Real-time DVB-MHP to Blu-ray system information transcoding

Abstract

The demand for interactive TV services is rapidly increasing. Most of the interactive TV systems are based on the DVB-MHP (digital video broadcast - multimedia home platform) format. Given the unprecedented success of DVD technology and its already established installed base, it is definitely in the interest of manufactures and end-users to be able to play back DVB-MHP iTV content using a Blu-ray player. This study addresses how such programs could be played by the Blu-ray in real-time. One of the main challenges in realizing this compatibility is the conversion of the system information data. These data carry the information about the broadcasting programs and services. This paper first analyzes the differences in information between the two standards, DVB-MHP and Blu-ray; mainly the information each standard requires, where this information is stored, and how it is organized. We then propose methods to transcode this information in real-time. To derive the data required to generate the Blu-ray information from a transport stream, we propose a data retrieval scheme that avoids fully demultiplexing a transport stream. To extract the needed information from the DVB-MHP video stream, we propose an efficient search algorithm. Finally, an improved structure that transcodes the incoming information is developed. This transcoder only transcodes the updated versions of the information and at the same time keeps the rate at which this information is transmitted to the Blu-ray the same as that in DVB-MHP.