Signaling protocol for satellite direct radio broadcast system

A transmission signal comprising broadcast information for broadcast transmission to remote receivers, said signal comprising a broadcast channel bit stream frame generated by appending a service control header to a service, said service comprising a plurality of service components selected from the group consisting of audio, data, static images, dynamic images, paging signals, text, messages and panographic symbols, said plurality of service components being received and output by said remote receivers when said service is selected, said service control header comprising service control data for dynamically controlling reception of respective ones of said plurality of service components at said remote receivers, said service comprising an overall bit rate of K bits per second, said overall bit rate corresponding to n multiples of a minimum bit rate of L bits per second, said frame period being M seconds, said service having n×L×M=n×P bits per frame, said frame comprising n×P bits for said service and n×Q bits for said service control header, wherein K, n, L, M, P and Q are numerical values, respectively.

A transmission signal comprising broadcast information for broadcast transmission to remote receivers, said signal comprising a broadcast channel bit stream frame generated by appending a service control header to a service, said service having at least one service component selected from the group consisting of digitized audio signals, analog audio signals and analog signals, said service component being digitized if said service component is analog and compressed using source coding selected from a group of coding schemes consisting of Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) coding, MPEG 1, MPEG 2, MPEG 2.5 and MPEG 2.5, layer 3, said service control header comprising service control data for dynamically controlling reception of said service at said remote receivers, said source coding having framing operations which are synchronized with said service control header, said broadcast channel bit stream frame being operable to transmit an MPEG coding frame generated via said source coding as a subframe thereof.

A method of formatting a signal for broadcast transmission to remote receivers comprising the steps of:

• receiving a service comprising at least a first service component selected from the group consisting of audio, data, static images, dynamic images, paging signals, text, messages and panographic symbols;
• and
• generating a broadcast channel bit stream frame by appending a service control header to said service to dynamically control reception of said service at said remote receivers, said service control header comprising service control header data selected from the group consisting of encryption control data, an auxiliary data field that is unrelated to any particular said service in said signal, an auxiliary field content indicator relating to the content of said auxiliary data field, data relating to multiframes in said auxiliary data field when said auxiliary data field is multiplexed, data indicating the number of service components which constitute said frame, and data for dynamically controlling reception of each of said service components at remote receivers.

A transmission signal comprising broadcast information for broadcast transmission to remote receivers, said signal comprising a broadcast channel bit stream frame generated by appending a service control header to a service, said service comprising at least one service component selected from the group consisting of audio, data, static images, dynamic images, paging signals, text, messages and panographic symbols, said service control header comprising service control data for dynamically controlling reception of said service at said remote receivers on a broadcast channel, said service control header comprising service control header data selected from the group consisting of encryption control data, an auxiliary data field that is unrelated to any particular said service in said signal, an auxiliary field content indicator relating to the content of said auxiliary data field, data relating to multiframes in said auxiliary data field when said auxiliary data field is multiplexed, data indicating the number of service components which constitute said broadcast channel bit stream frame, and data for dynamically controlling reception of each of said service components at remote receivers.

A transmission signal comprising broadcast information for broadcast transmission to remote receivers, said signal corresponding to one of a plurality of time division multiplexed downlinks and comprising a plurality of time slots, said time division multiplexed downlink having broadcast channels from at least one broadcast station routed thereto, each of said broadcast channels comprising a plurality of prime rate channels, each of said prime rate channels comprising symbols, said symbols corresponding to said prime rate channels routed to said time division multiplexed downlink being multiplexed in said time slots corresponding thereto to generate a serial, time division multiplexed (TDM) frame bit stream, said TDM frame bit stream comprising a time slot control word to control the recovery of said prime rate channels corresponding to a selected one of said broadcast channels by at least one of said remote receivers, said time slot control word comprising at least one field selected from the group consisting of a broadcast channel identifier type field for indicating a respective one of a plurality of geographic areas of reception for said broadcast channels, a broadcast channel identifier number field, a last prime rate channel flag, a format identifier field, and a broadcast audience field.