KR20090098578A - Method of upgrading a software - Google Patents

Abstract

A software upgrade method is provided to upgrade the software without disturbing a user who is viewing a broadcasting program. A software upgrade method applied to a digital television comprises the following steps. While the digital television is outputting a broadcasting program, a controller of the digital television determines whether the software for upgrade is received(506). If the software is not received, the controller continuously outputs the broadcasting program which is being viewed by a user(504). If the software is received, the controller upgrades the software preset in the digital television by using the software for upgrade(508, 510).

Description

How to upgrade your software {METHOD OF UPGRADING A SOFTWARE}

The present invention relates to a method of upgrading the software of a digital television, and more particularly, to a method of upgrading the software of a digital television by an over air download (OAD) method.

Due to the proliferation of high speed internet and the advent of digitalized broadcasting program production environment, digital broadcasting system using digital television which can provide various additional contents as well as functions of existing television has been developed.

As one of such digital broadcasting systems, a digital broadcasting system using an Internet Protocol (hereinafter, simply referred to as 'IP') network is used. A digital broadcasting system using an IP network refers to a service that can provide various contents delivered through an IP-based communication network through a television. The digital television using an IP network is an MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 method through an IP network. It performs the function of displaying digital information compressed and transmitted by technology. Digital television using the IP network as described above can provide a variety of additional services such as Internet search, movie watching, home banking, short message service (SMS) and reservation service.

In addition, a television (recording function television) equipped with a personal video recorder (PVR) function that automatically records and plays back a broadcast in an internal storage unit (HDD: hard disk drive) is also a digital television. It is widely spread in recent years. Since the recording function television as described above includes a storage unit (HDD), not only a broadcast program but also various contents such as EPG and schedule information can be stored, so that the user can obtain various information from the digital television.

That is, the digital television not only provides various information to the user through the Internet, but also stores and provides various contents to the user.

On the other hand, the digital television as described above is released with the appropriate software embedded at the time the product is released. The software is for controlling the operation of the user interface of the digital television or the operation of the digital television itself, and needs to be continuously upgraded to change the usage environment or improve the performance of the digital television.

There are various ways to upgrade the software of digital television, but the over air download (hereinafter, simply 'OAD') that upgrades the software of digital television by extracting the upgrade software included in the broadcast signal The method is widely used.

A conventional method of upgrading software by the OAD method is briefly described as follows.

That is, the upgrade software is included in the broadcast signal while being transmitted by the user while watching the digital television, and then stored in the storage unit of the digital television.

Thereafter, the controller operates the upgrade software stored in the storage unit to upgrade the preset software, and then forcibly turns off the power of the digital television and then turns it back on.

In this case, the standby mode of the digital television refers to a state in which only minimal power is supplied to receive various control signals through the user selector, and power is not supplied to the channel tuning unit, the signal processing unit, the display unit, and the speaker. Say wait.

In addition, the on of the digital television is a state in which power is supplied to the channel tuning unit, the signal processing unit, the display unit, and the speaker to form a viewing environment of the digital television, and the user can operate the digital television through the user selection unit. Say.

However, in the conventional software upgrade method as described above, whenever the software is upgraded, the control unit forcibly turns the digital television into the standby mode and then turns it back on, so that the user can watch a predetermined time while watching the television. There is a problem that the user is inconvenient because the user cannot watch television for about 5 to 10 seconds).

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is, if the upgrade software is detected while watching television, using the upgrade software to upgrade the software preset on the digital television, and the broadcast program that was being watched It is a software upgrade method to switch to the standby mode after the shutdown and turn on the digital television again using the new software.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software upgrade method applied to a digital television, comprising: determining, by the controller of the digital television, whether the upgrade software is received while the digital television outputs a broadcast program; Continuously outputting the broadcast program being watched by the controller when the upgrade software is not received as a result of the determination; In response to the upgrade software being received, upgrading, by the controller, the software preset in the digital television using the upgrade software; When the broadcast program being watched is terminated, the control unit converting the digital television into a standby mode and returning to the on state so that the digital television can be driven by the upgrade software. Includes how to upgrade.

According to the present invention, when there is software upgrade request information due to over-air download, the software is upgraded and the channel of the digital television being watched is changed, or when the program being watched is terminated, it is switched to the standby mode and then back again. By turning on the upgrade software to operate normally, there is an excellent effect that the software can be upgraded without interrupting the user's viewing of the broadcast program.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram of a digital broadcasting system to which a software upgrade method according to the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the digital broadcasting system to which the software upgrade method according to the present invention is applied includes a plurality of broadcasting system 100 for transmitting various broadcasting programs and a digital television 400 for outputting broadcasting programs transmitted from the broadcasting system. ) Is configured to include.

The broadcasting station system 100 is a system for providing broadcast programs as described above, and may be variously operated according to its type. That is, the broadcasting station system may be at least one of an over-the-air broadcasting station system, a cable broadcasting station system, a satellite broadcasting system, an internet broadcasting system, and a wired broadcasting system. The broadcasting program provided by the broadcasting system may also include dramas, movies, and sports. This can be a variety of information, including stocks, securities, and news. Meanwhile, each of the broadcasting station systems transmits the upgrade software for driving its own broadcast program to the digital television along with the broadcast program through a network. At this time, the broadcasting station system configures the upgrade software for each channel as OAD data and transmits it to the digital television.

The digital television 400 not only performs a basic function of outputting a broadcast program transmitted wirelessly or wired from a broadcasting station system, but also implements a software upgrade method according to the present invention, so that a user can watch a broadcast program more smoothly. It has the characteristic to In other words, digital television receives OAD data and upgrades software.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the digital television shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the digital television to which the software upgrade method according to the present invention is applied includes a channel tuning unit 410, a signal processing unit 420, a display unit 430, a speaker 440, and a data storage unit 450. ), An interface 460, a user selector 470, and a controller 490.

The channel tuning unit 410 may include one or more tuners for tuning a broadcast signal received through an antenna, and a demodulator for outputting the tuned signal in a transport stream form through a demodulation process and an error correction process. Next, the broadcast signal having a frequency band corresponding to the tuning control signal of the controller is tuned.

The signal processor 420 processes a broadcast signal of a channel tuned through the channel tuner and displays the same on the display. In addition, the signal processing unit displays not only the broadcast signal received through the channel tuning unit but also an image signal of an electronic program guide (EPG) (hereinafter, simply referred to as 'EPG') stored in the data storage unit. It can also be indicated in the unit. An EPG refers to organization information of a broadcast program individually received from a broadcasting station or a second broadcast service provider, and is stored and managed in a data storage unit.

The display unit 430 performs a function of outputting a video signal decoded by a signal processor from a broadcast signal of a selected channel so that a user can view it, and may include digital light processing (DLP), liquid crystal display (LCD), and PDP ( Various types of display modules such as Plasma Display Penal) may be applied.

The speaker 440 performs a function of outputting the audio signal decoded by the signal processor among the broadcast signals of the selected channel so that a user can hear it.

The data storage unit 450 is composed of a hard disk drive and the like, and stores a broadcast signal and EPG information received from the channel tuning unit. In addition, the data storage unit stores broadcast program programming information, upgrade software, and the like.

The interface 460 connects with a network and a computer (PC) to transmit and receive various broadcast signals and information.

The user selector 470 includes various menu buttons for controlling the control unit, and the front panel includes buttons formed on the exterior of a remote signal receiver or a television that receives a remote control signal transmitted from a remote control means such as a remote controller. At least one of the remote signal receiver and the front panel each includes a variety of buttons as described above.

The controller 490 is implemented as a CPU or a microcomputer, and outputs a broadcast program among the broadcast signals transmitted through the channel tuning unit through the speaker and the display unit. In particular, the control unit applied to the present invention upgrades the software while the digital television is turned on, while switching the digital television to the standby mode when the channel is changed or the channel being watched is terminated, and then turned on again. By doing so, the upgrade software operates normally.

On the other hand, the present invention is to upgrade the software while outputting the broadcast program while the digital television having the above-described configuration is on, while the broadcast program that the user is watching is terminated, or the user requests a channel change The control unit performs a function of causing the upgrade software to operate normally by switching the digital television into the standby mode and turning it on again so that the user is not disturbed by watching the broadcast. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. I will explain in detail how to upgrade the software.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a software upgrade method according to the present invention.

While the digital television is being driven in the power-on state (502), the controller of the digital television outputs the broadcast program through the display unit and the speaker unit (504).

In addition, it is checked whether there is upgrade software received by the OAD among the broadcast program outputs (506). OAD refers to a method in which a broadcasting station system downloads the upgrade software to a digital television along with a broadcast signal when an upgrade of the software necessary for the digital television is required.

If the upgrade software received by the OAD does not exist, the broadcast output state that was being received is maintained, and if the upgrade software exists, the upgrade software is an upgraded version than the software preset in the digital television. Acknowledgment is confirmed (508). The upgrade version check is performed by the controller. That is, the controller extracts the upgrade software from the data stream of the transport stream received through each channel while tuning a plurality of channels, and the received upgrade software is pre-stored and executed in the data storage unit. This function compares the software and determines whether it is the same version or not.

If the result of the determination is not an upgraded version, the channel being received is continuously output. If the upgraded result is the upgraded version, the controller stores the received upgrade software in a data storage unit and uses the upgrade software. In operation 510, the preset software is upgraded. On the other hand, in Figure 3 is not represented as an upgraded version, all processes are expressed as being terminated, but the control unit substantially re-performs the process 506 of confirming the existence of the upgrade software.

On the other hand, after upgrading the software, the controller determines whether the currently output broadcast program is terminated (512).

As a result of the determination, if the broadcast program is not terminated, the controller continuously outputs the broadcast program, and when the broadcast program is terminated, switches the digital television to the standby mode (516).

The control unit operates the upgrade program while switching the digital television from the standby mode to the on state (518). This is because, through the software upgrade process 510 as described above, since only data of an upgraded part of previously stored software cannot be modified, the content of the data storage unit is adjusted, and then digitally upgraded using the upgraded software. To get the television to work again.

 When the above process is completed, the controller outputs a broadcast program received through the last designated channel (520).

The above-described switching process 516 to 518 is not limited to the time point at which the broadcast program ends, but may be applied even when a channel change is requested.

That is, after upgrading the preset software by using the upgrade software received, the control unit may perform the conversion process 516 to 520 only when there is a channel change request (514).

As another method, after upgrading using the upgrade software received, the controller determines whether the broadcast program being watched once is terminated (512), and if not, determines whether there is a channel change request again ( The conversion process 516 to 520 may be performed.

That is, the present invention upgrades the preset software by using the upgrade software received, while switching the digital television to standby mode when the channel being watched is terminated or a channel change is requested, and then turning on the digital television. It can be operated again by this upgrade software.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a digital broadcasting system to which a software upgrade method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the digital television shown in FIG.

3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a software upgrade method according to the present invention;

<Description of Major Symbols in Drawing>

410: channel tuning unit 420: signal processing unit

430: display unit 440: speaker

450: data storage unit 460: interface

470: user selection unit 490: control unit

Claims (3)

In the software upgrade method applied to digital television, Determining, by the controller of the digital television, whether an upgrade software has been received while the digital television outputs a broadcast program; Continuously outputting the broadcast program being watched by the controller when the upgrade software is not received as a result of the determination; In response to the upgrade software being received, upgrading, by the controller, the software preset in the digital television using the upgrade software; And And when the watching program is terminated, the control unit switches the digital television to the standby mode and returns it to the on state again. The method of claim 1, Switching the digital television to the standby mode and returning to the on state again, Continuously outputting the broadcast program until the broadcast program ends; If the broadcast program is terminated, the control unit switching the digital television to a standby mode; And And returning, by the controller, the digital television to the on state using the upgraded software in the standby mode, and then outputting a broadcast program. The method of claim 2, If the broadcast program is not terminated, checking whether there is a channel change request by the user selection unit; If there is no channel change request, continuously outputting the broadcast program by the controller; And in response to the channel change request, the control unit switching the digital television to the standby mode.

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