JP2008539636A - Method and apparatus for receiving a multi-channel television program - Google Patents

Abstract

  The present invention provides a receiving method and apparatus for receiving a certain type of television program, the method comprising obtaining user configuration information, the user configuration information relating to location information, Selectively receiving a television program corresponding to the user configuration information. The method further includes obtaining user configuration information associated with the location information and selectively receiving a corresponding television program based on the user configuration information. According to the method and apparatus device for receiving a television program provided in the present invention, each reception setting device can generate default configuration information based on its different position, thus saving the user time and the television program. Can lead to more personalized choices. (See Figure 6)

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for receiving a television program, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for receiving a multi-channel television program.

  During large sports events, multi-angle shooting and broadcasting of the same sports scene is widely used. For example, an F1 car race broadcast includes a multi-angle program, and multi-angle shooting is performed through 10 or more cameras installed at a plurality of different positions, and may include a camera in front of the car and a camera facing the driver. . The content to be filmed may include television program information at different locations, or may be tracking and filming specific events such as well-known driver facial expressions. A television broadcast station may broadcast these multi-angle signals from multiple different viewpoints simultaneously, or may select a particular television program filmed from a better angle to broadcast.

  In current sports stadiums and stadiums, spectators may use portable handheld devices to receive multi-angle TV program information transmitted from broadcast stations set up on the premises, thereby allowing spectators to differ A program shot from an angle can be viewed. In addition, the audience can watch sporting events from different angles by manually selecting the television program channel, which can therefore give the audience more enjoyment to enjoy the match.

  However, generally speaking, different users may have personalized interests in different television programs filmed from different angles. Thus, each user needs to select a TV program channel based on his / her own preferences, and at the same time, the user can select 10 or dozens of TV programs when a specific event occurs that matches the user's interests. From the channel, he / she needs to select the best angle image.

  However, the problem is that the user must manually switch the television program in order to identify the best angle program. As a result, it is highly possible that a user can lose sight of a momentary television program video that responds to the user's particular interest.

  Accordingly, there is a need to provide a television program receiving method and apparatus that meet the requirements of different users when receiving multi-channel television programs.

  It would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for receiving television programs that allows a user to receive more personalized television programs.

  It would also be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for generating user configuration information that allows the user to receive more personalized television programs based on the user's configuration information.

  A method for receiving a multi-channel television program provided in accordance with the present invention includes the following steps: obtaining user configuration information related to location information; and selectively receiving a television program corresponding to the user configuration information. Steps.

  A multi-channel receiving device for receiving a television program provided according to the present invention comprises: configuration information obtaining means for obtaining user configuration information relating to position information; and selective receiving means for receiving a television program corresponding to the user configuration information. ,including.

A method for generating user configuration information provided in accordance with the present invention comprises: obtaining location information; generating television program configuration information related to the location information;
including.

  The device for generating user configuration information provided according to the present invention includes location information acquisition means for acquiring location information, and configuration information generation means for generating television program configuration information corresponding to the location information.

  In accordance with the method and apparatus for broadcasting and receiving multi-channel television programs provided in the present invention, each receiving device can receive a group of optimized and reasonable television programs, thus saving the user's time. It can save and lead to more personalized TV programs.

  Other objects and attainments together with a more complete understanding of the invention, will become apparent and understandable by referring to the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

  Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals may be understood to refer to like, similar, or corresponding features or functions.

  The detailed description is made below with respect to specific embodiments of the invention considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 illustrates a system in a sports stadium according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system includes a broadcast base station 10, a control center 20, a plurality of portable receiving devices 30, and a plurality of RFID tags 40 installed on a stadium seat. Video cameras (not shown) are installed at various different locations in the stadium in order to shoot sports videos from different angles and transmit the resulting TV program information to the broadcast base station 10 in real time. The received multi-channel television program information is broadcast to various locations in the stadium so that it is received by all of the plurality of receiving devices 30 in the stadium. The control center 20 is used to broadcast live sports event information to various receiving devices 30 during the match.

  Event information can be predetermined by the system administrator according to various types of matches. For example, in a football game, scoring a goal (goal-scoring) may be defined as an event. On the other hand, the system administrator can also define a sudden or unexpected event during a game as an event and broadcast it to the stadium. For example, a system administrator may define an unforeseen event, such as a cheating during a match or a clash, as an event.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, the portable receiving device 30 may be integrated with the user's mobile phone or PDA. The control center 20 transmits SMS (Short Message Service) including event information to all users' mobile phones via the GSM network. Alternatively, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the control center 20 may send event information via other networks such as 3G other than GSM.

  The RFID tag 40 is installed on a seat in the stadium, and the position information of the corresponding seat is included in the RFID tag 40. The user's portable receiving device 30 can obtain position information included in the RFID tag 40 in the sheet. The position information includes, for example, a sheet number such as 40A or the sheet 9 in the eighth row of section A, or the like, but the sheet position information.

  FIG. 2 illustrates different angles at a sports stadium where a television program is filmed according to an embodiment of the present invention. In a sports stadium, multiple video cameras are set at different positions A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H according to the scene design and game characteristics. Thus, during the game, eight television program shots from eight different angles are broadcast simultaneously from the base station, and the user can receive television programs from eight channels simultaneously. However, the audience seated in section A is usually not interested in shooting TV programs from angle A. The audience is watching the game directly from this angle. Most of the audience in Section A may be more interested in television program shooting from other angles, such as B, C, D, F, and H, to make up for the loss of viewing from different angles.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functional modules of a receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The receiving device 30 includes an RFID reading unit 301, an initial setting configuration information generation unit 302, a configuration information storage unit 303, an event filtering unit 305, a program selection unit 307, and a DVB-T / H reception unit 308.

  In addition, the portable terminal further includes an input unit 304, a communication interface 306, an A / V decoder 309, and a display unit 310.

  The RFID reading unit 301 is used to obtain position information included in the RFID tag 40. After the RFID tag 40 enters the magnetic field, the RFID reading means 301 sends a signal. The RFID tag 40 sends position information stored in a chip therein depending on the energy obtained by the induced current from the RFID tag 40, or the RFID tag 40 can send a signal spontaneously at a specific frequency. The RFID reading means 301 reads the position information. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the RFID tag 40 can be replaced by an NFC (Near Field Communication) tag. Correspondingly, the NFC reading means can obtain the position information included in the NFC tag.

  According to the received position information, the initial setting configuration information generating means 302 can recommend an initial setting configuration relating to TV program shooting from different angles to the user. A detailed description of the configuration information will be given later. If the user is not satisfied with the default configuration recommended by the system, he / she can modify the default configuration via input means 304 and save the modified configuration information in configuration information storage means 303. .

  According to another embodiment of the invention, a user may obtain a ticket for a match via online ticket reservation. The online ticket reservation system may generate user configuration information corresponding to each stadium seat information in advance. While the user obtains the position information of the given seat, the user can download the initial configuration information corresponding to the position of the seat via online, and store it in the receiving means 30 and be included The default configuration information may be provided by a television program provider or by an online ticket reservation system provider. When the user arrives at the stadium, he / she does not need to receive location information; instead, he selectively receives a television program using the obtained default configuration information directly.

  The communication interface 306 is used to receive event information transmitted from the control center 20. For example, in a football game, scoring can be viewed as an event. The event filtering unit 305 is used for comparing the event information received by the communication interface 306 with the initial setting configuration information and filtering. After filtering, the valid event information is transmitted to the program selection means 307 so that the program selection means 307 can selectively receive the television program based on the valid event information. For example, after the communication interface 306 receives the event information of “score”, if the “score” is one of the event information effective after being filtered by the filtering unit 305, the program selection unit 307 displays “scoring” The DVB-T / H receiving means is controlled to receive the TV program code stream broadcast by the base station corresponding to the event "." A / V decoder 309 is used to decode the received television program stream and present it to display means 310.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, the portable receiving device 30 may obtain location information via other means. For example, the user can input the position information and save it in the configuration information storage means 303. The user may also send this information to the receiving device 30 via the mobile phone's SMS.

  It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the portable receiver device 30 of the present invention is a standalone receiver device or can be integrated with a portable device such as a current mobile phone or PDA. Furthermore, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the portable receiver 30 of the present invention can be fixedly installed in a stadium seat so that reception of television programs and event information can be implemented via cable transmission. Should be understood.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a portable receiving device that receives a television program according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In step S510, the receiving device receives the position information in the form of RFID, and the position information includes information related to the position of the portable receiving device such as a seat number in the stadium, for example. According to another embodiment of the present invention, other than the RFID format, the location information can also be in the NFC format, or the user can directly input the location information via the input means of the portable receiving device.

  In step S520, based on the position information received by the portable receiving device, the portable receiving device generates or downloads initial setting configuration information including selection information for one or more television programs from the network. For example, in a football game, a portable receiving device used by a user sitting in the seat behind the goal generates initial setting configuration information based on the received position information, and the generated initial setting configuration information is a normal condition. The angle A includes the angle A, and the angle C that is switched when a scoring event occurs.

  The initial set angle is optionally configured according to the position where the user stays.

  In step S530, a determination is made as to whether the initial configuration has been modified. If so, the modified configuration information entered by the user is accepted and stored in the portable receiver device 30 in step S540. If not, the process proceeds to step S550.

  In step S550, a determination is made regarding whether event information has been received. If so, in step S560, event information filtering is performed according to the customized configuration information. If not, the process proceeds to S550.

  In step S570, a determination is made regarding whether the event information is valid. If so, the television program channel is switched according to the valid event information in step S580. If not, the process proceeds to step S550.

  In step S590, a determination is made regarding whether the television program has ended. If so, the program ends. If not, the process returns to step S550 to further determine whether any of the event information has been received.

  FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram illustrating functional modules of a receiving device and a control center according to another embodiment of the present invention. The receiving device 30 includes an RFID reading unit 301, a configuration information storage unit 303, an event filtering unit 305, a program selection unit 307, and a DVB-T / H receiving unit 308. In addition, the portable terminal further includes an input unit 304, a communication interface 306, an A / V decoder 309, and a display unit 310. The control center 20 includes position information receiving means 201 and initial setting configuration information generating means 302.

  After receiving the position information, the receiving device 30 can transmit this information to the position information receiving means 201 of the control center 20. The initial setting configuration information generating means 302 installed in the control center 20 generates initial setting configuration information corresponding to the received position information, and then transmits this information to the receiving device 30, which is stored in the configuration information storage. Save in means 303. In this embodiment, the functions of the other modules are the same as those shown in FIG. 3, and therefore the description is omitted here.

  FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a receiving device for receiving video information according to another embodiment of the present invention.

  In step S510, the receiving device receives the position information in the form of RFID, and the position information includes, for example, information regarding the position where the portable receiving device is arranged.

  In step S512, the portable receiving device transmits position information to the control center 20, and the control center 20 generates initial setting configuration information corresponding to the position information.

  In step S516, the receiving device receives the initial setting configuration information transmitted by the control center and stores it in the configuration information storage unit 303.

  Subsequent steps are the same as those shown in FIG. 4, and therefore the description is omitted here.

  FIG. 7 illustrates a user interface of a receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Depending on the position at which the portable receiver is located, the portable receiver will receive position information transmitted by the RFID tag at the position, eg, sheet 9 in row 8 of section A, which is the sheet in the section behind the goal. To do. The initial setting configuration information generating means of the portable receiving device can generate initial setting configuration information according to the position information. For example, in a football game, the configuration information recommended for the user seated behind the goal by the initial configuration information generation means is: Referring to FIG. 2, a television program from angle B under normal conditions of the game Viewing the filming and viewing the TV program filming from angle E if the score occurs from the A side. If the user is not satisfied with the default configuration information, he can modify the configuration. For example, if a user wants to watch a TV program shot from angle E and a TV program shot from angle G when a score is generated from side A, he modifies the corresponding option in the user interface. obtain. The corrected result is shown in FIG. On the other hand, the user can select his / her favorite event from all preferred events and save the event in the configuration information storage means 303. For example, during the game, the user receives a lot of event information such as “score from A side” and “corner kick from G side”. However, if the user is only interested in the TV program corresponding to the score, he can modify the configuration information to make only the event related to the score valid event information and exclude other events.

  FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a format of event information according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, if a score is generated from the A side during a football game, the control center transmits score event information from angles A, B, E and G to the receiving device. According to the configuration information shown in FIG. 4, if a score is generated from the A side and the user views a TV program shot from angles E and G, two events from angles E and G of the four event information Only information is valid event information. The receiving device receives video bang shots from angles E and G and presents them to the user in the form of multiple screens after the decoding step. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the content of the event information can also be in the form of characters, such as “corner kick from the northwest”. Similarly, the same effect as the above-described embodiment can be achieved.

  The method and apparatus for receiving television programs disclosed in the present invention can be applied not only to receiving digital interactive television programs, but also to receiving analog television programs.

  Various improvements and modifications may be made to the method and apparatus for receiving television programs disclosed in the present invention without departing from the basics of the invention, the scope of the invention being defined by the appended claims. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that this should be done.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system in a sports stadium according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates different angles at a sports stadium where a television program is filmed according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram illustrating functional modules of a receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating a receiving device that receives video information according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram illustrating functional modules of a receiving device and a control center according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating a receiving device that receives video information according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 illustrates a user interface of a receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a format of event information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (17)

A method of receiving a multi-channel television program,
Obtaining user configuration information, wherein the user configuration information relates to location information; and
Selectively receiving a television program corresponding to the user configuration information;
Including a method.   The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the location information.   The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving at least one event information.   4. The method of claim 3, wherein the event information includes selection information for at least one television program.   4. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining whether the event information is valid event information according to the user configuration information.   The method of claim 1, wherein the user configuration information is obtained via user input. A device that receives a multi-channel TV program,
Configuration information acquisition means for acquiring user configuration information, wherein the user configuration information relates to position information, and configuration information acquisition means;
Selective receiving means for receiving a television program corresponding to the user configuration information;
Including the equipment.   The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising configuration information storage means for storing the user configuration information.   The device according to claim 7, comprising a communication interface for receiving event information.   The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising event filtering means for selecting the received event information according to the user configuration information.   The apparatus according to claim 10, comprising input means for receiving user input information in order to modify the user configuration information.   The device according to claim 7, comprising position information receiving means.   The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the position information receiving means is an RFID reading means.   The device according to claim 12, wherein the position information receiving means is an NFC reading means. A method for generating user configuration information, comprising:
Obtaining location information;
Generating television program configuration information related to the location information;
Including a method.   The method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting the television program configuration information to a user. A device that generates user configuration information,
Position information obtaining means for obtaining position information;
Configuration information generating means for generating TV program configuration information related to the position information;
Including the equipment.