JP4500466B2 - Data broadcasting equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A data broadcasting device that produces and transmits content for data broadcasting in real time, combines data acquired from the outside with a template, generates a composite data and assigns an identifier to the composite data, and transport packet format data It is composed of a data transmission device that repeatedly transmits as broadcast content.
[0003]
In the data broadcasting apparatus, when a failure occurs in the data synthesizing apparatus or the data sending apparatus, the updating and sending of the data broadcasting content is stopped.
[0004]
Conventionally, in order to improve the reliability of a data broadcasting device, by duplicating the data broadcasting device, it is possible to prevent updating of data broadcasting contents and suspension of transmission due to the failure of one of the data broadcasting devices. Data broadcasting device and data sending device are clustered, and even if one of the data synthesizing device and data sending device fails, the data broadcasting content can be updated or stopped by switching to the other device There was technology to prevent.
[0005]
However, when the data broadcasting device is duplicated, the broadcasting stops when a failure occurs in the data synthesizing device of one data broadcasting device and the data sending device of another data broadcasting device. Further, when the data synthesizing apparatus and the data sending apparatus are clustered, there is a problem that the updating and sending of the data broadcasting content is stopped during the cluster switching of the devices.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
It is an object of the present invention to provide a duplex data broadcasting apparatus, and if there is at least one data synthesizing apparatus and one data transmitting apparatus that operate normally when a failure occurs at the same time in the data synthesizing apparatus and the data transmitting apparatus. This is to ensure the transmission of the data broadcast even if it is not a combination of the data synthesizing apparatus and the data transmitting apparatus of the same system.
[0007]
Moreover, if the present invention is used, it is not necessary to perform clustering of devices, so that there is no time for updating or transmitting data broadcasting contents due to cluster switching of devices.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve this problem, the present invention comprises two data synthesizing devices, two data sending devices, and selection means, and is duplicated by the two data synthesizing devices and the two data sending devices, A broadcasting device for producing data broadcasting content in real time by the data synthesizing device , and transmitting and selecting from the data sending device , wherein each data synthesizing device includes information acquisition means for acquiring data, data broadcasting A template storage unit for storing a template in which information that does not change in content is described in a specific format, and a template read from the template storage unit and the data acquired by the information acquisition unit are combined and converted into a broadcast format. Data generating means and data generated by the data generating means for the two data transmission devices A data distribution means for distributing to each data transmission device includes a transmission data storage unit for storing transmission data, receiving the data from the data distribution means of the two data synthesizer, received data among compared with data of the data distribution means of the data synthesizer which is not failed information transmission data which the transmission data storage means stores, to discard the data received if they match, if match a data comparison unit for instructing the write to the transmit data storage means, if there is a write instruction from the data comparator, the transmission data write means for writing the received data to the transmitting data storage means, sends the transmitting data storage means comprising a transmission data reading means for repeatedly reading the data, the data transmission means for transmitting the read data, said selection means, Selects one of the output of the serial two data transmission device, since if an error occurs in the data delivery device that has been selected and wherein the switching the data delivery device selected, the need to cluster the equipment In addition, if there is at least one data synthesizer and one data sending device that operate normally, even if it is not a combination of the same data synthesizer and data sending device, the data broadcasting program can be updated and sent. Can be secured.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a broadcasting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a digital broadcasting system according to the present invention. The digital broadcasting system 300 includes an information providing unit 301, a data synthesis device A302, a data transmission device A303, a data synthesis device B304, a data transmission device B305, a TS switcher 306, a video transmission unit 307, an audio transmission unit 308, and a multiplexing unit 309. Including.
[0011]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the data synthesizing device A302 and the data sending device A303 in the digital broadcasting system according to the present invention. The data transmission apparatus A302 includes an information acquisition unit 401, a template holding unit 402, a data generation unit 403, and a data distribution unit 404. The data transmission device A303 includes a data comparison unit 405, a transmission data holding unit 406, a transmission data writing unit 407, a transmission data reading unit 408, and a data transmission unit 409. Is broadcast on a digital broadcast wave.
[0012]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a normal TV program and a data broadcast program which is an example of a data broadcast generated in this embodiment. As the digital broadcast system 300 repeatedly multiplexes and transmits the video stream 102, the audio stream (not shown), and the data broadcast content, the user uses the data broadcast receiver as shown in the image stream 101. Data broadcasts can be viewed while watching TV program images.
[0013]
For example, in an ordinary TV program, only the image stream 101 and the audio stream that are continuous scenes as shown in the scene 115, the scene 116, and the scene 117 are viewed, but in the scene 103 in FIG. , "Night news" is displayed.
[0014]
The details of news are information that changes in real time as time passes. The digital broadcasting system 300 transmits the information of the portion where the details of the news change in the data broadcasting content while updating it to the latest content in real time. As a result, the viewer can always refer to the latest news information.
[0015]
For example, when new news is generated while the user is displaying the scene 103, the content of the news is automatically updated as shown in the scene 104.
[0016]
The above is an overview of the services implemented in the digital broadcasting system. Hereinafter, the configuration of the digital broadcasting system will be described in detail.
[0017]
FIG. 4 shows an example of update data sent from the information providing unit 301 to the information acquiring unit 401.
[0018]
FIG. 5 shows an example of a template held in the template holding unit 402.
[0019]
When receiving the update data 500 from the information providing unit 301, the information acquisition unit 401 transmits the received update data 500 to the data generation unit 403. The data generation unit 403 reads out the skeleton 501 and the replacement list 502 as templates, combines them with the update data 500, and converts them into one or a plurality of private sections defined by the MPEG2 system standard.
[0020]
An example of a method for combining the template and the update data 500 is shown below.
[0021]
When the information acquisition unit 401 receives the update data 500, the data generation unit 403 reads the skeleton 501 and the replacement list 502 that are templates. Then, the following processing is repeated for the number of <Element> tags in the <List> tag of the replacement list 502.
[0022]
<Element> has one <id> and one <Key> tag.
[0023]
First, for the <Key> tag of the update data 500 having the same character string as the content of the <Key> tag element in the replacement list 502, the <value> tag included in the same <Item> tag as the <Key> tag described above Read the contents of the element.
[0024]
Thereafter, a tag having the same “id” as the element of the <id> tag in the replacement list 502 is searched from the skeleton document 501, and the content of the element of the tag is replaced with the content of the element of the <value> tag read earlier.
[0025]
For example, for the first <Element> in the replacement list 502, the <Key> tag of the update data 500 having the same character string as the element of the <Key> tag, that is, the character string “data1” is searched. Since it is equal to the <Key> tag of the first <Item> tag of the update data 500, the element of the <value> tag included in the <Item> tag, that is, “emergency news” is read.
[0026]
After that, a tag having the same id as the element “title” of the <id> tag is searched from the skeleton document 501, and the element “emergency news” of the <value> tag read earlier is searched for “title” which is the element of the tag. replace.
[0027]
By repeating the above process by the number of <Element> tags in the <List> tag of the replacement list 502, the template and the update data 500 are synthesized.
[0028]
Note that a method for synthesizing a plurality of data described in a specific format is generally known, and the synthesizing method is not the main point of the present invention. Therefore, description of synthesizing methods other than those described above is omitted. .
[0029]
The combined data 600 in FIG. 6 is an image diagram of the combined data when the update data 500 and the skeleton document 501 are combined using the replacement list 502. Actual composite data is converted into one or more private sections defined by the MPEG2 system standard. The format of the private section and the conversion method to the private section are generally known, and will not be described because it is not the main point of the present invention.
The data distributor 404 sends the composite data 600 to the data comparison unit 405 of the data transmission device A303 and the data comparison unit 405 of the data transmission device B305.
Since the operations of the data transmission device A303 and the data transmission device B305 are the same, the description will be given here focusing on the data transmission device A303.
When the data comparison unit 405 receives the composite data 600 from either the data distribution unit 404 or the data distribution unit 410, the data comparison unit 405 compares the composite data 600 with the data broadcasting content held in the transmission data holding unit. If they match, the composite data 600 is discarded, and if they do not match, the composite data 600 is sent to the send data writing unit 407.
Here, the details of the operation of the data comparison unit 405 which is the point of the present invention will be described.
[0030]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating details of the data comparison unit.
The data comparison unit waits for reception of the composite data from the data distribution unit 404 (S701), determines whether the composite data has been received (S702), and if the composite data has been received, it is stored in the transmission data storage unit 406. The transport packet is read (S703), and the composite data and the data of the transport packet are compared (S704). If the composite data has not been received, the process returns to the composite data reception wait (S701) again.
[0031]
Here, the composite data is in a private section format defined by the MPEG2 system standard, and the transport packet is data in which the private section is divided into packets of 184 bytes and 4-byte header information is added to each packet. . Therefore, in order to compare the synthesized data and the transport packet, it is only necessary to compare the data obtained by removing the header from each packet of the transport packet and the synthesized data.
[0032]
It is determined whether or not the combined data and transport packet data match (S705). If they match, the combined data is discarded (S706), and the process returns to the composite data reception wait (S701). The data is sent to the data writing unit (S707), and the process returns to the composite data reception wait (S701).
[0033]
By the way, in this embodiment, the information providing unit 301 distributes update data to the data synthesizer A302 and the data synthesizer B. Therefore, in an environment where the data synthesizer A302 and the data synthesizer B are operating normally, the data comparing unit In step 405, the same composite data 600 is received from the data distribution unit 404 of the data composition device A302 and the data distribution unit of the data composition device B. In the above description, the data comparison unit 405 is configured to perform the same operation regardless of which data distribution unit receives the received composite data 600. However, the data comparison unit 405 may be configured as follows. .
[0034]
When normal, the data comparison unit 405 obtains data from the data distribution unit 404 preferentially, and when an illegal packet alarm occurs in the received packet, or the information acquisition unit 401, data generation unit 403, template holding unit 402, When failure information of any device in the data distribution unit 404 occurs, switching to data acquisition from the data distribution unit 410 is performed. Similarly, with respect to the data comparison unit of the data transmission device B, data from the data distribution unit 410 of the data synthesis device B is preferentially acquired, and there is a possibility of some failure in the data synthesis device B system. Switch to the received data from A system.
[0035]
With the configuration as described above, even if an abnormality occurs in one of the data synthesizing apparatuses, the supply of the synthesized data 600 to the data sending apparatus is not stopped, so that the update of the data broadcast program can be prevented from being stopped.
In addition, the data comparison unit 405 discards the composite data having the same content, and discards it by giving a different version number to the data broadcast content having the same content, and the data broadcast receiver detects an unnecessary version upgrade. And redrawing can be prevented.
[0036]
Upon receiving the composite data 600, the transmission data writing unit 407 converts one or a plurality of private sections defined by the MPEG2 system standard into transport packets and writes them in the transmission data holding unit 406.
[0037]
The transmission data holding unit 406 is configured by a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk, and stores data broadcasting content in a transport packet format generated by the transmission data writing unit 407, a version number table, and PID information.
[0038]
PID is a unique identifier for each channel.
[0039]
The version number is a number assigned to the transport packet by the data transmission apparatus A303 in units of modules so that the data broadcast receiver can identify that the content of the data broadcast content has been updated. Here, the module is a division unit for dividing and storing the transport packet in the data broadcast receiver.
[0040]
The transmission data holding unit 406 increases the value of the version number assigned to the module of the transport packet by 1 each time the transport packet is updated. However, when the value of the version number exceeds a predetermined maximum value, it is reset to 1. When the data broadcast receiver receives a module having a version number different from the version number of the held module, the data broadcast receiver automatically discards the held module and acquires a new module. Therefore, if the content of the data broadcast content transmitted from the data transmission device A303 is updated, the content of the data broadcast content displayed on the data broadcast receiver is also automatically updated.
[0041]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an image of the private section 801 that is the composite data 500.
The private section 801 has information such as a module number (module_id) and a version number (version_number) as header information.
Here, the module number (module_id) is an ID for identifying a module.
Since the version number is assigned by the transmission data reading unit 408, 0 is entered as a temporary value here.
[0042]
The transport packet 900 of FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an image when the private section 801 is converted into the transport packet format. The transport packet 900 is composed of a plurality of packets including the packet 901.
The transport packet header includes various information for restoring the PID and the transport packet into a private section format. Since the PID is assigned by the transmission data reading unit 408, 0 is entered as a temporary value here.
When the transmission data holding unit 406 receives a new transport packet from the transmission data writing unit 407, the transmission data holding unit 406 discards the transport packet held so far and stores the new transport packet. The version number of the version number table corresponding to the module number of the module included in is increased by one.
[0043]
The version number table 1000 in FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an image of the version number table stored in the transmission data writing unit 407. When receiving the transport packet 900, the transmission data writing unit 407 increments the value of the version number (version_number) in the version number table 1000 by 1 for the module number (module_id) of the module included in the transport packet 900. Since the transport packet 900 includes a module whose module_id is 0, the version number table is updated like the version number table 1001.
[0044]
The transmission data reading unit 408 repeatedly reads the transport packet 900, the version number table 1001, and the PID information held by the transmission data holding unit 406, and transmits the version number and PID information of the read transport packet 900 to the transmission data holding unit. The transmission transport stream 1100 is generated by rewriting the version number and the PID information in the version number table 1001 read from 406, and transmitted to the data transmission unit 409.
[0045]
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an image of a transmission transport packet 1100 generated from the transport packet 900.
[0046]
Since the version number table 1001 read from the transmission data holding unit 406 is instructed to assign a version number of “0x01” to the module of the module number 0, the version_number of the packet 1101 of the transmission transport packet 1100 is “ The value “0x01” is entered. Similarly, based on the PID information (not shown) read from the transmission data holding unit 406, the PID of the packet 1101 contains a value “0x1000”.
[0047]
The data transmission unit 409 transmits the transmission transport stream 1100 transmitted from the transmission data reading unit 406 to the TS switcher 306.
The TS switcher 306 selects one from a plurality of data transmission apparatuses and transmits the transmission transport stream received from the selected data transmission apparatus to the multiplexing unit 309. The data transmission device to be selected includes a method of switching manually from an operation console or the like, and a method of a TS switcher constantly monitoring a plurality of data transmission devices, detecting an abnormality of the data transmission device, and switching automatically. Since the detailed implementation method is not the main point of the present invention, the description is omitted.
By the way, in this embodiment, since the data synthesizing apparatus A302 and the data synthesizing apparatus B304 transmit the composite data 600 to the data transmitting apparatus A303 and the data transmitting apparatus B305, the data transmitting apparatus A303 and the data transmitting apparatus B305 operate normally. In such an environment, the TS switcher 306 receives the same transmission transport stream from the data transmission apparatus A 303 and the data transmission apparatus B 305.
When the same transmission transport stream is always received from a plurality of data transmission apparatuses and an abnormality occurs in the selected data transmission apparatus, the selected data transmission apparatus is switched by the TS switcher 306.
Thereby, even if an abnormality occurs in one of the data transmission apparatuses, it is possible to prevent the transmission of the data broadcast program from being stopped.
[0048]
The video transmission unit 307 transmits the video of the TV program. A stream 102 in FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a video transmitted from the video transmission unit. The details of the video transmission method are generally known in MPEG2 video and the like, and are not the main point of the present invention, and therefore will be omitted.
The audio transmission unit 308 transmits the audio of the TV program.
The details of the audio transmission method are generally known in MPEG2 audio and the like, and are not the main point of the present invention, and therefore will be omitted.
The multiplexing unit 309 multiplexes the transmission data transmitted from the TS switcher 306, the video transmission unit 307, and the audio transmission unit 308 into the MPEG2 transport stream based on the method defined by the MPEG2 system standard, and generates the generated transport stream The details of the multiplex transmission method for broadcasting data on a digital broadcast wave are generally known in the MPEG2 system and the like, and are not the main point of the present invention, and therefore will be omitted.
[0049]
A scene 104 in FIG. 3 is a display content when the composite data 600 is converted into a transport packet format and a digital broadcast transmitted by multiplexing with video and audio is reproduced by a data broadcast receiver.
[0050]
In this manner, the data broadcast program in which the scene 103 in FIG. 3 is broadcast receives the update data 500 from the information providing unit 301, and automatically generates and transmits new data broadcast content. Broadcast receivers can always view the latest information.
[0051]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
[0052]
In a duplicated data broadcasting device, if a failure occurs at the same time in the data synthesis device and the data transmission device, if there is at least one data synthesis device and one data transmission device that operate normally, even if that is the same system data synthesis Even if it is not a combination of a device and a data transmission device, the update and transmission of the data broadcast program can be ensured.
[0053]
In addition, since there is no need to cluster devices, there is no waiting time during cluster switching.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information providing unit and a data broadcasting device of a digital broadcasting system in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of a data generation device and a data transmission device that are components of the data broadcasting device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data broadcast program reproduced by the data broadcast receiver. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of update data sent from the information providing unit to the information acquiring unit. FIG. 5 is a template held in the template holding unit. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of composite data obtained by combining a template and update data. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating details of the data comparison unit. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a private section. FIG. 9 shows an example of an image of a transport packet. FIG. 10 shows an example of an image of a version number table. It illustrates an example of an image of a transport packet EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
300 Digital Broadcasting System 301 Information Providing Unit 302 Data Synthesizer A
303 Data sending device A
304 Data synthesizer B
305 Data sending device B
306 TS switcher 307 Video transmission unit 308 Audio transmission unit 309 Multiplexing unit 401 Information acquisition unit 402 Template holding unit 403 Data generation unit 404, 410 Data distribution unit 405 Data comparison unit 406 Transmission data holding unit 407 Transmission data writing unit 408 Transmission data Reading unit 409 Data transmission unit

Claims (1)

Two data synthesizing apparatuses, two data transmitting apparatuses and selection means are provided, and are duplicated by the two data synthesizing apparatuses and the two data transmitting apparatuses, and data broadcasting contents are real-time by the data synthesizing apparatus. A broadcasting device that produces and selects from the data sending device ,
Each data synthesizer
Information acquisition means for acquiring data;
Template storage means for storing a template in which information that does not change among the contents for data broadcasting is described in a specific format;
Data generation means for combining the data acquired by the information acquisition means and the template read from the template storage means and converting it to a broadcast format;
Data distribution means for distributing the data generated by the data generation means to the two data transmission devices ;
Each data sending device
Transmission data storage means for storing transmission data;
Receiving the data from each data distribution means of the two data synthesizers;
Comparing the transmission data data and the transmission data storage means of the data distributing means of the data synthesizer which is not failed information in the received data is stored,
If they match , discard the received data .
A data comparison unit for instructing the write to the transmit data storage means to be matched,
If there is a write instruction from the data comparator, the transmission data write means for writing the received data to the transmitting data storage means,
Transmission data reading means for repeatedly reading transmission data from the transmission data storage means;
A data transmission means for transmitting the read data ;
The data broadcasting device characterized in that the selection means selects one of the outputs of the two data transmission devices and switches the selected data transmission device when an abnormality occurs in the selected data transmission device. .

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