JP2007124700A - Receiver and receiving method, and transmitter-receiver and transmitting/receiving method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform various processing accurately in synchronization with a frame. <P>SOLUTION: In a transmitter 1, an identification code for identifying each frame in a television broadcasting signal is generated, a start timing information for representing the timing which starts the execution is added to an application program, and a corresponding identification code is multiplexed and the application program, to which the start timing information has been added, is multiplexed on the television broadcasting signal. In a TV receiver 4, the application program and the identification code multiplexed on the television broadcasting signal are separated, the application program is stored, the identification code is compared with the start timing information added to the application program, and the application program is started and executed, corresponding to the comparison results. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a receiving device, a receiving method, a transmitting / receiving device, and a transmitting / receiving method, and more particularly, to a receiving device, a receiving method, a transmitting / receiving device, and a transmitting / receiving method capable of performing various processes in synchronization with a television broadcast signal. Regarding the method.

  In recent years, data broadcasting services that integrate broadcasting and the Internet are being realized. Examples of this service include what is called intercast or bitcast. In intercast and bitcast, a television broadcast signal is broadcast by multiplexing HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data on the VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval) of the image. On the other hand, on the user side, a computer with a TV tuner receives a television broadcast signal and stores HTML data superimposed on the VBI in a hard disk or the like. When a certain television broadcast program is started, a WWW (World Wide Web) browser is launched on the user's computer, the HTML data stored in the hard disk is interpreted, and the WWW browser is linked to the television broadcast program. Information is displayed.

  In the current Internet, if the access is concentrated on a specific WWW server due to the processing capacity of the WWW server and the line status, the data transfer rate from the WWW server decreases, and the display linked to the television broadcast program does not occur. However, in intercast and bitcast, necessary HTML data is stored in advance in the user's computer, so that such a problem does not occur.

  Therefore, for example, the user can view rough lines up to the previous time by operating a computer (WWW browser) while watching a drama program, clothes worn by the main character, or a store used for photographing. It is possible to search for information and the like. In other words, it is possible to provide the user with an interactive environment.

  In intercasting and bitcasting, a link to other HTML data (homepage) is embedded in HTML data multiplexed and broadcast on a television broadcast signal, so that the Internet can be transmitted via a telephone line or the like. It is also possible to obtain a homepage with a link.

  Intercast and bitcast use terrestrial waves, but data broadcasting using communication satellites has also been proposed. When a communication satellite is used, since the transmission capacity is large, more data can be distributed in a shorter time than when using a terrestrial wave.

  Here, details of a technique for multiplexing and broadcasting HTML data to a television broadcast signal are disclosed in, for example, JP-A-9-182038.

  By the way, as described above, when the television broadcast program is started, displaying information linked to the television broadcast program is performed by, for example, multiplexing a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and broadcasting the television broadcast signal. On the receiving side, when a URL is received, it can be realized by starting a WWW browser and displaying information (HTML data) corresponding to the URL.

  However, even in that case, it is difficult to display information in synchronization with each screen (frame or field) of the television broadcast signal.

  In other words, for example, television receivers that can access the Internet, which is a computer network, have appeared. On the other hand, application programs such as Java (registered trademark) applets and AvtivieX can be distributed by satellite digital broadcasting. Now that the fusion of computers and television receivers is progressing, it would be convenient if information related to television broadcast programs and other various processes could be performed in synchronization with each screen of the television broadcast signal. .

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and enables various processes to be performed in synchronization with each screen of a television broadcast signal.

  The receiving apparatus according to claim 1, a separation unit that separates an application program and an identification code multiplexed in a television broadcast signal, a storage unit that stores an application program output by the separation unit, and an output from the separation unit An execution unit that compares the identification code to be executed with start timing information added to the application program stored in the storage unit, and activates and executes the application program stored in the storage unit according to the comparison result; It is characterized by providing.

  The reception method according to claim 7, wherein the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal are separated and stored, while the identification code and start timing information added to the application program are stored. And the application program is activated and executed in accordance with the comparison result.

  The transmission / reception apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the transmission apparatus generates an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal, and start timing information for indicating a timing at which the application program starts execution. And a multiplexing means for multiplexing a corresponding identification code to the television broadcast signal and multiplexing an application program output from the adding means, and the receiving device is a television broadcast signal. Separating means for separating the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the memory, storage means for storing the application program output by the separating means, identification code output by the separating means, and an application program stored in the storage means Compare with the added start timing information. In response to the comparison result, and having an execution unit to start and run the application program stored in the storage means.

  In the transmission / reception method according to claim 9, in the transmission device, an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal is generated, and start timing information for indicating a timing to start the execution is added to the application program. In addition, the corresponding identification code is multiplexed with the television broadcast signal, and the application program to which the start timing information is added is multiplexed. And storing the application program, comparing the identification code with the start timing information added to the application program, and starting and executing the application program in accordance with the comparison result. .

  In the receiving apparatus according to claim 1, the separating unit separates the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal, and the storage unit stores the application program output by the separating unit. Has been made. The execution means compares the identification code output from the separation means with the start timing information added to the application program stored in the storage means, and in response to the comparison result, the application program stored in the storage means It is designed to get up and running.

  8. The receiving method according to claim 7, wherein the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal are separated and stored, and the identification code and start timing information added to the application program are stored. And the application program is started and executed in accordance with the comparison result.

  The transmission / reception apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the generation unit generates an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal, and the addition unit starts the application program to indicate a timing of starting execution thereof. Timing information is added. The multiplexing means multiplexes the corresponding identification code with the television broadcast signal and multiplexes the application program output by the adding means. The separation means separates the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal, and the storage means stores the application program output by the separation means. The execution means compares the identification code output from the separation means with the start timing information added to the application program stored in the storage means, and in response to the comparison result, the application program stored in the storage means It is designed to get up and running.

  In the transmission / reception method according to claim 9, in the transmission device, an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal is generated, and at the same time, start timing information for indicating the timing to start the execution is given to the application program. In addition, a corresponding identification code is multiplexed with a television broadcast signal, and an application program to which start timing information is added is multiplexed. In the receiving device, the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal are separated, and the application program is stored, while the identification code is compared with the start timing information added to the application program, Corresponding to the comparison result, the application program is started and executed.

  According to the receiving apparatus described in claim 1 and the receiving method described in claim 7, the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal are separated, and the application program is stored. On the other hand, the identification code is compared with the start timing information added to the application program, and the application program is activated and executed in accordance with the comparison result. Accordingly, the application program can be activated in synchronization with the television broadcast signal screen accurately.

  According to the transmission / reception device according to claim 8 and the transmission / reception method according to claim 9, an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal is generated in the transmission device, and the application program executes the identification code. Start timing information for indicating the start timing is added, the corresponding identification code is multiplexed with the television broadcast signal, and the application program with the start timing information added is multiplexed. In the receiving device, the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal are separated and the application program is stored, while the identification code is compared with the start timing information added to the application program. Corresponding to the comparison result, the application program is activated and executed. Therefore, in the receiving device, the application program can be activated in synchronization with the screen of the television broadcast signal accurately.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but before that, in order to clarify the correspondence between the respective means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments, after each means, A corresponding embodiment (however, an example) is added in parentheses to describe the characteristics of the present invention, and the following is obtained.

  The receiving apparatus according to claim 1 is a television broadcast in which an application program to which start timing information for indicating execution timing is added and an identification code for identifying each screen in a television broadcast signal are multiplexed. A receiving device for receiving a signal, comprising: a receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal (for example, the reception processing circuit 21 shown in FIG. 5); an application program and an identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal; Separation means for separation (for example, demultiplexer (DMUX) 27 shown in FIG. 5), storage means for storing application programs output by the separation means (for example, hard disk (HD) 29 shown in FIG. 5), and separation The identification code output by the means and the application stored in the storage means Execution means (for example, the program execution system 30 shown in FIG. 5 or the like) for starting and executing the application program stored in the storage means in accordance with the comparison result. ).

  The receiving device according to claim 2 stores an identification code output by the separating means when the application program is also added with deletion timing information for indicating the timing of deleting the application program from the storage means, A deletion unit (for example, the registration unit 28 shown in FIG. 5) compares the deletion timing information added to the application program stored in the unit and deletes the application program stored in the storage unit in accordance with the comparison result. Etc.).

  The receiving device according to claim 6 is a superimposing unit that superimposes the execution result on the image of the television broadcast signal when the execution result of the application program by the executing unit can be displayed (for example, in FIG. 5). And a superimposing circuit 23 shown in FIG.

  The transmission / reception device according to claim 7 is a transmission device that transmits a television broadcast signal (for example, the transmission device 1 shown in FIG. 1) and a reception device that receives a television broadcast signal (for example, the TV shown in FIG. 1). (Television) receiver 4 or the like), wherein the transmission device generates an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal (for example, generation of a frame identification code shown in FIG. 2) Circuit 11 and the like), addition means for adding start timing information for indicating the timing of starting execution of the application program (for example, the time information addition circuit 12 shown in FIG. 2), and the television broadcast signal Multiplexing means for multiplexing the corresponding identification code and multiplexing the application program output by the adding means (for example, 2) and transmission means for transmitting a television broadcast signal output from the multiplexing means (for example, the transmission circuit 14 shown in FIG. 2). Receiving means (for example, the reception processing circuit 21 shown in FIG. 5) and a separating means (for example, FIG. 5) for separating the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal. ), A storage unit (for example, hard disk 29 shown in FIG. 5) that stores the application program output by the separation unit, an identification code output by the separation unit, and an application stored in the storage unit The start timing information added to the program is compared, and the memory Start the stored application program execution means for executing (e.g., such as program execution system 30 shown in FIG. 5) and having a.

  Of course, this description does not mean that the respective means are limited to those described above.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a broadcasting system to which the present invention is applied (a system is a logical collection of a plurality of devices, regardless of whether or not each component device is in the same housing). The example of a structure of the form is shown.

  In the broadcasting station, an identification code (hereinafter referred to as a frame identification code) for identifying each frame in a television broadcast signal (images and sounds constituting a television broadcast program) is generated in the transmission device 1 and a predetermined number is set. Start timing information for indicating the timing to start the execution is added to the application program. Further, in the transmission apparatus 1, a corresponding frame identification code is multiplexed with a television broadcast signal, and an application program to which start timing information is added is multiplexed. That is, for example, in the vertical blanking period of each frame of the television broadcast signal, a frame identification code corresponding to that frame is superimposed, and further an application program is superimposed. Then, the resulting television broadcast signal is transmitted as a radio wave from the antenna 2 of the transmission device 1.

  A radio wave (ground wave) from the antenna 2 is received by the antenna 3 on the user side, and a reception signal obtained as a result is supplied to the TV receiver 4. In the TV receiver 4, the application program and the identification code multiplexed on the reception signal from the antenna 3, that is, the television broadcast signal are separated, and the application program is stored in the hard disk 29 of FIG. 5 described later. The Further, in the TV receiver 4, the identification code separated from the television broadcast signal is compared with the start timing information added to the application program stored in the hard disk 29, and the application program corresponds to the comparison result. Start and execute.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the transmission apparatus 1 of FIG.

  The transmission apparatus 1 is configured to receive a television broadcast signal to be transmitted and an application program. The television broadcast signal is input to the frame identification code generation circuit 11 and the multiplexer 13, and the application program is time information. The signal is supplied to the additional circuit 12.

  The frame identification code generation circuit 11 monitors the television broadcast signal supplied thereto, generates a frame identification code corresponding to the frame at the head timing of each frame, and supplies the frame identification code to the multiplexer 13. Yes.

  Here, in the present embodiment, as the frame identification code, for example, a one-to-one correspondence with the absolute time at which each frame is transmitted is used. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the frame identification of the first frame (first broadcast frame) broadcast on June 12, 1997, the second frame, the third frame,. The codes are set to 19970610000000001, 19970610000000002, 19970610000000003,..., Respectively. In this 16-digit frame identification code, the first 4 digits indicate the year to be transmitted, the next 2 digits indicate the month to be transmitted, and the next 2 digits indicate the date to be transmitted. Each digit represents the number of frames on the date of transmission. Therefore, for example, if transmission of a television broadcast signal is started from midnight, and the frame period of the television broadcast signal is about 30 ms, for example, the transmission time of the frame identification code of 19970610000000002 is June 1997. That would be 0:00 am and 30 milliseconds on the 12th. If the frame period of a television broadcast signal is about 30 ms, the number of frames on the day of transmission is 8 digits, and a unique number is assigned to each frame even if 24-hour broadcasting is performed. Can be attached.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the time information adding circuit 12 adds start timing information for indicating the timing of starting execution of the application program supplied thereto. The application program is stored (recorded) in the hard disk 29 (FIG. 5) of the TV receiver 4 as will be described later. The time information adding circuit 12 sets the timing for deleting the application program from the hard disk 29. Deletion timing information for representing is also added to the application program supplied thereto. The application program to which the start timing information and the deletion timing information are added is supplied from the time information addition circuit 12 to the multiplexer 13.

  In this embodiment, for example, a frame identification code corresponding to the time at which the application program is to be executed or the time at which the application program is to be deleted is added as the start timing information or the deletion timing information.

  The application program here includes not only a completed program including a so-called main routine but also an object, a library, a module, and the like.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the application program supplied to the transmission apparatus 1 can include call timing information for representing the timing for calling the procedure described (included) therein. ing. That is, when an application program is described in an object-oriented language such as C ++, Java (registered trademark), or smalltalk, for example, a method of each object is associated with call timing information for indicating the timing of calling the method. It has been made so that it can. Further, when the application program is described in a functional language such as C, for example, the function can be associated with call timing information for representing the timing of calling the function. In this case, the method or function is called at the timing indicated by the corresponding call timing information. In this embodiment, as the call timing information, for example, a frame identification code corresponding to the time at which a method or function is called (called) is used.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, whether or not the procedure described (included) in the application program supplied to the transmission apparatus 1 is periodically called in synchronization with the frame period in the television broadcast signal. A flag for representing can also be included. In other words, the methods and functions that make up the application program can be called periodically in synchronization with the frame period, and when called periodically, a flag indicating that (hereinafter referred to as appropriate) , Referred to as a cycle flag). In addition, when describing the periodic flag, the accompanying timing for starting and ending the periodic call of the method or function (hereinafter referred to as the periodic call start timing information and the periodic call end timing information as appropriate). ), Information indicating how many cycles are called (hereinafter referred to as cycle information as appropriate), and the like are also described as necessary. In the present embodiment, for example, a frame identification code corresponding to a time at which a periodic call of a method or function is started or ended is used as the periodic call start timing information and the periodic call end timing information.

  The multiplexer 13 multiplexes the frame identification code from the frame identification code generation circuit 11 in the vertical blanking period of the corresponding frame of the television broadcast signal. Further, the multiplexer 13 also multiplexes the application program from the time information addition circuit 12 into the television broadcast signal and outputs it to the transmission circuit 14. The transmission circuit 14 performs processing necessary for modulation and other transmission on the television broadcast signal from the multiplexer 13 and supplies the processed signal to the antenna 2.

  Next, processing in the transmission device 1 in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

  In the transmitting apparatus 1, first, in step S1, the frame identification code generation circuit 11 determines whether or not the television broadcast signal supplied thereto corresponds to the head of the frame. If it is determined in step S1 that the television broadcast signal corresponds to the head of the frame, the process proceeds to step S2, and the frame identification code generation circuit 11 generates a frame identification code corresponding to the frame, The data is supplied to the multiplexer 13, and the process proceeds to step S3.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that the television broadcast signal supplied thereto does not correspond to the head of the frame, step S2 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S3 where the multiplexer 13 performs multiplexing. Is called. That is, when the multiplexer 13 receives the frame identification code from the frame identification code generation circuit 11, the multiplexer 13 multiplexes the frame identification code in the vertical blanking period of the corresponding frame.

  Further, when the multiplexer 13 receives an application program from the time information addition circuit 12, the multiplexer 13 also multiplexes the application program in the vertical blanking period of the television broadcast signal. That is, when an application program is supplied thereto, the time information addition circuit 12 adds start timing information and deletion timing information to, for example, the head portion of the application program, and outputs the information to the multiplexer 13. When the application program is supplied from the time information adding circuit 12 in this way, the multiplexer 13 also multiplexes the application program in the vertical blanking period.

  In the state where neither the frame identification code nor the application program is supplied, the multiplexer 13 outputs the television broadcast signal supplied thereto as it is.

  The television broadcast signal multiplexed by the multiplexer 13 is supplied to the transmission circuit 14. In the transmission circuit 14, in step S 4, processing necessary for transmission is performed on the television broadcast signal from the multiplexer 13, and is transmitted from the antenna 2 as radio waves (here, terrestrial waves). And it returns to step S1 and the same process is repeated hereafter.

  Note that the start timing information and the deletion timing information added to the application program by the time information adding circuit 12 are the time after the frame identification code superimposed on the frame of the vertical blanking period in which the application program is multiplexed. Needs to be expressed. In other words, the application program needs to be multiplexed in the vertical blanking period of a frame transmitted temporally before the start timing information and deletion timing information added thereto.

  Next, FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of the TV receiver 4 of FIG.

  A reception signal corresponding to the radio wave received by the antenna 3 is supplied to the reception processing circuit 21. The reception processing circuit 21 receives a reception signal from the antenna 3, performs demodulation and other necessary processing on the reception signal, and transmits a television broadcast signal of a predetermined channel obtained as a result to the signal processing circuit 22. And is supplied to the demultiplexer 27.

  The signal processing circuit 22 performs predetermined signal processing on the television broadcast signal from the reception processing circuit 21 and further separates it into an image signal and an audio signal. Are respectively output to the amplifier 25. Further, the signal processing circuit 22 detects a vertical synchronization signal (Vsync) from the image signal and supplies it to the program execution system 30.

  The superimposing circuit 23 superimposes (superimposes) the image supplied from the program execution system 30 on the image signal from the signal processing circuit 22 and supplies the image signal to a CRT (Cathod Ray Tube) 24. The CRT 24 displays an image corresponding to the image signal supplied via the superimposing circuit 23. The amplifier 25 amplifies the audio signal supplied from the signal processing circuit 22 as necessary, and supplies it to the speaker 26. The speaker 26 is configured to output sound corresponding to the sound signal from the amplifier 25.

  The demultiplexer 27 separates the application program and the frame identification code multiplexed in the vertical blanking period of the television broadcast signal from the reception processing circuit 21 and supplies them to the registration unit 28. The frame identification code is supplied not only to the registration unit 28 but also to the program execution system 30. The registration unit 28 deletes the registration process for recording (registering) the application program from the demultiplexer 27 in the hard disk 29 and the application program recorded in the hard disk 29 corresponding to the frame identification code from the demultiplexer 27. A deletion process is performed. The hard disk 29 is configured to store application programs and other necessary information supplied from the registration unit 28.

  The program execution system 30 compares the start timing information added to the application program recorded (stored) in the hard disk 29 with the frame identification code supplied from the demultiplexer 27, and based on the comparison result, the hard disk 29 The application program recorded in the above is started and executed. Furthermore, when an image to be displayed is obtained as a result of executing the application program, the program execution system 30 supplies the image to the superimposing circuit 23.

  The operation unit 31 is, for example, an operation panel provided in the TV receiver 4 or a remote commander for performing remote operation. The operation unit 31 is operated by a user and supplies a signal corresponding to the operation to a necessary block. Has been made.

  Next, FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the program execution system 30 of FIG.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 41 stores, for example, an IPL (Initial Program Loading) program. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 42 activates and executes an application program stored in the hard disk 29 under the control of an OS (Operating System) stored in the auxiliary storage device 44, whereby each television broadcast signal is recorded. Various processes are performed in synchronization with the frame. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 43 temporarily stores programs executed by the CPU 42 and data necessary for its operation. The auxiliary storage device 44 is composed of, for example, a hard disk, and stores an OS and a program necessary for the program execution system 30 to read and execute an application program from the hard disk 29. The auxiliary storage device 44 temporarily stores data necessary for the CPU 42 to perform processing, data obtained as a result of the processing, and the like. An external I / F (Interface) 45 manages data and other input / output between the signal processing circuit 22, the superimposing circuit 23, the demultiplexer 27, and the hard disk 29.

  The program execution system 30 is configured by connecting the above blocks to each other via a bus.

  Next, processing of the television receiver 4 in FIG. 5 will be described.

  A reception signal corresponding to the radio wave received by the antenna 3 is supplied to the reception processing circuit 21. In the reception processing circuit 21, the reception signal from the antenna 3 is received, and the television broadcast signal of the channel corresponding to the operation of the operation unit 31 is extracted therefrom. This television broadcast signal is supplied to the signal processing circuit 22. In the signal processing circuit 22, the television broadcast signal from the reception processing circuit 21 is separated into an image signal and an audio signal. The image signal is supplied to the CRT 24 via the superimposing circuit 23 for display, and the audio signal is supplied to the speaker 26 via the amplifier 25 and output.

  As described above, the image or sound corresponding to the television broadcast program of the channel corresponding to the operation of the operation unit 31 is displayed or output.

  On the other hand, in the reception processing circuit 21, the television broadcast signal is supplied not only to the signal processing circuit 22 but also to the demultiplexer 27. The demultiplexer 27 separates the application program multiplexed in the vertical blanking period of the television broadcast signal from the reception processing circuit 21 and the frame identification code, and registers the application program in the registration unit 28. To the unit 28 and the program execution system 30.

  Upon receiving the frame identification code from the demultiplexer 27, the registration unit 28 performs registration processing and deletion processing.

  That is, FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the registration process performed by the registration unit 28.

  In the registration process, first, in step S11, it is determined whether or not an application program is supplied from the demultiplexer 27 together with the frame identification code. That is, in this embodiment, the frame identification code is always multiplexed during the vertical blanking period of the corresponding frame, but if there is no application program (if there is no application program to be transmitted), the TV Not multiplexed with John broadcast signal. Therefore, in step S11, it is determined whether or not the application program is multiplexed on the television broadcast signal, that is, whether or not the application program is supplied from the demultiplexer 27.

  If it is determined in step S11 that the application program is not supplied with the frame identification code, steps S12 to S14 are skipped, and the registration process is terminated.

  If it is determined in step S11 that the application program has been supplied together with the frame identification code, the process proceeds to step S12, and a file name for recording the application program in the hard disk 29 as a file is generated. That is, in the present embodiment, for example, the frame identification code supplied together with the application program is used as the file name as it is. As described above, since the frame identification code corresponds to the absolute time, by using the frame identification code as the file name of the application program as it is, the acquisition time (reception time) of the application program is obtained from the file name. Can be easily recognized.

  Here, the application program may be multiplexed and broadcast over a plurality of frames. In this case, for example, the frame identification code of the frame in which the head part of the application program is multiplexed is The file name of the application program is used. Conversely, a plurality of application programs may be multiplexed and broadcast in one frame. In this case, for example, a frame identification code of a frame in which a plurality of application programs are multiplexed is used. A code with sequential numbers added to the end is the file name of each of the plurality of application programs.

  When the file name is generated, the process proceeds to step S13, where the file is opened with the file name on the hard disk 29, and the application program is recorded there. When the recording of the application program ends, the file is closed and the process proceeds to step S14, and the recorded application program is registered in the execution list.

  Here, for example, an execution list as shown in FIG. 8 is recorded in the hard disk 29, and the application program recorded in step S13 is registered in this execution list.

  That is, the file name of the application program recorded on the hard disk 29 is arranged in the leftmost column (“file name” column) of the execution list. In the second column from the left of the execution list (“execution start time” column), start timing information added to the application program recorded on the hard disk 29 is arranged. In the rightmost column (“expiration date” column) of the execution list, deletion timing information added to the application program recorded on the hard disk 29 is arranged.

  Here, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the first line of the execution list is multiplexed with the application program whose file name is “19970610000000001” (accordingly, the vertical blanking period of the first frame on June 12, 1997). The time to be executed or deleted is the timing at which the 12th frame on June 12, 1997 or the 13th frame on June 12, 1997 was received. Is registered. In the second line, an application program whose file name is “19970610000000002”, and the time to be executed or time to be deleted is the 13th frame on June 12, 1997 or June 12, 1997, respectively. Registered is the timing at which the 14th frame of the day is received. In the third line, the file name is “19970610000000003”, and the time to be executed or time to be deleted is the 13th frame on June 12, 1997 or June 12, 1997, respectively. Registered is the timing at which the 25th frame of the day is received.

  When the registration to the execution list as described above ends, the registration process ends.

  As described above, the application program multiplexed in the vertical blanking period of the television broadcast signal is recorded on the hard disk 29.

  Next, the deletion process performed by the registration unit 28 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the deletion process, first, in step S21, the current time (including date) is recognized from the frame identification code supplied from the demultiplexer 27, and the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, by referring to the execution list recorded on the hard disk 29, it is determined whether there is an application program whose expiration date has passed. That is, in step S22, the deletion timing information described in the expiration date column (rightmost column) of the execution list in FIG. 8 is converted into time, and it is determined whether or not the current time has passed. The

  If it is determined in step S22 that there is no application program whose expiration date has passed, step S23 is skipped and the deletion process is terminated. If it is determined in step S22 that there is an application program that has expired, the process proceeds to step S22, and the application program is deleted from the hard disk 29. Furthermore, in step S22, information about the application program whose expiration date has passed is also deleted from the execution list, and the deletion process is terminated.

  As described above, since the application program whose expiration date has passed has been deleted, the hard disk 29 remains in a state where application programs that are no longer necessary are recorded, thereby recording a new application program. It is possible to prevent the situation where it is impossible to perform the operation.

  Next, processing performed by the program execution system 30 in FIG. 5 will be described.

  In the program execution system 30, every time a frame identification code is supplied from the demultiplexer 27, for example, activation processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 10 is performed.

  That is, in the program execution system 30, first, in step S31, the execution list recorded in the hard disk 29 (FIG. 8) is referred to, and the start timing information ("execution start time" column) therein is the default. It is determined whether there is an application program that matches the frame identification code from the multiplexer 27. If it is determined in step S31 that there is no application program whose start timing information matches the frame identification code from the demultiplexer 27, step S32 is skipped and the activation process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S32 that there is an application program whose start timing information matches the frame identification code from the demultiplexer 27, the process proceeds to step S33, where the application program is loaded from the hard disk 29, started, This is executed to finish the startup process.

  According to the activation process as described above, the application program can be activated in synchronization with a desired frame accurately.

  In the program execution system 30, when an application program is executed and, as a result, for example, an image to be displayed such as an EPG (Electric Program Guide) is obtained, the image is supplied to the superimposing circuit 23. . In this case, in the superimposing circuit 23, the image from the program execution system 30 is superimposed on the image from the signal processing circuit 23, supplied to the CRT 24, and displayed. That is, for example, when an image obtained as a result of the execution of the application program is, for example, an EPG, the EPG is displayed superimposed on an image as a television broadcast program.

  Next, as described above, in the present embodiment, the application program can include call timing information for indicating the timing of calling the procedure described therein. The procedure in which the timing information is described is called in the program execution system 30 at a timing corresponding to the timing information.

  That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, when timing information (call time) is described for procedures func1 (), func2 (), func3 (),. In the program execution system, each procedure func1 (), func2 (), func3 (),... Is called when a frame identification code corresponding to the timing information is supplied from the demultiplexer 27. Accordingly, in this case, processing corresponding to various procedures can be executed in synchronization with a desired frame accurately.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the application program has a period for indicating whether or not the procedure described therein is periodically called in synchronization with the frame period in the television broadcast signal. A flag, further, a periodic call start timing information, a periodic call end timing information, and a period information can be included. The procedure in which the period flag is described is supplied from the signal processing circuit 22 in the program execution system 30. A call is periodically made at a timing corresponding to the vertical synchronization signal.

  That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, for the procedures func1 (), func2 (), func3 (),. When the start time), the cycle information (cycle), and the cycle call end timing information (end time) are described, in the program execution system, each procedure func1 (), func2 (), func3 (),. Called when the frame identification code corresponding to the periodic call timing information is supplied from the demultiplexer 27, and thereafter called in response to the periodic information every time the vertical synchronization signal is supplied from the signal processing circuit 22. The That is, for example, in the embodiment of FIG. 12, the period information of the procedures func1 (), func2 (), and func3 () are 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In this case, the procedure func1 (), func2 () and func3 () are called each time the vertical synchronization signal is received from the signal processing circuit 22, 1, 2, and 3 times, respectively. Accordingly, in this case, the predetermined process can be periodically executed in synchronization with the frame accurately.

  As described above, the application program is started in synchronization with the frame, and various processes (procedures) are executed in synchronization with the frame period. Therefore, the application program is more closely related to the television broadcast program. Various processes can be performed.

  In addition, since the process is performed in synchronization with the frame accurately, for example, when the application program displays an EPG (Electric Program Guide), the EPG is displayed while the commercial is being broadcast from the sponsor. When there is a request not to perform the EPG, the EPG is displayed until the timing of the frame immediately before the frame where the commercial is started, and at the timing of the frame where the commercial is started, EPG can be erased.

  Further, when the application program displays an EPG, for example, various actions can be performed on the contents constituting the EPG in synchronization with the frame. In this case, the user's attention is drawn. be able to.

  In addition, when the application program displays information using, for example, a television broadcast program, the display can be accurately linked with the screen.

  That is, FIG. 13 shows a display example of a screen by an application program that displays information on leisure (leisure information) using a television broadcast program.

  This screen is a selection screen for selecting the type of leisure for displaying leisure information, and is configured as shown in FIG. 14, for example.

  That is, the selection screen of FIG. 13 is an object realized by an object-oriented language as shown in FIG. 14B on a screen of a television broadcast program of four channels as shown in FIG. The windows to be configured are superimposed (overlaid).

  Here, the television broadcast program screen shown in FIG. 14A is configured such that the program screens of the first to fourth channels are arranged at the upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right, respectively. In addition, the window shown in FIG. 14B constitutes buttons 101 to 104 constituted by bitmaps and titles of selection screens for selecting the leisure associated with the programs of the first to fourth channels, respectively. A bitmap 105 and a text 106, and a text 107 as a message "Please click an interesting number" prompting selection of a leisure.

  Now, in the state where the selection screen shown in FIG. 13 is displayed, for example, the button 104 for selecting the leisure related to the program of the fourth channel among the buttons 101 to 104 is operated (for example, clicked with the mouse). ). Now, on the fourth channel, a scene of windsurfing is displayed. Therefore, when the button 104 is operated, a leisure information screen relating to windsurfing is displayed as shown in FIG. An information screen is displayed.

  Here, for example, the leisure information screen is obtained by cutting out the screen of the fourth channel from the screen shown in FIG. 16A similar to the screen shown in FIG. This window is also configured by being pasted on, for example, an object. 16B is the same bitmap 201 as the button 104 operated on the selection screen of FIG. 13, the text 202 as the title “windsurfing” of the leisure information, the content of the leisure information “inside the park” You can enjoy windsurfing at the private beach "," Board rental 1000 yen / 1 hour "," There is a private lesson by the instructor "text 203 to 205, and how to return to the selection screen of FIG. 13 It consists of a bitmap 206 and text 207. Then, the screen of the fourth channel cut out from the screen shown in FIG. 16A is pasted on the margin portion 208 of the window shown in FIG. 16B, and the leisure information screen shown in FIG. 15 is configured.

  Now, when watching a program of a certain channel and switching it to the selection screen shown in FIG. 13, the display of the television broadcast program screen shown in FIG. ) Must be displayed at the same time. As described above, in the program execution system 30, various processes (procedures) are executed in synchronization with the frame period, so the display of the television broadcast program screen shown in FIG. The window shown in B) can be displayed simultaneously. That is, before or after the television broadcast program screen shown in FIG. 14 (A) is displayed, the window shown in FIG. 14 (B) is displayed, making the viewer feel uncomfortable. It can be prevented from feeling.

  In the state where the selection screen shown in FIG. 13 is displayed, in response to the operation of the buttons 101 to 104, the display screen is switched to the leisure information screen as shown in FIG. An interactive user interface can be provided.

  Next, scheduling when the program execution system 30 executes an application program will be described by taking, for example, an application program that displays an EPG as an example.

  In the present embodiment, the application program is described in an object-oriented language such as Java (registered trademark) language. Here, the EPG is an EPG component such as a moving image, a still image, text, or a button. It includes a corresponding object, an object that operates an object corresponding to each part, and an object that performs time scheduling.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the EPG is configured by collecting one or more objects called scenes. The scene has at least objects called actors and behavior schedulers.

  An actor is an operable object corresponding to a moving image, a still image, text, a button, or other component, and its behavior (for example, its display position on the screen, display size, color, and movement on the screen). Whether or not to move, it has data for determining the moving direction, moving speed, moving amount, content such as moving image, still image, audio, etc., or whether to pause. In addition, since an actor is basically unique, it does not have a class inheritance relationship (however, in Java (registered trademark), all objects are ultimately object classes (Object type). ). However, the actor implements an interface (hereinafter referred to as an operation interface as appropriate) (an interface defined in Java (registered trademark) language or C ++) for causing the behavior described later to operate the data that the actor has. As a result, even when there is no class inheritance relationship, the behavior can use the operation interface to access the data held by the actor.

  When a simulation is performed by object-oriented programming, a calculation model that can be processed in parallel may be considered to be composed of objects that behave independently. In this case, the object that behaves autonomously is generally called an actor, but the actor that constitutes the scene is different from the actor that constitutes the calculation model. That is, all actors are common in that they have data that determines their behavior, but the actors that make up a scene basically have that data in that they do not have methods to manipulate that data. Different from the actors that make up the model. However, it is also possible to give the actors that make up the scene a method for manipulating the data that they have (the actors that make up the scene can be configured in the same way as the actors that make up the calculation model). .

  The behavior scheduler has an object called a behavior for manipulating data included in an actor, and time-schedules the behavior. In other words, the behavior scheduler manages a table registered by associating a behavior that is a target of time scheduling with a temporal restriction condition for causing the behavior to operate actor data. Based on the registration information, the behavior is processed (the data of the actor is manipulated).

  Here, the behavior uses the operation interface described above to read and process data of an actor that implements the operation interface, and sets the processed data to the actor again. The actor behaves (operates) according to the set data. In addition, the behavior is basically unique, like the actor, and has no class inheritance relationship. Furthermore, a behavior can have a behavior scheduler having the child behavior scheduler as a parent behavior scheduler, which is a behavior scheduler subordinate to the parent behavior scheduler. In this case, the actor's data is manipulated by both the behavior of the parent behavior scheduler (hereinafter referred to as parent behavior as appropriate) and the behavior of its child behavior scheduler (hereinafter referred to as child behavior as appropriate), and the behavior of the actor. Is controlled. In other words, the actor behaves like a combination (synthesized) of the data operation by the parent behavior and the data operation by the child behavior.

  Since the behavior has a behavior scheduler, and the behavior scheduler constitutes a scene, it can also be said that the scene includes three types of objects obtained by adding behaviors to the actor and behavior scheduler.

  A behavior (behavior scheduler) can have a hierarchical structure of three or more layers.

  In the scene configured as described above, in the behavior, the data of the actor is manipulated according to the time scheduling by the behavior scheduler, thereby controlling the behavior of the actor. That is, the behavior of the actor is controlled in a higher order. Therefore, since the data of the actor is manipulated by a behavior different from the actor (because the method that manipulates the data that the actor has is implemented in a behavior different from the actor), only the behavior is recreated, or By simply exchanging and adding behaviors, it is possible to extend (change) the behavior without recreating the actor.

  Furthermore, since a behavior (behavior scheduler) can have child behaviors (child behavior schedulers) subordinate to it, that is, a behavior (behavior scheduler) can be structured in a hierarchical manner, so that it has a simple behavior. By combining a plurality of behaviors corresponding to the above, it becomes possible to easily realize a complicated behavior.

  Since a behavior scheduler, which is an object for time scheduling of behaviors, is prepared separately, it is possible to easily combine a plurality of behaviors simply by performing time scheduling of behaviors using the behavior scheduler.

  As described above, the behavior scheduler time-schedules its own behavior, and the behavior of the actor is controlled by the time-scheduled behavior, thereby forming a scene. An object having a combination of and a behavior scheduler is called a scene.

  By the way, in this embodiment, a scene can have a child scene (sub-scene) which is a scene subordinate to the scene as a parent scene. That is, a scene is also a behavior (behavior scheduler). In this case, the parent scene is a scene scheduler (child scene scheduling object) that is an object configured in the same manner as the behavior scheduler that time schedules its child scenes. Is further included.

  If the scene has child scenes, the child scenes are executed at the time scheduled by the corresponding scene scheduler. That is, the child scene, like the parent scene, has an actor, a behavior, and a behavior scheduler (and may have its grandchild scene, and in this case, a scene scheduler that time schedules the grandchild scene) The scene scheduler of the child scene causes the behavior scheduler included in the child scene to perform processing (if the child scene includes the grandchild scene and the scene scheduler, the scene scheduler of the grandchild scene further performs processing. ). Thus, in the child scene, the behavior of the child scene is controlled according to the time scheduling by the behavior scheduler of the child scene, and the behavior of the actor is controlled.

  Here, since the behavior scheduler and the scene scheduler are configured in the same manner as described above, hereinafter, both of them will be simply referred to as a scheduler.

  The scheduler implements a method for performing time scheduling (time scheduling), and is an interface for time scheduling (hereinafter referred to as a scheduled interface as appropriate) (specified in the Java (registered trademark) language or C ++). Other schedulers and behaviors that implement the interface) are intended for time scheduling. Therefore, in this embodiment, the scheduler and behavior that are time-scheduled implement a scheduled interface, and the scheduler performs time scheduling of the scheduler and behavior using the scheduled interface.

  Since the scheduler can perform time scheduling of other schedulers as described above, a combination of so-called time scheduling in which other schedulers perform time scheduling based on the timing of time scheduling by a certain scheduler. (Synthesis) becomes possible.

  Here, in this embodiment, a scheduler having two different functions is prepared. One is a scheduler called a parallel scheduler, which can execute all of a plurality of objects in parallel when a plurality of executable objects are registered in its own table. The other is a scheduler called a sequential scheduler, which can execute only one of them preferentially when a plurality of executable objects are registered in its own table. .

  In the sequential scheduler, when a plurality of executable objects are registered in its own table, various methods can be considered to prioritize which one is executed. For example, the plurality of objects are The order registered in the table can be prioritized. Further, when the execution start time of the object is specified, for example, the one with the earliest execution start time can be prioritized. Furthermore, when the execution time of the object (the time from the execution start time to the execution end time) is specified, for example, the object with the longest execution time can be prioritized.

  Note that executing an object means calling a method of the object.

  In addition, a scene corresponds to a container, and actors, behavior schedulers, and child scenes constituting the scene correspond to components of the container.

  Next, FIG. 17 schematically shows an EPG composed of the above scenes.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 17, the EPG as shown in FIG. 17A is first configured, and then the EPG changes to that shown in FIG. 17B at a predetermined timing. ing. Note that the EPG shown in FIG. 17A includes a background 31, an image 32, a background 33, and buttons 34 to 37 as actors, and the EPG shown in FIG. Instead of 37, a background 41, buttons 42 and 43 are provided as actors.

  The behavior of the EPG as shown in FIG. 17 (the change of the EPG as shown in FIG. 17A to FIG. 17B) is realized by reproducing (executing) the scene as shown in FIG. Is done.

  That is, the EPG of FIG. 17 is composed of a scene Scene0. The scene Scene0 has the background 31 of the EPG as an actor, and has scenes Scene01, Scene02, and Scene03 as its child scenes. Further, the scene Scene0 also has a scheduler (scene scheduler) that performs time scheduling so that the child scenes Scene01 to Scene03 are reproduced at times t0 to t0 ', t0 to t1, and t1 to t0', respectively. In the embodiment of FIG. 18, the scene Scene0 is time-scheduled so as to be played back at times t0 to t0 ′. However, since the scene Scene0 is a scene at the highest level, the time scheduling is For example, it is performed in an instance of a thread class (a thread assigned to reproduce the EPG of FIG. 17).

  The scene Scene01 has an image 32 as an actor.

The scene Scene02 has a background 33 where the buttons 34 to 37 are arranged as an actor, and has scenes Scene021, Scene022, Scene023, and Scene024 as its child scenes. Further, the scene Scene02 has a scheduler that performs time scheduling so that any of the child scenes Scene021 to Scene024 is reproduced at times t0 to t1. The scenes Scene021 to Scene024 have buttons 34 to 37 as actors, respectively.

  The scene Scene03 has the background 41 where the buttons 42 and 43 are arranged as an actor, and has scenes Scene031 and Scene032 as its child scenes. Further, the scene Scene03 has a scheduler that performs time scheduling so that both of the child scenes Scene031 and Scene032 are reproduced at times t1 to t0 '. The scenes Scene031 and Scene032 have buttons 42 and 43 as actors, respectively.

  Therefore, when playback of the scene Scene0 is started at time t0, the background 31 as an actor included in the scene Scene0 is displayed. Furthermore, in the scheduler that the scene Scene0 has, the playback of the scenes Scene01 and Scene02 is started, whereby the image 32 or the background 33 as an actor that the scene Scene01 or Scene02 has, respectively, is displayed. Also, the scene Scene02 has a scheduler that starts playing the scenes Scene021 to Scene024, thereby displaying the buttons 34 to 37 as actors that the scenes Scene021 to Scene024 have.

  As a result, the EPG shown in FIG. 17A is displayed. The scenes Scene0, Scene01, Scene02, Scene021 to Scene024 have behaviors for manipulating the data of the background 31, the image 32, the background 33, and the buttons 34 to 37 as the actors of the scenes. (Behavior) (size, color, display position, etc.) is controlled by this behavior by manipulating data of each actor.

  Thereafter, when the current time reaches time t1 (however, t0 <t1 <t0 ′), the playback of scene Scene02 is completed in the scheduler included in scene Scene0, and further, the playback of scenes Scene1 through Scene024 is performed in the scheduler included in scene Scene02. Is terminated. As a result, the display of the image 32 as the actor included in the scene Scene02 and the buttons 34 through 37 as the actors included in the scenes Scene021 through Scene024 are deleted.

  At time t1, the scene Scene0 has a scheduler to start playing the scene Scene03, thereby displaying the background 41 as an actor of the scene Scene03. Further, in the scheduler that the scene 03 has, the scenes Scene031 and Scene032 are started to be reproduced, whereby the buttons 42 or 43 serving as actors that the scenes Scene031 and Scene032 respectively have are displayed.

  As a result, the EPG shown in FIG. 17B is displayed instead of the EPG shown in FIG. The scenes Scene03, Scene031, and Scene032 each have a behavior 41 for operating the data of the background 41 and the buttons 42 and 43 as the actors that the actors have, and the behaviors of these actors are displayed by the behaviors. Controlled by manipulating data.

  Thereafter, when the current time reaches time t0 ′, the playback of the scene Scene0 is finished, and further, the playback of the scenes Scene01 and Scene03 is finished in the scheduler of the scene Scene0, and the scene Scene031 and Scene032 playback ends. As a result, the background 31 as the actor included in the scene Scene0, the image 32 as the actor included in the scene Scene01, the background 41 as the actor included in the scene 03, and the buttons 42 and 43 as the actors included in the scenes Scene031 and Scene032 are displayed. Erased.

  That is, the EPG shown in FIG. 17B is erased.

  Since scenes constituting the EPG have a hierarchical structure, the actors constituting the EPG and their behavior can be easily changed.

  That is, for example, changing the EPG as shown in FIG. 17 deletes the actor background 33 and buttons 34 to 37 one by one, and displays the actor background 41 and buttons 42 and 43 one by one. Instead of performing such control, it is possible to perform by simply switching the scene Scene02 to the scene Scene03.

  Next, as described above, the behavior can also have a hierarchical structure similar to the scene, whereby the complex behavior of the actor can be easily realized.

  That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 19, it is assumed that behaviors Behavior01 and Behavior02 are subordinate to a certain behavior Behavior0, and further, Behaviors Behavior011 and Behavior012 are subordinate to behavior Behavior01. The behaviors Behavior0, Behavior01, Behavior02, Behavior011, and Behavior012 are time-scheduled to control the behavior of the actor at times t0 to t0 ′, t0 to t5, t5 to t0 ′, t0 to t3, and t2 to t4. (Where t0 <t2 <t3 <t4 <t5 <t0 '). Further, for example, behavior Behavior0 is an operation for changing the display color of an actor from red to green, behavior Behavior01 is an operation for moving an actor on a straight line of inclination 2, behavior Behavior02 is an operation for moving an actor to inclination-2. The behavior Behavior011 performs an operation to increase the size of the actor by one, and the behavior Behavior012 performs an operation to move the actor on the circumference of a circle with a radius of 5, respectively. And The behavior Behavior0 controls the behavior of an actor as a button as shown in FIG. The behaviors Behavior0, Behavior01, Behavior02, Behavior011, and Behavior012 have a hierarchical structure, so the behaviors Behavior01, Behavior02, and behavior01, behavior1 of behavior01, behavior1 of behavior01 Control the behavior of the same actor as BehaviorBehavior0.

  In this case, when the current time is time t0, the behavior Behavior0 changes the display color of the actor from red to green (therefore, the original display color of the actor is red here). Further, the behavior Behavior01 starts the movement of the actor along the straight line with the inclination 2, and the behavior Behavior011 enlarges the size of the actor by one. When the current time reaches t2, the behavior Behavior012 starts moving the actor along the circumference of a circle with a radius of 5, and then, when the current time reaches time t3, the behavior Behavior011 expands the actor. Further, when the current time becomes time t4, the behavior Behavior012 stops the movement of the actor along the circumference of the circle having the radius 5.

  Then, when the current time reaches time t5, behavior Behavior01 stops the movement of the actor along the straight line with the inclination 2, and behavior Behavior02 starts the movement of the actor along the straight line with the inclination-2. Thereafter, when the current time reaches time t0 ', behavior Behavior02 stops the movement of the actor along the straight line with the inclination of -2, and the control of the display color of the actor by behavior Behavior0 ends.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 20, the button as an actor changes its display color from red to green at time t0 (in the figure, red is shown as no pattern and green is shown as diagonal lines). While moving on a straight line with an inclination of 2 (the portion indicated by A in the figure), the size is enlarged by one (the portion indicated by C in the figure). Further, the actor starts to move on the circumference of the radius 5 in addition to moving on the straight line having the inclination 2 at the time t2 (part indicated by B in the figure), and at the time t3, the actor starts to move on the inclination. Stop moving on the straight line. Thereafter, the actor stops moving on the circumference of radius 5 at time t4, and starts moving on the straight line with the inclination of -2 at time t5 (part indicated by D in the figure). Then, at time t0 ', the actor stops all operations.

  As described above, since the behavior can have a hierarchical structure, it is possible to easily realize a complex behavior combining the behaviors of the behaviors.

  In addition, it is possible to easily change the behavior. That is, for example, in the embodiment of FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, in order to prevent the actor from moving on the straight line with the inclination 2, increasing the size, and moving on the circumference of the radius 5, the behavior There is no need to remove Behavior01, Behavior011, and Behavior012 one by one, and it is only necessary to remove behavior Behavior01, which is the behavior of the highest hierarchy among them.

  Next, FIG. 21 shows a configuration example of another embodiment of a broadcasting system to which the present invention is applied.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 1, terrestrial broadcasting is performed, but in the embodiment of FIG. 21, broadcasting is performed using a satellite line.

  That is, the transmission apparatus 51 of the broadcasting station performs the same processing as that of the transmission apparatus 1 of FIG. However, since the satellite link has a wider transmission band than terrestrial waves, the application program is output in the form of frequency multiplexing or time division multiplexing rather than being superimposed on the vertical blanking period of the television broadcast signal. It is made to be done.

  An output signal output from the transmission device 51 is emitted from the antenna 52 and is received by the user-side antenna 54 via the satellite 53. A reception signal received by the antenna 54 is supplied to an STB (Set Top Box) 55. In STB 55, basically the same processing as in the case of the TV receiver 4 of FIG. 1 is performed, and the resulting image is supplied to the CRT 56 and displayed.

  As described above, when a satellite line is used, since a transmission band is wide, many application programs can be transmitted at a higher speed than when a terrestrial wave is used.

  As mentioned above, although the case where the present invention is applied to broadcasting of a television broadcast signal using terrestrial and satellite channels has been described, the present invention is not limited to those using terrestrial or satellite channels, In addition, the present invention can be applied to broadcasting using a CATV network or other transmission media. That is, the present invention can be applied to any transmission medium capable of digital broadcasting. Also, the method for multiplexing the frame identification code and the application program is not particularly limited.

  In this embodiment, a code (frame identification code) for identifying each frame is added to each frame, but such a code is added not in frame units but in field units, Alternatively, it can be added in units of several frames.

  In the present embodiment, the application program is described in an object-oriented language or a functional language. However, the application program can also be described in, for example, a machine language or a basic language. .

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the image and sound as a television broadcast program are transmitted without being particularly encoded, but the image and sound as a television broadcast program can be encoded and transmitted. It is. For example, when MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) is used as an encoding method, an application program can be arranged in an area called user data of an MPEG stream obtained by performing MPEG encoding. .

  In this embodiment, the frame identification code corresponding to the time to be deleted from the hard disk 29 is added to the application program as the deletion timing information. It is also possible to use the time recorded in 29 (hereinafter referred to as the deletion time as appropriate). The time when the application program is recorded on the hard disk 29 can be obtained from the file name, and the current time can be obtained from the frame identification code. You can also ask for time. Therefore, when the deletion time is used as the deletion timing information, the application program may be deleted based on whether or not the elapsed time exceeds the deletion time as the deletion timing information.

  Furthermore, the frame identification code is not limited to that described in the present embodiment, and any code that can identify each frame can be used.

It is a figure which shows the structure of 1st Embodiment of the broadcast system to which this invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the transmitter 1 of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the frame identification code which the frame identification code generation circuit 11 of FIG. 2 outputs. 3 is a flowchart for explaining processing of the transmission device 1 of FIG. 2. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of TV receiver 4 of FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the program execution system 30 in FIG. 5. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the registration process which the registration part 28 of FIG. 5 performs. It is a figure which shows an execution list. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the deletion process which the registration part 28 of FIG. 5 performs. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the starting process which the program execution system 30 of FIG. 5 performs. It is a figure which shows that the timing information showing the time when it is called is added to the procedure. It is a figure which shows that the time when the call is started, the call cycle, and the time when the call ends are added to the procedure. It is the photograph of the halftone image displayed on a display which shows a selection screen. FIG. 14 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a configuration of a selection screen in FIG. 13. It is the photograph of the halftone image displayed on a display which shows a leisure information screen. FIG. 16 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a configuration of a leisure information screen in FIG. 15. It is a figure which shows EPG comprised by one or more scenes. It is a figure for demonstrating reproduction | regeneration of the scene which comprises EPG of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the hierarchical structure of behavior. It is a figure which shows the behavior of the actor controlled by the behavior made into the hierarchical structure. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of 2nd Embodiment of the broadcast system to which this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmitter, 2, 3 Antenna, 4 TV receiver, 11 Frame identification code generation circuit, 12 Time information addition circuit, 13 Multiplexer, 14 Transmission circuit, 21 Reception processing circuit, 22 Signal processing circuit, 23 Superimposition circuit, 24 CRT , 25 amplifier, 26 speaker, 27 demultiplexer, 28 registration unit, 29 hard disk, 30 program execution system, 31 operation unit, 41 ROM, 42 CPU, 43 RAM, 44 auxiliary storage device, 45 external I / F, 51 transmission device , 52 antenna, 53 satellite, 54 antenna, 55 STB, 56 CRT

Claims (9)

An application program to which start timing information for indicating a timing to start execution is added, and a receiver for receiving the television broadcast signal multiplexed with an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal ,
Receiving means for receiving the television broadcast signal;
Separating means for separating the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal;
Storage means for storing an application program output by the separation means;
The identification code output by the separation means is compared with the start timing information added to the application program stored in the storage means, and the comparison result is stored in the storage means. A receiving apparatus comprising: execution means for starting and executing an application program. Deletion timing information for indicating the timing of deleting the application program from the storage means is also added to the application program,
The application program stored in the storage unit is compared with the identification code output from the separating unit and the deletion timing information added to the application program stored in the storage unit and corresponding to the comparison result. The receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a deleting unit that deletes. The deletion timing information is information indicating a time during which the application program is stored in the storage unit or an absolute time when the application program stored in the storage unit is deleted. 2. The receiving device according to 2. The application program includes call timing information for representing a timing for calling a procedure included therein,
The receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the execution unit compares the identification code output from the separation unit with the call timing information, and calls the procedure according to the comparison result. The application program includes a flag for indicating whether or not a procedure included therein is periodically called in synchronization with a cycle of a screen in the television broadcast signal,
The receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the execution unit periodically calls the procedure based on the flag. The superimposing unit that superimposes the execution result on the image of the television broadcast signal when the execution result of the application program by the execution unit is displayable. Receiver. An application program to which start timing information for indicating execution start timing is added, and a reception method for receiving the television broadcast signal multiplexed with an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal. ,
Receiving the television broadcast signal;
Separating the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal;
While storing the application program,
A reception method comprising: comparing the identification code with the start timing information added to the application program, and starting and executing the application program in accordance with the comparison result. A transmission device for transmitting a television broadcast signal;
A transmission / reception device comprising: a reception device for receiving the television broadcast signal;
The transmitter is
Generating means for generating an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal;
An adding means for adding start timing information for indicating the timing of starting execution of the application program;
Multiplexing means for multiplexing the corresponding identification code to the television broadcast signal and multiplexing the application program output by the adding means;
Transmitting means for transmitting the television broadcast signal output from the multiplexing means;
The receiving device is:
Receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal from the transmitting device;
Separating means for separating the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal;
Storage means for storing an application program output by the separation means;
The identification code output by the separation means is compared with the start timing information added to the application program stored in the storage means, and the comparison result is stored in the storage means. And an execution means for starting and executing the application program. A transmission device for transmitting a television broadcast signal;
A transmission / reception method of a transmission / reception device comprising: a reception device that receives the television broadcast signal,
In the transmitter,
Generating an identification code for identifying each screen in the television broadcast signal, and adding to the application program start timing information for indicating the timing of starting its execution;
In addition to multiplexing the identification code corresponding to the television broadcast signal, the application program with the start timing information added is multiplexed and transmitted,
In the receiving device,
Receiving the television broadcast signal;
Separating the application program and the identification code multiplexed in the television broadcast signal;
While storing the application program,
A transmission / reception method comprising: comparing the identification code with the start timing information added to the application program, and starting and executing the application program in accordance with the comparison result.

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