Unified interfacing for DVB-T/H mobile TV applications

1. A digital video broadcast handheld (DVB-H) receiver comprising:

a transport stream (TS) demultiplexer that extracts internet protocol (IP) datagrams from TS data packets;

a packet identifier (PID) filter that extracts said TS data packets based on the PIDs of said TS data packets;

a Multi Protocol Encapsulation-Forward Error Correction (MPE-FEC) random access memory (RAM) unit operatively connected to said TS demultiplexer, wherein said MPE-FEC RAM unit corrects said IP datagrams and stores the corrected IP datagrams;

a Reed-Solomon decoder operatively connected to said MPE-FEC RAM unit;

an IP to TS encapsulator operatively connected to said MPE-FEC RAM unit, wherein said IP to TS encapsulator converts said corrected IP datagrams to DVB-H TS data packets;

a TS multiplexer operatively connected to each of said PID filter and said IP to TS encapsulator, wherein said TS multiplexer combines both DVB-Terrestrial (DVB-T) and DVB-H TS data packets into a single combined TS data packet; and

a host interface operatively connected to said TS multiplexer.

2. The DVB-H receiver of claim 1 , wherein said MPE-FEC RAM unit collects the extracted IP datagrams.

3. The DVB-H receiver of claim 2 , wherein said RS decoder performs decoding on the collected IP datagrams in order to correct any transmission errors in said IP datagrams.

4. The DVB-H receiver of claim 1 , further comprising a TS interface operatively connected between said TS multiplexer and said host interface.

5. The DVB-H receiver of claim 1 , further comprising an IP interface operatively connected between said TS multiplexer and said host interface.

6. The DVB-H receiver of claim 1 , wherein said host interface comprises any of a host IP interface and a host TS interface.

7. A digital video broadcast handheld (DVB-H) receiver comprising:

a physical layer that receives transport stream (TS) data packets, wherein said TS data packets comprise internet protocol (IP) datagrams;

a packet identifier (PID) filter that extracts said TS data packets based on the PIDs of said TS data packets;

a data link layer that receives said TS data packets, wherein said data link comprises:

a TS demultiplexer that corrects said IP datagrams and stores the corrected IP datagrams;

a Multi Protocol Encapsulation-Forward Error Correction (MPE-FEC) random access memory (RAM) unit operatively connected to said TS demultiplexer;

a Reed-Solomon decoder operatively connected to said MPE-FEC RAM unit; and

an IP to TS encapsulator operatively connected to said MPE-FEC RAM unit, wherein said IP to TS encapsulator converts said corrected IP datagrams to DVB-H TS data packets;

a TS multiplexer operatively connected to each of said PID filter and said IP to TS encapsulator, wherein said TS multiplexer:

receives said DVB-H TS data packets comprising said corrected IP datagrams corrected by said Reed-Solomon decoder; and

combines both DVB-Terrestrial (DVB-T) and DVB-H TS data packets into a single combined TS data packet; and

a host interface operatively connected to said TS multiplexer.

8. The DVB-H receiver of claim 7 , wherein said TS demultiplexer extracts said IP datagrams from said TS packets.

9. The DVB-H receiver of claim 8 , wherein said MPE-FEC RAM unit collects the extracted IP datagrams.

10. The DVB-H receiver of claim 9 , wherein said RS decoder performs decoding on the collected IP datagrams in order to correct any transmission errors in said IP datagrams.

11. The DVB-H receiver of claim 7 , further comprising a TS interface operatively connected between said TS multiplexer and said host interface.

12. The DVB-H receiver of claim 7 , further comprising an IP interface operatively connected between said TS multiplexer and said host interface.

13. The DVB-H receiver of claim 7 , wherein said host interface comprises any of a host IP interface and a host TS interface.

14. A method of transmitting data in a digital video broadcast handheld (DVB-H) receiver, said method comprising:

extracting internet protocol (IP) datagrams from transport stream (TS) data packets;

extracting said TS data packets based on a packet identifier (PID) of said TS data packets;

decoding said IP datagrams in order to correct any transmission errors in said IP datagrams;

converting the corrected IP datagrams to DVB-H TS data packets;

combining both DVB-Terrestrial (DVB-T) and DVB-H TS data packets into a single combined TS data packet; and

transmitting said single combined TS data packet to a host interface.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising transmitting said single combined TS data packet through a TS interface prior to transmission to said host interface.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising transmitting said single combined TS data packet through an IP interface prior to transmission to said host interface.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

dividing said IP datagrams into 184-byte packets;

attaching a 4-byte header at the beginning of each said TS data packet to form a valid TS data packet;

setting a payload unit start indicator bit equal to one for a first data packet and a last data packet of each data burst, wherein the number of IP bytes in said first data packet is 183 bytes;

setting a fifth byte of said first data packet to 0x00;

setting a fifth byte of said last packet to the number of remaining bytes of said data burst; and

appending zeros to an end of said last packet when the number of the remaining bytes is less than 183.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein each header starts with a sync byte equaling 0x47 and comprises a PID equal to an original service PID.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

carrying an integer number of said TS data packets in each of said IP datagrams when said IP datagrams comprise Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) TS data packets; and

removing IP/UDP/RTP headers from each said TS data packet before said TS packets are transmitted through to said host interface.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

removing IP/UDP/RTP headers from each said TS data packet when an IP datagram payload is non-MPEG formatted;

dividing said IP datagram payload into 184-byte data packets comprising a 4-byte header attached thereto; and

transmitting formed TS data packets through to said host interface.