Patent Application
20070261093
Embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:
Embodiments consistent with principles of the invention receive burst data over a network different from the network normally used for a special application. By making use of receiving information transmitted in bursts over this alternative network, such information can be made available to a portable electronic communication device without the need to wait for receipt of the data burst using the normally used network. By applying this idea to changing selection of channel using DVB-H, the zapping time can be considerably reduced.
When a user of a mobile phone, as one example of a portable electronic communication device, changes from channel A to channel B, channel B data may not be available to the mobile phone since the receiver of the mobile phone may be switched off between receiving channel A bursts. Since channel B bursts may be transmitted with a time interval of approximately 3-4 seconds, the waiting time as experienced by the user would be reduced if channel B data could be made available to the mobile phone prior to receiving a new channel B burst by the mobile phone.
One way to obtain channel B data is to receive channel B data over an alternative network using another communication technology as compared to the communication technology that is used when receiving channel A data, or rather the data channel which the user stops consuming when the user selects the new channel to experience, which new channel in this case being channel B.
When a user is consuming a channel that is received over the DVB-H network, the data that is consumed is transmitted in bursts at regular intervals. These intervals may be approximately 3-4 seconds long. Since the data to be consumed is transmitted in bursts, the received data is buffered in a buffer, such as a playing buffer. When the playing buffer is filled to a certain level, the data contained therein may be sent to a data presentation unit for presentation to a user.
In order to enable a user to consume data that is transmitted in bursts to be received over an alternative network, this data may also be buffered. Data that a user may select to consume is buffered in a backup buffer. When the backup buffer is filled to a certain level, the data contained therein may be erased. In this way, only data from the latest burst is buffered in the backup buffer.
When the user thereafter decides to stop watching or consuming channel A and start consuming channel B, the backup buffer containing channel B data may become the playing buffer and the playing buffer may become the backup buffer. Channel A data as received in bursts over DVB-H network may thus be stored in the backup buffer, whereas channel B data as receive over the alternative network using a second communication technology may be buffered in the playing buffer.
When the playing buffer is filled to a certain level, the data contained therein may be sent to the data presentation unit for presentation to the user, similar to the case previously described for channel A data.
Moreover, when the backup buffer is filled to a certain level, the data contained therein may be erased. In the example above, channel A data may be erased.
However, channel B data as received over the alternative network is intended to be an intermittent solution to providing channel B data to the user. After a certain amount of time (e.g., up to 3-4 seconds), a novel channel B data burst may be transmitted over the DVB-H network and may thus be received. After processing of such a received channel B burst, channel B data as received using DVB-H may thus be presented to the user.
As it is known to use a Z-channel that is a zapping channel, which contains data from a number of channels (e.g., this typically is all or most channels that are available to a user), it is easily envisaged to use a Z-channel in connection with implementations consistent with the invention. In case a Z-channel data is being transmitted in bursts over an alternative network using a second communication technology, data from a number of channels may be received. The Z-channel data may be buffered in the same manner as described above in connection to channel B data.
As the user selects a new channel to consume, for instance channel B, the backup buffer containing data from a number of channels becomes the playing buffer, from which channel B data is extracted. The channel B data may then be presented.
Upon receipt of a channel B data burst over the DVB-H network, this data may be buffered in the playing buffer, whereas receipt of a channel Z data burst may be buffered in the backup buffer, in analogy with the previous example as presented above.
With reference to
According to this embodiment, the portable communication device 100 comprises a first data receiving unit 102, a second data receiving unit 104, a processing unit 106, a data presentation unit 108, a user input unit 110 and a control unit 112. As shown in
The flow-chart of the
According to this embodiment, processing may begin with portable electronic communication device 100, receiving a channel A burst over a DVB-H network (block 202), where the channel A burst is one example of a first digital video data and where the DVB-H network is one example of a first communication technology. In one embodiment, the receiving may be performed by the first data receiving unit 102 under the control of the control unit 112.
Portable electronic communication device 100 may receive a channel B burst over an alternative network (block 204). Receiving the channel B burst may be performed by a data receiving unit 104 under the control of the control unit 112.
In one embodiment, receiving channel B burst data (block 204) may occur after receiving channel A burst data (block 202). The relative order of these two acts is, however, irrelevant.
After receiving channel A data in form of a burst, portable electronic communication device 100 may process the received channel A burst for presenting (block 206). Processing the received channel A burst may include storing the received burst in a buffer from which data is taken when presenting data. As set forth above, such a buffer may be called a playing buffer. This processing may be executed by the processing unit 106 under the control of the control unit 112.
The received channel B burst may be processed to enable presenting (block 208). This processing may include storing the received channel B burst in a buffer that is used for making a backup of received channel B data. This processing may be performed by the processing unit 106 under the control of the control unit 112.
Having received channel A burst and processed the channel A burst data, channel A data received over the DVB-H network may be presented (block 210). The presenting may be performed by the data presentation unit 108 under control of the control unit 112 and in dependence of the processing unit 106.
Assume that portable electronic communication device 100 detects user selection of channel B (block 212). The detection may be performed by the user input unit 110 with subsequent delivering of a detection signal to the control unit 112. Detecting user selection of channel B means that the user has chosen to stop consuming a certain channel, in this case, channel A, and instead has selected to start consuming channel B.
After having detected that a user wishes to change channel or zap from channel A to channel B, in this example, processed channel B data may be provided as received over alternative network (block 214). The providing may be performed by the processing unit 106, again under control of the control unit 112.
Providing processed channel B data may include switching the backup buffer in which channel B burst is buffered to become the buffer from which data may be taken when data is consumed (e.g., making the backup buffer the playing buffer).
Having provided the processed channel B data as received over the alternative network, the channel B data as received over the alternative network may be presented (block 216). As channel B data was available in the backup buffer, it can quickly be presented to the user.
Presenting channel B data over an alternative network may minimize or even eliminate the zapping time as experienced by a user when changing channel to consume. As only one full band width DVB-H channel is received by one receiver in the DVB-H standard, and since the receiver is switched off between receiving the bursts, channel B data is typically not available to consume at the time of detecting selection of a user.
As the user chooses to consume channel B, channel B data over the DVB-H network is not yet available, as this data is transmitted in bursts and only one channel is tuned into at a time.
A certain time after having detected the user selection of channel B (e.g., typically about 3-4 seconds), a novel channel B burst may arrive. Portable electronic communication device 100 may determine whether or not a channel B burst as transmitted over the DVB-H has arrived (block 218). If the novel channel B burst has not arrived, presenting channel B as received over the alternative network may continue (block 216).
In one embodiment, presenting channel B data may include presenting channel B data as received from more than one channel B burst, in case a channel B burst has not been received over the DVB-H network, at an early stage. Receiving channel B over the DVB-H network may be performed by the first data receiving unit 102.
Having determined that channel B has been received over the DVB-H network, portable electronic communication device 100 may process the received channel B burst for presenting (block 220). This processing may be performed by the processing unit 106 under the control of the control unit 112. Portable electronic communication device 100 may present channel B data, as received over the DVB-H network, to the user.
As indicated above, the second digital video data may be a zapping channel containing digital video data from more than one channel.
The computer program product may be provided as a CD-ROM disc according to one embodiment of the invention. However, the computer program product 40 can alternatively be provided as another type of disc such as a DVD disc, a hard disc, or be provided as a memory or other storage capacity, such as a flash-based memory, for example a memory stick or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or a type of volatile memory.
Embodiments consistent with principles of the invention significantly reduce the zapping time while retaining the available bandwidth for the digital video data (e.g., keeping the number of digital video channels unchanged).
It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers or steps, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features or steps.
It is emphasized that this invention can be varied in many ways, of which the alternative embodiments above and below only are a few examples. These different embodiments are hence non-limiting examples.
The second alternative network or communication technology may comprise any type of wireless, wired, or optical communication technology. In one embodiment, the second alternative communication technology may include the Bluetooth communication technology, the general packet radio service (GPRS) communication technology, 3G communication technology, or W-LAN communication technology.
Needless to say channel A and channel B only denote examples of possible channels or programs to be consumed.
While a series of acts has been described with respect to
It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that aspects of the invention, as described above, may be implemented in many different forms of software, firmware, and hardware in the implementations illustrated in the figures. The actual software code or specialized control hardware used to implement aspects consistent with the principles of the invention is not limiting of the invention. Thus, the operation and behavior of the aspects of the invention were described without reference to the specific software code—it being understood that one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to design software and control hardware to implement the aspects based on the description herein.
Further, certain portions of the invention may be implemented as “logic” that performs one or more functions. This logic may include hardware, such as an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, a processor, or a microprocessor, software, or a combination of hardware and software.
No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the article “a” is intended to include one or more items. Where only one item is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 based on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/745,313, filed Apr. 21, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60745313 | Apr 2006 | US |
