Broadcast system

• US 7,218,611 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2002
• Issued: 05/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Tomonori, Watanabe, Shigeaki, Mimura, Yoshihiro, Kusudo, Tadao
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost; William
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEREZ, JULIO R
• Application Number:
  US10/482,799
• Publication Number:
  US 20050007970A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,777 Days
• Field of Search: 370/241, 370/252, 370/328, 370/522, 455/3.01, 455/3.03, 455/3.04, 455/3.05
• US Class Current: 370/241
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26233 involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4227 Providing Remote input by a user located remotely from the client device, e.g. at work
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4348 Demultiplexing of additional data and video streams
• 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 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4753 for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/643 Communication protocols network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP], H04L65/65
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6433 Digital Storage Media - Command and Control Protocol [DSM-CC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416

Abstract

A broadcast system BS includes a broadcast apparatus 1 and a reception apparatus 2. The broadcast apparatus 1 first receives and stores therein a proxy request PR including at least an identifier assigned to the reception apparatus 2 and a command to be transmitted to the reception apparatus 2. Moreover, the broadcast apparatus 1 extracts the set of the identifier of the reception apparatus 2 and the command for the reception apparatus 2 from the proxy request PR stored therein, and assembles a command packet from the set of the identifier and the command. Then, the broadcast apparatus 1 generates a stream in which the assembled command packet is multiplexed, and sends it out to a broadcast channel. The reception apparatus 2 separates the command packet from the stream sent out to the broadcast channel, and restores the set of the identifier and the command of the reception apparatus 2. Then, the reception apparatus 2 determines whether or not the disassembled command is destined for the present reception apparatus based on the pre-stored identifier of the present reception apparatus and the disassembled identifier of the reception apparatus 2. If so, the reception apparatus 2 stores therein the command destined for the present reception apparatus. The reception apparatus 2 executes the command, which has bee stored as described above.

Claims

1. A broadcast apparatus for broadcasting a stream to a reception apparatus, comprising:

a request reception section for receiving a proxy request including an identifier assigned to the reception apparatus, a command to be transmitted to the reception apparatus, and an execution start time of the command to be transmitted to the reception apparatus;

a timer for keeping a current time;

a request determination section for determining whether or not to accept the proxy request received by the request reception section by using the execution start time included in the received proxy request and the current time kept by the timer;

a proxy request storage device for storing the proxy request that is determined by the request determination section to be acceptable;

a command extraction section for extracting a set of an identifier of the reception apparatus and a command for the reception apparatus from the proxy request stored in the proxy request storage device a plurality of times at a predetermined time interval;

a command packet assembler for assembling a command packet from the set of the identifier and the command extracted by the command extraction section;

a multiplexer for generating a stream in which the command packet assembled by the command packet assembler is multiplexed; and

a transmitter for sending out the stream generated by the multiplexer to a broadcast channel,

wherein the request determination section comprises;

a first time calculation section for calculating a first amount of time required from when each command packet is sent out until the command packet arrives at the reception apparatus;

a second time calculation section for calculating a second amount of time required from when a first command packet is assembled until a last command packet, including the same set of the identifier and the command as the first packet, is assembled;

a reference time calculation section for calculating a reference time by which the proxy request from the reception apparatus should arrive at the present reception apparatus, based on the execution start time included in the proxy request received by the request reception section and the first and second amounts of time calculated by the first and second time calculation sections, respectively; and

a determination section for determining that the proxy request received by the request reception section is unacceptable if the current time kept by the timer is after the reference time calculated by the reference time calculation section.

2. The broadcast apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request reception section receives a proxy request transmitted by an external communication terminal apparatus, the broadcast apparatus further comprising:

a request_accepted generation section for generating a request_accepted signal for notifying the communication terminal apparatus that the proxy request has been accepted by the request determination section; and

a request_accepted transmission section for transmitting the request_accepted signal generated by the request_accepted generation section to the communication terminal apparatus.

3. The broadcast apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request reception section receives a proxy request transmitted by an external communication terminal apparatus, the broadcast apparatus further comprising:

a request determination section for discarding a proxy request that has been determined by the request determination section to be unacceptable;

a request_rejected generation section for generating a request_rejected signal for notifying the communication terminal apparatus that the proxy request has been discarded by the request determination section; and

a request_rejected transmission section for transmitting the request_rejected signal generated by the request_rejected generation section to the communication terminal apparatus.

4. The broadcast apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a broadcast program storage section for storing video data and audio data of a program to be broadcast from a predetermined broadcast start time to a predetermined broadcast end time;

a video encoder for encoding the video data stored in the broadcast program storage section;

a video packet assembler for assembling a video packet from the video data encoded by the video encoder;

an audio encoder for encoding the audio data stored in the broadcast program storage section; and

an audio packet assembler for assembling an audio packet from the audio data encoded by the audio encoder, wherein,

the multiplexer generates a stream by multiplexing together the video packet assembled by the video packet assembler, the audio packet assembled by the audio packet assembler, and the command packet assembled by the command packet assembler; and

the proxy request received by the request reception section includes a scheduled recording command to be transmitted to the reception apparatus, a broadcast start time of a broadcast program to be recorded by scheduled recording, and a broadcast end time of the program.

5. The broadcast method for broadcasting a stream to a the reception apparatus, comprising:

a request reception step of receiving a proxy request including an identifier assigned to the reception apparatus, a command to be transmitted to the reception apparatus, and an execution start time of the command to be transmitted to the reception apparatus;

a request determination step of determining whether or not to accept the proxy request received in the request reception step by using the execution start time included in the received proxy request and a current time kept in the broadcast apparatus;

a proxy request storage step of storing the proxy request that is determined in the request determination step to be acceptable;

a command extraction step of extracting a set of an identifier of the reception apparatus and a command for the reception apparatus from the proxy request stored in the proxy request storage step a plurality of times at a predetermined time interval;

a command packet assembling step of assembling a command packet from the set of the identifier and the command extracted in the command extraction step;

a multiplexing step of generating a stream in which the command packet assembled in the command packet assembling step is multiplexed; and

a send-out step of sending out the stream generated in the multiplexing step to a broadcast channel,

wherein the request determination step comprises;

a first time calculation step of calculating a first amount of time required from when each command packet is sent out until the command packet arrives at the reception apparatus;

a second time calculation step of calculating a second amount of time required from when a first command packet is assembled until a last command packet, including the same set of the identifier and the command as the first packet, is assembled;

reference time calculation step of calculating a reference time by which the proxy request from the reception apparatus should arrive at the broadcast apparatus, based on the execution start time included in the proxy request received in the request reception step and the first and second amounts of time calculated in the first and second time calculation steps, respectively; and

a determination step of determining that the proxy request received in the request reception step is unacceptable if the current time is after the reference time calculated in the reference time calculation step.