Multimedia system for transferring and receiving program number and methods therefor

Abstract

In a multi-media system for transferring and receiving a transport stream (MPEG2-TS) between a receiver and a recording/reproducing device using the IEEE 1394 interface, a program number command of a selected program is transferred from the receiver to the recording/reproducing device during a recording/playback mode, and the recording and playback are controlled by only one input device for the receiver. Therefore, other devices of the multi-media system can be controlled without extra hardware added to the receiver. Further, an on-screen graphic (OSG) is provided by the receiver, resulting in a consistent OSG.

1 - 30 . (canceled)  
   
   
       31 . A multi-media system comprising: 
 an input device for entering program information of intended programs;    a receiver including a first digital interface, for generating a control command based on the program information received from said input device, and for transferring the control command and a multi-program transport stream via said first digital interface; and    a recording/reproducing device including a second digital interface, for decoding the control command transferred from said receiver, and for recording/reproducing the multi-program transport stream transferred from said receiver, corresponding to the program information obtained by decoding the received control command,    wherein the program information comprises a program number of a program in the multi-program transport stream to be recorded or reproduced by the recording/reproducing device, the first digital interface of the receiver and the second digital interface of the recording/reproducing device are linked by an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, the control command is transferred in an asynchronous transfer mode via an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, and the multi-program transport stream is transferred in an isochronous mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable.    
   
   
       32 . The multi-media system of  claim 31 , wherein said input device is a remote controller.  
   
   
       33 . A method for transferring and receiving program information between a receiver with a digital interface for receiving a multi-program transport stream and a recording/reproducing device with a digital interface for recording/reproducing the multi-program transport stream on/from a recording medium, wherein the multi-program transport stream is transferred between the digital interface of the receiver and the digital interface of the recording/reproducing device, the method comprising the steps of: 
 (a) providing program information of an intended program to be recorded; and    (b) generating a program information control command corresponding to the provided program information to transfer the program information control command, from the receiver to the recording/reproducing device; and    (c) transferring the program information control command from the receiver to the recording/reproducing device via the digital interface of the receiver and the digital interface of the recording/reproducing device, wherein the program information comprises a program number of a program in the multi-program transport stream to be recorded or reproduced by the recording/reproducing device, the digital interface of the receiver and the digital interface of the recording/reproducing device are linked by an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, the program information control command is transferred in an asynchronous transfer mode via an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, and the multi-program transport stream is transferred in an isochronous mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable.    
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the step (a) comprises the steps of: 
 (a1) parsing the program guide information from the transport stream;    (a2) displaying the parsed program guide information; and    (a3) providing the program information of the intended program according to the displayed program guide information.    
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the parsed program guide information of step (a2) is displayed on an OSG display.  
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising the steps of: 
 (c) transferring a command for inquiring whether to permit the transfer of the program information of the program recorded in the recording medium, from the receiver to the recording/reproducing device, during a playback mode; and    (d) receiving the program number of the program recorded in the recording medium, from the recording/reproducing device.    
   
   
       37 . A digital audio/video (A/V) device comprising: 
 a receiver having a digital interface, for receiving a transport stream and generating a program information control command based on program information received from a user, and for transferring the control command and a multi-program transport stream via the digital interface, wherein the program information comprises a program number of a program in the multi-program transport stream to be recorded or reproduced, the program number control command is transferred from the digital interface in an asynchronous transfer mode via an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, and the multi-program transport stream is transferred from the digital interface in an isochronous mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable.    
   
   
       38 . A digital audio/video (A/V) recording/reproducing device comprising: 
 a receiver including a digital interface for receiving a multi-program transport stream and a control command transferred from a digital audio/video (A/V) device, decoding the control command and recording/reproducing the multi-program transport stream corresponding to program information of the transport stream obtained by decoding the received control command, wherein the control command comprises a program number of a program in the multi-program transport stream to be recorded or reproduced, the control command is transferred to the digital interface in an asynchronous transfer mode via an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, and the multi-program transport stream is transferred to the digital interface in an isochronous mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable.    
   
   
       39 . A digital audio/video (A/V) device having a receiver for receiving a multi-program transport stream, wherein the receiver comprises: 
 a signal processor for parsing program specific information (PSI) of the received multi-program transport stream and decoding a video signal and an audio signal of an intended program based on the parsed PSI; and    a digital interface for generating a program information control command based on program information input by a user, and transferring the multi-program transport stream and the control command, wherein the program information control command comprises a program number of the intended program in the multi-program transport stream, the control command is transferred from the digital interface in an asynchronous transfer mode via an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, and the multi-program transport stream is transferred from the digital interface in an isochronous mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable.    
   
   
       40 . The device of  claim 39 , further comprising an input device for inputting the program number of an intended program.  
   
   
       41 . The device of  claim 40 , wherein the input device is a remote controller.  
   
   
       42 . The device of  claim 40 , wherein the receiver is connected to at least one recording/reproducing device using the digital interface and the receiver and the recording/reproducing device are controlled by the input device.  
   
   
       43 . The device of  claim 39 , wherein the digital interface generates a command based on the parsed PSI.  
   
   
       44 . The device of  claim 39 , wherein the digital interface comprises an IEEE 1394 interface, the digital interface transfers the transport stream as isochronous packets during an isochronous transfer mode, and transfers the program information as asynchronous packets during an asynchronous transfer mode using a control command set, and the control command set is an audio/video control command and transaction set (AV/C CTS).  
   
   
       45 . A digital audio/video (A/V) recording/reproducing device for recording/reproducing a multi-program transport stream transferred from a digital A/V device, the recording/reproducing device comprising: 
 a digital interface for decoding a program information command transferred from the digital A/V device and for receiving the multi-program transport stream being transferred from the digital A/V device; and    a signal processor for extracting an intended program from the multi-program transport stream received by the digital interface, based on the program information command, and for recording the extracted result on recording media during a recording mode, and for outputting a reproduced transport stream to the digital interface during a playback mode, wherein the program information command comprises a program number of a program in the multi-program transport stream, the program information command is transferred to the digital interface in an asynchronous transfer mode via an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, and the multi-program transport stream is transferred to the digital interface in an isochronous mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable.    
   
   
       46 . The device of  claim 45 , wherein the signal processor further comprises an on-screen graphic (OSG) generator for displaying the PSI of a transport stream being received on an OSG display.  
   
   
       47 . The device of  claim 46 , wherein the OSG generator mixes the PSI with a graphic signal of a background screen to be output to the OSG display.  
   
   
       48 . The device of  claim 47 , wherein the OSG generator mixes the program guide information with the decoded video signal to be output to the OSG display.  
   
   
       49 . The device of  claim 45 , wherein the signal processor further comprises an on-screen display (OSD) generator for displaying the program guide information of a transport stream being received on an OSD display.  
   
   
       50 . The device of  claim 46 , wherein the signal processor does not, in itself, parse the program guide information from a transport stream being received via the digital interface.  
   
   
       51 . A method for transferring and receiving program information between a receiver with a digital interface for receiving a multi-program transport stream and a recording/reproducing device with a digital interface for recording/reproducing the multi-program transport stream on/from a recording medium, the method comprising the steps of: 
 (a) receiving program information of an intended program to be recorded or reproduced; and    (b) generating a command corresponding to the program information input for transferring the program information command to the recording/reproducing device; and    (c) transferring the command from the receiver to the recording/reproducing device via the digital interface of the receiver and the digital interface of the recording/reproducing device, wherein the program information comprises a program number of a program in the multi-program transport stream to be recorded or reproduced by the recording/reproducing device, the digital interface of the receiver and the digital interface of the recording/reproducing device are linked by an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, the command is transferred in an asynchronous transfer mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, and the multi-program transport stream is transferred in an isochronous mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable.    
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein the step (a) comprises the steps of: 
 (a1) parsing the program guide information from the transport stream;    (a2) displaying the parsed program guide information; and    (a3) inputting the program information of the intended program according to the displayed program guide information.    
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein in the step (a2), the parsed program guide information is displayed on an OSG display.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 51 , further comprising the steps of: 
 (c) transferring a command for inquiring as to whether to permit the transfer of the program information of the program recorded in the recording medium, from the receiver to the recording/reproducing device, during a playback mode; and    (d) receiving the program information of the program recorded in the recording medium, from the recording/reproducing device.    
   
   
       55 . A digital audio/video (A/V) recording/reproducing device comprising: 
 a receiver including a digital interface for receiving a multi-program transport stream and a program information control command transferred from a digital A/V device, and recording/reproducing program information of the multi-program transport stream corresponding to the program information control command, wherein the program information control command comprises a program number of a program in the multi-program transport stream to be recorded or reproduced by the recording/reproducing device, the digital A/V device and the recording/reproducing device are linked by an IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, the program information control command is transferred to the digital interface in an asynchronous transfer mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, and the multi-program transport stream is transferred to the digital interface in an isochronous mode via the IEEE 1394 serial bus cable.