Abstract: Networks, particularly home networks, may be implemented using peer-to-peer technology. To relieve the user from administrative tasks, some configuration routines for such networks may be automated. Therefore a peer-group selects one of its peers as negotiation peer, having the task to communicate with single other peers or negotiation peers from other peer-groups. When adding or removing single peers, or merging or splitting peer-groups, the group label is usually modified. But it may be advantageous to keep the group label, especially if that label is known to other peer-groups. If a new peer-group in a peer-to-peer network is created by merging or splitting other peer-groups, a method for selecting a group label for the new peer-group comprises determining a negotiation peer, exchanging information between the negotiation peers in the case of merging, comparing features of the two peer-groups and based on the comparison assigning the label of one of the peer-groups to the new peer-group.

Abstract: The DVD Stream Recording standard defines application packets as the logically smallest units created from the input data stream during recording. Usually the conversion from a point on the time axis to a corresponding application packet is realised by using a mapping list available in the navigation data. However, depending on the target time and a Stream Object selected, the match found can vary significantly. The invention allows editing a recorded stream of application packets with higher precision. The stream comprises at least a first application packet having a first arrival time stamp and a subsequent second application packet having a second arrival time stamp. For editing the recorded stream a discrete time is input that is a start time or an end time and has a value between the first arrival time stamp and the second arrival time stamp. The discrete time is mapped onto the first or the second arrival time stamp, and the recorded stream is edited correspondingly.

Abstract: A method for storing additional data relating to menu data, particularly to thumbnail pictures, on optical media, e.g. Blu-ray discs, complies with the current standard for Blu-ray rewritable discs, which allows storage of content management information, e.g. thumbnail picture data, on dedicated locations on the disc. The method includes using relevant standardized files on the disc and relevant standardized parameters for accessing the data. In particular, the remaining part at the end of a data block within the thumbnail data file is used for storing additional data relating to the corresponding thumbnail picture data. The additional data can be used e.g. for further menu processing, or any form of content management.

Abstract: The method for editing a data stream on a DVD stream recorder includes: receiving the data stream by the DVD stream recorder, storing stream object files, parsing the stream object files, identifying logical sections based on the result of the parsing, displaying the logical sections to a user and editing the stream object files. This method can be implemented in a DVD stream recorder. It allows a user to conveniently edit received DVD real-time image data.

Abstract: The invention relates to assigning a first absolute time value to an entry point, the entry point being located at a first position in a data stream sequence, the data stream having data packets with relative time stamps. A second absolute time value is provided for a second position of the data stream sequence. The absolute time value is determined for the entry point based on the second absolute time value and the relative time stamps of data packets between the first and second positions.

Abstract: This invention deals with an architecture for a multimedia peer-to-peer home network which allows the simple definition of peer groups, or zones, where each peer is capable of automatically identifying whether other peers are members of the same group, or of another group, by using group labels, and where each peer may freely cooperate with the other peers of the same group, or with peers of previously specified other groups, e.g. exchange information or share resources. The architecture aims to map an atmosphere of trust existing between users to a technical system, namely their respective home networks.

Abstract: An architecture for a multimedia peer-to-peer home network allows the automated definition of peer groups, or zones, by using group labels, where each peer is capable of automatically identifying whether other peers are members of the same group, or of another group, and where each peer may freely cooperate with other peers of the same group, e.g. exchange information or share resources like storage capacity. Using this architecture, it is e.g. possible that a user who is accessing a node within a peer group has also access to any other node of the peer group, without being requested for authentication. Another characteristic is that other peer groups can be defined which have access rights to network resources and services. Advantageously, the invention simplifies network creation and operation by not requiring the user to have special networking knowledge.

Abstract: In DVD Stream Recording Stream Object Units (SOBU) are real-time recorded (STR), wherein such fixed-length Stream Object Units serve as a container for Application Packets (AP_PKT) that have a variable length and carry payload data and an Application Time Stamp (ATS), this timestamp enabling proper real-time playback. In case the temporal distance between two succeeding application packets is too big, stuffing data (STPCK) must be inserted into the corresponding Stream Object Units. The real-time stuffing control is performed such that overflow of the input buffer (TSBS) is avoided in case of a specific kind of input signals.

Abstract: DVD Rewritable/Re-recordable discs will be used for recording and playing back digital bitstreams, for example MPEG data packets. To enable proper real-time playback of stored MPEG transport packets, a time information is to be added to every data packet to be recorded. A DVD streamer is connected to the application device via an interface, e.g. IEEE 1394. The interface internally uses timestamps having a special format. According to the invention, such interface-generated timestamps are also used for the DVD stream recording, instead of additionally generated independent streamer-specific timestamps. However, a timestamp format conversion is to be carried out because the DVD Streamer timestamp format is different from the IEEE 1394 timestamp format. For such timestamp format conversion differences between consecutive IEEE 1394 timestamps are determined and are used for calculating the DVD stream recording timestamps.

Abstract: The present invention relates to propagation of metadata items 5 to recording media 1, 2 and/or to devices 3, 4 for reading from and/or writing to recording media.

Abstract: The handling of large amounts of data on storing media shall be simplified. Therefore, a method for maintaining a storage media by generating, editing or reading log data related to the content and usage of a data item stored or to be stored on a storage medium is provided. Data items are deleted or recommendations for deletion are provided on the basis of the log data from the storage medium. Thus, the user is relieved from the unpleasant and time-consuming task of deleting data items from recording media.

Abstract: Coarse symbol synchronization is carried out during reception, for tuning, the signal being correlated in the time domain with various copies of itself which are shifted in time and correspond to the possible transmission modes. The present mode, the present guard interval and a sampling window are derived from this.

Abstract: MPEG2 data streams contain data packets for a set of programs and time stamps for data synchronization purposes. An MPEG2 transport stream is assembled of fixed-length transport packets. The received transport packets of at least one specific program of this set of programs can be stored using for example a DVD Streamer recorder or DVD-RAM recorder. For the real-time playback of recorded specific program data packets each packet needs a separate time stamp. For that reason a timestamp is to be captured for each data packet at recording time. However, capturing of timestamps from a transport stream is a very time consuming action in software implementation processing. Therefore transport stream timestamps are captured for every Nth packet only and the missing timestamps are calculated. Thereby software-processing time is saved for generating the timestamps required for real-time bitstream recording.

Abstract: A problem in the reception of terrestrially transmitted digital multicarrier broadcast signals is synchronization in case a receiver is switched on or tuned to another channel. The time required by the receiver to reach a given tuning frequency with adequate accuracy and to determine that the currently received signal is not a system-compliant signal is reduced significantly if a characteristic value calculated from correlation values between a windowed and FFT transformed section of the received signal and a reference symbol stored in the receiver does not exceed a pre-defined threshold. In such case the receiver can go ahead to the next tuning frequency. If, however, the characteristic value exceeds that threshold, then a system-compliant signal is found, even with an offset. The multicarrier signal will be further decoded in the normal way. Such conformity check can also be carried out in the subsequent normal reception mode.