Decoding of digital data including program specific information

A method for decoding a program representative packetized datastream incorporating program specific information (PSI) suitable for use in recovering data content of said program, comprising the steps of:

• identifying PSI data packets in said datastream;
• examining identified PSI data for an error indicating potential corruption of said identified PSI data;
• identifying program content packets using said identified PSI data;
• assembling packets representing default program content into a decoded datastream in response to said error;
• and
• assembling said program content packets into said decoded datastream using said identified PSI data.

A method for processing a program representative packetized datastream incorporating program specific information (PSI) suitable for use in recovering data content of said program, said datastream including a control parameter indicating whether current PSI is valid for decoding data content of said program, comprising the steps of:

• examining said control parameter;
• identifying program content packets using said current PSI in response to a valid indication provided by said control parameter;
• assembling said program content packets into an output datastream using said current PSI in response to said valid indication;
• and
• assembling packets representing default program content into said output datastream, in response to an invalid indication provided by said control parameter.