JP4329521B2 - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and information processing method for performing processing such as recording and reproduction of content, and a computer program, and in particular, content such as recording, recording reservation, and reproduction of program content such as television broadcasting and radio broadcasting. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program that support processing.

  More specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and information processing for providing information for supporting content operations such as TV program search, recording reservation, and playback in consideration of the TV program viewing characteristic of passive enjoyment. Information processing apparatus and information processing method for supporting content operations such as search, recording reservation, and playback of TV program without impairing user's interest aroused from watching TV program And a computer program.

  In the modern information civilized society, the role of broadcasting is immeasurable. In particular, the influence of television broadcasting that delivers video information directly to viewers along with sound is significant. Broadcast technology includes a wide range of technologies such as signal processing, transmission / reception thereof, and information processing of audio and video. In addition, there are various transmission forms for providing program content to the user, such as broadcasting systems using radio waves such as terrestrial waves and satellite waves, cable television systems, and net programs provided using computer communications.

  The penetration rate of television is extremely high, and it is installed in almost all households. Broadcast content distributed from each broadcasting station is viewed by an unspecified number of people. Another form of viewing broadcast content is that the received content is recorded once on the viewer side and played back at any time.

  Recently, with the development of digital technology, it has become possible to store a large amount of AV data consisting of video and audio. For example, an HDD (hard disk drive) with a capacity of several tens of GB or more can be obtained at a relatively low cost, and an HDD-based recorder or a personal computer with a TV program recording / viewing function・ Computers (PCs) have appeared.

The HDD is a device capable of random access to recorded data. Therefore, when playing back recorded content, it is not necessary to simply play back the recorded programs in order from the beginning as in the case of conventional video tapes. Or a specific corner) can be started directly. Hard disk drive large-capacity storage and equipped with a receiver, such as using the (television and video recording and reproducing apparatus), once that of viewing the form of play from accumulated in the receiver the broadcast content received, "server This is called “type broadcasting”.

  According to the server-type broadcasting system, not only real-time viewing such as normal television reception, but also video and audio are distributed in advance so that they can be viewed from a specified time, and information distributed at the same time, etc. It is possible to search for scenes and view digests by using them.

  However, in a system capable of recording a program for several tens of hours with the increase in capacity of the HDD, when a large number of programs are accumulated, the user determines which program should be started first. You will be bothered by content selection. Therefore, if the user efficiently selects a program that the user wants to watch and records or reserves recording, and further does not support viewing of the accumulated content, the content will be stored. Since a large amount of recorded content is accumulated in the recording device and it is difficult to view all the content, it must be selected. That is, it is thought that it is important for the user to send a useful TV program viewing activity to perform an efficient recording reservation operation.

  Here, a so-called electronic program guide (EPG) that transmits a program guide for selecting a television broadcast program superimposed on an image signal and displays it on a display device on the receiving side. ) The system is known. On the recording / playback device side such as an HDD recorder, an EPG is acquired in parallel with the recording processing of the broadcast program, and a certain viewing support effect is obtained by presenting the EPG when the user plays / views the recorded program. Obtainable.

  The EPG system includes a VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval) system (see, for example, Patent Document 1) and a digital direct satellite broadcasting (DSS: Digital Satellite System (trademark of Hughes Communications)). There is a satellite system (for example, see Patent Document 2).

  In the VBI system, in normal (VHF (Very High Frequency) band) terrestrial television broadcasting, VBI data constituting an EPG is inserted and transmitted at a position that does not affect the original image of the horizontal scanning line. . On the receiving side, display data of the electronic program guide can be generated from the VBI data and displayed on the monitor. In the digital satellite system, EPG data is digitized together with original image data, and further packetized and transmitted. On the receiving side, this EPG data is stored in a memory, corresponding display data is generated and displayed on the monitor.

  The user can specify or estimate a program to be viewed with reference to the EPG distributed along with the program. However, in this case, the user must first start the EPG, search for a program to be viewed on the EPG screen, and perform a complicated operation of selecting the program.

  For example, based on the interest aroused when watching a recorded program (or a program that is currently on air), it is related to the program being viewed, such as the next broadcast program or other appearance programs of the same performer In order to search for and record a highly probable program, it is necessary to activate the EPG screen and search from many programs based on the day of the week or the channel, or search by title or performer name. In this case, the user must interrupt the viewing of the program and search for the recorded program.

  In addition, program-related information is often provided on a program's official website via media such as the Internet, but in order to view detailed information, it is complicated to start a web browser and enter a URL. The user has to perform various operations, and interest in the TV program aroused through viewing is interrupted.

  Viewing TV programs is inherently passive. On the other hand, the search for the recording reservation program as described above requires the user to perform an active operation, and the interest aroused from viewing the program is lost during the program search operation.

  Also, proposals have been made for facilitating recording reservation operations in recording reservation apparatuses such as VTRs. For example, the program data such as the broadcast start time of each supplied broadcast program is displayed, and the broadcast program designated at this time is displayed according to the input of the record start data and the record end data transmitted by being superimposed on the broadcast radio wave. By starting and ending recording, it is possible to realize a recording reservation apparatus that can further improve usability. In addition, the program reservation table is displayed in a matrix form with time on one axis and a channel on the other axis, and a position corresponding to the recording start time and recording end time on the program guide. Can be designated and input by a predetermined input means to make a recording reservation, so that a recording reservation that can easily make a recording reservation can be realized (for example, see Patent Document 3).

  However, the period (hereinafter referred to as “EPG period”) in which program information for which the broadcast start time, broadcast end time, broadcast content, etc. are determined by EPG can be provided is generally about one week, and the range exceeding this period. The user cannot make a recording reservation (that is, after one week or more).

  For example, in recent years, it is possible to obtain in advance the program information scheduled to be broadcast while the EPG provision period has been exceeded and has not yet been determined, via various media such as the Internet. However, the user cannot make a recording reservation based on such information, and uses the committed recording start data and recording end data that are sent when the EPG provision period arrives. A reservation operation must be performed. In this case, browsing of other media and browsing of the EPG are completely separated, which is troublesome for the user.

JP 6-504165 A (US Pat. No. 5,353,121) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-111823 JP-A-6-236593

  An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program capable of suitably supporting content processing such as recording, recording reservation, and playback of a television program.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent information processing apparatus and information capable of favorably supporting content operations such as TV program search, recording reservation, and playback in consideration of the TV program viewing characteristic of passive enjoyment. A processing method and a computer program are provided.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent information processing apparatus capable of suitably supporting content operations such as searching for a TV program, recording reservation, and playback without impairing the interest of the user aroused from viewing the TV program. It is to provide an information processing method and a computer program.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent information processing apparatus and information capable of supporting a program content recording reservation operation within a range beyond the EPG provision period in which committed recording start data and recording end data have been committed. A processing method and a computer program are provided.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and a first aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus that supports operations on program content distributed according to a scheduled time,
Program information management means for acquiring and managing distribution schedule information for recording program content;
Reservation operation interface means for performing a user operation relating to recording reservation of program content including program content whose distribution schedule information is uncertain,
A provisional reservation means for provisionally reserving a recording reservation for the program content in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for program content for which delivery schedule information is uncertain;
It is an information processing apparatus characterized by comprising.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes recording means for recording program content and recording reservation means for reserving recording of program content in the recording means. The recording reservation means can make a recording reservation for the program content in accordance with the committed distribution schedule information in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for the program content for which the distribution schedule information has been confirmed. .

  The present invention realizes a service that provides information related to a program such as a television broadcast or a radio broadcast that a user is viewing, recording, or reproducing. Such an information providing service system includes, for example, a broadcast receiving terminal or a broadcast receiving terminal with a recording function connected to a network, and a server device on the network. Then, program specifying information for specifying the content being viewed at the broadcast receiving terminal is transmitted to the server device, and the server device searches for information related to the program based on the program specifying information, and uses this search result. Create a program information page and send it back to the broadcast receiving terminal.

  Alternatively, as a modification of the information providing service system, before the user views the program, the related information of the program is transmitted to the broadcast receiving terminal via the broadcast or the network, and is stored in advance on the broadcast receiving terminal side. Keep it. Then, on the broadcast receiving terminal side, when viewing the program content, in response to the user's instruction, the stored related information is taken out using the program identification information such as the broadcast channel, broadcast date and time, broadcast area, etc. as a key, You may make it show to a user.

  For example, the program content being reproduced or viewed by the user or the program content selected from a predetermined program table such as EPG is set as the base program. Then, a program related to the base program is searched for each item based on the degree of relevance with the base program, and the related programs are arranged in the order of the items having the strong relevance with the base program, and the base program related information page Is generated. The user can start the browser, browse the base program related information page, and perform operations such as recording reservation for the program related to the base program.

  Since the program that the user is currently viewing or playing is used as a base point and other related programs are introduced in the order of the degree of relevance, the interest of the user aroused from watching TV programs and radio programs is not impaired. It is possible to smoothly and suitably support content operations such as searching for TV programs and radio programs, recording reservations, and playback. That is, in consideration of the TV program viewing characteristics of passive enjoyment, it is possible to smoothly support content operations such as TV program search, recording reservation, and playback along the flow of viewing the program.

  In addition, in response to a simple operation such as a button operation on the user's remote control, the related information of the user's viewing program transitions one after another to show more, so that the user's interest aroused by viewing can be changed to related information without cooling. It is possible to smoothly guide the user to the related information of the related information, and to raise various interests of the user.

  Here, candidates to be extracted as related programs of the base program include, for example, scheduled programs provided with EPG during the EPG provision period and recording start data and recording end data as well as EPG outside the EPG provision period. Scheduled programs for which recording start data and recording end data are not guaranteed are included.

  When any program is selected on the program related information page, when the detailed operation screen for directly performing the recording reservation operation is presented regardless of whether or not the EPG is provided, the selected program is displayed. When it is outside the EPG provision period, since the broadcast schedule has not been confirmed yet, the recording reservation cannot be confirmed at this point.

  Therefore, in the present invention, when an operation for requesting a recording reservation for a program content for which distribution schedule information has been confirmed is performed, a recording reservation for the program content is performed according to the committed distribution schedule information as usual. In response to an operation for requesting recording reservation for a program content whose distribution schedule information is uncertain, the recording reservation of the program content is temporarily reserved.

  Here, the provisional reservation means refers to the program information managed by the program information management means, the state storage means for saving the state of “provisionally reserved” for the recording of the uncertain scheduled program, and provisional reservation The reserved reservation status confirmation means for confirming whether or not the scheduled distribution information of the program content has been committed, and the recording reservation has become possible in response to the promised distribution schedule information of the temporarily reserved program content It is comprised with the notification means to notify.

  In short, “provisional reservation” means that the program cannot be reserved for recording at this time, but the state that “provisionally reserved” is recorded for an uncommitted scheduled program, and the EPG provision period has arrived (or the program concerned) This means that the user is notified that the recording reservation has become possible due to the occurrence of other events in which the scheduled broadcast time of the video is determined.

  Further, provisional reservation notifying means for notifying that the temporary reservation is completed may be further provided in response to storing the temporarily reserved state in the state storing means.

  The notification means provides a reservation operation interface for making a recording reservation for the temporarily reserved program content based on the committed distribution schedule information. Therefore, the arrival of the EPG provision period for the temporarily reserved program content allows the user to smoothly perform a normal recording reservation operation.

  Further, when the device includes an indicator that uses the five senses of the user to indicate that a predetermined event has occurred, for example, an LED indicator that performs a blinking operation, the notification means activates the indicator. It is possible to notify that the recording reservation has become possible. Also in this case, similarly, a reservation operation interface for making a reservation for recording of the temporarily reserved program content is provided, and the user can smoothly perform a recording reservation operation as usual.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program written in a computer-readable format so that processing for supporting an operation on program content distributed according to a scheduled time is executed on a computer system. ,
A program information management step of acquiring and managing distribution schedule information for recording program content;
Providing a reservation operation interface for performing a user operation relating to recording reservation of program content including program content whose distribution schedule information is uncertain;
A provisional reservation step for provisionally reserving a recording reservation for the program content in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for program content for which delivery schedule information is uncertain;
A computer program characterized by comprising:

  The computer program according to the second aspect of the present invention defines a computer program described in a computer-readable format so as to realize predetermined processing on a computer system. In other words, by installing the computer program according to the second aspect of the present invention in the computer system, a cooperative action is exhibited on the computer system, and the information processing according to the first aspect of the present invention is performed. The same effect as the apparatus can be obtained.

  Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, an excellent information processing apparatus and information processing capable of suitably supporting content operations such as TV program search, recording reservation, and playback in consideration of the TV program viewing characteristics of passive enjoyment. Methods and computer programs can be provided.

  In addition, according to the present invention, an excellent information processing apparatus capable of suitably supporting content operations such as searching for TV programs, recording reservations, and playback without impairing the interest of the user aroused from viewing TV programs. And an information processing method and a computer program can be provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an excellent information processing apparatus capable of supporting a program content recording reservation operation within a range in which committed recording start data and recording end data exceed the committed EPG provision period. An information processing method and a computer program can be provided.

  Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from more detailed description based on embodiments of the present invention described later and the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

A. System Configuration FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of an information providing system that provides program content broadcasting and related information of program content, to which the present invention is applied.

  The information providing system according to the present embodiment manages information related to a program in a database, and the program currently being viewed or reproduced by the user is a base point, and other programs related to this base point program are related. By providing a base program related information page that is introduced in order of strength, content operations such as searching for TV programs and radio programs, recording reservations, and playback can be performed without compromising the interest of the users aroused from watching TV programs and radio programs. This can be favorably supported.

  In addition, the information providing system according to the present embodiment not only manages information associated with each program, but also manages information associated with an arbitrary part of the program in the program being viewed or reproduced. By generating the base program related information page using information associated with an arbitrary part operated by the user, it is possible to provide program related information with finer granularity. Of course, information can be associated not only with the main program but also with a broadcast CM inserted in the program content.

  In the example shown in the figure, the information providing system is a broadcast station such as a television station or a radio station that distributes program content via a predetermined broadcast wave, and a content recording / playback device that receives, records, and plays back broadcast content at each user. And a server for providing program-related information related to the content being viewed or played back to the broadcast receiving terminal.

  Broadcast stations are installed uniformly in each region, and distribute program content via broadcast waves according to a time schedule according to a predetermined program table.

  A broadcast receiving terminal (hereinafter also referred to as a client) and a server are interconnected via a wide area network such as the Internet or another form of communication path. The server is connected to a broadcast station, a program content creator, a program broadcast sponsor, or other information provider by a backbone (not shown), and is broadcast to any part of the program content or program content to be broadcast. The related program related information is sequentially acquired.

  The broadcast receiving terminal as a client is configured integrally with a CE (Consumer Electronics) device such as a set-top box or a television receiver, or connected to a personal computer with a tuner function, and has a content recording / playback function. The program contents broadcast from time to time from each broadcasting station are stored according to a recording reservation setting by a user operation or a predetermined automatic recording reservation procedure.

  The broadcast receiving terminal, when receiving / recording broadcast content, identifies program content or program specific information for identifying a specific part of the program, operation information related to content recording / playback, viewing history information, user preference Get information and other user profile information.

  The broadcast receiving terminal is connected to a wide area network such as the Internet, and transmits (uploads) program specifying information and user preference information to an information providing server constructed on the network. Provides program-related information relating to program content being viewed / reproduced or any part thereof.

  Specifically, the data to be uploaded from the client to the server includes program specifying information for specifying a program to be viewed or reproduced by the user on the broadcast receiving terminal, and a user who has performed recording, recording reservation, viewing, etc. Program viewing history information, user preference information, and the like. Of these, the program specifying information is configured in a format of [broadcast date: broadcast channel: regional information], for example, and is uploaded when the user requests program related information, for example.

  On the other hand, the information providing server includes an EPG database of broadcast programs broadcast by each broadcast station, a program information database for managing program information associated with program content or any part thereof, and preference information and profiles of each user as users. A user preference information database managed in units and a terminal status database managing the status of each user's broadcast receiving terminal are provided.

  On the information providing server side, when program-related information is requested from the user's broadcast receiving terminal, the corresponding program is determined by referring to the EPG database based on the program identification information uploaded in accordance with this request, and the corresponding Retrieve program information from the program information database. And the program related information page is produced | generated using the obtained program information, and this is provided to a user. When the program related information page is generated, related information in accordance with user preference information may be presented.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows a system configuration for transmitting broadcast contents in a broadcasting station. The transmission system 1 includes a production unit 100, a transmission unit 200, and a transmission unit 300. Hereinafter, each part will be described.

  The production unit 100 corresponds to a site that produces each content of broadcast program information to be transmitted as broadcast content. That is, the production unit 100 produces individual streams such as video and audio constituting a broadcast program, data such as subtitles, and each resource element such as EPG.

  These broadcast contents made up of a program main part and program information made up of individual streams such as video and audio are transferred to the sending unit 200 via, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) installed in the broadcast station 1.

  In the transmission unit 200, transmission data is packetized by each of the content transmission system 201, the baseband control system 202, the AV encoder 203, and the caption super insertion 204, and is passed to the transmission unit 300.

  In the transmission unit 300, the program information is encoded by the multimedia encoding unit 301 and passed to the content transmission system 302. The combining unit 304 combines the output data of the content transmission system 302 and the AV caption super transmission system 303. Then, the modulation unit 305 performs RF modulation on the combined signal and transmits it to the receiving station 10 via the RF transmission path.

  In the RF transmission path, the RF signal is first transmitted from the transmitting antenna installed in the broadcasting station 1 to the broadcasting satellite 5 and then received by the receiving antenna of the receiver 10 via the propagation path.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, a television broadcasting station is assumed, but of course, the program related information providing service according to the present invention can be applied to radio broadcasting and other forms of broadcasting services. it can. The broadcast wave may be a terrestrial wave or a satellite wave.

  FIG. 3 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of the broadcast receiving terminal 10 that receives broadcast content and performs recording and recording reservation.

  In the broadcast receiving terminal 10, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 as a main controller is interconnected with each hardware component via a bus 50 so as to execute overall control on each component. It has become. Hereinafter, each part will be described.

  Broadcast waves received by an antenna (not shown) are supplied to the tuner 51. The broadcast wave follows a prescribed format, but may be a wired broadcast wave or a terrestrial wave in addition to the satellite broadcast wave described above, and is not particularly limited.

  The tuner 51 tunes a broadcast wave of a predetermined channel, that is, selects a channel according to an instruction from the CPU 11, and outputs received data to the subsequent demodulator 52. The demodulator 52 demodulates the digitally modulated received data. Note that the configuration of the tuner 11 can be changed or expanded as appropriate depending on whether the broadcast wave transmitted is analog or digital.

  The demodulated digital data is, for example, a transport stream (TS) configured by multiplexing AV data compressed by the MPEG2 system and program information. The former AV data is composed of video and audio information constituting the broadcast program body, and caption data. The latter program information is data accompanying the broadcast program body and is used for EPG and program recording reservation.

  The TS decoder 53 interprets this transport stream, separates it into AV data and program information compressed by the MPEG2 system, sends the former to the AV decoder 54, and sends the latter to the CPU 11 via the bus 50. Send. The TS decoder 53 may include a memory 53A for storing work data locally.

  When the AV decoder 54 receives real-time AV data compressed by the MPEG2 method from the TS decoder 53, the AV decoder 54 separates it into compressed video data and compressed audio data. Then, the video data is decompressed according to the MPEG2 system to reproduce the original video signal, and the audio data is decoded with PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) and then combined with the additional sound to obtain a reproduced audio signal. The AV decoder 54 may include a memory 54A for storing work data locally. The reproduced video signal is displayed and output on the display 61 via the multiplexer 55B, and the reproduced audio signal is output as audio to the speaker 62 via the multiplexer 55A. Alternatively, the broadcast content of a program reserved for recording is transferred to the hard disk device 17 via the bus 50 and temporarily recorded without decompressing the compressed video data and the compressed audio data. In this case, at the time of viewing, after being read from the hard disk device 17, it is again decompressed by the coder 54 with AV and reproduced and output.

  The user interface control unit 56 is a module that processes an input operation from the user. For example, an operation button / switch (not shown) for direct manual operation by the user, a remote control 66 via infrared (IR), or the like. It has a function to accept remote control from. Further, a display panel for displaying the current setting content or an LED indicator (not shown) may be included. A user can perform content operations such as channel selection of a broadcast program, recording, recording reservation, playback, and deletion of a recorded program via the remote controller 66 and the user interface control unit 56.

  In the present embodiment, the remote controller 66 includes an “information button” that is a dedicated button for issuing an instruction to present related information in addition to a group of normal terminal operation buttons related to channel selection, volume adjustment, recording / playback, and the like.

  The CPU 11 is a main controller that controls the overall operation of the receiver 10. Further, the CPU 11 can perform processing such as recording, recording reservation, and reproduction regarding program information transferred via the bus 50.

  A RAM (Random Access Memory) 12 is a writable volatile memory used for loading an execution program code of the CPU 11 and writing work data of the execution program. A ROM (Read Only Memory) 13 is a read-only memory that permanently stores a self-diagnosis and / or initialization program that is executed when the receiver 10 is powered on and microcode for hardware operation.

  The serial input / output (SIO) controller 14 is a peripheral controller for exchanging serial data with an external device of the receiver 10. A high-speed modem 63 for modulating / demodulating transmission data on an analog telephone line is externally connected to a serial port prepared by the SIO controller 14. The receiver 10 is connected to the Internet 7 as a wide area network by making a PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) connection (or connection in another form) to a predetermined access point (not shown) by the high-speed modem 63. An upper link to the information providing server can be formed.

  An IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 interface 15 is a serial high-speed interface capable of transmitting and receiving data of about several hundreds of MBps. An IEEE 1394 compatible external device can be daisy chained or tree-connected to the IEEE 1394 port. Examples of the IEEE 1394 compatible device include a video camera 64 and a scanner (not shown).

  A hard disk drive (HDD) 17 is an external storage device for storing programs and data in a predetermined format file format, and has a relatively large capacity of about several tens to several hundreds GB. The HDD 17 is connected to the bus 50 via the hard disk interface 18. In the present embodiment, the HDD 17 is used for recording, recording reservation and playback of received broadcast programs, accumulation of program related information, and the like.

  The card interface 18 is a device for realizing a bus protocol between the card-type device 65 loaded in the card slot 19 and the bus 50. An example of the card type device 65 is a PC card configured in a credit card size and a cartridge type.

  The display controller 57 is a dedicated controller for controlling display output of broadcast program information and the like based on the data broadcast content.

  The receiver 10 controls the channel selection operation of the tuner 51 in accordance with a user input command via the user interface control unit 56, and performs display control of program information and the like. That is, the CPU 11 processes the program information transferred from the TS decoder 53, converts it into display data, and supplies it to the display controller 57. The display controller 57 generates an image signal of program information based on this display data and supplies it to the multiplexer 55B.

  The CPU 11 also processes audio data included in the program information and supplies this to the multiplexer 55A via the bus 50. Multiplexers 55A and 55B multiplex display data and audio data supplied from CPU 11 with video data and audio data (and captions) as a broadcast program main body output from AV decoder 54, and display 61 An external output is made to each of the speakers 62.

  Further, the CPU 11 controls the reproduction operation of the received broadcast program, the recording / recording reservation operation, and the erase operation of the recorded program.

  The broadcast receiving terminal according to the present embodiment has the following functions in addition to a normal broadcast receiving function in order to enjoy a program related information providing service related to a program that a user views or plays.

(1) Reception channel storage function for storing the channel currently being received (2) Clock function for holding the current time (3) Installation area holding function for setting and storing the installation area of the receiving terminal (4) Connection to the Internet Network connection function for sending and receiving data (5) Information processing function for processing related information to be extracted and presented in accordance with user instructions

  Among these, the clock function is a “just clock” that adjusts the time according to a time signal broadcast at a fixed time, an NTP client function that adjusts the time by synchronizing with an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server via the Internet, or a radio clock. It is assumed that it has an automatic time adjustment function such as, and is adjusted to an appropriate accuracy.

  In addition to the normal broadcast receiving function and the recording function for recording the received program, the broadcast receiving terminal according to the present embodiment associates the recorded program with the broadcast channel and recording date and time (recording start date and time, recording A recorded program database for storing (end date and time). The actual state of this database is stored on the HDD 17, and database management is performed by the CPU 11 operating a predetermined program.

  At the start of recording, the broadcast channel information being received and the recording start date and time are written into the recorded program database, and at the end of recording, the recording end date and time are written. Therefore, when a program is recorded, the broadcast channel of the recorded program and the recording date / time (recording start date / time, recording end date / time) are always stored in the recorded program database. When the recorded program is deleted, the corresponding record (broadcast channel and recording date and time) in the recorded program database is also deleted.

  Further, the broadcast receiving terminal 10 according to the present embodiment can make a recording reservation for related programs via the program related information page. As an extension of the recording reservation function, a process for requesting a temporary reservation exceeding the EPG period and a process for determining the contents of the temporary reservation based on the acquisition of program information determined by the arrival of the EPG period are performed. Details of the provisional reservation function will be described later.

  FIG. 4 schematically shows a functional configuration of an information providing server 500 that provides program-related information to the user's broadcast receiving terminal 10. The information providing server 500 is installed on a wide area network such as the Internet, has an upper link with a client device such as a CE device, and is a program being viewed or reproduced for each user or a program related to an arbitrary part of the program. Create and provide related information pages.

  The illustrated information providing server 500 is connected to the Internet via a firewall (F / W) 521 and includes an application server 504 and a plurality of databases 510 to 513.

  The EPG database 510 covers nationwide broadcast program information and is always updated to the latest data. In the EPG database 510, a program can be uniquely identified by a set of data of broadcast region-broadcast channel-broadcast date / time (start date / time, end date / time), and program information such as the title and performer of each program is held. is doing. In addition, the same program is often broadcast on different broadcast channels in different regions, sometimes with different dates and times, but the EPG database 510 is designed to hold program identification information in this case. . Acquisition and setting of program specific information is performed artificially. Some EPG data entries in the EPG database 510 are already operated by the Internet or broadcast distribution, and the same ones can be used.

  The program related information database 511 manages program related information associated with each program content distributed from a broadcasting station. The program related information database 511 and the EPG database 510 are related through a uniquely specified program. As described above, a program is uniquely specified by a set of data of broadcast region-broadcast channel-broadcast date / time (start date / time, end date / time). Program related information related to each program is held.

  There are two types of program-related information: information related to the entire program and information related to a specific part of the program (see FIG. 5).

  Program related information related to the entire former program is held in the program related information database 511 in association with each program uniquely specified on the EPG database 510. A plurality of related information can be associated with one program.

  The program related information related to the specific part of the latter program specifies the specific part in the broadcast date and time (start date and time, end date and time) of each program as the information related section (start date and time and end date and time). It is stored in the program related information database 511 in association with related sections (start date and time, end date and time). For example, by dividing one program into a plurality of blocks (information related sections) and associating information for each block, it is possible to provide program related information with finer granularity. Of course, information can be associated not only with the main program but also with a broadcast CM inserted in the program content.

  In addition, information-related sections (start date / time, end date / time) can be defined and implemented as a specific part within a single program or as a specific part (specific section) across multiple programs, and can be set arbitrarily. It is. Even within the same program, an arbitrary number can be set even if the sections overlap. Each information related section is associated with at least one related information. Further, if the above-described program specifying information is set, the same related information can be shared among a plurality of identified programs or information related sections in the specified program.

  In the program related information database 511, as the program related information related to each program or an arbitrary part in the program, the information content main body related to the program is accumulated, and the program related information in a predetermined information space such as WWW on the Internet Resource identification information such as URLs and URIs, keywords, and the like that can be used to search for programs are managed as program-related information (see FIG. 6).

  In addition, the program related information database 511 can be associated with another part of the same program or another program or any part of another program as information related to the entire program or any part of the program. it can.

  The application server 505 is an entity of the information providing service, identifies program content being viewed or reproduced or a part thereof based on program identification information sent from the broadcast receiving terminal 10, and a program corresponding thereto A program related information page is returned to the user using the related information. In addition, the application server 505 receives a request for temporary reservation exceeding the EPG period from the client, and performs processing for determining the contents of the temporary reservation based on the acquisition of program information determined by the arrival of the EPG period. As illustrated, the application server 504 includes a transmission / reception unit 501, a program identification processing unit 502, a program related information page generation unit 503, and a provisional reservation processing unit 504.

  The transmission / reception unit 501 performs data communication processing via the firewall 521. Specifically, the transmission / reception unit 501 receives program-related information from the user and returns a program-related information page.

  The program identification processing unit 502 refers to the EPG database 510 and the like from the program identification information received from the user, and performs processing for identifying a program or a part in the program. From the user, for example, data including a combination of [broadcast date / time, broadcast channel, region] is acquired as the program identification information. Therefore, the program can be uniquely identified by searching the EPG database 510 using these as keys. it can.

  Upon receiving the program identification information, the program identification processing unit 502 receives the data of the installation area information-broadcast channel-viewing time data, and the broadcast area-broadcast channel-broadcast date / time (start date / time, end date / time) in the EPG database 510. The data sets are compared, and the program being viewed is specified on the condition that the coincidence of both regions / channels and the viewing time are included in the broadcast date / time (start date / time, end date / time). Further, a search process is performed to determine whether the viewing time is included in any information related section, and as a result, related information related to the entire program and related information related to a specific portion of the program are specified.

  Here, when associating the program content or an arbitrary part of the program content with the related information, there may be a difference in specific information of the same program due to a difference in broadcasting circumstances in each region. In the present embodiment, the program identification processing unit 502 solves the problem of differences between regions by having broadcast stations and broadcast date / time conversion information of the regions, and is identified by different program identification information for each broadcast region. It is possible to uniquely associate related information with the same program. Further, an arbitrary part of the program content is specified based on the elapsed time from the top of the content, and the association with the related information is realized.

  The program related information page generation unit 503 searches the program related information database 511 for information associated with the specified program or a part in the program, and shows the program to be presented to the user based on the extracted program related information. Generate related information page.

  In the program-related information database 511, information related to a program is stored as information related to each program or an arbitrary part of the program, and program-related information is searched in a predetermined information space such as the WWW on the Internet. A reference or resource identification information such as a URL or a URI that can be used for this purpose, or a keyword is managed as program-related information (see FIG. 6). In the latter case, the program related information page generation unit 503 searches for related information on the WWW information space using the resource identification information or keywords obtained based on the program specifying information, and collects the collected information. A program related information page is generated by using it.

  The program related information page generation unit 503 creates a Web page format using a structured language such as HTML or XML, for example. In this case, on the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side, the program related information page can be browsed. In addition, a link can be set in the program related information page to present related information on the Internet and guide the user to an EC (Elevic Commerce) site. Alternatively, as the program related information, a method for accessing a Web site on the Internet can be expressed in the form of a URL.

  In addition, the program related information database 511 can be associated with another part of the same program or another program or any part of another program as information related to the entire program or any part of the program. Yes (see FIG. 7). In this case, in response to a user operation on other part of the same program on the program related information page, or related information to another part of the program or any part of the other program, the reproduction of the program or the program part is started. To do.

  The provisional reservation processing unit 504 receives a provisional reservation request from the client that exceeds the EPG period, and performs processing for confirming the contents of the provisional reservation based on the acquisition of the program information that is confirmed by the arrival of the EPG period.

B. Provision of Program Related Information Page In the information providing system according to the present embodiment, a service for presenting program related information related to a program viewed or reproduced by a user is performed. This is realized by a cooperative operation between the information providing server 500 and the broadcast receiving terminal 10 on the user side. FIG. 8 schematically shows the system configuration.

  The information providing server 500 side includes an EPG database 510 that stores the content of the main program of the broadcast program and content metadata such as EPG associated therewith, and information on the program status that is viewed or recorded / recorded on the terminal for each user. And a program related information page generation unit 503 for generating a program related information page based on the program related information and the terminal status and providing the program related information page to the terminal side. Details of the program related information page will be described later.

  On the other hand, the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side distributes the received broadcast program along with the recording / playback processing unit 601 that performs processing such as recording / recording reservation and playback (including simultaneous playback). A program / content device metadata database 602 for managing metadata such as EPG to be performed in the device, and a page display browser 603 for displaying and viewing the program related information page provided from the information providing server 500 It has. Such a functional configuration is actually realized by executing a predetermined program related information searching / viewing application on the CPU 11.

  In response to the user performing a predetermined operation such as pressing an information button on the remote controller 66 while viewing an on-air program (that is, during simultaneous playback), the recording / playback processing unit 601 broadcasts the broadcast time, broadcast channel, and broadcast area. And the like are passed to the page display browser 603 as program specifying information. In addition, the program / content device metadata database 602 transmits program information to the information providing server 500 as needed in response to a change in the program status in the terminal 600.

  In addition, when the user performs a predetermined operation such as pressing an information button on the remote controller 66 during playback of a recorded program, the recording / playback processing unit 601 performs the current playback of the recorded program being played back. The position is obtained as the playback time from the beginning. This can be obtained from the time code recorded in the data stream of the recorded program. Then, the recording date / time (recording start date / time, recording end date / time) corresponding to the currently reproduced recorded program is read out from the program / content device metadata database 602 as the playback position data, and the recording start date / time is used as an offset. The added value is the broadcast time at the current playback position for the recorded program. Further, the broadcast channel of the recorded program is acquired from the recorded program database, and the installation area information is acquired from the installation area holding unit. Then, the program specifying information including the broadcasting time, broadcasting channel, broadcasting area, etc. is passed to the page display browser 603.

  The page display browser 603 transmits a request for a program related information page to the information providing server 500 together with program specifying information.

  On the information providing server 500 side, the received data set of installation area information-broadcast channel-viewing time is compared with the data set of broadcast area-broadcast channel-broadcast date / time (start date / time, end date / time) in the EPG database 510. The program being viewed is specified on the condition that the coincidence of both regions / channels and the viewing time are included in the broadcast date and time (start date and time, end date and time). Further, a search process is performed to determine whether the viewing time is included in any information related section, and as a result, related information related to the entire program and program related information related to a specific portion of the program are specified. Then, a program related information page is generated based on the obtained information, and this is returned to the broadcast receiving terminal 10.

  Then, the page display browser 603 displays the program related information page for use by the user. A link can be set in the program related information page to present related information on the Internet or guide the user to an EC (Elevic Commerce) site. Alternatively, the program-related information can be expressed in the form of a URL as a method for accessing a website on the Internet.

  FIG. 9 illustrates a mechanism in which a program related information page is created in response to a page request from a user while viewing or recording or reproducing program content.

  In the example shown in the figure, while viewing or playing program content composed of a plurality of sections such as “gourmet corner” and “fashionable corner”, the user operates the information button on the remote control 66 in the section of the gourmet corner. Issuing a page request. In this case, program specifying information including broadcast date / time, broadcast channel, and broadcast area is transmitted from the broadcast receiving terminal 10 to the information providing server 500.

  The information providing server 500 side identifies the program based on the program identification information, and acquires that the keyword “Shinagawa, east exit, gourmet” is registered as the program related information in the relevant section of the requested program. To do.

  Then, a WWW information search space on the Internet is searched according to a search condition using these keywords, and a program related information page is created using the obtained information. In the example shown in Fig. 9, in the program-related information page, “Restaurant Rosso”, “Tonkatsu Katsuzo”, “Creative Cuisine Rotation”, “Edo-mae Sushi Man”, “Shanghai Nakkan”, “Najal” etc. Links to other information can be set in a menu button format, and related information on the Internet can be presented and the user can be led to an EC (Elevic Commerce) site.

  FIG. 10 shows another configuration example of the program related information page provided from the information providing server 500 to the broadcast receiving terminal 10. In the program related information page shown in the figure, related information associated with the entire program and related information associated with a specific section ("gourmet corner" in the illustrated example) where the request is issued are parallel. Is displayed.

  That is, the upper half frame of the program related information page screen is a screen frame for related information associated with a specific section ("Gourmet Corner" in the illustrated example) where the request is issued. Links buttons to other relevant information such as “Restaurant Rosso”, “Tonkatsu Katsukuri”, “Creative Rotation” are displayed.

  In the same screen frame, buttons for requesting related information in the most recent section ("previous corner" or "next corner") that move back and forth on the time axis are prepared. When these buttons are operated, the corresponding program specifying information is transmitted to the information providing server 500. On the information providing server 500 side, program related information in the corresponding section is extracted as a keyword, for example, and information search is performed to provide a similar program information screen.

  In the same screen frame, related keyword buttons are prepared so that the user can freely perform keyword search based on the result displayed on the screen without depending on the information providing server 500 any more. When the user operates a desired keyword, an information search process including the keyword as a search condition is activated, and the search result is displayed and output (not shown).

  In the lower half of the program related information page screen, program related information associated with the entire program is displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 10, another program “street corner watching” is associated, and the program title, the program content, and the performer of the program are displayed.

  If information related to the entire program or any part of the program is associated with other parts within the same program, or other parts of the program or other parts of the program, on the program related information page A button for starting playback of the related program or program portion is prepared. In the screen frame shown in the figure, buttons for cueing playback within this related program and buttons for cueing playback of the corresponding section of other programs in which performers of this related program appear are prepared. ing.

  Furthermore, a product sales button for purchasing a program sponsor product is prepared in the screen frame shown in the figure, and the user can be guided to an EC (Elevic Commerce) site.

C. Providing the base program related information page The information providing system according to the present embodiment introduces the concept of “base program” when providing the program related information. That is, by sequentially presenting program-related information based on a predetermined program, information related to the program being watched is given without arousing the user's interest aroused from viewing the program, and the next recording reservation operation It is designed to guide you smoothly.

  In the embodiment described in the above section B, a program related information presentation process is activated in response to a user operation (for example, an information button operation) on the remote controller 66. At this time, program-related information that handles this “base program” is generated based on the recorded program being played back or the on-air program being viewed. Hereinafter, this is referred to as “base program related information”.

  A service for providing program-related information about the base program is also realized by the mechanism shown in FIG.

  The information providing server 500 side includes an EPG database 510 that stores the contents of the main part of the broadcast program and an EPG associated therewith, a program related information database 511 that stores information associated with the program contents or a specific part thereof, and for each user. Each terminal status database 513 that manages information on the status of a program that is viewed or recorded / reserved for recording in the terminal, and a program related information page is generated based on the program / content metadata and the terminal status, and provided to the terminal side. And an application server 503. Details of the program related information page will be described later.

  On the other hand, the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side performs a recording / playback processing unit 601 for performing processing such as recording / recording reservation and playback of the received broadcast program, and received broadcast content and meta data such as EPG distributed along with the broadcast content. A program / content device metadata database 602 for managing data in the device, and a page display browser 603 for displaying and viewing the program related information page provided from the information providing server 500 are provided. Such a functional configuration is actually realized by executing a predetermined program related information searching / viewing application on the CPU 11.

  In response to the user performing a predetermined operation such as pressing the information button of the remote controller 66 during playback of the recorded program or viewing of the on-air program, the recording / playback processing unit 601 displays the program specific information in the page display browser 603. To pass. In addition, the program / content device metadata database 602 transmits program information to the information providing server 500 as needed in response to a change in the program status in the broadcast receiving terminal 10.

  The page display browser 603 requests the information providing server 500 for a program related information page. This request includes program specifying information. On the information providing server 500 side, a program related information page is generated based on the program / content metadata and the terminal state, and is returned to the terminal 600. Then, the page display browser 603 displays the program related information page for use by the user.

  Here, in the program related information database 511 on the information providing server 500 side, information for each broadcast program is set as program attributes such as “next broadcast schedule”, “performer”, “title”, “genre”, and other program associations. The method is managed by dividing it into multiple items. Each item is assigned a degree of association with a program. For example, the next broadcast schedule has the highest degree of association with the program, and the degree of association with the program is strong in the order of performers, titles, and genres. Then, a database search is performed for programs related to the base program for each item. Based on the database search result, the base program related information page is configured by arranging related programs that are hit in the order of items having a high degree of association with the base program, and is displayed and output as a browser screen.

  Table 1 below summarizes the association method with the base program.

  As a method of associating with a base program, program (product) attributes, definition by an administrator, and the like can be exemplified.

  The program (product) attribute is subdivided into items such as “next broadcast schedule”, “performer related program”, “genre related program”, and similar programs. “Next time”, that is, a program scheduled to be broadcast next time, can be searched based on the date and time (or day of the week), title, broadcasting station, latest, next day, same time zone, next week, same time zone, and the like. Other programs of “performer related” can be searched based on the names of performers and program contents extracted. The “genre related program” can be searched based on the genre information. Similar programs can be searched based on the similarity between the attributes of the programs.

  In the association method with the base program based on the definition by the administrator, the system administrator himself associates with the base program for the purpose of “campaign” or the like.

  FIGS. 11 to 13 show a state in which a user who is watching program content on the broadcast receiving terminal 10 inputs a base program by operating an information button on the remote controller 66. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the user operates the information button of the remote control 66 in a scene that is interesting while viewing the recorded program content or viewing the on-air program content. A request can be issued to start transmission processing of a program related information page request to the information providing server 500. This request is transmitted immediately together with the operation of the information button, or is transmitted at breaks such as playback stop, playback end, and program end. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 13, when a user finds a program of interest while browsing a program guide provided by EPG or the like, the user issues a page request by operating the information button of the remote control 66, The transmission process of the program related information page request to the information providing server 500 can be activated.

  FIG. 14 shows the configuration of the base program related information page. FIG. 15 shows a processing procedure for providing the base program related information page in the form of a flowchart.

  First, a base program is input (step S1). When the information button on the remote controller 66 is pressed while viewing a recorded program, the program being played is set as the base program. Alternatively, when the reproduction of the recorded program is stopped or the reproduction is finished, the program is set as the base program (see FIG. 11).

  In addition, when an information button on the remote controller 66 is pressed while viewing an on-air program, or when the program ends, the program is set as a base program (see FIG. 12).

  When a predetermined program column is operated with the remote controller 66 while the EPG is activated and the program guide is being browsed, the corresponding program is set as the base program (see FIG. 13).

  When the base program is set, the program specifying information is transferred from the broadcast receiving terminal 10 to the information providing server 500 (step S2). The program specifying information includes a broadcast date and a broadcast time when the information button is pressed, a broadcast station name and a broadcast area name, or a broadcast station ID. On the information providing server 500 side, the EPG database 510 may be searched to identify the base program.

  The information providing server 500 searches the program related information database 501 in accordance with a predetermined search rule (see Table 2), and generates a base program related information page based on the search result.

  In the program related information database 501, information for each broadcast program is managed by dividing the program attributes and other program association methods into a plurality of items. Each item is assigned a degree of association with a program. First, a database search is performed for programs related to the base program for each item (step S3). Next, the search results of the program related information database 501 are arranged in the order of items having a strong degree of association with the base program (step S4), and a base program related information page is generated (step S5).

  The generated base program related information page is returned to the broadcast receiving terminal 10 that is the request source. On the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side, the browser is activated and the base program related page is displayed and output (step S6). On this page screen, program information related to the base program is displayed, and its recording reservation and other user operations are accepted.

  On the base program related information page, recommended programs based on the base program are displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 14, a list of recommended programs is displayed in the order of items set with a high degree of association, such as “next broadcast schedule”, “performer”, “title”, and “genre”. In addition, guidance to a community site and links to other applications that handle the base program are also displayed on the base program related information page.

  In the next broadcast schedule column, the next broadcast schedule of the base program is presented together with the date and time and the program title.

Further, in the related program column, the related program column is arranged so that items having a high degree of association with the program are ranked higher, such as performers, titles, and genres. By scrolling the screen, the screen moves to the related program column of the lower-level item that has a lower relevance level (not shown). By displaying in the order of the degree of association with the base program, the convenience of the user's browsing selection is improved.

  In the performer-related program column, other programs in which the (main) performers of the base program appear are shown along with the broadcast date and time and the program title. In the title related program column, other programs related to the title of the base program are presented together with the broadcast date and time and the program title. In the program list in the related program column, a recording reservation icon or a recorded icon may be displayed for a program that has already been scheduled for recording or recording so that the reserved recording operation is not repeated. Further, when the same program is simultaneously entered between performers or items, program information may be deleted from one column so that more program information can be displayed.

  In the related program column, if the number of programs / contents is large, is the order in descending order of coincidence with the user's preference, the order closer to the broadcast date of the base program, or the order closer to the display date of the base program related page? You may make it narrow down by the order of distant things, evaluation order by a plurality of users by audience rating information, or voting.

  In addition, for multiple performers in a series program, when the same program is displayed multiple times, it is displayed only at the top of the page, and as many related programs as possible are displayed within a limited screen size. You may be made to do. In addition, when the number of searched programs is low in a lower-ranking performer or another relationship on the page, a duplicate program may be displayed on the performer so that the number of programs in each relationship is constant.

  In the base program related information page, in addition to the program information related to the base program, a column for presenting program information can be provided at various points of recommendation such as campaigns.

  FIG. 16 shows another configuration example of the base program related information page. In the example shown in the figure, program information is presented at a point of view such as a premonition of a boom and program reservation information of another person who reserves the same program. This program column shows recommended programs prepared by the editor, recommendations that are linked between programs, recommendations that are customized based on history, recommendations that statistically analyze the history of the entire user, etc. It is possible to provide services. Further, in addition to the program column, it can be freely expanded such as guidance to a product or a link to another application that handles the base program.

  When the number of programs that are related to the program set as the base program is small, increase the number of related contents set by the administrator, and decrease the reverse, to ensure that a certain amount of information is displayed. May be generated.

  The relation type and order in the base program related page may be switched according to attributes such as the genre of the base program. Further, the relation type and order in the base program related page may be customized based on the preference information of the requesting user.

  An operation method applied to the program is embedded in the related program displayed on the base program related information page. For example, when an entry in the recommended program list such as “scheduled to be broadcast next time” is selected, a dialog including an outline of the program and an operation method for the program such as “record only this time”, “record every time”, “record every day”, that is, A detailed operation screen appears.

  FIG. 17 shows a configuration example of a detailed operation screen displayed by selecting “always two people (5th episode)” scheduled to be broadcast next time on the base program related information page shown in FIG. Yes. The recording reservation operation can be directly performed via the illustrated dialog, that is, the detailed operation screen. In the example shown in the drawing, a “reservation” button is prepared on the detailed operation screen, and by operating this button, it is possible to instruct recording reservation of the related program.

  Although not shown, in the recommended program list on the base program related information page, a scheduled recording icon or a recorded icon is displayed for a scheduled recording or a recorded program so that the scheduled recording operation is not repeated. You may give it.

D. Movement of the base program In the example shown in FIGS. 11 to 15, the recorded program being played back or the on-air program being watched is set as the base program that attracts the most interest of the user at that time, and the relationship with this base program The base program related information page is generated based on the degree. Therefore, the base program related information page presented to the user differs depending on which program is set as the base point.

  Further, as described above, the user can apply processing such as recording reservation and reproduction (in the case of a reserved program) to the related program presented on the base program related information page. Although the base program is positioned as the program that attracts the user's most interest, it is estimated that the user's interest has changed at the time of instructing recording reservation or playback of other programs on the base program related information page. It is considered appropriate to transfer the base program. In some cases, the user wants to shift the base program intentionally. Below, the transfer procedure of a base program is demonstrated.

  In response to operating a predetermined button on the remote controller 66 while playing a recorded program or viewing an on-air program, the base program related information page is displayed. On the base program related information page, program information related to the base program is listed, and when any related program is selected, details for instructing application of processing such as recording reservation and playback to the related program An operation screen (see FIG. 17) appears. FIG. 21 shows an example of a procedure for moving the base program through the operation on the detailed screen.

  When, for example, a next broadcast scheduled program is selected on the base program related information page, a detailed reservation screen for the program is displayed in a pop-up (see FIG. 17). Here, if the continuation of the reservation operation is canceled, the base program does not move, but if the next scheduled broadcast program is reserved, the base program moves to the reserved program. In this case, a database search is performed again for the program related to the base program for each item, starting from the next broadcast scheduled program, and the database search results are arranged and displayed in the order of the items having a high degree of association with the base program. Output.

  When a related program other than the next broadcast schedule (for example, the same drama / domestic drama related program) is selected on the base program related information page, a detailed reservation screen for the program is displayed in a pop-up. Here, if the continuation of the reservation operation is canceled, the base program does not move, but if the next scheduled broadcast program is reserved, the base program moves to the reserved program. When the base program moves in this way, a database search is performed again for the program related to the base program for each item, starting from the next scheduled broadcast program, and the database search result is an item having a high degree of relevance with the base program. Arranged in the order of and output.

  According to the base point movement method shown in FIG. 21, the program for which the recording reservation has been made becomes the base point program, and the base program related information page is sequentially displayed. In other words, since the program for which the recording reservation is advanced in the walk search formula changes, the width of the recording reservation is expanded.

  Note that the base program related information page may be controlled by the “base fixed type” in which the base program is not moved, contrary to the “walking search type” in which the base programs are sequentially replaced as shown in FIG. it can. FIG. 22 shows the procedure of the control operation of the base program by the base point fixed type. In this case, even if a reservation operation is performed on the detailed reservation screen, the base point always returns to the same program. According to the fixed base type, the program recommended by the reservation operation does not change, so that it becomes easy to cope when there are a plurality of programs to be reserved among the recommended programs.

  FIG. 23 shows an example of a procedure for automatically moving the base program in response to an instruction to play a recommended program on the base program related information page (assuming that the program has already been recorded). Show. When a recorded related program (for example, the next program) is selected on the base program related information page, a detailed playback screen for the program is popped up. Here, when the reproduction operation is canceled, the base program does not move, but when the reproduction operation starts, the base program moves to this recorded program. When the base program moves in this way, the database search is performed again for the program related to the base program for each item, starting from the playback program, and the database search results are sorted in the order of the items having the strong relevance to the base program. Arrange and display.

  Unlike the base point fixing method, when the movement of the base program is permitted as shown in FIGS. 21 and 23, the contents of the old base program related information page are lost each time. However, some users may want to browse the previous base program related information page again or still have a related program to be displayed in detail in the previous base program related information page.

For this reason, the display history of the base program related information page is stored. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 24, a history button may be prepared on the base program related information page for instructing reloading of the base program related information displayed during the previous display, the previous display, and the previous display. Not a history button, the tag may be prepared by base parallel to the display history the order of displaying the part of the program title.

E. The recording reservation function base program related information page is configured by arranging related programs that are hit in the order of items having a high degree of relevance with the base program based on the database search result, and is displayed and output as a browser screen. The program attributes are subdivided into items such as “next broadcast schedule”, “performer related program”, “genre related program”, and similar programs.

  In this base program related information page, by giving information related to the program being viewed, it is possible to smoothly lead to the next recording reservation operation without interrupting the interest and curiosity caused by viewing the program. ing. However, in the configuration example of the detailed operation screen shown in FIG. 17, it is necessary to select a specific program list entry from the list of related programs of the base program, and to perform the recording reservation setting operation for each program.

  Therefore, as a recording reservation method, a method for collectively setting recording reservations for all related programs arranged on the base program related information page and a user's selection among related programs arranged on the base program related information page are selected. A method may be prepared for setting recording reservations for all programs in a batch.

  FIG. 25 shows a screen configuration example in which the recording reservations of all related programs arranged on the former base program related information page are collectively set. In the example shown in the figure, a list of broadcast scheduled programs is displayed on the base program related information page. However, for simplification of the drawing, the classification for each program attribute is not performed. The “Reserve All” button is arranged in the upper left of the screen of the same page. When the user selects this link button, the recording reservation setting process for all related programs on the base program related information page is performed. Starts.

  FIG. 26 shows a screen configuration example in which a recording reservation is set only for a program selected by the user among related programs arranged on the base program related information page. In the example shown in the figure, a list of broadcast scheduled programs is displayed on the base program related information page. However, for simplification of the drawing, the classification for each program attribute is not performed. In the upper left of the page screen, there are arranged a “reserve all” button and a “reserve selected program” button. In addition, a check box is provided for designating whether or not recording reservation is selected for each related program entry. When the user selects and operates the “all reservation” link button, the recording reservation setting process for all related programs on the base program related information page is activated (same as above). On the other hand, when the “reserve selected program” button is selected, the recording reservation setting process for the program specified by the check box is started.

  Next, the procedure of the recording reservation setting process will be described. The recording reservation setting process via the base program related information page is realized by a cooperative operation between the information providing server and the client (broadcast receiving terminal).

  FIG. 27 shows the operation procedure on the information providing server side in the form of a flowchart for performing a recording reservation setting process for a broadcast receiving terminal constituted by a CE device or the like.

  On the server side, a reserved program list is created based on all or user-selected programs (step S11) and transmitted to the CE device side (step S12).

  FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for performing a recording reservation setting process in a broadcast receiving terminal composed of a CE device or the like.

  On the CE device side, when the reserved program list sent from the server is received (step S21), the programs listed in the list are sequentially extracted (step S22), and the reservation setting process is executed (step S23). .

F. As described above, in the present embodiment, by performing a predetermined operation on program content being viewed or played back, the base program related information page is presented based on the program as a base point. Is done. Further, on this base program related information page, program information associated with the program is selected (in the example shown in FIG. 17, “always two people (Episode 5)” scheduled to be broadcast next time is selected. As a result, a detailed operation screen appears. This detailed operation screen is a dialog box in which a recording reservation operation can be directly performed.

  On the other hand, programs related to the base program are displayed on the base program related information page. Here, as candidates to be extracted as related programs, for example, scheduled start data and recording end data provided by EPG within the EPG provision period, and media other than EPG outside the EPG provision period. , And scheduled programs for which recording start data and recording end data are not committed are included.

  For example, in the base program related information page shown in FIG. 29, the program “Tsune ni Futa de (4th episode)” broadcast at 21:00 on February 3 is set as the base program, and the related program is scheduled to be broadcast next time and broadcasted next time. Schedules, viewer participation programs, etc. are introduced. Of these, the program scheduled to be broadcast next time (that is, episode 5) is within the EPG provision period and the recording start data and recording end data have been committed, but the program of the subsequent rounds (that is, episode 6 and later) is EPG. Outside the provision period, that is, recording start data and recording end data are not committed.

  When one of the programs is selected regardless of the EPG provision period, a detailed operation screen, which is a dialog box capable of directly performing a recording reservation operation, appears (same as above). Here, in the example shown in FIG. 29, the user selects “always two people (sixth episode)” that is outside the EPG provision period, and as a result, a detailed operation screen for performing a reservation operation for this program appears. However, the scheduled broadcast time presented on this screen is obtained from a medium other than the EPG and is not guaranteed, and the recording reservation cannot be confirmed yet at this point.

  In the present embodiment, when a recording reservation operation relating to a program outside the EPG provision period is performed on the broadcast receiving terminal 10, a request to temporarily reserve a recording reservation operation is made. For this reason, on the detailed operation screen shown in FIG. 29, instead of the “reservation” button (see FIG. 17), “recording reservation for a program for which recording start data and recording end data are not committed is indicated. A “provisional reservation” button is prepared. Further, the information providing server 500 performs a process of determining the contents of the provisional reservation based on the acquisition of the program information determined by the arrival of the EPG providing period.

  On the base program related information page shown on the left side of FIG. 29, when “always two people (sixth episode)” that is outside the EPG provision period is selected, a detailed operation screen related to this related program is displayed as shown on the right side of FIG. Appear.

  FIG. 30 illustrates the flow of operations when a temporary reservation is made on the detailed operation screen.

  On the detailed operation screen, a “provisional reservation” button for instructing temporary reservation of the program outside the EPG provision period is prepared. Here, when the provisional reservation button is operated, a provisional reservation request for the program is transmitted from the broadcast receiving terminal to the information providing server, and the provisional reservation for the recording reservation of the program is performed. Then, a provisional reservation confirmation page is displayed on the screen of the broadcast receiving terminal side, and the fact that the provisional reservation has been accepted is fed back to the user. In the example shown in FIG. 30, a program title, a promised broadcast time, and the like are displayed on the temporary reservation confirmation page.

  Temporary reservation cannot be reserved for recording a program at this time, but it has a function to save the state of “provisionally reserved” recording of an uncertain scheduled program and the arrival of the EPG provision period (or the broadcast schedule of the program) A function of notifying the user that the recording reservation has become possible due to the occurrence of other events whose time is fixed).

  Thereafter, when the broadcast time of the temporarily reserved program is fixed due to the arrival of the EPG provision period, the information providing server notifies the requesting broadcast receiving terminal that the reservation can be made. Then, when the recording reservation of the temporarily reserved program becomes possible, on the base program related page, regardless of what the base program is (in other words, regardless of the relationship between the temporarily reserved program and the base program) ), Show programs that can be reserved in the list. In the example shown in FIG. 30, the arrival of the EPG provision period for a program that is scheduled to be broadcast on February 10th, that is, February 17 has made it possible to make a normal recording reservation for the program. “We can finally make a reservation today!” Here, when this program is selected, a detailed operation screen (not shown) for performing a reservation operation for this program appears.

  Further, as another method of notifying the user that the recording reservation of the temporarily scheduled broadcast scheduled program is possible, a hardware action is used such as blinking an LED indicator of the broadcast receiving terminal 10 such as a CE device. A method is mentioned (see FIG. 31). The blinking of the LED indicator continues, for example, until the user accesses the program information or until a predetermined time has elapsed.

  In this state, for example, when the user operates the information button of the remote controller 66 in the state where the access to the program information is prompted by the blinking of the LED indicator, the detailed operation screen (see the right side of FIG. Appears). On this detailed operation screen, a “reservation” button is provided for instructing a recording reservation for a temporarily reserved program.

  Of course, not only the notification by the LED indicator but also other means such as transmission of e-mail or media may be used to notify that the reservation of the provisional reservation has become possible.

In FIG. 32, the process of making a tentative reservation for a recording reservation for a broadcast-scheduled program outside the EPG provision period and confirming the tentative reservation upon arrival of the EPG provision period (ie, a recording reservation) 10 schematically shows a functional configuration to be realized between the network 10 and the information providing server 500.

  The information providing server 500 side stores an EPG database 510 that stores content of the main part of a broadcast program and content metadata such as an EPG associated therewith, and program-related information associated with a program or a specific part in the program. Program related information database 511, each terminal status database 513 for managing information on the status of a program that is viewed or recorded / recorded on a terminal for each user, and a program related information page is generated based on the program related information and the terminal status A program-related information page generation unit 503 provided to the terminal side, and a provisional reservation processing unit 504 that performs processing such as storage / confirmation / confirmation of a reservation state related to provisional reservation for an uncommitted broadcast scheduled program.

  Here, there may be a plurality of companies that provide the EPG. Each EPG provider provides the information providing server 500 with EPG data in which the scheduled broadcast time and the like are promised for each EPG provision period. In the illustrated example, EPG data A and EPG data B are received from EPG provider A and EPG provider B, respectively, and are integrated by an EPG data merge processing unit and stored in a single EPG database 510. It is like that.

  On the other hand, the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side distributes the received broadcast program along with the recording / playback processing unit 601 that performs processing such as recording / recording reservation and playback (including simultaneous playback). A program / content device metadata database 602 for managing metadata such as EPG to be performed in the device, and a page display browser 603 for displaying and viewing the program related information page provided from the information providing server 500 , Provisional reservation processing unit 604 that performs processing such as storage, confirmation, and confirmation of reservation state regarding provisional reservation for uncertain broadcast scheduled programs, and terminal lamp operation for displaying provisional reservation state and other device states with LED indicators Part 605. Such a functional configuration is actually realized by executing a predetermined program related information searching / viewing application on the CPU 11.

  In response to the user performing a predetermined operation such as pressing an information button on the remote controller 66 while viewing an on-air program (that is, during simultaneous playback), the recording / playback processing unit 601 broadcasts the broadcast time, broadcast channel, and broadcast area. And the like are passed to the page display browser 603 as program specifying information. In addition, the program / content device metadata database 602 transmits program information to the information providing server 500 as needed in response to a change in the program status in the terminal 600.

  In addition, when a user performs a predetermined operation such as pressing an information button on the remote controller 66 while playing a recorded program, the recording / playback processing unit 601 displays the current recorded program being played back. The playback position is obtained as the playback time from the beginning. This can be obtained from the time code recorded in the data stream of the recorded program. Then, the recording date / time (recording start date / time, recording end date / time) corresponding to the currently reproduced recorded program is read out from the program / content device metadata database 602 as the playback position data, and the recording start date / time is used as an offset. The added value is the broadcast time at the current playback position for the recorded program. Further, the broadcast channel of the recorded program is acquired from the recorded program database, and the installation area information is acquired from the installation area holding unit. Then, the program specifying information including the broadcasting time, broadcasting channel, broadcasting area, etc. is passed to the page display browser 603.

  The page display browser 603 transmits a request for a program related information page to the information providing server 500 together with program specifying information.

  On the information providing server 500 side, the received data set of installation area information-broadcast channel-viewing time is compared with the data set of broadcast area-broadcast channel-broadcast date / time (start date / time, end date / time) in the EPG database 510. The program being viewed is specified on the condition that the coincidence of both regions / channels and the viewing time are included in the broadcast date and time (start date and time, end date and time). Further, a search process is performed to determine whether the viewing time is included in any information related section, and as a result, related information related to the entire program and program related information related to a specific portion of the program are specified. Then, a program related information page is generated based on the obtained information, and this is returned to the broadcast receiving terminal 10.

  Then, the page display browser 603 displays the program related information page for use by the user. As described above, on the program-related information page, candidates to be extracted as related programs include, for example, scheduled start data and recording end data provided by EPG within the EPG provision period, as well as scheduled programs. , Scheduled programs that are acquired by media other than the EPG outside the EPG provision period and for which recording start data and recording end data are not committed are included.

  When the user selects any related program on the program related information page, the page display browser 603 transmits a request for a detailed operation screen for the related program to the information providing server 500 together with the program specifying information. . On the other hand, the information providing server 500 refers to the EPG database 510 to extract detailed information about the related program, generates detailed operation information, and sends it back. As a result, on the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side, a detailed operation screen for performing a reservation operation for the program appears.

  Here, when a program outside the EPG provision period is selected, since the broadcast schedule is not guaranteed, the recording reservation cannot be confirmed on the detailed operation screen. In this case, on the detailed operation screen, a “provisional reservation” button for instructing recording reservation of a program for which recording start data and recording end data are not committed is prepared. Then, the system starts not a recording reservation but a provisional reservation process for making a recording reservation later.

  When the temporary reservation button is operated on the detailed operation screen, a temporary reservation request for the program is transmitted from the broadcast receiving terminal 10 to the information providing server 500.

  When receiving the provisional reservation request via the program related information page, the information providing server 500 temporarily stores it in the provisional reservation database 507.

  The provisional reserved program state confirmation processing unit in the provisional reservation processing unit 504 confirms the state of the provisional reservation program stored in the provisional reservation database 507 with reference to the EPG database 510, for example, every predetermined period. When the scheduled broadcast time of a program that has been provisionally reserved is confirmed due to the arrival of the EPG provision period and the recording reservation can be made, the provisional reservation program reservation confirmation processing unit notifies that the reservation can be confirmed. Do.

  The two methods described above are used for notification that reservation can be confirmed. First, when the broadcast receiving terminal 10 that is the provisional reservation request source requests the next base program related information from the program related information page generation unit 503, the base program related page is displayed on the base program related page regardless of what the base program is. (In other words, regardless of the relevance between the temporarily reserved program and the base program), the program that can be reserved is presented in the list (see the right side of FIG. 30).

  The other is to directly notify the provisional reservation processing unit 604 of the broadcast receiving terminal 10 that the reservation can be confirmed without going through the program related information page. In this case, the temporary reservation processing unit 604 causes the terminal lamp operation unit 605 to blink the LED indicator of the broadcast receiving terminal 10 and notifies the user that the reservation can be confirmed. The blinking of the LED indicator continues, for example, until the user accesses the program information or until a predetermined time has elapsed.

  FIG. 33 shows a processing procedure of the entire system relating to provisional reservation of a broadcast-scheduled program.

  The information providing server 500 receives EPG data A and EPG data B from the EPG provider A and EPG provider B, respectively, and integrates them by the EPG data merge processing unit and stores them in a single EPG database 510. To do.

  On the other hand, on the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side, a page request is made by operating the information button of the remote control 66 in a scene that is interesting while viewing recorded program content or viewing on-air program content, or EPG, etc. When a program of interest is found while browsing the program guide provided by the user, the information request server 500 operates the information button of the remote controller 66 to request a page (see FIGS. 11 to 13), thereby providing the information providing server 500. The transmission process of the program related information page request for is started.

  On the information providing server 500 side, a program related information page is generated and returned to the broadcast receiving terminal 10. Then, the page display browser 603 displays the program related information page for use by the user.

  When the user selects a related program introduced on the program related information page, a detailed operation screen appears, and a reservation operation for the related program can be performed. Here, when a temporary reservation request for a program outside the EPG provision period introduced on the program related information page is made, the temporary reservation request is transmitted to the information providing server 500 via the page display browser 603. Is done.

  When receiving the provisional reservation request via the program related information page, the information providing server 500 temporarily stores it in the provisional reservation database 507. Then, the EPG database 510 is referred to every predetermined period, for example, and the status of the temporary reserved program stored in the temporary reserved database 507 is confirmed.

  When the scheduled broadcast time of the temporarily reserved program is confirmed due to the arrival of the EPG provision period and the recording reservation is possible, the provisionally reserved program reservation confirmation processing unit notifies that the reservation can be confirmed.

  When the broadcast receiving terminal 10 of the provisional reservation request source requests the next base program related information, on the base program related page, regardless of what the base program is (in other words, the temporarily reserved program and the base program Regardless of the relevance), the list shows the programs that can be reserved. Here, when a temporarily reserved program is selected, a detailed operation screen for performing a reservation operation for this program appears, and the user can perform a recording reservation operation.

  Further, the LED indicator of the broadcast receiving terminal 10 is blinked to notify the user that the reservation can be confirmed. When the user operates the information button of the remote controller 66, a detailed operation screen for the temporarily reserved program appears, and the user can perform a recording reservation operation.

  FIG. 34 shows a processing procedure for integrating EPG data from a plurality of EPG providers in the information providing server 500.

  In the illustrated example, the information providing server 500 receives EPG data A and EPG data B from the EPG provider A and the EPG provider B, respectively. The EPG data merge processing unit integrates them and stores them in a single EPG database 510.

  FIG. 35 shows a detailed processing procedure for processing the reservation request from the broadcast receiving terminal 10 by the information providing server 500.

  On the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side, a reservation request from the user is input via a detailed operation screen displayed by the page display browser 603. The page display browser 603 transmits this reservation request to the information providing server 500 together with the program specifying information.

  On the information providing server 500 side, the reservation request is received via the program related information page generation unit 503. Then, from the program specifying information received from the user, the EPG database 510 or the like is referred to and the program or a part in the program is specified.

  At this time, if the specified program is within the EPG provision period, the program related information page generation unit 503 obtains data necessary for the reservation operation such as the recording start time and the recording end time, and performs a reservation operation. Is sent back to the requesting broadcast receiving terminal 10.

  When a temporary reservation request for a program outside the EPG provision period introduced on the program related information page is made, the temporary reservation request is transmitted to the information providing server 500 via the page display browser 603. The

  On the information providing server 500 side, when a temporary reservation request is received via the program related information page, it is temporarily stored in the temporary reservation database 507, and the recording reservation of the program is temporarily reserved. Also, a completion notification is returned to the broadcast receiving terminal 10.

  On the broadcast receiving terminal 10 side, a provisional reservation confirmation page is displayed, and the fact that the provisional reservation has been accepted is fed back to the user (see FIG. 30).

  FIG. 36 shows a processing procedure for confirming the provisional reservation state and notifying that reservation is possible in the information providing server 500.

  The provisional reserved program state confirmation processing unit in the provisional reservation processing unit 504 confirms the state of the provisional reservation program stored in the provisional reservation database 507 with reference to the EPG database 510, for example, every predetermined period.

  When the scheduled broadcast time of a program that has been provisionally reserved is confirmed due to the arrival of the EPG provision period and the recording reservation can be made, the provisional reservation program reservation confirmation processing unit notifies that the reservation can be confirmed. Do.

  Further, FIG. 37 shows a processing procedure when reservation of a provisionally reserved broadcast-scheduled program becomes possible.

  When the broadcast time of the temporarily reserved program is confirmed due to the arrival of the EPG provision period, the provisionally reserved program reservation confirmation processing unit notifies the program related information page generation unit 503 that reservation is possible.

  When the recording reservation of the temporarily reserved program becomes possible, the program related information page generation unit 503 makes the next access to the base program related information page regardless of what the base program is (in other words, Regardless of the relevance between the temporarily reserved program and the base program, the program that can be reserved is presented in the list.

  When the user selects a program for which a reservation is available on the program related information page displayed on the browser screen, a detailed operation screen for performing a reservation operation for this program appears. To do. Then, by operating the reservation button, the recording / playback processing unit 601 holds the reservation data in the device, and the recording reservation is completed.

  Further, FIG. 38 shows another example of a processing procedure when reservation of a broadcast scheduled program that has been provisionally reserved becomes possible. In FIG. 37, the reservation possible notification is performed on the program related information page, but in the example shown in FIG. 38, the notification is made by a hardware action such as blinking of the LED indicator (see FIG. 31).

  In this case, a notification that the reservation can be confirmed is directly made to the temporary reservation processing unit 604 of the broadcast receiving terminal 10 without going through the program related information page. The temporary reservation processing unit 604 causes the terminal lamp operation unit 605 to blink the LED indicator of the broadcast receiving terminal 10 and notifies the user that the reservation can be confirmed. The blinking of the LED indicator continues, for example, until the user accesses the program information or until a predetermined time has elapsed.

  When the user operates the information button on the remote controller 66 in the state where access to the program information is prompted by the blinking of the LED indicator in this way, the page display browser 603 displays the detailed operation screen ( (See the right side of FIG. 31). On this detailed operation screen, a “reservation” button is provided for instructing a recording reservation for a temporarily reserved program. Then, by operating the reservation button, the recording / playback processing unit 601 holds the reservation data in the device, and the recording reservation is completed.

[Supplement]
The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can make modifications and substitutions of the embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention. That is, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and the contents described in the present specification should not be interpreted in a limited manner. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the claims section described at the beginning should be considered.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of an information providing system that provides broadcast of program content and related information of program content configured by applying the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a system configuration for transmitting broadcast contents in a broadcasting station. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a hardware configuration example of the broadcast receiving terminal 10 that receives broadcast content, performs recording, and schedules recording. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of the information providing server. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between program content and program-related information. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the program related information database. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between program content and program-related information. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a service mechanism for presenting program-related information related to a program that a user views or plays. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a mechanism in which a program related information page is created in response to a page request from a user during viewing or recording / playback. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a program related information page provided from the information providing server 500 to the broadcast receiving terminal 10. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a user viewing program content on the broadcast receiving terminal 10 inputs a base program by operating the remote controller 66. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state in which a user viewing program content on the broadcast receiving terminal 10 inputs a base program by operating the remote controller 66. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a user viewing program content on the broadcast receiving terminal 10 inputs a base program by operating the remote controller 66. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the base program related information page. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for providing a base program related information page. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the base program related information page. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a detailed operation screen displayed by selecting “always two people (5th episode)” which is scheduled to be broadcast next time on the base program related information page shown in FIG. It is. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a state when a performer is selected as a keyword. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a base program related information page in which information on a campaign program is displayed as special content. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a base program related information page in which information on a campaign program is displayed as special content. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a procedure for moving the base program through an operation on the detail screen. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the procedure of the control operation of the base program by the base point fixed type. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a procedure for automatically moving a base program in response to an instruction to play a recommended program on the base program related information page (assuming that the program has already been recorded). It is. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a state in which buttons for instructing reloading of base program related information are arranged on the base program related information page. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a screen configuration example for collectively setting recording reservations for all related programs arranged on the base program related information page. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a screen configuration example in which a recording reservation is set only for a program selected by the user among related programs arranged on the base program related information page. FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure on the information providing server side for performing the recording reservation setting process for the broadcast receiving terminal. FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for performing a recording reservation setting process in the broadcast receiving terminal. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a base program related information page including scheduled programs whose recording start data and recording end data are committed and not committed. FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining an operation when a provisional reservation is made on the detailed operation screen. FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining another method for notifying the user that the recording reservation of the temporarily scheduled broadcast scheduled program is possible. FIG. 32 is a diagram schematically showing a functional configuration for realizing processing related to provisional reservation of a broadcast-scheduled program by a cooperative operation between a broadcast receiving terminal as a client and an information providing server. It is the sequence figure which showed the processing procedure of the whole system regarding temporary reservation of a broadcast plan program. FIG. 34 is a sequence diagram showing a processing procedure for integrating EPG data from a plurality of EPG providers in the information providing server 500. FIG. 35 is a sequence diagram showing a detailed processing procedure for processing a reservation request from the broadcast receiving terminal 10 by the information providing server 500. FIG. 36 is a sequence diagram showing a processing procedure for confirming the status of temporary reservation and notifying that reservation is possible in the information providing server 500. FIG. 37 is a sequence diagram showing a processing procedure when it becomes possible to reserve a temporarily scheduled broadcast scheduled program. FIG. 38 is a sequence diagram showing a processing procedure when it becomes possible to reserve a temporarily scheduled broadcast-scheduled program.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Broadcasting station 10 ... Receiver 11 ... CPU
12 ... RAM (Random Access Memory)
13 ... ROM (Read Only Memory)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... SIO controller 15 ... IEEE1394 controller 16 ... Hard disk interface 17 ... Hard disk drive (HDD)
18 ... Card interface, 19 ... Card slot 20 ... Bus bridge 21 ... Keyboard / mouse controller (KMC)
22 ... Keyboard, 23 ... Mouse 24 ... Video controller, 25 ... VRAM
30 ... General-purpose computer system 31 ... System bus (PCI bus)
40 ... tuner card 50 ... bus, 51 ... tuner, 52 ... demodulator,
53 ... TS decoder 54 ... AV decoder 53A, 54A ... RAM (Random Access Memory)
55A, B ... Multiplexer (MUX)
56 ... User interface control unit 57 ... Display controller 58 ... Bus (PCI) interface 61 ... Display, 62 ... Speaker 63 ... High speed modem, 64 ... Video camera 65 ... Memory card 66 ... Remote control 100 ... Production unit 200 ... Sending unit 201 ... content transmission system 202 ... baseband control system 203 ... AV encoder 300 ... transmission unit 301 ... multimedia encoding unit 302 ... content transmission unit 303 ... AV data transmission unit 304 ... compositing unit 305 ... Modulator

Claims (11)

An information processing apparatus that supports operations on program content distributed according to a scheduled time,
Program information management means for managing information related to program content;
A base program setting means for setting a base program for operation;
Search for program information of all program states, extract related programs related to a base program including program contents whose distribution schedule information is confirmed and uncommitted, and a base program related information page including the extracted related programs A base program related information providing means for generating and providing
In response to selection of a related program on the base program related information page, a detailed operation screen presenting a detailed operation screen including a reservation operation interface for performing a user operation related to recording reservation for the related program Presentation means;
Reservation processing means for performing processing related to recording reservation of the corresponding program content in response to an operation for requesting recording reservation for the program content being performed via the reservation operation interface;
With
The reservation processing means, in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for the program content for which distribution schedule information is confirmed, a recording reservation for performing recording reservation for the program content in accordance with the committed distribution schedule information And a provisional reservation means for provisionally reserving a recording reservation for the program content in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for the program content for which distribution schedule information is uncertain,
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. Distribution schedule information of each program content is provided within a predetermined provision period from the scheduled distribution start time.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The temporary reservation means is
State storage means for storing the status of provisional reservations regarding uncommitted delivery schedule programs;
A provisional reservation state confirmation means for confirming whether or not the distribution schedule information of the provisionally reserved program content is confirmed with reference to the program information managed by the program information management means;
A notification means for notifying that the recording reservation is possible in response to the promise of the distribution schedule information of the temporarily reserved program content;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: In response to storing the temporarily reserved state in the state storing unit, provisional reservation notifying unit for notifying that the temporary reservation has been completed is further provided.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3. The notification means provides a reservation operation interface for making a recording reservation of the temporarily reserved program content based on the committed distribution schedule information;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3. An information processing method for supporting operations on program content distributed according to a scheduled time,
A program information management step for acquiring and managing committed delivery schedule information for recording program content;
A base program setting step for setting a base program for operation;
Search for program information of all program states, extract related programs related to a base program including program contents whose distribution schedule information is confirmed and uncommitted, and a base program related information page including the extracted related programs Generating and providing a base program related information providing step;
In response to selection of a related program on the base program related information page, a detailed operation screen presenting a detailed operation screen including a reservation operation interface for performing a user operation related to recording reservation for the related program A presentation step;
A reservation processing step for performing processing relating to recording reservation of the corresponding program content in response to an operation for requesting recording reservation for the program content being performed via the reservation operation interface;
Have
In the reservation processing step, in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for a program content for which distribution schedule information has been confirmed, a recording reservation for performing a recording reservation for the program content in accordance with the committed distribution schedule information And a provisional reservation step of provisionally reserving a recording reservation of the program content in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for program content for which distribution schedule information is uncertain,
An information processing method characterized by the above. Distribution schedule information of each program content is provided within a predetermined provision period from the scheduled distribution start time.
The information processing method according to claim 6 . The provisional reservation step includes
A state saving step for saving a provisional reservation state regarding an uncommitted delivery schedule program;
A provisional reservation state confirmation step of confirming whether or not the distribution schedule information of the provisionally reserved program content has been committed with reference to the program information managed in the program information management step;
A notification step for notifying that the recording reservation is possible in response to the promise of the distribution schedule information of the temporarily reserved program content;
The information processing method according to claim 6, further comprising: In response to storing the temporarily reserved state in the state storing step, further comprising a temporary reservation notifying step for notifying that the temporary reservation has been completed,
The information processing method according to claim 8. In the notifying step, a reservation operation interface for making a recording reservation of the temporarily reserved program content based on the promised distribution schedule information is provided.
The information processing method according to claim 8. A computer program written in a computer-readable format to execute a process for supporting an operation on program content distributed according to a scheduled time on a computer system, the computer comprising:
Program information management means for managing information related to program content;
Base program setting means for setting a base program for operation,
Search for program information of all program states, extract related programs related to a base program including program contents whose distribution schedule information is confirmed and uncommitted, and a base program related information page including the extracted related programs Base program related information providing means for generating and providing
In response to selection of a related program on the base program related information page, a detailed operation screen presenting a detailed operation screen including a reservation operation interface for performing a user operation related to recording reservation for the related program Presentation means,
Reservation processing means for performing processing relating to recording reservation of the corresponding program content in response to an operation for requesting recording reservation for the program content being performed via the reservation operation interface;
Function as
The reservation processing means, in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for the program content for which distribution schedule information is confirmed, a recording reservation for performing recording reservation for the program content in accordance with the committed distribution schedule information And a provisional reservation means for provisionally reserving a recording reservation for the program content in response to an operation for requesting a recording reservation for the program content for which distribution schedule information is uncertain,
A computer program characterized by the above.

Images