JP2010003068A - Terminal device, information transmission method, display controller, display control method and display control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a character input GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen is displayed in inputting characters in an AV (Audio Visual) household electric appliance, for example, in that case, operability is deteriorated, or a display space is not effectively used. <P>SOLUTION: Character information input in this terminal device having an operator for the character input such as a cellphone is transmitted to an external device such as a television set. Because the character input using the character input operator becomes possible, sequential cursor operation needed when a character input GUI can be omitted to enhance the operability. Because the operator for the character input and a display part for confirming an input character are disposed comparatively close to each other in the terminal device, large view line movement like the case of displaying the character input GUI screen can be omitted to enhance the operability. By previously registering an ID of the external device that is a character input target in the terminal device side and performing authentication using the ID on the external device side, cross talk can be prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal device including an information transmission unit that wirelessly transmits information to an external device, and an information transmission method. The present invention also relates to a display control apparatus and method, and a display control system including the terminal device and the display control apparatus.

For example, AV (Audio Visual) home appliances such as television receivers and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorders can be used to input various characters (including numbers and symbols) by user operation input. There is something.
When performing such character input, for example, it is conceivable to use a keyboard (operator corresponding to each character) used in a personal computer or the like. In many cases, there is no operation element corresponding to each character on the apparatus main body or the remote controller due to restrictions on the arrangement space.

  As a technique for enabling character input with few operators, for example, a technique using a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen for character input as shown in FIG. Specifically, a list of character buttons corresponding to each character such as hiragana, alphabet, and numbers is displayed on the screen, and these character buttons are selected by a cursor operation using, for example, a cross key provided in a remote controller. Thus, a desired character input is performed.

In addition, about the related prior art, the following patent documents can be mentioned.
JP 2005-286835 A

However, the character input GUI screen displaying the list of character buttons as described above has a problem that the screen occupation area becomes relatively large.
For example, some devices capable of receiving digital television broadcasts have a function of performing a program search by keyword input based on EPG (Electric Program Guide) information. As shown in FIG. Some display a character input GUI screen. At this time, the search screen may be used to display an advertisement using the blank space. In such a case, if the character input GUI screen as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed, the advertisement is displayed. The display space is reduced or completely occupied, and efficient advertisement display cannot be performed. For example, when the conventional method of displaying the character input GUI screen is adopted in this respect, the display space on the screen cannot be effectively used.

Further, the character input GUI has a problem in terms of operability. Specifically, when a desired word is input on the character input GUI screen shown in FIG. 19, it is necessary to repeat “select character by cursor operation → determine selected character” for a required number of characters. When necessary conversion such as kanji conversion is performed on the input character, it is necessary to perform “selection / determination of conversion button → selection / determination of conversion candidate” in addition to the above operation.
As described above, the method using the character input GUI has a problem that the number of necessary operations increases correspondingly, for example, it is necessary to sequentially perform an operation for moving the cursor, and the operation burden on the user increases.

  In addition, the method using the character input GUI causes deterioration in operability in that the operation unit and the display unit are disposed relatively apart from each other. For example, assuming the case where characters on the screen are selected / determined by the remote controller as described above, the user can check the position of the actual controller such as the cross key or the enter key. While viewing the operation panel as appropriate, the line of sight is moved to the display unit for confirmation of the cursor position and input characters. For this reason, the user's line-of-sight movement frequently occurs when inputting characters, and this also promotes deterioration in operability.

Therefore, in the present invention, in view of the above problems, the terminal device is configured as follows.
That is, an operation unit provided with at least a manipulator for inputting characters and an information transmission unit that wirelessly transmits information are provided.
Moreover, the display part which displays information, and the control part which controls the said display part and the said information transmission part are provided.
And the said control part performs each following process.
That is, based on operation input information from the operation unit, identification information registration processing for registering device identification information allocated so as to be unique to an external device, and characters based on operation input information from the operation unit Character information acquisition processing for acquiring information, character display control processing for controlling the display unit so that character display according to the character information acquired by the character information acquisition processing is performed, and character information acquisition processing A transmission control process for controlling the information transmitting unit is executed so that the character information and the apparatus identification information registered by the identification information registration process are transmitted to the external apparatus.

In the present invention, the display control device is configured as follows.
That is, a storage unit in which device identification information allocated so as to be unique to each device is stored, and a reception unit that receives character information and the device identification information registered in the terminal device from an external terminal device With.
Moreover, the control part which controls the display part which displays information is provided.
And the said control part performs each following process.
That is, it is determined that the device identification information received by the receiving unit matches the device identification information stored in the storage unit, and that the device identification information matches by the determination processing. In such a case, a display control process is executed to perform control so that character display based on the character information received by the receiving unit is performed on the display unit.

In the present invention, the display control system is configured as follows.
That is, the display control system of the present invention is configured to include a terminal device and a display control device, and the terminal device includes an operation unit provided with at least an operator for character input, and wirelessly. An information transmission unit that performs information transmission.
Moreover, the terminal device side display part which performs information display, and the terminal device side control part which performs control with respect to the said terminal device side display part and the said information transmission part are provided.
And the said terminal device side control part performs each following process. That is, identification information registration processing for registering information acquired based on operation input information from the operation unit as device identification information, character information acquisition processing for acquiring character information based on operation input information from the operation unit, and Character display control processing for controlling the terminal device side display unit so that character display according to the character information acquired by the character information acquisition processing is performed, the character information acquired by the character information acquisition processing, and the identification information registration A transmission control process for controlling the information transmitting unit is executed so that the apparatus identification information registered by the process is transmitted to the external apparatus.
In addition, the display control device receives a storage unit in which device identification information allocated so as to be unique to each display control device is stored, and the character information and the device identification information from the terminal device. And a receiving unit.
Moreover, the control apparatus side control part which performs control with respect to the display part which displays information is provided.
And the said control apparatus side control part performs each following process.
That is, it is determined that the device identification information received by the receiving unit matches the device identification information stored in the storage unit, and that the device identification information matches by the determination processing. In such a case, a display control process is executed to perform control so that character display based on the character information received by the receiving unit is performed on the display unit.

According to the present invention, the character information input to the terminal device is transmitted to the display control device (external device), and the display control device can display the character information transmitted from the terminal device in this way. . Thereby, the said terminal device can be functioned as a remote controller for the character input with respect to the said display control apparatus.
Here, the terminal device includes an operation unit having an operator for character input, and the user can perform a character input operation using the operation unit. That is, according to this, it is not necessary to perform a complicated operation such as selecting / determining a character button by using a cursor as in the prior art, and operability can be improved.
Further, the terminal device includes a display unit, and an input character is displayed on the display unit according to an operation. According to this, the user can check the input character according to the operation at the hand carrying the terminal device, and the user can connect the handset and the external device as in the case of using a conventional character input GUI (Graphical User Interface). The troublesomeness of repeating the line-of-sight movement with the display unit can be eliminated. In this respect, the operability is improved.
Furthermore, in the present invention, the terminal device side also transmits the device identification information of the external device (display control device) registered in advance together with the input character information, and the display control device transmits the device identification information from the terminal device side. The character information transmitted from the terminal device side is displayed only when the received device identification information matches the device identification information stored in itself. According to this, character input using the terminal device can be performed only for one external device registered in advance, and crosstalk can be prevented when there are a plurality of external devices. .

As described above, according to the present invention, the operability can be greatly improved as compared with the conventional method using the character input GUI, and a better user interface for character input can be realized. it can.
In addition, by performing authentication based on the device identification information transmitted by the terminal device and the device identification information stored on the display control device side, crosstalk between a plurality of devices can be prevented.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described.

<First Embodiment>
[Configuration of terminal device]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a mobile phone 1 as an embodiment of a terminal device of the present invention.
As shown in the figure, the mobile phone 1 includes a communication unit 2, a system controller 3, a memory 4, a display control unit 5, a display panel 6, an operation unit 7, and a light emitting unit 8.

  The communication unit 2 comprehensively shows a part that performs various communication operations such as telephone communication, electronic mail transmission / reception, and Internet communication. The communication unit 2 performs various communication operations such as telephone communication, e-mail transmission / reception, and Internet communication based on instructions from the system controller 3.

The system controller 3 is composed of a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and executes arithmetic / control processing based on the activated program. The entire control of the mobile phone 1 is performed.
For example, a non-volatile memory 4 such as a flash memory is connected to the system controller 3. As shown in the figure, the memory 4 stores a remote control application (remote control: remote controller, application: application) 4a. The remote control application 4a is an application program for causing the mobile phone 1 to function as a remote control for inputting characters to the television receiver 10 to be described later. The operation of the present embodiment realized by the remote control application 4a will be described later.

  The display controller 5 is connected to the system controller 3. The system controller 3 gives the display control unit 5 required display information such as characters (including numbers and symbols) and images. The display driving unit 5 drives the display panel 6 so that the information given from the system controller 3 is displayed on the display panel 6 such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL panel.

  An operation unit 7 is connected to the system controller 3. For example, as shown in an external view of the mobile phone 1 according to FIG. 2, the operation unit 7 includes various operators provided so as to be exposed outside the casing of the mobile phone 1. Perform various operation inputs. Information input through the operation unit 7 is transmitted to the system controller 3 as operation input information. The system controller 3 performs necessary calculations and controls according to the input information. Thus, the mobile phone 1 is configured to execute an operation according to the user's operation input.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, as an operator of the operation unit 7, a character input key group 7A for performing a character input operation is provided.
Specifically, the character input key group 7A in this case is provided with a total of 12 keys, that is, 10 keys from 0 to 9, # key and * key. Among the 10 keys, the “1” key is assigned the “a” line together with the number “1”. The “2” key is assigned the numbers “2” and “ka” and the alphabet “A, B, C”. The “3” key is assigned the number “3” and the “sa” line and the alphabet “D, E, F”, and the “4” key is the number “4” and the “ta” line and the alphabet “ G, H, I "are assigned. The “5” key is assigned the numbers “5” and “NA” and the alphabet “J, K, L”, and the “6” key is assigned the numbers “6” and “HA” and the alphabet “ M, N, O "are assigned. The “7” key is assigned the numbers “7” and “MA” and the alphabet “P, Q, R, S”, and the “8” key is assigned the numbers “8” and “YA”. The alphabet “T, U, V” is assigned. The “9” key is assigned the number “9”, the “ra” line and the alphabet “W, X, Y, Z”, and the “0” key is the numbers “0” and “wa, N ”is assigned. Furthermore, the # key is assigned punctuation marks “,” “.”, And the * key is assigned a cloud mark ““ ”and a semi-cloud mark“ ° ”.
For example, in this case, the operation unit 7 is provided with a selection key for selecting each character mode of “Hiragana”, “Katakana”, and “alphanumeric characters”, and the user determines which character mode is used to input a character. You can choose. By operating any key in the character input key group 7A in a state where a certain character mode is selected, it is possible to input a required one character according to any one of “Hiragana”, “Katakana”, and “English”. it can. At this time, when a plurality of characters are assigned to one key, the assigned characters are displayed in order every time the key is operated. That is, when inputting a desired character, the user operates a key to which the desired character is assigned a predetermined number of times in the selected state of the desired character mode.

  Although not shown, the operation unit 7 is also provided with a conversion key for converting an input character. With this conversion key, for example, conversion between hiragana / katakana and kanji conversion can be performed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the mobile phone 1 of this example, the display panel 6 is provided on the same surface as the surface on which the character input key group 7A is provided.

Returning to FIG.
A light emitting unit 8 is connected to the system controller 3. The light emitting unit 8 includes an infrared light emitting element such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) provided so as to be exposed to the outside of the casing of the mobile phone 1, and the infrared light emitting element based on an instruction from the system controller 3. By performing the light emission control, information transmission by an infrared signal is performed to the external device.

[Configuration of display controller]

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the television receiver 10 as an embodiment of the display control apparatus of the present invention.
The television receiver 10 is configured to be able to receive digital television broadcasts such as terrestrial digital broadcasts and BS digital broadcasts. Further, the television receiver 10 can be operated by an attached remote controller 25.

  It should be noted that the present invention relates to display control of character information, and hence the illustration of the configuration of the audio output system in the television receiver 10 is omitted. The configuration of the audio output system may be appropriately selected according to the actual embodiment, and is not particularly limited here.

In FIG. 3, the television receiver 10 includes an input terminal Tin, and a broadcast signal is input from the external antenna 100 to the television receiver 10 via the input terminal Tin.
The broadcast signal input via the input terminal Tin is input to the tuner unit 11.
The tuner unit 11 receives a carrier corresponding to channel selection information from the system controller 20 described later.

  The demodulator 12 performs a predetermined demodulation process according to the type of received broadcast wave on the carrier received by the tuner unit 11, for example, an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) demodulation process for terrestrial digital broadcasting, A transport stream (TS) including broadcast contents of a broadcast station instructed to select is obtained.

The demultiplexer (DEMUX) 13 uses MPEG-2 (as a TS packet for one target program (that is, a program broadcast by a broadcasting station instructed to select a channel) from the TS acquired by the demodulator 12. Video data TS packet and audio data TS packet compressed by Moving Pictures Experts Group-2) method are obtained.
Further, the demultiplexer 13 extracts various kinds of additional information such as EPG (Electic Program Guide) data from the TS and supplies it to the system controller 20.

The compressed video data obtained by the demultiplexer 13 is decoded (expanded) by the MPEG decoder 14, subjected to required video signal processing by the video signal processing unit 15, and then supplied to the display driving unit 16. Based on the video signal supplied from the video signal processing unit 15, the display driving unit 16 drives the display panel 17 such as a liquid crystal panel or a plasma display panel.
Here, in the case of this example, the video signal processing unit 15 displays the display screen data (for example, a program guide screen or a screen for various settings / inputs) given from the system controller 20 on the display panel 17. As described above, processing for generating a video signal corresponding to the display screen data is also executed.

The system controller 20 is configured as a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and performs overall control of the television receiver 10 by executing arithmetic processing and control processing based on the activated program.
An operation unit 18 is connected to the system controller 20 as illustrated. The operation unit 18 is provided with various operators (not shown) provided so as to be exposed to the outside of the housing of the television receiver 10. The operation unit 18 supplies operation input information for each of these operators to the system controller 20.

A light receiving unit 19 is connected to the system controller 20. The light receiving unit 19 includes an infrared signal light receiving element such as a phototransistor, for example, and receives an infrared signal transmitted from an external device. The system controller 20 acquires operation input information from the remote controller 25 in the drawing based on the light reception signal from the light receiving unit 19.
Note that transmission information from the mobile phone 1 shown in FIG. 1 is also received through the light receiving unit 19, which will be described later.

  The system controller 20 performs calculation processing based on operation input information from the operation unit 18 or operation input information acquired via the light receiving unit 19 and control processing of each unit. As a result, the television receiver 10 is configured to execute an operation in accordance with a user instruction.

A memory 21 is connected to the system controller 20. The memory 21 is a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, and is used for storing various data.
Here, in the case of this example, the receiving device ID 21 a is stored in the memory 21. The receiving-side device ID 21a is ID information assigned so as to be unique to each television receiver 10 so that each television receiver 10 can be uniquely identified.

The memory 21 stores a remote control application compatible program 21b. This remote control application corresponding program 21b is a program for causing the system controller 20 to execute processing operations to be performed in order to realize operations as embodiments described below.

[Character input using terminal device]

Here, as can be understood from the description of FIGS. 1 and 2, the mobile phone 1 has a character input function and an information transmission function using an infrared signal. The present embodiment proposes a system capable of inputting characters to the television receiver 10 using the mobile phone 1 having such a character input function and an information transmission function.
Hereinafter, the operations to be performed in the mobile phone 1 and the television receiver 10 in order to realize character input using the mobile phone 1 will be described in accordance with user operation procedures.

First, when performing character input using the mobile phone 1, the user activates the remote control application 4 a by operating the mobile phone 1.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition on the mobile phone 1 side after the remote control application 4a is activated.
In response to the activation of the remote control application 4a, the mobile phone 1 displays a menu screen shown in FIG. On this menu screen, items of “new registration of receiving device ID”, “selection of target device”, and “end”, and a cursor CR for selecting those items are displayed.

  In the display state of the menu screen, the user can select each item by moving the cursor CR by operating a predetermined key such as a cross key provided in the operation unit 7, for example. Further, for example, it is possible to instruct the selection of the selected item by operating a predetermined key such as a determination key in the operation unit 7.

  Here, in the present embodiment, when character input using the mobile phone 1 is performed, the receiving side device ID of the device that is the target of character input is registered in advance with the mobile phone 1. There is a need. Specifically, when the television receiver 10 shown in FIG. 3 is a character input target, the receiving-side device ID 21a is registered on the mobile phone 1 side.

  In the case of this example, the information on the receiving device ID 21a stored in the memory 21 is in a predetermined position on the outer surface of the casing of the television receiver 10 or a predetermined position such as an instruction manual of the television receiver 10. On the other hand, it is recorded also by visible means. That is, the user can register the information on the receiving side device ID in the mobile phone 1 based on the information on the receiving side device ID 21a visibly recorded in this way.

  When the registration of the receiving device ID is performed, the user selects and determines the item “new registration of receiving device ID” on the menu screen.

  In response to this, the cellular phone 1 displays a registration screen as shown in FIG. As this registration screen, for example, as shown in the figure, a message such as “Register device ID”, a “return” item, “registration” item, a cursor CR indicating the input position of characters (including numbers), and the like Is displayed.

On this registration screen, the user can perform a desired character input at the position indicated by the cursor CR by performing an operation input using the character input key group 7A shown in FIG. In addition, by selecting and determining the “registration” item, it is possible to instruct the registration of the input character (information on the receiving device ID). After registration of the receiving-side device ID, the screen display state on the display panel 6 returns to the menu screen display state shown in FIG.
Further, by selecting and determining the item “return”, the screen display state on the display panel 6 can be returned to the display state of the menu screen of FIG.

In the present embodiment, a plurality of receiving device IDs can be registered. That is, it is possible to register a plurality of devices as target devices for character input.
Accordingly, the menu screen shown in FIG. 4A is provided with the item “select target device” described above so that the target device can be selected.

  When “select target device” is selected / determined on the menu screen of FIG. 4A, the mobile phone 1 displays a selection screen shown in FIG. As this selection screen, as shown in the figure, for example, together with a message such as “Please select the target device ID”, a list of registered receiving device IDs and for selecting each receiving device ID The cursor CR and the item “return” are displayed.

  On this selection screen, the user can select the receiving device ID of the target device by moving the cursor CR, for example, by operating a predetermined key such as the cross key described above. In addition, for example, the operation of a predetermined key such as the determination key described above can be instructed to determine the selected receiving device ID.

  In the selection screen shown in FIG. 4C, when the receiving-side device ID is selected / determined, the mobile phone 1 displays a character input screen as shown in FIG. The user is prompted to input characters. The operation performed after the display of the character input screen until the input character is transmitted will be described later.

In addition, if the above selection screen is supplemented, if the receiving side device ID is not registered for the mobile phone 1 (when the number of registered IDs is zero), it is displayed as a selection target on the selection screen. There is no information to do. In view of this, in the present embodiment, when the item of “select target device” is selected / determined on the menu screen when the receiving device ID is not registered in the mobile phone 1, FIG. The registration screen as shown in Fig. 6 is displayed.
Accordingly, it is possible to notify the user that the receiving device ID is not registered, and to prompt the user to register the receiving device ID.

Next, the television receiver 10 side will be described.
When character input using the mobile phone 1 is performed, the television receiver 10 side needs to shift to a character input mode state in which the character input can be received. Hereinafter, as an example of such a character input mode, a mode in which keyword input for program search is accepted will be described.
FIG. 5 illustrates a keyword program search screen for accepting keyword input for such program search. As shown in the figure, on the keyword program search screen, a character input box in which the cursor CR is arranged and items of “search” and “input” are displayed. In this case, the cursor CR has a function of indicating a selection state of items of “search” and “input” as well as a function of pointing the character insertion position in the character input box. That is, for example, when a predetermined key is operated in a state where the cursor CR is displayed in the character input box, the cursor CR moves to one of the items “search” and “input”, and the cross key in that state. By operating a predetermined key such as, the cursor CR moves between these “search” and “input”.

  In the state where the television receiver 10 side is shifted to the character input mode in which the character input box is received by displaying the character input box as described above, the user transmits the character information created on the mobile phone 1 side. Will be executed.

Specifically, the user performs operation input using the character input key group 7A in the display state of the character input screen as shown in FIG. 6A that is displayed after the selection of the target device described above. To enter a desired character. When the input of a desired character is completed as shown in FIG. 6B, the mobile phone 1 is instructed to transmit the input character.
In the character input screen shown in FIG. 6, “transmission” and “end” items are displayed. By selecting and determining the “transmission” item among these items, it is possible to instruct transmission of input characters. .

  In addition, on this character input screen, for the selection / determination operation of each item of “send” and “end”, the operator provided at the position closest to the display position of the item is selected / decided for each item. This is done by assigning it as an operator for. Specifically, for example, an operator positioned immediately below the position where the “Send” item is displayed is assigned as an operator for selecting and determining the “Send” item, and the “End” item is displayed. For example, an operator located immediately below the position is assigned as an operator for selecting / deciding the item “END”.

  In the display state of the character input screen shown in FIG. 6, when the “end” item is selected / determined, the remote control application 4 a is ended.

On the other hand, when the item “transmission” is selected / determined, the cellular phone 1 performs an operation for transmitting the input character information.
Here, the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment does not transmit only the information of the input character instructed to be transmitted, but as shown in the following transmission data structure example of FIG. It is characterized by transmitting information together. Specifically, information on the receiving side device ID of the target device selected and determined on the selection screen of FIG. 4C is transmitted together.
As shown in FIG. 7, as the transmission data in this case, the first half of the transmission data is the receiving device ID, and the second half is the character code data corresponding to the input character.
For confirmation, the information transmission is performed by transmitting an infrared signal by the light emitting unit 8 shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a screen display state on the mobile phone 1 side and a screen display state on the television receiver 10 side immediately after the transmission operation for the input characters is executed on the mobile phone 1 side.
As shown in FIG. 8, on the mobile phone 1 side, when the transmission operation for the input character is executed, the input character information displayed so far is erased from the screen. Thus, by erasing the input character information from the screen according to the execution of the transmission operation, the user can be informed that the input character has been transmitted.

On the other hand, the television receiver 10 side receives the input character information transmitted from the mobile phone 1 side and the receiving side device in response to the transition to the character input mode displaying the keyword program search screen shown in FIG. It will be in the reception state about information of ID (target apparatus ID).
Specifically, the television receiver 10 starts the following analysis process on the light reception signal obtained by the light receiving unit 19 shown in FIG. 3 in accordance with the state of the character input mode. That is, information on a predetermined byte in the first half of the received light signal is acquired, and it is determined whether or not the acquired information matches the information on the receiving device ID 21 a stored in the memory 21.
By this determination, it is determined whether or not the information on the receiving device ID (target device ID) transmitted from the mobile phone 1 side matches the information on the receiving device ID 21a assigned to the television receiver 10 side. Can do. That is, by this determination, it is possible to authenticate whether or not the character information transmitted from the mobile phone 1 is transmitted to the television receiver 10.

As a result of the authentication, if it is determined that the received (received) character information is transmitted to the television receiver 10, the television receiver 10 displays the display panel 17 as shown in FIG. The received character information (character information corresponding to the character code data) is displayed in the character input box displayed above.
Thereby, the character input to the television receiver 10 using the mobile phone 1 is completed, and the characters input from the mobile phone 1 are input to the television receiver 10 as the target device for the user. Can be notified.

On the other hand, if the received character information is not transmitted to the television receiver 10 as a result of the authentication, the television receiver 10 displays the character input box displayed on the display panel 17. The received characters are not displayed inside, and the screen display state on the display panel 17 is maintained as the screen display state so far.
Thereby, it can prevent that a character input is accidentally performed by the apparatus which is not an object.

In the case of the present embodiment, the character input from the mobile phone 1 on the television receiver 10 side can be received even in the display state of a conventional character input GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen. Yes.
Specifically, the television receiver 10 determines the “input” item in the state where the “input” item is selected by the cursor CR on the keyword program search screen as shown in FIG. In response to the operation to be performed, a conventional character input GUI screen as shown in FIG. 9B is displayed.
As shown in the figure, in this character input GUI screen, a character input box, a plurality of character buttons corresponding to each character, items of “conversion”, “return”, and “input end”, and further, the character button and each item A cursor CR-s for performing selection is displayed.

On this character input GUI screen, as in the conventional case, characters can be input into the character input box by a cursor operation and a determination operation using the remote controller 25. Further, by selecting and determining the item “conversion”, for example, conversion such as kanji conversion can be instructed for the character input in the character input box.
In the character input GUI screen, when the character input is completed, the input character can be confirmed by selecting and determining the “input end” item.

When the “input end” item is selected / decided and the input character is instructed, the television receiver 10 displays a keyword program search screen in a state where the character determined in the character input box is displayed. . For example, when the input character of “Okinawa special product” is confirmed, as shown in FIG. 8, the display shifts to the display state of the keyword program search screen in which the character of “Okinawa special product” is displayed in the character input box. .
If the “return” item is selected, the screen returns to the keyword program search screen.

In the present embodiment, in the display state of such a character input GUI screen, along with the character input corresponding to the operation input from the remote controller 25 as described above (that is, the character input by the conventional method), Character input according to transmission information is also possible.
Specifically, the operation input information from the remote controller 25 is received, and at the same time, the reception side device ID is authenticated as described above, so that the television set from the mobile phone 1 side can be obtained. It is determined whether or not the character information is transmitted to the John receiver 10.
As a result of this authentication, when it is determined that the character information is transmitted from the mobile phone 1 to the television receiver 10, the character input box in the character input GUI screen shown in FIG. Display received character information. Thereby, even in the display state of the conventional character input GUI screen, character input using the mobile phone 1 can be performed.

Here, in the case of the present embodiment, on the television receiver 10 side, the infrared signal from the remote controller 25 side and the infrared signal from the mobile phone 1 side are received by the common light receiving unit 19. Yes.
In order to enable the common light receiving unit 19 to execute the operation according to the operation input information from the remote controller 25 side and the transmission information from the mobile phone 1 side, the light receiving information is naturally It is necessary to be able to identify from which device.
In the case of this example, such identification is performed by setting the modulation method of the infrared signal transmitted from the mobile phone 1 side in advance to be different from the modulation method of the infrared signal transmitted from the remote controller 25, and Thus, it is realized by performing demodulation processing corresponding to these modulation methods in parallel.
Specifically, the system controller 20 in the television receiver 10 uses a method corresponding to the modulation method of the infrared signal transmitted from the remote controller 25 as the first demodulation process for the light reception signal supplied from the light receiving unit 19. The demodulation processing and the demodulation processing by the method corresponding to the modulation method of the infrared signal transmitted from the mobile phone 1 as the second demodulation processing are executed in parallel. As a result, when valid data is obtained by the first demodulation process, it is possible to specify that the received information is the transmission information from the remote controller 25, and the valid data is obtained by the second demodulation process. Is demodulated, it is possible to specify that the received information is the transmission information from the mobile phone 1.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user can directly input characters as keywords using the mobile phone 1 on the keyword program search screen. Alternatively, the character input GUI screen is displayed in the same manner as in the prior art, and the remote controller 25 selects / determines the character button and inputs the keyword, or the mobile phone 1 is also used on this character input GUI screen. Keyword input can be performed.

  In this way, when the keyword is input and the program search based on the input keyword is executed, the user displays the keyword program search screen in which the input characters are displayed in the character input box as shown in FIG. In the state, the “search” item is selected and determined by an operation input using the remote controller 25.

In response to the selection / determination of this “search” item, the television receiver 10 receives the character information (input keyword information) displayed in the character input box and the EPG extracted by the demultiplexer 13. Broadcast programs that satisfy a predetermined condition based on the input keyword, such as searching for a broadcast program that includes information that matches the input keyword in the program additional information (information such as program title, genre, program description, etc.) based on the data Start searching for.

[Processing procedure]

Next, a specific processing procedure for realizing the operation according to the present embodiment described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.
FIG. 10 shows a processing procedure on the mobile phone 1 side, and FIG. 11 shows a processing procedure on the television receiver 10 side.
In FIG. 10, the processing procedure on the mobile phone 1 side is shown as a processing procedure executed by the system controller 3 shown in FIG. 1 based on an application program as the remote control application 4 a stored in the memory 4.
Similarly, FIG. 11 shows a processing procedure on the television receiver 10 side as a processing procedure executed by the system controller 20 shown in FIG. 3 based on the remote control application corresponding program 21 b stored in the memory 21.

  First, in FIG. 10, the system controller 3 on the mobile phone 1 side waits for an application activation instruction in step S101 in the figure. That is, it waits for the occurrence of a predetermined trigger (for example, an operation for selecting / determining the remote control application 4a from the selection screen of various applications) that is determined in advance to activate the remote control application 4a.

  If there is an activation instruction for the remote control application 4a, a menu screen display process is executed in step S102. That is, the display screen data as the menu screen shown in FIG. 4A is given to the display drive unit 5 to display the menu screen on the display panel 6.

  The subsequent processes in steps S103 and S104 are processes for waiting for either ID registration or ID selection. Specifically, in step S103, it is determined whether or not the item “new registration of receiving device ID” on the menu screen of FIG. If a negative result is obtained in step S103 that the “new registration of receiving device ID” item has not been selected / determined, the process proceeds to step S104, and the “select target device” item on the menu screen is selected. -Determine whether it has been decided. If a negative result is obtained in step S104 that the “select target device” item has not been selected or determined, the process returns to step S103. This forms a loop process that waits until a positive result is obtained in either step S103 or step S104.

  If an affirmative result is obtained in step S103 that the item “new registration of receiving device ID” has been selected and determined, the process proceeds to step S106, and an ID registration screen display process is performed. That is, the registration screen is displayed on the display panel 6 by giving the display drive unit 5 the display screen data as the registration screen shown in FIG.

If an affirmative result is obtained in step S104 that the “select target device” item has been selected / determined, the process proceeds to step S105 to determine whether or not the ID is unregistered. That is, it is determined whether or not the receiving-side device ID is registered for the mobile phone 1.
If an affirmative result is obtained in step S105 that the ID is not registered, the ID registration screen display process in step S106 described above is executed. That is, when “select target device” is selected and determined, but the receiving device ID is not registered, an ID registration screen is displayed.

After executing the display process of the ID registration screen in step S106, an ID input receiving process is executed in step S107. That is, each process such as acquisition of characters based on operation input information from the operation unit 7, display of acquired characters, and movement of the cursor CR is performed, and the user inputs an ID.
The subsequent processing of steps S108 and S109 is processing for waiting for selection / determination of either “registration” or “return” item. Specifically, in step S108, it is determined whether or not the “registration” item on the registration screen has been selected and determined, and a negative result is obtained because the “registration” item has not been selected or determined. If yes, the process proceeds to step S109. In step S109, it is determined whether or not the “return” item on the registration screen has been selected / determined. If a negative result is obtained that the “return” item has not been selected / determined, step S107 is performed. To return to the input acceptance process.

  If an affirmative result is obtained in step S108 that the “registration” item has been selected / determined, the process proceeds to step S110 to execute processing for storing the ID. That is, the character information (ID information) received in step S107 is stored in the memory 4 or the like, for example. Then, after executing the process of step S110, the process returns to step S102 (menu screen display process) described above.

  On the other hand, if an affirmative result is obtained as a result of selection / determination of the “return” item in step S109, the process directly returns to step S102 as illustrated.

  In Step S105 described above, if a negative result is obtained that the ID is not unregistered, the process proceeds to Step S111, and an ID selection screen display process is executed. That is, the selection screen is displayed on the display panel 6 by giving the display drive unit 5 the display screen data as the selection screen shown in FIG.

In a succeeding step S112, an ID selection receiving process is executed. That is, the cursor CR moving process based on the operation input information from the operation unit 7 is performed, and the ID selection state is presented to the user.
In the next step S113, it is determined whether or not a determination operation has been performed. If a negative result is obtained in step S113 that the determination operation has not been performed, the process returns to step S112. On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained that the determination operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S114.

In step S114, processing for setting the selected ID as the target device ID is executed.
In a succeeding step S115, display processing of a character input screen is performed. That is, the display screen data as the character input screen shown in FIG. 5A is given to the display drive unit 5 to display the character input screen on the display panel 6.

  In the next step S116, processing for receiving character input and displaying input characters is executed. That is, the user performs character input by performing acquisition of character information based on operation input information from the operation unit 7, display processing of the acquired character information, movement processing of the cursor CR, and the like.

  The subsequent processes in steps S117 and S118 are processes for waiting for selection / determination of either “transmission” or “end” item. In other words, in step S117, it is determined whether or not the “transmission” item on the character input screen has been selected, and a negative result is obtained if the “transmission” item has not been selected or determined. If YES, go to step S118. In step S118, it is determined whether or not the “end” item on the character input screen has been selected / determined. If a negative result is obtained that the “end” item has not been selected / determined, the above-described process is performed. The process returns to the process of step S116.

  If an affirmative result is obtained in step S118 that the “end” item has been selected / determined, the remote controller application 4a is terminated as the application termination process in step S120, and the process shown in FIG. The operation is ended.

If an affirmative result is obtained in step S117 that the “transmission” item has been selected / determined, the process proceeds to step S119 to execute processing for transmitting the target device ID and the input character. To do. That is, based on the information on the receiving device ID set as the target device ID in the process of the previous step S114 and the character code data corresponding to the character information acquired in the above step S116, it is shown in FIG. Transmission data having a data structure is generated, and the light emitting unit 8 is controlled so that the transmission data is transmitted by an infrared signal.
As understood from the above description, as the infrared signal from the mobile phone 1 side, a signal modulated by a predetermined modulation method different from the modulation method on the remote controller 25 side is transmitted. ing.
Further, as described above, in response to the transmission of the input character, the input character information displayed on the character input screen is deleted from the screen.

  When the transmission process in step S119 is executed, the process returns to the character input acceptance and input character display process in step S116 as shown in the figure. This can prompt the user to input further characters.

Next, a processing procedure on the television receiver 10 side will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 11, the system controller 20 on the television receiver 10 side first waits for generation of a transition trigger to the character input mode in step S201 in the figure.
As described above, here, as an example of the character input mode, a mode for accepting keyword input for program search is given as an example. In other words, in this case, the transition trigger to the character input mode is a display trigger for the keyword program search screen. Therefore, in the process of step S201, a predetermined trigger (for example, program search) predetermined to display the keyword program search screen should be displayed. The operation of selecting / determining the keyword program search item is performed on the menu screen for the above item).

  In a succeeding step S202, a character input screen display process is executed. In this case, the keyword program search screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed as the character input screen immediately after shifting to the character input mode. Accordingly, in step S202, the display screen data as the keyword program search screen shown in FIG. 5 is given to the video signal processing unit 15, so that the video signal processing unit 15 generates a video signal corresponding to the display screen data and displays it. A keyword program search screen is displayed on the panel 17.

  Depending on the processing of the subsequent steps S203, S204, and S216, it waits for the occurrence of any event of selection / determination of the “input” item, reception of information from the mobile phone, or selection / determination of the “search” item. To be done. That is, in step S203, it is determined whether or not the “input” item on the keyword program search screen has been selected and determined, and if a negative result is obtained that the “input” item has not been selected and determined. In step S204, it is determined whether or not information from the mobile phone 1 has been received. If a negative result is obtained in step S204 that the information from the mobile phone 1 has not been received, the process proceeds to step S216, and the item “search” on the keyword program search screen is selected and determined. If a negative result is obtained that the item “search” on the keyword program search screen has not been selected / determined, the process returns to step S203.

Here, of the determination processes in steps S203, S204, and S216, the determination process in step S204 is performed based on the result of the demodulation process for the light reception signal from the light receiving unit 19 described above.
That is, the system controller 20 is configured to execute parallel processing of the first demodulation process and the second demodulation process for the light reception signal from the light receiving unit 19 in parallel with the process shown in FIG. . The determination process in step S204 is performed by determining whether valid data is demodulated by the second demodulation process among these demodulation processes.
This also applies to the determination processing in step S209 described later.

  In addition, regarding the determination processing in steps S203 and S216, selection and determination of items are performed by operation input from the remote controller 25. Accordingly, the determination processing in steps S203 and S216 is performed based on operation input information from the remote controller 25 obtained as a result of the first demodulation processing performed as parallel processing as described above.

  In FIG. 11, illustration of items selection processing (cursor CR-s movement processing), determination operation standby processing, and the like performed based on operation input information from the remote controller 25 is omitted. However, these processes are performed in parallel with the process shown in FIG.

  If an affirmative result is obtained in step S204 that information from the mobile phone 1 has been received, the process proceeds to step S205, and a receiving device ID acquisition process is executed. Specifically, in this case, information of a predetermined byte in the first half of the reception (light reception) information is acquired.

In a succeeding step S206, it is determined whether or not the ID authentication is OK. That is, it is determined whether or not the information on the receiving device ID acquired in the process of step S205 matches the information on the receiving device ID 21a stored in the memory 21.
In this step S206, if the information on the receiving device ID acquired in step S205 matches the information on the receiving device ID 21a stored in the memory 21, and a positive result is obtained that the authentication is OK. In step S207, a process for displaying the received character in the input box is executed. That is, the video signal processing unit 15 is controlled so that the character information corresponding to the received character code data is displayed in the character input box in the keyword program search screen displayed on the display panel 17.
When the display process in step S207 is executed, the process returns to the previous step S203.

  On the other hand, in step S206, the information on the receiving device ID acquired in step S205 does not match the information on the receiving device ID 21a stored in the memory 21, and a negative result is obtained because the authentication is not OK. In this case, the process returns to step S203 as it is. That is, as a result, when the reception information is not sent to the television receiver 10, the display state of the character input screen (keyword program search screen) is maintained as the previous display state. It has become.

In addition, in the determination processing of the previous steps S203, S204, and S216, if an affirmative result is obtained that the item “search” is selected and determined in step S216, the process proceeds to search processing as illustrated. To be done.
As described above, this search processing includes input keyword based on the character information (input keyword information) displayed in the character input box on the keyword program search screen and the EPG data extracted by the demultiplexer 13. A broadcast program satisfying a predetermined condition based on is searched.

If an affirmative result is obtained in step S203 that the “input” item has been selected / determined, the processing related to the character input GUI screen following step S208 is executed.
First, in step S208, display processing of a character input GUI screen is executed. That is, the display screen data as the character input GUI screen shown in FIG. 9B is given to the video signal processing unit 15 to display the character input GUI screen on the display panel 17.

  Depending on the processing of the next steps S209, S210, and S211, the occurrence of any one of information reception from the mobile phone, selection / determination of the “return” item, and selection / determination of the “input end” item Will be waiting. That is, in step S209, it is determined whether or not information from the mobile phone 1 has been received. If a negative result is obtained that information from the mobile phone 1 has not been received, the process proceeds to step S210. Then, it is determined whether or not the “return” item on the character input GUI screen has been selected and determined. If a negative result is obtained in this step S210 that the “return” item has not been selected / determined, the process proceeds to step S211, where the “input end” item on the character input GUI screen has been selected. If a negative result is obtained that the “input end” item has not been selected, the process returns to step S209.

  If a positive result is obtained in step S209 that information from the mobile phone 1 has been received, the process proceeds to step S212, and a receiving device ID acquisition process is executed. In subsequent step S213, it is determined whether or not the ID authentication is OK.

In the above step S213, when the information on the receiving device ID acquired in step S212 matches the information on the receiving device ID 21a stored in the memory 21, and a positive result is obtained that the authentication is OK. In step S214, processing for displaying the received character in the input box is executed. That is, the video signal processing unit 15 is controlled so that the character information corresponding to the received character code data is displayed in the character input box in the character input GUI screen displayed on the display panel 17.
When the display process in step S207 is executed, the process returns to the previous step S203.

In step S213, the information on the receiving device ID acquired in step S212 does not match the information on the receiving device ID 21a stored in the memory 21, and a negative result is obtained because the authentication is not OK. In such a case, the process returns to the previous step S209.
As a result, even when the character input GUI screen is displayed, if the reception information is not sent to the television receiver 10, the screen display state is maintained as it is until then. It has become.

  In addition, in the above-described determination processing of Steps S209, S210, and S211, if an affirmative result is obtained that the “return” item is selected and determined in Step S210, the character input screen in Step S202 described above The display is returned to the (keyword program search screen) display process.

If an affirmative result is obtained in step S211, assuming that the “input end” item has been selected / determined, the process proceeds to step S215, and processing for displaying a character input screen displaying the input characters is executed. To do. That is, as the keyword program search screen, the video signal processing is performed so that the screen on which characters input to the character input box in the character input GUI screen are displayed in the character input box is displayed on the display panel 17. Control of the unit 15 is performed.
In this way, in response to the character input end operation being performed on the character input GUI screen, the keyword program search screen displaying the input characters is displayed.
When the processing in step S215 is executed, the process returns to the previous step S203, and the selection / determination of the “input” item displayed on the keyword program search screen, the selection / determination of the “search” item, and the cellular phone It waits for the occurrence of any event of information reception.

[Summary]

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to input character information created on the mobile phone 1 side to the television receiver 10. That is, it is possible to input characters to the television receiver 10 by using the character creation resource of the mobile phone 1.

Here, conventionally, when character input to the television receiver 10 is performed, for example, as described above, the remote controller 25 selects / determines character buttons on the screen in the display state of the character input GUI screen. A desired character string is input by performing an operation or the like. However, when inputting characters using such a character input GUI, it is necessary to perform successive cursor movement operations, which complicates the operation accordingly.
In contrast, according to the present embodiment, the user can input characters using the character input key group 7A as shown in FIG. Sequential cursor movement operations are unnecessary, and the operability can be improved accordingly.

  Further, when performing character input using the character input GUI as described above, the user strongly moves a relatively large line of sight between the operation panel surface of the remote controller 25 at hand and the display panel 17 in the television receiver 10. As compared with the relationship between the remote controller 25 and the display panel 17 at this time, the cellular phone 1 includes an operation unit 7 for inputting characters and a display panel for confirming the input characters. 6 are provided very close to each other, so that the line-of-sight movement can be extremely small. That is, this point also improves operability when inputting characters.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, there is no need to display a character input GUI screen on the television receiver 10 side when inputting characters. According to this, the display space can be used effectively, and for example, an advertisement can be displayed using the empty space.

  Here, a mobile phone that has been widely used is configured to include an infrared light emitting unit in order to exchange various information such as telephone number information and e-mail address information with other mobile phones, for example. There is something. In such a case, in order to realize the mobile phone 1 as the embodiment, it is only necessary to add a program as the remote control application 4a, and it is not necessary to add special hardware.

  In the present embodiment, transmission information from the mobile phone 1 is received by using the light receiving unit 19 provided on the television receiver 10 side for receiving operation input information by an infrared signal from the remote controller 25. It is also assumed to receive. As a result, the television receiver 10 side only needs to add the remote control application corresponding program 21b in order to realize the operation as the embodiment, and it is not necessary to add special hardware.

As can be understood from the above description, the reception of the operation input information from the remote controller 25 and the reception of the transmission information from the mobile phone 1 can be performed using the common light receiving unit 19 as described above. The remote controller 25 and the mobile phone 1 can transmit signals with different modulation schemes, and the television receiver 10 side can change the received light signals from the light receiving unit 19 to the respective modulation schemes. This is because the corresponding demodulation processes are performed in parallel. In other words, this makes it possible to identify whether the received light signal is sent from the remote controller 25 or the mobile phone 1, and the transmission information from the remote controller 25 and the mobile phone 1 can be identified. An appropriate operation corresponding to each of the transmission information can be executed.

<Second Embodiment>

Next, a second embodiment will be described.
The second embodiment is a method that is suitable when there are a plurality of devices that are targets of character input using the mobile phone 1 and the types of character codes to be used may be different among the target devices. This is a proposal.

  Here, in the first embodiment described above, it is assumed that all devices targeted for character input use the same character code, but in actuality, between devices targeted for character input. It is also assumed that different character codes are used. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the character code data corresponding to the input character information is transmitted by the character code used by the device selected as the character input target device.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the mobile phone 30 as the second embodiment.
In FIG. 12, parts that are the same as those already described with reference to FIG.
Further, in the second embodiment, the configuration on the television receiver 10 side is the same as that in the first embodiment, so that the description by illustration is omitted.

  The cellular phone 30 is different from the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 1 in the stored information in the memory 4. Specifically, the memory 4 in this case stores ID / character code correspondence information 4c. Further, in place of the remote control application 4a, a remote control application 4b for causing the system controller 3 to execute processing for realizing an operation as a second embodiment to be described later is stored.

Here, the ID / character code correspondence information is information indicating the correspondence between the receiving device ID and the type of character code used in the television receiver 10 specified by the receiving device ID. The
The ID / character code correspondence information 4c is information stored in advance at the time of shipment, for example. Alternatively, for example, information downloaded from the Internet via the communication unit 2 can be used.

  In this case, the system controller 3 selects / determines the item “transmission” on the character input screen shown in FIG. 6 and transmits the input character information and the receiving device ID to the target device. In response to this, first, the ID / character code correspondence information 4c is referred to, and the character code type information associated with the receiving device ID of the target device is confirmed. Then, character code data corresponding to the input character is generated based on the character code specified by the confirmed character code type information. Then, the generated light code data and the information of the receiving device ID of the target device selected and determined are transmitted by the light emitting unit 8.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for realizing the operation as the second embodiment including the character code data transmission operation described above.
Here, the processing procedure on the television receiver 10 side is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 11, and will not be described again here.
In FIG. 13, a processing procedure for realizing the operation as the second embodiment is shown as a processing procedure executed by the system controller 3 based on the above-described program as the remote control application 4b.
In this figure, for the sake of easy understanding, the same steps as those already described in FIG. 10 are given the same step numbers, and the description thereof is omitted.

In this case, in step S <b> 117, the system controller 3 sets the target device ID in step S <b> 301 in response to obtaining a positive result that the “transmission” item displayed on the character input screen is selected and determined. A process of generating character code data of the input character with the corresponding character code is performed.
That is, first, in the ID / character code correspondence information 4c stored in the memory 4, information on the character code type associated with the receiving device ID set as the target device ID in step S114 is confirmed. Then, character code data corresponding to the character information input in step S116 is generated based on the character code specified by the confirmed character code type information.

In subsequent step S302, processing for transmitting the target device ID and the generated character code data is executed. That is, the receiving side device ID as the target device ID set in step S114 and the character code data generated in step S301 are sent out by an infrared signal having the data structure shown in FIG. Thus, the light emitting unit 8 is controlled.
As shown in the figure, when the process of step S302 is executed, the process returns to step S116.
Note that the mobile phone 30 also transmits a signal modulated by a predetermined modulation method different from the modulation method on the remote controller 25 side as the infrared signal to be transmitted. Also in this case, as in the case of the first embodiment, the input character information displayed on the character input screen is deleted from the screen in response to the transmission of the input character. Is done.

Here, in the second embodiment described above, the ID / character code correspondence information 4c is used to confirm information on the type of character code used by the target device. As the correspondence information 4c, character code information for a device that has already been released can be stored. For example, when a new device is released, information on the type of character code for that device is ID / ID. Since the character code correspondence information 4c does not exist, there is a possibility that the type of the corresponding character code cannot be confirmed.
Therefore, the following operation can be performed so that an input character can be transmitted with an appropriate character code even in such a case.
That is, in this case, the cellular phone 30 transmits information on the receiving device ID newly registered by the user to a predetermined server device on the Internet, and the characters used by the device specified by the receiving device ID. Ask about code type information. Then, the character code type information acquired as a result of this inquiry is associated with the registered receiving device ID information and added to the ID / character code correspondence information 4c. Thereby, even when the ID of the newly registered target device does not exist in the ID / character code correspondence information 4c, it is possible to transmit the input character information using an appropriate character code used on the target device side.

In order to realize such an operation, the following processing may be added as processing of the system controller 3.
First, after storing the newly registered receiving device ID in step S114 in FIG. 13, the ID information that matches the newly registered receiving device ID is the ID / character code correspondence information 4c. A determination is made as to whether or not it exists inside. If a positive result is obtained that there is a matching ID, the process returns to step S102. On the other hand, if a negative result is obtained that there is no matching ID, the information on the newly registered receiving device ID is transmitted to the predetermined server device by the communication unit 2 and used by the newly registered device. Inquires about the character code type information. As a result, the character code type information transmitted from the server device is added to the correspondence information 4c in association with the newly registered information on the receiving device ID. After this addition process, the process returns to step S102.

<Third Embodiment>

In the third embodiment, as transmission information from the mobile phone side, information on the transmission side device ID for identifying each mobile phone is transmitted together with input character information and information on the reception side device ID. is there.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the mobile phone 31 as the third embodiment. In FIG. 14 as well, parts that are the same as those already described with reference to FIG.
Also in the third embodiment, the configuration on the television receiver 10 side is the same as that in the first embodiment, and therefore, a renewed description by illustration is omitted.
However, as will be understood from the following description, in the television receiver 10 according to the third embodiment, the system controller 20 performs a part of processing different from the case of the first embodiment. Become. Accordingly, in the television receiver 10 in the case of the third embodiment, the system controller 20 executes a series of processes shown in FIG. 16 later instead of the remote control application corresponding program 21b shown in FIG. The program for storing is stored.

In FIG. 14, the mobile phone 31 is different from the mobile phone 1 in the first embodiment in that ID information as a transmission-side device ID 4 e is stored in the memory 4.
The transmitting device ID 4e is ID information assigned so as to be unique to each mobile phone 31 so that each mobile phone 31 can be identified. As a specific example, for example, telephone number information assigned to the mobile phone 31 can be cited.
Further, in the memory 4 of the cellular phone 31, a remote control application 4d is stored instead of the remote control application 4a stored in the case of the first embodiment.

In this case, the mobile phone 31 receives the input character information (character code data) and information on the receiving device ID in response to the selection and determination of the “transmission” item on the selection screen shown in FIG. The information on the transmission side device ID 4e stored in the memory 4 is also transmitted.
FIG. 15 shows an example of a transmission data structure in the case of the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15, the transmission data from the cellular phone 31 includes the first predetermined byte as the receiving device ID and the next predetermined byte as the transmitting device ID 4e, followed by the character code data. Will be stored.

In this case, the television receiver 10 side acquires the information of the first predetermined byte of the transmission information from the mobile phone 31 having the above data structure as the receiving device ID, and transmits the information of the next predetermined byte. Acquired as the side device ID 4e. Further, the remaining information is acquired as character code data.
Then, after receiving the transmission information from the mobile phone 31 as described above, as in the case of the first embodiment, the received receiving device ID information and the receiving device stored in the memory 21 Authentication based on the information of the ID 21a is performed, and when the authentication is OK, the received character information is displayed.

  In the television receiver 10 according to the third embodiment, the following operation is performed by using the information on the transmission-side device ID 4e transmitted from the mobile phone 31. That is, the character information (input keyword information) input in the character input box in the keyword program search screen in response to the selection / determination of “search” in the keyword program search screen shown in FIG. ) And the information of the transmission-side device ID 4e received from the mobile phone 31 are stored in association with each other.

Here, the mobile phone is usually used as a dedicated device by one user. Thus, the information on the transmission side device ID 4e can be handled as user identification information for identifying each user.
Therefore, by storing the input keyword information and the transmission-side device ID 4e in association with each other as described above, the history information of the input keyword for each user can be accumulated on the television receiver 10 side.
By using such history information of input keyword information for each user, it is possible to analyze the preference for each user, such as taking statistics on broadcast programs that each user is interested in. If the preference for each user can be analyzed in this way, a broadcast program corresponding to the user's preference can be automatically recorded for each user from the preference information.

The history information of input keywords for each user can be used not only for such automatic recording of broadcast programs but also for improving the character conversion function.
For example, in character conversion, conversion candidates for input characters are displayed according to the conversion operation. For example, the arrangement order of the conversion candidates is set as the arrangement order based on the history information of the input keywords for each user. Specifically, those with a large number of inputs in the past are arranged preferentially (highly ranked). According to this, it is possible to increase the possibility that characters intended by the user are preferentially displayed as conversion candidates, and to realize an excellent character conversion function such as shortening the time required for character conversion. Can do.

  In this way, by storing the transmission-side device ID 4e and the input keyword information in association with each other, various functions using the input keyword history information for each user can be improved.

The flowcharts of FIGS. 16 and 17 show a processing procedure for realizing the operation as the third embodiment described above. FIG. 16 shows a processing procedure on the mobile phone 31 side, and FIG. 17 shows a processing procedure on the television receiver 10 side.
FIG. 16 shows a processing procedure on the mobile phone 31 side as a processing procedure executed by the system controller 3 shown in FIG. 14 based on an application program as a remote control application 4 d stored in the memory 4. FIG. 17 shows a processing procedure on the television receiver 10 side as a processing procedure executed by the system controller 20 based on the program according to the third embodiment described above stored in the memory 21. Yes.
In FIGS. 16 and 17, the processes that have already been described are given the same step numbers and description thereof is omitted.

First, in the processing on the mobile phone 31 side shown in FIG. 16, the system controller 3 obtains a positive result in step S117 that the “transmission” item displayed on the character input screen is selected and determined. Accordingly, the process proceeds to step S401, and processing for transmitting the target device ID / transmitting device ID and the input character is executed.
That is, according to the receiving device ID as the target device ID set in step S114 in the figure, the information on the transmitting device ID stored in the memory 4, and the character information input in step S116 The light emitting unit 8 is controlled so that the character code data is transmitted by the infrared signal having the data structure shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, when the process of step S401 is executed, the process returns to step S116.
In the mobile phone 31 as well, a signal modulated by a predetermined modulation method different from the modulation method on the remote controller 25 side is transmitted as the infrared signal to be transmitted. Also in this case, as in the case of the first embodiment, the input character information displayed on the character input screen is deleted from the screen in response to the transmission of the input character. Is done.

In FIG. 17, the system controller 20 in this case proceeds to step S501 and obtains the transmission side device ID when an affirmative result is obtained in the discrimination processing of step S206 in the figure that the ID authentication is OK. Execute the acquisition process. That is, of the reception information from the mobile phone 31 side, the information of a predetermined byte next to the information of the head reception device ID is acquired as the transmission device ID 4e. When the process of step S501 is executed, the process proceeds to step S207.
If an affirmative result is obtained in the determination process in step S213 that the ID authentication is OK, the process proceeds to step S502, and similarly, a process for acquiring the transmission-side device ID is executed. When the process of step S502 is executed, the process proceeds to step S214.

In this case, in response to the positive result that the “search” item is selected / determined in step S216 in the figure, the input character information is associated with the transmission-side device ID in step S503. A process for storing is executed. That is, information on characters (input keyword information) input in the character input box in the keyword program search screen is associated with the information on the transmission side device ID 4e acquired in step S501 or S502 described above, for example, the memory 21 or the like. Are stored in the required storage means.
After executing the process of step S503, the process proceeds to a search process based on the input keyword information.

In the third embodiment described above, in order to store the history information of the input keyword for each user, the information on the transmission side device ID 4e transmitted by the mobile phone 31 is stored in association with the input keyword information. However, as the transmission-side device ID 4e, for example, the transmission-side device ID 4e can be used for the purpose of preventing transmission information from the mobile phone 31 that is not intended on the television receiver 10 side.
In this case, on the television receiver 10 side, the transmission side device ID 4e (for example, telephone number information) of the cellular phone 31 that permits the acceptance of character input is registered in advance by the user. And when the transmission information from the mobile telephone 31 is received, the authentication using the information of the registered transmission side device ID 4e is performed together with the authentication for the reception side device ID. Specifically, it is determined whether or not there is information that matches the information of the transmission side device ID 4e transmitted from the mobile phone 31 among the information of the transmission side device ID 4e registered in advance. Only when both of these authentications are OK, the received character information is displayed. As a result, it is possible to prevent unintended transmission information from the mobile phone 31 being received.

<Modification>

As mentioned above, although each embodiment of this invention was described, as this invention, it should not be limited to the specific example demonstrated so far.
For example, the information transmitted from the cellular phone (1, 30, 31) to the television receiver 10 side is not limited to the information described so far. For example, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to send information on the type of information and information on the length of the character string.
In the example of FIG. 18, as a modification corresponding to the case of the third embodiment, a transmission data structure example in the case of transmitting the reception side device ID and the transmission side device ID together with the character code data is shown. As shown in the figure, in this example, the next predetermined byte of information on the transmitting device ID is used as character code type information, and the next predetermined byte is used as information on the length of the character string. Code data is to be transmitted.

  For example, ASCII code (US), Latin1 code (Europe), JIS code (Windows, Japanese etc .: Windows is a registered trademark), EUC code (Unix, Japanese etc .: Unix is a registered trademark) , Unicode (Japanese, etc.). Of these, ASCII code and Latin 1 code are 1-byte characters, and JIS code, EUC code, and Unicode are 2-byte characters.

Here, the reason why the character code type information is transmitted is to cope with a case where a plurality of character codes are usable on the television receiver 10 side. That is, it is possible to notify which character code data is transmitted from among a plurality of character codes that can be used on the television receiver 10 side by the information on the type of the character code. It is.
Here, when the target television receiver 10 can use a plurality of character codes, in the ID / character code correspondence information 4c, a plurality of character code types for one receiving-side device ID is used. Information is associated. In this case, if there is a plurality of types of character code information associated with the receiving device ID of the target device, the mobile phone side selects one of the character codes and selects the selected character code. Character code data corresponding to the input character is generated by the character code. When the generated character code data is transmitted, information on the selected character code type is added to the transmission information.
On the other hand, in the television receiver 10 in this case, when the character code type information is acquired from the received information and the character information corresponding to the character code data received from the mobile phone is displayed, the acquired information is obtained. Character information display processing corresponding to the received character code data is performed in accordance with the character code specified by the character code type information.

  Further, by transmitting the information on the length of the character string, it is possible to notify the length of the character string transmitted to the television receiver 10 side, and using this information, the transmission information is correctly received. For example, it can be determined whether or not it has been completed.

Further, in the above description, the case where the character input target screen is a screen related to keyword search has been illustrated, but of course, the present invention is also suitable for performing character input on other character input screens. Applicable.
In addition, although the noun as a keyword was illustrated about the input character, it cannot be overemphasized that not only a noun but another part of speech, a sentence, etc. can be input depending on the kind of character input screen.

In the description so far, when the target device is selected, the information on the registered receiving device ID is displayed as it is on the screen on the mobile phone side (FIG. 4C), but the ID information is displayed. You can also display product name information instead. In this case, correspondence information between the receiving device ID and the product name information is stored in advance, and product name information corresponding to the registered receiving device ID is displayed based on the correspondence information. .
Further, when displaying product name information in this way, if a plurality of devices having the same product name are registered, there is a possibility that the user cannot distinguish them. If this is to be avoided, the registration number information may be displayed in addition to the product name information. This registration number information is number information assigned by an application on the mobile phone side so that when a plurality of devices with the same product name are registered, for example, every time a device with the same product name is registered The value is allocated so as to be incremented.

  In the description so far, information transmission from the mobile phone side is exemplified only by infrared communication, but instead, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark) or wireless LAN (LAN = Local Area Network, For example, it may be performed by other wireless communication methods such as Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity ad hoc mode).

In the description so far, the case where the television receiver 10 side receives the operation input information from the attached remote controller 25 and the transmission information from the mobile phone side by using the common light receiving unit 19 is exemplified. However, a receiving unit that receives (receives) operation input information from the remote controller 25 and a receiving unit that receives (receives) transmission information from the mobile phone can be provided separately.
However, as described above, as an embodiment, it is an important advantage that character input using a mobile phone can be realized only by changing a program without adding special hardware. In consideration of this, it is preferable that the receiving unit for the transmission information from the mobile phone side shares the receiving unit for the operation input information from the remote controller 25 as exemplified in the embodiment. It is clear.

  Further, at present, there is a remote control operation application that allows the mobile phone to function as a remote control of an external device. However, in such a mobile phone, the remote control application for character input described in the embodiment is used. (4a, 4b, 4d) can be integrated with this remote control operation application. In that case, usability can be further improved if it is possible to transition from the character input screen to the remote control operation screen.

  In the description so far, the case where the terminal device of the present invention is applied to a mobile phone has been exemplified. However, as the terminal device of the present invention, for example, an operator for inputting characters such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). It can apply suitably also to the other electronic device provided with.

  In the description so far, the case where the display control device of the present invention is applied to a television receiver is exemplified. However, as the display control device of the present invention, as a so-called DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorder, The present invention can also be suitably applied to a recording apparatus that receives a television broadcast and records a broadcast program. Alternatively, the present invention can be preferably applied to other electronic devices other than such a recording apparatus.

It is the block diagram which showed the internal structure of the terminal device as 1st Embodiment. It is an external view of the terminal device of an embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the internal structure of the display control apparatus of embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen transition in response to a user operation on the terminal device side as a diagram for describing a character input operation as the first embodiment. It is the figure which illustrated the character input screen displayed on the display control apparatus side. It is the figure which illustrated the character input screen displayed in the terminal device side. It is the figure which showed the example of the transmission data structure in the case of 1st Embodiment as a data structure of the transmission data by a terminal device. It is the figure which illustrated the screen display state by the side of a terminal device, and the display screen state by the side of a display control apparatus immediately after transmission of the character information from the terminal device side. It is the figure which showed the example of a screen transition at the time of displaying the character input GUI screen in the display control apparatus side. It is the flowchart which showed the process procedure by the side of the terminal device which should be performed in order to implement | achieve the operation | movement as 1st Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence by the side of the display control apparatus which should be performed in order to implement | achieve the operation | movement as 1st Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the internal structure of the terminal device as 2nd Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process procedure by the side of the terminal device which should be performed in order to implement | achieve the operation | movement as 2nd Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the internal structure of the terminal device as 3rd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of the transmission data structure in the case of 3rd Embodiment as a data structure of the transmission data by a terminal device. It is the flowchart which showed the process procedure by the side of the terminal device which should be performed in order to implement | achieve the operation | movement as 3rd Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence by the side of the display control apparatus which should be performed in order to implement | achieve the operation | movement as 3rd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of the transmission data structure in the case of a modification as a data structure of the transmission data by a terminal device. It is the figure which showed the example of the character input GUI screen as a figure for demonstrating a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

  1,30,31 mobile phone, 2 communication unit, 3,20 system controller, 4,21 memory, 4a, 4b, 4d remote control application, 4c ID / character code correspondence information, 4e transmission side device ID, 5,16 display drive Part, 6,17 display panel, 7,18 operation part, 7A character input key group, 8 light emitting part, 10 television receiver, 11 tuner part, 12 demodulation part, 13 demultiplexer (DEMUX), 14 MPEG decoder, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Video signal processing part, 19 Light-receiving part, 21a Receiving side apparatus ID, 21b Remote control application corresponding program, 25 Remote controller

Claims (13)

An operation unit provided with at least an operator for character input;
An information transmission unit for wirelessly transmitting information;
A display unit for displaying information;
A control unit for controlling the display unit and the information transmission unit;
The control unit
Identification information registration processing for registering device identification information allocated so as to be unique to an external device based on operation input information from the operation unit,
Character information acquisition processing for acquiring character information based on operation input information from the operation unit,
A character display control process for controlling the display unit so that a character display according to the character information acquired by the character information acquisition process is performed;
A terminal device that executes a transmission control process for controlling the information transmission unit so that the character information acquired by the character information acquisition process and the device identification information registered by the identification information registration process are transmitted to an external device. The terminal device according to claim 1,
The control unit
While performing the selection process which selects one apparatus identification information from the apparatus identification information registered by the said identification information registration process,
In the above transmission control process,
Control is performed so that the character information acquired by the character information acquisition process and the device identification information selected by the selection process are transmitted. The terminal device according to claim 2,
A storage unit for storing device / character code correspondence information representing a correspondence relationship between the device identification information and a character code used in an external device specified by the device identification information;
The control unit
In accordance with the device / character code correspondence information, character code information generation processing for generating character code information corresponding to the character information acquired by the character information acquisition processing using a character code corresponding to the device identification information selected by the selection processing. As well as
In the above transmission control process,
Control is performed so that the character code information generated by the character code information generation process and the device identification information selected by the selection process are transmitted. The terminal device according to claim 1,
A storage unit for storing terminal identification information allocated so as to be unique to each terminal device;
In the transmission control process by the control unit,
Control is performed so that the terminal identification information is transmitted together with the character information acquired by the character information acquisition process and the device identification information registered by the identification information registration process. The terminal device according to claim 1,
In the transmission control process by the control unit,
Control is performed so that character length information represented by the character information is transmitted together with the character information acquired by the character information acquisition processing and the device identification information registered by the identification information registration processing. The terminal device according to claim 3,
In the transmission control process by the control unit,
Control is performed so that the character code information of the character code information is transmitted together with the character code information generated by the character code information generation processing and the device identification information registered by the identification information registration processing.   The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the information transmission unit transmits information by an infrared, wireless LAN, or Bluetooth communication method. An information transmission method for wirelessly transmitting information to an external device,
An identification information registration step for registering device identification information allocated so as to be unique to an external device based on operation input information from at least an operation unit provided with an operator for character input;
A character information acquisition step of acquiring character information based on operation input information from the operation unit;
A character display step for displaying characters according to the character information acquired by the character information acquisition step;
An information transmission method comprising: a transmission step of transmitting the character information acquired in the character information acquisition step and the device identification information registered in the identification information registration step to an external device. A storage unit in which device identification information allocated so as to be unique for each device is stored;
A receiving unit that receives character information and the device identification information registered in the terminal device from an external terminal device;
A control unit that controls the display unit that displays information,
The control unit
A determination process for determining whether or not the device identification information received by the reception unit matches the device identification information stored in the storage unit;
When it is determined by the determination process that the pieces of device identification information match, a display control process is performed to perform control so that the character display based on the character information received by the reception unit is performed on the display unit. Display control device. The display control device according to claim 9,
The receiver is
The terminal identification information allocated so as to be unique to the terminal device is received together with the character information and the device identification information from an external terminal device,
The control unit
A storage process for storing the character information received by the receiving unit and the terminal identification information in association with each other is executed. The display control device according to claim 9,
Broadcast receiving means for receiving a television broadcast is further provided. A display control method for a display control device in which device identification information allocated so as to be unique for each device is stored,
A receiving step of receiving character information and the device identification information registered in the terminal device from an external terminal device;
A determination step of determining whether or not the device identification information received in the reception step matches the device identification information stored in the display control device;
A display control method comprising: a display control step for performing control so that character display based on the character information received in the reception step is performed when it is determined that the device identification information matches in the determination step. Comprising a terminal device and a display control device,
The terminal device is
An operation unit provided with at least an operator for character input;
An information transmission unit for wirelessly transmitting information;
A terminal device side display unit for displaying information;
A terminal device side control unit for controlling the terminal device side display unit and the information transmission unit;
The terminal device side control unit
Identification information registration processing for registering information acquired based on operation input information from the operation unit as device identification information;
Character information acquisition processing for acquiring character information based on operation input information from the operation unit,
A character display control process for controlling the terminal device side display unit so that a character display according to the character information acquired by the character information acquisition process is performed;
Performing transmission control processing for controlling the information transmission unit so that the character information acquired by the character information acquisition processing and the device identification information registered by the identification information registration processing are transmitted to an external device;
The display control device
A storage unit in which device identification information allocated so as to be unique to each display control device is stored;
A receiving unit for receiving the character information and the device identification information from the terminal device;
A control device side control unit for controlling the display unit for displaying information,
The control device side control unit
A determination process for determining whether or not the device identification information received by the reception unit matches the device identification information stored in the storage unit;
When it is determined by the determination process that the pieces of device identification information match, a display control process is performed to perform control so that the character display based on the character information received by the reception unit is performed on the display unit. Display control system.

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