Digital broadcasting method

• US 8,683,531 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2012
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: Fuss, Tim, Schaupmann, Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): Goodarzi, Nasser
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRAHAM, PAUL J
• Application Number:
  US13/452,068
• Publication Number:
  US 20120201328A1
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• US Class Current: 725/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/57 for mobile receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/12 wherein another information is substituted for the portion of broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2365 Multiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/631 Multimode Transmission, e.g. transmitting basic layers and enhancement layers of the content over different transmission paths or transmitting with different error corrections, different keys or with different transmission protocols

Abstract

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a digital data stream is divided into at least two complementary digital substreams and delayed in time. The first digital substream and the second digital substream are transmitted by the broadcasting systems with a time offset in accordance with the broadcasting principle such that any receiver can use the respectively intact part of the other complementary digital substream in order to ensure a seamless media reception when a break in the transmission or reception occurs.

Claims

1. A digital broadcasting method of a broadcasting system for realizing a seamless reception of a digital data stream in a moving vehicle, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

providing a data stream of a predetermined initial quality to be transmitted by a transmitter,

dividing the data stream into a first digital substream and a second digital substream,

wherein the first and second sub streams are complementary to one another in such a way that a recombination of the substreams results in a data stream of the predetermined initial quality,

wherein each of the first and second substreams on its own comprises complete information sufficient to reproduce the original content, but a quality reduced content compared to the data stream of the predetermined initial quality to be transmitted,

generating a time offset dt between the first and the second substream,

transmitting the first and the second substream to a receiver in the moving vehicle in the form of a broadcast by a broadcasting system with the time offset dt such that the first substream is transmitted earlier than the second substream,

delaying the first substream in the moving vehicle, and

recombining both received substreams into an output stream in the moving vehicle.

2. The digital broadcasting method of claim 1,

wherein interrelated complementary parts of the first and the second substream are respectively recombined during the recombining.

3. The digital broadcasting method of claim 1, further comprising:

playing the recombined output stream in the moving vehicle,

wherein the delaying comprises a storing of a transmitted part of the first substream,

such that an occurrence of a break in the transmission during the reception of the broadcast with a duration up to the length of the time offset can be compensated in such a way that the playing of the output stream can take place continuously.

4. The digital broadcasting method of claim 1, further comprising:

packing the first and second complementary, time-delayed substreams by a broadcasting system, and

unpacking the first and second complementary, time-delayed substreams on the side of the moving vehicle,

wherein the transmission of the first and second substreams takes place on a single transmission path.

5. The digital broadcasting method of claim 1,

wherein the data stream to be transmitted is a digital audio stream,

wherein the dividing comprises the reduction of the audio stream to first and second mono channels,

wherein the first substream is composed of the data of the first mono channel of the audio stream, and

wherein the second substream is composed of the data of the second mono channel of the audio stream.

6. The digital broadcasting method of claim 1,

wherein the data stream to be transmitted is a digital video stream,

wherein the first substream is selected from the group consisting of pixels with an even ordinal number, data of lines with an even ordinal number, images with an even ordinal number and any combination thereof, and

wherein the second substream is selected from the group consisting of pixels with an odd ordinal number, data of lines with an odd ordinal number, images with an odd ordinal number and any combination thereof.

7. The digital broadcasting method of claim 6, furthermore comprising:

calculating intermediate images from the first substream or from the second substream, and

inserting intermediate images between images in the same substream from which the intermediate images are calculated such that a choppy reproduction on the receiving end is prevented in case a break in the transmission occurs.

8. The digital broadcasting method of claim 1,

wherein the vehicle is an airplane, and

wherein a broadcasting system is a ground-based communication station.

9. The digital broadcasting method of claim 1,

wherein the time offset lies between 10 and 40 seconds.

10. The digital broadcasting method of claim 1,

wherein the data stream to be transmitted is provided at a time t1,

wherein the data stream is divided at a time t2, wherein the time offset is generated at a time t3,

wherein the transmission of the first substream starts at a time t4,

wherein the transmission of the second substream starts at a time t5,

wherein t4+dt=t5 applies,

wherein the transmission of a first part of the first substream to the receiving end takes place at a time t6,

wherein the transmission of a first part of the second substream to the receiving end takes place at a time t7,

wherein the recombination of both substreams takes place no earlier than the time t7, and

wherein t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7 applies.

11. A broadcasting system for broadcasting a digital data stream, wherein the broadcasting system comprises:

a device for dividing the data stream of a predetermined initial quality into a first digital substream and a second digital substream,

wherein the first and second substreams are complementary to one another in such a way that a recombination of the substreams results in a data stream of the predetermined initial quality,

wherein each of the first and second substreams on its own comprises complete information sufficient to reproduce the original content, but a quality reduced content compared to the data stream of the predetermined initial quality to be transmitted,

a device for generating a time offset dt between the first and the second sub stream, and

a device for transmitting the first and the second substream to a receiver in the moving vehicle with the time delay dt in the form of a broadcast by the broadcasting system such that the first substream is transmitted earlier than the second substream.

12. An airplane, wherein the airplane comprises:

a receiver for receiving first and second complementary, time- delayed digital substreams,

wherein each of the first and second substreams on its own comprises complete information sufficient to reproduce the original content, but a quality reduced content compared to the data stream of a predetermined initial quality to be transmitted,

wherein the first and second sub streams are complementary to one another in such a way that a recombination of the substreams results in a data stream of the predetermined initial quality,

a device for delaying the first sub stream, and

a device for recombining both received substreams into an output stream.

13. A non-transitory computer- readable medium, on which a program element is stored that, when executed on a processor, instructs the processor to carry out the following steps:

providing a data stream of a predetermined initial quality to be transmitted by means of a transmitter,

dividing the data stream into a first digital substream and a second digital substream,

wherein the first and second substreams are complementary to one another in such a way that a recombination of the substreams results in a data stream of the predetermined initial quality,

wherein each of the first and second substreams on its own comprises complete information sufficient to reproduce the original content, but a quality reduced content compared to the data stream of the predetermined initial quality to be transmitted,

generating a time offset dt between the first and the second substream, and

transmitting the first and the second substream to a receiver in the moving vehicle with the time delay dt in the form of a broadcast by the broadcasting system such that the first substream is transmitted earlier than the second substream.