KR102435049B1 - Set top box, and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a set-top box for supporting seamless continuous playback between real-time IPTV program content and an advertisement material inserted in an advertisement playback section in real-time IPTV program content on an IPTV service, and a method of operating the same.

Description

Set-top box and its operation method {SET TOP BOX, AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to a method for supporting seamless continuous playback between real-time IPTV program content and an advertisement material inserted in an advertisement playback section in real-time IPTV program content on an IPTV service.

Recently, along with the development of Internet communication networks, IPTV services using them have become popular.

The IPTV service refers to a service that provides various information, video content, and broadcasting through the Internet using the Internet, and it can be seen as a type of digital convergence in that it is a convergence of the Internet and TV.

On the other hand, an advertisement method of exposing an advertisement organized according to a predetermined advertisement schedule to subscribers may be applied to such an IPTV service as in a broadcast service.

To this end, a pre-processing process of inserting advertisements in the playback section of real-time IPTV program contents is required.

However, in a set-top box in which real-time IPTV program content is reproduced, when an advertisement is inserted in the playback section of the reference stream as described above, real-time IPTV program content and advertising material are recognized as different content, and thus real-time IPTV program content and There may be a limitation in which a delay phenomenon occurs in connecting and playing advertisement materials.

The present invention was created in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to achieve a seamless continuity between real-time IPTV program content on an IPTV service and advertisement material inserted in an advertisement playback section in real-time IPTV program content. to support playback.

In order to achieve the above object, a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention extracts a basic stream of an advertisement material based on the encoding method used for the real-time IPTV program content and matches the composition of the real-time IPTV program content with the advertisement content. a generator to generate and a conversion unit for converting the real-time IPTV program content into the advertisement content for an advertisement reproduction section identified as at least a part of the reproduction section of the real-time IPTV program content.

Specifically, the set-top box further includes an identification unit for identifying an advertisement reproduction section according to a digital queuing signal included in the real-time IPTV program content and received, wherein the identification unit indicates an advertisement start time in the digital queuing signal An advertisement reproduction section may be identified from a cue-out packet and a cue-in packet indicating an advertisement end time.

Specifically, the advertisement material includes a plurality of elementary streams in which a plurality of encoding schemes usable in the real-time IPTV program content are applied to the same advertisement material, respectively, and the generator includes, among the plurality of elementary streams, the real-time IPTV program The advertisement content may be generated by extracting elementary streams to which the same encoding method as in the content is applied, as many as the number of elementary streams in the real-time IPTV program content.

Specifically, the advertisement playback section includes a first conversion section in which the real-time IPTV program content is converted to the advertisement content, a second conversion section in which the advertisement content is switched between the advertisement contents, and the real-time IPTV program content in the advertisement content. and at least one conversion section among the third conversion sections, wherein the conversion unit may adjust an attribute of the elementary stream of the advertisement content in relation to continuous content reproduction in the at least one conversion section.

Specifically, the conversion unit replaces a packet associated with a PAT (Program Association Table) and a PMT (Program Map Table) in the advertisement content with the same packet as the real-time IPTV program content, and provides a PID ( Packet IDentifier) may be changed to be the same as the PID of the real-time IPTV program content.

Specifically, the conversion unit, for each of the at least one advertisement content converted in the advertisement playback section, based on the last PCR (Program Clock Reference) counting value of the content reproduced at the previous time point, PCR, DTS (Decoding Time Stamp) ), and PTS (Presentation Time Stamp), each counting value can be changed to increase to consecutive neighboring values.

Specifically, in the conversion step, a dummy in which a CC (Continuity Counter) value that is missing for each PID (Packet Identifier) between each content is set with respect to at least one advertisement content that is converted in the advertisement playback section. Packets can be inserted.

In order to achieve the above object, the method of operating a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention extracts a basic stream of an advertisement material based on the encoding method used for the real-time IPTV program content and matches the composition of the real-time IPTV program content. A generating step of generating the advertisement content to be; and converting the real-time IPTV program content into the advertisement content for an advertisement reproduction section identified as at least a part of the reproduction section of the real-time IPTV program content.

Specifically, the method further includes an identification step of identifying an advertisement reproduction section according to a digital queuing signal included in the real-time IPTV program content and received, wherein the identification step indicates an advertisement start time in the digital queuing signal The advertisement playback section may be identified from a cue-out packet and a cue-in packet indicating an advertisement end time.

Specifically, the advertisement material includes a plurality of elementary streams in which a plurality of encoding schemes usable in the real-time IPTV program content are applied to the same advertisement material, respectively, and the generating step includes, among the plurality of elementary streams, the real-time IPTV The advertisement content may be generated by extracting as many elementary streams as the number of elementary streams in the real-time IPTV program content to which the same encoding method as in the program content is applied.

Specifically, the advertisement playback section includes a first conversion section in which the real-time IPTV program content is converted to the advertisement content, a second conversion section in which the advertisement content is switched between the advertisement contents, and the real-time IPTV program content in the advertisement content. and at least one conversion section among the third conversion sections, wherein the conversion step may adjust attributes of the elementary stream of the advertisement content in relation to continuous content reproduction in the at least one conversion section.

Specifically, in the conversion step, a packet associated with a Program Association Table (PAT) and a Program Map Table (PMT) in the advertisement content is replaced with the same packet as that of the real-time IPTV program content, and the PID for the elementary stream of the advertisement content (Packet IDentifier) may be changed to be the same as the PID of the real-time IPTV program content.

Specifically, in the conversion step, PCR, decoding time (DTS), based on the last program clock reference (PCR) counting value of the content reproduced at the previous time point for each of the at least one advertisement content that is converted in the advertisement playback section Stamp) and PTS (Presentation Time Stamp) can be changed to increase each counting value to successive neighboring values.

Specifically, in the conversion step, a dummy in which a CC (Continuity Counter) value that is missing for each PID (Packet Identifier) between each content is set with respect to at least one advertisement content that is converted in the advertisement playback section. Packets can be inserted.

Accordingly, according to the set-top box and its operating method according to the present invention, an advertisement reproduction section is accurately identified using a digital queuing signal in real-time IPTV program contents, and appropriate advertisement contents are selected from advertisement materials pre-downloaded in the corresponding advertisement reproduction section. It is possible to provide a seamless advertisement reproduction service to IPTV viewers by adjusting the stream properties of the extracted advertisement contents.

1 is an exemplary diagram for explaining an IPTV service environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a transition section according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a process of obtaining PIDs of elementary streams according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is an exemplary diagram for explaining PCR, DTS, and PTS discontinuity according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a continuity error according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is an exemplary diagram for explaining an advertisement playback section according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 and 9 are exemplary views for explaining a method of generating advertisement content according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is an exemplary diagram for explaining PAT, PMT, and PID attribute adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention;
11 is an exemplary diagram illustrating insertion of a dummy packet according to an embodiment of the present invention;
12 is an exemplary view for explaining a method of operating a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention.
13 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a delay phenomenon in connection reproduction between a reference stream and an advertisement material in another embodiment of the present invention;
14 is an exemplary view for explaining a reproduction pre-processing environment according to another embodiment of the present invention.
15 is a schematic configuration diagram of a set-top box according to another embodiment of the present invention.
16 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a situation in which a delay phenomenon is resolved in connection playback between a reference stream and an advertisement material according to another embodiment of the present invention;
17 and 18 are exemplary diagrams for explaining a delay phenomenon in switching between advertisement materials according to another embodiment of the present invention.
19 and 20 are exemplary views for explaining a situation in which a delay phenomenon in switching between advertisement materials according to another embodiment of the present invention is resolved.
21 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a method of switching between advertisement materials according to another embodiment of the present invention.
22 is a flowchart for explaining a method of operating a set-top box according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a method for supporting continuous reproduction according to an embodiment of the present invention and a method for supporting continuous reproduction according to another embodiment of the present invention will be separately described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, a method for supporting continuous playback according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described as follows.

Prior to the description, a method of supporting continuous playback between MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)-2 TS (Transport Stream) based real-time IPTV program content and advertisement content will be exemplarily described below, but this support method is limited to MPEG2-PS. Rather, it is assumed that it can be applied to other communication protocols.

As mentioned above, in one embodiment of the present invention, in order to support seamless continuous playback between MPEG-2 TS-based real-time IPTV program content and advertisement materials inserted in the playback section of such real-time IPTV program content, deal with the plan

In this regard, the existing advertising service has mainly consisted of a method of exposing advertisements unilaterally and repeatedly on corporate images and brands to unspecified people using a broadcasting network.

However, in this method, it is difficult to measure or predict the advertisement effect, and the expectation of the advertisement effect is low due to the viewers' avoidance of the advertisement.

In order to improve viewers' concentration on advertising and ultimately to promote sales of the product or service, various companies are providing customized advertisements such as VACAS (Vod Ad Channel Ad Switching), ART (Advanced Real-time Target) AD, and Smart Big AD. service is provided.

VACAS converts customized advertisement VOD contents transmitted as unicast according to queuing signal while watching real-time IPTV program contents, and ART AD and Smart Big AD continuously play customized advertisement contents pre-downloaded in set-top box according to queuing signal. do.

However, since these services receive a queuing signal (out-band stream) from a back-end advertisement server through a public Internet network that cannot guarantee network quality (jitter and packet loss), the accuracy of identification of advertisement playback sections may decrease.

In addition, in the playback of customized advertisements, when the player in the set-top box switches between contents, playback delay occurs due to content composition mismatch and different MPEG-2 TS properties. In the case of VACAS, as the number of IPTV viewers increases, customized advertisement VOD contents There is a limit in that the network traffic for unicasting also increases proportionally.

Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention, based on a digital queuing signal on the IPTV service, a method for supporting seamless continuous playback between real-time IPTV program content and advertisement materials inserted in the playback section of such real-time IPTV program content We want to propose a new way.

In this regard, FIG. 1 exemplarily shows an IPTV service environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the IPTV service environment according to an embodiment of the present invention, the backend advertisement server 200 ) may include a set-top box 300 that reproduces advertisement content extracted and generated from optical elements downloaded from.

The IPTV headend 100 multiplexes and transmits video and audio elementary streams and a digital queuing signal (SCTE-35) on real-time IPTV program content.

The backend advertisement server 200 configures advertisement materials in advance by applying all encoding methods available in real-time IPTV program contents, and determines advertisement expression policies for each user.

The set-top box 300 pre-downloads advertisement materials and advertisement expression policy from the backend advertisement server 200, and then identifies the advertisement playback section using a digital queuing signal, and for the identified advertisement playback section, according to the advertisement expression policy. By adjusting the MPEG-2 TS properties of advertisement content extracted and generated from advertisement materials, it guarantees uninterrupted advertisement reproduction on the player.

On the other hand, in the case of an advertisement reproduction section identified using a digital queuing signal according to an embodiment of the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 2 , a first conversion section (A) in which the real-time IPTV program content is converted to the first advertisement content , a second conversion section (B) for switching between advertisement contents, and a third transition section (C) for switching from the last advertisement contents to real-time IPTV program contents.

As such, in order to ensure seamless content playback for each transition section (A, B, C) that can be distinguished in the advertisement playback section, content configuration mismatch, PAT (Program Association Table), PMT (Program Map Table), Packet IDentifier (PID) mismatch; PCR (Program Clock Reference), DTS (Decoding Time Stamp), PTS (Presentation Time Stamp) time discontinuities; And it is necessary to consider CC (Continuity Counter) discontinuity.

First, regarding the content configuration inconsistency, in order to perform seamless switching between real-time IPTV program content and advertisement content in the set-top box 300 , the encoding methods and the number of video and audio elementary streams constituting them should be the same.

If the encoding method is different, the player in the set-top box 300 performs reset and initialization when switching between contents, resulting in a playback delay.

In addition, real-time IPTV program content transmitted through MPEG-2 TS may include a plurality of audio elementary streams. If the number of audio elementary streams is different between the contents, there is no audio frame to be decoded and output after conversion. Therefore, various malfunction scenarios should be considered.

Next, in relation to PAT, PMT, and PID mismatch, FIG. 3 exemplarily shows a process of obtaining PIDs of elementary streams by using PAT and PMT in MPEG-2 TS.

First, when a TS is input, a PAT of (PID = 0) is found. Here, the PAT includes the number of the content constituting the current TS and the PID for referring to the PMT, which is configuration information of the corresponding content.

That is, the PMT of the content to be viewed can be identified using the PAT, and the PMT includes PID information on the video, audio, and additional data elementary streams included in the corresponding content.

As a result, video, audio, and system information related decoding and output can be started based on the PID found in the PMT. Until then, playback delay will inevitably occur.

Next, looking at PCR, DTS, and PTS time discontinuity, in MPEG-2 TS, PCR used by the player to set a reference time for video playback and DTS defining the time for decoding video and audio frames , and provides playback timing information (time information) corresponding to the PTS that defines the time for outputting the decoded video and audio frames.

Accordingly, the set-top box 300 may decode and output the video and audio frames having the same DTS and PTS as the PCR time using such reproduction timing information.

In relation to this, FIG. 4 exemplifies a case in which advertisement contents 1, 2, and 3 having discontinuous reproduction timing information are continuously reproduced while the real-time IPTV program contents are being reproduced.

As shown in FIG. 4 , when the encoding timing between contents is different, PCR, DTS, and PTS are discontinuous, and such discontinuity of playback timing information inevitably causes a playback delay for performing time synchronization when switching between contents. .

Finally, looking at the CC (Continuity Counter) discontinuity, the CC in the MPEG-2 TS packet header has a 4-bit field, and the counting value for each PID increases by 1 whenever a TS packet corresponding to each PID is received. have characteristics.

Accordingly, if the CC is discontinuous in relation to a specific PID, this is called a continuity error, which means that some TS packets are lost.

In this regard, as shown in FIG. 5 , when the CCs for each PID are discontinuous when switching between contents, the player interprets this as a continuity error even though the transition has been performed correctly.

Therefore, the set-top box 300 to which the exception processing is not applied does not normally process this, which may cause a problem in continuous playback.

Accordingly, in the IPTV service environment according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to solve the above problems that may occur in each switching section (A, B, C) within the advertisement playback section in continuous content playback based on the above-described configuration, Hereinafter, this can be solved. Hereinafter, the configuration of the set-top box 300 for realizing this will be described in more detail.

6 shows a set-top box 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention, an identification unit 310 for identifying an advertisement playback section, a generation unit 320 for generating advertisement content, and a conversion unit 330 for converting contents. It may have a configuration comprising

All or at least a part of the configuration of the set-top box 400 may be implemented in the form of a hardware module or a software module, or may be implemented in a form in which a hardware module and a software module are combined.

Here, the software module may be understood as, for example, an instruction executed by a processor that controls operations in the set-top box 300 , and these instructions may have a form mounted in a memory in the set-top box 300 . .

Meanwhile, in the set-top box 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the communication unit 340, which is an RF communication module responsible for actual communication between the IPTV headend 100 and the backend advertisement server 200, is configured may further include.

As a result, the set-top box 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention can support seamless continuous playback of advertisement contents in the advertisement reproduction section identified from real-time IPTV program contents through the above-described configuration. A detailed description of each configuration within the set-top box 300 for realization will be continued.

The identification unit 310 performs a function of identifying an advertisement reproduction section within the real-time IPTV program content.

More specifically, the identification unit 310 identifies a portion of the reproduction section of the IPTV program content as an advertisement reproduction section according to a digital queuing signal included in the real-time IPTV program content and received.

At this time, the identification unit 310 can identify the advertisement playback section from the cue-out packet indicating the advertisement start time in the digital queuing signal and the cue-in packet indicating the advertisement end time. have.

In this regard, the IPTV headend 100 generates a digital queuing signal to include information for identifying an advertisement playback section in the set-top box 300 .

The digital queuing signal can be identified as a predetermined Stream Type = 0x86, and for example, can be divided into two packet types (Cue-Out packet and Cue-In packet) as shown in FIG. 7 .

Here, the cue-out packet includes information on a packet identifier, advertisement start time PTS, total advertisement playback time, and advertisement area identifier, and the cue-in packet includes a packet identifier and advertisement end time PTS. , information about the advertisement area identifier is included.

For reference, the packet identifier is used to distinguish digital queuing packets, and the advertisement area identifier can distinguish advertisement areas such as pre/post commercial messages (CM) and station breaks.

The generating unit 320 performs a function of generating advertisement content.

More specifically, when an advertisement playback section within the real-time IPTV program content is identified, the generator 320 generates advertisement content requiring continuous playback by inserting it into the advertisement playback section.

In this case, the generator 320 may extract the basic stream of the advertisement material based on the encoding method used for the real-time IPTV program content and generate advertisement content matching the configuration of the real-time IPTV program content.

Here, the advertisement material downloaded from the backend advertisement server 200 includes a plurality of elementary streams in which all encoding methods available in real-time IPTV program contents are applied to the same advertisement material, respectively.

Accordingly, in order to take into account the problem of continuous playback due to content configuration mismatch, the generating unit 320 converts a basic stream to which the same encoding method as in the real-time IPTV program content is applied from among a plurality of elementary streams for advertisement materials to real-time IPTV program content. Ad content can be created by extracting as many as the number of my basic streams.

For example, if the real-time IPTV program content includes a plurality of elementary streams having the same encoding combination method as shown in FIG. 8, advertisement content can be created by copying the elementary stream prepared by the encoding combination method in the advertisement material. there will be

Meanwhile, in this regard, the backend advertisement server 200 configures advertisement materials in advance by applying all available encoding methods of real-time IPTV program contents.

In other words, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the advertisement material includes all video encoding method combinations (codec, profile/level, resolution, scan type, scan order, frame rate, number of color bits, etc.) used in real-time IPTV program content. It is possible to include elementary streams prepared with all audio encoding scheme combinations (codec, number of channels, sample rate, etc.).

For reference, in an embodiment of the present invention, the advertisement material may be formed in a file format consisting of TS packets, and in the case of advertisement content generated through extraction thereof, it is not a file format as a concept of a subset of the advertisement material, but a related TS It may be understood that packets are located in a memory area.

The conversion unit 330 performs a function of switching content.

More specifically, when the advertisement content is generated, the conversion unit 330 converts the real-time IPTV program content into advertisement content for the advertisement playback section identified as at least a part of the playback section of the real-time IPTV program content.

At this time, the conversion unit 330 adjusts the properties of the basic stream of the advertisement content in order to ensure seamless content reproduction for each transition section (A, B, C) in the advertisement playback section mentioned above with reference to FIG. 2 . can support

In this regard, in order to consider the problem of continuous playback due to PAT, PMT, and PID mismatch, the conversion unit 330 replaces packets associated with PAT and PMT in advertisement content with the same packet as that of the real-time IPTV program content, Change the PID of the elementary stream of the content to be the same as the PID of the real-time IPTV program content.

In other words, the conversion unit 330 discards MPEG-2 TS packets associated with PAT and PMT in advertisement contents, and MPEG-2 TS packets associated with PAT and PMT in real-time IPTV program contents, as shown in FIG. 10 , for example. It is replaced/introduced to (A-B), and the PIDs of video and audio elementary streams of advertisement contents are changed to PIDs of related elementary streams in real-time IPTV program contents (B-C).

In addition, in order to consider the problem of continuous playback due to PCR, DTS, and PTS time discontinuity, the conversion unit 330 performs PCR, DTS, PCR, DTS, and changing the counting value of each PTS into consecutive neighboring values.

For example, assuming that the total number of advertisement contents to be reproduced is N, the following three time values exist as reproduction timing information of each advertisement contents.

,

, 및

, 는 각각

번 광고 콘텐츠의

번째 PCR / DTS / PTS 값이고,

,

, 및

는 각각

번 광고 콘텐츠의 마지막 PCR / DTS / PTS 값이다.here,

,

, and

, are each

of advertising content

is the second PCR/DTS/PTS value,

,

, and

are each

This is the last PCR/DTS/PTS value of the advertisement content.

In this case, in order to provide continuity between each advertisement content, the PCR, DTS, and PTS properties of the following advertisement content are adjusted based on the last PCR of the immediately played content as shown below.

는 실시간 IPTV 프로그램 콘텐츠에서 첫 번째 광고 콘텐츠로 전환 전 실시간 IPTV 프로그램의 마지막 PCR이다.here,

is the last PCR of real-time IPTV program before conversion from real-time IPTV program content to first advertisement content.

Finally, the conversion unit 330 sets a missing CC (Continuity Counter) value for each PID (Packet Identifier) between advertisement contents in order to consider the problem of continuous playback due to CC (Continuity Counter) discontinuity. Dummy packet and inserts the generated dummy packet between advertisement contents.

For example, if it is assumed that the total number of PIDs for each advertisement content is M, a dummy packet may be inserted between advertisement contents, for example, as shown in FIG. 11 through the processes of steps 1 to 5.

Step 1: Initialization Step

는 직전 재생 콘텐츠 상

번째 PID와 관련하여 삽입할 더미 패킷 리스트를 나타내며,

는 직전 재생 콘텐츠 상

번째 PID와 관련하여 마지막 CC 값을 나타낸다.here,

is the last played content award

Represents a list of dummy packets to be inserted in relation to the second PID,

is the last played content award

It indicates the last CC value in relation to the th PID.

Step 2: Check CC Continuity

는 뒤따르는 콘텐츠 상

PID와 관련하여 첫 번째 CC 값을 나타낸다.here,

is the following content award

It indicates the first CC value in relation to the PID.

을

로 설정하고 이어질 단계 3을 진행하며, 만약 동일하다면 이어질 단계 4를 진행한다.If the results of the CC continuity check made in this step are not the same,

second

set to and proceed to the next step 3, if it is the same, proceed to the next step 4.

Step 3: Create Dummy Packets

값으로 설정한 더미(Dummy) 패킷인

을 생성하고, 패킷을

에 포함시키게 된다.In this step, the CC value

A dummy packet set to a value

create a packet

will be included in

Here, the dummy packet sets all bit streams on the real data payload in the MPEG-2 TS packet to (0xFF), except for CC, so that decoding is not affected at all.

After step 3, the process returns to step 2 described above.

Step 4: Insert Dummy Packets

포함된 더미(Dummy) 패킷들을 삽입한다.In this step, between the previous content and the content that follows

The included dummy packets are inserted.

Step 5: Repeat by PID

In this step, the above steps 1 to 4 are repeated for all PIDs.

를 1증가시킨 후,

이면, 단계 1로 되돌아 간다.in other words,

After increasing by 1,

If yes, go back to step 1.

On the other hand, when the attribute adjustment of the advertisement content is completed through the above-described process, the conversion unit 330 transfers the advertisement contents to the buffer in order, and the time when the MPEG-2 TS packets are introduced into the buffer so that a buffer overflow does not occur. to control

번째 맞춤형 광고 콘텐츠의

번째 PTS에 출력해야 하는 MPEG-2 TS 패킷들의 버퍼 유입 시점을 아래와 같이 설정한다.in other words,

of the second customized advertising content

The buffer inflow timing of MPEG-2 TS packets to be output to the second PTS is set as follows.

는

번째 광고 콘텐츠의 총 PTS 개수이다.here,

Is

The total number of PTSs of the second advertisement content.

보다 큰 오디오, 비디오 기본 스트림들을 버퍼에 유입한다.Further, after the conversion unit 330 completes the buffer inflow of all advertisement contents, the PTS of elementary streams in the real-time IPTV program contents is

Larger audio and video elementary streams are fed into the buffer.

In this regard, since incorrect frame reference causes picture quality degradation, the video elementary stream must start with an Instantaneous Decoder Refresh (IDR) frame, which contains the Random Access Indicator (RAI) bit in the Adaptation field of the MPEG-2 TS packet. It can be easily identified by detection.

As described above, according to the configuration of the set-top box 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention, an advertisement playback section is accurately identified using a digital queuing signal in real-time IPTV program content, and the advertisement playback section is pre-downloaded in the corresponding advertisement playback section. It is possible to provide a seamless advertisement reproduction service to IPTV viewers by extracting appropriate advertisement contents from advertisement materials and adjusting MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)-2 TS (Transport Stream) properties.

Hereinafter, an operating method of the set-top box 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 12 .

First, the identification unit 310 identifies a portion of a reproduction section of the IPTV program content as an advertisement reproduction section according to a digital queuing signal included in the real-time IPTV program content and received (S110-S120).

At this time, the identification unit 310 can identify the advertisement playback section from the cue-out packet indicating the advertisement start time in the digital queuing signal and the cue-in packet indicating the advertisement end time. have.

In this regard, the IPTV headend 100 generates a digital queuing signal to include information for identifying an advertisement playback section in the set-top box 300 .

The digital queuing signal can be identified as a predetermined Stream Type = 0x86, and can be divided into two packet types (Cue-Out packet and Cue-In packet) as illustrated above in FIG. 7 .

Here, the cue-out packet includes information on a packet identifier, advertisement start time PTS, total advertisement playback time, and advertisement area identifier, and the cue-in packet includes a packet identifier and advertisement end time PTS. , information about the advertisement area identifier is included.

For reference, the packet identifier is used to distinguish digital queuing packets, and the advertisement area identifier can distinguish advertisement areas such as pre/post commercial messages (CM) and station breaks.

Then, when the advertisement playback section in the real-time IPTV program content is identified, the generator 320 inserts it into the advertisement playback section to generate advertisement content requiring continuous playback (S130-S140).

In this case, the generator 320 may extract the basic stream of the advertisement material based on the encoding method used for the real-time IPTV program content and generate advertisement content matching the configuration of the real-time IPTV program content.

Here, the advertisement material downloaded from the backend advertisement server 200 includes a plurality of elementary streams in which all encoding methods available in real-time IPTV program contents are applied to the same advertisement material, respectively.

Accordingly, in order to take into account the problem of continuous playback due to content configuration mismatch, the generating unit 320 converts a basic stream to which the same encoding method as in the real-time IPTV program content is applied from among a plurality of elementary streams for advertisement materials to real-time IPTV program content. Ad content can be created by extracting as many as the number of my basic streams.

8, as illustrated above, when the real-time IPTV program content includes a plurality of elementary streams having the same encoding combination method, advertisement content can be generated by copying the elementary stream prepared by the encoding combination method in the advertisement material. there will be

Meanwhile, in this regard, the backend advertisement server 200 configures advertisement materials in advance by applying all available encoding methods of real-time IPTV program contents.

In other words, as shown in Fig. 9 exemplified above, the advertisement material is a combination of all video coding schemes (codec, profile/level, resolution, scan type, scan order, frame rate, number of color bits, etc.) used in real-time IPTV program content. and elementary streams prepared with all audio encoding method combinations (codec, number of channels, sample rate, etc.).

For reference, in an embodiment of the present invention, the advertisement material may be formed in a file format consisting of TS packets, and in the case of advertisement content generated through extraction thereof, it is not a file format as a concept of a subset of the advertisement material, but a related TS It may be understood that packets are located in a memory area.

Thereafter, when the advertisement content is generated, the conversion unit 330 converts the real-time IPTV program content into advertisement content for an advertisement playback section identified as at least a part of the playback section of the real-time IPTV program content (S150-S160). .

At this time, the conversion unit 330 adjusts the properties of the basic stream of the advertisement content in order to ensure seamless content reproduction for each transition section (A, B, C) in the advertisement playback section mentioned above with reference to FIG. 2 . can support

In this regard, in order to consider the problem of continuous playback due to PAT, PMT, and PID mismatch, the conversion unit 330 replaces packets associated with PAT and PMT in advertisement content with the same packet as that of the real-time IPTV program content, Change the PID of the elementary stream of the content to be the same as the PID of the real-time IPTV program content.

In other words, the conversion unit 330 discards MPEG-2 TS packets associated with PAT and PMT in advertisement contents, and MPEG-2 associated with PAT and PMT in real-time IPTV program contents, as exemplified above in FIG. 10 . TS packets are replaced/introduced (A-B), and PIDs of video and audio elementary streams of advertisement contents are changed to PIDs of related elementary streams in real-time IPTV program contents (B-C).

In addition, in order to consider the problem of continuous playback due to PCR, DTS, and PTS time discontinuity, the conversion unit 330 performs PCR, DTS, PCR, DTS, and changing the counting value of each PTS into consecutive neighboring values.

Finally, the conversion unit 330 sets a missing CC (Continuity Counter) value for each PID (Packet Identifier) between advertisement contents in order to consider the problem of continuous playback due to CC (Continuity Counter) discontinuity. Dummy packet and inserts the generated dummy packet between advertisement contents.

보다 큰 오디오, 비디오 기본 스트림들을 버퍼에 유입한다.On the other hand, the conversion unit 330 receives the PTS of the elementary streams in the real-time IPTV program contents after the buffer inflow of all advertisement contents is completed.

Larger audio and video elementary streams are fed into the buffer.

In this regard, since incorrect frame reference causes picture quality degradation, the video elementary stream must start with an Instantaneous Decoder Refresh (IDR) frame, which contains the Random Access Indicator (RAI) bit in the Adaptation field of the MPEG-2 TS packet. It can be easily identified by detection.

As described above, according to the operating method of the set-top box 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention, an advertisement playback section is accurately identified using a digital queuing signal in real-time IPTV program content, and the advertisement playback section is pre-downloaded in the corresponding advertisement playback section. It is possible to provide a seamless advertisement playback service to IPTV viewers by extracting appropriate advertisement contents from the advertisement materials and adjusting MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)-2 TS (Transport Stream) properties.

After the description of the continuous playback support method according to an embodiment of the present invention is over, the description of the continuous playback support method according to another embodiment of the present invention continues below.

Prior to the description, a method for supporting continuous playback between an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)-2 Transport Stream (TS) based real-time broadcast stream (hereinafter referred to as a reference stream) and advertising materials will be exemplarily described. -It is assumed that it is not limited to PS and can be applied to other communication protocols.

As mentioned above, in another embodiment of the present invention, a pre-processing technique for inserting, for example, an advertisement material in the playback section of a reference stream that is an MPEG2-TS based transport stream in an IPTV service environment is handled.

Here, the MPEG2-TS based transport stream may be understood as the same as the elementary stream of the real-time IPTV program content mentioned in the embodiment of the present invention.

In this regard, in the IPTV service environment, it is possible to provide a customized advertisement service that provides user-targeted advertisement materials in a set-top box through a public Internet network configured separately from the IPTV broadcasting network during real-time broadcasting provided based on the IPTV broadcasting network.

In order to provide such an advertisement service, advertisement material management and control is performed through a public Internet network-based advertisement server.

That is, the advertisement server manages advertisement materials to be reproduced through the public Internet network and provides a control function for determining advertisement materials to be reproduced at the time of advertisement display for each service type.

In order to define at which point in time advertisements will be exposed in connection with the real-time broadcasting content transmitted through the real-time broadcasting equipment, the headend uses a digital cue tone (Spec. SCTE-35) stream to identify the advertisement playback section in the real-time broadcasting stream. send together

That is, a digital cue tone stream including temporal synchronization information for advertisement reproduction in a real-time broadcast stream is generated through a multiplexer in the headend, and is transmitted through an IPTV broadcasting network.

In addition, signaling information indicating that a digital cue tone stream exists in a corresponding content stream during multiplexing is described in a PMT (Program Map Table) in MPEG-2 PSI (Program Specific Information).

The set-top box pre-downloads advertisement materials and advertisement expression policies to be played from the advertisement server, identifies the advertisement playback time using the digital cue tone stream in the received real-time broadcasting stream, and stores real-time broadcasting contents and pre-downloaded advertisement materials at that time. It can be mixed and output through the TV screen.

However, in this regard, in a set-top box in which the reference stream is reproduced, if the advertisement material is inserted in the playback section of the reference stream, the advertisement material can be recognized as a material separate from the reference stream. A delay may inevitably occur in the connection of

In MPEG-2 TS, a video transmission technology, video and audio are output based on playback timing information, which is three time values set in the material to support video playback in the set-top box.

Such playback timing information includes PCR (Program Clock Reference) that defines a reference time for video playback, DTS (Decoding Time Stamp) that defines a time to process decoding before output for each video and audio, and decoded video and audio. Includes PTS (Presentation Time Stamp) that defines the time to be output to the actual screen.

That is, the set-top box defines the reference time by PCR set in the reference stream, and when the counting value defined by DTS and PTS arrives as the counting value of the reference time increases, decoding and output of video and audio are performed accordingly. are processed sequentially.

However, in the case of advertising materials, PCR, DTS, and PTS may have random starting values compared to the reference stream. Additional procedures such as (RESET) and PCR setting are required, resulting in a delay in continuous playback.

In this regard, in FIG. 13, when the PCR, DTS, and PTS set in the advertisement material (the advertisement material 1 and the advertisement material 2) have random start values compared to the reference stream, reset (RESET) and PCR settings for material change, etc. It shows as an example a situation in which a delay phenomenon may occur in continuous playback due to the procedure of

Meanwhile, in another embodiment of the present invention, each material including the reference stream has its own multimedia encoding properties such as, for example, a video codec, a resolution, an audio codec, and the number of audio. If the reference stream and the reference stream are reproduced Even when the multimedia encoding properties between the advertisement materials inserted in the section are different from each other, the set-top box requires an additional procedure, such as a decoding method change, to cause the same delay in continuous playback.

Accordingly, in another embodiment of the present invention, it is intended to propose a new pre-processing method capable of seamlessly connecting an advertisement material inserted in a reproduction section of a reference stream, which is a transport stream of real-time IPTV program content.

In this regard, FIG. 14 exemplarily shows a regeneration pre-processing environment according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 14 , in the playback pre-processing environment according to another embodiment of the present invention, pre-processing for inserting an advertisement material in the playback section of a reference stream, which is a transport stream of real-time IPTV program content, is performed to display 500. It may include a set-top box 400 that delivers.

The set-top box 400 enables a seamless connection between a reference stream, which is a transport stream of real-time IPTV program content, and an advertisement material. to be explained as

15 shows a schematic configuration of a set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 15 , the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a confirmation unit 410 for checking multimedia encoding properties of a reference stream, a selection unit 430 for selecting an advertisement material, and a reference stream. It may have a configuration including an inserter 440 for inserting an advertisement material in the playback section of .

In addition, the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention may further include a configuration of the generator 420 for generating a candidate advertisement material in relation to multimedia encoding attribute matching in addition to the configuration described above.

All or at least a part of the configuration of the set-top box 400 may be implemented in the form of a hardware module or a software module, or may be implemented in a form in which a hardware module and a software module are combined.

Here, the software module may be understood as, for example, instructions executed by a processor that controls operations in the set-top box 400, and these instructions may have a form mounted in a memory in the set-top box 400. .

On the other hand, the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention may further include, in addition to the above configuration, the communication unit 450, which is an RF communication module responsible for a practical communication function with other components in the regeneration pre-processing environment. .

Here, the communication unit 450 includes, but is not limited to, for example, an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a codec (CODEC) chipset, and a memory, and the like. All known circuits to perform may be included.

After all, the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention can seamlessly connect the advertisement material inserted in the playback section of the reference stream, which is the transport stream, through the above-described configuration. A more detailed description of the configuration within the set-top box 400 will be continued.

The confirmation unit 410 performs a function of confirming the multimedia encoding property of the reference stream.

More specifically, when there is an advertisement material to be inserted in the reproduction section of the reference stream, which is the transport stream of real-time IPTV program content, the check unit 410 checks the multimedia encoding property of the reference stream.

In this case, the multimedia encoding property checked for the reference stream may include a video codec and its resolution (eg, 720P, 1080P, H264, H265, etc.), an audio codec, and the number of audios (eg, AC3, AAC). .

The selection unit 430 performs a function of selecting an advertisement material that matches the multimedia encoding property of the advertisement material.

More specifically, when the multimedia encoding property of the reference stream is confirmed, the selection unit 430 selects an advertisement material that matches the multimedia encoding property of the checked reference stream.

In this case, the selection unit 430 may select a specific candidate advertisement material having the multimedia encoding property confirmed for the reference stream from among the candidate advertisement materials generated by encoding the same video and audio with respective multimedia encoding properties.

Meanwhile, in relation to this, when there is an advertisement material to be inserted in the playback section of the reference stream, the generation unit 420 includes the same image and audio corresponding to the advertisement material for each type of multimedia encoding property that can be processed for the reference stream. Can create and deliver candidate creatives encoded with each multimedia encoding property.

For reference, these candidate advertisement materials may be transmitted between the generation unit 420 and the selection unit 430 in the form of a single stream based on a Multiple Program Transport Stream (MPTS) technology.

In this way, selecting the advertisement material matching the encoding property of the reference stream is a method of matching the multimedia encoding property of the reference stream and the advertisement material to the set-top box when the multimedia encoding properties between the reference stream and the inserted advertisement are different from each other. This is to prevent an additional procedure such as a decoding method change occurring in step 400 .

The inserter 440 performs a function of inserting an advertisement material in the playback section of the reference stream.

Specifically, when the multimedia encoding property between the reference stream and the advertisement material is matched, the insertion unit 440 inserts the advertisement material matching the reference stream and the multimedia encoding property into the playback section of the reference stream and delivers it to the display 500 . do

At this time, the inserter 440 changes the counting value of the playback timing information set in the advertisement material to support playback in the set-top box 400 based on the reference stream, so that the counting start value of the playback timing information is changed. may be inserted into the playback section of the reference stream.

In other words, the insertion unit 440 checks the counting value of the playback timing information in the playback section where the advertisement material is inserted with respect to the reference stream, and determines the counting start value of the playback timing information set in the advertisement material for the reference stream. The reference stream and the reference stream are reproduced in the set-top box 400 that reproduces the counting value of the playback timing information consecutively between the reference stream and the advertisement by changing it to a value adjacent to the counting value of the playback timing information. The advertisement material inserted in the section can be recognized as one material.

In this regard, in FIG. 16, the counting start values of PCR, DTS, and PTS set in the advertisement material (advertisement material 1, advertisement material 2) are checked for the reproduction section for inserting the advertisement material. Counting of the reproduction timing information of the reference stream When the value is changed to a value adjacent to the value, unlike in FIG. 13 exemplified above, a continuous situation is exemplified with respect to the counting values of the PCR, DTS, and PTS of the reference stream.

In this way, changing the counting start value of the playback timing information of the advertising material to a value adjacent to the counting value of the playback timing information identified for the reference stream means that the counting start value of the playback timing information set in the advertising material is random compared to the reference stream. This is to prevent a delay in continuous playback due to additional procedures such as reset (RESET) and PCR setting for material change in the case of having one starting value.

Meanwhile, in another embodiment of the present invention, not only the continuity of the playback timing information between the reference stream and the advertisement material, but also the continuity in switching between the advertisement materials is additionally considered.

For example, if it is assumed that two or more creative materials (eg, creatives 1 to 3) are inserted as shown in FIG. can

Therefore, even when switching creative materials, reset and initialization are performed in the set-top box 400 to synchronize the playback timing information, which also causes playback delays and screen freezes.

In addition, the set-top box 400 cannot guarantee the continuity of the CC (Continuity Counter) value for each PID (Packet Identifier) when switching between advertisement materials, for example, as in FIG. 18 , which is the continuity in the set-top box 400 ) is interpreted as an error, and depending on the implementation, it can be one cause of reset and initialization.

For reference, the CC (Continuity Counter) is a 4-bit field in the MPEG-2 TS packet header, and increases by 1 for each PID whenever a TS packet corresponding to each PID (Packet Identifier) is received.

When the value of the CC (Continuity Counter) is discontinuous in relation to a specific PID, this is called a continuity error, which means that some TS packets are lost.

In this regard, in order to ensure continuity between advertisement materials, the inserter 440 changes the start value of the playback timing information set for each advertisement material to have a continuous counting value based on the neighboring previous advertisement material.

For example, assuming that the total number of advertisement materials to be reproduced is N, as mentioned briefly above, the following three time values exist for the reproduction timing information of each advertisement material.

,

, 및

, 는 각각

번 광고 소재의

번째 PCR / DTS / PTS 값이고,

,

, 및

는 각각

번 광고 소재의 마지막 PCR / DTS / PTS 값이다.here,

,

, and

, are each

of the creative

is the second PCR/DTS/PTS value,

,

, and

are each

This is the last PCR/DTS/PTS value of the creative.

), 이전 광고 소재의 마지막 PCR 값을 기준으로 뒤따르는 광고 소재의 PCR / DTS / PTS 값을 아래와 같이 보정할 수 있으며, 그 보정 결과는 예컨대, 도 19에서와 같이 확인될 수 있다.At this time, in order to provide continuity between advertisement materials, PCR / DTS / PTS value connection between advertisement materials with different encoding times is required.

), the PCR / DTS / PTS value of the following advertising material can be corrected as follows based on the last PCR value of the previous advertising material, and the correction result can be confirmed, for example, as in FIG. 19 .

In addition, the insertion unit 440 may apply a method of inserting a dummy packet between advertisement materials to ensure continuity of CC (Continuity Counter) values for each PID (Packet Identifier) in relation to the continuity of advertisement materials. have.

Here, the dummy packet sets all bit streams on the real data payload in the MPEG2-TS packet to (0xFF), except for the CC (Continuity Counter) value, and thus does not have any effect on decoding.

)와 값은 모두 동일하다고 가정하면, 다음 단계 1 내지 단계 5의 과정을 통해 예컨대, 도 20에서와 같이 광고 소재 사이에 더미(Dummy) 패킷을 삽입할 수 있다.For example, the total number of PIDs of all creatives (

) and the values are all the same, a dummy packet may be inserted between advertisement materials through the process of steps 1 to 5, for example, as shown in FIG. 20 .

Step 1: Initialization Step

는

번 광고 소재 상

번째 PID와 관련하여 삽입할 더미 패킷 리스트를 나타내며,

는

번 광고 소재 상

번째 PID와 관련하여 마지막 CC(Continuity Counter) 값을 나타낸다.At this stage,

Is

creative creative award

Represents a list of dummy packets to be inserted in relation to the second PID,

Is

creative creative award

It indicates the last CC (Continuity Counter) value in relation to the second PID.

Step 2: Check CC Continuity

는

번 광고 소재 상

PID와 관련하여 첫 번째 CC(Continuity Counter) 값을 나타낸다.here,

Is

creative creative award

It indicates the first CC (Continuity Counter) value in relation to the PID.

을

로 설정하고 이어질 단계 3을 진행하며, 만약 동일하다면 이어질 단계 4를 진행한다.If the results of the CC continuity check made in this step are not the same,

second

set to and proceed to the next step 3, if it is the same, proceed to the next step 4.

Step 3: Create Dummy Packets

값으로 설정한 더미(Dummy) 패킷인

을 생성하고, 패킷을

에 포함시키게 된다.In this step, the CC (Continuity Counter) value

A dummy packet set to a value

create a packet

will be included in

After step 3, the process returns to step 2 described above.

Step 4: Insert Dummy Packets

번 광고 소재와

번 광고 소재 사이에

에 포함된 더미(Dummy) 패킷을 삽입한다.At this stage,

with creatives

between creatives

Insert a dummy packet included in .

Step 5: Repeat by PID

In this step, the above steps 1 to 4 are repeated for all PIDs.

를 1증가시킨 후,

이면, 단계 1로 되돌아 간다.in other words,

After increasing by 1,

If yes, go back to step 1.

In summary, the inserter 440 generates a dummy packet set with a CC value missing from each PID to ensure continuity of CC (Continuity Counter) values for each PID (Packet Identifier) and inserts it between advertisement materials. , when the value of CC (Continuity Counter) is discontinuous in relation to a specific PID, it is possible to prevent recognition of this as a continuity error.

On the other hand, in another embodiment of the present invention, a procedure of inserting an advertisement material in the playback section of the reference stream is performed through a method of changing the counting value of the playback timing information checked for the reference stream, which is the set-top box 400 ), it is assumed that a real-time broadcast player for reproducing a reference stream and an advertisement play for reproducing advertisement materials are configured as one player.

In this regard, for example, when the real-time broadcast player (a) and the advertisement play (b) in the set-top box 400 exist in separate configurations, as shown in FIG. 21 , the playback timing information checked for the reference stream is The method of changing the counting value, but not the method of inserting the advertisement material into the reference stream, but the method of switching the broadcast player (a) and the advertisement player (b) to deliver the screen to the display 500 according to the counting value of the playback timing information Of course, it can be applied.

As described above, according to the configuration of the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention, when an advertisement material is inserted in the playback section of the reference stream, the multimedia encoding property of the advertisement material is matched with the reference stream, and the advertisement By changing the counting start value of the playback timing information set in the material to a value adjacent to the counting value of the playback timing information checked for the reference stream, the advertisement material can be seamlessly connected to the playback section of the reference stream.

In addition, according to the configuration of the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention, when two or more advertisement materials are inserted, continuous CCs can be ensured to ensure continuity of CC (Continuity Counter) values for each PID (Packet Identifier). By creating a dummy packet with a (Continuity Counter) value set and inserting it between advertisement materials, continuity can be ensured in switching between advertisement materials.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 22 , a description of an operating method of the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be continued.

First, when there is an advertisement material to be inserted in the playback section of the reference stream, which is the transport stream of real-time IPTV program content, the check unit 410 checks the multimedia encoding property of the reference stream (S210).

In this case, the multimedia encoding property checked for the reference stream may include a video codec and its resolution (eg, 720P, 1080P, H264, H265, etc.), an audio codec, and the number of audios (eg, AC3, AAC). .

Then, when the multimedia encoding property for the reference stream is checked, the selection unit 430 selects an advertisement material that matches the multimedia encoding property of the checked reference stream (S220-S230).

In this case, the selection unit 430 may select a specific candidate advertisement material having the multimedia encoding property confirmed for the reference stream from among the candidate advertisement materials generated by encoding the same video and audio with respective multimedia encoding properties.

Meanwhile, in relation to this, when there is an advertisement material to be inserted in the playback section of the reference stream, the generation unit 420 includes the same image and audio corresponding to the advertisement material for each type of multimedia encoding property that can be processed for the reference stream. Can create and deliver candidate creatives encoded with each multimedia encoding property.

For reference, these candidate advertisement materials may be transmitted between the generation unit 420 and the selection unit 430 in the form of a single stream based on a Multiple Program Transport Stream (MPTS) technology.

In this way, selecting the advertisement material matching the encoding property of the reference stream is a method of matching the multimedia encoding property of the reference stream and the advertisement material to the set-top box when the multimedia encoding properties between the reference stream and the inserted advertisement are different from each other. This is to prevent an additional procedure such as a decoding method change occurring in step 400 .

Thereafter, when the multimedia encoding property between the reference stream and the advertisement material is matched, the inserter 440 inserts the advertisement material matching the reference stream and the multimedia encoding property into the playback section of the reference stream and transmits it to the display 500 . (S240-S270).

At this time, the inserter 440 changes the counting value of the playback timing information set in the advertisement material to support playback in the set-top box 400 based on the reference stream, so that the counting start value of the playback timing information is changed. may be inserted into the playback section of the reference stream.

In other words, the insertion unit 440 checks the counting value of the playback timing information in the playback section where the advertisement material is inserted with respect to the reference stream, and determines the counting start value of the playback timing information set in the advertisement material for the reference stream. The reference stream and the reference stream are reproduced in the set-top box 400 that reproduces the counting value of the playback timing information consecutively between the reference stream and the advertisement by changing it to a value adjacent to the counting value of the playback timing information. The advertisement material inserted in the section can be recognized as one material.

In this way, changing the counting start value of the playback timing information of the advertising material to a value adjacent to the counting value of the playback timing information identified for the reference stream means that the counting start value of the playback timing information set in the advertising material is random compared to the reference stream. This is to prevent a delay in continuous playback due to additional procedures such as reset (RESET) and PCR setting for material change in the case of having one starting value.

On the other hand, in order to ensure continuity between the advertisements when two or more advertisement materials are inserted in the reference stream, the insertion unit 440 sets the start value of the playback timing information set for each advertisement material based on the previous advertisement material adjacent to it. can be changed to have continuous counting values.

In addition, the inserter 440 generates a dummy packet set to a CC value missing from each PID to ensure continuity of CC (Continuity Counter) values for each PID (Packet Identifier) and inserts it between each advertisement material. , when the value of the CC (Continuity Counter) is discontinuous in relation to a specific PID, it is possible to prevent the set-top box 400 from recognizing this as a continuity error.

As described above, according to the method of operation of the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention, when an advertisement material is inserted in the playback section of the reference stream, the multimedia encoding property of the advertisement material is matched with the reference stream, By changing the counting start value of the playback timing information set in the advertisement material to a value adjacent to the counting value of the playback timing information checked for the reference stream, the advertisement material can be seamlessly connected to the playback section of the reference stream.

In addition, according to the method of operation of the set-top box 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention, when two or more advertisement materials are inserted, the continuity of CC (Continuity Counter) values for each PID (Packet Identifier) can be ensured. By creating a dummy packet with a CC (Continuity Counter) value set and inserting it between advertisement materials, continuity can be ensured in switching between advertisement materials.

On the other hand, the steps of the method or algorithm described in relation to the embodiments presented herein may be directly implemented in hardware or may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic such as floppy disks. - includes magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine language codes such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware devices described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to carry out the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments so far, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and without departing from the gist of the present invention as claimed in the following claims, the technical field to which the present invention pertains It will be said that the technical idea of the present invention extends to a range where various modifications or modifications can be made by anyone with ordinary knowledge in the present invention.

According to the set-top box and its operating method according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to support seamless continuous playback between real-time IPTV program content on an IPTV service and an advertisement material inserted in an advertisement playback section within real-time IPTV program content. In this regard, as it goes beyond the limits of existing technologies, the possibility of marketing or business of the applied device, not just the use of the related technology, is sufficient, and it is an invention with industrial applicability because it can be clearly implemented in reality.

100: IPTV headend
200: backend ad server
300: set-top box
310: identification unit 320: generation unit
330: transition unit

Claims (15)

a generation unit that extracts a basic stream of an advertisement material based on the encoding method used for the real-time IPTV program content and generates advertisement content matching the composition of the real-time IPTV program content; and
a conversion unit for converting the real-time IPTV program content into the advertisement content for an advertisement reproduction section identified as at least a part of the reproduction section of the real-time IPTV program content;
The advertising material is
It includes a plurality of elementary streams in which a plurality of encoding methods usable in the real-time IPTV program content are applied to the same advertising material, respectively,
The generating unit,
and generating the advertisement content by extracting an elementary stream to which the same encoding method as in the real-time IPTV program content is applied from among the plurality of elementary streams. The method of claim 1,
The set-top box is
and an identification unit for identifying an advertisement reproduction section according to a digital queuing signal included in the real-time IPTV program content and received;
The identification unit,
The set-top box, characterized in that the advertisement playback section is identified from a cue-out packet indicating an advertisement start time in the digital queuing signal and a cue-in packet indicating an advertisement end time. The method of claim 1,
The generating unit,
and generating the advertisement content by extracting elementary streams to which the same encoding method as in the real-time IPTV program content is applied, from among the plurality of elementary streams, as many as the number of elementary streams in the real-time IPTV program content. The method of claim 1,
The advertisement playback section is
at least one of a first conversion section in which the real-time IPTV program content is converted to the advertisement content, a second conversion section in which the advertisement content is switched, and a third conversion section in which the advertisement content is converted to the real-time IPTV program content includes a section,
The conversion unit,
The set-top box, characterized in that in relation to the continuous playback of the content in the at least one conversion section, adjusting a property of the basic stream of the advertisement content. The method of claim 1,
The conversion unit,
A packet associated with a Program Association Table (PAT) and a Program Map Table (PMT) in the advertisement content is replaced with the same packet as the real-time IPTV program content,
The set-top box, characterized in that the PID (Packet IDentifier) of the elementary stream of the advertisement content is changed to be the same as the PID of the real-time IPTV program content. The method of claim 1,
The conversion unit,
PCR, Decoding Time Stamp (DTS), and Presentation Time (PTS) based on the last Program Clock Reference (PCR) counting value of the content reproduced at the previous time for each of the at least one advertisement content that is converted in the advertisement playback section Stamp) A set-top box, characterized in that it changes each counting value to increase to consecutive neighboring values. The method of claim 1,
The conversion unit,
In relation to at least one advertisement content that is converted in the advertisement playback section, a dummy packet in which a CC (Continuity Counter) value that is missing for each PID (Packet Identifier) is inserted between each content. set top box. a generating step of extracting a basic stream of an advertisement material based on the encoding method used for the real-time IPTV program content and generating advertisement content matching the composition of the real-time IPTV program content; and
a conversion step of converting the real-time IPTV program content into the advertisement content for an advertisement reproduction section identified as at least a part of the reproduction section of the real-time IPTV program content;
The advertising material is
It includes a plurality of elementary streams in which a plurality of encoding methods usable in the real-time IPTV program content are applied to the same advertising material, respectively,
The creation step is
and generating the advertisement content by extracting an elementary stream to which the same encoding method as in the real-time IPTV program content is applied from among the plurality of elementary streams. 9. The method of claim 8,
The method is
An identification step of identifying an advertisement reproduction section according to a digital queuing signal included in the real-time IPTV program content and received;
The identification step is
Operation of a set-top box, characterized in that the advertisement playback section is identified from a cue-out packet indicating an advertisement start time in the digital queuing signal and a cue-in packet indicating an advertisement end time Way. 9. The method of claim 8,
The creation step is
The method of operating a set-top box, characterized in that the advertisement content is generated by extracting the same number of elementary streams as the number of elementary streams in the real-time IPTV program content from among the plurality of elementary streams. . 9. The method of claim 8,
The advertisement playback section is
at least one of a first conversion section in which the real-time IPTV program content is converted to the advertisement content, a second conversion section in which the advertisement content is switched, and a third conversion section in which the advertisement content is converted to the real-time IPTV program content includes a section,
The conversion step is
In relation to the continuous reproduction of content in the at least one conversion section, the method of operating a set-top box, characterized in that the property is adjusted with respect to the elementary stream of the advertisement content. 9. The method of claim 8,
The conversion step is
A packet associated with a Program Association Table (PAT) and a Program Map Table (PMT) in the advertisement content is replaced with the same packet as the real-time IPTV program content,
The method of operating a set-top box, characterized in that the PID (Packet IDentifier) of the elementary stream of the advertisement content is changed to be the same as the PID of the real-time IPTV program content. 9. The method of claim 8,
The conversion step is
PCR, Decoding Time Stamp (DTS), and Presentation Time (PTS) based on the last Program Clock Reference (PCR) counting value of the content reproduced at the previous time for each of the at least one advertisement content that is converted in the advertisement playback section Stamp) A method of operating a set-top box, characterized in that it changes each counting value to increase to a successive neighboring value. 9. The method of claim 8,
The conversion step is
In relation to at least one advertisement content that is converted in the advertisement playback section, a dummy packet in which a CC (Continuity Counter) value that is missing for each PID (Packet Identifier) is inserted between each content. How a set-top box works. A computer-readable medium recording a program for executing each step performed in the method of any one of claims 8 to 14.

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