U.S. patent application number 11/445166 was filed with the patent office on 2006-10-05 for method and apparatus for recording digital data streams and management information.
Invention is credited to Ki-Won Kang, Byung-Jin Kim, Kang-Soo Seo, Jea-Yong Yoo.
Application Number | 20060222339 11/445166 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32927831 |
Filed Date | 2006-10-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060222339 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kim; Byung-Jin ; et
al. |
October 5, 2006 |
Method and apparatus for recording digital data streams and
management information
Abstract
An optical disc and a method and apparatus for recording digital
data streams and management information on the disc, are provided.
The method includes receiving a digital data stream including a
plurality of packets; and recording the digital data stream while
grouping the data packets into a packet group, one or more packet
groups into a first data unit, and one or more first data units
into a second data unit, wherein each packet group with a fixed
size includes a header followed by a plurality of data packets,
each data packet comprising time stamp information and packet,
wherein the header includes first control information indicating a
number of valid data within the packet group and second control
information indicating whether a stuffing data exists.
Inventors: |
Kim; Byung-Jin; (Kyunggi-do,
KR) ; Seo; Kang-Soo; (Kyunggi-do, KR) ; Yoo;
Jea-Yong; (Seoul, KR) ; Kang; Ki-Won; (Seoul,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BIRCH STEWART KOLASCH & BIRCH
PO BOX 747
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22040-0747
US
|
Family ID: |
32927831 |
Appl. No.: |
11/445166 |
Filed: |
June 2, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10935115 |
Sep 8, 2004 |
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11445166 |
Jun 2, 2006 |
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09588661 |
Jun 6, 2000 |
6792198 |
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10935115 |
Sep 8, 2004 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
386/330 ;
386/332; 386/E5.064; G9B/27.033 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/4135 20130101;
G11B 20/1217 20130101; G11B 2220/2562 20130101; G11B 27/034
20130101; H04N 21/42646 20130101; H04N 21/43632 20130101; H04N
5/775 20130101; G11B 20/00086 20130101; H04N 9/8042 20130101; G11B
2220/20 20130101; G11B 27/105 20130101; H04N 21/4122 20130101; G11B
27/3027 20130101; G11B 27/329 20130101; H04N 5/913 20130101; H04N
9/8205 20130101; H04N 5/85 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
386/095 |
International
Class: |
H04N 7/00 20060101
H04N007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 29, 1999 |
KR |
99-25496 |
Claims
1. A method of recording data, comprising: receiving a digital data
stream including a plurality of packets; and recording the digital
data stream while grouping the data packets into a packet group,
one or more packet groups into a first data unit, and one or more
first data units into a second data unit, wherein each packet group
with a fixed size includes a header followed by a plurality of data
packets, each data packet comprising time stamp information and
packet, wherein the header includes first control information
indicating a number of valid data within the packet group and
second control information indicating whether a stuffing data
exists.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data unit is a stream
object unit (SOBU) and the second data unit is a stream object
(SOB).
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the time stamp information
indicates an arrival time of a corresponding packet.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the recording step includes a
step of inserting the arrival time of corresponding packet, and
records each data packet including the arrival time stamp followed
by the received packet, respectively.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein each packet group comprises a
fixed number of data packets.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of valid data
indicates a number of valid packet recorded actually in the packet
group.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein in the recording step, the
digital data stream is recorded on an optical disc.
8. A method of recording data, comprising: grouping a digital data
stream including a plurality of packets into at least one
predetermined-sized data unit, each data unit carrying header
information and one or more data packets, the header information
including first control information indicating a number of valid
data within the data unit and second control information indicating
whether a stuffing data exists; and recording the digital data
stream according to each data unit.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein each data packet comprises time
stamp information and packet.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the grouping step includes steps
of inserting the time stamp information followed by the packet, and
inserting the header information followed by data packets.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the grouping step further
includes a step of inserting the stuffing data if a generation of
stuffing data is required, wherein the second control information
indicates that the stuffing data exists.
12. A method of recording data, comprising: creating one or more
packet groups from a received digital stream including a plurality
of packets, the packet group comprising header information and one
or more data packets, and the data packet comprising a time stamp
information and packet, wherein the header information includes
first control information indicating a number of valid data within
the packet group and second control information indicating whether
a stuffing data exists; grouping one or more packet groups into a
stream object unit (SOBU), and one or more stream object units into
a stream object (SOB); and recording one or more packet groups
according to the grouping step on a storage medium.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the creating step includes a
step of inserting the header information.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the creating step includes a
step of inserting the stuffing data if a generation of stuffing
data is required, wherein the second control information indicates
that the stuffing data exists.
15. A storage medium having a recording layer and data structure
recorded on the recording layer, wherein the data structure
includes at least one predetermined-sized data unit, each data unit
carrying header information and one or more data packets, the
header information including first control information indicating a
number of valid data within the data unit and second control
information indicating whether a stuffing data exists.
16. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein each data packet
comprises time stamp information and packet.
17. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the time stamp
information is followed by the packet, and the header information
is followed by data packets.
18. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the stuffing data is
appended by a generation of stuffing data, wherein the second
control information indicates that the stuffing data exists.
19. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the storage medium is
an optical disc.
20. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the number of valid
data indicates a number of valid packet recorded actually in the
packet group.
Description
[0001] The present application is a continuation of co-pending U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/935,115 filed on Sep. 8, 2004, which
is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/588,661
filed on Jun. 6, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,198 issued on Sep.
14, 2004, for which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120;
and the present application claims priority of Patent Application
No. 99-25496 filed in Republic of Korea on Jun. 29, 1999, under 35
U.S.C. .sctn.119. The entire contents of each of the applications
are herein fully incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for
recording digital data streams and their management information,
which record digital data transport stream units such as
application packets in predetermined-sized sectors of a disk-type
recording medium such as a digital versatile disk (referred as
`DVD` hereinafter) and which create and record the management
information for the recorded transport stream units.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In the conventional analog television broadcast, video
signals are transmitted over the air or through cables after being
AM or FM modulated. With the recent advance of digital technologies
such as digital image compression or digital
modulation/demodulation, standardization for digital television
broadcast is in rapid progress. Based upon the Moving Picture
Experts Group (MPEG) format, satellite and cable broadcast industry
also moves towards the digital broadcast.
[0006] The digital broadcast offers several advantages that its
analog counterpart cannot provide. For example, the digital
broadcast is capable of providing services with far more improved
video/audio quality, transmitting several different programs within
a fixed bandwidth, and offering enhanced compatibility with digital
communication media or digital storage media.
[0007] In the digital broadcast, a plurality of programs encoded
based upon the MPEG format are multiplexed into transport streams
before transmitted. The transmitted transport streams are received
by a set top box at the receiver and demultiplexed into original
programs. If a program is chosen among the demultiplexed programs,
the chosen program is decoded by a decoder in the set top box and
original audio and video signals are retrieved. The retrieved audio
and video signals are then presented by an A/V output apparatus
such as a TV.
[0008] FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a general digital data
stream recording system which includes a set top box 100, a
communication interface such as IEEE-1394, and a streamer 200. The
set top box 100 receives transport streams, in which several
programs are multiplexed and encoded by data encoders equipped in
broadcasting stations, and demultiplexes the received transport
streams. After a data decoder 120 in the set top box 100 decodes
the transport streams corresponding to a program tuned by a tuning
unit 110 under the control of a microcomputer 140 to process a
request from a user, it outputs the decoded transport streams to an
A/V device such as a TV set for presentation. The set top box 100
may transmit the transport streams corresponding to a program
chosen by a user to the streamer 200 through the IEEE-1394
interface so that the transport streams corresponding to the chosen
program are recorded on a recording medium 230 such as a recordable
DVD by the streamer 200.
[0009] According to another request from a user, the set top box
100 may receive a recorded program reproduced from the recording
medium 230 by the streamer 200 through the IEEE-1394 communication
interface, then the received program is presented on a TV set after
being decoded by the decoder 120 in the set top box 100.
[0010] Meanwhile, for recording received digital broadcast signals
on a recording medium, it is necessary to develop schemes for
writing the received digital data streams in sectors of fixed size,
organizing them on the recording medium, and creating management
information for the recorded digital streams. However, no
international definite standard for such schemes is available yet
and thus various methods have been proposed by relevant
developers.
[0011] One of the proposed methods for recording digital data
streams and creating their management information will be explained
with reference to accompanying drawings.
[0012] FIG. 2 depicts the recording syntax for digital data
streams. A stream object (SOB), which is a recorded object created
by a one-time recording, includes a plurality of stream object
units (SOBUs), and each SOBU is recorded in a plurality of sectors.
A single sector, whose size is 2048 bytes, can accept a plurality
of application packets (APs) whose size is 192 bytes and header
information HDRS regarding the written application packets. The AP
includes a 4-byte time stamp indicating the packet arrival time and
a 188-byte data packet.
[0013] Therefore, a 2048-byte sector may be filled with a header
information HDRS, several application packets (APs), and null data
area if necessary, as shown in FIG. 2. The area filled with null
data is called as padding area and its size varies.
[0014] FIG. 3 shows the format of the application header
information and application header extension information recorded
in the header information HDRS. The application header information
contains information on a plurality of application packets recorded
in its own sector, and it comprises a field indicating a version of
the header format, a field AP_NS indicating the number of
application packets, and so on. The application header extension
information, which is optional, requires 1 byte for each
application packet recorded in its own sector, and it comprises
fields AU_Start (Access Unit Start) and AU_End (Access Unit End)
indicating whether a packet belongs to starting and ending of data
stream unit such as Infra-coded picture (referred as `I-Picture`
hereinafter) data which is accessible at random, respectively; a
reserved field; and a field for copyright.
[0015] FIG. 4 shows a digital stream recording example by a
recently proposed method for recording application packets in
sectors. The method of FIG. 4 divides an application packet into
two parts if the remaining area of a sector cannot accept a single
application packet, and records the first part whose size is equal
to the remaining area in the current sector and the second part in
the next sector. However, the remaining area of the last sector
belonging to a SOB is filled with null data. According to this
method, a 2048-byte sector can be wholly used as recording area
except the last sector.
[0016] The recording example of FIG. 4 is explained in more detail
to make the recently proposed method be understood better.
[0017] Since the remaining area of the sector M-2 is smaller than a
single AP, a 192-byte AP is divided into 130-byte and 62-byte
parts. The first 130-byte part of the divided application packet is
recorded as the last recorded packet AP.sub.M-2 #10 of the sector
M-2 and the second 62-byte part is recorded as the first recorded
packet AP.sub.M-1 #1 of the sector M-1. Then, 10-byte application
header extension information for all application packets recorded
in the sector M-2 including the partial application packet
AP.sub.M-2 #10 is created and recorded in the header area HDRS of
the sector M-2, and a value of 00001010b (10 in decimal) is written
in the field AP_NS of the application header information.
[0018] Meanwhile, the sector M-1 contains the second 62-byte part
as the first recorded packet AP.sub.M-1 #1 and 10 application
packets AP.sub.M-1 #2 to # 11 whose 192-byte data are all recorded
in the sector M-1, 54-byte (=14+14+1+15) header information which
is explained above referring to FIG. 3, and 11-byte application
header extension information which is generated and recorded for 11
application packets, so that 2047 bytes (=62+1920+54+11) of the
sector M-1 are used for data recording and 1 byte remains in the
sector M-1.
[0019] Accordingly, to use the whole 2048-byte sector, the next
application packet of 192 bytes should be divided into 1 byte and
191 bytes, and 1-byte new application header extension information
corresponding to the application packet whose the leading 1 byte is
to be recorded in the sector M-1 should be generated and added in
the sector M-1.
[0020] However, if 1-byte application header extension information
is added in the sector M-1, the sector becomes full and the next
application packet to be divided should be recorded in the next
sector M. In this case, the application packet recorded in the
sector M corresponds to the header extension information which is
recorded in the different sector, and there occurs a problem for
recording the number of packets recorded in one sector. That is, if
the number of the APs recorded in the sector M-1 is written in the
packet number field AP_NS, the written number is not equal to the
number of header extension information in that sector, and if the
number of header extension information is written in the field
AP_NS, the written number is different from the number of the APs
recorded fully and partially in that sector.
[0021] To avoid such problems, the 1-byte header extension
information should be inevitably recorded in the next sector M.
However, if the 1-byte header extension information is recorded in
the next sector M, the sector M-1 leaves 1 byte unused, which
causes mismatch with the provisional standard specification of
stream recording that a sector is fully used without unwritten area
if the sector is not the final one of a SOB.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0022] It is an object of the present invention to provide an
optical disc and a method and apparatus for recording digital data
streams and their management information which record stream
packets and management information as maintaining one-to-one
correspondence between stream packets and their management
information in the same sector even if the remaining size of a
sector becomes equal to the size of management information for a
single stream packet.
[0023] It is another object of the present invention to provide an
optical disc and a method and apparatus for recording digital data
streams and their management information which can make the value
of information for indicating the number of stream packets recorded
in a sector coincide with both numbers of management information
and stream packets even if the remaining size of a sector becomes
equal to the size of management information for a single stream
packet.
[0024] It is another object of the present invention to provide an
optical disc and a method and apparatus for recording a digital
data stream, which overcome the problems and limitations of the
related art.
[0025] These and other objects of the present application will
become more readily apparent from the detailed description given
hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed
description and specific examples, while indicating preferred
embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration
only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and
scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the
art from this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention, illustrate the preferred
embodiments of the invention, and together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
[0027] In the drawings:
[0028] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general digital data stream
recording system;
[0029] FIG. 2 is a pictorial representation for the syntax of a
recorded digital data stream;
[0030] FIG. 3 is a pictorial representation for the format of
general application header information and application header
extension information;
[0031] FIG. 4 shows a conventional method of recording digital data
streams in sectors;
[0032] FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation for the syntax of
application header information and application header extension
information according to the present invention; and
[0033] FIG. 6 shows a recording example according to the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0034] In order that the invention may be fully understood,
preferred embodiments thereof will now be described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
[0035] FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation of application header
information and application header extension information according
to the present invention. As described above referring to FIGS. 2
and 3, the application header information contains information on a
plurality of application packets recorded in its own sector, and it
comprises a field indicating a version of the header format, a
field AP_NS indicating the number of application packets, and so
on. The application header extension information, which is
optional, requires 1 byte for each application packet recorded in
its own sector, and it comprises fields AU_Start (Access Unit
Start) and AU_End (Access Unit End) indicating whether a
corresponding packet is starting and ending of data stream unit
such as I-Picture data which is accessible at random, respectively;
a reserved field; a field for copyright; and a validity information
field `Null_Flag` indicating whether the application header
extension information is valid or not. All of 1-byte application
header extension information are recorded before the APs which are
composed of 4-byte time stamp and the 188-byte data packet
individually.
[0036] The method embodying the present invention writes one-bit
validity flag showing the effectiveness of the application header
extension information in all the application header extension
information, counts the number of the application header extension
information recorded in the sector based upon of the values of the
validity flags, and then records the counted value in the field
AP_NS. The determining and recording operation for the validity
information of the bit-sized field Null_Flag and the number
information of the field AP-NS is now described as it is
implemented by the recording system shown in FIG. 1 as an example.
However, the present method can be applied to other suitable
systems.
[0037] FIG. 6 shows a recording example according to the present
invention. To record digital streams and their management
information like the format shown in FIG. 6, the streamer 200
receives the transport stream packets from the set top box 100
through the communication interface 210, adds arrival time to each
transport stream packet, and then records them sequentially in a
2048-byte sector without unused area of null data. While recording,
the stream recording unit 220 divides a single application packet
at the border of a sector and records two divided partial packets
across two sectors through an internal optical pickup, and pads
null data in the remaining area of the last sector belonging to a
SOB.
[0038] Meanwhile, the control unit 250 is checking both sizes of a
received digital stream packet and the remaining area in a current
sector of a recording medium 230 to record the packet in. As shown
in FIG. 6, if 130 bytes remain in the current sector to write the
received packet in so that the remaining area can not accept a full
application packet, the control unit 250 informs the stream
recording unit 220 of the fact that the remaining size is small by
62 bytes to accept a packet. Then, the stream recording unit 220
divides the 192-byte application packet into 130 bytes and 62 bytes
based upon the informed fact, and records them as the last
recording packet AP.sub.M-2 # 10 of the current sector M-2 and as
the first recording packet AP.sub.M-1 # 1 of the next sector M-1,
respectively.
[0039] For the application header extension information of the
sector M-2, the control unit 250 produces 10-byte application
header extension information for the 10 application packets
including the partial application packet AP.sub.M-2 #10 (1 byte
application header extension information for each application
packet) and controls the stream recording unit 220 to record the
produced 10-byte application header extension information. Also,
the control unit 250 makes a binary value of 00001010b (10 in
decimal) representing the number of the recorded APs be written in
the application packet number field AP_NS of the application header
information.
[0040] However, the sector M-1 contains the first partial
application packet AP.sub.M-1 #1 of 62 bytes, 10 application
packets AP.sub.M-1 #2 to #11 of full size, 54-byte (=14+14+1+15)
header information, and 11-byte application header extension
information produced corresponding respectively to the 11
application packets. According to these contents belonging to the
sector M-1, the 2047 (=62+1920+54+11) bytes are to be used in the
sector M-1, so that the sector M-1 has a remaining area.
[0041] If the size of the remaining area is the same as the size of
header extension information for a single AP, that is, if the size
of the remaining area is 1 byte as in the sector M-1, the control
unit 250 produces an invalid header data according to the following
procedure and controls the stream recording unit 220 to record the
invalid header data.
[0042] The control unit 250 should divide the received 192-byte
application packet into 1 byte and 191 bytes to use the whole area
of the 2048-byte sector M-1. However, if the divided partial AP of
1 byte is to be recorded in the sector M-1, a new one-byte
application header extension information corresponding the 1-byte
partial AP should be also added in the sector M-1, so that the
sector M-1 lacks one byte.
[0043] Accordingly, the control unit 250 produces a 1-byte invalid
header data and controls the stream recording unit 220 to record
the produced 1-byte invalid header data in the sector M-1 to fill
up the 2048 bytes, therefore, the received 192-byte application
packet is recorded in the next sector M without being divided.
[0044] The invalid header data recorded in sector M-1 is
application header extension information, however, it has not
correspondence with a AP. Thus, the invalid header data should be
distinguished from normal application header extension information.
To indicate the validity of application header extension
information, the value 0b or 1b is written in the validity
information bit Null_Flag which is one bit of the header extension
information field, wherein the value 1b represents that application
header extension information is not corresponding to a AP.
Therefore, in the sector M-1, the application header extension
information with Null_Flag=1b can be differentiated from the 11
application header extension information with Null_Flag=0b produced
corresponding to the effective 11 application packets AP.sub.M-1 #1
and AP.sub.M-1 #2 to #11.
[0045] Accordingly, although 11 application packets and 12
application header extension information are recorded in the sector
M-1, the last application header extension information recorded
only for fully using of a sector can be discriminated based on the
value of the bit Null_Flag. After counting the effective
application header extension information whose the validity bit is
0b, the value of 0000101b (11 in decimal) representing the number
of the effective 11 application header extension information or the
number of the 11 application packets recorded in the sector M-1 is
recorded in the field AP_NS to indicate the number of APs for the
sector M-1.
[0046] The method and apparatus for recording digital data stream
and management information in accordance with the present invention
record invalid header data distinguishable from the normal
application header extension information in front of the
application packets as explained in detail hereinbefore, if the
remaining area of a sector is equal to application header extension
information in size. Accordingly, this method of the present
invention records effective application header extension
information whose the number coincides with the number of APs
recorded in the same sector, so that prevents mismatch between the
value to be written in the field AP_NS to indicate the number of
application packets and either of the number of the recorded APs
and the number of application header extension information.
Moreover, this method does not leave any unused area to pad null
data at the border of a sector, and, thereby satisfies the standard
specification for a digital data stream recording medium.
[0047] The invention may be embodied in other specific forms
without departing from the sprit or essential characteristics
thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in
all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the
invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the
foregoing description and all changes which come within the meaning
and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be
embraced therein.
* * * * *