KR20070039594A - Method and apparatus for storing/deleting interactive applications - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for storing a data stream on a storage medium, the invention comprising a data object comprising the following steps: First, information about a data object is obtained, and then It is checked whether a substantially similar data object is stored on the storage medium, and finally, a shared parameter, used to indicate that the data object is a shared data object, if a substantially similar data object is stored on the storage medium. Is stored in the storage medium.

Storage device, delete device, data stream, audio, video, object

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STORING / DELETING INTERACTIVE APPLICATIONS}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing a data stream on a storage medium, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for storing a digital program stream on a storage medium, including an interactive application.

The digital program generally may include an audio portion, a video portion, and a data portion, and the data portion may include zero to a plurality of interactive applications. Compared to interactive applications, the audio and video portions passively broadcast to the user. In the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standard, a digital program consists of zero or multiple video substreams, namely, Motion Picture Experts Group Packetized Elementary Stream (MPEG PES), zero or multiple. Audio substreams, zero or a plurality of data substreams, and service information. An extreme example of a digital program is that the digital program contains only the data portion, such as an interactive application, without any audio or video portion.

The DVB Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) standard is a popular interactive digital program standard. In this standard, interactive applications are encoded in private zones in the form of modules, multiplexed in the data portions of the transport stream, and object periodic transmission of Digital Storage Media Command and Control (DSMCC) objects. transmitted by carousel). Modules transmitted by object periodic transmission may be repeatedly broadcast.

DSMCC modules and audio / video contents are transmitted along the broadcast channel in the same transport stream. DSMCC object periodicity defines how and when modules / files containing applications are transmitted with audio / video content in the transport stream. All files are sent repeatedly repeatedly without interruption, for example every 10 seconds, which means that all files are unidirectional, i.e. without any connection back to the sending terminal to the receiving means to request the requested files. It is transmitted from the transmitting terminal to the receiving means. Interactive television terminals, such as the MHP terminal, for example STB (Set Top Box), retrieve the required file during their reproduction.

Moreover, the DVB MHP standard defines an Application Information Table (AIT) in a private area for providing information related to applications. The AIT is also broadcast repeatedly, with a minimum repetition rate of 10 seconds for each AIT.

European Patent Application No. 03101173.7 (filed April 29, 2003, inventors: Jingwei Tan, Jun Shi, Liang Gan, and Declan P. Kelly) proposed an apparatus and method for storing data streams in a storage medium, The data stream includes at least one data object and audio visual data associated with the audio-visual data, which data object is the data object of the application. The contents disclosed by this patent application are incorporated herein by reference.

In the European patent application, data objects and audio / visual contents in a data stream are stored separately when the data stream is stored. During the procedure of the storage, it is first checked whether the same data object is stored on the storage medium, and if the same data object is already stored, then the data object is stored such that only one of the same data objects is stored on the storage medium. If the same data object is not stored on the storage medium, then the data object is stored on the storage medium.

It should be noted that the emphasis by European patent application 03101173.7 is to solve the following problems: how can avoid repeated storage of the same / similar data objects, when the data objects associated with the digital program save storage space To be stored separately. However, it is not mentioned how stored data objects are managed.

It is an object of the present invention to enhance the technical approach of the above-mentioned patent application.

The present invention provides a method of storing a data stream on a storage medium, the data stream comprising a data object, which method first comprises obtaining information relating to the data object from the data stream and then substantially similar. Checking whether the data object is stored in the storage medium based on the obtained information; Finally, if substantially similar data objects are stored on the storage medium, storing the shared parameters on the storage medium, which are used to indicate that the data objects are shared data objects; And if the substantially similar data object is not stored on the storage medium, storing the data object on the storage medium.

The present invention provides for the management of a richer, more versatile and flexible data object of a data object and its associated audio-visual program by means of shared parameters added to each of the shared data objects. For example, a data object can be easily associated with audio-visual data on a storage medium by adjusting shared parameters.

The invention also provides a method of deleting a data stream stored on a storage medium, the data stream comprising a data object, the method comprising the following steps: first, whether the data object is associated with other data streams or not. Detecting and then deleting the data object if the data object is associated with other data streams, thereby deleting the data object; If the data stream is associated with another data stream, sharing the characteristics of the data object that is properly processed so that the data object is no longer associated with the data stream, thereby deleting the data stream.

In one embodiment of the present invention, sharing the characteristics of the data object is performed by sharing parameters. The data object can be easily separated from the audio-visual data on the storage medium by adjusting the sharing parameter so that it is no longer associated, so that when other audio / visual data sharing the data object is also deleted, the other audio / The mistake of erroneously deleting data still shared by visual data can be effectively prevented.

The invention also provides a storage device for storing a data stream on a storage medium, the data stream comprising a data object, the storage device comprising: obtaining means for obtaining information about a data object from the data stream; Checking means for checking whether a substantially similar data object is already stored on the storage medium; Parameter storage means for storing shared parameters on a storage medium, wherein the shared parameters are used to indicate whether the data object is a shared data object if substantially similar data objects are stored on the storage medium; And data object storage means for storing the data object on the storage medium if substantially similar data objects are not stored on the storage medium.

The invention also provides a deletion device for deleting a data stream stored on a storage medium, the data stream storing a data object, the device comprising: for detecting whether a data object is associated with another data stream Detection means; Data deleting means for deleting the data object if the data object is not associated with another data stream thereby deleting the data stream; And shared feature processing means for properly processing the shared property of the data object so that the data object is no longer associated with the data stream thereby removing the data stream.

The invention also provides a digital recorder for storing a data stream on a storage medium, the data stream comprising a data object, the digital recorder comprising: a receiver for receiving the data stream; The above-mentioned storage device for storing the data stream in a storage medium; And retrieving means for retrieving the data stream from the storage medium. The digital recorder also includes the above-mentioned erasing device for removing the data stream stored in the storage medium.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent, and the invention will become more comprehensively understood by reference to the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings and claims.

The invention and its related advantages will become more apparent with reference to the exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

1 shows schematically the main components of a storage device according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a flow chart for storing a data stream on a storage medium in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

3 schematically illustrates the main components of the erasing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a flow chart for deleting a data stream stored in a storage medium according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 schematically illustrates a digital recorder according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Corresponding properties are designated by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings.

1 schematically shows the main components of a storage device according to an embodiment of the invention. The storage device may be part of a digital recorder, such as a personal digital recorder. A storage device is used to store a data stream on a storage medium, where the data stream includes a data object. Data objects are data objects in interactive applications. The data stream can also include audio-visual data. The storage device 100 comprises an acquisition means 110, an inspection means 120, a parameter storage means 130, and a data object storage means 140.

Acquisition means 110 is used to acquire information about the data object. For example, the obtaining means 110 obtains an "organization id" and an "application id" of the data object from the AIT of the data stream.

The inspection means 120 checks whether substantially similar data objects are stored in the storage medium based on the information obtained by the acquisition means 110. The operating procedure of the inspection means is similar to the inspection procedure disclosed in European Patent Publication No. 03101173,7, ie, the "configuration ID" and "application ID" of the data object obtained by the acquisition means 110 are the data stored in the storage medium. It is compared with the "configuration ID" and "application ID" of the object.

Based on the results obtained by the inspection means 120, if a substantially similar data object is already stored in the storage medium, a shared parameter is designated by the parameter storage means 130 to indicate that the data object is shared. Are stored in. For example, the parameter storage means 130 comprises a counter means (not shown), the content of the counter means indicating a shared characteristic of the data object, for example if the content of the counter means is 4, this means that the data Indicates that an object is shared by audio-visual data of five data streams.

Based on the result obtained by the inspection means 120, if no substantially similar data object is stored in the storage medium, the data object is stored in the storage medium by the data object storage means. The data object storage means also includes separating means (not shown) used to separate the data object from the audio-visual data. Data object storage means are also used for storing the audio-visual data.

The invention may also be carried out by a suitably programmed computer, and a computer program installed on the computer may store a data stream containing data objects on a storage medium. The computer program product includes code for obtaining information about a data object, code for checking whether a substantially similar data object is stored on the storage medium based on the obtained information, and a substantially similar data object on the storage medium. Code for storing shared parameters on the storage medium, which is used to indicate that the data object is shared if it is already stored, and the data object on the storage medium if no substantially similar data object is stored on the storage medium. Contains code for storing. Such computer program product may be stored in a memory carrier.

This portion of program code may be provided to a processor to form a machine, so that code executing on a processor forms a machine to execute the above-mentioned functions.

An operational flow diagram of the apparatus 100 is shown in detail in FIG. 2 below.

2 is a flow chart illustrating storage of a data stream to a storage medium in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A data stream is a digital program containing audio-visual data and data related to an interactive application, the interactive application comprising a data object. The interactive application herein does not necessarily mean that the execution of the application requires adjustment to the user of the digital program, but rather the interactive application may also operate on its own under certain circumstances. For example, certain events, such as scoring a goal in a soccer game, can trigger an interactive application to announce the introduction of a goal player.

In Fig. 2, a request for storing a data stream on a storage medium is first received, the data stream comprising audio-visual data and a data object associated therewith (step S210). The request originates from the user's input. Data objects are data objects in interactive applications. The storage medium is a hard disk and may also be DVD + RW or the like.

The data stream is received according to the request (step S215). The data stream results from transmission via satellite broadcast, terrestrial broadcast, or cable broadcast. Since the transmission of the data stream is a continuous process, this step is also a continuous process.

Then, the audio-visual stream is obtained and stored in the storage medium (step S220). In this embodiment, the audio-visual data and the interactive application are multiplexed in the transport stream, but during storage, the audio-visual data and the interactive application are stored separately. At the same time, the associative properties of audio-visual data and interactive data, such as AIT, are stored in a file with, for example, the file name XX-MHPinfo.txt, so that during the future playback of the data stream, the audiovisual data and the interactive application are simultaneously present. Can be used to reproduce.

Since step S215 is a continuous process, the acquisition / storage step is therefore also a continuous process.

Thereafter, identification information for the data object is obtained (step S230). According to the DVB HMP standard, identification information is obtained from the AIT, for example, "configuration ID" and "application ID" and the like are obtained from the "application-identifier" in the table. Of course, in other digital program standards, identification information may also be obtained from other locations in the transport stream if the identification information is sufficient to identify data from other data objects.

Then, based on the identification information, it is checked whether or not substantially similar data objects are stored in the storage medium (step S240). This inspection process has already been described in detail by the European application No. 03101173,7, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein.

One of the inspection methods is to compare the "configuration ID" and "application ID" of the data object obtained in step S230 with the "configuration ID" and "application ID" of the data object on the storage medium. Of course, as long as the object of the present invention can be achieved by actual similarity checks, other conditions for checking actual similarity can also be applied in this step.

Finally, on the basis of the inspection result in step S240, if there are no substantially identical data objects stored in the storage medium, the data objects are stored in the storage medium (step S250). In the example at step S220, the audio-visual data and the interactive application are multiplexed into one transport stream, but the audio-visual data and the interactive application are stored separately during storage. Therefore, it is necessary to demultiplex the data objects from the transport stream.

However, based on the result of the check in S240, if practically the same data object is already stored in the storage medium, the shared parameter is stored in the storage medium (step S260). Shared parameters are used to indicate that the data object is a shared data object. The word "save" herein may mean storing a new shared parameter or updating a conventional shared parameter to reflect the current shared state of the data object.

Since it is not necessary to store the data object again in step S240, it is not necessary to demultiplex the data object from the transport stream and may be discarded even if the data object is already demultiplexed. Of course, such data objects may also be stored on the storage medium to replace substantially similar data objects already stored on the storage medium as long as only one data object is stored.

An example of a sharing parameter is to attach a file of shared properties to a data object, such as shareapp_X.txt, which contains a numeric value to indicate how much audio-visual data is sharing the data object. Each time audio-visual data is increased to share a data object, this numeric value is incremented by one in step S260. Of course, the file of shared characteristics may also contain information about the title (title), storage locations, etc., for all audio-visual data sharing the data object.

There is another example of a sharing parameter for attaching a common file of shared properties for all data objects to a storage medium, where the shared information of each data object can be obtained from that file.

Many other embodiments of shared parameters are also possible, as long as the shared parameters can reflect the shared states of the data object and are advantageous for the management of the data object. For example, the shared parameters are stored at the same time when the data object is first stored at step S250, and then the shared parameters are adjusted as needed at step S260.

If the data stream includes a plurality of interactive applications, then steps S260, S230, S240, S250 or S260 form an iterative process until the data stream reception ends in step S215.

It should be noted that the digital program stream may contain only one or more interactive applications, such as a weather forecast program, but not audio-visual data. In this case, step S220 is no longer necessary. Moreover, since the audio-visual data is not included in the data stream, the sharing characteristic in step S260 indicates the data stream rather than the audio-visual data.

3 shows main components of the erasing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The erasing device is used to delete a data stream stored on a storage medium, the data stream comprising a data object. The data stream also contains audio-visual data. The erasing apparatus 300 includes a detecting means 310, a shared characteristic processing means 320, and a data deleting means 330.

The detection means 310 is used to detect whether the data object is associated with other data streams. For example, a numerical value in the counter means mentioned above is detected, which indicates that if the numerical value is greater than 1, the data object is shared by another data stream.

The shared property processing means 320 is used to properly process the shared property of the data object based on the information obtained by the detection means 310 to indicate that the data object is no longer associated with the deleted data stream. . For example, if the numerical value detected by the detecting means from the above-mentioned counter means is four, the numerical value of the counter means can be reduced to three.

Based on the information obtained by the detecting means 310, the data deleting means 330 is used to delete the data object if the data object is not associated with any other data stream. If the data stream to be deleted also contains audio-visual data, then the data deleting means 330 is also used to delete this audio-visual data.

The present invention can be implemented with a computer that is suitably programmed, and a computer program installed in the computer can delete a data stream stored on a storage medium, the data stream comprising a data object. The computer program product includes code for detecting whether a data object is associated with another data stream, code for deleting the data object if the data object is not associated with another data stream, and data object still associated with another data stream. And, if appropriate, include code for properly handling the shared characteristics of the data object to indicate that the data object is no longer associated with the deleted data stream. The computer program product may be stored in a storage carrier.

Such program code portions may be provided to a processor to form a machine, and code executed in the processor creates an apparatus to perform the above-mentioned functions.

The operating procedure of the apparatus 300 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

4 is a flowchart of deleting a data stream stored in a storage medium according to another embodiment of the present invention. The data stream may be a digital television program.

First, a request is received to delete a data stream stored on a storage medium, where the data stream is audio-visual data and its associated data object (step S410). The request originates from the user's input. Data objects are data objects in interactive applications.

Subsequently, the audio-visual data is deleted (step S420), and a data object associated with the audio-visual data is found based on the association file (step S430). An association file contains an association file between audio-visual data and a data object, for example a pointer to a data object.

Then, it is detected whether or not the data object is associated with the data stream (step S430). The detecting step can be performed by acquiring the shared characteristics of the data object. The sharing characteristic may be stored in the shared file in the form of a sharing parameter. For example, a parameter value of 3 indicates that the data object is shared by three data streams, and a parameter value of zero indicates that the data object is not shared by any other data stream.

Then, based on the detection result of step S440, if the data object is not shared by any other data stream, the data object is deleted (step S450). Of course, if a shared file is provided only to a data object, the shared file can be deleted next.

Based on the detection result of step S440, if the data object is shared by another data stream, then the sharing characteristics of the data stream are properly processed (step S460) so that the data object is no longer associated with the deleted data stream. do. For example, the above mentioned shared parameter value is reduced from 3 to 2. Many other embodiments may also be applied in the processing of shared parameters if the processed shared parameters reflect the actual shared state of the data object and are beneficial for the management of the data object.

Finally, the association file is deleted (step S470). However, if an association file is shared by multiple data streams, it is only necessary to delete the portion of the association file associated with that data stream.

If it contains a plurality of data objects of the data stream, then steps S430, S440, S450, or S460 form an iterative process until all data objects associated with the audio-visual data have been found.

5 shows a digital recorder according to another embodiment of the present invention. The digital recorder 500 includes a receiver 510 for receiving a digital stream, such as a digital television program stream. The digital stream contains an interactive application, and the interactive application includes a data object. The data stream may be transmitted to the digital recorder 500 in one of the following forms: cable broadcasting, terrestrial broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, and the like.

The digital recorder 500 comprises storage means 100 as mentioned above for storing the digital stream on the storage medium 530 at the request input by the user, wherein the data objects of the data stream are demultiplexed and individually. Stored as. If the data stream contains audio-visual data, it is also demultiplexed and stored separately. If a data object is shared by a plurality of data streams, only one data object can be stored and a shared parameter is attached to the data object to indicate that this data object is a shared data object. Storage medium 530 may be a hard disk or may be other suitable media such as DVD + RW.

The digital recorder 50 also includes a search unit 540 for retrieving the data stream from the storage medium 530. The retrieval unit 540 is used to reproduce the program stored in the recorder or the storage unit 520. During playback, the search unit also simultaneously plays back separately stored audio-visual data and data objects.

In addition, the digital recorder 500 also includes an erasing device 300, as mentioned above. The deletion device receives a request resulting from the user's input to delete the data stream of the storage medium, the data stream comprising a data object, and the data object is a data object in an interactive application. Whether the data object is associated with another data stream is first detected by the erasing device, and if the data object is not associated with another data stream, the data object is deleted. However, if the data object is associated with another data stream, the shared properties of the data object are properly handled so that the data object is no longer associated with the deleted data stream.

In the present invention, the interactive application can be considered completely as a data object, whereby the interactive application is processed according to the above-mentioned technical approach.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments, it is apparent that those skilled in the art can anticipate many alternatives, modifications and variations based on the above description. Accordingly, these alternatives, modifications, and variations can be considered to be encompassed by their invention, beginning with the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims (21)

A method of storing a data stream on a storage medium, the data stream storing a data object. Obtaining information about the data object from the data stream; Checking whether substantially similar data objects are stored in the storage medium based on the obtained information; And If a substantially similar data object is stored on the storage medium, storing a shared parameter on the storage medium, wherein the shared parameter is used to indicate that the data object is a shared data object. How to save the data stream. The method of claim 1, If a substantially similar data object is not stored on the storage medium, further comprising storing the data object on the storage medium. The method of claim 1, The data stream further includes audio-visual data, the data object is associated with the audio-visual data, and the data stream storing method includes: Separating the data object from the audio-visual data; And Storing the audio-visual data. The method of claim 1, And the data stream comprises an interactive application, and wherein the interactive application comprises the data object. The method of claim 1, And the data object conforms to the DVB Digital Video Broadcasting Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) standard. A method of deleting a data stream, wherein the data stream comprises a data object. Detecting whether the data object is associated with another data stream; If the data object is associated with another data stream, deleting the data stream by appropriately processing the shared characteristics of the data object such that the data object is no longer associated with the data stream. Way. The method of claim 6, If the data object is not associated with another data stream, deleting the data object to delete the data stream. The method of claim 6, The data stream comprises audio-visual data, the data object is associated with the audio-visual data, and the method further comprises deleting the audio-visual data. The method of claim 6, And the data stream comprises an interactive application, wherein the interactive application comprises the data object. A storage device for storing a data stream on a storage medium, the data stream storage device comprising: a data object; Obtaining means for obtaining information about the data object from the data stream; Checking means for checking whether a substantially similar data object is already stored in the storage medium; And If substantially similar data objects are stored on the storage medium, parameter storage means for storing shared parameters on the storage medium, wherein the shared parameters are used to indicate that the data object is a shared data object. A data stream storage device comprising storage means The method of claim 10, And further comprising data object storage means for storing the data object on the storage medium if substantially the same object is not stored on the storage medium. The method of claim 11, The data stream also includes audio-visual data, the data object is associated with the audio-visual data, the data object storage means is also used for storing the audio-visual data, and the data object storage means. Data storage means comprising: separating means for separating the data object from the audio-visual data A deletion device for deleting a data stream, wherein the data stream includes a data object. Detection means for detecting whether the data object is associated with another data stream; And If the data object is associated with another data stream, parameter processing means for properly processing the shared characteristics of the data object to indicate that the data object is no longer associated with the deleted data stream to delete the data stream. Device comprising a data stream deletion. The method of claim 13, And if the data object is not associated with another data stream, further comprising data deleting means for deleting the data object to delete the data stream. The method of claim 13, The data stream also includes audio-visual data, the data object is associated with the audio-visual data, and the data deletion device is also used to delete the audio-visual data. A digital recorder for storing a data stream including a data object on a storage medium, comprising: A receiver for receiving the data stream; A storage device as claimed in claim 10 for storing the data stream on the storage medium; And And retrieving means for retrieving said data stream from said storage medium. The method of claim 16, 14. The digital recorder of claim 13, further comprising the erasing device as claimed in claim 13 for deleting said data stream stored on said storage medium. A computer program product for storing a data stream on a storage medium, the data stream comprising a data object, the computer program product comprising: Code for obtaining information about the data object from the data stream; Code for checking whether a substantially similar data object is already stored in the storage medium based on the obtained information; Code for storing a shared parameter on the storage medium, wherein the data parameter is used to indicate that the data object is a shared data object if a substantially similar data object is already stored on the storage medium; And And substantially code for storing the data object on the storage medium if the data object is not already stored on the storage medium. A storage carrier comprising the computer program product as claimed in claim 18. A computer program product for deleting a data stream, the data stream comprising a data object, the computer program product comprising: Code for detecting whether the data object is associated with another data stream; Code for deleting the data object to delete the data stream if the data object is not associated with another data stream; And And if the data object is associated with another data stream, including code for properly processing the shared characteristics of the data object such that the data object is no longer associated with the data stream to delete the data stream. . A memory carrier comprising the computer program product as claimed in claim 20.

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