JP2002101359A - Digital television broadcast system, transmitter, receiver, portable data terminal and shop terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance visibility of data such as an electronic program guide transmitted from a broadcast program. SOLUTION: Broadcast stations 1-2, 1-3 attach index information 2-1 used for selection on the basis of personal information of a viewer to respective data and transmit the resulting data to a receiver 1-6 of the viewer in the case of broadcasting data such as an electronic program guide 1-5 and an electronic advertising literature 1-4. The index information consists of fixed information 2-2, semi-fixed information 2-3, and variable information (information with validity) 2-4. The receiver selects the received data on the basis of the personal information 5-2 of the viewer and the index information and displays the selected data. Furthermore, the data selected by the receiver are transferred to a portable terminal 1-9 and also transferred again to a shop terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital television broadcasting system, a transmitting device, a receiving device, a portable data terminal, and a store terminal for broadcasting data independent of a video signal and an audio signal constituting a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a digital television broadcasting system for broadcasting data independent of video signals and audio signals constituting a program, electronic program guide (EPG) data as program auxiliary information of the video signal and the video When transmitting data such as news and notices, which are information independent of signals, it is assumed that the data is viewed on the screen of the television receiver. For example, in the case of an electronic program guide, information such as a timetable of a program and performers is created on the broadcast station side, and the user operates the remote control device of the television to call and view the information on a television screen.

[0003]

However, when a user browses a desired program on the electronic program guide, the user must look at the screen at the front of the television and search for it, resulting in poor visibility. There is a problem. For this reason, it is actually faster for the user to perform a channel change operation to "pan" the screen of each channel or to view a printed program guide such as a newspaper. Similarly, it is possible to obtain more advanced information by receiving and browsing data of a more immediate wired system (for example, the Internet) with a personal computer than viewing information such as news and stock prices on a television screen.

In order to solve this problem, a system combining a mobile phone and the Internet is conceivable. However, in this case, the communication cost increases according to the amount of data acquired, so that it is easy to use such as a television broadcast. This is disadvantageous when compared with the economics of browsing without any cost.
Further, the communication cost for searching for necessary data from the vast amount of data existing on the Internet may be higher than the communication cost for receiving desired data.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and is intended to provide a digital television broadcasting system, a transmitting device, a receiving device, and a portable data terminal capable of improving the visibility of data such as an electronic program guide transmitted by broadcasting. The purpose is to provide. Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable data terminal capable of carrying an electronic program guide or the like transmitted by broadcasting. Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable data terminal and a store terminal capable of realizing a sales system using an electronic flyer transmitted by broadcasting.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for selecting a broadcast station based on personal information of a viewer when broadcasting data such as an electronic program guide or an electronic flyer. Is added to individual data and transmitted to the viewer's receiving device. Further, the receiving device selects and displays the data based on the viewer's personal information and index information, transfers the data from the receiving device to the portable data terminal, and further retransmits the data from the portable data terminal to the store terminal. It is intended to be transferred.

That is, according to the present invention, in a digital television broadcasting system for transmitting data independent of a video signal and an audio signal constituting a program from a broadcasting station, the broadcasting station transmits the data based on personal information of a viewer. Index information for selecting and sorting is added to individual data and transmitted to the viewer's receiving device, and the receiving device sorts and displays the data based on the viewer's personal information and the index information. A digital television broadcasting system is provided.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a digital television broadcasting system according to the present invention.

<System Configuration> FIG. 1 shows a system using the broadcasting satellite 1-1. In such a system, the data broadcasting station 1-2 transmits, as transmission data, an electronic flyer 1-4 including an electronic coupon, for example, to a broadcasting satellite 1-.
, And the digital satellite broadcasting station 1-3 transmits the program together with the program as electronic program guide (EPG) 1-
5 is transmitted via the broadcast satellite 1-1. Electronic program guide 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a broadcast date and time of a program, a channel, a broadcast time, and the like. Note that the present invention is not limited to satellite broadcasting,
The present invention can also be applied to terrestrial broadcasting and a system that collectively receives data received from a satellite and distributes the received data via a cable.

The radio wave transmitted via the broadcast satellite 1-1 is received by a home satellite broadcast receiver (STB: set-top box) 1-6, and is transmitted via the STB 1-6 to a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as "STB 1-6"). , Television or receiver) 1-
7, sent to VTR 1-8. Further, data selected by a satellite broadcast receiving device (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a receiving device) 1-6 is transferred to the portable terminal 1-9, and further transferred to the store terminal (to be described in detail later).

<Index information> Broadcast stations 1-2, 1-
2 is packetized, and the format of one packet is composed of index information 2-1 and electronic program guide 1-5 and electronic flyer 1--1 as shown in FIG.
4. It is composed of data strings (characters, images) constituting news and the like. The index information 2-1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the fixed information 2-2 and the semi-fixed information 2-
3 and variable information (information with time limit) 2-4. The fixed information 2-2 is information that does not change depending on the data type, and includes a data creator (or a copyright holder), a broadcaster, a data classification, and the like as shown in FIG. 2C. The data classification is attached to the data in pairs such as the character code of the data, and is used for rough classification.

The semi-fixed information 2-3 is information that is fixed to some extent depending on the content of the data. As shown in FIG. 2D, in the case of the electronic flyer 1-4, an area for limiting an effective area is used. Information, store information, age and gender, and other business information such as restaurants. In the case of the electronic program guide 1-5, the semi-fixed information 2-3 includes a broadcast start time and a broadcast end time of the program, information for classifying the contents of the program, a leading actor, a director name, a scriptwriter, and the like. . As shown in FIG. 2E, the variable information 2-4 includes, in the case of an electronic flyer, a data expiration date such as a selling expiration date,
Limited use conditions such as limited number of products and product purchase conditions,
It consists of data with a long life, such as temporary contacts.

[0013] The semi-fixed information 2-3 and the variable information 2-4 are generally classified according to the behavior when a person views information such as advertisements and news. For example, it is classified into an address, a name, a selling period, a product, a price, a number of products, and the like of a store to be sold. Similarly, the news one week ago has no value as the current news, so its life can be considered as valid data only for a limited period.

The target data can be more easily extracted by classifying the electronic program guide 1-5 using the index information 2-1. That is, the fixed information 2-2
As a semi-fixed information 2
As -3, different data is added each time depending on the broadcast content such as the broadcast start time / broadcast time of the program, information for classifying the content of the program, the leading performer, the name of the director, and the writer. Variable information 2
Since the data expiration date of -4 can be specified by the broadcast start time and broadcast end time of the program, it need not be added.

<Personal Information Extraction> The satellite broadcast receiving apparatus 1-6 shown in FIG. 1 first extracts data required by a viewer based on the index information 2-1.
Learn viewer preferences (attributes). As a learning method,
There are a method of learning interactively using the screen of the television 1-7 and a method of using prescribed data such as batch processing. In the former method, questions such as age and gender as shown in FIG. 3 are displayed on the television screen, and the viewer is made to answer with the remote controller 1-7-1. In the latter case,
The viewer inputs an answer to the questionnaire 4-4 as shown in FIG.
-3, and inserts the IC card 4-3 into the receiving device 1-
6 to be taken into the receiving device 1-6.
As another learning method, any method can be used as long as personal information capable of classifying received data can be input, such as a voice input method.

<Data Extraction Using Index Information>
With reference to FIG. 5, a method of extracting viewer's favorite data (Data) based on index information (Index) and personal information will be described. First, a plurality of received packets are stored in the reception buffer 5-1. When all the received information is displayed on the television screen and is selected by the viewer as in the conventional example, the visibility deteriorates. In the present invention, the information stored in the reception buffer 5-1 is selected and extracted based on the personal information 5-2, and stored in the output buffer 5-4.
This is displayed on the screen of the television 1-7 or the portable terminal 1-9, and the viewer is made to select it.

This processing will be described with reference to FIG. When the process is started in step 6-1, first, the registered personal information 5-2 described above is read and prepared to be used as a keyword for data extraction (step 6-6).
2). Next, the reception data stored in the reception buffer 5-1 is read (step 6-3), and then the step 6-
In step 4, if all the received data has not been processed, the process proceeds to step 6-5, and if it has been processed, the process ends (step 6-9). In step 6-5, the fixed information 2-2 in each received packet is searched based on the personal information, and the received data matching the viewer's preference is extracted. (Data buffer) (step 6-8). Steps 6-6, 6-7
, The semi-fixed information 2-
3. Retrieve the variable information 2-4 based on the personal information 5-2, extract the received data matching the viewer's preference, and store it in the extracted data buffer 5-4 (step 6).
-8).

<Data extraction without using index information> Here, adding the index information 2-1 to the data transmitted from the broadcasting stations 1-2 and 1-3 is performed by the receiving apparatus 1-6 side. Although the selection can be easily performed, even when the data life of the news or the weather forecast is extremely short, or when the broadcast stations 1-2 and 1-3 do not add the index information 2-1. Similar data extraction needs to be performed. Therefore, in the present invention, personal information 5-
2 is automatically extended. For example, FIG.
Instead of searching for the index information 2-1 in Steps 6-5 to 6-7 shown in FIG. 7, the full text of the actually received text data is searched, and the text using the corresponding keyword in the personal information 5-2 is used. An algorithm that selects and displays data is used. However, a simple full-text search cannot always select data desired by a viewer.

Therefore, the present invention solves this problem by automatically learning words to be searched as shown in FIGS. When the process is started in step 7-1, first, the reception data stored in the reception buffer 5-1 is read (step 7-2), and then the viewer needs to read the data while displaying each reception data. The time is measured as the subscription time (steps 7-3, 7-
4). The measurement of the subscription time is performed by the receiving device 1-6 when displaying and subscribing using the receiver 1-7, and by the mobile phone when subscribing after downloading to the portable terminal 1-9. This is performed in the terminal 1-9.

In the following step 7-5, the subscription time per character is determined to absorb the measurement error due to the size of the display data, that is, the data amount. Next, using the subscription time per character, the theoretical subscription time of each data is obtained for all data and stored in the learning buffer (steps 7-6 to 7-8). By using such an algorithm, the subscription time for long data size becomes longer and the subscription time for shorter data size becomes shorter, so it is possible to obtain a pure subscription time instead of a simple subscription time by data size. Become.

Here, when the viewer subscribes to all the data, the theoretical subscription time becomes as close as possible to the actual subscription time even if there is some error, but the viewer skips the data that he is not interested in. In this case, since the theoretical subscription time is longer than the actual subscription time, it can be used as an index for determining whether or not the viewer has actually read the data. FIG. 8 shows in detail the automatic learning process in step 7-9 shown in FIG. 7. In this automatic learning process, learning of personal information is automatically performed using the difference between the theoretical subscription time and the actual subscription time, and the index information is Even when the word is not added, the word is automatically learned and automatically updated to data from which accurate data can be extracted.

When starting in step 8-1 shown in FIG. 8, first, the theoretical subscription time of each data is read from the learning buffer (step 8-2), and then the influence of adjectives and meaningless conjunctions is eliminated from each data. To extract nouns and verbs using a dictionary (step 8-
3 → 8-4). Next, in order to measure the frequency of the extracted words, the two are compared using the difference between the theoretical subscription time and the actual subscription time (step 8-5). Interpreting that it was skipped,
The words are categorized according to the frequency of deletion of words (step 8-7), and conversely, in the case of normal subscription, the words are categorized as frequency of addition of words (step 8-6), and the words are learned. Finally, learning is realized by adding and deleting words (keywords) of personal information according to the frequency. By absorbing individual differences in subscription using the theoretical subscription time in this way, only data desired by the viewer can be extracted as the number of samples increases.

<Display Processing> The apparatus for displaying the extracted data is a receiver 1-7 connected to the receiver 1-6.
In addition, the mobile terminal 1-9 may be used. Mobile terminal 1-9
Is a display panel 9 such as a liquid crystal as shown in FIG.
-2, a direction key 9-3 for pointing the display area of the display panel 9-2, and a selection button 9-4 for deciding the selected content. Direction key 9-3
Instead of and the selection button 9-4, the display panel 9-2 may be configured as a touch panel. The communication between the portable terminal 1-9 and the receiving device 1-6 is not limited to a wired method,
As shown in FIG. 10, bidirectional communication of extraction data such as an electronic program guide, learning data, and control commands is performed without using radio waves or infrared cords.

If browsing of the received data becomes possible not only on the receiver 1-7 but also on the portable terminal 1-9, the portability is greatly improved as compared with the conventional system in which the user browses the display data in front of the receiver 1-7. Therefore, browsing can be performed during commuting or in a place without the receiver 1-7. Further, since data is broadcast free via the broadcasting satellite 1-1 or the like, it is possible to prevent communication costs and connection work from being complicated as compared with the case where a telephone line is used.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the extracted electronic program guide (EPG) screen can be displayed not only on the receiver 1-7 but also on the portable terminal 1-9, so that the
After confirming the desired program in -9), the receiver 1-7 or VT
The reservation of R1-8 is also possible. In addition, the electronic program guide displayed on the receiver 1-7 can select and display only the program required by the viewer on the day by the above-described keyword search or full-text search. 9, the same content can be transferred, so that the viewer can browse the content of the program at an arbitrary place away from the receiver 1-7. Further, since the reservation result can also be stored, it can be used more advancedly than the conventional printed program guide. In addition, since a pay line such as the Internet is not used, the viewer does not need to bear an economic burden.

<Application System> Since the display screen of the portable terminal 1-9 is easy to see and the display data is portable, a system that cannot be obtained by the conventional system can be realized.

<< Shopping System 1 >> Merchandise information and service information are distributed to viewers by broadcast without notice via electronic flyer 1-4.
A required electronic flyer can be selected and extracted based on personal information such as preferences. FIG. 12 shows an electronic shopping system without the portable terminal 1-9, which can be considered when the above-mentioned electronic flyer 1-4 is used. When a viewer purchases a product while watching the television 1-7, the viewer is connected to a wired network 12-3 such as a telephone line, and is connected to the store 12 of the product A.
-4 is an ordering / settlement system that is directly operated, or a trader B12-5 that performs settlement of the store 12-6 of the product C.
Performs the settlement procedure and purchases the goods. That is, when there is a product that the viewer wants to watch on the television 1-7, the settlement means is generally performed only by exchanging information such as a credit card or electronic money, and the purchaser and the seller face each other. Never.

At this time, personal information such as a purchaser's address and a telephone number, such as a credit card number necessary for settlement and a delivery destination of a product, are encrypted and transmitted on the network. Therefore, there is no guarantee that such information will not be transmitted to anyone even if it is encrypted. Similarly, there arises a problem that the connected trader may resell the obtained personal information to another trader or use it for advertising other products. Also,
In actual product purchase, delivery costs from the store to the home are required, so when purchasing a low-priced product, the postage may be higher than the price of the product itself.

FIG. 13 shows a shopping system according to the present invention which solves the above problem. According to this system, selection of merchandise information can be performed by selecting personal information 5 of a viewer.
-2, and the process up to downloading it to the portable terminal 1-9 is as described above. And the mobile terminal 1
Not only can this product information be viewed on -9, but it can also be used as if going out to a store with a paper leaflet. For example, in FIG. 13, in a product A store 13-4 having a mail-order dedicated corner, the product information selected for purchase on the mobile terminal 1-9 is transferred to a terminal in the mail-order dedicated corner,
By presenting the display screen to the attendant, the attendant can arrange desired products in a short time. In addition, the purchaser can purchase the product in a short time without searching for the desired product in the store. Further, since the purchaser can directly check the desired product by touching it, he / she can purchase items such as clothing that need to be checked in size and color with confidence. In addition, because it is body sales,
The store can also know the customer's preferences.

This system is not limited to mail-order sales, but can also be applied to fields that were not possible with conventional systems, such as restaurants B13-5. That is, a free ticket or a discount ticket (coupon) with the electronic flyer 1-4
And download it on the mobile terminal 1-9, and apply for services other than product purchase, such as discount services, by having the customer bring the mobile terminal 1-9 and transfer or present it to the store terminal. Can be.

<< Shopping System 2 >> In the system shown in FIG. 13, when terminals are present in the stores 13-4 and 13-5, information is reversely transferred from the store terminals to the portable terminal 1-9. Can also. Therefore, store 13-4,
For example, the present invention can be applied to a service of 13-5, for example, a service for transferring chain store information in reverse, and a service for storing store use points instead of a membership card.

<< Car Navigation (Travel Service) >>
Since a broadcasting system using the broadcasting satellite 1-1 can transmit data on a nationwide scale, for example, in FIG. The travel information of the area to be selected is selected and taken into the portable terminal 1-9. Then, the travel information is downloaded from the portable terminal 1-9 to the car navigation system 14-4 to display the position, or the hotel A or B
For discount services 14-5 and 14-6.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a broadcasting station broadcasts data such as an electronic program guide or an electronic flyer, index information for selecting based on personal information of a viewer is selected. Since the data is transmitted to the receiving device of the viewer in addition to the individual data, the visibility of data such as an electronic program guide transmitted by broadcasting can be improved. According to the present invention, the receiving device selects and displays data based on the viewer's personal information and index information, and transfers the data from the receiving device to the portable data terminal. The user can carry an electronic program guide or an electronic flyer. According to the present invention, the selected data is re-transferred from the portable data terminal to the store terminal, so that a sales system using an electronic flyer transmitted by broadcasting can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital television broadcasting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing index information added by the broadcasting station in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a personal information input screen of the receiver of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another personal information input method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a data extraction method.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data extraction process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining preprocessing of automatic learning.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining in detail the automatic learning process of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram illustrating the mobile terminal of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing downloading from a receiving device to a portable terminal.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a program selection process by the mobile terminal.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing electronic shopping.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing another electronic shopping.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a car navigation system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-1 Broadcast satellite 1-2, 1-3 Broadcast station 1-4 Electronic flyer 1-5 Electronic program guide 1-6 Receiving device (STB) 1-7 Television receiver 1-9 Mobile terminal 2-1 Index information 2-2 Fixed information 2-3 Semi-fixed information 2-3 Variable information (time-limited information)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/035 H04N 7/08 A 7/173 640 F term (Reference) 5C025 AA28 BA25 BA28 CA09 CB09 CB10 DA01 DA04 DA05 DA10 5C063 AB03 AB07 AC01 AC05 AC10 CA23 DA03 DA13 EA01 EB33 5C064 BA01 BB07 BC07 BC16 BC23 BD08

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A digital television broadcasting system for transmitting data independent of a video signal and an audio signal constituting a program from a broadcasting station, wherein the broadcasting station selects the data based on personal information of a viewer. The index information is added to individual data and transmitted to a viewer's receiving device, and the receiving device selectively displays the data based on the viewer's personal information and the index information, and displays the data. Digital television broadcasting system. 2. The broadcast station transmits, as the data, an electronic program guide and index information for selecting a program from the electronic program guide based on personal information of a viewer. 2. The digital television broadcast system according to claim 1, wherein a program is selectively displayed from the electronic program guide based on the personal information and the index information. 3. The broadcasting station transmits an electronic flyer as the data and index information for selecting the electronic flyer based on personal information of a viewer, and the receiving device transmits the electronic flyer with the personal information of the viewer. 2. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic flyer is selectively displayed based on the index information. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the index information includes at least fixed information irrespective of data contents and information different depending on the contents of data. Digital television broadcasting system. 5. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the data selected by the receiving device is downloaded to a portable data terminal and displayed. 6. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 5, wherein the data downloaded to said portable data terminal is further transferred to a store terminal for display. 7. A transmitting apparatus for a broadcasting station according to claim 1. 8. The receiving device according to claim 1, wherein: 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the broadcasting station does not transmit the index information, the keyword in the personal information input by the viewer and the data browsed by the viewer are learned, selected and displayed. Item 9. The receiving device according to Item 8. 10. The portable data terminal according to claim 5, wherein: 11. The shop terminal according to claim 6, wherein: