JP2008027186A - Information search apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conduct keyword searches on related information by means of an Internet search engine by selecting words that are not necessarily banalized yet but that give a new impression as words highly likely to interest users, and setting the selected words as keywords. <P>SOLUTION: The input of text information supplied is received by a text information input part 101. Words contained in the text information are individually identified by a word identifying part 104. The words identified are collated with a word database 110 prepared, to evaluate the level of difficulty of each word. The words whose levels of difficulty evaluated are above a predetermined standard are selected as keyword candidates by a keyword selecting part 104. Of the words selected as the keyword candidates, the words selected by the user are used as keywords, and Internet searches are conducted by a keyword net search part 107. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention, for example, extracts words and phrases that are highly likely to be of interest to the user from words and phrases included in subtitle broadcasts and the like received by digital television broadcasting, and uses the Internet using the extracted words and phrases as keywords. The present invention relates to an information search apparatus and an information search method for executing search.

Phrases that attract the user's attention from among various words that can be noticed when a digital television receiver receives a digital television broadcast or when browsing various websites using a personal computer. In some cases, there is a demand to search for the meaning of the word, or to collect information related to the word and expand knowledge about the relevant field.

As is well known, collecting various kinds of information through the Internet is very popular, but it still requires a certain level of proficiency when trying to get an overview of the world trends in this way.
A technique for utilizing the Internet for research for such purposes has already been proposed as an Internet search device.

This proposal is intended to construct an Internet search device that automatically obtains keywords indicating trends in the world from program information, teletext, etc., and can easily obtain further information on the keywords from the Internet. Then, from the information captured by the text information input means from the program information or text broadcasting and stored in the text information storage means, words are extracted using the word extraction means, and the appearance frequency of these words is determined by the word appearance frequency counting means. A keyword candidate having a high appearance frequency is counted and listed, and a user designates a specific one of the listed keyword candidates as a search key, and the search key is used as an Internet search engine. Execute search using, automatically search related information A.

Trend words with high frequency of appearance can be automatically extracted from text information and applied to search engines. Detailed related information on keywords with important meanings in the input text information can be easily browsed. (Patent Document 1)
).
JP-A-10-69496 (paragraphs 0002 to 0005, FIG. 1)

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, words with low appearance frequency are not extracted as keywords, and this technique is not suitable when the words that the user is interested in are like this. become. Also, from a certain point of view, words that are likely to be of interest to the user are not frequent words that have become common sense, which is a trend, but a new impression. Therefore, it can be said that the need to obtain information that is widely and deeply sought through the Internet is remarkable for such words and phrases.

On the other hand, in the situation where many words are frequently received in chronological order as in, for example, subtitle broadcasting of digital television broadcasting, related information of words that users are interested in one by one by their own manual work This is also too complicated, and it is actually difficult to extract such words without oversight.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and as a highly probable word or phrase that the user is interested in, a word or phrase that is predicted to give a new impression without necessarily becoming common sense is to some extent or completely. An object of the present invention is to provide an information search apparatus and an information search method capable of automatically selecting, setting the selected word / phrase as a keyword, and performing a keyword search for related information.

In order to solve the above problems, the present application proposes the following technologies (1) included in the text information input unit that receives the input of the supplied text information and the text information input from the text information input unit A phrase identification unit that identifies each phrase to be identified, and the phrase identified by the phrase identification unit is checked against a phrase database prepared in advance to evaluate the difficulty level of the phrase, and the difficulty level by the evaluation reaches a predetermined level. A keyword selection unit that selects words that exceed the keyword candidate; a keyword selection unit that accepts an operation of selecting a desired word or phrase as a keyword from the keywords that are candidate keywords selected by the keyword selection unit; and The Internet was used with keywords selected by the keyword selection unit as keywords. Information retrieval apparatus characterized by comprising a keyword net search unit that executes a search, the.

In the information search apparatus of (1), the text information input unit receives input of the supplied text information, and the phrase identification unit identifies each phrase included in the text information input from the text information input unit. The keyword sorting unit collates the identified phrase with a prepared phrase database to evaluate the difficulty level of the phrase, and selects a phrase whose difficulty level by the evaluation exceeds a predetermined level as a keyword candidate, The keyword net search unit executes a search using the Internet using a word / phrase selected by the user through the keyword selection unit from the word / phrase candidates of the selected keyword.

For example, word candidates as keywords for keyword search using the Internet are automatically extracted from text information supplied from a digital television broadcast subtitle broadcast or data broadcast as a supply source. The information search is executed using the word / phrase selected by the user as a keyword. Because it ’s a word that ’s difficult for users, it ’s a word that is n’t yet common sense and gives a fresh impression,
These are extracted as keyword candidates for Internet search, and the phrase selected by the user is set as a keyword and a search using the Internet is executed, so an information search that closely reflects the user's interests and intentions is executed Can be done.

(2) a text information input unit that receives input of supplied text information, a phrase identification unit that identifies each phrase included in the text information input from the text information input unit, and a phrase identification unit A keyword selection unit that compares a phrase with a prepared phrase database and evaluates the difficulty level of the phrase, and selects a phrase whose difficulty level based on the evaluation exceeds a predetermined level as a keyword candidate; and the keyword selection unit An information search, comprising: a keyword net search unit that automatically executes a search using the Internet using a part or all of the selected keyword candidates as keywords. apparatus.

In the information search apparatus of (2), the text information input unit receives input of the supplied text information, and the phrase identification unit identifies each phrase included in the text information input from the text information input unit. The keyword sorting unit collates the identified phrase with a prepared phrase database to evaluate the difficulty level of the phrase, and selects a phrase whose difficulty level by the evaluation exceeds a predetermined level as a keyword candidate, The keyword net search unit automatically executes a search using the Internet using a part or all of the phrases that are candidates for the selected keyword as keywords.

For example, word candidates as keywords for keyword search using the Internet are automatically extracted from text information supplied from a digital television broadcast subtitle broadcast or data broadcast as a supply source. A search using the Internet is automatically executed using some or all of the phrases as keywords.
Words that have not yet become common sense and give a new impression, and words that have a high degree of difficulty suitable for keywords in Internet search are set as keywords, and searches using the Internet are executed. Information retrieval using high words as keywords can be executed almost fully automatically.

(3) The keyword selecting unit corresponds to each word including information including each data of data indicating a predetermined difficulty level and data indicating the number of times selected as a keyword candidate before the current time as the word database. The information search apparatus according to any one of (1) and (2), wherein the phrase database held in an updatable manner is applied to select candidate keywords.

In the information search device of (3) above, in particular, in the operation by the information search device of either (1) or (2), the keyword selecting unit uses the data representing the predetermined difficulty level and the current time point as the phrase database. The keyword candidate is selected by applying a word database that holds information including each data including the data representing the number of times previously selected as a keyword candidate in an updatable manner.
Considering the history of keywords selected in the past, it is easy to be selected as keywords for searching on the Internet because words that have a low frequency of appearance and have not yet become common sense, and match the needs of users. Information retrieval can be performed.

(4) The keyword selecting unit corresponds to each word including information including each data of data indicating a predetermined difficulty level and data indicating the number of times selected as a keyword candidate before the current time as the word database. Applying an updatable word database, for words already registered in the word database, the difficulty level depends on the data indicating the difficulty level related to the registration, and for words not registered in the word database, a high degree of difficulty And (1) characterized in that the difficulty level of each corresponding word is evaluated to select keyword candidates.
Or the information search device any one of (2).

In the information search device of (4) above, in particular, in the operation by the information search device of any one of (1) or (2), the keyword selection unit uses the data representing the predetermined difficulty level and the current time point as the phrase database. Applying a word database that holds information that includes each data and the data representing the number of times previously selected as a keyword candidate in an updatable manner, and registers that word or phrase already registered in the word database The difficulty level of each corresponding phrase is evaluated with a difficulty level based on the data representing the difficulty level related to the above, and the difficulty level of each corresponding phrase is evaluated with respect to the unregistered word / phrase database.

Considering the history etc. selected as keyword candidates in the past, and evaluating the difficulty level of each corresponding phrase with high difficulty level for words not registered in the phrase database, the appearance frequency is low and still Words that do not become common sense and give a novel impression can be easily selected as search keywords on the Internet, and information search that closely matches the user's needs can be executed.

(5) The keyword selection unit corresponds to each word including information including each data of data indicating a predetermined difficulty level and data indicating the number of times selected as a keyword candidate before the current time as the word database. Applying an updatable word database, for words already registered in the word database, the difficulty level depends on the data indicating the difficulty level related to the registration, and for words not registered in the word database, a high degree of difficulty In addition, the difficulty level of each corresponding word is evaluated to select keyword candidates, and for the words whose number of times selected as keyword candidates has reached a predetermined threshold, the level of difficulty in the word database The information search device according to any one of (1) and (2), wherein the data is updated so as to lower the data.

In the information search device of (5) above, in particular, in the operation by the information search device of either (1) or (2), the keyword selection unit uses the data representing the predetermined difficulty level and the current time point as the phrase database. Applying a word database that holds information that includes each data and the data representing the number of times previously selected as a keyword candidate in an updatable manner, and registers that word or phrase already registered in the word database In order to select the keyword candidates by evaluating the difficulty level of each corresponding phrase with a high difficulty level for words that are not registered in the phrase database, to a difficulty level that is based on the data representing the difficulty level related to Furthermore, for words and phrases that have reached the predetermined threshold number of times selected as keyword candidates, the difficulty level in the word database should be lowered. To update the data.

Considering the history etc. selected as keyword candidates in the past, and evaluating the difficulty level of each corresponding phrase with high difficulty level for words not registered in the phrase database, the appearance frequency is low and still Words that do not become common sense and give a novel impression can be easily selected as search keywords on the Internet, and information search that closely matches the user's needs can be executed. Furthermore, for words and phrases that have been selected as keyword candidates, the data is updated so as to lower the level of difficulty in the phrase database, so the difficulty level is evaluated more accurately. The selection of will be even better.

(6) The text information input unit is configured to periodically supply text data included in received subtitle broadcasts or data broadcasts to a storage device and store the text data in a predetermined storage unit. The information search device according to any one of (1) to (5).
In the information search device of (6) above, text data included in subtitle broadcast, data broadcast, etc. is used as a search keyword candidate selection source, particularly in the operation of any one of the information search devices of (1) to (5). Keywords are extracted. It is possible to appropriately capture keywords (candidates) from information sources that change over time.

(7) A tuner unit that extracts a signal of a desired specific frequency from the received high-frequency data modulated signal including video data and audio data of the broadcast and outputs a transport stream; and reads from the applied IC card. A descrambling unit that obtains a video transport packet and an audio transport packet by releasing scrambling of a transport stream that is an output of the tuner unit using the key information, and the video transport packet and the audio transport packet An AV decoder unit that performs decoding processing to generate video data and audio data, and a display that performs display based on the output video data of the AV decoder unit and displays for the user interface, TV Characterized in that it is configured to be capable of receiving down broadcast (1
) To (6).
In the information search device of the above (7), the information search device also functions as a digital television receiver, particularly in the operation by any one of the information search devices of (1) to (6). It is possible to exhibit information retrieval functions via the Internet.

(8) A step of receiving and holding the supplied text information, a step of individually identifying words included in the inputted and held text information, and the identified words are prepared in advance. A step of evaluating a difficulty level of the phrase by collating with a phrase database, selecting a phrase having a difficulty level by the evaluation exceeding a predetermined level as a keyword candidate, and selecting from the phrases that are candidates for the selected keyword And a step of performing a search using the Internet by using the obtained phrase as a keyword.

In the information search method of (8) above, the input of the text information supplied is received, the words included in the text information are identified individually, and the identified words are compared with a prepared word database. The degree of difficulty of the word is evaluated, a word whose degree of difficulty by the evaluation exceeds a predetermined level is selected as a keyword candidate, and a word selected from the words that are candidates for the selected keyword is used as a keyword. Perform the search.

For example, word candidates as keywords for keyword search using the Internet are extracted from text information supplied from a digital television broadcast subtitle broadcast or data broadcast as a supply source. An information search is executed using the selected phrase as a keyword. Words that have a high degree of difficulty from the user's point of view mean words that have a high probability of giving a new impression without becoming common sense, so they are extracted as keyword candidates in Internet search, Since a search using the Internet is executed with the phrase selected from the above set as a keyword, an information search that well reflects the user's interests and intentions can be executed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings to be referred to below, for the sake of convenience, the main part that is the subject of the description is exaggerated as appropriate, and other than the main part is appropriately simplified or omitted.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an information search apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, for example, a text information input unit 101 that receives input of text information supplied from a digital television broadcast subtitle broadcast or data broadcast is provided, and the text information received by the text information input unit 101 is provided. Is temporarily stored in the text information storage unit 102.

This temporary storage can be executed, for example, such that text data included in the data broadcast is periodically supplied to the text information storage unit 102 for storage.
The text information received by the text information input unit 101 and temporarily held in the text information storage unit 102 is supplied to a phrase identification unit 103 that identifies each phrase included in the text information. Here, each phrase (word, Idioms, phrases, etc.) and converted to an identified state.

The word / phrase identified by the word / phrase identification unit 103 is checked against a word / phrase database 110 prepared in advance to evaluate the difficulty level of the word / phrase, and a word / phrase having a degree of difficulty exceeding the predetermined level is selected as a keyword candidate. The keyword selection unit 104 is provided, and words and phrases that are candidate keywords selected by the keyword selection unit 104 are stored in the keyword temporary storage unit 105.

Further, a keyword selection unit 106 (for example, for a user to perform a selection operation to set a specific word / phrase as a keyword from among the word / phrase candidates selected by the keyword selection unit 104 and stored in the keyword temporary storage unit 105. Remote control)
The phrase set as a keyword in this way is also held in the keyword temporary storage unit 105 so that it can be identified as the keyword.

The phrase selected as the keyword as described above, that is, the keyword temporary storage unit 10
The keyword net search unit 107 executes a search using the Internet 120 using the phrase held as a keyword in FIG.
The keyword net search unit 107 is connectable to the Internet 120. The selected keyword is input to a search engine on the Internet 120 or a search engine built in the keyword net search unit 107 to perform an Internet search. It has a function of executing and displaying the search result on the screen 130. At this time, one or a plurality of search engines may be used for the search.

In this embodiment, in order to display each word / phrase that is a keyword candidate stored in the keyword temporary storage unit 105 and allow the user to perform a keyword selection operation while viewing the screen, the keyword is also displayed. In order to display the word selected as
In order to display the search result by the keyword net search unit 107 executed using the keyword, a display unit 130 having a display screen such as a liquid crystal display is applied.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of data stored in the phrase database 110 described with reference to FIG. In this word / phrase database 110, data representing a predetermined difficulty level (
In this example, data indicating the ranks of A, B, C, D, and E) in descending order and the number of times selected as keyword candidates before the current time (indicated as the number of times listed in the figure, details will be described later). The information including each data is held updatable corresponding to each phrase.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information search apparatus described with reference to FIG. When this information retrieval apparatus is activated, first, for example, text information supplied using a digital television broadcast subtitle broadcast or data broadcast as a supply source is read from the text information input unit 101 and temporarily stored in the text information storage unit 102. (Step S301).
The text information once held in the text information storage unit 102 is then supplied to a phrase identification unit 103 that identifies each phrase included in the text information, where each phrase (word, idiom, phrase, etc.) is supplied. It is divided and converted into the identified state (step S302).
.

The phrases extracted in step S302 are stored in the phrase database 110 (“D” in the figure).
It is determined whether or not it is already registered (denoted as “B”) (step S303).
If it is determined in step S303 that the word / phrase is already registered in the word / phrase database 110 (step S303: Yes), then, the difficulty level at the present time point when the word / phrase is registered in the word / phrase database 110 is determined. It is determined whether it is below a predetermined rank (floor) (step S304).

When it is determined in step S304 that the current difficulty level registered in the phrase database 110 for the phrase is equal to or lower than a predetermined rank (rank) (step S3).
04: Yes) Further, the determination process in step S304 is executed for all the words to be determined that are temporarily stored in the text information storage unit 102 (that is, from the first word to the last word). It is determined whether or not it has been done (step S305).

In this embodiment, the predetermined rank (floor), which is the determination criterion of the difficulty level in step S304, can be arbitrarily set by the user as required.
If it is determined in step S305 that the evaluation of the rank (level) of the difficulty level has been performed for all the words (step S305: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S306, and the difficulty level of all the words is not yet determined. When it is determined that the evaluation process for the rank (rank) has not been executed (step S305: No), the process returns to step S302, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

In step S306, the word / phrase stored in the keyword temporary storage unit 105 in the form of being listed in the keyword list as a keyword candidate as described later is displayed on the display unit 130.
To display. The user operates the keyword selection unit 106 while viewing the display of each word that is a keyword candidate in step S306, and sets a specific word as a keyword for information search (step S307).

Further, the keyword net search unit 107 executes a search using the Internet 120 using the phrase selectively set in step S307 as a keyword, and the search result is displayed on the display unit 130 (step S308).
When it is determined in step S304 described above that the difficulty level at the current time point registered for the phrase in the phrase database 110 exceeds a predetermined rank (rank) (step S304: No), It is determined whether or not the word / phrase is not yet listed in the keyword list (step S311).

Here, the keyword list is a list that is set in the keyword temporary storage unit 105 and that comprehensively describes the words listed as keyword candidates for information retrieval via the Internet. The phrase selected by the user from among the candidates is used as the keyword for the above-described search.
When it is determined in step S311 that the phrase is not yet listed in the keyword list (step S311: Yes), the next step S312 is performed.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the phrase is already listed in the keyword list (step S311: No), the process proceeds to the above-described step S305.

In step S <b> 312, a process of adding 1 to the data of the number of times of listing related to the phrase on the phrase database 110 is executed.
Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the number of times of list-up related to the word / phrase added in step S311 is equal to or greater than a threshold value described later (step S313). Then, the rank (level) of the difficulty level for the word on the word database 110 is lowered by one (step S314).

Thereafter, the phrase is added to the keyword list (step S315), and the process proceeds to step S305 described above.
The threshold value of the number of listings used in the above-described step S313 → step S314 is set in advance so as to become a larger value as the difficulty level decreases according to each difficulty level as shown in FIG. 6, for example. .

FIG. 7 illustrates the transition of the number of list-ups and difficulty ranks related to the words and phrases stored in the phrase database 110 when the above-described processing from step S313 to step S314 is performed with reference to the threshold value of FIG. Yes. Initially, the phrase “digital Karbi” having a difficulty rank of A is displayed at the stage where the number of times of listing is 3, and the difficulty level A is determined in step S313.
It is determined that it is equal to or greater than the threshold (three times), and the difficulty rank is lowered to B, which is one level lower, in step S314. After that, when the number of times of listing is five, similarly, step S3
In step S 314, it is determined that the level of difficulty B is equal to or greater than the threshold value (5 times), and the difficulty level rank is further lowered to C by one in step S 314. Similarly, the difficulty level is lowered one by one every time the number of listings reaches the threshold value.

In this way, as the number of times a certain phrase is listed increases, the difficulty rank for that phrase gradually decreases, so that the inconvenience of repeatedly listing the same phrase is avoided.
Here, the initial number of words listed in the phrase database 110 from the beginning may be set to 0, or the list count threshold in a rank higher than the difficulty rank of the phrase. May be set as an initial value (for example, referring to the threshold value in FIG. 6, the initial value of the number of times a word with difficulty E is listed is 15, the initial value of a word with difficulty D is 10 and the difficulty C The initial value of the phrase is 5 times ...).

On the other hand, when it is determined in the above-described step S303 that the word / phrase is not registered in the word / phrase database 110 (step S303: No), the word / phrase is newly registered in the word / phrase database 110 and registered. The highest rank of difficulty at the time (A)
And the list count is set to 1 (step S321). Thereafter, the process proceeds to the above-described step S315, and the phrase is added to the keyword list.

In this way, all newly appearing phrases that are not registered in the phrase database 110 are all listed as keyword candidates, and the phrase database 110 is further ranked as a phrase with the highest degree of difficulty (A). Therefore, it is possible to provide the user with a relatively large number of keyword search opportunities without overlooking such a completely new phrase.

Note that step S307 described above is not an indispensable process, and a search using the Internet is automatically executed using some or all of the keyword candidates listed in the keyword list as keywords. You may comprise. In this case, words that have not yet become common sense and give a new impression, and words that have a high degree of difficulty suitable for keywords in Internet search are set as keywords, and searches using the Internet are executed. Information retrieval using a keyword with a high probability of attracting a user as a keyword can be executed almost fully automatically.

FIG. 4 is a diagram exemplarily illustrating the display of the keyword list (step S306) described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this case, the display unit to be applied is a display of a panel display device or a display of a digital television receiver (in many cases,
Text information from the subtitle broadcast accompanying the broadcast, or words and phrases displayed at that time, while the news commentary is being broadcast. Data obtained by converting the pronounced words and phrases into text information by some method is selected by processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and displayed as shown in the upper and lower areas in the upper right of the display screen as shown in the figure. .

The user designates a desired one from among the display of the keyword list displayed in this order, and hence the display of the words that are candidates for the keyword, using, for example, a remote controller (in the figure, the second “ A keyword can be set by the case where “ubiquitous” is designated.
Summarizing the features of the embodiment described above, for example, candidate words to be used as keywords for keyword search using the Internet from text information supplied from a digital television broadcast subtitle broadcast, data broadcast, or the like. Are automatically extracted, and an information search is performed using a word or phrase selected by the user from among these keyword candidates.

Since it is a word that has a high degree of difficulty from the user's point of view, it is a highly probable word that has not yet become common sense and gives a new impression, so they are extracted as keyword candidates in Internet search and selected by the user Since the search is performed using the Internet with the set phrases as keywords, an information search that well reflects the user's interests and intentions can be executed. An embodiment in which keyword search is executed almost fully automatically without hesitation by the user is as described above.

In addition, considering the history selected as keyword candidates in the past, and evaluating the difficulty of each corresponding phrase with a high degree of difficulty for a phrase that is not registered in the phrase database 110, the appearance frequency is Words that are low and have not yet become common sense and give a novel impression can be easily selected as keywords for searching on the Internet, and information search that closely matches the user's needs can be executed. Furthermore, for words and phrases that have been selected as keyword candidates, the data is updated so as to lower the level of difficulty in the phrase database, so the difficulty level is evaluated more accurately. The selection of will be even better.

In addition, text information included in subtitle broadcasting of digital television broadcasting, or data obtained by converting a word or phrase that is pronounced by characters or sound displayed on the display unit into text information by some method, is a source for selecting keyword candidates for search. As a result, the keyword (candidate) can be appropriately captured from an information source that changes over time.

The technical idea of the present invention described above includes the step of receiving and holding the supplied text information (S301), and the step of identifying each phrase included in the input and held text information (S302). And comparing the identified word / phrase with a word / phrase database prepared in advance to evaluate the difficulty level of the word / phrase, and selecting a word / phrase having a difficulty level by the evaluation exceeding a predetermined level as a keyword candidate (steps S303 to S303). And a step (steps S307 to S308) of performing a search using the Internet using a word / phrase selected from the words / phrases that are candidates for the selected keyword as a keyword. Can be seen as an information retrieval method.

By carrying out this information search method, input of text information to be supplied is received, the words included in the text information are individually identified, and the identified words are collated with a word database prepared in advance. The degree of difficulty of a word is evaluated, a word whose degree of difficulty by the evaluation exceeds a predetermined level is selected as a keyword candidate, and a word selected from the words that are candidates for the selected keyword is used as a keyword. A keyword search using the Internet is executed.

For example, word candidates that are keywords for keyword search using the Internet are extracted from text information supplied from a digital television broadcasting data broadcast or the like, and selected from these keyword candidates by the user. An information search is executed using a phrase as a keyword.
Words that have a high degree of difficulty from the user's point of view mean words that have a high probability of giving a new impression without becoming common sense, so they are extracted as keyword candidates in Internet search, Since a search using the Internet is executed with the phrase selected from the above set as a keyword, an information search that well reflects the user's interests and intentions can be executed.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the information search apparatus of the present invention is configured to function also as a digital television receiver.
In FIG. 5, the information retrieval apparatus of the present invention is configured to function as a digital television receiver 500 and is configured to be operable by a remote controller 600.

A broadcast wave that has been received by an antenna 510 having a frequency converter and frequency-converted is supplied to a tuner unit 520. The tuner unit 520 extracts a signal having a desired specific frequency from the high-frequency data modulated signal including video data and audio data, and performs demodulation processing, deinterleaving processing, error correction processing, and the like to demodulate the extracted signal. To output a transport stream. Further, the tuner unit 520 generates data of an error rate or C / N ratio representing a reception state obtained in the process of error correction processing.

The transport stream that is the output of the tuner unit 520 is supplied to the descrambling unit 530. The descrambling unit 530 descrambles the transport stream using the key information read by the IC card reading unit 532 from the applied IC card 531.
The descrambling unit 530 is further provided with a demultiplex processing function, and the descrambled transport stream is converted into MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts G).
roup2) video transport packet, audio transport packet, and P
Separated into SI / SI (Program Specific Information / Service Information).

The separated video transport packet and audio transport packet are supplied to the AV decoder unit 540.
In order to control the entire system of the digital television receiver 500 in an integrated manner, a system controller 550 mainly composed of a microprocessor is provided, and the system controller 550 has an error rate or C indicating the above-described reception state. / N ratio data and PSI / SI data are also input.

As will be described later, the system controller 550 constitutes each means as an essential constituent element of the present invention by cooperating with its corresponding functional unit and other related functional units.
A plurality of channels are multiplexed in the transport stream, and selecting a desired channel from among these is based on the packet ID in which the desired channel is multiplexed in the transport stream from the aforementioned PSI / SI. This is achieved by reading the data, such as whether or not

The AV decoder unit 540 includes a video decoder that decodes video transport packets and an audio decoder that decodes audio transport packets. The video decoder decodes the input variable length code to obtain a quantization coefficient and a motion vector, and performs inverse DCT conversion, motion compensation control based on the motion vector, and the like. The audio decoder decodes the input encoded signal to generate audio data.

The output of the above video decoder of the AV decoder unit 540 is supplied to the video processing unit 542 via the adder 541, while the output of the above audio decoder is supplied to the audio processing unit 543.
The video processing unit 542 receives the video data from the AV decoder unit 540, performs D / A conversion, and converts it into, for example, a composite video signal. On the other hand, the audio processing unit 543 receives audio data from the AV decoder unit 540, performs D / A conversion, and generates, for example, an analog signal of right (R) sound and an analog signal of left (L) sound.

The output of the video processing unit 542 is supplied to the display device 560 via the video output unit 544 and the video is displayed on the screen, and the output of the audio processing unit 543 is supplied to the speaker 561 via the audio output unit 545 and the audio is received. Is output.
An OSD unit 551 that operates under the control of the system controller 550 is provided, and generates video pattern data representing icons, menus, characters, display colors, and the like that are instructed to be output from the system controller 550, and outputs them to the adder 541.

The adder 541 performs processing for incorporating the video pattern data into the received video data output from the AV decoder 540.
A remote control signal receiving unit 552 for receiving an operation command signal (remote control signal) by infrared light from the remote controller 600 is provided, and the output is decoded by the remote control signal decoding unit 553 to be sent to the system controller 550. It is configured to be supplied.

A memory 555 is provided so that various data can be exchanged with the system controller 550, and the remote controller 6 is connected to the digital television receiver 500.
An operation unit 556 including operation buttons and other operation elements for performing direct operation without using 00.
Are connected to the system controller 550.
Further, the system controller 550 is connected with an IP network interface unit 571 for enabling connection with an IP network (Internet) 700 which is a normal specification in this type of video equipment. The digital television receiver 500 of this example is connected to an information source such as the server 710 via the IP network 700 through the IP network interface unit 571, and thus searches for information in a wide range. Is possible.

The digital television receiver 500 serving as the information search device of this embodiment functions so that the display 560 corresponds to the display unit 130 in the embodiment of FIG. That is, the display unit 560 performs display based on the output video data of the AV decoder unit 540 and also performs FIG.
It is configured so that a display for a user interface as exemplified in the above can be performed.

In addition, the memory 555 is configured to function as the text information storage unit 102, the phrase database 110, and the keyword temporary storage unit 105 in the information search apparatus of FIG. 1 under the control of the system controller 550. .
The tuner unit 520 functions as a text information input unit that receives input of text information supplied in cooperation with the system controller 550. In addition, the system controller 55
0 is a phrase identification unit for identifying each phrase included in the text information input from the text information input unit, and the phrase identified by the phrase identification unit is checked against a phrase database prepared in advance. It functions as a keyword selection unit that evaluates the difficulty level of the words and selects words and phrases whose difficulty level by the evaluation exceeds a predetermined level as keyword candidates.

Further, a keyword for executing a search using the Internet using a word / phrase selected by the user as a keyword from words / phrases selected by the keyword selection unit by the IP network interface unit 571 in cooperation with the system controller 550. Functions as a net search unit.
As mentioned above, the case where the information retrieval apparatus of the present invention is embodied in the form of a digital television receiver has been described in detail with reference to the drawings of FIG. 1 and subsequent drawings, but the technical idea of the present invention is embodied in such a form. For example, a word / phrase selected from words / phrases obtained by acquiring text information through a website or mail by a personal computer and selecting the acquired text information in the same manner as described above. It can also be embodied in a form in which a search is executed using as a keyword.

It is a conceptual diagram showing the information search device as embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the data stored in the word and idiom database of FIG. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of the information retrieval apparatus demonstrated with reference to FIG. It is a figure which illustrates symbolically the display condition of the keyword list demonstrated with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment in which an information search device of the present invention is configured to function as a digital television receiver. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the setting of the difficulty of a phrase. It is a figure for demonstrating the transition of the difficulty of the phrase demonstrated with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Text information input part 102 ... Text information storage part 103 ... Phrase identification part 104 ... Keyword selection part 105 ... Keyword temporary storage part 106 ... Keyword selection part 107 ... Keyword net search part 110 ... Phrase database 120 ... Internet 130 ... Display part

Claims (8)

A text information input unit that receives input of text information to be supplied, a phrase identifying unit that identifies each phrase included in the text information input from the text information input unit, and a phrase identified by the phrase identifying unit A keyword selection unit that evaluates the difficulty level of the phrase by comparing it with a prepared phrase database and selects a phrase whose difficulty level by the evaluation exceeds a predetermined level as a keyword candidate, and is selected by the keyword selection unit A keyword selection unit that accepts an operation for selecting a desired word / phrase by a user from keywords that are keyword candidates, and a keyword that executes a search using the Internet using the word / phrase selected by the user by the keyword selection unit as a keyword A network search unit, Search device. A text information input unit that receives input of text information to be supplied, a phrase identifying unit that identifies each phrase included in the text information input from the text information input unit, and a phrase identified by the phrase identifying unit A keyword selection unit that evaluates the difficulty level of the phrase by comparing with a prepared phrase database and selects a phrase having a difficulty level based on the evaluation exceeding a predetermined level as a keyword candidate, and is selected by the keyword selection unit An information search apparatus comprising: a keyword net search unit that automatically executes a search using the Internet by using a part or all of words and phrases that are keyword candidates as keywords. The keyword selection unit can update the information including each data of data indicating a predetermined difficulty level and data indicating the number of times selected as a keyword candidate before the current time point corresponding to each word as the word database. The information search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information search apparatus is configured to select a keyword candidate by applying a phrase database that is held. The keyword selection unit can update the information including each data of data indicating a predetermined difficulty level and data indicating the number of times selected as a keyword candidate before the current time point corresponding to each word as the word database. Applying the word / phrase database held, each word / phrase already registered in the word / phrase database has a difficulty level based on the data representing the difficulty level related to the registration, and each word / phrase database not yet registered in the word / phrase database has a high degree of difficulty. The information search device according to claim 1, wherein the information retrieval device is configured to evaluate a difficulty level of a corresponding phrase and select a keyword candidate. The keyword selection unit can update the information including each data of data indicating a predetermined difficulty level and data indicating the number of times selected as a keyword candidate before the current time point corresponding to each word as the word database. Applying the word / phrase database held, each word / phrase already registered in the word / phrase database has a difficulty level based on the data representing the difficulty level related to the registration, and each word / phrase database not yet registered in the word / phrase database has a high degree of difficulty. Evaluate the difficulty level of the corresponding phrase, select keyword candidates, and lower the difficulty level in the phrase database for words and phrases that have been selected a number of times as a keyword candidate The information search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information search apparatus is configured to update data. The text information input unit is configured to periodically supply text data included in received subtitle broadcast or data broadcast to a storage device and store the text data in a predetermined storage unit. Item 6. The information search device according to any one of Items 1 to 5. A tuner unit that extracts a signal of a desired specific frequency from a high-frequency data modulated signal including received broadcast video data and audio data, and outputs a transport stream; and key information read from the applied IC card A descrambling unit that obtains a video transport packet and an audio transport packet by releasing the scramble of a transport stream that is an output of the tuner unit, and a decoding process for the video transport packet and the audio transport packet And an AV decoder unit for generating video data and audio data, and a display for performing display based on the output video data of the AV decoder unit and for the user interface, Characterized in that it is configured to receive a claim 1
The information search apparatus as described in any one of -6. Receiving and holding input of text information to be supplied; identifying each of words included in the input and held text information; and a phrase database in which the identified phrases are prepared in advance. Collating and evaluating the degree of difficulty of the word and selecting as a keyword candidate a word whose degree of difficulty by the evaluation exceeds a predetermined level; and a word selected from the words that are candidates for the selected keyword And a step of performing a search using the Internet as a keyword.

Images