim 4,

wherein the signalisation data for program and service data for national and regional broadcast are combined and/or stored in the first two transport packets of the transmission capacity provided for program and service data for mobile receivers in the transport stream.

18. A device for generating a transport stream according to a digital television-transmission standard, for stationary and/or mobile receivers with program and service data for a national and regional broadcast with a first multiplexer in a centrally positioned headend for determining transmission capacity in each case for program and service data for national and regional broadcast within a transport stream, in order to fill the transmission capacity provided for national broadcast with program and service data for national broadcast and to mark the transmission capacity provided for regional broadcast and, in each case a second multiplexer in several regionally positioned headends and/or regionally positioned transmitters for filling the transmission capacities provided for regional broadcast respectively with program and service data for regional broadcast.