CN101917592A - Unidirectional and bidirectional parallel reception method of EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data and set top box thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a set top box for unidirectional and bidirectional parallel reception of EPG (Electronic Program Guide), comprising a front end EPG data generation module and a unidirectional and bidirectional EPG parallel reception module. The front end EPG data generation module is used for obtaining unidirectional EPG data, distinguishing the different types of data in the EPG data, generating files according to the type and the format of date and saving the file to an EPG bidirectional data server; and the unidirectional and bidirectional EPG parallel reception module is used for downloading the files in parallel unidirectionally and bidirectionally from the EPG bidirectional data server and saving the download data in a register till the data is totally and successfully received. The technical solution of the invention realizes the parallelization of the unidirectional reception and the bidirectional reception in parallel so as to improve the receiving efficiency of the EPG data.

Description

EPG data one-way and two-way parallel receiving method and set-top box thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to a digital television set-top box, in particular to a method for receiving EPG data in a single-way or two-way parallel mode and a set-top box using the method.

Background

With the rapid development of digital televisions in recent years, various value-added services based on the digital televisions are emerging, and various requirements for set-top boxes are increasing. With the continuous updating of the technology of the set top box, the bidirectional set top box and the high-definition set top box slowly enter thousands of households. The set top box supports bidirectional return, MP3 playing, USB external storage equipment, PVR recording and IPTV, and various new functions appear in various novel set top boxes. New services are continuously appeared in application to replace old services, Video On Demand (VOD) replaces Near Video On Demand (NVOD), a bidirectional browser replaces a unidirectional browser broadcasted by OC, and new applications such as an advertisement system and a time-shifting service are also appeared.

However, since the user still watches the broadcast tv programs using the most functions of the set-top box, an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) closely related to the set-top box also becomes the most application function for the user. And key information of important functions such as a plurality of value-added services and loaders and the like is transmitted through the EPG. The EPG always uses unidirectional broadcast transmission based on the DVB standard, and the scheme of unidirectional real-time reception of the set-top box does not change with the technical update of the set-top box.

With the continuous improvement of the performance requirements of users on the set-top box, the software and hardware performance of the set-top box is also improved, the broadcast receiving scheme used originally becomes a bottleneck limiting the improvement of the receiving efficiency of the EPG, and a new technology and a new receiving scheme are urgently needed to replace the old scheme so as to improve the receiving efficiency of the EPG. However, based on the continuous expansion of the set-top box users in China, the number base number of the set-top boxes on the internet is huge, and a new receiving scheme needs to be compatible with the original set-top box EPG unidirectional transmission specification.

Therefore, how to develop and design a receiving scheme which can be compatible with the traditional set top box EPG unidirectional transmission standard and improve EPG receiving efficiency becomes one of the technical problems which are urgently needed to be solved at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide an EPG data single-direction and two-direction parallel receiving method and a set top box thereof, and aims to solve the technical problems that the conventional digital television set top box cannot be compatible with data of a unidirectional receiver set top box and the EPG receiving efficiency is low.

The method for receiving the EPG in a single-direction and two-direction in parallel by the set top box comprises the following steps:

firstly, front-end EPG data generation:

step S101, acquiring unidirectional EPG data;

step S102, distinguishing different data types in EPG data, including data of different frequency points and data without distinguishing frequency points;

step S103, generating a file according to the data type and the format;

step S104, marking the file name of the generated file and storing the file name in an EPG bidirectional data server;

secondly, receiving the single-direction and two-direction EPG data in parallel:

step S301, initializing a receiving mark, and marking all receiving fields (Section) as 'not received' for judging the received data in the cache;

step S302, a unidirectional EPG data receiving channel and a filter are set according to the filter information of the data to be received, and the filter does not include the information of the data bit of the appointed field Number (Section Number); downloading the same EPG data from an EPG bidirectional data server, wherein the unidirectional downloading is converted to a step S302, and the bidirectional downloading is converted to a step S304;

step S303, when the unidirectional EPG data receiving channel obtains data, judging a receiving mark according to the Section Number, if the corresponding receiving mark is 'not received', storing the data into a buffer memory and setting the receiving mark to 'received', and if the corresponding receiving mark is 'received', discarding the data;

step S304, according to the current Section receiving mark, searching a Section marked as 'not received' as a target for bidirectional EPG data receiving;

step S305, generating file names according to the filter information of the data to be received and the Section Number of the target Section, wherein the format of the file names is the same as that of the step S102, and two file names for distinguishing two data types of different frequency points and non-distinguishing frequency points are generated at the same time;

step S306, two files are downloaded from the EPG bidirectional data server at the same time, wherein one file returns success, namely the receiving mark is checked, if the file is still not received, the data is stored in the cache and the receiving mark is set to be received;

step S307, determining whether the data is successfully received, if not, repeating step S303 and steps S304 to S306 until the data is successfully received.

The invention also provides a set-top box using the method, which comprises the following steps:

the front-end EPG data generation module is used for acquiring unidirectional EPG data, distinguishing types of different data in the EPG data, generating a file according to the data types and formats, and storing the file in an EPG bidirectional data server;

and the unidirectional and bidirectional parallel EPG data receiving module is used for unidirectional and bidirectional parallel downloading of files from the EPG bidirectional data server and storing the downloaded data in the buffer until the data is completely received successfully.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following characteristics:

1. the method is compatible with the original technology, does not need to modify the existing unidirectional network, and can realize the purpose of improving the EPG data receiving efficiency under the condition of ensuring the normal work of the network set top box.

2. Different from a single receiving scheme of the general technology, the invention can realize independent bidirectional receiving of EPG data and unidirectional and bidirectional parallel receiving of EPG data, and has higher flexibility and practicability.

3. The invention can be used for receiving EPG data, and can also be used for other applications with large data volume and frequent data receiving, such as a browser, a VOD service and the like.

Drawings

The invention is described in detail below with reference to examples and figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of EPG data generation at a set-top box front end of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the set-top box two-way EPG data reception of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flow chart of parallel receiving of the set-top box one-way EPG data according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

The invention is mainly divided into two parts, namely, the generation of front-end EPG data and the reception of EPG data of a set-top box. The two parts are correlated, and the file name generated by the front-end EPG data directly corresponds to the filter parameter used when the set-top box receives the file name. In addition, the EPG data reception of the set-top box can be further divided into separate bidirectional data reception and one-way and two-way parallel data reception. In parallel data reception, since unidirectional reception is cyclically broadcast data received at random, it cannot be guaranteed that each Section (Section) is sequentially received one by one starting from the first Section (Section) with a guaranteed reception speed, so bidirectional reception of sections (sections) that are not received or are missing by unidirectional reception according to file names, which can skip as a supplement to unidirectional reception, is achieved with the highest efficiency.

When the unidirectional broadcast EPG data is generated at the front end, the EPG data of each frequency point is split into a plurality of small files through different frequency points, different Table IDs and different Section numbers (Section numbers), and the files are put on an EPG bidirectional data server. When the set-top box needs to receive the EPG, the same EPG data is downloaded from the EPG bidirectional data server while a unidirectional receiving channel and a filter are set. And the two directions are carried out simultaneously in one direction and two directions, and the data are stored in the same cache, and are uniformly delivered to an application program for processing after the data are judged to be completely received.

The receiving scheme described in the invention does not affect the existing EPG unidirectional broadcasting and receiving scheme at all, and only serves as the supplement of the unidirectional receiving scheme. The unidirectional reception and the bidirectional reception can be in parallel, thereby improving the reception efficiency of the EPG data. The required EPG data can be received at any time only by bidirectional receiving without the restraint of the current Cable frequency point and the EPG main frequency point, and the receiving efficiency can be improved more obviously for the network environment of the unidirectional single EPG frequency point.

The specific embodiment of the invention is as follows:

first, EPG data generation of front end

The method comprises the steps of obtaining unidirectional EPG data, analyzing data of different frequency points and data of non-distinguishing frequency points in the EPG data, saving different SECTIons as files with the byte size not larger than 4096, dividing the SECTIon files into data files of different frequency points and data files of non-distinguishing frequency points, and placing the generated files on an EPG bidirectional data server.

Please refer to fig. 1 for a detailed method. The front-end EPG data generation method comprises the following steps:

step S101: obtaining unidirectional EPG data;

step S102: distinguishing types of different data in the EPC data;

analyzing data of distinguishing different frequency points and data of non-distinguishing frequency points in EPG data;

data such as SDT _ Actual (Table ID 0x42), EIT _ PF _ Actual, etc. are data for distinguishing different frequency points, and the data correspond to different programs according to the frequency points;

for example, BAT, SDT _ Other and Other data are data without distinct frequency points, and the data broadcast by each frequency point is the same data;

step S103: generating a file according to the data type and the format; that is, different sections are saved as files with no more than 4096 bytes according to different data types and fixed formats. Wherein,

the data storage file names for distinguishing different frequency points are as follows:

[original_network_id]_[transport_stream_id]_[PID]_[table_id]_[table_id_extension]_[section_number].dat

for example: the frequency point frequency is 355MHz, the symbol rate is 6.875MSym/s, the modulation mode is 64QAM, the transport id 10(0xA), the SDT _ Actual and the first selection are stored as files 0_ A _11_42_ A _0.dat

The data storage file name without distinguishing frequency points is as follows:

[original_network_id]_[PID]_[table_id]_[table_id_extension]_[section_number].dat

for example: BAT, Bouquet ID 1, first Section, saved as file 0_11_4A _1_0.dat

The file generation method specifically comprises the following steps: and storing different Section data at different frequency points into different files, and reserving the files according to the number of different EPG sections at each frequency point. After this is done, for a plurality of frequency points, the identical Section is combined into non-differentiated frequency point data in order to reduce the storage and transmission pressure.

Step S104: and saving all the generated files to an EPG bidirectional data server.

Two, two way EPG data reception

Referring to fig. 2, the bidirectional EPG data receiving method includes the following steps:

step S201: generating a file name according to the filter information; the file name of the pre-receiving Section is generated according to the filter information of the data to be received, the format is the same as the step S102 in the front-end EPG data generation, and two file names which distinguish two data types of different frequency points and non-distinguishing frequency points are generated at the same time.

Step S202: downloading files from the EPG bidirectional data server, and simultaneously downloading two files from the EPG bidirectional data server, wherein one file is successfully returned and then stored in a cache;

the generated file names correspond to the file names generated by the server, but the server only stores each Section once, so only one of the two generated file names can download the file, and the other file name returns an error, but the file download is successful as long as one file is downloaded successfully.

The scheme can also have a supplementary scheme, and some specified data such as Section of an SDT table are regarded as non-differentiated frequency point types by default at the server and the terminal, and other specified data are regarded as differentiated different frequency point types. Thus, the server side saves the Section according to the strategy, and the set-top box side also generates a unique Section file name according to the strategy. Thus, the file names can correspond to the data on the server one by one.

Step S203: judging whether the data is completely received successfully, if not, repeating the step S201 and the step S202, and sequentially receiving the next Section until the data is completely received successfully; if successful, then step 204 is included;

step S204: checking the verification information of the data in the cache, and handing the data to an application program for processing the data.

Three, one and two way EPG data parallel reception

Referring to fig. 3, the method for receiving the uni-directional and bi-directional EPG data in parallel includes the following steps:

step S301: initializing the receiving marks of all sections as 'not received' for judging the received data in the cache;

step S302: setting a one-way EPG data receiving channel and a filter according to the filter information of the data to be received, wherein the filter does not include the information of the appointed Section Number data bit;

step S303: when the unidirectional EPG data receiving channel obtains data, judging a receiving mark according to the Section Number, if the corresponding receiving mark is 'not received', storing the data into a buffer memory and setting the receiving mark as 'received'; if the corresponding receiving mark is 'received', discarding the data;

step S304: according to the current Section receiving mark, searching a Section marked as 'not received' as a target for receiving bidirectional EPG data;

step S305: generating file names according to the filter information of the data to be received and the Section Number of the target Section, wherein the format of the file names is the same as that of the step S102, and two file names for distinguishing two data types of different frequency points and non-distinguishing frequency points are generated at the same time;

step S306: simultaneously downloading two files from the EPG bidirectional data server, wherein one file is successfully returned, namely, checking a receiving mark, if the file is still not received, storing the data into a cache and setting the receiving mark as received;

step S307: judging whether the data is received successfully or not, if not, repeating the step S303 and the steps S304 to S306 until the data is received successfully, wherein the step S303 is parallel to the steps S304 to S306;

step S308: releasing a one-way EPG data receiving channel and a filter;

step S309: checking the verification information of the data in the cache and handing the data to the application program for processing the data.

The invention also discloses a set-top box using the method, which comprises the following steps:

the front-end EPG data generation module is used for acquiring unidirectional EPG data, distinguishing types of different data in the EPG data, generating a file according to the data types and formats, and storing the file in an EPG bidirectional data server;

and the single-direction and two-direction EPG data parallel receiving module is used for downloading files from the EPG two-direction data server in a one-way and two-way parallel manner and storing the downloaded data into the buffer.

The invention uses the scheme of bidirectional EPG data reception and compatible unidirectional EPG data reception, utilizes the bidirectional network as the supplement of the unidirectional EPG reception, and the bidirectional network is parallel to the unidirectional network, so that the advantages of the two transmission modes can be complemented. Because the existing bidirectional network is generally used for data transmission of value-added services and is generally in an idle state when a user watches broadcast television, the existing bidirectional network simultaneously utilizes the transmission resources to receive standard EPG data, thereby achieving the purpose of improving the EPG receiving efficiency. Meanwhile, the required EPG data can be received at any time only through bidirectional receiving without the restraint of the current Cable frequency point and the EPG main frequency point, and the receiving efficiency can be improved more obviously for the network environment of the unidirectional single EPG frequency point.

Claims (5)

1. A method for receiving EPG (electronic program guide) in a single-way or two-way manner in parallel for a set-top box is characterized by comprising the following steps:

firstly, front-end EPG data generation:

step S101, acquiring unidirectional EPG data;

step S102, distinguishing different data types in EPG data, including data of different frequency points and data without distinguishing frequency points;

step S103, generating a file according to the data type and the format;

step S104, marking the file name of the generated file and storing the file name in an EPG bidirectional data server;

secondly, receiving the single-direction and two-direction EPG data in parallel:

step S301, initializing a receiving mark, and marking all receiving fields (Section) as 'not received' for judging the received data in the cache;

step S302, a unidirectional EPG data receiving channel and a filter are set according to the filter information of the data to be received, and the filter does not include the information of the data bit of the appointed field Number (Section Number); downloading the same EPG data from an EPG bidirectional data server, wherein the unidirectional downloading is converted to a step S302, and the bidirectional downloading is converted to a step S304;

step S303, when the unidirectional EPG data receiving channel obtains data, judging a receiving mark according to the SectionNumber, if the corresponding receiving mark is 'not received', storing the data into a buffer memory and setting the receiving mark to 'received', and if the corresponding receiving mark is 'received', discarding the data;

step S304, according to the current Section receiving mark, searching a Section marked as 'not received' as a target for bidirectional EPG data receiving;

step S305, generating file names according to the filter information of the data to be received and the Section Number of the target Section, wherein the format of the file names is the same as that of the step S102, and two file names for distinguishing two data types of different frequency points and non-distinguishing frequency points are generated at the same time;

step S306, two files are downloaded from the EPG bidirectional data server at the same time, wherein one file returns success, namely the receiving mark is checked, if the file is still not received, the data is stored in the cache and the receiving mark is set to be received;

step S307, determining whether the data is successfully received, if not, repeating step S303 and steps S304 to S306 until the data is successfully received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: in step S102, the file generation method is to store different Section data at different frequency points as different files, and merge the identical sections at multiple frequency points into a data file without distinguishing frequency points.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: in step S103, the generated file field (Section) is saved in a file of no more than 4096 bytes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein: after the data is completely received successfully, the method also comprises a step S308 of releasing a one-way EPG data receiving channel and a filter; and step S309, checking the verification information of the data in the buffer memory, and handing the data to the application program for processing.

5. An EPG set-top box for uni-directional and bi-directional parallel reception, comprising:

the front-end EPG data generation module is used for acquiring unidirectional EPG data, distinguishing types of different data in the EPG data, generating a file according to the data types and formats, and storing the file in an EPG bidirectional data server;

and the unidirectional and bidirectional parallel EPG data receiving module is used for unidirectional and bidirectional parallel downloading of files from the EPG bidirectional data server and storing the downloaded data in the buffer until the data is completely received successfully.

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