Packet identifier search filtering

Group identifier search filter

Technical field

The present invention relates to broadband digital transmission and reception. More specifically, the present invention relates to the sending and receiving of Internet Protocol packets on a broadband digital transmission network.

Background technique

Digital broadband transmission networks are known. An example of such a network is the network specified by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). Another example of such a network that is popular in Europe and other parts of the world is Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), which, like ATSC, can deliver data in addition to TV content. ATSC and DVB utilize containerization technology in which the content to be sent is placed in MPEG-2 packets used as data containers. Therefore, the container can be used to transmit any appropriately digitized data, including but not limited to high-resolution TV, multi-channel standard resolution TV (PAL/NTSC or SECAM), and of course broadband multimedia data and interactive services.

Traditionally, broadband digital transmission services send TV content and data to end users via a transport stream. An example of such a transport stream used in ATSC and DVB is the MPEG-2 transport stream. Each transport stream contains individual transport stream packets identified by a packet identifier (PID). PID contains the information needed to locate, identify, and reconstruct specific content or data in the receiver. A single transport stream typically contains transport stream packets identified by more than one packet identifier.

The processing of transport stream packets is time-consuming and it has a great impact on the performance of broadband digital broadcast receivers. Such an impact on performance is acceptable in the context of delivering more traditional TV content. However, this is not the case for the provision of some other types of services, such as the delivery of Internet Protocol packets carrying audio, video, text, other data, or a combination of them. A single Internet Protocol packet is traditionally carried within a datagram segment. The datagram segment is formed by one or more transport stream packet payload segments. Existing broadband digital broadcast receivers filter and process incoming transport stream packets to determine whether the transport stream packets contain useful payload as part of the desired Internet protocol packets. Although there are some proposed solutions to reduce the number of transport stream packets filtered and processed by broadband digital broadcast receivers, these solutions involve the limitations of the existing protocols for providing digital broadcast services. The major disadvantage of these solutions is that they need to modify the hardware or software composition and are not compatible with current standards.

Therefore, there are technically required devices, systems, and methods for sending and receiving services, in which the packing of service packets causes the useful load of these packets to be distributed through one or more transport stream packets. More specifically, there is a need for devices, systems, and methods for transmitting and receiving Internet Protocol data through a broadband digital broadcast service network, and there is a need to reduce the processing performed by a broadband digital broadcast receiver without requiring an existing broadband digital broadcast receiver. There are oversized corrections and an increase in the speed of receivers moving between broadband digital broadcasting base stations during handover. Moreover, there is a need to link IP and DVB address information.

Summary of the invention

One or more of the above-mentioned needs in the art are met by a public system and method that links the filtering of Internet Protocols with the filtering of transport stream packets. The aspects of the present invention result in reduced power consumption and are particularly suitable for mobile handheld terminals such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants.

In the first embodiment, a method of processing digital broadband transmission in a receiver is provided. The method includes acquiring a transport stream packet and analyzing the transport stream packet to detect the first identifier. When the first identifier is detected, the second and third identifiers are detected. The second identifier is stored in the memory. Next, the third identifier is compared with a predetermined value. When the third identifier corresponds to the predetermined value, an additional transport stream packet including the second identifier is selected, and finally, a service with data carried in the transport stream packet including the second identifier is provided.

In another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a broadband digital broadcast receiver that processes Internet Protocol packets transmitted as a payload of one or more transport stream packets containing a packet identifier. The receiver includes a transport stream packet filter, which filters the transport stream packets according to the packet identifier, and a decapsulation module coupled to the transport stream filter to decapsulate Internet protocol data from the transport stream. The address filter compares the address information from the Internet Protocol data with the desired Internet Protocol address. The processor is programmed with computer-readable instructions to make the receiver perform the steps of configuring the transport stream filter according to the information received from the address filter. In other embodiments of the present invention, the computer used to implement the disclosed method may The read instructions are stored in a computer-readable medium.

Description of the drawings

The present invention is numbered by example, and is not limited to the drawings. The same reference numerals on the figures indicate similar units, in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a broadband digital broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 It shows how Internet protocol data is carried through transport stream packets according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 3 shows a method of filtering transport stream packets according to the packaged Internet protocol data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

Fig. 1 shows a broadband digital broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention. The broadband digital broadcast receiver 100 can be implemented with a set-top box, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, or other computer devices. The transport stream packet filter 102 receives the incoming transport stream packets. The transport stream may be an MPEG-2 transport stream transmitted via a terrestrial network, a cable network, a satellite network, or any other traditional broadband digital broadcasting network. In an embodiment of the present invention, the transport stream packet filter 102 filters the transport stream packets according to the packet identifier value.

A packet identifier (PID) memory 104 may be included to store the packet identifier value of the incoming transport stream packet. From the description given below, the use of the group identifier value will become clear. The decapsulation module 106 may be included to decapsulate the transport stream packet. In one embodiment, internet protocol data is delivered on the multi-protocol package DVB data broadcast profile by using internet protocol data. The present invention can be implemented in a variety of different packaging methods, including IP/MPE/DSM-CC_section/MPEG-2 transport stream packaging and proprietary packaging methods. Alternative packaging methods include IP/"Proprietary Package 2"/MPEG-2 for DVD data pipelines and IP/"Proprietary Package 32"/MPEG-2 for any MPEG network (for example, inc.ATSC). The packaging is done at the head.

The terminal can recognize the IP address in advance, for example, through an electronic service guide. The terminal can retrieve the electronic service guide through the communication path determined by the terminal's capabilities. For example, users can retrieve electronic business guides through the broadcast path. After the terminal receives the electronic service guide, the service desired by the user of the terminal is selected, and the IP address or similar address information of the service is stored in the address filter 108. The address filter 108 may be included to filter Internet Protocol addresses, MAC address bytes, or other address information. In one aspect of the present invention, the address filter 108 filters the address information of Internet Protocol packets. The datagram storage 110 may be included to store one or more Internet Protocol packet segments. The processor 112 may be included to control the overall operation of the digital broadcast receiver 100. Of course, the processor 112 can be programmed with computer-readable instructions. Finally, the interface 114 may be included to couple the digital broadcast receiver 100 to an external computer device 116. A single computer device 116 is shown for illustrative purposes only. In one embodiment, the interface 114 may be coupled to a network, several computer devices, a single computer device with several Internet Protocol addresses, or any hardware device, mobile phone, personal digital assistant programmed to include at least one Internet Protocol address , Set-top boxes, etc.

Before describing the method of implementing aspects of the present invention, the transmission of Internet protocol packets via a digital broadcast network will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The MPEG-2 transport stream 200 includes several transport stream packets. As shown in Figure 2, several different transport stream packets can be identified by the same packet identifier value. The packet identifier value is typically used to identify services sent as part of a digital broadcast compliant transport stream, such as DVB components. As part of the embodiments of the present invention, the group identifier value can correspond to an individual or a group of Internet Protocol addresses. For example, a single packet identifier value can correspond to a set of Internet Protocol addresses, reducing the need for unique packet identifier values.

FIG. 2 shows that the payload of transport stream packets with the same packet identifier 201 can be grouped together as a datagram segment 202 in the receiver. The datagram section 202 includes a section header 202a, an IP packet section 202c, and a CRC or "checksum" bit 202b. The section header 202a may include MAC or other relevant identifiable information. In one aspect of the invention, the datagram segment 202 is limited to a maximum size of 4096 bytes. The IP packet segment 202c may include IP bits 204a and payload 204b, and be formatted in accordance with IPv4, IPv6, or any other format. The IP packet segment 202c can be limited to the traditional maximum size of 4084 bits. The useful load 204b is then presented to the user through his or her terminal. Fig. 3 shows a method for filtering transport stream packets according to packaged Internet protocol data according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, in step 302, the broadband digital broadcast receiver is initialized. Next, in step 304, the broadband digital broadcast receiver receives the transport stream packet. In step 306, the transport stream packet can be decapsulated to present basic Internet protocol data. The unpacking operation will be a function of the packed format. Next, in step 308, the transport stream packet can be analyzed to determine whether there is a payload unit start indicator (PUSI). When there is a payload unit start indicator, in step 310, the packet identifier value of the transport stream packet is stored in the packet identifier memory, such as the PID memory 104. The stored value of the packet identifier can be used for subsequent packet filtering of the transport stream. When there is no useful load unit start indicator, the control process may shift to step 304.

In step 312, it is determined whether the entire address information exists. A single transport stream packet may only contain part of the MAC or IP address. When the entire address does not exist, in step 314, the broadband digital broadcast receiver can receive and decapsulate additional transport stream packets until all address information is available. Alternatively, the part of the existing IP address can be filtered, and in some cases, only a part of the address is needed.

In step 316, the address information of the basic Internet protocol data is filtered. Those skilled in the art will see that the Internet Protocol address information may include the Internet Protocol packet destination address or the Internet Protocol packet source address. Moreover, as used herein, "Internet Protocol address information" may also include MAC address bits containing address information.

The aspects of the present invention can be used in Internet protocol multicast and unicast services. For Internet Protocol multicast services, Internet Protocol destination address information is typically copied to the datagram segment header MAC address bits. The filtering of step 316 can be performed by filtering the Internet Protocol destination address or by filtering the MAC address header from the datagram segment header 202a. For Internet Protocol unicast services, the MAC address of the receiver can be passed to the head-end transmitter by means of the operator or service provider. The address can be transmitted through another communication path. The communication path may include a telephone transmission service, such as an SMS service in GSM, sending a message including a MAC address to a predetermined number of management organizations that operate this service and access the transport stream package. The head-end transmitter can then copy the MAC address of the transport stream packet as an identifier for the transport stream packet sent to the receiver. The filtering of step 316 can be performed by filtering MAC bits. At the head end, the broadcast operator decides the mapping of this PID to IP. In the case of DVBT handover, the receiver wants to receive the same IP service. An example of this situation could be unicast services. In the case of unicast services, the receiver's MAC address can be used for filtering. The MAC address is unique within the network. When the receiver enters a new cell, the same IP service can be sent with different PID values. In this case, filtering the MAC address becomes much faster than determining the new PID value from the metadata. As a result, the handover is also much faster.

In step 318, it is determined whether the basic Internet Protocol address information matches the desired Internet Protocol address. The desired Internet Protocol address may correspond to the Internet Protocol address of the computer device 116 shown in FIG. 1. When the Internet Protocol address information does not match the desired address, in step 320, the data is discarded. After step 320, the control process returns to step 304.

When the Internet Protocol address information matches the desired address, in step 322, the IP packet data from the transport stream is saved. The useful load of several transport stream packets can be combined to create a single Internet Protocol packet. Next, in step 324, the stored packet identifier value can be obtained and used to reconfigure the transport stream filter. In step 326, the broadband digital broadcast receiver receives another transport stream packet. Once the transport stream packet filter is reconfigured to filter the transport stream packets, the incoming internet protocol data included in the transport stream packet can be filtered according to the packet identifier value, just as opposed to the internet protocol address information. Specifically, in step 328, the packet identifier value of the received transport stream packet is compared with the packet identifier value stored in the PID memory. When the packet identifiers do not match, in step 330, the transport stream packet is discarded. After step 330, the control process may return to step 326. Those skilled in the art will see the efficiency achieved by filtering incoming transport stream packets according to the value of the packet identifier. As an example, the decapsulation of step 306 and the address filtering of step 316 are not required.

When the packet identifiers do match, in step 332, the payload from the transport stream packet is stored in the memory. As mentioned above, the useful load of multiple transport stream packets can be combined to create a single Internet Protocol packet. Finally, in step 334, it is determined whether the received transport stream packet is the end of the datagram. When the transport stream packet is not the end of the datagram, the control process returns to step 326, where the broadband digital broadcast receiver receives another transport stream packet. When the transport stream packet is the end of the datagram, the control process returns to step 302 where the receiver is initialized. The end of the datagram can be identified by a multi-protocol header that includes an indication of the length of the datagram. The multi-protocol header is sent in the first transport stream packet. The receiver can analyze the received information to determine the length of the datagram and when the end of the datagram is reached. In an alternative embodiment, after receiving the first Internet Protocol packet with a certain packet identifier value, the packet identifier value is used to move forward.

The embodiment shown in Figure 3 filters transport stream packets to find a single packet identifier value. Those skilled in the art will see that the transport stream packet filter can be configured to filter transport stream packets to find more than one packet identifier value. For example, several devices with separate Internet Protocol addresses can be coupled to a single broadband digital broadcast receiver. The transport stream packet filter can be configured to filter according to packet identifier values corresponding to separate Internet Protocol addresses. In an embodiment that includes filtering data to find more than one Internet Protocol address, after steps 326 and 330, the control process returns to step 304. Steps 314 and 324 also involve the comparison of more than one Internet protocol address information value or packet identifier value. Although the present invention is described with reference to specific examples including the current preferred mode for implementing the present invention, those skilled in the art will It will be seen that many variations and permutations of the above-mentioned system and technology fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. For example, aspects of the present invention can be used in digital audio broadcast receivers and other digital or data systems. Those skilled in the art will also see that the method shown in FIG. 3 is only an illustrative example of a specific implementation of aspects of the present invention. The order of the steps shown in Figure 3 can be rearranged. Moreover, several steps can be combined.