KR20090046199A - Channel composition method by user order and its digital TV - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a channel configuration method according to a user order for reconfiguring and displaying a desired channel map on a screen by selecting and ordering channel map information sent from an SO server according to a user's taste and a digital TV. The present invention includes an external input processing unit for receiving an input cable broadcast signal and transmitting and receiving channel map information through an OOB; A key input unit for inputting a type and quantity of channels the user wants to watch; A channel map configuration unit configured to transmit a user channel map configuration request signal according to the input of the key input unit to an SO server through the external input processing unit, and parse the channel information transmitted from the SO server to form a user channel map; And storage means for storing the user channel map configured in the channel map configuration unit.

SO Server, Channel Map, Users, Orders, OOB

Description

Channel configuration method by user order and its digital TV {Method for user define channel map and Digital TV about}

The present invention relates to a channel configuration method according to a user order in a digital cable broadcasting system, in particular, an open cable-based digital cable broadcasting system, and a digital TV thereof.

As is well known, the open cable method is a cable transmission method using Dolby-AC3 as an audio compression method and MPEG-2 as a video compression method, and in Korea, the open cable method has been determined as a domestic digital cable broadcasting standard.

The open cable method separates the POD (Point Of Deployment) module adopted for copy protection and limited access to high value-added broadcast contents from the main body of the digital TV, thereby providing an easy replacement function of the security system and at the same time retail price. It is possible to provide a low-cost digital TV.

That is, by separating the POD module including the Conditional Access (CA) system that existed in the cable set-top box from the set-top box and defining a standard interface (I / F) between the set-top box and the POD module, only the POD I / F is matched. Anyone can make a set-top box. Therefore, when a consumer directly purchases the set-top box as a VCR, and a cable system operator (SO) gives the subscriber a POD module, the subscriber receives various cable broadcasts using the POD module and the cable set-top box body.

In the open cable method, channel and broadcast program guide information uses an out of band (OOB) service information (SI) and an in band PSI (program and system information). OOB refers to a channel used for sending and receiving data, not in-band (QAM), in which actual image information is carried in digital cable broadcasting. There are two types of OOBs: Forward Data Ch (FDC) and Return Data Ch (RDC). One-way communication uses only FDC, and two-way communication service uses RDC. The channel region uses between RDC (5Mhz ~ 54Mhz), FDC (70Mhz ~ 130Mhz), the transmission rate (Transmission Rate) varies according to the bandwidth (BW).

1 is a block diagram of a conventional digital TV equipped with a digital cable ready (DCR) function of a general open cable method. Here, a digital TV having a digital cable ready (DCR) function is designed according to the cable regulations of the United States and satisfies the cable specification. In addition, a DCR digital TV must have a cable card in order to implement the DCR function, and the system must operate properly according to each operation mode in order to operate the system while satisfying a predetermined cable specification.

As illustrated, a conventional digital TV equipped with a DCR function module includes a digital TV receiver 110 which extracts and outputs a signal corresponding to a set channel from a transmitted broadcast signal, and descrambles and outputs a scrambled signal. The DCR processor 120, the digital TV decoder 130 for decoding and outputting the encoded data, and the audio / video output processor 140 for converting and outputting the decoded digital audio / video data into analog audio / video data. And a central processing unit 160 for processing an input user command and controlling other components of another digital TV, and storage means 170 for storing signals necessary for data processing and data related to an operating environment of the digital TV. And the like. In addition, an external input processor 150 for extracting and outputting a digital audio / video transport stream from a signal input from the outside is provided.

An operation process of a conventional digital TV having a DCR function configured as described above will be described.

First, the signal received by the digital TV receiver 110 is converted into a transport stream (TS) through RF demodulation and output to the DCR processor 120.

When the input transport stream is scrambled data, the DCR processor 120 descrambles the scrambled data and outputs de-scrambled data to the digital TV decoder 130.

The descrambled data output from the DCR processor 120 is encoded data, and the digital TV decoder 130 receives an output of the DCR function processor 120 to decode the input signal to output audio / video. Output to the processing unit 140.

The audio / video output processor 140 receives a decoded audio / video signal and outputs an analog audio / video signal to a display device and a speaker so that the user can enjoy audio / video.

The CPU 160 parses the channel map information from the SI task among the data input through the OOB and stores the channel map information in the storage means 170 (EEPROM). In addition, the stored channel map information is read by the audio / video output processing unit 140 and displayed on the screen in the order of 0-16000 units by the channel number of one part (PART) as shown in FIG.

2 is a screen configuration diagram illustrating a channel list displayed on a screen of a conventional digital TV, and FIG. 3 is a control flowchart illustrating a channel configuration method of a conventional digital TV.

As shown, the conventional digital TV receives the entire channel list sent from the SO server (S101), and lists it up in order on the OSD of the TV screen (S102). That is, as described above, the SI channel map sent from the SO server is shown in order from 0 to 16383 in one part format.

Therefore, the channel map sent from the SO server has hundreds of channels listed on one screen, so the user must select and view the broadcast program guide sent by the broadcasting station for the channel he or she wants to watch. If you do not have a guide, you need to search one by one to find the desired channel (for example, sports).

As described above, according to the related art, since the SI channel map information sent from the SO server is displayed on the screen in order from 0 to 16000 units, it is not only difficult to know the information of the channel currently on the map at a time, but the user can also select the desired channel number. It is difficult to remember, and you must check each channel through a guide from the company, this also has a problem that it is difficult to find the desired channel if there is no guide.

In addition, the number of channels sent by North American SO servers can range from as few as 500 to as many as 1000 units. As the SI information containing so many channel information is displayed on the screen at once, it is not a channel that has been used often and familiarly from the user's point of view. In addition, it is inconvenient to check directly through the guide what channel people prefer. Therefore, there is an urgent need to construct a user-oriented channel map that creates a user desired environment with a single click.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above-described conventional problems, the user to select and order the channel map information sent from the SO server according to their preferences to the user order to reconfigure the desired channel map to display on the screen It is an object of the present invention to provide a channel composition method and a digital TV thereof.

In order to achieve the above object, a digital TV according to the present invention includes an external input processing unit for receiving an input cable broadcast signal and transmitting and receiving channel map information through an OOB; A key input unit for inputting a type and quantity of channels the user wants to watch; A channel map configuration unit configured to transmit a user channel map configuration request signal according to the input of the key input unit to an SO server through the external input processing unit, and parse the channel information transmitted from the SO server to form a user channel map; And storage means for storing the user channel map configured in the channel map configuration unit.

The SO server aggregates the preferred channel information from the user request information by priority and provides the channel map component to the channel map component, and the channel map component configures the user channel map according to the preferred channel through the provided information.

The SO server receives the channel information from the user request information, constructs a user channel map accordingly, and transmits the configured user channel map to the channel map configuration unit.

In addition, each having a unique key value, and further comprises a DCR processing unit for processing and outputting the cable broadcast signal received from the external input processing unit, the SO server checks each key value of the DCR processing unit digital of the user Different user channel maps are sent to the TV.

In addition, the channel configuration method according to the user order according to the present invention comprises the steps of inputting a user request for configuring a channel map, and accordingly selecting whether to receive a default channel map or a user channel map by the user setting; When receiving the user channel map in the above step, inputting the type and quantity of channels the user wants to watch, and transmitting a user channel map configuration request signal according to the input to the SO server; Constructing a user channel map from the user request information in the SO server or by collecting preference channel information by priority and configuring a user channel map according to a preferred channel; And receiving and storing the user channel map configured in the above step through the OOB.

According to the channel configuration method according to the user order and the digital TV according to the present invention, since the SI channel map information sent from the SO server does not appear on the screen in order as in the prior art, only the channels requested by the user are selectively displayed. It is possible to know the information of the channel on the map at a time, the user does not need to remember the desired number of channels one by one, and even if there is no separate channel guide, it is easy to find the desired channel.

The effects of the present invention described above describe the effects of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the effects described above and may exhibit more various effects predictable according to the operation of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms or words used in this specification and claims are not to be construed as limiting in their usual or dictionary meanings, and the inventors may properly define the concept of terms in order to best explain their invention in the best way possible. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in the specification and the drawings shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, various modifications that can be replaced at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital TV according to the present invention.

As shown, the DCR digital TV according to an embodiment of the present invention, the digital TV receiver 210, the DCR processor 220, the digital TV decoder 230, the audio / video output processor 240 and And an external input processing unit 250, a central processing unit 260, a storage unit 270, a channel map construction unit 280, and a key input unit 290.

 As the digital TV decoder 230, an MPEG2 decoder is applied, and the audio / video output processor 240 includes a multimedia processor.

The digital TV receiver 310 includes a 6 MHz tuner 211, an NTSC demodulator 212, and a QAM demodulator 213. The digital TV receiver 310 tunes a signal corresponding to a channel set by a user from an input RF signal and tunes the signal. Demodulate and output the demodulated signal.

The external input processor 250 includes an out of band (OOB) phase shift keying (PSK) tuner 251 and a quad phase shift keying (QPSK), and broadcasts corresponding to a channel set in an input cable broadcasting signal. The signal is detected, demodulated and output.

The DCR processor 220 includes a point of deployment (POD) module processor 225 and a copy protection unit 226. The DCR processor 220 receives a scrambled digital signal and descrambles the received signal. The POD module processor 225 descrambles and outputs a scrambled signal using an authentication key. The copy protection unit 226 encrypts and outputs the signal in order to prevent the signal output from the POD module processor 225 from being illegally copied.

The digital TV decoder 230 decodes and outputs a descrambled digital signal output from the DCR processor 320.

The audio / video output processor 240 receives the output of the digital TV decoder 230 and processes the signal to be suitable for the output device, and outputs the processed audio and video signals to the speaker and the display device.

The key input unit 290 inputs the type and number of channels that the user wants to watch.

The channel map configuration unit 280 transmits a user channel map configuration request signal according to the input of the key input unit 290 to the SO server 300 (see FIG. 5) through the OOB of the external input processing unit 250. Thereafter, the channel map information transmitted from the SO server 300 is parsed to construct a user channel map.

The central processing unit 260 controls the overall operation of the digital TV, and transmits the channel map information entered through the OOB of the external input processing unit 250 to the channel map configuration unit 280, the channel map configuration unit The user channel map configured at 280 is stored in the storage means 270.

5 is a block diagram illustrating an SO server according to the present invention.

As shown, the SO server 300 according to the present invention is a transmission and reception unit 310 for transmitting and receiving a predetermined signal with the external input processing unit 250, a control unit (CPU) 320 for controlling data transmission and reception and storage of information. A user request channel map configuration processing unit 330 constituting a user channel map according to a user's request signal received from the transceiver 310, and a database 340 for storing and managing the configured user channel map.

Here, the SO server 300 may configure a user channel map according to a preferred channel by collecting preference channel information from the user request information for each priority.

6 is a control flowchart illustrating a channel configuration method according to a user order according to the present invention.

As shown, a user request for configuring a channel map may be input, and accordingly, a user may select whether to receive a default channel map or a user channel map (S201 to S202).

When the user channel map is received in the above step, the user inputs the type and number of channels that the user wants to watch through the key input unit 290, and sends the user channel map configuration request signal according to the input to the external input processing unit ( The OOB is transmitted to the SO server 300 through the OOB of 250 (S203 to S204).

Thereafter, the SO server 300 configures a user channel map from user request information or aggregates preferred channel information for each priority to configure a user channel map according to a preferred channel. The user channel map configured as described above is received through the OOB of the external input processing unit 250, and is stored in the storage unit 270 via the channel map configuration unit 280 (S205 to S206).

7A and 7B are control flowcharts illustrating a user channel selection process according to the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, examples of types of channels desired by a user are selected and transmitted to SO servers (S301 to S303) such as types of sports, entertainment, news, dramas, comedy, music, and movies. In addition, if additional channels are required, as many channels as necessary may be added (S304).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7B, a user may first select a desired channel type (eg, sports, music, etc.) (S401), and may select and store a channel of the selected channel type. After selecting the next channel type, the channels included in the type are selected (S402 to S404). In addition, when additional channel types are required, as many channel types as necessary may be added (S405).

8 is a control flowchart illustrating a channel configuration and transmission process of an SO server according to the present invention. The SO server 300 receives user request information and checks a channel list stored in a database. Thereafter, a user channel map is constructed according to the user request information and transmitted to the user's digital TV. In this case, since the North American DCR has a unique key value (physical address value) of the first digital TV set, each key value can be checked and transmitted to the user's digital TV.

9 is a screen configuration diagram showing a channel map displayed on a screen of a digital TV according to the present invention. According to the user channel map of the present invention as shown, all the SI channel map information sent from the SO server is conventionally ordered. It does not appear on the screen as it is, and only the channels requested by the user are displayed selectively, so you can know the information of the channel currently on the map at once, and you do not need to remember the number of the desired channel one by one. You can easily find the channel you want.

The present invention described above can be applied not only to flat-panel monitors such as PDPs and LCDs, but also to set-top boxes, projection TVs, general TVs, monitors, and other video devices, and can be equally applied to analog TVs, digital TVs, and satellite TVs. have. In addition, it can of course be applied to all NTSC, PAL, SECAM method.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention as claimed in the claims. Anyone skilled in the art can make various changes and, of course, such changes are within the scope of the appended claims.

1 is a block diagram of a conventional digital TV equipped with a DCR function of a general open cable method.

2 is a screen configuration diagram showing a channel list displayed on a screen of a conventional digital TV.

3 is a control flowchart illustrating a channel configuration method of a conventional digital TV.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital TV according to the present invention.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a SO server according to the present invention;

6 is a control flowchart illustrating a channel configuration method according to a user order according to the present invention.

7A and 7B are control flow diagrams illustrating a user channel selection process according to the present invention.

8 is a control flowchart illustrating a channel configuration and a transmission process of an SO server according to the present invention.

9 is a screen configuration diagram showing a channel map displayed on the screen of the digital TV according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

210: digital TV receiver 220: DCR processing unit

230: digital TV decoder 240: audio / video output processing unit

250: external input processing unit 260: central processing unit

270: storage means 280: channel map component

290: key input unit 300: SO server

Claims (8)

An external input processor for receiving an input cable broadcast signal and transmitting and receiving channel map information through an OOB; A key input unit for inputting a type and quantity of channels the user wants to watch; A channel map configuration unit configured to transmit a user channel map configuration request signal according to the input of the key input unit to an SO server through the external input processing unit, and parse the channel information transmitted from the SO server to form a user channel map; And And storage means for storing the user channel map configured in the channel map configuration unit. The method of claim 1, The SO server aggregates the preferred channel information from the user request information by priority and provides the channel map component to the channel map component, and the channel map component configures a user channel map according to the preferred channel through the provided information. Digital TV. The method of claim 1, And the SO server receives the channel information from the user request information, constructs a user channel map according to the channel information, and transmits the configured user channel map to the channel map configuration unit. The method of claim 1, Each has a unique key value, and further comprises a DCR processing unit for processing and outputting the cable broadcast signal received from the external input processing unit, the SO server checks each key value of the DCR processing unit to the digital TV of the user Digital TV characterized by transmitting different user channel map for each user Enter a user request to construct a channel map, and accordingly the default channel map Or selecting whether to receive a user channel map by user setting; When receiving the user channel map in the above step, inputting the type and quantity of channels the user wants to watch, and transmitting a user channel map configuration request signal according to the input to the SO server; Constructing a user channel map from the user request information in the SO server or by collecting preference channel information by priority and configuring a user channel map according to a preferred channel; And And receiving and storing the user channel map configured in the step through an OOB. The method of claim 5, wherein The SO server aggregates the preferred channel information from the user request information by priority and provides the channel map component to the channel map component, and the channel map component configures the user channel map according to the preferred channel through the provided information. How to configure the channel by the user order. The method of claim 5, wherein The SO server receives the channel information from the user request information to configure a user channel map according to, and transmits the configured user channel map to the channel map configuration unit, characterized in that the channel configuration method according to the user order. The method of claim 5, wherein Each has a unique key value, and further comprises a DCR processing unit for processing and outputting the cable broadcast signal received from the external input processing unit, the SO server checks each key value of the DCR processing unit to the digital TV of the user A channel configuration method according to a user order, characterized by transmitting a different user channel map for each user.

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