WO2007078070A1

WO2007078070A1 - Method for the efficient realization of services requiring large sized application

Info

Publication number: WO2007078070A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/005561
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sangsu Kim
Original assignee: Alticast Corp
Current assignee: Alticast Corp
Priority date: 2005-12-30
Filing date: 2006-12-19
Publication date: 2007-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 2008-06-30
Also published as: KR100741010B1; KR20070071396A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for the efficient realization of the service requiring a large sized application, more particularly, to a method for the efficient realization of a service that requires a large sized application such that the application can not delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data. The method comprises the steps of: separately transmitting the application required for the realization of the service through a first channel and one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof required for the realization of the service through at least one second channel via a broadcasting network; and realizing the service at a user set top box connected to the broadcasting network by cooperative operation of the application delivered through the first channel with the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered through the second channel, wherein the application provided through the first channel is set to tune to the second channel and the application delivered through the first channel is flagged as a channel unbound application within an application information table of the second channel. This method can be applicable to various services that require a large sized application while ensuring the reasonable utilization of resources.

Description

METHOD FOR THE EFFICIENT REALIZATION OF SERVICES REQUIRING LARGE SIZED APPLICATION

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a method for the efficient realization of the service requiring a large sized application. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for the efficient realization of a service that requires a large sized application such that the application can not delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data. Background Art

[2] With the rapid progress in the standardization of digital broadcasting, technical developments are in progress in the fields of digital signal transmission via a broadcasting network, data multiplexing, video and audio signal processing, digital television display, etc. Digital broadcasting is believed to replace the existing analog broadcasting in near future. Compared with the analog broadcasting, the digital broadcasting provides various advantages: compact data compression; enhanced transmission speed; and improved audio and video quality. One of the most important advantages is that the digital broadcasting provides interactive services.

[3] However, differently from the data transfer through the internet, the digital broadcasting is somewhat restricted due to the limited bandwidth. For example, if a certain broadcasting service requires an application having a size of about 2 M or larger, it is impossible to provide the application together with audio, video and/or data required for the service through one channel. For this reason, in order to realize a service requiring a large sized application, the digital broadcasting requires special techniques. It is not an easy to expand the bandwidth assigned to realize the service. Further, the use of a large sized application as an unbound application is not practical due to the limit of the resource (flash memory capacity) of the set top box. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[4] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for the efficient realization of a service that requires a large sized application such that the application used for the construction of the service can not delivered through one channel together with the audio, video and/or data of the services. Technical Solution

[5] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for the efficient realization of a service requiring a large sized application such that the ap- plication required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data of the service, which comprises the steps of: separately transmitting the application required for the realization of the service through a first channel and one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof required for the realization of the service through at least one second channel (or target channel) via a broadcasting network in a broadcasting transmission system; and realizing the service at a user set top box connected to the broadcasting network by cooperative operation of the application delivered through the first channel with the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered through the second channel, wherein the application provided through the first channel is set to tune to the second channel and the application delivered through the first channel is flagged as a channel unbound application within an application information table (AIT) of the second channel.

[6] In a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for the efficient realization of a service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data of the service which comprises the steps of: a) separately transmitting the application required for the realization of the service through a first channel and transmitting one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof required for the realization of the service through at least one second channel, wherein the first and second channels are set as a service domain and the application required for the realization of the service is set to automatically tune to the second channel; b) transmitting an application information table (AIT) of the second channel within which the application required for the realization of the service is flagged as a channel unbound application; c) in response to selection of the service from a user, moving to the first channel in order to download the application required for the realization of the service at the user set top box; d) with execution of the application, tuning to the second channel through which the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof required for the realization of the service is provided; and e) realizing the service on the user screen by cooperative operation of the application delivered through the first channel with the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered through the second channel.

[7] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is a method for the efficient realization of a service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data of the service, wherein the application delivered through the first channel is an autostart application.

[8] In still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for the efficient realization of a service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data of the service, further comprising checking if the second channel belongs to a channel list of limited access prior to tuning to the second channel of the step d).

[9] In yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for the efficient realization of a service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data of the service, wherein the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof is delivered through two or more second channels and checking if the second channels belong to a channel list of limited access is carried out in sequence.

Advantageous Effects

[10] In accordance with the present invention, the service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the services can not delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data required for the realization of the service can be effectively realized. Specifically, the service can be efficiently realized throughout the cooperative action of two or more channels. Although the application delivered through the first channel is intrinsically a bound application, it acts as an unbound application for the channels belonging to the second channel. And, by setting the application to tune to the second channel, the service requiring a large sized application is realized by cooperative operation of the application provided through the first channel with the audio, video and/or data provided through the second channel. When the user uses any other services, the application is not provided at all. For example, if the user selects the channel other than the first channel, the application is not delivered to the user set top box. Even though the user might select the second channel without using the service, the application is not provided, either. Accordingly, the method in accordance with the present invention ensures a reasonable utilization of the resource while satisfying the needs of the user. The method in accordance with the present invention further comprises the step of checking if the second channel belongs to a channel list of limited access. This provides applicability to various user environments. Brief Description of the Drawings

[11] Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a preferred embodiment of the service realization method in accordance with the present invention.

[12] Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a more preferred embodiment of the service realization method in accordance with the present invention. Mode for the Invention

[13] In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for the efficient realization of a service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the service can not delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data of the service. The application required for the realization of the service and one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof required by the application are transmitted through independent channels, which are set as service domain. Specifically, the application required for the realization of the service is delivered through a first channel and the audio, video or data is delivered through a second channel. The first channel and the second channel are set as service domain. For example, the first channel may be channel 100 and the second channel may be channel 200. The second channel can be set variously by a broadcasting service provider, provided that the second channel is not identical to the first channel. Two or more channels can be set as the second channel. In case there are two or more second channels, priorities are assigned to each of the second channels within the application delivered through the first channel. For example, if channels 200, 210 and 220 are set as the second channel, priority 1 may be given to channel 200, priority 2 to channel 210 and priority 3 to channel 220.

[14] According to the present invention, the application required for the realization of the service is intrinsically a bound application. In digital broadcasting environment, a service requires an application in combination with one selected from the group consisting of an audio, a video, a data (supplementary data for audio and video, for example, program title, leading actor, director, etc.) and a composite thereof. When a user selects a certain service, an application and the one selected from the group of an audio, a video, a data and a composite thereof are provided through a channel coupled to the service to realize the selected service. A change from a service "A" to a service "B" means the change from the audio "a", the video "a", the data "a" and the application "a" required for the realization of the service "A" to the audio "b", the video "b", the data "b" and the application "b" required for the realization of the service "B". Usually, the application "a" required for the realization of the service "A" is destroyed (or killed) under the control of middleware. Such an application that is dependent upon the service is called as a bound application. That is, a bound application is destroyed if the user moves to a different service. In contrast, an application that continues to run separately of the change of services is called as an unbound application. An example of the unbound application is the electronic program guide application ("EPG application"). However, it is undesirable to provide all applications in a form of the unbound application because the unbound application occupies a large portion of the resource (flash memory) of the set top box. The application employed in the present invention is intrinsically a bound application. When the service is selected, the application is delivered to the user set top box through the channel through which the service is provided. The application is destroyed if the user selects other services.

[15] In accordance with the present invention, the application acts as an unbound application only to the second channel that is set as a service domain. For this purpose, the application is flagged as an unbound application within an application information table ("AIT") of the second channel. Accordingly, for the realization of the service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/ or data of the service, the application required for the realization of the service is set as an unbound application only for a predetermined channel. In this description, such an application is called as a channel unbound application. That is, the application used for the service in accordance with the present invention acts as an unbound application only for the second channel. When the user selects the service, the application is delivered to the user set top box through the channel by which the service is provided. The application continues to run on the second channel that is set as a service domain, but is destroyed on channels other than the second channel.

[16] In order to realize the service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data of the service, the application used for the service is set to automatically tune to the second channel. Specifically, in response to the selection of the service from the user, tuning to the first channel by which the service is provided takes place and the application is delivered to the user set top box through the first channel. When the transmission of the application through the first channel is completed, the application is executed under the control of the middleware. With the execution of the application, automatic tuning to the second channel that is set as service domain is made, and through the second channel, the audio, the video, the data or the composite thereof required for the realization of the service is delivered. The application continues to be executed since the application is flagged as an unbound application in the application information table of the second channel. Thus, the service is provided to the user through the cooperative operation of the application delivered through the first channel and the audio, the video and/or the data delivered through the second channel. If the user moves to a channel other than the second channel, the application acts as a bound application and consequently destroys. Ac- cordingly, the application is destroyed if the user wants to utilize a different service. This ensures a reasonable utilization of resources while satisfying the needs of the user. Further, the application is delivered to the user set top box only when the service realized by the application is selected, because it is intrinsically a bound application. Therefore, the application is not resident in the user set top box, if the user selects other services. The application is delivered only through the first channel such that direct selection to the second channel does not provide the application. This also ensures a reasonable utilization of the resources.

[17] For the efficient realization of the service, the application is preferably an autostart application. "Autostart application" means that the application is started without user interaction immediately as soon as the user selects the service realized by the application. Control code opposite to the autostart" is "present", which means that the application will not be started without user interaction. In the present invention, it is preferable that the application is an autostart application since it has a large size and the service requires cooperative operation of the application with the audio, video or data that is delivered through the second channel.

[18] Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a preferred embodiment of the service realization method in accordance with the present invention. As illustrated in Fig. 1, in order to realize the service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video and/or data of the service, the application required for the realization of the service is delivered through the first channel and the audio, the video and/or the data required for the realization of the service is delivered through the second channel (SlOl). The application delivered through the first channel has a function for automatically tuning to the second channel. And, as aforementioned, the application delivered through the first channel is signaled as an autostart application. Further, the application delivered through the first channel is flagged as a channel unbound application in the application information table (AIT) of the second channel (SlOl). When the user selects the service (S 102), channel change to the first channel occurs in response to the selection (S 103). And, the application required for the realization of the service is delivered to the user set top box through the first channel (S 104). When the transfer of the application has been completed, the application is automatically started (S 105) and then with the execution of the application, the tuning to the second channel occurs (S 106). Then, the audio, the video and/or the data is delivered through the second channel (S 107). Although the application delivered through the first channel is a bound application, it continues to execute even after tuning to the second channel because is flagged as an unbound application in the application information table of the second channel. Consequently, the service is realized on the user screen by cooperative combination of the application delivered through the first channel with the one selected from the group consisting of the audio, the video, the data and a composite thereof delivered through the second channel (S 108). If a signal to stop the utilization of the service is received from the user (through moving to another channel or power off) (S 108), the execution of the application delivered from the first channel is stopped and the application is destroyed (SI lO).

[19] The service in accordance with the present invention should be applicable to a plurality of set top boxes. A certain user may set a limited access to a particular channel of his/her set top box. For example, a parental control may be set on a particular channel. Thus, in a particular set top box, the second channel through which the audio, the video and/or the data required for the realization of the service may be set as a channel of limited access. To solve such a problem, according to a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of checking if the second channel belongs to the channel list of limited access prior to the turning to the second channel (S 105). Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a more preferred embodiment of the service realization method in accordance with the present invention. As illustrated in Fig. 2, it is checked if the second channel belongs to the channel list of the limited access (Si l l) at the step of between S 104 and S 105. The checking is performed by the application. In this case, two or more second channels may be used. In user environment where one of the second channels belongs to the channel list of the limited access, checking for another second channel with lower priority is performed. If all the second channels are limited, a basic frame may be provided (Sl 12). Detailed illustrations on the steps SlOl to Sl 10 described in Fig. 2 are omitted because they are the same as in Fig. 1.

[20] In the following, there will be more fully illustrated a case in which one or more second channels belongs to the channel list of the limited access. Let s assume that two channels, specifically channel 200 having priority 1 and channel 210 having priority 2 are set as the service domain of the first channel and the wanted service is realized from the combination of the application of the first channel and the video of any one of the second channels. If a request to the service from a certain user is received, the request is received by the monitor application (a stand-alone application resident in the user set top box) and tuning to the first channel (e.g.: channel 100) to which the service is assigned occurs under the control of the middleware. Then, the application required for the realization of the service is delivered to the set top box of the user through the first channel (channel 100). When the transfer of the application is completed, the application is executed and it is checked if the channel 200 having priority 1 belongs to the channel list of the limited access, which is preset by the user. Unless the channel 200 having priority 1 is set as a limited access channel by the user, tuning to the channel 200 occurs by the application. Then, the video is received through the channel 200 and the wanted service is realized by cooperative combination of the application of the first channel and the video of the channel 200. To the contrary, if the channel 200 having priority 1 is set as a limited access channel by the user, the application checks if the channel 210 having priority 2 belongs to the channel list of the limited access, which is preset by the user. Unless the channel 210 is set as a limited access channel by the user, tuning to the channel 210 occurs by the application. Then, the wanted service is realized by the cooperative combination of the application of the first channel and the video of the channel 210. If the channel 210 is also set as a limited access channel by the user, then a basic frame (e.g., a green screen or a default banner screen) will be displayed on the screen.

[21] The method of the present invention can be applicable to various services requiring a large sized application, such as a home shopping service or a sing-a-song service (or Karaoke service). The application may use only a part of the entities delivered through the second channel. For example, of the audio and the video delivered through the second channel, only the video may be selectively used. This can be accomplished by setting the application to selectively decode the video, which is known to ordinary persons of the art to which the present invention pertains. Further, the application may be set to selectively use the audio delivered through the return channel in combination with the video delivered through the second channel in order to realize a service. For the realization of such a service, the application a function to initiate the delivery of the audio through a return path and selectively decoding the video from the audio and the video received through the second channel.

[22] In summary, the application required for the realization of the service in accordance with the present invention possesses preferably the following functions:

[23] (i) tuning to any one of the second channels;

[24] (ii) autostart; and

[25] (iii) checking if the second channel is a limited access channel.

[26] Optionally, the application may further have functions for iv) selectively decoding one of the audio, the video, the data and a composite thereof of the second channel, and vi) initiating delivery of the audio, the video or the data through the return channel.

[27] The transfer of the application to the set top box is carried out in the form of transport stream, like common broadcasting signals. The application is identified in reference to the program mapping table ("PMT"). Description on the transfer of the application to the set top box and the execution of the application will be omitted since it is well known in the conventional techniques. For more details, please refer to "Reimers, DVB-The Family of International Standards for Digital Video Broadcasting, 2nd Edition" and "Edward M. Schwalb, iTV Handbook technologies and Standards". [28] The present invention can be modified in a variety of ways. The application and the audio can be delivered through the first channel and the service can be realized using the application and the audio in combination with the video provided through the second channel. Accordingly, the expression of "Realization of the service by cooperative operation of the application delivered through the first channel with the audio, the video or the data delivered through the second channel" should be understood as follows: the service is realized with the cooperative operation of the first channel that transmits at least the application of the service with the second channel through which the audio, the video and/or the data of the service are transmitted.

[29] As described, it should be evident that the present invention can be implemented through a variety of configurations in the aforementioned technical field without affecting, influencing or changing the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that the examples and applications illustrated herein are intended to be in the nature of description rather than of limitation. Furthermore, the meaning, scope and higher conceptual understandings of the present invention as well as modifications and variations that arise therefrom should be understood to be extensions to this invention.

Claims

[1] A method for realizing a service requiring a large sized application such that the application required for the realization of the service can not be delivered through one channel together with audio, video or data of the service, which comprises the steps of: separately transmitting the application required for the realization of the service through a first channel and one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof required for the realization of the service through at least one second channel via a broadcasting network at a broadcasting transmission system; and realizing the service at a user set top box connected to the broadcasting network by cooperative operation of the application delivered through the first channel with the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered through the second channel, wherein the application provided through the first channel is set to automatically tune to the second channel and the application delivered through the first channel is flagged as a channel unbound application within an application information table of the second channel.

[2] The method as set forth in claim 1, comprising a) separately transmitting the application required for the realization of the service through a first channel and transmitting one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof required for the realization of the service through at least one second channel, wherein the first channel and the second channel are set as a service domain and the application required for the realization of the service is set to automatically tune to the second channel; b) transmitting an application information table of the second channel within which the application required for the realization of the service is flagged as a channel unbound application; c) in response to selection of the service from a user, moving to the first channel in order to download the application required for the realization of the service at the user set top box; d) with execution of the application, tuning to the second channel through which the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof required for the realization of the service is provided; and e) realizing the service on user screen by cooperative operation of the application delivered through the first channel with the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered through the second channel.

[3] The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the application delivered through the first channel is an autostart application.

[4] The method as set forth in claim 2, further comprising the step of checking if the second channel belongs to a channel list of limited access, prior to tuning to the second channel of the step d).

[5] The method as set forth in claim 4, wherein the checking is preformed in sequence based on a priority of the second channel coupled to the application.

[6] The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the application further uses one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered together with the application through the first channel, provided that the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered through the second channel is also used for the realization of the service.

[7] The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the application prompts delivery of one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof through a return channel, and the service is realized by cooperative operation of the application, the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered through the second channel and the one selected from the group consisting of audio, video, data and a composite thereof delivered through the return channel.