JP2001186453A - Receiver and reception method for digital broadcast, digital broadcast system and transmission/reception method for digital broadcasting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast system that can store a program in response to preference of users without the need for reserving program storage. SOLUTION: On the receiver side, digital broadcast programs, received in the past are classified according to their contents and records the frequency of reception of each category (S602). Programs belonging to the category with high frequency of reception are extracted among a program guide of digital broadcast programs (S603). Then, the extracted program is automatically reserved and recorded (S605).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system, and more particularly to a system for automatically receiving and storing a specific program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, it is common practice to record and record digital broadcast programs such as television broadcasts on a video device or the like, and then play back and watch them later.

[0003]

However, there is a problem that the user forgets to make a reservation and misses the program he / she wants to watch. In the case of pay broadcasting, so-called descrambling cannot be performed and a program cannot be viewed unless a contract is made in advance, but the contract often takes time.

Accordingly, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a digital broadcast receiving apparatus and method, a digital broadcast system, and a digital broadcast system capable of storing a program according to the user's taste without making a reservation for storing the program. To provide a transmission / reception method.

[0005]

According to the present invention, reception frequency recording means for classifying received digital broadcast programs according to the contents thereof, and recording the reception frequency of each classification, and a digital broadcast program table. Means for storing, and program storage means for storing the digital broadcast program, wherein the program storage means selects a program belonging to the classification having a high reception frequency in the program table, and stores the program. There is provided a digital broadcast receiving apparatus characterized by storing.

In the present invention, there may be provided means for periodically receiving the program table from the digital broadcast transmitting station.

In the present invention, the program storage means may select and store a program belonging to the category related to a reception frequency exceeding a preset threshold value.

Further, in the present invention, the program storage means may select and store a program belonging to a class having a rank exceeding a preset threshold among the classes having a high reception frequency.

Further, in the present invention, means for setting the classification by a user may be provided.

[0010] The present invention may further comprise means for transmitting an instruction for requesting transmission of a predetermined key to the digital broadcasting transmitting station in order to reproduce the pay program stored in the program storing means. it can.

In this case, a means for instructing the financial institution for paying the fee for the pay program through a communication line may be provided.

According to the present invention, the reception frequency recording means can also record the reception frequency during a preset period.

Further, according to the present invention, a reception frequency recording step of classifying received digital broadcast programs according to the contents thereof and recording a reception frequency of each classification, and a step of storing the digital broadcast program table And a program storage step of storing the digital broadcast program.In the program storage step, a program belonging to the category having the higher reception frequency is selected and stored in the program table. A method for receiving a digital broadcast is provided.

In the present invention, a step of transmitting a command for requesting transmission of a predetermined key to the digital broadcast transmitting station in order to reproduce the pay program stored in the program storing step may be included. .

According to the present invention, in order to receive a digital broadcast, a reception frequency recording means for classifying a received digital broadcast program according to the contents thereof and recording a reception frequency of each classification, A storage medium storing a program functioning as a unit for storing a digital broadcast program table, a program storage unit for storing the digital broadcast program, wherein the program storage unit includes There is provided a recording medium characterized by selecting a program belonging to the above-mentioned category with high frequency and storing the selected program.

According to the present invention, the program causes the computer to issue a command for requesting transmission of a predetermined key in order to reproduce a pay program stored in the program storage means.
The program may include a program that functions as a unit that transmits the digital broadcast to a transmitting station.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a digital broadcasting system comprising a transmitting device for transmitting digital broadcasting and a receiving device for receiving digital broadcasting, wherein the receiving device comprises Are classified according to their contents, receiving frequency recording means for recording the receiving frequency of each classification, means for storing the digital broadcast program table,
Program storage means for storing the digital broadcast program, wherein the program storage means selects a program belonging to the category having the higher reception frequency from the program table and stores the selected program. Is provided.

[0018] In the present invention, the transmitting device includes means for periodically transmitting the program table, and the receiving device includes:
Means for receiving the transmitted program guide may be provided.

Further, in the present invention, the receiving device includes means for transmitting a command for requesting transmission of a predetermined key to the transmitting device in order to reproduce the pay program stored in the program storage means. You can also.

In this case, the receiving apparatus may include means for instructing the financial institution acting as a payer for the charge of the pay program via a communication line to make the payment.

Further, in this case, the transmitting apparatus includes means for confirming whether or not the financial institution has been paid for the charge via a communication line, and transmits the key when the payment is made. You can also.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a digital broadcast transmitting / receiving method including a transmitting step of transmitting a digital broadcast and a receiving step of receiving the digital broadcast, wherein the receiving step includes the step of transmitting the received digital broadcast. A program is classified according to its contents, and a reception frequency recording step of recording a reception frequency of each classification, a step of storing the digital broadcast program table, and a program storage step of storing the digital broadcast program are included. In the program storage step, a digital broadcast transmission / reception method is provided, wherein a program belonging to the category having a high reception frequency is selected from the program table and stored.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a network diagram of a digital broadcasting system according to one embodiment of the present invention. This digital broadcasting system mainly distributes images.

This digital broadcasting system includes a broadcasting station 20
1 and each home 202 receiving the broadcast of the broadcast station 201
And financial institutions 207 that settle accounts for paid programs and the like.

First, the roles of the three parties and the flow of information and the like exchanged among the three parties in FIG. 2 will be described.

The broadcasting station 201 includes a transmitting device 203,
A broadcast wave 205 is transmitted through an antenna. This broadcast is a digital broadcast, and images, sounds, and characters are transmitted as digital information.

Each home 202 includes a receiving device 204,
Thus, the radio wave is received, and the contents of the program are reproduced and output. The receiving device 204 is different from a normal television or the like, and is not limited to simply reproducing images and sounds.
1 and transmission / reception of predetermined information through the line 206. The details will be described later.

[0029] The receiving device 204 can record a received program related to radio waves. If the program is a pay program, the fact can be communicated to the broadcasting station 201 through the line 206. When the program is encrypted,
A predetermined key can be sent via broadcast radio waves or the line 206.

The charge for the pay program is paid by debiting the bank account of the financial institution 207 or by using a credit card. In either case, the user can deposit with the financial institution 207 and pay from there. The usage statement is sent from the financial institution 207 to the user. In this case, the exchange can be performed through the line 209. The broadcast station 201 and the financial institution 20
The exchange of information and money for mediating the program billing with the PC 7 can also be performed through the line 208.

Next, the configuration of the receiving device 204 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

In receiving apparatus 204, antenna ANT
The radio wave received by 301 is selected by a tuner TUNR 302, and the received signal is processed by a central processing unit CPU 309 to be displayed on a display DISP 303 or a speaker SP 304.
To be displayed and sound output.

The receiving device 204 includes a hard disk HD 305 for recording a received program and a printer PRNT 306 for printing various information. Receiver 2
The signal in 04 is transmitted via the bus line BL308.

The operation of the receiving device 204, for example, channel selection, character input, various settings, etc., can be performed by the panel PNL310.

The random access memory RAM 311 is
This is for writing and extracting various information. The details will be described later. Read only memory ROM3
12 stores fixed information. Details thereof will be described later.

The receiving device 204 is provided with an individual identification card issued by the broadcasting station 201, a cash card issued by the financial institution 207, or a credit card, and a card input for reading information recorded on the card. An apparatus CARD 313 is provided.

Further, a line 307 for exchanging information with the broadcasting station 201 and the financial institution 207 is provided. Examples of the line 307 include a telephone line and an optical cable.

Next, information stored in the RAM 311 and the ROM 312 will be described. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of FIG.

At the head of the RAM 311, the receiving device 204
ID No., which is an area for recording the identification number of There is 401. This information is read by the CARD 313 from the individual identification card issued by the broadcasting station 201,
01 can be written by the user when a broadcast reception contract is made. From the perspective of the broadcast station 201, all the receiving devices 20
4 must be identified, and is an identification number for that.

Next, there is a work area WORK 402 for temporarily storing values in the operation process and information.

Area VTBL (view table) 403
Is an area for storing a history of programs that the user has viewed in the past. FIG. 1 is an example of the recorded contents of the VTBL 403.

Area RTBL (rank table) 404
Is an area in which programs are recorded in descending order of reception frequency, that is, in descending order of viewing frequency, for each program content classification according to the recorded contents of VTBL. FIG. 7 and FIG.
3 is an example of the recorded contents of the above.

Area EPG (Electronic Program Guide) 40
Reference numeral 5 denotes an area for storing a program table. This program guide can be periodically acquired from the broadcast station 201 via the line 206. FIG. 9 is an example of a program table, and FIG.
It is an example of the structure of the electronic data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the data structure of the ROM 312.

The ROM 211 stores a program area PR in which a program for executing the process of the receiving device 204 is stored.
G501 and a font area FONT502 for storing font patterns such as characters, symbols, and ruled lines for converting the data signals into character patterns when received.

Next, the processing of the digital broadcasting system having the above configuration will be described, focusing on the processing in the receiving apparatus 204. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process in the receiving device 204.

First, the VTBL 403 is viewed from daily program viewing.
Is created (step S6)
01).

The view table can be used for both programs that are directly viewed in real time without recording and programs that have been recorded. In extreme cases, if the television is left on, all programs will be recorded.

The view table is configured, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, and can be configured in a list format from the date and time 101 when the program was broadcast, the title 102 of the program, the genre 103 to which the program belongs, and remarks 104. . These pieces of information are used to convert the data portion included in digital broadcasting into RA data.
Once stored in the work area 402 of M311 and the CPU 30
9 are identified by extracting from them,
Registered in BL403.

Here, for example, in the case of a professional baseball broadcast, the team name can be included in the title 102. This is because if the genre is set to sports or baseball by simply putting in the title 102 only for professional baseball, the favorite team is not known. In other words, the viewer of baseball does not have to do anything with baseball and wants to watch baseball of his favorite team. Such a selection may be set by the user.

The view table can be updated daily, for example, recorded for three months, and deleted after three months or more. That is, the situation of the last three months is recorded. For this recording period,
The setting may be made by the user.

Next, based on the view table, the RTB
A rank table stored in L404 is created or updated (step S602).

The rank table is a table in which the reception frequency of each title recorded in the view table, that is, the number of times of viewing is totaled, and each title is arranged in order of the number of times of viewing.

As shown in FIG. 7, the rank table includes a ranking 701, a title 702, a genre 703, and a number of times 70.
4 can be configured in a list format.

In the example of FIG. 7, the news program has the highest viewing frequency. Next is drama and baseball.

By the way, in the example of FIG. 7, since the baseball games are summarized only in the individual games, the rankings are 3 and 4.
It is as low as 7th and 7th, but there is a possibility that there are many in total. Also, it is not always preferable to keep the title of a movie because it is unlikely that the same movie will be watched many times. In order to understand the tendency, it is preferable to summarize the movie genre. On the other hand, the drama is not necessarily any drama, and is limited to a specific drama. Therefore, the title is preferable here.

In view of the above, this rank table may be re-classified. For example, baseball is organized by team, movies are organized by genre, and dramas are organized by title and ranked. This is shown in the rank table of FIG. In this rank table, ranking 801,
The content 802 and the number of times 803 are re-classified. Content 80
2 is the genre 703 in FIG.
Or 2. The reclassified rank table of FIG. 8 may be used as the final rank table. It should be noted that such a method of re-classifying the rank table and the like may be set by the user as appropriate.

Next, the program table stored in the EPG 405 is searched (step S603). The program guide is sent daily or weekly as described above. Looking at this content,
It is checked whether or not there is a program that matches the higher-order program in the rank table.

At this time, instead of examining all programs in the rank table, it is set in advance such that the programs are ranked in the top ten or the number of times of viewing is 10 or more, and the viewing frequency (reception frequency) is high. Find out about things.

As shown in FIG. 9, the program table is similar to the program table of a newspaper, and includes a title 901, a genre 9
02 etc. As shown in FIG. 10, the program table includes, as electronic data, a channel number 1001, a time zone 1002, a title 1003, a genre 1004,
It is composed of remarks 1005 and stored in the RAM 311.

When a predetermined program in the rank table matches the title or genre in the program table, the program that matches that is reserved (step S604).

The reservation is the same as the conventional video reservation, and the date and time, the channel number and the recording time may be written in a reservation memory (not shown), or a reservation mark may be written in the corresponding data of the EPG 405.

When the reserved time comes, the reserved program is recorded on the hard disk HD 305 (step S60).
5).

As described above, since the program according to the user's taste is automatically recorded, the user does not miss the program that he / she wants to watch even if he forgets to make a recording reservation.

Next, when viewing a recorded program, first, a program desired to be viewed is selected from the PNL 310 (step S606). If the program is a free broadcast program, the user can immediately enjoy the reproduced video (step S
610).

On the other hand, if the program is a pay-broadcast program (step S607), a billing payment process is performed (step S608).

There are various payment methods for billing. For example,
Withdrawal from bank account, payment by credit card, etc. can be mentioned. An instruction to pay a bill to the financial institution 207 can be made via the line 209.

After the billing payment process is completed, usually, the pay program is guarded and cannot be viewed as it is.
To the broadcast station 201 (step S60).
9). Broadcasting station 201 communicates with financial institution 2 via line 208.
07, and confirms whether or not payment has been made. If the bill is paid, the broadcasting station 201 transmits the key to the receiving device 204. The key may be transmitted from a broadcast wave or from the line 206. Through the above process, the recorded program can be reproduced and viewed (step S6).
10).

In this way, even if the recorded program is a pay program, the program can be viewed without complicated procedures.

In the above embodiment, the title table or the genre is used when creating the rank table. However, the information in the remarks column may be used. In the remarks column, for example, the performers of the drama, the singers of the song program, the movie director, and the specific land in the travel program are recorded. Because you can. If the performers of the drama are set as targets for exploring the viewing tendency, it is possible to create a rank table in which a particular performer is ranked higher as shown in FIG. The rank table of FIG. 11 includes a rank 1101, performers 1102, and the number of times 1103.

In the above embodiment, the program is broadcast from the broadcasting station 201 via radio waves. However, an optical cable or other signal transmission means such as via the Internet may be used.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium (or a recording medium) on which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is recorded by using a system or a recording medium. It is needless to say that the present invention is also achieved by supplying the program to the device and causing the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the device to read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the operating system (O / O) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code.
It goes without saying that S) and the like perform part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. , The CPU provided in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing,
It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing is also included.

When the present invention is applied to the recording medium, the recording medium stores, for example, program codes corresponding to the above-described flowchart of FIG.

[0075]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to record a program according to the user's taste without making a reservation for storing the program.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a view table.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a digital broadcasting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a receiving device 204.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data structure of a RAM 311.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of a ROM 312.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process in a receiving device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a rank table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a reclassified rank table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a program table.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a structure of electronic data of a program table.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of the rank table.

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Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A receiving frequency recording means for classifying received digital broadcasting programs according to their contents and recording the receiving frequency of each classification; a means for storing the digital broadcasting program table; And a program storage unit for storing a program belonging to the category having a high reception frequency in the program table, and storing the selected program. Receiver. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for periodically receiving the program table from the digital broadcast transmitting station. 3. The digital program according to claim 1, wherein the program storage unit selects a program belonging to the classification having a reception frequency exceeding a preset threshold and stores the selected program. Broadcast receiver. 4. The program storage device according to claim 1, wherein the program storing unit selects a program belonging to a class having a rank exceeding a preset threshold from the classes having a high reception frequency and stores the selected program. Or the digital broadcast receiving device according to 2. 5. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting the classification by a user. 6. An instruction for requesting transmission of a predetermined key in order to reproduce a pay program stored in said program storage means,
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a unit configured to transmit the digital broadcast to a transmitting station. 7. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the financial institution acting as a payer for the charge of the pay program is provided with means for instructing the payment via a communication line. . 8. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reception frequency recording means records said reception frequency during a preset period. 9. A receiving frequency recording step of classifying received digital broadcasting programs according to their contents and recording a receiving frequency of each classification; a step of storing the digital broadcasting program table; And a program storage step of storing a program belonging to the category having the higher reception frequency in the program table, and storing the selected program. Receiving method. 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting an instruction for requesting transmission of a predetermined key to the digital broadcast transmitting station in order to reproduce the pay program stored in the program storing step. Item 10. A digital broadcast receiving method according to Item 9. 11. A reception frequency recording means for classifying received digital broadcast programs in accordance with the contents thereof and recording a reception frequency of each classification in order to receive the digital broadcast; Means for storing, a program storage means for storing the program of the digital broadcast, a program storage means, a recording medium that stores a program, the program storage means, in the program table, the classification of the high reception frequency A recording medium characterized by selecting a program to which the program belongs and storing the selected program. 12. The program functions as means for transmitting, to a digital broadcasting transmitting station, an instruction for requesting transmission of a predetermined key in order to reproduce a pay program stored in the program storage means. The recording medium according to claim 11, further comprising a program for causing the program to execute. 13. A transmitting device for transmitting a digital broadcast,
A receiving device for receiving a digital broadcast, wherein the receiving device classifies the received digital broadcast program according to its contents, and records a reception frequency of each classification. Means for storing the program table of the digital broadcast; and program storage means for storing the program of the digital broadcast, wherein the program storage means includes, in the program table, the classification having a high reception frequency. A digital broadcast system characterized by selecting a program belonging to the group and storing the selected program. 14. The transmission device according to claim 13, wherein the transmission device includes a unit that periodically transmits the program table, and the reception device includes a unit that receives the transmitted program table. Digital broadcasting system as described. 15. The receiving apparatus further comprises means for transmitting an instruction to request transmission of a predetermined key to the transmitting apparatus in order to reproduce a pay program stored in the program storage means. The digital broadcast system according to claim 13, wherein 16. The receiving apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the receiving apparatus includes means for instructing a financial institution acting as a payer of the fee for the pay program via a communication line to make the payment. Digital broadcasting system. 17. The transmitting device, via a communication line,
17. The digital broadcasting system according to claim 16, further comprising means for confirming whether or not the financial institution has received the payment, and transmitting the key when the payment is made. 18. A transmitting step of transmitting a digital broadcast,
A receiving step of receiving a digital broadcast, wherein the receiving step classifies the received digital broadcast program according to its content, and records a reception frequency of each category. A step of storing the program table of the digital broadcast, and a program storage step of storing the program of the digital broadcast.In the program storage step, in the program table, the reception frequency is high. A digital broadcast transmission / reception method, wherein a program belonging to a category is selected and stored.