Interactive video distribution systems – Video distribution system with local interaction – Receiver
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-11
2001-04-24
Miller, John W. (Department: 2611)
Interactive video distribution systems
Video distribution system with local interaction
Receiver
C725S140000, C725S142000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223347
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data display control apparatus, a data transmission apparatus, and a data display control information editing apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a data display control apparatus for controlling the display of a plurality of sets of multimedia data which are linked to one another, a data transmission apparatus for transmitting information controls the display of multimedia data, and to a data display control information editing apparatus for editing information used to control the display of multimedia data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since the development of digital satellite broadcasting in recent years, there has been a great increase in the number of programs being provided on an ever greater number of channels. For digital satellite broadcasting, large numbers of channels are possible by multiplexing the channels together into a single frequency band. This multiplexing is performed using what is called a “transport stream” under MPEG2 (Moving Pictures Experts Group2) standard. This technique is described in detail in the documentation for ISO/IEC Standard 13818-1 (MPEG2) system standard).
Here, it is possible to conceive a digital broadcasting system where image information and the like are transmitted from a transmission station and received by a receiver terminals, with users of the receiver terminals making interactive operations for the image information in accordance with the content of the transmitted image information.
The above kind of digital broadcasting system is disclosed by a concurrent patent application with the title “Digital Broadcasting System, Digital Broadcasting Apparatus, and Receiver Apparatus for a Digital Broadcast” (Japanese Patent Application No. H9-62216). The characteristic feature of this digital broadcasting system is that it provides a variety of interactive services using only a one-way transfer of data. The system is described in more detail below.
The construction of the digital broadcasting system which is presupposed for the present invention is shown in FIG.
1
. This digital broadcasting system is composed of a data transmission apparatus
101
and a plurality of data reception apparatuses
121
.
Data Transmission Apparatus
101
The data transmission apparatus
101
is constructed to multiplex data for a plurality of contents, which feature hyperlinks to one another, into an MPEG2 transport stream and to repeatedly transmit the multiplexed data. This data transmission apparatus
101
is composed of a transmission data storage unit
102
, and data multiplexing unit
103
, a multiplexing information storage unit
104
, a system information table generating unit
105
, and a transmission unit
106
. Here, the term “content” is used to express the unit of information for which interactive operations can be performed by the user.
The transmission data storage unit
102
is composed of a recording medium such as a magnetic disc, and stores data for a plurality of contents which compose one interactive program, and construction information. This transmission data storage unit
102
includes a presentation information storage unit
107
, a navigation information storage unit
108
, and a construction information storage unit
109
. Here, an “interactive program” refers to an “event” or “program” which is included in the MPEG2 transport stream used as the transmission data.
The presentation information storage unit
107
stores presentation information, such as image data and audio data, which is included in each content. The navigation information storage unit
108
stores the navigation information which is composed of hyperlink information for links to other contents, operation control information such as scripts for switching the display, and supplementary display images for displaying menus and the like on a display screen. The construction information storage unit
109
, meanwhile, stores a construction information table which shows the correspondence between sets of image data and navigation information.
The multiplexing information storage unit
104
stores a multiplexing information table including identifiers and assigning information for resources such as bandwidth for multiplexing the transmission data stored in the transmission data storage unit
102
into an MPEG2 transport stream.
This multiplexing information table includes packet identifiers (PID) which are assigned to the components that compose each event, when the data stored in the transmission data storage unit
102
is multiplexed into the MPEG2 transport stream as an event.
The components referred to here are streams which are each identified by a PID under IS/IEC 13010-1 (hereinafter, MPEG2 system) standard, with there being video components, audio components, components for multiplexing navigation information, and components for multiplexing stream correspondence information (described later in this specification).
The data multiplexing unit
103
is composed of a multiplexing control unit
110
made up of a CPU and memory, a stream correspondence information table generating unit
111
, an identifier information appending unit
112
, a navigation information table generating unit
113
, and a multiplexing unit
114
.
On being activated by the transmission unit
106
, the multiplexing control unit
110
first reads the construction information table and the multiplexing information table stored in the construction information storage unit
109
and the multiplexing information storage unit
104
, and assigns identifiers for uniquely identifying each content in the digital broadcast for each content number, in doing so generating a content identifier assigning table. After this, the multiplexing control unit
110
assigns values of a “PID”, “component_tag”, and “stream_id” to each set of image data and generates a display image information identifier assigning table. The multiplexing control unit
110
also instructs the stream correspondence information table generating unit
111
to generate a stream correspondence table, instructs the identifier information appending unit
112
to add the identifier VE
id
for image data (video element “VE”) to the private area of the image data, and instructs the navigation information table generating unit
113
to generate the navigation information table for the navigation elements “NE”.
On being instructed by the multiplexing control unit
110
to add the identifier information, the identifier information appending unit
112
reads the image data stored in the presentation information storage unit
107
. The identifier information appending unit
112
then writes the image data identifier VE_id into the private area of the image data bit stream it has read. It should be noted here that the identifier information appending unit
112
obtains the VE_id by referring to the display image information identifier assigning table generated by the multiplexing control unit
110
. The identifier information appending unit
112
then assigns a filename to the image data bitstream with the added VE_id information and stores it in a storage area (not illustrated). After appending identifier information to all of the image data, the identifier information appending unit
112
informs the multiplexing control unit
110
of the completion or the appending operation.
On being instructed by the multiplexing control unit
110
to generate a navigation information table, the navigation information table generating unit
113
reads the navigation information stored in the navigation information storage unit
108
. When the read navigation information includes hyperlink information, the navigation information table generating unit
113
refers to the content identifier assigning table for information regarding the link destination given as a content number and converts this content number into a variety of identifiers to generate a navigation information table. When no hyperlink information is included, the navigation information
Hirai Junichi
Kakiuchi Takashi
Kozuka Masayuki
Kusumi Yuki
Mimura Yoshihiro
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Miller John W.
Price and Gess
LandOfFree
Data display control apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Data display control apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Data display control apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2482882