JP2006074801A - Digital television broadcasting system, transmitting apparatus, receiving apparatus, mobile data terminal and shop terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve visibility of data of an electronic program guide or the like transmitted by broadcasting. <P>SOLUTION: When broadcasting data of an electronic program guide 1-5 or an electronic leaflet 1-4, each of broadcasting stations 1-2 and 1-3 adds index information 2-1 for selection based on personal information of a viewer to each of data and transmits the data to a receiving apparatus 1-6 of the viewer. The index information is comprised of fixed information 2-2, semi-fixed information 2-3 and variable information (information with time limit) 2-4. The receiving apparatus selects and displays the received data based on the personal information 5-2 of the viewer and the index information. Further, the data selected by the receiving apparatus are transferred to a mobile terminal 1-9 and moreover re-transferred to the shop terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a digital television broadcast system, a transmission device, a reception device, a portable data terminal, and a store terminal that broadcast data independent of a video signal and an audio signal constituting a program.

In general, in a digital television broadcasting system that broadcasts data independent of a video signal and an audio signal constituting a program, electronic program guide (EPG) data that is program auxiliary information of the video signal and information independent of the video signal When data such as news and notifications are transmitted, it is assumed that the data is viewed on the screen of the television receiver. For example, an electronic program guide creates information such as a program timetable and performers on the broadcast station side, and the user calls and browses the information on a television screen by operating a remote control device of the television.

However, when a user browses a desired program on the electronic program guide, there is a problem in that visibility is poor because the user has to search the screen by looking at the screen located in front of the television. For this reason, it is faster for the user to actually perform a channel change operation to “look through” the screen of each channel, or to view a printed program guide such as a newspaper. Similarly, more advanced information can be obtained by receiving and browsing wired data (for example, the Internet) with higher immediacy on a personal computer than viewing information such as news and stock prices on a television screen.

In order to solve this problem, a system that combines a mobile phone and the Internet can be considered. In this case, however, communication costs increase depending on the amount of data acquired. However, it is disadvantageous when compared with the economic efficiency that costs are unnecessary. In addition, the communication cost for retrieving necessary data from the enormous amount of data existing on the Internet may be higher than the communication cost for receiving desired data.

The present invention provides 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 in view of the problems of the conventional example. With the goal.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable data terminal that can carry an electronic program guide transmitted by broadcasting.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable data terminal and a store terminal that can realize a sales system using an electronic leaflet transmitted by broadcasting.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following means 1) to 9).
That is,

1) In a digital television broadcasting system that transmits data independent of video signals and audio signals constituting a program from a broadcasting station,
Index including fixed information not related to the contents of the data for the broadcast station to select the data based on the personal information of the viewer, and semi-fixed information and variable information information that differ depending on the contents of the data Add information to individual data and send it to the viewer ’s receiver,
The receiver selects and displays the data based on the viewer's personal information and the index information,
When the index information is not added, the data is directly selected based on only the personal information of the viewer and displayed.
2) The broadcast station uses the electronic program guide as the data and the fixed information and the content of the data regardless of the content of the data for selecting the program from the electronic program guide based on the viewer's personal information. In response to this, index information including different semi-fixed information and variable information information is transmitted,
The receiving device selects and displays a program from the electronic program guide based on the viewer's personal information and the index information, and displays it.
2. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein when the index information is not added, the data is directly selected and displayed based on only the personal information of the viewer.
3) The broadcasting station uses the electronic flyer as the data and the data for selecting the electronic flyer based on the viewer's personal information. Sending index information including fixed information and variable information;
The receiving device selects and displays the electronic leaflet based on the viewer's personal information and the index information, and
2. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein when the index information is not added, the data is directly selected and displayed based on only the personal information of the viewer.
4) The digital television broadcasting system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data selected by the receiving device is downloaded and displayed on a portable data terminal.
5) The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 4, wherein the data downloaded to the portable data terminal is further transferred to the store terminal for display.
6) The broadcasting station transmission device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
7) The receiving device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
8) The portable data terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
9) The store terminal according to claim 5.

As described above, according to the present invention, when broadcasting stations broadcast data such as electronic program guides and electronic leaflets, index information for selection based on the personal information of viewers is added to individual data. Then, since it is transmitted to the viewer's receiving device, the visibility of data such as an electronic program guide transmitted by broadcasting can be improved.
In the present invention, since the receiving device selects and displays the data based on the viewer's personal information and index information, and transmits the data from the receiving device to the portable data terminal, it is transmitted by broadcasting. Electronic program guides and electronic leaflets can be carried around.
Furthermore, since the selected data is retransferred from the portable data terminal to the store terminal, the present invention can realize a sales system using an electronic leaflet transmitted by broadcasting.

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

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 shows a system using a broadcasting satellite 1-1. In such a system, the data broadcasting station 1-2 transmits, for example, an electronic flyer 1-4 including an electronic coupon as transmission data via the broadcasting satellite 1-1, and the satellite digital broadcasting station 1-3 Broadcasting satellite 1 with electronic program guide (EPG) 1-5 as transmission data together with program
-1 to transmit. The electronic program guide 1-5 includes program broadcast date / time, channel, broadcast time, and the like. Note that the present invention is not limited to satellite broadcasting, but can also be applied to terrestrial broadcasting and systems in which data received from a satellite is received centrally and distributed via a cable.

Radio waves transmitted via the broadcasting satellite 1-1 are transmitted to a satellite broadcasting receiving device (ST
B: Set-top box) 1-6 and received via STB 1-6 to television receiver (hereinafter referred to as television or receiver) 1-7 and VTR 1-8.
Further, the data selected by the 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 (described in detail later).

<Index information>
Data transmitted from the broadcasting stations 1-2 and 1-3 is packetized, and the format of one packet includes index information 2-1, an electronic program guide 1-5 and an electronic leaflet as shown in FIG. 1-4, data strings that compose news, etc. (characters, images)
It is comprised by. As shown in FIG. 2B, the index information 2-1 includes fixed information 2-2, semi-fixed information 2-3, and variable information (information with a time limit) 2-4. The fixed information 2-2 is information that does not change depending on the data type.
As shown in c), it is composed of a data creator (or copyright holder), a broadcaster, and data classification. Data classification is attached to data as a pair such as a character code of 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, regional information for limiting an effective region, Consists of store information, age and sex, and other industry information such as restaurants. In the case of the electronic program guide 1-5, the semi-fixed information 2-3 is composed of broadcast start time / broadcast end time of the program, information for classifying the content of the program, starring person, director name, screenwriter, etc. . The variable information 2-4, as shown in FIG.
In the case of electronic flyers, the data expiration date such as the sales deadline, the limited number of products,
Consists of limited-use conditions such as product purchase conditions and data with a lifetime such as temporary contact information.

The semi-fixed information 2-3 and the variable information 2-4 are generally classified according to human behavior when viewing information such as advertisements and news. For example, it is classified into the address, name, sale period, product, price, number of products, etc. of the store to sell. Similarly, since the news one week ago has no value as the current news, its lifetime is considered as valid data only for a limited period.

By classifying the electronic program guide 1-5 with the index information 2-1,
The target data can be extracted more easily. In other words, the broadcast station name, copyright holder, etc. are added as fixed information 2-2, and broadcast start time / broadcast end time of the program as semi-fixed information 2-3, information for classifying the contents of the program, the name of the lead person, director Different data is added each time depending on the content of the broadcast such as a screenwriter. The data expiration date of the variable information 2-4 need not be added because it can be specified by the broadcast start time and broadcast end time of the program.

<Personal information extraction>
The satellite broadcast receiving device 1-6 in FIG. 1 is based on the index information 2-1.
In order to automatically extract the data the viewer wants, first of all, viewer preferences (attributes)
To learn. As a learning method, there are a method of interactive learning using the screen of the television 1-7 and a method of using data defined as in batch processing.
In the former method, questions such as age and gender as shown in FIG. 3 are displayed on the TV screen and the viewer is made to answer by the remote controller 1-7-1. In the latter method, the viewer inputs an answer to the questionnaire 4-4 as shown in FIG. 4 via an input device such as a personal computer and writes it to the IC card 4-3, and the IC card 4-3 is received by the receiving device. By setting it to 1-6, the data is taken into the receiving device 1-6. As another learning method,
Any method may 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>
A method of extracting viewer's favorite data (Data) based on index information (Index) and personal information will be described with reference to FIG. First, a plurality of received packets are stored in the reception buffer 5-1. It should be noted that if all received information is displayed on the television screen and 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, stored in the output buffer 5-4, and stored in the screen of the television 1-7 or the portable terminal 1-. 9 and let the viewer select.

This process will be described with reference to FIG. When the process starts in step 6-1, first, the registered personal information 5-2 is read and preparations are made to use it as a data extraction keyword (step 6-2). Next, receive buffer 5-
1 is read (step 6-3), then step 6-
If all received data has not been processed in step 4, go to step 6-5.
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, and this is output to the output buffer 5-4 (hereinafter extracted). (Step 6-8). Further, in steps 6-6 and 6-7, semi-fixed information 2-3 and variable information 2-4 in each received packet are converted into personal information 5-2.
The received data that matches the viewer's preference is extracted and stored in the extracted data buffer 5-4 (step 6-8).

<Data extraction without index information>
Here, the index information 2- is added to the data transmitted from the broadcasting stations 1-2, 1-3.
Adding 1 makes it possible to easily select data on the receiving device 1-6 side. However, data having a significantly short data life such as news and weather forecasts, and broadcasting stations 1-2, 1 and 1 can be selected. It is necessary to perform similar data extraction even when the -3 side does not add the index information 2-1. Therefore, in the present invention, the personal information 5-2 is automatically expanded. For example, instead of searching the index information 2-1 in steps 6-5 to 6-7 shown in FIG. 6, the full text of the actually received body data is searched and the corresponding keyword in the personal information 5-2 is used. An algorithm is used to select and display the text data. However, a simple full-text search cannot always select the data desired by the viewer.

Therefore, the present invention solves this problem by automatically learning a word to be searched as shown in FIGS. Starting in step 7-1,
The reception data stored in the reception buffer 5-1 is read (step 7-2), and then the time required for the viewer to read the data is measured as the subscription time while displaying each reception data (step 7). -3, 7-4). The measurement of the subscription time is performed when the receiver 1-7 is used for display / subscription.
In the case of subscribing after downloading to the mobile terminal 1-9, the mobile terminal 1-9 is used.

In the subsequent step 7-5, the subscription time per character is obtained in order 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 sizes becomes longer and the subscription time for short data sizes becomes shorter, so it is possible to obtain pure subscription time instead of simple subscription time due to data size. Become.

Here, if the viewer subscribes to all the data, the theoretical subscription time will be as close as possible to the actual subscription time even if there is some error, but if the viewer skips over the data that is not of interest 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, personal information is automatically learned using the difference between the theoretical subscription time and the actual subscription time, and the index information is Even if it is not added, the word is automatically learned and automatically updated to data that enables accurate data extraction.

When starting at 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 excluded from each data. Then, nouns and verbs are extracted using a dictionary (steps 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).
), If the actual subscription time is shorter than the theoretical subscription time, it is interpreted that the data has been skipped, and is classified into the frequency of word deletion (step 8-7). The words are learned by classifying them into additional frequencies (step 8-6). Finally, learning is realized by adding and deleting words (keywords) of personal information according to the frequency. In this way, by absorbing the individual difference of the subscription using the theoretical subscription time, only the data desired by the viewer can be extracted as the number of samples increases.

<Display processing>
The device for displaying the extracted data may be not only the receiver 1-7 connected to the receiver 1-6 but also the portable terminal 1-9. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the mobile terminal 1-9 determines a selected content and a display panel 9-2 such as a liquid crystal, a direction key 9-3 for pointing the display area of the display panel 9-2, And a selection button 9-4. Instead of the direction key 9-3 and the selection button 9-4, the display panel 9-2 may be configured with a touch panel. For communication between the portable terminal 1-9 and the receiving device 1-6, in addition to the wired method, radio waves and infrared cordless,
As shown in FIG. 10, extraction data such as an electronic program guide, learning data, and control commands are performed by two-way communication.

When the received data can be browsed not only by the receiver 1-7 but also by the portable terminal 1-9, the portability is dramatically improved over the conventional method in which the user browses the display data in front of the receiver 1-7. Therefore, browsing is possible during commuting or at a place without the receiver 1-7. In addition, since data is broadcast free of charge via the broadcasting satellite 1-1 or the like, it is possible to prevent the generation of communication costs and the complexity of connection work compared to 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.
), After confirming a desired program, it is possible to reserve the receiver 1-7 and VTR 1-8. Also, the electronic program guide displayed on the receiver 1-7 can select and display only the programs that the viewer needs on the day by the keyword search and full-text search described above,
Further, since the same information can be transferred to the portable terminal 1-9, the viewer can view the contents of the program at an arbitrary place away from the receiver 1-7. Furthermore, since the reservation result can also be saved, it can be used at a higher level than the program table by conventional printing. In addition, since a pay line such as the Internet is not used, the viewer does not need an economic burden.

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

<< Shopping system 1 >>
Product information and service information are distributed to viewers by electronic flyers 1-4 by broadcasting, and viewers select and extract necessary electronic leaflets based on personal information such as their place of residence, commuting routes, and preferences. can do. FIG. 12 shows the electronic flyer 1-
The electronic shopping system without the portable terminal 1-9 considered when using 4 is shown. When a viewer purchases a product by watching the television 1-7, the product is connected to a wired network 12-3 such as a telephone line, and is an ordering / settlement system directly operated by the store 12-4 of the product A, or the product Company B acting as a payment agent for C dealer 12-6
12-5 performs the settlement procedure and purchases the product. That is, the viewer receives the television 1-7
When there is a product that you want to see, generally the payment means is exchanged only by information such as credit card and electronic money, and the buyer and seller do not face.

At this time, the credit card number required for settlement and personal information such as the buyer's address and telephone number are encrypted and transmitted as the delivery destination of the product, but the Internet is a public network. Even if this information is encrypted, there is no guarantee that no one else can do it. Similarly, there arises a problem that the personal information obtained by the connected merchant may be resold to another merchant or used for the promotion of other products. In addition, since the delivery cost from the store to the home is required for actual product purchase, the shipping cost may be higher than the price of the product body when purchasing a low-priced product.

FIG. 13 shows a shopping system of the present invention that solves the above problem. According to this system, selection of merchandise information is performed on the viewer's personal information 5-2.
This is performed as described above until the data is downloaded to the portable terminal 1-9. And not only can this product information be browsed on the portable terminal 1-9, it can be used as if going out to a store with a paper flyer. For example, in FIG. 13, the merchandise A store 13-4 having a mail order dedicated corner transfers the product information selected for purchase on the mobile terminal 1-9 to the mail order dedicated corner terminal or presents the display screen to the staff. By doing so, a staff member can arrange desired products in a short time.
Also, the purchaser can purchase in the store in a short time without searching for a desired product. In addition, since the purchaser can confirm the desired product by directly touching it, it is possible to purchase items that require confirmation of the size and color of clothing and the like with peace of mind. Furthermore, since it is physical sales, the store side can also know the customer's preference.

This system is not limited to mail order sales, and can be applied to fields that were not possible with conventional systems, such as restaurant B13-5. That is, a free ticket or a discount ticket (coupon ticket) is distributed with the electronic flyer 1-4, and this is transferred to the mobile terminal 1.
It can be applied to other than product purchases such as discount services by downloading on -9, and the visitor bringing the mobile terminal 1-9 and transferring or presenting it to the store terminal.

<< Shopping system 2 >>
In the system shown in FIG. 13, when terminals exist in the stores 13-4 and 13-5, information can be reversely transferred from the store terminals to the mobile terminal 1-9. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to a service of stores 13-4 and 13-5 that reversely transfer, for example, chain store information or a service that stores store use points instead of membership cards.

<< Car Navigation (Travel Service) >>
Since the broadcasting system using the broadcasting satellite 1-1 can transmit the data on a nationwide scale, for example, in FIG. 14, when the viewer goes on a trip, the schedule and area information are specified, and the corresponding data is broadcast. Select the travel information for the area you want to
9 Then, the travel information can be downloaded from the portable terminal 1-9 to the car navigation system 14-4 to display the position, or used for the discount services 14-5, 14-6 of the hotel A or B.

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital television broadcast system according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the index information added by the broadcasting station of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the personal information input screen of the receiver of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other personal information input method. It is explanatory drawing which shows a data extraction method. It is a flowchart for demonstrating a data extraction process. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the pre-process of automatic learning. It is a flowchart for demonstrating in detail the automatic learning process of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the portable terminal of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the download to a portable terminal from a receiver. It is explanatory drawing which shows the program selection process by a portable terminal. It is explanatory drawing which shows electronic shopping. It is explanatory drawing which shows other electronic shopping. It is explanatory drawing which shows a car navigation system.

Explanation of symbols

1-1 Broadcasting satellite 1-2, 1-3 Broadcasting station 1-4 Electronic flyer 1-5 Electronic program guide 1-6 Receiver (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)

Claims (9)

In a digital television broadcasting system that transmits data independent of a video signal and an audio signal constituting a program from a broadcasting station,
Index including fixed information not related to the contents of the data for the broadcast station to select the data based on the personal information of the viewer, and semi-fixed information and variable information information that differ depending on the contents of the data Add information to individual data and send it to the viewer ’s receiver,
The receiver selects and displays the data based on the viewer's personal information and the index information,
When the index information is not added, the data is directly selected based on only the personal information of the viewer and displayed. Depending on the fixed information and the content of the data regardless of the content of the data for the broadcast station to select the program from the electronic program guide based on the electronic program guide and the viewer's personal information as the data Sending index information including different semi-fixed information and variable information information;
The receiving device selects and displays a program from the electronic program guide based on the viewer's personal information and the index information, and displays it.
2. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein when the index information is not added, the data is directly selected and displayed based on only the personal information of the viewer. Semi-fixed information that differs depending on the content of the fixed information and the data for the broadcast station to select the electronic flyer as the data and the data for selecting the electronic leaflet based on the personal information of the viewer And index information including variable information information,
The receiving device selects and displays the electronic leaflet based on the viewer's personal information and the index information, and
2. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein when the index information is not added, the data is directly selected and displayed based on only the personal information of the viewer. 4. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the data selected by the receiving device is downloaded and displayed on a portable data terminal. 5. The digital television broadcasting system according to claim 4, wherein the data downloaded to the portable data terminal is further transferred to the store terminal and displayed. The transmitter of the broadcast station as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5. The receiving device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The portable data terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The store terminal according to claim 5.

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