Television – Basic receiver with additional function – Multimode
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-20
2004-03-23
Hsia, Sherrie (Department: 2614)
Television
Basic receiver with additional function
Multimode
C348S725000, C348S731000, C348S738000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06710816
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver and a method for receiving and outputting digital broadcasts, and more particularly, relates to a receiver and a method for outputting appropriate signals (sound, image) during a waiting time in changing of channels, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital broadcasting is expected to provide various advantages such as higher signal quality and more channels compared with conventional analog broadcasts. In the present specification, digital broadcasting for mobile stations will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to the broadcast for mobile stations.
In a digital broadcast, processes such as error correction and data decoding are performed on received signals, and then the received signals are output to users. Accordingly, the received signals cannot be output immediately after a receiver is turned on. In addition, the received signals cannot be output immediately after changing-over of receiving channels. As used in the present specification, the period from the switching-on of a power source or the changing of channels until outputting received signals is called a “waiting time.”
As described above, a conventional receiver cannot output the receiving signal until the waiting time has elapsed. Accordingly, for example, for digital radio, resulting in a period of silence. Therefore, there is such a possibility that a user is anxious whether or not operation of apparatuses are normal, or whether or not reception of signals is normal. In addition, there is a possibility that a user may mistakenly assume that there is no programming on the present channel. Even when there is no such misunderstanding, this waiting time may cause discomfort or annoyance to users.
Further, this waiting time is wasted time for users and could be compounded if, for example, the broadcast content finally output after the lapse of the waiting time is not interesting to the user. In such a case, the user must change over the channels again, and must spend the waiting time again. Sometimes, a scanning operation for searching a required channel is manually or automatically carried out by successively changing channels. In such an operation, a waiting time is generated whenever a channel is changed. Therefore, annoyance to the user is intensified.
The waiting time described above is longer in a digital broadcast for mobile stations than that in a digital broadcast for stationary receiving stations, as will be described later. In a digital broadcast, an interleave is generally adopted to cope with burst error generation. In the interleave, a data array is appropriately rearranged in a transmitter side, and is returned to the original array in a receiver side. Thus, errors in the data can be dispersed, and concentrated error generation in the data can be prevented.
When the interleave is adopted, a receiver side cannot output the received signal until the data necessary for returning the data array are collected. In a digital broadcast for mobile stations, rearranging of the data in a wide range is carried out taking into consideration multipass fading and signal interruption due to large obstructions. Therefore, it takes a relatively long time to collect the data necessary for rearranging the data array. As a result, the waiting time becomes longer, and amounts to, for example, several seconds. Because the waiting time is longer in a broadcast for mobile stations, problems due to the waiting time described above are even more pronounced in a broadcast received by a moving body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the problems described above, and its object is to provide a digital broadcast receiver and a method for receiving a digital broadcast and outputting the content of the broadcast without problems, such as user discomfort caused by the waiting time until a start of output of the received signal, described above.
A digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention is characterized in that the receiver comprises waiting time signal outputting means for outputting a predetermined signal during a waiting time from the selection of a receiving channel until the output of the received signal on the selected receiving channel.
This digital broadcast receiver of the present invention can allow the user to recognize that the receiver is normally working by outputting a predetermined signal during the waiting time, and that the selected channel is on the air, and the broadcast has not stopped. In addition, the first digital broadcast receiver can reduce user discomfort due to no output. Though digital broadcasts are applicable to a broadcast for sound or a broadcast for image and sound, the present invention is not limited to such broadcasts, and are applicable to any digital broadcast.
In this digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention, the selection of the receiving channel described above may be determined so as to be the selection by the switching-on of a power source. If such a method is adopted, the predetermined signal can be output during the waiting time caused by the switching-on of a power source. As a result, it is possible for a user to recognize that the receiver is normally working, when a power source switch is switched on.
In addition, in this digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention, the predetermined signal may be an intermittent sound signal in which the interval of the intermittence varies according to the elapse of time, or an intermittent signal in which the interval of the intermittence is shortened as the time elapses. With either of these methods, a user can recognize the elapse of time, and can also be reassured that the end of the waiting time is approaching.
A second aspect of the digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention is characterized in that this receiver comprises selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of channels, a first channel receiving unit for receiving the selected channel, signal outputting means for outputting the received signal on the received channel, second channel receiving means for receiving channels which include at least one of unselected channels other than the channels selected by said selecting means, signal storage means for storing the signal received by the second channel receiving means, and waiting time output control means for controlling the signal outputting means so that the received signal stored in said signal storage means is output from said signal outputting means until the preparation for outputting the received signal in the unselected channels from said signal outputting means has been completed, when said selecting means has selected other channels different from said selected channels.
In the digital broadcast receiver according to a second aspect of the present invention, the first channel receiving unit receives the channel selected by the selecting means from a plurality of channels, and the signal outputting means outputs the received signal on the received channel. The second channel receiving means receives channels which include at least one of unselected channels other than the channels selected by the selecting means, and the signal storage means stores the received signal of the channel received by the second channel receiving means. When other channel has been selected by the selecting means, the waiting time output control means controls the signal outputting means so that the received signal stored in the signal storage means is output from the signal outputting means until the preparation for outputting the received signal of this other channel from the signal outputting means has been completed. In other words, the received signal stored in the signal storage means is output during the waiting time produced after the selection of other channel. By this method, a user can recognize that the receiver is properly working. In addition, the user can recognize that the other
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Hsia Sherrie
LandOfFree
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