Digital Broadcast Receiver Switching Time and Energy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional digital broadcast receivers experience slow switching times due to the need for parallel processing of multiple broadcast services, leading to high energy consumption and reduced user experience compared to analog systems.
Innovation Solution
A digital broadcast receiver design that includes a first receiving module for a foreground service, multiple decoder modules for both foreground and background services, and a control unit to manage switching between them, allowing for efficient selection and processing of broadcast services by determining background services based on predefined rules and user input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If parallel processing of multiple broadcast services is implemented, then switching time between services is reduced, but energy consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-loads and buffers program information for multiple broadcast services in advance, so that when a service switch is requested, the data is already available in memory. This eliminates the need for real-time parallel processing during switching, reducing energy consumption while maintaining fast switching performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the number of parallel reception paths and processing resources based on current operational needs. Instead of maintaining fixed parallel processing for all services, the system activates additional processing paths only when necessary, optimizing the balance between switching speed and energy consumption.
2Loss of time
If parallel processing of multiple broadcast services is implemented, then switching time between services is reduced, but computing effort increases immensely
Solution Approach 1:
Program information is extracted and buffered in advance during idle periods or low-usage times, preparing data before it is needed. This preliminary action reduces the computing load during actual switching operations, as the data is already processed and ready for output.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates and maintains copies of program information in buffer memory for multiple services simultaneously. These pre-copied data sets can be quickly switched between without requiring real-time processing, reducing the instantaneous computing effort needed during service transitions.
3Speed
If all available broadcast services are processed in parallel, then switching behavior becomes fast, but a very large amount of energy is required
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of processing all available broadcast services in parallel, the system processes only a subset of services that are most likely to be switched to next. This partial processing approach provides sufficiently fast switching behavior for common cases while significantly reducing the energy consumption compared to full parallel processing of all services.
Data Source
AI summary
A digital broadcast receiver includes a first receiving module tunable to a foreground broadcast service to extract a program information, a first decoder module coupled to the first receiving module and decoding the program information, an output module switchably coupled to the first decoder module and adapted to output the program information, at least one second decoder module coupled to the first receiving module and tunable to a background broadcast service to decode a program information associated with the background broadcast service, and a control unit adapted to tune the first receiving module and the first decoder module to the foreground broadcast service and to tune each of the at least one second decoder modules to a background broadcast service. The control unit determines the foreground broadcast service based on a user input and determines the background broadcast services based on the foreground broadcast service and a predefined rule.