Digital broadcast channel reception system and method and portable terminal for use in such system

• US 20030072257A1
• Filed: 09/26/2002
• Published: 04/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maxell, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Murata, Ikuo, Shirosugi, Takatoshi, Mizukami, Hiroyuki, Ikedo, Hiroyasu
• Granted Patent: US 6,952,595 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/208
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/02 Arrangements for relaying broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/06 among broadcast stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/57 for mobile receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/72 of terrestrial networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/18 Arrangements characterised by circuits or components specially adapted for receiving
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4126 The peripheral being portable, e.g. PDAs or mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6112 involving terrestrial transmission, e.g. DVB-T
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/38 Transmitter circuitry for the transmission of television signals according to analogue transmission standards H04N5/14 takes precedence

Abstract

The invention provides a digital broadcast reception system that allows watching a digital broadcast on a mobile terminal and a portable terminal as a constituent part of such system.

A receiver unit for receiving digital broadcasts transmits video data to a display unit, using its TX data manipulator, modulator, TX circuit, and antenna. The TX data manipulator manipulates the output from an OFDM demodulator into data to transmit from the TX circuit and appends error correction codes to the data. The modulator modulates the output from the TX data manipulator. A display unit for digital broadcast display receives video data transmitted from the receiver unit, using its antenna, TX/RX section, and modulator/demodulator. After error correction codes in the received signals are decoded by a TX/RX data manipulator, video data is extracted. After the video data is decoded by a MPEG4 decoder, a picture is output on the display.

Claims

1. A digital broadcast channel reception system having a receiver unit and a display unit,

said receiver unit comprising:

digital broadcast receiving means for receiving digital broadcast carriers;

demodulation means for demodulating the digital broadcast carriers received by said digital broadcast receiving means;

first conversion means for converting encoded digital signals demodulated by said demodulation means into radio communication signal carriers in a predetermined form; and

first radio carriers transmitting/receiving means for transmitting the radio communication signal carriers output by said first conversion means;

said display unit, which is equivalent in functionality to a mobile portable terminal, comprising;

second radio carriers transmitting/receiving means for receiving the carriers transmitted by said first radio carriers transmitting/receiving means;

second conversion means for converting said radio communication signal carriers received by said second radio carriers transmitting/receiving means into signals in the same form as said encoded digital signals;

decoding means for decoding the signals output by said second conversion means; and

display means for displaying content reproduced from the decoded signals.

2. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 1, wherein said receiver unit is capable of radio communication with a plurality of display units including said display unit and the display unit of another digital broadcast channel reception system for transmitting said radio communication signal carriers thereto.

3. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 1, wherein said display unit is capable of radio communication with a receiver unit selected from a plurality of receiver units including said receiver unit and the receiver unit of another digital broadcast channel reception system for receiving said radio communication signal carriers therefrom.

4. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 1, wherein said display unit further comprises:

cellular communication signal carriers transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving cellular communication signal carriers arranged in a form different from the form of said radio communication signal carriers;

processing means for modulating, demodulating, coding, and decoding said cellular communication signal carriers; and

input/output means for inputting and outputting the signals converted by said second conversion means.

5. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 4, wherein said digital broadcast receiving means is equipped with an antenna and said cellular communication signal carriers transmitting/receiving means is equipped with an antenna and the antenna of said digital broadcast receiving means is larger than the antenna of said cellular communication signal carriers transmitting/receiving means.

6. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 4, wherein said cellular communication signal carriers are speech signals.

7. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 4, wherein said cellular communication signal carriers are signals that are transmitted and received via the Internet and images are reproduced therefrom and visualized on said display means.

8. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 1, wherein at least either a set of said first conversion means and said first radio carriers transmitting/receiving means or a set of said second conversion means and said second radio carriers transmitting/receiving means is a detachable structure.

9. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 1, wherein said first conversion means and/or said second conversion means carries out signal modulation or demodulation.

10. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 1, wherein said first conversion means and/or said second conversion means carries out signal data manipulation, signal frequency conversion, and signal modulation or demodulation.

11. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 1, wherein said display unit further comprises user interface means for entering digital broadcast channel selection data and is controlled, according to said channel selection data which is transmitted by said second radio carriers transmitting/receiving means and received by said first radio carriers transmitting/receiving means, so that said digital broadcast receiving means receives digital broadcast carriers on a user preference channel.

12. A digital broadcast channel reception system according to claim 1, wherein said receiver unit is portable.

13. A portable terminal capable of displaying content transmitted by digital broadcast carriers, said portable terminal comprising:

receiving means for receiving radio communication signal carriers in a predetermined form to which encoded digital signals are converted after the digital broadcast carriers are demodulated into the digital signals;

conversion means for converting the received signal carriers into encoded digital signals in a decodable form;

decoding means for decoding the encoded digital signals after the conversion;

display means for displaying content reproduced from the decoded signals;

transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving cellular communication signal carriers arranged in a form different from the form of the signal carriers that are received by said receiving means;

processing means for modulating, demodulating, coding, and decoding said cellular communication signal carriers; and

input/output means for inputting and outputting the signals converted by said processing means.

14. A digital broadcast channel reception method comprising:

a first step of receiving digital broadcast carriers;

a second step of demodulating the received digital broadcast carriers;

a third step of converting encoded digital signals generated by the demodulation into radio communication signal carriers in a predetermined form; and

a fourth step of transmitting the radio communication signal carriers generated by the conversion to a display unit,

wherein, upon the reception of first digital broadcast channel selection data from a first display unit, what channel of digital broadcast carriers to be received is determined in said first step, based on the channel selection data; and

, upon the reception of second digital broadcast channel selection data that is different from the first digital broadcast channel selection data from a second display unit during the reception of the digital broadcast channel determined, based on the first digital broadcast channel selection data, current receiving state information is transmitted to the second display unit by said fourth step.

15. A digital broadcast channel reception method according to claim 14, wherein, in said fourth step, transmission of said radio communication signal carriers stops if reception of channel selection data from said first display unit or said second display unit does not occur for a predetermined time.