
IBM39STB130x0
STB130x0 A/V Transport/Decoders
STB130x0_sds_080900.fm.05
Sept. 7, 2000
Architecture and Subsystem Information
Page 5 of 22
Transport Demultiplexer
The transport demultiplexer performs MPEG-2 transport stream parsing to extract packetized elementary
streams (PES) for the audio and video decoders. It provides a full set of demultiplexing functions, including
synchronization, PID filtering, clock recovery, table section filtering, CRC checking, and data management.
These basic functions are configured by the application and implemented in hardware for improved perfor-
mance and to minimize the impact on the remainder of the system.
The transport demultiplexer is compliant with ISO/IEC 13818-1 system layer standard, and operates at up to
160 Mbps (parallel) or 60 Mbps (serial) maximum continuous input rate.
MPEG-2 Transport Synchronization
The transport demultiplexer accepts either parallel (8-bit) or serial data. It detects the synchronization charac-
ter and establishes transport packet boundaries. In the case of serial input, where only a bit clock is provided,
it also establishes byte alignment. There are input controls for error flagging and to force packet alignment if
already established by a previous device.
PID Filtering
Up to 32 programmable Packet Identifier (PID) values are used to filter the transport stream. The PID filter
associates a 5-bit PID index with each of the 32 entries. Entries in the PID filter can be disabled by writing the
null PID value. PID index 31 is reserved for the video PID, PID index 30 is for the Audio PID. All other values
are defined by the application.
Clock Recovery
The transport demultiplexer assists in recovering the program clock from the transport stream. It extracts Pro-
gram Clock References (PCRs) from the indicated PID, calculates the offset from the current System Time
Clock (STC) value, and compares it against a threshold defined by the application to determine if clock fre-
quency correction is required.
The demultiplexer can either filter the clock difference directly, using a simple hardware algorithm, or it can
provide an interrupt to allow the application to filter the difference. The output of the filter is loaded into a
pulse modulating register, and the serial pulse train output is used to regulate an external Voltage-Controlled
Crystal Oscillator (VCXO) or similar device.
Time Base Changes
When a system time base change occurs in the PCR PID stream, the transport demultiplexer automatically
loads the STC with the new time base value. The first audio and video packets which arrive after the system
time base change are marked. The transport indicates the first data byte following the time base change to
each decoder.
Table Section Filtering
The transport demultiplexer hardware can filter table sections, which reduces the processing load on the
application and minimizes the size of temporary work spaces in system memory.