Apparatus and method for encoding and decoding signals

• US 8,848,781 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2008
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Thomson Licensing LLC (The Woodbridge Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Citta, Richard W., LoPresto, Scott M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Czekaj, Dave
• Assistant Examiner(s): LI, TRACY Y
• Application Number:
  US12/599,734
• Publication Number:
  US 20100238995A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,328 Days
• Field of Search: 375/240.01
• US Class Current: 375/240.01
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/00 Coding, decoding or code conversion, for error detection or error correction; Coding theory basic assumptions; Coding bounds; Error probability evaluation methods; Channel models; Simulation or testing of codes error detection or error correction for analogue/digital, digital/analogue or code conversion H03M1/00 – H03M11/00; specially adapted for digital computers G06F11/08; for information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B, e.g. G11B20/18; for static stores G11C
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/03 Error detection or forward error correction by redundancy in data representation, i.e. code words containing more digits than the source words
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/09 Error detection only, e.g. using cyclic redundancy check [CRC] codes or single parity bit
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/095 Error detection codes other than CRC and single parity bit codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/096 Checksums
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/134 Non-binary linear block codes not provided for otherwise
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/151 using error location or error correction polynomials
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/253 with concatenated codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/2906 using block codes H03M13/2957 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/41 using the Viterbi algorithm or Viterbi processors
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/6356 by repetition or insertion of dummy data, i.e. rate reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/6362 by puncturing
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/6538 ATSC VBS systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/005 Iterative decoding, including iteration between signal detection and decoding operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0065 Serial concatenated codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0072 Error control for data other than payload data, e.g. control data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0079 Formats for control data H04L1/16 takes precedence; training sequences H04L25/00 and H04L27/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/156 Availability of hardware or computational resources, e.g. encoding based on power-saving criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/157 Assigned coding mode, i.e. the coding mode being predefined or preselected to be further used for selection of another element or parameter
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 the region being a picture, frame or field
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/176 : the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 : in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/52 : Systems for transmission of a pulse code modulated video signal with one or more other pulse code modulated signals, e.g. an audio signal or a synchronizing signal assembling of a multiplex stream by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, remultiplexing of multiplex streams, insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, assembling of a packetised elementary stream at server side H04N21/236; disassembling of a multiplex stream, remultiplexing of multiplex streams, extraction or processing of Service Information, disassembling of packetised elementary stream at client side H04N21/434

Abstract

New capabilities will allow conventional broadcast transmission to be available to mobile devices. A method is described including the steps of receiving a packet of data having a data payload and a header, byte code encoding the data in the packet, and altering information in the header in response to the byte code encoding. An apparatus is described including an encoder receiving a packet of data and encoding the data using a byte code encoding process and a header modifier altering information in the header in response to the byte code encoding. A decoding apparatus is described including a packet identifier receiving a plurality of data packets, and identifying a data packet based on information in the header, a byte code decoder decoding the identified data packet using a byte code decoding process, and a Reed-Solomon decoder decoding at least the decoded identified data packet using a Reed-Solomon decoding process.

Claims

1. A method comprising the steps of:

receiving a packet of data, the packet having a data payload and a header, the header containing information identifying the packet as capable of being received by a first type of receiver;

byte code encoding the data in the packet;

altering information in the header in response to the byte code encoding, the altered information in the header identifying the packet as a packet that is not recognized by the first type of receiver but capable of being received by a second type of receiver; and

combining the byte code encoded packet of data including the header with the altered information with a second packet of data including a header containing information identifying the second packet as capable of being received by the first type of receiver.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of altering includes altering a program identifier in the header.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of altering includes setting the program identifier to a value that is unused in a legacy program map table.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of altering includes setting the program identifier to a value for a valid mobile broadcast packet.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of byte code encoding uses a Galois Field generator matrix to supplement the data in the packet.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the packet in the step of receiving contains 184 bytes of data in the data payload and 3 bytes of data in the header.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of byte code encoding (1740) uses a GF Serial Concatenated Block Coding process.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of byte code encoding includes byte code encoding only the data payload portion of the packet.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of Reed-Solomon encoding the byte code encoded data including the altered header.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is used in a television broadcast system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of receiver is a legacy broadcast receiver and the second type of receiver is a mobile receiver.