HK1104396B - Time-slice signaling for broadband digital broadcasting - Google Patents

Abstract

In a digital broadband broadcasting system, in which information is transmitted and received periodically in bursts to reduce receiver power consumption, time-slice information is provided from the transmitter to the receiver. The time-slice information can include information from which the receiver can determine when a subsequent transmission burst will be transmitted. The time-slice information can include a burst duration, an amount of time between original bursts, the time between an original burst and a copy of the burst, and numbering of original bursts. This type of time-slice information can be placed into packet headers, such as one or more bytes reserved, but not used, for media access control addressing. Designated China Patent Publication No. CN 101002412A.

Description

Time segment notification for broadband digital broadcasting

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the transmission of audio data, video data, control data or other information, and more particularly to the notification of time segment information for efficient utilization of information broadcast resources.

Background

Video streaming, data streaming, and broadband digital broadcast programming are becoming increasingly popular in network applications. One example of a digital broadband broadcast network that is gaining popularity in europe and around other parts of the world is Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), which is capable of transmitting data in addition to the content of television. The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has also defined digital broadband broadcast networks. Both ATSC and DVB employ a containerization technique in which content for transmission is placed into MPEG-2 packets that serve as data containers. Thus, the container may be used to transport any suitably digitized data, including but not limited to high resolution TV, multi-channel standard resolution TV (PAL/NTSC or SECAM), broadband multimedia data, interactive services, and the like. Transmitting and receiving digital broadband programming typically requires that the transmitting and receiving equipment be continuously powered on so that all streaming information can be transmitted or received. However, in the current prior art, the power consumption level, especially the power consumption level of the front end of the digital broadcast receiver, is high. Reducing these power consumption levels will therefore improve the operating efficiency of the broadcasting device.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to reduce power consumption in a digital broadband broadcasting system, information is periodically transmitted and received in bursts. The term "periodic" means that certain events occur repeatedly at variable intervals. In this system, a transmitter may communicate to a receiver precise information about the time at which the receiver is to receive a transmission burst. Providing such information is referred to as providing or notifying time-slice information. Based on the received time-segment notification information, the receiver may power down during idle times between receiving transmission bursts, which may include entering a reduced power consumption state. This advantageously results in a reduction of the power consumption of the receiver.

According to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, time-slice information is added to a packet header. The time-slice information may be relative timing information that corresponds to an amount of time between transmitting a current packet from a current burst of data traffic and transmitting a first transmitted packet from a subsequent burst of the data traffic.

A transmitter system component, such as a multi-protocol encapsulator, can encode time-slice information in forming packets to be transmitted in bursts. The encapsulator can include a flexible buffer that stores data from one or more information service providers. The elastic buffer may be large enough to enable storage of at least two bursts of information that fit up with information from substantially all information services for which the transmitter transmits bursts of information. When the encapsulator receives at least two bursts of information that fit in from the information service provider and receives any data that the transmitter will send between two such bursts, the encapsulator can determine how long time has elapsed between transmission of the first burst and transmission of the second burst. The time information may be added to one or more packets of the transmission burst. In this way, the encapsulated packet can carry precise information about how long time has elapsed between the receipt of the current burst and the receipt of the next burst.

The time-slice information may include burst duration, amount of time between original bursts, time between an original burst and a copy of the burst, and number of the original burst. Such time-slice information may be placed in a packet header that reserves one or more bytes unused for medium access control addressing, for example.

Computer-executable instructions for notifying time segment information in accordance with the present invention are stored on a computer-readable medium.

Drawings

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements, and in which:

fig. 1 shows a simplified diagram of a conventional streaming digital broadcasting system;

fig. 2 illustrates waveforms of a stream signal output from the conventional digital broadcasting system of fig. 1;

fig. 3 illustrates a digital broadband broadcast terminal including a receiver and a client;

fig. 4 illustrates a first preferred embodiment of a time-slicing digital broadcasting system according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the variation of the contents of an elastic buffer over time in the broadband system of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows the signal transmission rate of the transmitter output in the system of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a table listing the fields of the datacast descriptor and their respective sizes;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are tables illustrating various information related to multiprotocol encapsulation;

FIG. 10 illustrates encoding associated with the use of various media access control addressing bytes;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the variation of the contents of a receiver elastic buffer over time in the broadcast system of FIG. 4;

FIG. 12 shows the transmission rate of a time division multiplexed signal output by a transmitter in the system of FIG. 4;

FIG. 13 illustrates another preferred embodiment of a time-slicing digital broadcasting system;

fig. 14 is a diagram showing a variation of the contents of an elastic buffer over time in the broadcasting system of fig. 13;

FIG. 15 is a graph showing the output of an elasticity buffer and the content of a network operator elasticity buffer in the system of FIG. 13 over time;

FIG. 16 shows the transmission rate of a time division multiplexed signal output by a transmitter in the system of FIG. 13;

fig. 17 is a graph of bit rate versus time for data of a first data service and a second data service of a video service provider;

FIG. 18 is a plot of bit rate versus time for the output of elastic buffer A of FIG. 13;

fig. 19 is a graph, similar to fig. 17, of bit rate versus time for data from the third data service and the fourth data service of the video service provider B of fig. 13;

FIG. 20 is a graph of bit rate versus time for the output of the elastic buffer B of FIG. 13, similar to FIG. 18;

FIG. 21 is a graph, similar to FIGS. 18 and 20, of bit rate versus time for an output signal from the network operator elasticity buffer of FIG. 13;

figure 22 shows an MPE packet including an MPE packet payload and a set of time-section parameters that can be used in various permutations and combinations for signalling time-section information;

figure 23 shows the descending numbering of MPE packets in one time section of the MPE packets;

FIG. 24 shows a packet time segment boundary indication indicating that the packet is the first packet of a burst of packets;

fig. 25 shows a next burst indication indicating whether the next burst will be a duplicate of a previously transmitted burst;

FIG. 26 illustrates a notification of the amount of time between transmitting a current packet and the first packet of the next original burst;

FIG. 27 illustrates a notification of the amount of time between transmitting a current packet and the first packet of the next duplicate burst;

FIG. 28 illustrates a notification of the amount of time between transmitting a current packet and a first packet of a next burst;

FIG. 29 shows the numbering of original and duplicate bursts;

fig. 30 shows how time-slice information may be included in an adaptation field of an MPEG II transport stream packet according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a simplified diagram of a conventional streaming digital broadcast system 10 in which an information signal 21 originating at an information service provider 11 is transmitted to a client accessing a digital broadcast receiver 15. The information signal 21 is typically transmitted from the service provider 11 to the transmitter 13 over a link, which may be an internet link. Transmitter 13 broadcasts the information signal as a stream signal 23 to receiver 15, typically through a broadcast antenna (not shown).

In conventional signal transmission applications, the transmitter 13 provides a continuous or slowly varying data stream having a bandwidth of about 100Kbit/sec, as shown in fig. 2. The stream signal 23 thus exhibits the same transmission rate of 100 Kbit/sec. Digital broadcast receiver 15 must operate in a power-on mode to receive all of the information provided by stream signal 23, which stream signal 23 may also include one or more other data streams provided by one or more other information service providers (not shown).

The use of absolute clock time information may not be needed for notification of time segment information, since in digital broadband broadcast systems, sufficiently accurate clock information may not be available. A typical clock resolution is about 1 second.

It is proposed to add time-segment information to the Service Information (SI) table to indicate the time-segment information. The SI tables are used to carry control information such as tuning parameters, digital broadband broadcast service parameters, digital television subtitles, and electronic program guide information. The problem with using SI tables to carry time segment information is that the SI tables are sent independently of the time segment bursts. This means that the information may come during the idle time between two bursts. However, to reduce power consumption, the receiver should be able to power down during this idle time between transmission bursts, including entering a reduced power consumption mode.

Referring to fig. 3, a terminal 12, which may be a mobile terminal such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer, or the like, includes a receiver 14, a client 16, and an antenna 19. A digital broadband broadcast signal 22 is also shown. At receiver 14, a processor may perform part of the data path processing and may process lower layer protocols such as layer 2 information, which may include digital video broadcast digital storage medium command and control (DVB DSM-CC) part protocol packets, Service Information (SI) tables, and multiprotocol encapsulation (MPE) packets. Software running on the client 16 may handle layer 3 and higher layers, including TCP/IP and application specific layers. The term "lower layer protocol" as used herein refers to a protocol that is lower than the network and/or transport layers. Passing absolute-rather than relative-prescribed time segment information between the processors of the receiver 14 and the client 16 typically introduces undesirable latency into the time segment information due to the latency that may vary between the two processors.

The amount of time it takes to transfer data between processors can have an impact on this undesirable latency. For example, when a first processor requests a data bus that is shared between the first processor and a second processor, the bus may be busy performing another transfer. This situation may introduce varying amounts of latency before the first processor can obtain the data bus to perform the required data transfer. Furthermore, software latency may be caused by software not reacting immediately to requests such as time-slice reception interrupts. The delay in service interruption may be due to the receiver 14 or client 16 or the receiver 14 and client 16 executing uninterruptible software.

It is also proposed to add time-slice information to higher layer protocols. The problem with these proposed solutions is that the higher layer protocols are handled with higher layer software, which is typically run by the client 16. As noted above, there is a varying latency when transferring information between the receiver 14 and the client 16. Therefore, it is not possible to maintain accurate time information when transmitting time-segment information from the client 16 to the receiver 14.

Adding time-slicing information to the packet header and using time-slicing information that relatively specifies timing information overcomes various limitations of the proposals set forth above. The relative timing information may correspond to an amount of time between transmitting bursts. For example, for two bursts from a single information service provider, the first burst may carry information in its packet header specifying how long after the receiver expects to be able to receive the second burst.

A transmitter system component, such as a multi-protocol encapsulator, can encode time-slice information in forming packets to be transmitted in bursts. The encapsulator can add time-slice information to the packet header. The time-slicing information may relatively specify when the transmitter will send the next transmission burst of the same information service. As explained in more detail below, the encapsulator can include an elastic buffer that stores data from one or more information service providers. The elastic buffer may be large enough to enable storage of at least two bursts of information that fit substantially all of the information service from which the transmitter transmits its information burst. When the encapsulator receives at least two bursts of information that fit in from the information service provider and receives any data that the transmitter will send between two such bursts, the encapsulator can determine how long time has elapsed between transmission of the first burst and transmission of the second burst. The time information may be added to one or more packets of the transmission burst. In this way, the encapsulated packet can carry precise information about how long time has elapsed between the receipt of the current burst and the receipt of the next burst. This information may be accurate because the encapsulator can determine how much data is between the current packet and the start of the next burst as described above.

Fig. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a time-slicing digital broadcasting system 30, in which time-slicing information can be notified according to the present invention, the time-slicing digital broadcasting system 30 including a transmitter system 20 and a receiver system 40. A first information stream originating at a first information service provider 17 of the transmitter system 20 is to be transmitted downstream to a client using a digital broadcast receiver 41 in a receiver system 40. During operation of the transmitter system 20, a data signal 25 is received from the first information service provider 17 over the network link. In the data signal 25 predetermined intervals of streaming information are first buffered in a first elastic buffer 35 as buffered information intervals 27. It will be apparent that the first elastic buffer 35 may be replaced by any other suitable type of input buffer including, but not limited to, a first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffer, a ring buffer, or a double buffer with separate input and output portions.

In a preferred embodiment, the buffered information interval 27 is then encapsulated using, for example, a multi-protocol encapsulator 37 in accordance with european standard EN301192 "Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); section 7 of DVB specification for data broadcasting. The first elasticity buffer 35 may be integrated with the multi-protocol encapsulator 37 to form a single device 39. After encapsulation, the multi-protocol encapsulator 37 sends the encapsulated information interval 29 to the digital broadcast transmitter 31 for broadcast as a time-sliced signal 51 to the digital broadcast receiver 41, as explained in more detail below.

The amount of information input to the first elastic buffer 35 as a function of time may be represented by a sawtooth waveform 71 shown in fig. 5. When the data signal 25 is provided by the first service provider 17, the data information in the first elasticity buffer 35 increases to a buffer maximum level, here indicated by a first local maximum 73. The buffer maximum level is related to the amount of memory in the first elastic buffer 35 that is designated for storing the first information signal.

The first elasticity buffer 35 is typically sized to be at least as large as the flow of information provided by the service provider 17 in the time interval between successive waveform maxima, such as the first local maximum 73 and the second local maximum 75. The buffered information intervals 27 of the first elasticity buffer 35 are periodically sent to the digital broadcast transmitter 31 through the multi-protocol encapsulator 37 so that the memory capacity specified in the first elasticity buffer 35 is not exceeded. When the buffered information interval 27 is sent to the digital broadcast transmitter 31, the amount of buffered information remaining in the first elasticity buffer 35 drops to a local minimum 74, which may be 0.

The first elasticity buffer 35 may include an 'AF' flag that may be set when a "near full" byte count 79 is reached to indicate that the first elasticity buffer 35 is about to exceed a specified memory capacity. Preferably, the process of outputting the buffered information interval 27 is started when the AF flag is set. This is to provide memory capacity for the next stream information interval (here represented by the next portion of waveform 71) sent by the service provider 17. When the next stream data information interval is input, the buffered information in the first elastic buffer 35 reaches a second local maximum 75, which is subsequently output when the AF flag is set, resulting in a second local minimum 76. This process is repeated, producing a third local maximum 77 and a third local minimum 78.

Each next portion of the stream data buffered in the first elasticity buffer 35 is thus continuously output to the digital broadcast transmitter 31 for transmission to the digital broadcast receiver 41. This action produces a time-sliced signal 51, a portion of which is shown in fig. 6. Time-sliced signal 51 comprises a sequence of consecutive transmission bursts, exemplified by transmission bursts 53, 55 and 57. In the example provided, transmit burst 53 corresponds to a buffered information transfer represented by a transition of waveform 71 from a local maximum 73 to a local minimum 74. Similarly, the next transmission burst 55 corresponds to a buffered information transfer represented by a transition of waveform 71 from local maximum 75 to local minimum 76, and transmission burst 57 corresponds to a buffered information transfer represented by a transition from local maximum 77 to local minimum 78.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, each of the transmission bursts 53, 55, and 57 are 4Mbit/sec pulses having a duration of approximately 1 second to provide for the transmission of 4Mbit buffered information per transmission burst. The transmission bursts 53, 55 and 57 are separated by intervals of approximately 40 seconds so that the time-sliced signal 51 is effectively broadcast at an average signal information transmission rate of 100Kbit/sec (i.e., the same as the transmission rate of the incoming stream signal 23). The 40 second signal segment stored in the elasticity buffer 35 comprises signal information to be broadcast to the digital broadcast receiver 41 as, for example, any one of the transmission bursts 53, 55, and 57.

One example of encoding time slice information is provided in the context of Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) multiprotocol encapsulation (MPE) for DVB packets. The table of fig. 7 lists the fields of the datacast descriptor and their respective sizes according to EN 300468. The Data _ broadcast _ id 80 is a 16-bit field that identifies the Data broadcast specification used to broadcast Data in the broadcast network. The assignment of the value of this field can be found in the ETR 162. The Data broadcast id reserved for multiprotocol encapsulation has a value of 0x 0005.

The size of the DVB MPE packet header is fixed. Such a packet header includes Media Access Control (MAC) address bytes. The table of fig. 8 shows the syntax of datagram _ section according to EN 301192. MAC _ Address _ 190-1 through MAC _ Address _690-6 are six bytes-some or all of which are typically used for MAC addressing of various network components.

The table of fig. 9 shows the syntax of the multiprotocol _ encapsulation _ info structure according to EN 301192. The descriptor defines how many MAC address bytes are valid for MAC addressing. The MAC _ address _ range 92 is a 3-bit field indicating the number of MAC address bytes used to distinguish multicast traffic. Fig. 10 shows the encoding of the MAC address range field 92 of fig. 9 according to EN 301192. Fig. 10 shows which MAC address bytes are valid for MAC addressing based on various MAC address range values. For a given value of MAC address range 92, the remaining MAC addressing bytes are left unused. For example, for a MAC _ Address _ range value of 0x01, MAC address bytes 1-5 are reserved. For a MAC address range value of 0x02, MAC address bytes 1-4 are reserved for use, and so on.

In fig. 9, a 3-bit field 96 is marked as reserved. The reserved field 96 may be used to define different meanings of the MAC address bits used to inform the time-segment information. For example, one or more of these 3 reserved bits may be used to specify how the unused bytes are reserved for time-slice information for MAC addressing.

Fig. 30 shows an embodiment in which time-slice information is included in the adaptation field 3002 of an MPEG II transport stream packet. An adaptation field control bit 3004 included in the MPEG II header 3006 may be used to inform the adaptation field 3002 of the presence of time-slice information. In one exemplary embodiment, the adaptation control field 3004 includes two bits. A "00" bit value may indicate that the adaptation field is reserved for future use, a "01" bit value may indicate that the payload is present but the adaptation field is not present, a "10" bit value may indicate that the adaptation field is present but the payload is not present, and a "11" bit value may indicate that both the adaptation field and the payload are present.

The terminal 12 may be configured to analyze the adaptation field control bit 3004 to determine whether the adaptation field 3002 is present. Whether or not relative timing information is present when the adaptation field 3002 is present, and if so how it is encoded, can be determined from the adaptation field 3002. If present, the relative timing information may then be extracted from the adaptation field 3002 for use in the manner described herein. Alternatively, the "00" value of the adaptation field control bit 3004 may be used in the future in conjunction with specifying relative timing information.

The time-slice information may include the burst length, the amount of time between original bursts, the time between an original burst and a copy of the burst, and the number of the original burst. Such time-slice information may be placed in the packet header, such as the MAC address bytes 90-1 through 90-6 described above. Various combinations and permutations of such time-slice information may be placed in the packet header. For example, the burst length and the amount of time between the original bursts may be used without other time-slicing information. Examples of time-slice information are discussed in more detail below in conjunction with fig. 17-29.

Referring again to fig. 4, the digital broadcast receiver 41 sends a time-sliced signal 51 to the stream filtering unit 43 to strip the encapsulation applied by the multi-protocol encapsulator 37 from the information signal. The encapsulation may carry, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) packets. In a preferred embodiment, boolean protocol filtering is used to minimize the amount of logic required for the filtering operation performed by the stream filtering unit 43 and thereby optimize the capacity of the digital broadcast receiver 41. The filtered information interval is then sent to the receiver elastic buffer 45, and the receiver elastic buffer 45 serves to temporarily store the information signal comprising any of the transmission bursts 53, 55 and 57 before it is sent downstream to the application processor 47 for conversion into the information data stream 49. This action can be illustrated with reference to fig. 11, where a sawtooth waveform 81 schematically represents the amount of information signal stored in the receiver elastic buffer 45 as a function of time. In a preferred embodiment, the size of the receiver elastic buffer 45 in the receiver system 40 is substantially the same as the size of the first elastic buffer 35 in the transmitter system 20.

When a transmit burst 53 is received in the receiver elastic buffer 45, the waveform 81 reaches a first local maximum 83. Then, when the corresponding information is transferred from the receiver elastic buffer 45 to the application processor 47, the byte count stored in the receiver elastic buffer 45 drops from the first local maximum 83 to the first local minimum 84. Preferably, the rate at which the contents of the receiver elastic buffer 45 are transferred to the application processor 47 is at least equal to the rate at which the data information is placed in the first elastic buffer 35. This is to ensure that the receiver elastic buffer 45 is available to store the next transmission burst 55. The waveform 81 increases to a second local maximum 85 when the next transmission burst 55 is received at the receiver elastic buffer 45 and decreases to a second local minimum 86 when the received information interval is passed from the receiver elastic buffer 45 to the application processor 47 for conversion into data packets.

Proceeding further down in the process, the next transmission burst 57 produces a third local maximum 87, which in turn falls to a third local minimum 88. Preferably, the receiver elasticity buffer 45 includes an 'AE' flag to indicate when the "near empty" byte count 82 is reached and an AF flag to indicate when the "near full" byte count 89 is reached. As will be explained in more detail below, AE and AF flags may be advantageously used to synchronize power up and power down of digital broadcast receiver 41 with the timing of incoming transmission bursts, such as transmission bursts 53, 55, and 57, respectively.

The data packets thus converted from the received information intervals in the receiver elastic buffer 45 are continuously reformatted into an information transmission stream 49 by the application processor 47, with the application processor 47 serving to continuously input data from the receiver elastic buffer 45. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art, the digital broadcast transmitter 31 remains powered on in the transmit mode during each of the transmit bursts 53, 55, and 57, while the digital broadcast transmitter 31 may advantageously be powered down in the 'idle' time intervals between the transmit bursts 53 and 55, and the transmit bursts 55 and 57 to reduce operating power requirements. The power down may be accomplished, for example, by a controlled switch, as is well known in the relevant art.

Specifically, the digital broadcast transmitter 31 may be powered down after the termination point 61 of the transmission burst 53 (shown at t ═ 1 second) and may remain powered down just before the start point 63 of the transmission burst 55 (shown at t ═ 40 seconds). Similarly, the digital broadcast transmitter 31 may be powered down after the termination point 65 of the transmission burst 55 (shown at t ═ 41 seconds) and may remain powered down just before the start point 67 of the transmission burst 57 (shown at t ═ 80 seconds). At the end of transmission burst 57, digital broadcast transmitter 31 may be powered down again, as shown at termination point 69 (shown at t ═ 81 seconds).

The decoding of the time segment information may be done in the application processor 47. Upon receipt of a burst of packets, the stream filtering unit 43 filters (at least) one time segment and stores information of the filtered time segment to the receiver elastic buffer 45. The stream filtering unit 43 informs the application processor 47 that a new time segment is received. The application processor 47 may then decode the time segment information and begin other processing as appropriate.

If the service uses the IP-to-MAC mapping described in IETF RFC 1112, the information service provider sets the MAC _ IP _ mapping _ flag 1 bit flag 94 (FIG. 9) to '1'. If the flag is set to '0', the mapping of IP addresses to MAC addresses is done out of range of EN 301192.

When IP multicast traffic is received, the MAC address is generated from the IP address carried within the data _ gram portion. Thus, the IP address information is copied to MAC address bits 90-1 through 90-6. Thus, the receiver can also perform address filtering by using the IP address, and in this case, all MAC address bits can be used to carry time-slice information for any other purpose.

In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the time-slicing digital broadcasting system 30 includes one or more additional service providers, exemplified by the second service provider 18 shown in fig. 4. The second service provider 18 transmits the second data signal 26 over the network link to the digital broadcast transmitter 31. The second data signal 26 received from the second service provider 18 is placed into a second elasticity buffer 36 and likewise encapsulated using, for example, a multi-protocol encapsulator 38. The multiplexer 33 processes the encapsulated signals from the first elasticity buffer 35 and the second elasticity buffer 36 into a Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) signal 91, described in more detail below, for broadcast to the digital broadcast receiver 41.

It should be appreciated that if only one service provider is sending information to the digital broadcast transmitter 31, say the first service provider 17, the runtime segmentation digital broadcast system 30 does not require the multiplexer 33. Thus, in the first preferred embodiment described above, the signal in the first elastic buffer 35 can be provided directly to the digital broadcast transmitter 31 through the multi-protocol encapsulator 37.

For the embodiment of fig. 4 in which two service providers provide information signals, the TDM signal 91 shown in fig. 12 comprises a sequence of consecutive transmission bursts comprising an interleaving of the transmission bursts 53, 55 and 57 generated from the information signal provided from the first elastic buffer 35 with the transmission bursts 93, 95 and 97 generated from the information signal provided from the second elastic buffer 36. In the example provided, each of transmit bursts 93, 95, and 97 are generated approximately 10 seconds after the corresponding transmit bursts 53, 55, and 57. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art, the method of the present disclosure is not limited to this 10 second interval, and other time interval values may be used as desired. In addition, if additional service providers are included in the time-slicing digital broadcasting system 30, one or more sets of interleaved transmission bursts (not shown) will be included in the TDM signal 91.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the power-on reception mode of the digital broadcast receiver 41 in fig. 4 is synchronized with the transmission window during which the digital broadcast transmitter 31 transmits. In this way, for reception of, for example, time-sliced signal 51, digital broadcast receiver 41 remains powered on in the receive mode during each incoming transmission burst 53, 55, and 57, and can be powered down in the time intervals between transmission bursts 53 and 55 and between transmission bursts 55 and 57.

This synchronization may be accomplished, for example, by using a fixed or programmable size burst size and using the above-described AE flag and "near empty" byte count 82 as criteria to power up the digital broadcast receiver 41 and prepare it to receive the next transmission burst after a fixed or slowly varying time interval. That is, the digital broadcast receiver 41 obtains the information that is discontinuously broadcast as described above. The client may also configure the digital broadcast video receiver 41 to account for any transmission delays caused by, for example, bit rate adaptation time, receiver turn-on time, receiver capture time, and/or bit rate change time interval. A typical value for the adaptation time may be about 10 mus, while a typical value for the boot-up time or the capture time may be about 200 ms. In this way, the digital broadcast receiver 41 is configured to be powered up efficiently in advance of the incoming burst to accommodate possible delay factors. Similarly, the AF flag and "near full" byte count 89 described above may be used as criteria for powering on the digital broadcast receiver 41.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, fig. 13 illustrates a TDM digital broadcast system 100 including a plurality of service providers 101 and 107, the plurality of service providers 101 and 107 transmitting respective information streams to respective elasticity buffers 111 and 117. The output of each elasticity buffer 111-117 is formatted by a plurality of multi-protocol encapsulators 109 as described above. The various outputs 121 and 127 of the multi-protocol encapsulator 109 are provided to a network operator elasticity buffer 131 as shown. The size of the information interval stored in any of the elastic buffers 111-117 is a function of time, as shown by the sawtooth waveform 121 in fig. 14.

The network operator elasticity buffer 131 stores a predetermined amount of buffering information from each elasticity buffer 111-117. This information is provided to multiplexer 133 and sent to digital broadcast transmitter 135 for broadcast as TDM signal 137. The network operator elasticity buffer 131 serves to receive and store a plurality of inputs from each of the elasticity buffers 111-117 and then output to the multiplexer 133. For example, the waveform 140 in FIG. 15 represents the buffering information in the elastic buffer 111 and 117 as a function of time. The input 121 received from the elastic buffer 111 is represented at a local peak 141 of the waveform 140, the input 123 received from the elastic buffer 113 is represented at a local peak 143, the input 125 received from the elastic buffer 115 is represented at a local peak 145, and the input 127 received from the elastic buffer 117 is represented at a local peak 147.

The resulting TDM signal 137 broadcast by the digital broadcast transmitter 135 is shown in fig. 16, where the information streams provided by the service provider 101 appear as transmission bursts 151, 153 and 155 (shown here filled in for clarity). In a preferred embodiment, the multiplexer bandwidth is about 12Mbit/sec, and the transmission bursts 151, 153 and 155 are correspondingly 12Mbit/sec bursts having a duration of about 1 second. The transmission bursts 151 may comprise, for example, 34 Mbit/sec transmission bursts provided by the elasticity buffer 111 to the network operator elasticity buffer 131. The next 12Mbit/sec transmission bursts 161 may include 34 Mbit/sec transmission bursts provided by the elasticity buffer 113 to the network operator elasticity buffer 131.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a transmission burst issued by a particular service provider may comprise a unique data stream. For example, transmission bursts 151, 153 and 155 comprise a first data stream transmitted at service provider 17, wherein the data stream has a burst on time of about 333ms and a burst off time of about 39.667 sec. The first data stream comprises the next transmission bursts (not shown) occurring exactly once every 40 seconds, each transmission burst comprising information sent at the service provider 17. Similarly, transmit burst 161, along with transmit bursts 163 and 165 and the next transmit burst (not shown) occurring once every 40 seconds, comprise a second data stream, where the second data stream includes information sent at service provider 19. In another embodiment, the digital broadcast receiver 41 is synchronized to selectively receive only the first data stream, for example. Thus, in this embodiment, digital broadcast receiver 41 powers up for at least 333msec every 40 seconds to receive transmission bursts 151, 153, 155 and the next first data stream transmission burst, powering down during the interval time.

Turning now to the examples of encoding time slicing information in the context of DVB multiprotocol encapsulation (MPE) of Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) packets discussed above in connection with fig. 7-10, examples of data signals from various transmitter system components are provided in connection with fig. 17-21, wherein video service provider a101 comprises a first data service and a second data service, and video service provider B103 comprises a third data service and a fourth data service. Fig. 17 is a graph of bit rate versus time for data of the first data service and the second data service of the video service provider a101 of fig. 13. The bit rate of the output signal of the service provider a101 comprises the bit rate 1701 of the first data service plus the bit rate 1702 of the second data service.

Fig. 18 is a plot of bit rate versus time for the output of the elastic buffer a111 of fig. 13. The portions of the signal labeled 1701-1, 1701-2, 1701-3, and 1701-4 correspond to data for data service 1 from video service provider a 101. The portions of the signal labeled 1702-1, 1702-2, 1702-3, and 1702-4 correspond to data for data service 2 from video service provider a 101.

Fig. 19 is similar to fig. 17. Fig. 19 is a graph of bit rate versus time for data from the third data service and the fourth data service of the video service provider B103 of fig. 13. The bit rate of the output signal of service provider B103 comprises the bit rate 1903 of the third data service plus the bit rate 1904 of the fourth data service.

Fig. 20 is similar to fig. 18. Fig. 20 is a plot of bit rate versus time for the output of the elastic buffer B113 of fig. 13. The portions of the signals labeled 1903-1, 1903-2, 1903-3, and 1903-4 correspond to data of data service 3 from video service provider B103. The portions of the signal labeled 1904-1, 1904-2, 1904-3, and 1904-4 correspond to data of data service 4 from video service provider B103.

Fig. 21 is similar to fig. 18 and 20. Fig. 21 is a plot of bit rate versus time for the output signal 140 from the network operator elasticity buffer 131 of fig. 13. The portions of the signal labeled 1701-5, 1701-6, 1701-7, and 1701-8 correspond to data for data service 1 from video service provider a 101. According to one embodiment of the invention, the bit rate of these portions of signal 140 is higher than the corresponding portions 1701-1, 1701-2, 1701-3, and 1701-4 of the signal from data traffic 1, and the duration of each of these portions of signal 140 is shorter than the corresponding portions 1701-1, 1701-2, 1701-3, and 1701-4 of the signal from data traffic 1. Similarly, the portions of the signals labeled 1903-5, 1903-6, 1903-7, and 1903-8 correspond to data for data service 3 from video service provider B103. Thus, the portion of the data signal 140 shown in fig. 21 contains data from data services 1, 3, 2, and 4 in a repeating manner.

As described above, the time-slice information may include the burst length, the amount of time between original bursts, the time between an original burst and a copy of the burst, and the number of the original burst. FIG. 22 shows a packet 2200 that includes a packet payload 2220 and a set of time segment parameters 2202 and 2218 that may be used in various permutations and combinations for notifying time segment information, as will be described in more detail below. It will be apparent that the time-slice information may be signaled using the reserved unused bits of any suitable protocol, including but not limited to the digital video broadcast digital storage medium command and control (DVB DSM-CC) section protocol.

Packet index 2202 may be used to number packets within a time segment or burst of packets. Fig. 23 shows the descending numbering from 4 to 0 of packets 2200-1 to 2200-5 within a time segment 2300 comprising 5 packets 2200. Numbering the packets in descending order to a predetermined value such as 1 or 0 may be used to signal the end of a burst of packets. Similarly, the packets 2200 may be numbered in ascending order from a predetermined first value to signal the start of a burst of packets.

Time segment boundary indication 2204 may be used to inform the first packet of a burst of packets or the last packet of a burst of packets. FIG. 24 shows that time segment boundary indication 2204-1 of packet 2200-1 has a value of 1 to indicate that the packet is the first packet of a time segment or burst 2400. Similarly, time segment boundary indication 2204-5 of packet 2200-5 may be a different value than packets 2200-1 through 2200-4 to indicate that packet 2200-5 is the last packet of packet burst 2400. The time segment boundary indication may be a bit, in which case it may be used to inform the first packet or the last packet of a burst of packets. By using the 2-bit time segment boundary 2204, both the first and last packet of a burst of packets can be identified.

When time segment boundary indication 2204 is used as an indication of the first packet of a burst of packets, it may be combined with packet index 2202 in a down-count mode to dynamically define the number of packets in the burst of packets. Combining time segment boundary indication 2204 with packet index 2202 in a descending count mode provides a robust method of signaling the start of a variable length burst of packets having a number of packets less than or equal to a predetermined maximum value. Similarly, when time segment boundary indication 2204 is used as an indication of the last packet of a burst of packets, it may be combined with packet index 2202 in an up-count mode to dynamically inform the end of a variable size burst of packets or the last packet.

A burst of packets may be sent more than once. This may be useful for error detection and/or correction. The original burst refers to the first transmission of a burst of packets. A duplicate burst refers to the retransmission of the original burst. When a copy of one or more bursts is transmitted, receiver 14 may uniquely identify packet 2200 with packet index 2202 to determine whether a particular original packet has been correctly received.

Fig. 25 shows next burst indicators 2206-1 to 2206-5, the value of which is 0 indicating that the next burst of packets of a particular data service will be a duplicate of the previously transmitted burst. The next burst indicators 2206-1, 2206-2 and 2206-4 have a value of 0, which indicates that bursts 2500-2, 2500-3 and 2500-5 will be copies of the previously transmitted burst. A value of 1 indicates that the next burst to be transmitted will be the original burst. For example, next burst indicator 2206-3 has a value of 1, which indicates that next burst 2500-4 will be the original burst.

The value of the time to next original time segment parameter 2208 can be used to specify the amount of time between transmitting the current packet and the first transmitted packet of the next transmitted original packet burst of the same data service from the same information service provider from which the current packet was transmitted. As used herein, transmission may refer to broadcast, multicast, or unicast, while data may include, but is not limited to, IP protocol encoded data. Fig. 26 shows first and second original bursts 2600 and 2604 of a packet 2200. The value t1 to the next original time 2208-5 represents the amount of time between the transmission of the packet 2200-5, also referred to as the current packet, and the packet 2200-10, the packet 2200-10 being the first packet of the next original burst 2604 of data service from the information service provider of the current packet. This information can be specified in 12 bits with a resolution of about 10 ms. Similarly, a value of t1+ 12208-4 indicates the amount of time between the firing of packet 2200-4 and packet 2200-10, while a value of t1+ 22208-3 indicates the amount of time between the firing of packet 2200-3 and packet 2200-10.

If the receiver 14 receives the original packet burst in error, the receiver may then power itself up to receive any duplicate bursts corresponding to the correctly received original burst. If the original packet burst is correctly received by the receiver 14, the receiver may then ignore any duplicate bursts corresponding to the correctly received original burst. Ignoring the duplicate burst in this manner may include keeping the receiver powered down for one or more times during which the duplicate burst to be ignored may be received.

The value of the time to next replica parameter 2210 can be used to specify the amount of time between transmitting the current packet and the first packet of the next transmitted replica burst of the current burst of packets of the same data service from the same information service provider. Fig. 27 shows an original burst 2700 and a duplicate burst 2702 of a packet 2200. The value t2 of the time 2210-5 to the next replica represents the amount of time between the transmission of the packet 2200-5 of the original burst 2700, also referred to as the current packet, and the packet 2200-1 of the replica burst 2702, the packet 2200-1 being the first packet of the next replica burst of data service from the information service provider of the current packet. This information can be specified in 12 bits with a resolution of about 10 ms. Similarly, a value t2+ 12210-4 indicates the amount of time between transmitting the packet 2200-4 of the original burst 2700 and the packet 2200-1 of the duplicate burst 2702, while a value t2+ 22210-3 indicates the amount of time between transmitting the packet 2200-3 of the original burst 2700 and the packet 2200-1 of the duplicate burst 2702.

As discussed above in connection with the discussion of time to next original 2208, if the receiver 14 receives the original packet burst in error, the receiver may then power itself up to receive any duplicate bursts corresponding to the correctly received original burst. If the original packet burst is correctly received by the receiver 14, the receiver may then ignore any duplicate bursts corresponding to the correctly received original burst.

The value of the time-to-next-burst time segmentation parameter 2212 may be used to specify the amount of time between transmitting the current packet and the first packet of a next-transmitted burst of packets of the same data service from the same information service provider-regardless of whether the next burst is an original burst or a duplicate burst. Fig. 28 shows an original burst 2800 and a duplicate burst 2802 of a packet 2200. The value t3 for the time 2212-5 to the next burst represents the amount of time between the transmission of the packet 2200-5 of the original burst 2800, also referred to as the current packet, and the packet 2200-1 of the duplicate burst 2802, the packet 2200-1 being the first packet of the next duplicate burst of data service from the information service provider of the current packet. This information can be specified in 12 bits with a resolution of about 10 ms. Similarly, a value t3+ 12212-4 indicates the amount of time between transmission of the packets 2200-4 of the original burst 2800 and the packets 2200-1 of the replica burst 2802, while a value t3+ 22212-3 indicates the amount of time between transmission of the packets 2200-3 of the original burst 2800 and the packets 2200-1 of the replica burst 2802. Similarly, the value t4 for the time 2212-10 to the next burst represents the amount of time between the transmission of the packet 2200-5 of the duplicate burst 2802, also referred to as the current packet, and the packet 2200-6 of the original burst 2804, the packet 2200-6 being the first packet of the next original burst 2804 of data traffic from the information service provider of the current packet. Similarly, a value t4+ 12212-9 indicates the amount of time between transmitting packets 2200-4 of the duplicate burst 2802 and packets 2200-6 of the original burst 2804, while a value t4+ 22212-8 indicates the amount of time between transmitting packets 2200-3 of the duplicate burst 2802 and packets 2200-6 of the original burst 2804.

As discussed above in connection with the discussion of time to next original 2208 and time to next replica 2210, if the receiver 14 receives the original packet burst in error, the receiver may then power itself up to receive any replicated burst corresponding to the correctly received original burst. However, depending on the time 2212 to the next burst, even if the receiver 14 correctly received the original packet burst, the receiver may need to be powered on to receive the replica, regardless of whether the original burst has been correctly received.

The packet burst may be indexed with a time segment index 2214 such that the original burst is uniquely indexed and the duplicate burst has the same index as its corresponding original burst. FIG. 29 shows two original bursts 2900-1 and 2900-4 with time segment indices 2214-1 and 2214-4 having values of 1 and 2. Duplicate bursts 2900-2 and 2900-3 are copies of original bursts 2900-1. Thus, the value of their respective time segment indices 2214-2 and 2214-3 for these copy bursts 2900-2 and 2900-3 is also 1. Similarly, replicated bursts 2900-5 are replicas of original bursts 2900-4 with time segment index values of 2, as with original bursts 2900-4.

The time segment duration parameter 2216 can be used to indicate how long the transmission of the current burst of packets takes. Receiver 14 may set a timer to turn off the receiver after an amount of time corresponding to time segment duration 2216 has elapsed from the beginning of the reception of the burst of packets. Time segment duration 2216 may be specified as a 4-bit value, incremented by 100 ms. The receiver 14 may also turn off the receiver a predetermined amount of time after receiving the start of the packet.

The Maximum Transmit Unit (MTU) size parameter 2218 may be used to optimize receiver memory usage. Values such as 1024, 2048, and 4096kbyte, as well as other suitable values, may be used for this parameter.

As described above, the time segment information may be informed with various permutations and combinations of time segment parameters 2202- & 2218. For example, the time segment information may be signaled using an 8-bit packet index 2202 in a descending count mode, a 1-bit next burst indication 2206 indicating whether the next burst is an original burst or a duplicate burst, a 1-bit time segment boundary indication 2204 indicating the start of the time segment, a 12-bit to next burst time 2212 with a resolution of 10ms, and a 4-bit time segment duration with a resolution of 100ms together. If the remaining time-slice parameters are not used, 26 bits are used for informing the time-slice information. If the unused MPE packet header bytes reserved for MAC addressing are also used to inform the time-slicing information along with the time-slicing parameters discussed in this section, 2 MAC addressing bytes will still be available for MAC addressing.

Alternatively, the time segment information may be signaled using an 8-bit packet index 2202 in a descending count mode, a 1-bit next burst indication 2206 indicating whether the next burst is an original burst or a duplicate burst, a 1-bit time segment boundary indication 2204 indicating the start of a time segment, 12 bits at a resolution of 10ms to the next original time 2208, 12 bits at a resolution of 10ms to the next replica 2210, and a 4-bit time segment duration at a resolution of 100ms together. If the remaining time slice parameters are not used, then 38 bits are used to inform the time slice information. If the unused MPE packet header bytes reserved for MAC addressing are also used to inform the time-slicing information along with the time-slicing parameters discussed in this section, 1 MAC addressing byte will still be available for MAC addressing.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not in any way limited to the particular constructions and methods disclosed herein and/or shown in the drawings, but also includes any modifications or equivalents within the scope of the claims.

Claims (55)

1. A time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system, comprising:

a buffer configured to receive and buffer information from an information service provider;

an encapsulator configured to receive the buffered information from the buffer and form at least one packet header including time-slice information; and

a digital broadcast transmitter configured to transmit a burst of packets including buffering information and time-slicing information,

wherein the time-slice information specifies an amount of time that elapses between transmitting a current packet of the current burst of packets and transmitting a first packet of a subsequent burst of packets.

2. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein the time-slice information specifies a time-slice duration for transmitting the current burst of packets.

3. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein the time-slice information includes a time-slice index for numbering originally transmitted packet bursts.

4. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein the buffer is large enough to be able to store at least two entire data bursts from the information service provider and any data to be transmitted between the transmission of the two entire data bursts.

5. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 4, wherein an amount of time elapsed between transmission of the current packet and transmission of the first packet of the subsequent burst is determined at least in part on how many packets are to be transmitted between transmission of the current packet and transmission of the first packet.

6. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein an amount of time elapsed between transmission of the current packet and transmission of the first packet of the subsequent burst is determined at least in part on an amount of transmitter idle time between transmission of bursts.

7. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein the buffer comprises a buffer selected from the group consisting of: elastic buffers, first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffers, ring buffers, and double buffers with separate input and output portions.

8. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein the encapsulator is configured to place the time-slice information into lower layer protocol packet header bits.

9. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 8, wherein the lower layer protocol is a DVB DSM-CC section protocol.

10. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 9, wherein the time-slice information is put into at least one byte reserved unused for medium access control addressing.

11. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein the time-slice information includes a descending count packet index for a plurality of packets within the current burst of packets.

12. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein the time-slice information includes a time-slice boundary indication indicating whether the current packet is a first packet of the current packet burst.

13. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 1, wherein the time-slice information is included in an adaptation field of the transport stream packet.

14. The time-slicing digital broadcasting transmitter system of claim 13, wherein the transport stream packets comprise MPEG II transport stream packets.

15. A mobile terminal for receiving time-sliced digital broadcast information, the mobile terminal comprising:

a digital broadcast receiver configured to receive a packet burst including time-slice information and information from an information service provider and transmitted by a digital broadcast transmitter;

a buffer configured to receive time-slice information; and

an application processor configured to receive the buffering time-segment information from the buffer and decode the buffering time-segment information, thereby extracting information specifying an amount of time between receiving a current packet of the current burst of packets and a first packet of a subsequent burst of packets.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the time-slice information includes a descending count packet index for a plurality of packets within the current burst of packets.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the time-slice information includes a time-slice boundary indication indicating whether the current packet is the first packet of the current burst of packets.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the time-slice information includes an up-counting packet index for a plurality of packets within the current burst of packets.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein the time-slice information includes a time-slice boundary indication indicating whether the current packet is a last transmitted packet of the current burst of packets.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the time-slice information includes a next burst indication indicating whether the next burst of packets is an original burst or a duplicate burst.

21. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the time-slice information is decoded from lower layer protocol packet header bits.

22. A mobile terminal according to claim 21, wherein the lower layer protocol is the DVB DSM-CC section protocol.

23. The mobile terminal of claim 22, wherein the time-slice information is decoded from at least one byte reserved for media access control addressing.

24. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the time-slice information is included in an adaptation field of the transport stream packet.

25. The mobile terminal of claim 24, wherein the transport stream packets comprise MPEG II transport stream packets.

26. A time-slicing digital broadcasting system comprising:

a digital broadcast transmitter system configured to transmit a burst of packets including information of at least one data service from at least one information service provider and including time-slicing information specifying an amount of time between transmission of a current packet of the current burst of packets and a first packet of a subsequent burst of packets; and

a digital broadcast receiver system configured to receive a burst of packets and decode the time-slice information, thereby extracting information specifying an amount of time between transmission of a current packet of the current burst of packets and a first packet of a subsequent burst of packets.

27. The time-slicing digital broadcasting system of claim 26, wherein the next burst of packets is a copy of the current burst of packets.

28. The time-slicing digital broadcasting system of claim 26, wherein the transmitter includes an encapsulator configured to place the time-slice information into lower layer protocol packet header bits.

29. A time-slicing digital broadcasting system as in claim 28, wherein the lower layer protocol is DVB DSM-CC section protocol.

30. The time-slicing digital broadcasting system of claim 29, wherein the time-slice information is placed in at least one byte reserved unused for medium access control addressing.

31. The time-slicing digital broadcasting system of claim 26, wherein the time-slice information is included in an adaptation field of the transport stream packet.

32. The time-slicing digital broadcasting system of claim 31, wherein the transport stream packets comprise MPEG II transport stream packets.

33. A method of transmitting time-sliced digital broadcast information, the method comprising:

buffering information received from at least one information service provider; and

a packet is formed that includes buffering information and a packet header containing time-slicing information that specifies a plurality of different amounts of time, each amount of time being related to a time between transmitting a different one of a plurality of packets of a current burst of packets and transmitting a first packet of a subsequent burst, respectively.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the time-slice information specifies a plurality of different packet indices for a plurality of packets of the current burst.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the time-slice information specifies whether the next burst is a duplicate of the current burst.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the time-slice information specifies a duration of the current burst.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein the time-slice information is placed in lower layer protocol packet header bits.

38. A method according to claim 37, wherein the lower layer protocol is the DVB DSM-CC section protocol.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the time-slice information is placed in at least one byte reserved for media access control addressing.

40. The method of claim 33, wherein the time slice information is included in an adaptation field of the transport stream hierarchy.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the transport stream packets comprise MPEG II transport stream packets.

42. A method of receiving time-sliced digital broadcast information, the method comprising:

receiving a burst of packets transmitted by a digital broadcast transmitter including time-slicing information and information from an information service provider, wherein the time-slicing information specifies an amount of time between transmitting a current packet of a current burst of packets and transmitting a first packet of a subsequent burst of packets;

buffering the time slice information; and

the buffering time segment information is decoded to extract information specifying an amount of time between transmission of the current packet and transmission of a first packet of a subsequent burst of packets.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the time-slice information is decoded from lower layer protocol packet header bits.

44. A method according to claim 43, wherein the lower layer protocol is the DVB DSM-CC part protocol.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the time-slice information is decoded from at least one byte reserved for media access control addressing.

46. The method of claim 42, wherein the time-slice information is included in an adaptation field of the transport stream packet.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the transport stream packets comprise MPEG II transport stream packets.

48. An apparatus for transmitting time-sliced digital broadcast information, the apparatus comprising:

means for buffering information received from at least one information service provider; and

means for forming a packet comprising buffering information and a packet header containing time-slicing information specifying a plurality of different amounts of time, each amount of time being related to a time between transmitting a different one of a plurality of packets of a current burst of packets and transmitting a first packet of a subsequent burst, respectively.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the time-slice information is placed in lower layer protocol packet header bits.

50. An apparatus according to claim 49, wherein the lower layer protocol is the DVB DSM-CC part protocol.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the time-slice information is placed in at least one byte reserved unused for media access control addressing.

52. An apparatus for receiving time-sliced digital broadcast information, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a burst of packets transmitted by a digital broadcast transmitter including time-slicing information and information from an information service provider, wherein the time-slicing information specifies an amount of time between transmitting a current packet of the current burst of packets and transmitting a first packet of a subsequent burst of packets;

means for buffering the time-slice information; and

means for decoding the buffered time segment information to extract information specifying an amount of time between transmission of the current packet and transmission of a first packet of a subsequent burst of packets.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the time-slice information is decoded from lower layer protocol packet header bits.

54. An apparatus according to claim 53, wherein the lower layer protocol is the DVB DSM-CC part protocol.

55. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein the time-slice information is decoded from at least one byte reserved for media access control addressing.