JP2005142752A - Processing apparatus for program information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain electronic program information without being influenced by a transmission source by providing a function with which a user can previously search information about a desired program corresponding to a keyword inputted by the user in advance and the information is maintained. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus is provided with an electronic program information receiving section for receiving the electronic program information to acquire reception electronic program information, and a keyword inputting/storing section for receiving a keyword and storing it. The apparatus has a means for extracting the reception electronic program information corresponding to the keyword from among the reception electronic program information thus received, and outputting the information as extraction electronic program information. Then, the extraction electronic program information thus extracted can be stored and displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a program information processing and display apparatus which can be efficiently handled although referred to as electronic program guide (EPG) information.

Conventionally, there is an electronic program guide as program information related to television broadcasting, which is hereinafter referred to as electronic program information. In recent years, various types of broadcasting such as digital television broadcasting, analog broadcasting, satellite (BS) broadcasting, and communication satellite (CS) broadcasting have become widespread, and the number of channels has been extremely large. In such an environment, a program search apparatus for processing electronic program information has been developed so that a program search can be easily obtained.
JP 2003-283947 A

  In the conventional program inspection apparatus, (1) the program information receiving unit receives the electronic program information. (2) The received program information is held (stored) in the program information holding unit. (3) From the program keyword input unit, the user inputs a keyword of a program to be searched. Then, (4) the program information extracting unit searches and extracts program information including the program keyword from the program information held in the program information holding unit. (5) The program information extracted by the program information extraction unit is held as a program candidate. The program information that is the program candidate is displayed on the display screen.

  However, the conventional apparatus is a method of inputting a keyword every time a desired program is searched, and it takes time and effort.

  Therefore, in the present invention, by providing a function in which desired program information corresponding to a keyword input in advance by the user is searched and held in advance, the user is not affected by the electronic program supply source. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program information processing apparatus capable of easily and quickly obtaining a search result.

  The present invention relates to an electronic program information receiving unit for receiving electronic program information, a keyword input and storage unit for inputting and storing a keyword included in the electronic program information, and the electronic program information received by the electronic program information receiving unit. An electronic program information extraction means for extracting electronic program information corresponding to the keyword stored in the keyword input and storage section, and an extracted electronic for storing the electronic program information extracted by the electronic program information extraction means It basically includes program information storage means.

  According to the present invention, the keyword input and storage unit allows the user to input the keyword included in the desired program information in the keyword input and storage unit in advance, and store the keyword input and storage as soon as electronic program information is received. Electronic program information corresponding to the keywords stored in the storage unit can be extracted. Further, the user can easily and quickly obtain and use the search result without being influenced by the electronic program supplier. Also, scheduled recording and the like are convenient using the extracted program information. Furthermore, this extracted program information can be transmitted to a specific mail address.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes an electronic program information supplier. Examples of the electronic program information supply source 100 include an EPG server, digital television, and terrestrial waves from a broadcasting station. Reference numeral 200 denotes an electronic program information processing apparatus that is an object of the present invention, such as a DVD recorder or a set top box (STB).

  The electronic program information processing apparatus 200 is provided with an electronic program information receiving unit 201. The electronic program information receiving unit 201 receives electronic program information and outputs it as received electronic program information.

The received electronic program information is temporarily stored in the memory 202. The received electronic program information derived from the memory 202 is supplied to the electronic program information extraction unit 203.

  On the other hand, a keyword input unit 205 for inputting a keyword included in the electronic program information is provided. The keyword input here is held in the keyword holding unit 204. The keyword input unit 205 may be either a remote controller or a key input unit provided in the apparatus main body, or a combination of both.

  The electronic program information extraction unit 203 searches the received electronic program information in the memory 202 for whether the keyword storage unit 204 includes the keyword, and outputs the found electronic program information as extracted electronic program information. A plurality of keywords can be set. The keyword will be further described later.

  A corresponding keyword is added to the extracted electronic program information output from the electronic program information extraction unit 203 in the keyword information addition unit 206. The extracted electronic program information to which the keyword is added is input to and stored in the electronic program information storage and display processing unit 207. In response to the operation, the contents are output to the display device 300 and displayed. The operation status of the keyword input unit 205 is grasped by the controller 208, and the controller 208 controls each block in the apparatus according to the operation status.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation when obtaining the extracted electronic program information and supplying it to the storage and display processing unit 207. First, it is assumed that keywords are stored in the keyword storage unit 204 in advance. The electronic program information extraction process starts when the system is turned on, or when the main power is off but the auxiliary power is on. This process may be started periodically in advance.

  The electronic program information receiving unit 201 takes in electronic program information from an electronic program supplier (step SA1). The electronic program information extraction unit 203 takes in a keyword input in advance from the keyword storage unit 204 (step SA2), and compares and determines whether or not the keyword exists in the received electronic program information set as a comparison target. If not, the next received electronic program information is set and the same determination is performed. Then, it is determined whether or not the comparison determination between all the keywords and the electronic program information set as the comparison target has been completed (step SA3). If a keyword exists in the set electronic program information, the electronic program information is extracted, the keyword is added, and the process returns to step SA3.

  FIG. 3 conceptually shows how electronic program information corresponding to a keyword is extracted and stored as extracted electronic program information. Assume that the electronic program information 301, 302, and 303 are sequentially received and stored in the memory 202, for example. Further, it is assumed that keywords such as “baseball”, “soccer”, “comed”, “new program”, and the like are stored in the keyword storage unit 204.

  Here, if the electronic program information 301 includes the word “baseball relay” as the first keyword (see arrow), the electronic program information 301 is stored as extracted electronic program information 311 in the storage and display processing unit 207. Will be stored. At this time, the corresponding keyword information is added to the program information. Further, “new program” is given as the fourth keyword, but this word is included in the electronic program information 303 (see arrow). Then, this electronic program information 303 is stored in the storage and display processing unit 207 as extracted electronic program information 313. The extracted electronic program information 311 and 313 in FIG. 3 may be in the display form itself.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the mechanism of keyword information. This keyword information is effectively used when, for example, the electronic program information is displayed on the display unit and is classified for each keyword or when related information is presented. Further, the user can recognize the keyword searched for by viewing the keyword information.

  In the case of the present invention, electronic program information corresponding to a keyword can be acquired in advance regardless of whether or not a reservation is made.

  As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the first bit from the bottom is “baseball”, the second bit is “soccer”, the third bit is “comed”, and so on. Therefore, when “comed” is input as a keyword, the third bit of the keyword information becomes “1”. For example, when “baseball” is input as a keyword, the first bit of the keyword information is “1”. In the present invention, a plurality of keywords can be combined (grouped) and set. For example, when “comed” and “baseball” are input, the third bit and the first bit are both “1”. These are tabulated and stored in memory. In this case, 1001 is obtained. This is "5" for decimal numbers. Therefore, the keyword information is stored in a bit pattern of “0x00000005”. The reason why the character data string is stored in the bit pattern without storing is to reduce the amount of stored data. From this value, the display processing apparatus can recognize that the flag has a pattern of “1001” and that the program has been hit with the keywords “comedy” and “baseball”. When displayed, titles including “comedy” and “baseball” are displayed.

  In addition, as keyword information, it is not limited to said embodiment, Various content is possible. When setting a keyword, it is possible not only to input from the operation keys, but also to copy a favorite description part as a keyword from the program guide.

  FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

  The video data recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG. 5 has two types of disk drive units. The optical disc 501 is an information recording medium that can construct a video file. The disk drive unit 502 rotationally drives the optical disk 501 to read / write information. A hard disk drive unit 504 drives the hard disk. The data processor unit 503 can supply recording data to the disk drive unit 502 and the hard disk drive unit 504, and can receive a reproduced signal. The disk drive unit 502 includes a rotation control system, a laser drive system, an optical system, and the like for the optical disk 501.

  The data processor unit 503 handles recording or reproduction unit data, and includes a buffer circuit, a modulation / demodulation circuit, an error correction unit, and the like.

  The video data recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 5 mainly includes an encoder unit 600 constituting the recording side, a decoder unit 700 constituting the reproducing side, and a microcomputer block 800 for controlling the operation of the apparatus main body. The encoder unit 600 includes an analog-to-digital converter for video and audio that digitizes an input analog video signal or analog audio signal, a video encoder, and an audio encoder. Furthermore, a sub-picture encoder is also included. Further, an EPG information processing unit 601 is provided in the input system.

  The output of the encoder unit 601 is converted into a predetermined DVD-RAM format by a formatter 604 including a buffer memory 603 and supplied to the data processor unit 503. The encoder unit 600 receives the external analog video signal and external analog audio signal from the AV input unit 611 or the analog video signal and analog audio signal from the TV tuner 612 via the EPG information processing unit 601.

  Note that when the directly compressed digital video signal or digital audio signal is directly input, the encoder unit 600 can also supply the compressed digital video signal or digital audio signal directly to the formatter 604. The encoder unit 600 can also directly supply a digital video signal or audio signal subjected to analog-digital conversion to the video mixing unit 705 or the audio selector 701.

  In the video encoder included in the encoder unit 600, the digital video signal is converted into a digital video signal compressed at a variable bit rate based on the MPEG2 or MPEG1 standard. The digital audio signal is converted into a digital audio signal compressed at a fixed bit rate based on the MPEG or AC-3 standard or a linear PCM digital audio signal.

  When a sub-video signal is input from the AV input unit 611 (for example, a signal from a DVD video player with an independent output terminal of the sub-video signal), or a DVD video signal having such a data structure is broadcast and is used as a TV tuner. When received at 612, the sub-video signal in the DVD video signal is encoded (run-length encoded) by the sub-video encoder to become a sub-picture bitmap.

  The encoded digital video signal, digital audio signal, and sub-picture data are packed by the formatter 604 to form a video pack, an audio pack, and a sub-picture pack, and these are assembled to form a DVD-recording standard (for example, DVD-RAM). , DVD-R, DVD-RW, etc.).

  Here, the apparatus of FIG. 5 uses the data processor unit 503 to send information (packets such as video, audio, and sub-picture data) formatted by the formatter 604 and the created management information to the hard disk drive unit 504 or data disk. It can be supplied to the drive unit 502 and recorded on the hard disk or the optical disc 501. Information recorded on the hard disk or the optical disk can also be recorded on the optical disk 501 or the hard disk via the data processor unit 503 and the disk drive unit 502.

  It is also possible to perform an editing process such as deleting a part of video objects of a plurality of programs recorded on the hard disk or the optical disc 501 or connecting objects of different programs. This is because data units handled by the DVD format are defined to facilitate editing.

  The microcomputer block 800 includes an MPU (micro processing unit) or CPU (central processing unit), a ROM in which a control program and the like are written, and a RAM for providing a work area necessary for executing the program. Yes.

  The MPU of the microcomputer block 800 executes defect location detection, unrecorded area detection, recording information recording position setting, UDF recording, AV address setting, etc. using the RAM as a work area according to the control program stored in the ROM. To do.

  The microcomputer block 800 includes an information processing unit necessary for controlling the entire system, and includes a work RAM, a directory detection unit, a VMG (total video management information) information creation unit, a copy-related information detection unit, and a copy. And a scrambling information processing unit (RDI processing unit), a packet header processing unit, a sequence header processing unit, an aspect ratio information processing unit, and the like. In addition, it is natural to have various processing functions for the electronic program information described above.

  Among the execution results of the MPU, contents to be notified to the user are displayed on the display unit 802 of the video data recording / reproducing apparatus, or are displayed on the monitor display by OSD (on-screen display). The microcomputer block 800 has a key input unit 801 that gives an operation signal for operating the apparatus. The timing at which the microcomputer block 800 controls the disk drive unit 502, the hard disk drive unit 504, the data processor unit 503, the encoder unit 600 and / or the decoder unit 700 is time data from an STC (system time clock) 803. Can be performed based on. Recording and playback operations are normally executed in synchronization with the time clock from the STC 803, but other processes may be executed at a timing independent of the STC 803.

  The decoder unit 700 separates and extracts each pack from a DVD format signal having a pack structure, a memory used when pack separation or other signal processing is performed, and main video data (video pack) separated by the separator. A V decoder that decodes the content), an SP decoder that decodes the sub-picture data separated by the separator (the contents of the sub-picture pack), and an A decoder that decodes the audio data separated by the separator (the contents of the audio pack) Have A video processor is also provided that appropriately synthesizes the decoded sub-video with the decoded main video and outputs the main video with a menu, a highlight button, subtitles, and other sub-videos.

  The output video signal of the decoder unit 700 is input to the video mixing unit 705. In the video mixing unit 705, text data is synthesized. The video mixing unit 705 is also connected to a line that directly takes in signals from the TV tuner 612 and the A / V input unit 611. A frame memory 706 used as a buffer is connected to the video mixing unit 705. When the output of the video mixing unit 705 is an analog output, it is externally output via an I / F (interface) 707, and when it is a digital output, it is output externally via a digital / analog converter 708.

  The output audio signal of the decoder unit 700 is analog-converted by the digital-analog converter 702 via the selector 701 and output to the outside. The selector 701 is controlled by a select signal from the microcomputer block 800. Accordingly, the selector 701 can directly select a signal that has passed through the encoder unit 600 when directly monitoring a digital signal from the TV tuner 612 or the A / V input unit 611.

  Note that the formatter of the encoder unit 600 creates segmentation information during recording and periodically sends it to the MPU of the microcomputer block 800 (information at the time of GOP head interrupt, etc.). The segmentation information includes the number of packs of VOBU (video object unit), the end address of the I picture from the beginning of the VOBU, the playback time of the VOBU, and the like.

  At the same time, information from the aspect information processing unit is sent to the MPU at the start of recording, and the MPU creates VOB stream information (STI). Here, the STI stores resolution data, aspect data, and the like, and at the time of reproduction, each decoder unit is initialized based on this information.

  In this apparatus, one video file is recorded on one disc. In order to continue playback without interruption while accessing (seeking) data, a minimum continuous information unit (size) is determined. This unit is called CDA (Contiguous Data Area). The CDA size is a multiple of an ECC (error correction code) block (16 sectors), and the file system records in this CDA unit.

  The data processor unit 503 receives data in VOBU units from the formatter of the encoder unit 600 and supplies data in CDA units to the disk drive unit 502 or the hard disk drive unit 504. Further, the MPU of the microcomputer block 800 creates management information necessary for reproducing the recorded data. When the MPU recognizes a data recording end command, it sends the created management information to the data processor unit 503. Thereby, the management information is recorded on the disc. Therefore, when encoding is performed, the MPU of the microcomputer block 800 receives information (eg, segmentation information) from the encoder unit 600. In addition, the MPU of the microcomputer block 800 recognizes management information (file system) read from the optical disk and the hard disk at the start of recording, recognizes an unrecorded area of each disk, and sets a data processor area 503 as a recording area on data. Is set to disk via.

  When the information recording / reproducing apparatus is used as described above, a variety of media for recording and storing electronic program information (both received electronic program information and extracted electronic program information) are possible. It may be a hard disk or a RAM in the microcomputer block 800.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine suitably the component covering different embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Structure explanatory drawing which shows one embodiment of this invention. The flowchart shown in order to demonstrate the operation example of the apparatus of this invention. The conceptual diagram shown in order to demonstrate operation | movement of the apparatus of this invention. The conceptual diagram shown in order to demonstrate operation | movement of the apparatus of this invention. The block diagram which shows the state by which the apparatus of this invention was applied to the information recording / reproducing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Electronic program information supply source, 200 ... Electronic program information processing apparatus, 201 ... Electronic program information receiving part, 202 ... Memory, 203 ... Electronic program information extraction part, 204 ... Keyword holding part, 205 ... Keyword input part, 206 ... Keyword information adding unit, 207... Electronic program information storage and display processing unit, 208... Controller, 300.

Claims (5)

An electronic program information receiving unit for receiving electronic program information and outputting the received electronic program information;
A keyword input and storage unit for inputting and storing a keyword included in the electronic program information;
An electronic program that extracts received electronic program information corresponding to a keyword stored in the keyword input and storage unit from the received electronic program information received by the electronic program information receiving unit, and outputs the extracted electronic program information as extracted electronic program information Information extraction means;
An apparatus for processing program information, comprising: extracted electronic program information storage means for storing the extracted electronic program information extracted by the electronic program information extraction means.   2. The program information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic program information extracting means adds information on a corresponding keyword to the extracted electronic program information.   3. The program information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for outputting the output electronic program information from the extracted electronic program information storage means to a display unit.   3. The program information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a storage unit for storing the received electronic program information output from the electronic program information receiving unit.   2. The program information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for automatically operating at least the electronic program information receiving unit, the electronic program information extraction means, and the extracted electronic program information storage means.

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