ESG Fragment Completeness Determination via Descriptor Comparison

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Solution Overview

Problem

Subscriber terminals in broadcast communication networks lack efficient methods to identify the content and organization of Electronic Service Guide (ESG) fragments, leading to resource wastage due to redundant data storage and inefficient data retrieval.

Innovation Solution

A method and system where ESG fragments are transmitted with descriptors in separate channels, allowing receivers to compare these descriptors with stored information to determine the completeness and organization of the service guide, enabling optimized data retrieval by filtering out redundant data and updating stored fragments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If ESG fragments are transmitted without content identification information, then transmission simplicity is maintained, but terminal resources are wasted due to redundant data storage

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetransmission simplicityVSAvoidterminal resource wastage
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by including identification information (such as fragment ID, version number, or checksum) within the ESG fragment structure before transmission. This allows the terminal to pre-evaluate whether to store the fragment based on the identification info without fully processing the content, thereby avoiding resource wastage while maintaining transmission simplicity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where identification information acts as a mediator between the ESG fragment and the terminal's storage decision. This intermediary layer (identification information) enables the terminal to make informed storage decisions without requiring complex content analysis, thus preventing resource wastage while keeping the transmission system simple.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If the terminal stores all received ESG fragments, then data completeness is ensured, but storage resources are consumed by redundant data

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata completenessVSAvoidstorage resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements feedback by using identification information (such as fragment counters or version numbers) to provide feedback to the terminal about whether a fragment is new or duplicate. This feedback mechanism enables the terminal to store only necessary fragments while maintaining data completeness, thereby reducing storage resource consumption.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies self-service by enabling the terminal to autonomously determine which ESG fragments to store based on the identification information. The terminal independently compares received fragment identifiers with previously stored ones and makes storage decisions without external intervention, thus avoiding redundant storage while ensuring data completeness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Measurement precision

If the terminal reads and compares entire ESG fragment content to identify duplicates, then accurate identification is achieved, but processing time is increased

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefragment identification accuracyVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the essential identification information (such as fragment ID, version number, or checksum) from the ESG fragment content and uses this extracted information for duplicate detection. By taking out only the necessary identification fields rather than processing the entire fragment content, the system achieves accurate fragment identification with significantly reduced processing time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the ESG fragment into two parts: identification information (for quick comparison) and content data (for actual service delivery). By segmenting the fragment structure, the terminal can quickly compare only the identification segments to determine duplicates, avoiding the time-consuming process of reading and comparing entire content while maintaining identification accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

4Ease of operation

If descriptors are transmitted in separate channels from ESG fragments, then data organization is improved, but channel complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata organizationVSAvoidchannel structure
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the transmission of descriptors and ESG fragments into a unified structure where identification information is embedded within the fragment header or accompanied by descriptor elements in the same transmission stream. This merging approach maintains good data organization for terminal processing while avoiding the complexity of separate channel structures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP1922866B1Method to determine the completeness of a service guide
Publication Date: 2018.09.19 NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY
  • EP1922866B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP1922866B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP1922866B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Provided are apparatuses and methods in a digital broadcast transmission system for deducing the contents or topology of an ESG fragment, transport object, container or session. In one example, descriptors may be transmitted on a first channel that may correspond to ESG fragments transmitted on a second channel. The first and second channel can be received at a subscriber terminal. The subscriber terminal may thus be apprised of the topology of the ESG fragments to minimize the amount of information the subscriber terminal needs to receive. This provides an optimized overall retrieval of the ESG fragments.