KR101160261B1 - Apparatus and Method for Reducing Zapping Time in Digital Broadcasting Through Prediction of Channel Changing - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, a digital broadcast receiver capable of reducing the channel switching speed by identifying the frequency tendency of switching from one channel to another channel in a digital broadcast receiver capable of multi-stream processing to decode the high probability channels in advance can reduce the channel switching speed. An apparatus and method for reducing broadcast channel switching time, the method comprising: determining at least one switching preference channel of a current channel from a channel switching history in a current viewing channel, and displaying the on-screen display (OSD) type for the determined preferred channels. By performing the screen display, while also performing decoding on the determined preferred channels, the user can easily identify the preferred channels and reduce the time required for channel switching.

Description

Apparatus and Method for Reducing Zapping Time in Digital Broadcasting Through Prediction of Channel Changing}

1 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiving system to which the present invention is applied.

2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a preferred channel table in accordance with the present invention.

3 is a view showing a mode of displaying a preferred channel table on a screen using an OSD according to the present invention.

4 is a view illustrating a display of preferred channels for each user in OSD form according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a user input device for viewing digital broadcasting when a button for a favorite channel is added according to the present invention; FIG.

6 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of a digital broadcast receiving system in a preferred channel switching mode according to the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100: digital broadcast receiving system 110: tuner

120: demodulation unit 130: demultiplexer

140: MPEG decoder 150: graphics module

160: reception limit processing unit 170: control unit

180: storage 200: preferred channel table

300: OSD for favorite channel 510: Button for favorite channel

511: Channel switch button

The present invention relates to channel switching in digital broadcasting. More specifically, in a digital broadcasting receiver capable of multi-stream processing, the frequency propensity to switch from a specific channel to another channel is determined and decoded in advance for high probability channels. An apparatus and method for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction for reducing channel switching speed are provided.

Digital broadcasting compresses program data for each channel with high efficiency based on the MPEG encoding standard, and multiplexes and transmits programs corresponding to a plurality of channels based on a digital modulation method for each transmission medium. Due to this characteristic, digital broadcasting can broadcast dozens or hundreds of channels without using a large amount of repeaters as in analog broadcasting. In other words, digital broadcasting has the advantage of eliminating the shortage of broadcasting channels by significantly improving the efficiency of frequency use compared to analog broadcasting.

In addition, multi-use of professional paid broadcasting and interactive service broadcasting software is possible, which has the advantage that the broadcasting industry can be developed into a composite media industry.

For these reasons, digital broadcasting is being expanded to cable and terrestrial broadcasting, including satellite broadcasting, and is emerging as a next generation broadcasting technology.

Despite the many advantages of digital broadcasting, it has to be acknowledged that there are some disadvantages compared to analog broadcasting, one of which is channel switching (or zapping) time.

Channel switching time refers to the time taken from the time of zapping to the complete zapping. In analog broadcasting, there is little channel switching time, whereas in digital broadcasting, a channel switching time of 1 to 2 seconds occurs. It's about a second or two, but it can be a big complaint for viewers who are used to analog broadcasting.

Channel switching time occurs regardless of digital cable, terrestrial and satellite broadcasting. In particular, digital cable broadcasting is known to have a weaker channel switching time than other broadcasting media.

The main causes of current channel switching time include command processing, network delay, STB layer delay, STB jitter buffer delay, and MPEG decoders. The time can be mentioned. Among them, the latency limit in the conditional access system and the process for the content protection was found to be a big factor.

As a solution to this problem, a broadcast reception system capable of decoding a multi-stream using a plurality of broadcast information processing units and buffers can be considered. However, there is a limit in decoding all channels in advance and storing them in a buffer. In addition, the method of pre-decoding only the front and rear channels of the currently viewed channel, which is one of the currently proposed methods, has a problem in that the efficiency of channel search is inferior.

Here, a need arises for a method of performing channel search more efficiently and thus reducing channel switching time.

In order to solve the above problems, an apparatus and method for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction for identifying a preferred channel for each user and displaying the same in OSD form and decoding the preferred channel in advance are provided. For the purpose of providing it.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction may include determining at least one switching preference channel of a current channel from channel switching history in a current viewing channel, and determining determined preference channels. Performing a screen display in the form of an On Screen Display (OSD).

The performing of the display includes performing decoding on the determined preferred channels.

In the OSD form, at least one preferred channel is positioned radially with respect to the current channel.

The channel switching history is managed in the form of a user-specific two-dimensional table, and in the two-dimensional table, preferred channels determined based on the current channel are located on the upper, lower, left, and right sides.

The determining of the preferred channel may include calculating a fixed time for the target channel from the time point at which the current channel is switched to the destination channel to the time point at which the channel is switched to another channel, and for the current channel in proportion to the calculated time. Setting a preference count of the branch; And sequentially arranging the destination channels according to a preference count of at least one destination channel for the current channel, and determining upper preference channels corresponding to the number set by the manager as the preference channel.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction determines at least one switching preferred channel of a current channel from a channel switching history in a current viewing channel, and displays OSD for the determined preferred channels. (On Screen Display) includes a control unit for performing a screen display.

The apparatus for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through the channel switching prediction may further include a storage unit for storing a history of channel switching records for each user.

The apparatus may further include a decoder configured to perform decoding on the displayed preferred channels, wherein the graphic module performs an OSD type display on the determined at least one preferred channel according to a command of the controller. It may further include.

Meanwhile, the controller calculates a fixed time for the target channel from the time point at which the current channel is switched to the destination channel to the time point at which the channel is switched to another channel, and the target channel is set for the current channel to be proportional to the calculated time. It sets the preference count, and sequentially arranges the destination channels according to the preference count of the at least one destination channel for the current channel, and determines the top preference channels corresponding to the number set by the administrator as the preferred channel.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction includes a storage unit for storing a channel switching history for each user, a decoder for decoding a signal input through demultiplexing, and A graphic module for displaying a signal input through the decoder on the screen and the channel switching history stored in the storage unit determines at least one switching preference channel of the current channel, and controls the decoder to perform decoding on the determined preferred channels. And a controller for controlling the graphic module to perform an on-screen display (OSD) type screen display.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the digital broadcasting system, when a user input device for inputting a command for switching to a favorite channel and entry into the preferred channel mode from the user input device are selected, channel switching from the current viewing channel is selected. And a digital broadcast receiver for determining at least one switching preference channel of the current channel from the history of recording, and performing a screen display in the form of an OSD on the determined preference channels.

The user input device may include a button for channel switching for entering and releasing a favorite channel mode and a channel switch button for performing channel switching to one of the displayed favorite channels of the OSD type.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 shows a block configuration of a digital broadcast receiving system to which the present invention is applied.

The digital broadcast reception system includes a tuner 110 for tuning a desired channel from a broadcast signal received in an analog form, and a demodulator 120 for demodulating the tuned analog signal into a digital signal. The demodulator 120 transmits the reception restriction related data, that is, the key information and the viewing authority information for each program, to the reception restriction processing unit 160.

When the subscriber selects a program channel, the conditional access system (CAS) 160 checks whether the subscriber has the right to view the corresponding program channel according to the viewing right information for each program, In this case, the encrypted broadcast data is descrambled according to the key information.

The demultiplexer 130, which has received the decoded signal through the reception limit processing unit 160, demultiplexes the broadcast data converted into the digital signal form and converts the broadcast data into the MPEG type broadcast data. At this time, video data of the broadcast data output from the demultiplexer 130 is in the MPEG 2 form, and audio data is in the MPEG 1 form.

The MPEG decoder 140 decompresses the data output from the demultiplexer 130 into a broadcast signal by decompressing it according to the MPEG method, and the graphic module 150 manipulates the converted broadcast signal to be displayed on a digital TV. . The manipulated broadcast signal is converted into an analog signal form by an encoder (not shown) and transmitted to the digital TV.

Meanwhile, the controller 170 is interworking with the MPEG decoder 140, the graphics module 150, the reception limiting processor 160, and performs an algorithm for selecting a preferred channel for each channel and generates a preferred channel table generated as a result. Store in the storage unit 180. In addition, the MPEG module 140 may be controlled to display the preferred channels of the current channel on the screen in OSD form according to the stored preferred channel table, and to decode the determined preferred channels in advance. To control. In addition, the controller 170 controls the graphic module 150 such that the preferred channels have a shape arranged up, down, left, and right with respect to the current channel on the OSD of the digital TV screen.

The storage unit 180 stores a preferred channel for each user. A specific embodiment provided by the present invention among the storage forms of the preferred channel for each user may be represented in the form of a two-dimensional table. Details of the 2D table for storing the preferred channel will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

The digital broadcast reception system may further include a network interface for a function of receiving guide information of a program through a network in addition to the above components.

In FIG. 1, only the main role of the present invention is illustrated, and various additional function blocks may be added in addition to those illustrated.

2 illustrates one preferred embodiment of a preferred channel table in accordance with the present invention.

The configuration of the table 200 for the preferred channel varies depending on the user's usage history, and does not take the form of FIG. 2 from the beginning. That is, the table 200 is initialized by sequentially arranging channels horizontally or vertically at the start point of digital TV use in which channel switching has not been made by the user.

As the channel change history of the user is accumulated, the structure of the preferred channel table 200 is changed. As shown in FIG. 2, the top 4 of the list of all channels having a change record from the current channel centered on the current channel are shown. Position the first channel up, down, left, and right of the current channel. Since four preferred channels corresponding to the changed channel are also changed every time the user switches channels, the structure of the preferred channel table will change every time the user switches channels.

The method of determining preferred channels that are highly convertible in the current channel is as follows.

 For example, consider the case of channel switching from channel 1 to channel 2. The fixed time is calculated in channel 2 from the time point at which channel 1 is switched to channel 2 until the time is changed from channel 2 to another channel, and as the calculated time is longer, the count for determining a preferred channel is increased. The count of the channel 2 thus determined serves as a reference for determining the position in the channel 1's preferred channel list. While the user is using digital TV, switching from channel 1 to several channels will be done, and each of the plurality of channels will have a count according to the switching probability from channel 1, as described above. In this way, when a certain period of use history is accumulated, a list for a preferred channel having a high probability of switching from channel 1 is prepared, and four channels having the largest count are determined as the channel 1 preference channels.

3 shows a preferred channel table according to the present invention displayed on the screen using the OSD.

3 illustrates that the OSD can be used as a form of displaying the preferred channel table 200 of FIG. 2 on a digital TV screen. On Screen Display (OSD) is provided as guide information for each channel in digital broadcasting, and may be provided in a form overlapping the broadcast screen of the current channel.

The preferred channel OSD 300 according to the present invention is provided in a form as shown in FIG. 3, and it can be seen that the display form borrows the form of the preferred channel table 200 as it is. As shown in FIG. 3, when looking at the periphery of the preferred channel table 200 in the current channel 99 state, it can be seen that the preferred channel of the channel 99 is channel 72, channel 91, channel 129, and channel 102. The OSD 300 for the preferred channel on the digital TV screen indicates that the current viewing channel 99 is MTV and the current program is popular. In addition, all the information on the preferred channels of the channel 99 is also displayed to provide information on channels that are more likely to be switched by the user. Referring to FIG. 3, it can be seen that channel 72 is currently broadcasting KBS 1 at 9:00, and channel 91 is broadcasting SBS at present. In addition, channel 129 is currently MBC broadcasting today's sports, and channel 102 is an on-game net that is broadcasting a star league.

4 is a view showing a display of preferred channels for each user in OSD form according to the present invention.

In order to manage preferred channels for each user, the preferred channel table shown in FIG. 2 must be managed for each user. Fig. 4 shows the preferred channel OSDs 301 and 302 on the digital TV screen for each user in the case where there are several users whose preferred channels are set. As shown in FIG. 4, in the case of user 1, the preferred channels from MTV are KBS1, SBS, MBC, and on-gamenet, whereas in case of user 2, even if the current channel is the same MTV as user 1, preferred channels are iTV, SBS sports, It can be seen that MBC and CGV are different from User 1. That is, the preferred channel is managed by user and channel currently viewed.

On the other hand, on the normal screen 400 that is not the preferred channel mode, the front and rear channels of the current channel are usually displayed in the OSD on the screen. That is, when the current viewing channel is 78, the channel located immediately before 78 and the channel immediately following the viewable channel are arranged left and right of the current viewing channel. That is, in normal mode, only the sequential channels related to the current channel are displayed regardless of the channel that the user prefers.

5 illustrates an embodiment of a user input device for viewing digital broadcasting when a button for a favorite channel is added according to the present invention.

When the user selects the button 510 for the favorite channel on the user input device 500 such as a remote controller, the user enters the favorite channel switching mode, and once the user enters the favorite channel switching mode, the user determines the preferred channel from the current channel. Channel switching is possible with only two channels. That is, in the case of FIG. 3, when the button 510 for the preferred channel is pressed in the state of the current channel 99 and enters the preferred channel switching mode, channels 72, channel 91, channel 129, which can be switched from the current channel, are entered. Limited to channel 102.

The channel to be switched can be selected by using a channel switch and a volume control button on a general user input device. In the normal mode, four buttons used for channel switching and volume control are used as the preferred channel switching, and in the preferred channel switching mode, the channel switching button 511 is used. As a result, there is a convenience in that it is not necessary to provide a separate channel switching button.

Entering the mode for channel switching according to the preferred channel, as shown in Figure 2, in addition to providing a separate favorite channel button 510 as shown in Figure 2 through the menu button of the user input device to select the preferred channel again in the general menu It can also be set to However, in this case, since a few selection processes are added to the entry into the preferred channel mode, the embodiment as shown in FIG. 2 may be more preferable in terms of user convenience.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, four preferred channels are set, but the four preferred channels are not necessarily four. The reason why four preferred channels are set in the present embodiment is that the present invention is applied to a conventional remote controller by using a volume up-down button of a general remote controller and four buttons for switching to the front and rear channels of the current channel. This is the easiest and most desirable form to do. Therefore, it is also possible to set two, three or five or more preferred channels, and it is up to the system administrator to choose the appropriate number of preferred channels.

6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a digital broadcast reception system in a preferred channel switching mode according to the present invention.

 When the user selects the button 510 for the preferred channel on the user input device 500 of FIG. 5 and enters the preferred channel switching mode (S601), and inputs a user name, the controller 170 is stored in the storage unit 180. The preferred channel table for the corresponding user is searched (S602). The controller 170 detects the position of the current channel in the preferred channel table obtained from the storage unit 180 and searches for the preferred channel located at the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the current channel (S603). If the preferred channel is found, decoding is started for all the found channels (S604). At the same time, the preferred channel is displayed on the TV screen in the form of OSD (S605). Here, steps S604 and S605 are merely arranged sequentially for the sake of illustration, and the order may be reversed, and the two procedures may proceed in parallel.

When the user views the preferred channel displayed on the OSD and selects switching to one channel (S606), the controller 170 returns to the preferred channel search step (S603) and sets the preferred channel using the converted channel as the current channel. Then, the decoding process (S604) and the display process on the OSD screen (S605) for the identified preferred channel are repeated.

This process is repeated until the user releases the preferred channel switching mode (S607), and in the case of several users, a check step for changing the user as well as checking whether the channel is switched should be added. The description of this case will be omitted.

The present invention, by displaying the user-specific preferred channel in the OSD form and moving to the preferred channel by using the button of the user input device, the user can easily identify the preferred channel in the current channel and at the same time quickly switch the channel to the preferred channel Has the advantage of performing

Claims (16)

In the channel switching time reduction method of digital broadcasting, Determining at least one transition preference channel of the current channel from the channel transition history in the current viewing channel; Wow Performing on-screen display in the form of an OSD on the determined preferred channels; The performing of the display includes performing decoding on the determined preferred channels. delete The method of claim 1, The OSD type is a method of reducing the digital broadcast channel switching time by channel switching prediction in which at least one preferred channel is located radially around the current channel. The method of claim 1, The channel switching history is A method for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction, which is managed in the form of a two-dimensional table for each user. The method of claim 4, wherein The two-dimensional table, A method for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction, wherein the preferred channels determined based on the current channel are located at the top, bottom, left, and right sides. The method of claim 1, The preferred channel determination step, Calculate the fixed time on the target channel from the current channel to the target channel to another channel, and set the preference count of the current channel to be proportional to the calculated time. Making; Wow Sequentially arranging the destination channels according to a preference count of at least one destination channel for the current channel, and determining as many channels as the preferred channel by the administrator as the preferred channel. How to reduce digital broadcast channel switching time. In the apparatus for reducing channel switching time of digital broadcasting, A control unit which determines at least one switching preference channel of the current channel from the channel switching history in the current viewing channel, and performs an on-screen display (OSD) type display on the determined preferred channels; And And a decoder configured to perform decoding on the displayed preferred channels. 8. The method of claim 7, The apparatus for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction further comprising a storage unit for storing a channel switching history for each user. 9. The method of claim 8, The channel switching history is, Device for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction, characterized in that the user is managed in the form of a two-dimensional table for each user. 10. The method of claim 9, The two-dimensional table, The apparatus for reducing digital broadcast channel switching time through channel switching prediction, wherein the preferred channels determined based on the current channel are located at the top, bottom, left, and right sides. delete 8. The method of claim 7, And a graphic module configured to display an OSD form of the determined at least one preferred channel according to a command of the controller. 8. The method of claim 7, The control unit, Calculate the fixed time on the destination channel from the current channel to the destination channel transition to another channel, and set the preference count of the destination channel for the current channel to be proportional to the calculated time. And sequentially arranging the destination channels according to a preference count of at least one destination channel with respect to the current channel, and determining the upper preference channels corresponding to the number set by the manager as the preferred channel. Device for reducing the time of digital broadcast channel switching through the. In the apparatus for reducing channel switching time of digital broadcasting, A storage unit which stores a channel switching history for each user; A decoder configured to decode a signal input through demultiplexing; A graphic module for displaying a signal input through the decoder on a screen; And Determine at least one transition preference channel of the current channel from the channel transition history stored in the storage, control the decoder to perform decoding on the determined preference channels, and perform an on-screen display (OSD) type screen display. And a controller for controlling the graphics module to reduce the digital broadcasting channel switching time through channel switching prediction. In digital broadcasting, A user input device for inputting a command for switching to a favorite channel; Wow If entry into the preferred channel mode from the user input device is selected, at least one transition preference channel of the current channel is determined from a history of channel transition recording from the current viewing channel, and OSD (On Screen) for the determined preference channels is determined. Display) digital display receiving apparatus for performing a screen display of the form, The digital broadcast receiver includes a decoder for decoding the displayed preferred channels. The method of claim 15, The user input device, A button for a favorite channel for entering and releasing a favorite channel mode; and And a channel switching button for performing channel switching to one of the displayed preferred channels of the OSD type.

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