JP4801694B2 - Program service providing system and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a program service providing apparatus, a program service receiving apparatus, and a program service providing system that provide program information by broadcasting or the like, and more particularly, to a technique for providing a service according to viewers' preferences.

  In recent years, with the development of digital broadcasting, the number of channels has increased and the choice of viewers has increased. Furthermore, it has become possible to provide a program guide electronically.

  As program choices have increased, it has become difficult for viewers to find the program they want to watch.

  In the invention described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-355757, in order to obtain a program configuration that reflects the viewer's request, receiving means for receiving program designation information for designating a specific program from an external terminal, and the program designation information There has been proposed a program transmission apparatus comprising priority order setting means for setting the priority order of programs based on the above and transmission means for transmitting programs according to the priority order of the programs.

  Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-75219, the viewer terminal creates an attribute of the viewer on the receiving terminal device side and transmits it to the service providing device, and the center side adds the service additional information based on the sent viewer attribute information. An apparatus for creating attribute information, comprising: viewer type information generating means for generating type information that classifies all viewers from viewer information of all viewers, and can provide a service according to the type of viewer Has been proposed.

  However, simply by broadcasting program information, a viewer who receives the program information cannot quickly know popular programs.

  For example, according to the technique proposed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-355757, the number of requests is simply aggregated for programs requested by all viewers, and programs that are particularly popular in a specific field. However, there is a problem that it is buried in a program that collects requests as a whole.

  Further, the apparatus proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-75219 can provide additional information that suits the viewer's preference, but can provide popular program information that suits the viewer's interest. There is a problem that you can not.

  As mentioned above, there is no means to quickly find popular programs even using the technology described in the above publication, and it takes time to find popular programs in the field of interest. There was a problem in that it took time to find a popular program outside the range of interest.

  An object of this invention is to provide the program service provision technique which can acquire rapidly the program information suitable for a viewer's preference.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program service providing apparatus that provides a plurality of programs to a viewer, based on a viewer information receiving unit that receives information from the viewer, and information from the viewer. A group calculation unit for grouping the plurality of programs, a popularity calculation unit for calculating the popularity of the program for each group based on information from the viewer, and the popularity calculation unit. A program service providing apparatus including a transmission unit that transmits popularity degree data for each group is provided.

  According to the above program service providing apparatus, it is possible to divide into groups based on viewer information from a plurality of programs, calculate the popularity for each group, and provide it to viewers. Program data can be provided.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving apparatus capable of viewing a plurality of programs, the program information receiving unit receiving information on programs grouped according to preference from the plurality of programs, and a viewer's An operation unit for inputting information, a personal preference generation unit for generating a viewer's personal preference based on the viewer's information, a personal preference of the viewer and the group preference received by the program information receiving unit And a similarity calculation unit for calculating the similarity with the receiver.

  According to the above receiving device, a program guide adapted to the personal preference can be obtained based on the similarity between the personal preference and the group preference.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program service providing system that includes a program service providing apparatus and a receiving apparatus, and provides a program service based on information from a viewer, the receiving apparatus comprising: A first transmission unit that transmits information to the program service providing device, the program service providing device based on a viewer information receiving unit that receives information from the viewer and information from the viewer; A group calculation unit for grouping the plurality of programs, a popularity calculation unit for calculating the popularity of the program for each group based on information from the viewer, and the popularity calculation unit. A program service providing system including a second transmission unit that transmits popularity data for each group is provided.

  According to the program service providing system, the viewer information from the receiving device is sent to the program service providing device, and the grouping and popularity are calculated on the service providing device side. These data are sent to the receiving device.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program service providing system that includes a program service providing device and a receiving device, and provides a program service based on information from a viewer, wherein the receiving device is a viewer An operation history transmitting unit that transmits the operation history of the viewer to the program service providing device, the program service providing device storing an operation history receiving unit that receives the operation history of the viewer, and the operation history of the viewer A user operation history storage unit that generates viewer preference information based on the viewer operation history, and groups viewers based on the viewer preference information; and A program service providing system comprising: a popularity calculating unit that calculates the popularity of a program for each group based on an operation history; and a transmitting unit that transmits the popularity for each group to the receiving device. Temu is provided.

  Program information reflecting the popularity of the viewer can be obtained quickly, and a popular program in the program that the viewer really wants to watch can be quickly found.

  In the present specification, viewing is mainly intended for viewing of a broadcast, but is a broad concept including recording of a broadcast, viewing and recording of a music broadcast, and the like.

  In this specification, user preference generally refers to viewer preference. The group preference refers to a preference in which a group of viewers is grouped according to preference, for example, a preference that represents a group that is grouped by collecting similar items. On the other hand, personal preference refers to the preference of individual viewers or individual viewing devices.

  The inventor enables a viewer to view a program group broadcast by an information service providing apparatus in a system including an information service providing apparatus that provides the information service and at least one receiving apparatus that receives the information service from the information service providing apparatus. I came up with a group of people with similar tastes and interests, grouped programs into multiple groups, and created program popularity rankings for each group. The program table created in this way and attached with the popularity ranking is provided to the receiving device side.

  The viewer who views the program by the receiving device is a program table to which the popularity of the program obtained by viewers close to his / her personal preference is attached, and the popularity degree data provided from the information service providing device Based on this, it is possible to quickly find a program that the user wants to watch.

  Based on the above consideration, the information service providing technique according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  First, an information service providing technique according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information service providing technique according to the first embodiment of the present invention sends an operation history related to program viewing (program recording) from the viewer to the information service providing apparatus side, and information is based on this operation history. This is a technique for creating user preferences on the service providing apparatus side and dividing the programs into groups classified based on user preferences based on the user preferences.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information providing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing system A includes a service providing apparatus 10 and a plurality of receiving apparatuses 20 (in the figure, five receiving apparatuses 20-1 to 20-5 are shown. The number of devices is not limited.). A plurality of receiving apparatuses 20 are associated with the service providing apparatus 10. Both are connected by, for example, a communication system.

  The service providing apparatus 10 can receive a viewer's operation history transmitted from each receiving apparatus 20. The receiving device 20 can receive program data including metadata and content from the service providing device 10 by broadcast waves.

  In this specification, metadata is information that shows details of information attributes such as data type, characteristics, quality, and acquisition method, for example, to search for content related to the title, content, etc. of a program. Refers to information used for.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the receiving device 20.
As shown in FIG. 2, the receiving device 20 includes an antenna, a tuner 200, a central processing unit (CPU) 210, a memory 220, a video interface 230, an external interface (input device) 240, and a hard disk drive HDD 250. A recording medium driving device 260 and a network interface 270. These components are connected by a bus line 280, for example.

  Tuner 200 detects and synchronizes with the broadcast radio wave and extracts the signal. The CPU 210 controls the operation of each element of the receiving device 20 based on an instruction of an OS (operating system) program or a user program, and records and reproduces the description data and content data received from the broadcast wave. Do.

  The memory 220 is loaded with an OS program and a user program, and temporarily stores description data and content data, and temporarily records data to be reproduced. As the memory 220, a semiconductor memory such as an SDRAM (synchronous DRAM) capable of extremely high speed access is often used.

  It is connected to the external display 231 via the video interface 230. On the display screen of the external display 231, an image based on the converted digital signal is displayed. In the case where a display device is built in the receiving device 20, an image can be displayed by this display device.

  The input device 240 includes, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, or a remote control device (remote control) connected to the receiving device 20, and an infrared light receiving unit that receives infrared light from the remote control.

  If necessary, the viewer (user) can input the instruction screen displayed on the external display 231 using the input device 240.

  The HDD 250 is a large-capacity hard disk device and can record a large amount of data at high speed. As the HDD 250, it is preferable to use a device having a function of reading other data during data writing.

  The recording medium driving device 260 is used for inputting / outputting data to / from the recording medium 261 that can be attached / detached. This recording medium 261 stores, for example, a user program for receiving the information distribution service according to the present embodiment. When receiving the information distribution service, the user program is read through the recording medium driving device 260 and loaded into the memory 220. It is also possible to record viewer preference data, description data, content data, and the like.

  The network interface 270 is an interface for connecting the receiving device 20 to the network 271. Depending on the type of connection, a separate modem or router may be required. In such a case, a modem or router is also included. With the network interface 270, the receiving device 20 and the service providing device 10 can transmit data, for example, in real time via the network 271. The bus 280 forms a common data transmission path for transferring various data at high speed between the constituent elements 200 to 270.

  The service providing apparatus (transmitting apparatus) 10 side also includes the same configuration as that shown in FIG. In particular, the CPU, memory, HDD, network interface, and bus are essential components.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the information providing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The functions described below are exhibited by the constituent elements 200 to 270 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the information providing system A includes a service providing device 10 and a receiving device 20. The service providing apparatus 10 includes an operation history receiving unit 101, a user operation history storage unit 102, a user preference generation unit 103, a user preference storage unit 104, a group calculation unit 105, a popularity calculation unit 106, and metadata. A generation unit 107, a content information storage unit 108, a content selection unit 109, and a multiplexing unit 110 are included.

  On the other hand, the receiving device 20 includes an operation unit 121, an operation history storage unit 122, an operation history transmission unit 123, an individual preference generation unit 124, an individual preference storage unit 125, a metadata storage unit 128, and a similarity calculation. A unit 129, a demodulation unit 126, a separation unit 127, a synthesis unit 130, and a display unit 131 are included.

First, processing using the receiving device 20 will be described in detail.
With the operation unit 121 shown in FIG. 3, the viewer operates an input device such as a remote controller while watching program information displayed on the display unit 131, and performs operations such as viewing or program reservation. Here, an example of an operation performed by the viewer will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 shows an operation command 1401 and an operation content 1402 corresponding thereto. Play Recording means “I watched a recorded program”. Play Stream means “I watched a program broadcast in real time”. “Record” means “a program was recorded (or reserved for recording)”. “Skip” means “I skipped the program by fast-forwarding while watching the program”. Pause means “pause of viewing at a specific scene while viewing the program”. “Delete” means “program has been deleted”.

In the operation history storage unit 122, the operation command 1401 and the program information for the operation are recorded in association with each other.
For example, it is recorded by an expression such as Record (ProgramID = 102). This expression represents that the program number (ID) 102 is recorded.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a display screen for recording reservation. As shown in FIG. 4, when “Yes” is selected, Record is recorded in the operation history storage unit 122 (FIG. 3) as an operation command 1401 (FIG. 14). If “No” is selected, nothing is recorded in the operation history storage unit 122 (FIG. 3).

  The operation history transmission unit 123 illustrated in FIG. 3 transmits untransmitted data among the operation histories recorded in the operation history storage unit 122 to the service providing apparatus 10 periodically or every time a predetermined operation is executed. To do. Note that the viewer can arbitrarily set whether or not the operation history transmission unit 123 transmits the operation history of the viewer. A display example of the setting screen at that time is shown in FIG. When “Yes” is selected on the display screen shown in FIG. 6, the operation history of the viewer is transmitted to the service providing apparatus 10 periodically or at any time. When “No” is selected, the operation history of the viewer is not transmitted to the service providing apparatus 10.

  The demodulator 126 receives the broadcast wave transmitted from the service providing apparatus 10 and demodulates the received modulated signal. The separation unit 127 separates the demodulated signal into content data and metadata. The metadata is stored in the metadata storage unit 128. The content data is displayed on the display unit 131 via the synthesis unit 130.

  The personal preference generation unit 124 generates viewer preference data from the metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 128 and the viewer operation history stored in the operation history storage unit 122. The detailed calculation algorithm will be described later.

  The similarity calculation unit 129 compares the metadata collected for each group stored in the metadata storage unit 128 with the viewer's preference data stored in the personal preference storage unit 125, and compares the viewer's preference data. A group close to preference is selected, and an output result of the popularity ranking of programs related to the selected group is generated. Details of the calculation method will also be described later.

  FIG. 13 shows a data configuration example of metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 128 (FIG. 3) and grouped for each group. As shown in FIG. 13, in the group ID: 1 (1301), the program title 1302 and the popularity degree 1303 of the program are described numerically. Although not specifically described in FIG. 13, information corresponding to each program, for example, content ID, detailed program information, broadcast start time, broadcast time, and the like are also described in the metadata. . In the metadata shown in FIG. 13, the popularity of “World Cup Soccer” is the highest at 30.5% in the group ID: 1, followed by the popularity of “Professional Baseball: Giant x Hanshin Battle” is 27.2. %. As for the group ID: 2, similarly, the program and its popularity are described in the metadata as pair information.

  An example of the data structure of metadata will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a data structure related to the group ID 1501. The programs 101, 102, 301, 401, and 501 belong to the group ID (1501) = 1 as the program ID 1502, and the popularity of each program 1503 indicates 30.5, 20.7, 15.3, 12.7 and 10.2. Similarly, for the group ID = 2, each program ID 1502 and its popularity 1503 are shown.

  FIG. 16 shows a data structure related to the program ID. Program ID (1601) = 101 includes information that the title 1602 is “World Cup Soccer” and the broadcast start time 1603 is 19:00. Further, detailed information 1604 is also included. As information about each program, in addition to the above information, information such as a broadcast time and a related program ID may be added.

Returning to FIG. 3 again, the description will be continued.
In the similarity calculation unit 129, the group ID closest to the viewer's personal preference is selected, and the data of the group is output to the synthesis unit 130. Whether or not the group ID is similar to the viewer's personal preference may be determined by, for example, keyword search and the number of matching items.

  In the combining unit 130, the video data of the content separated in the separating unit 127 and the popularity ranking output from the similarity calculation unit 129 are combined and sent to the display unit 131. The display unit 131 displays content video data and program popularity ranking on the display.

  FIG. 5a shows a display example of a program popularity ranking table. FIG. 5a is an example of a popularity ranking table when group ID = 1 is selected in the similarity calculation unit 129 among the metadata shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5a, a popularity ranking 501, a program title 502, and a popularity 503 are displayed in the popularity ranking table. A cursor 504 indicates the current cursor position. A mark 505 and a mark 506 indicate whether or not there is more data in that direction. In this example, the mark 505 is displayed in a display color (light black) indicating that there is no data before the first rank data. The mark 506 has a display color (dark black) meaning that data exists before the fourth rank data.

  FIG. 5B shows a display screen when the cursor 504 is moved downward one by one by operating the remote controller or the like in FIG. 5A and the cursor 504 is aligned with the fourth rank data. As shown in FIG. 5b, the fifth rank data is displayed at the bottom. The first to fourth data are all shifted upward by one level, and the first rank data at the top level is not displayed. At this time, the mark 505 is dark black indicating that data exists. Thereafter, the viewer can view all data by the same operation.

  Here, the mark indicated by reference numeral 507 indicates that the program displayed adjacent to the mark 507 is currently being broadcast. A program in which the mark 507 is not displayed indicates that the program is not yet broadcast. When the cursor 504 is at a specific position and a determination key or the like is input, if the program indicated by the cursor is currently being broadcast, the program is changed to a program viewing operation, and the program indicated by the cursor is still When it is before the broadcast, the recording reservation setting screen display operation shown in FIG. 4 is entered.

Next, the operation of the service providing apparatus 10 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, the operation history receiving unit 101 receives an operation history transmitted from the operation history transmitting unit 123, that is, a viewer. The operation history at this time includes, for example, an identifier (identification ID) of a viewer, a content identifier to be operated, information on an operation command, and the like.

  The operation history received by the operation history receiving unit 101 is temporarily stored in the user operation history storage unit 102. Based on the operation history stored in the user operation history storage unit 102, the user preference generation unit 103 generates viewer preferences.

A procedure for generating user preferences will be described with reference to FIG. 9.
As shown in FIG. 9, in step S901, an identifier of a viewer who is seeking a preference is set. In step S902, one operation history of the viewer with the corresponding identifier is acquired from the user operation history storage unit 102 (FIG. 3). In step S903, it is determined whether or not the operation command 1401 (FIG. 14) acquired from the user operation history storage unit 102 is viewing (Play Stream) or recording reservation (Record). If the operation command 1401 (FIG. 14) is viewing (Play Stream) or recording reservation (Record), the process proceeds to step S904. In step S904, keywords are extracted from the program information corresponding to the operation command 1401 (FIG. 14). A keyword means a word included in a program title, detailed program content, genre, and the like. In this way, user preferences are generated.

  In step S905, the keyword extracted from the program information is added (updated) to the viewer's preference data. In step S903, if the operation command 1401 (FIG. 14) is not viewing (Play Stream) or recording reservation (Record), the process directly proceeds to step S906.

  In step S906, it is determined whether or not the processing for generating preference information from the operation history and adding (updating) it to the viewer's preference data is completed. If the determination is No (N), the processing from step S902 to step S906 is repeated. If the determination is Yes (Y), it is determined in step S907 whether preference data has been generated for all viewers. If the determination is No, the same processing is repeated from step S901 for viewers who have not yet generated preference data. If the determination in step S907 is Yes, this process ends. As described above, the user preference generated by the user preference generation unit 103 (FIG. 3) is stored in the user preference storage unit 104.

  Next, a processing procedure for grouping user preferences stored in the user preference storage unit 104 (FIG. 3) in the group calculation unit 105 (FIG. 3) will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 10, in step S1001, first, the number of groups is set to one. In step S1002, one user preference (for example, sport) stored in the user preference storage unit 104 (FIG. 3) is acquired. In step S1003, the maximum similarity between the user preference of the already registered group and the user preference acquired in step S1002 is calculated. The degree of similarity between user preferences is determined by the number of keyword matches. For example, it is determined that the greater the number of matching keywords, the greater the degree of similarity.

  In step S1004, it is determined whether the maximum similarity is greater than a predetermined value. If the determination is No (the similarity is small), in step S1005, a new group preference is set with the user preference acquired in step S1002 as an initial value. In step S1006, the number of group preferences is increased by one. Although not shown in FIG. 10, the same processing is performed when there is no group preference already registered, and the processing in steps S1005 and S1006 is performed.

  If the determination is Yes (high similarity) in step S1004, the process proceeds to step S1007, and the group preference that has reached the maximum similarity is updated with the user preference acquired in step S1002. As a method of updating, a method of adding a keyword of user preference to a group preference is used.

  If a similar keyword already exists, it is possible to perform a process for increasing the weighting of the keyword. For example, when the term “sports” appears twice as a keyword, the weighting is set larger than in the case of once.

  In step S1008, it is determined whether or not the grouping process has been completed for all user preferences. If the determination is No, the process returns to step S1002 for the next user preference, and the same steps from step S1002 to step S1008 are performed. The process is repeated. In step S1008, if the determination is Yes, the grouping process is terminated.

  In order to improve the accuracy of grouping, the processing from step S1002 to step S1008 can be repeated several times, for example.

  With the above processing, the group calculation unit 105 determines which preference group the viewer belongs to.

  Next, the popularity calculation unit 106 (FIG. 3) calculates the popularity of the program for each group obtained by the group calculation unit 105 (FIG. 3). The processing procedure at that time will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in step S1101, the group ID is initialized (set to 1). In step S1102, the popularity of each program is reset (set to 0). In step S1103, a user ID (identifier) belonging to the group ID (initially 1) is acquired. In step S1104, an operation history corresponding to the acquired user ID is acquired from the user operation history storage unit 102 (FIG. 3).

  In step S1105, it is determined whether the operation command is viewing or recording (recording reservation). In the case of Yes in step S1105, the process proceeds to step S1106, and the popularity of the program corresponding to the operation command in this group is increased by 1, for example. If No in step S1105, step S1106 is skipped. In step S1107, it is determined whether the calculation of the popularity of the program has been completed for all operation histories for the user ID. If the determination in step S1107 is No, the process returns to step S1104, and the same processing is repeated thereafter.

  If the determination in step S1107 is Yes, the next user ID in the group is set in step S1108. In step S1109, it is determined whether or not the process has been completed for all viewers in the group. If the determination is No, the process returns to step S1104, and the same process is repeated thereafter.

  If the determination in step S1109 is Yes, the popularity of each program is obtained in step S1110. When calculating the popularity, the count number (operation count number) of each program may be used as the popularity degree, or the count number within the group may be calculated as a percentage, or the total viewer count May be calculated as a percentage of popularity.

  In step S1111, the next group ID is set. In step S1112, it is determined whether or not the process has been completed for all group IDs. If the determination is No, the process returns to step S1102, and the same process is repeated thereafter. If the determination in step S1112 is Yes, the program popularity calculation processing ends. Through the above processing, the popularity of the program for each group can be obtained.

  The subsequent steps will be described with reference to FIG. 3 again. The metadata generation unit 107 creates an EPG (electronic program guide) based on the popularity data for each group calculated by the popularity calculation unit 106 and the content information stored in the content information storage unit 108. The data necessary for the creation is created in the form of metadata.

  The content selection unit 109 selects content information to be transmitted to the receiving device 20 based on the content information stored in the content information storage unit 108. The multiplexing unit 110 multiplexes the metadata generated by the metadata generation unit 107 and the content selected by the content selection unit 109 and transmits it as a broadcast wave.

  Next, processing of the similarity calculation unit 129 in the receiving device 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart for calculating the similarity. In addition, you may use the distance (between preference or between keywords) represented with the reciprocal number instead of similarity.

  In step S1201, the group ID is initialized. In step S1202, the group preference stored in the metadata storage unit 128 (FIG. 3) is acquired.

  Examples of group preferences are shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 17, the group preference information included in the metadata includes, for example, a group ID 1701, a keyword 1702, a program ID 1703, a popularity degree 1704 corresponding to each program ID, and the like. As shown in FIG. 18, a genre 1802 may be assigned instead of the keyword 1702 (FIG. 17).

  In step S1203, the similarity between the viewer's personal preference stored in the personal preference storage unit 125 (FIG. 3) and the group preference is calculated. In the case of the data structure as shown in FIG. 17, the similarity calculation method compares the keyword 1702 with the keyword of personal preference, and calculates the similarity based on the degree of similarity. In the case of the data structure shown in FIG. 18, the genre 1802 is compared with the keyword of personal preference, and the similarity is calculated based on the degree of similarity between them. In step S1205, it is determined whether or not processing has been completed for all group preferences. If the determination is No, in step S1204, the group ID is incremented by one, and the process returns to step S1202. Repeat.

  If the determination in step S1205 is Yes, in step S1206, sorting is performed in the order of group IDs according to the similarity calculated as described above. In step S1207, the program and popularity are associated with each other in the order of the group IDs sorted in step S1206 and displayed as a program table.

  FIG. 7 shows a display example of a program table in which programs and popularity are associated with each other in the data structure shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the group ID and the keyword are displayed in an area indicated by reference numeral 503. The group ID that is displayed first is the ID of the group having the group preference closest to the viewer's personal preference. Each of the black mark 501 and the black mark 502 indicates that the next group ID exists. By pressing the left arrow key or the right arrow key on the remote controller or the like, the next group ID is displayed. Can be displayed.

  When the keyword of group ID = 1 is sports or drama, it is shown that the popularity ranking is the world cup soccer and the popularity is 30.5%. The third most popular item is drama: “School Teacher” and the popularity is 15.3%.

  FIG. 8 shows a display example of a program table in which programs and popularity are associated with each other in the case of the data structure of FIG. Here, the genre is displayed instead of the group ID.

  As shown in FIG. 8, in the case of the genre: sport, the first most popular is World Cup soccer, and the popularity is 30.5%. The program guide as described above can be displayed on the receiving device side.

  As described above, according to the program service providing technology according to the present embodiment, the operation history of the viewer is sent from the receiving device side to the program service providing device, and based on this, the preference (user preference) is similar to the group. Divide. Furthermore, a popularity ranking table is created for each group based on the operation history. The similarity between the personal preference and the user preference is calculated on the receiving device side, and the viewer can view the program guide of the group having the user preference close to the viewer's personal preference.

  Since the receiving device only sends an operation history, which is not a preference itself, to the program service providing device, the viewer can enjoy this system without a sense of incongruity.

Next, a service providing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the service providing system according to the second embodiment, the viewer's personal information, which is independent of the viewer's preference information generated from the viewer's operation history or the like, is sent to the service side, and the preference group is based on the information. Divide. An operation history is also sent, and this operation history is used when determining the popularity of the program.

  In the following embodiments, the description of the technologies common to the service providing system according to the first embodiment will be simplified or omitted with reference to the same drawings, and new technologies will be used for the different technologies. The description will be given with reference.

  Since the schematic configuration of the service providing system according to the present embodiment and the configuration of the receiving apparatus are the same as those of the service providing system according to the first embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2), description thereof is omitted. Regarding the reference numerals, the same configuration is distinguished by adding A after the number.

  FIG. 19 is a functional block diagram of an information service providing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and corresponds to FIG. 3 of the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 19, the service providing apparatus 10A in the information service providing system according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a receiving unit 101A, a user operation history storage unit 102A, a user information storage unit 103A, and a group calculation. 104A, popularity calculation unit 105A, metadata generation unit 107A, content information storage unit 106A, content selection unit 108A, and multiplexing unit 109A.

  On the other hand, the receiving device 20A includes an operation unit 121A, an operation history storage unit 122A, a transmission unit 123A, a personal information storage unit 124A, a metadata storage unit 125A, a similarity calculation unit 126A, a demodulation unit 127A, A separation unit 128A, a synthesis unit 129A, and a display unit 130A are included. The personal information storage unit 124A stores personal information.

First, the operation of the receiving device 20A will be described in detail. Reference is made to FIG. 19 as appropriate.
The viewer first inputs personal information from the operation unit 121A. An example of personal information to be input is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 20, this menu screen is displayed on display portion 130A (FIG. 19). The viewer operates the input device such as a remote controller while viewing the menu screen displayed on the display unit 130A, and inputs the items “age” 1901A, “gender” 1903A, and “residence” 1905A. In this example, “40s” 1902A, “male” 1904A, and “Chiba Prefecture” 1906A are input.

  FIG. 21 is an example of a display screen for setting whether to transmit the personal information shown in FIG. 20 to the service providing apparatus 10A (FIG. 19). When “Yes” 901A is selected here, personal information is transmitted to the service providing apparatus 10A periodically or every time a viewer (user) performs a predetermined operation. When “No” 902A is selected, personal information is not transmitted to the service providing apparatus. When it is not desired to release the personal information, “No” 902A is selected.

While viewing the program information, the viewer operates an input device such as a remote controller to perform operations such as viewing or program reservation. Here, the operation performed by the viewer is called an operation command. An example of the type of operation command is shown in FIG. 14 and describes the operation content for the operation command. The operation history storage unit 122A (FIG. 19) records the operation command and a pair of information on which program the operation was performed on.
An example of a display screen when making a recording reservation is the same as the screen shown in FIG.

  The transmission unit 123A transmits the data recorded in the operation history storage unit 122A to the service providing apparatus 10A periodically or whenever a new operation command is recorded in the operation history storage unit 122A. In the transmission unit 123A, the viewer can arbitrarily set whether to transmit the operation history of the viewer.

  The display example and operation of the setting screen at that time are the same as the operation described with reference to FIG. 6 in the first embodiment.

  The demodulator 127A receives the broadcast wave transmitted from the service providing apparatus 10A and demodulates the modulated signal. The separation unit 128A separates content data and metadata from the demodulated signal. The metadata is stored in the metadata storage unit 125A. The content data is displayed on the display unit 130A via the synthesis unit 129A.

  The similarity calculation unit 126A compares the metadata stored for each group stored in the metadata storage unit 125A with the viewer's personal data stored in the personal information storage unit 124A, and selects a group. And generate an output result of popularity ranking. Details of the calculation method will be described later.

  The metadata collected for each group stored in the metadata storage unit 125A is the same as the example described with reference to FIG. 13 in the first embodiment. The data structure of the metadata is also the same as the example described with reference to FIGS.

  In similarity calculation unit 126A, a group ID closest to the viewer's personal information and preferences is selected, and the data of the group is output to combining unit 129A. In the combining unit 129A, the content video separated by the separating unit 128A and the popularity ranking output from the similarity calculating unit 126A are combined and sent to the display unit 130A. The display unit 130A displays the popularity ranking on the display.

  The display example of the popularity ranking is the same as the example described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B in the first embodiment.

Next, the operation of the service providing apparatus 10A will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 19, the receiving unit 101A receives personal information and operation history sent from the viewer. The received personal information is stored in the user information storage unit 103A. At this time, an identifier for identifying the user, age, gender, residence, and the like are stored. On the other hand, the received operation history is recorded in the user operation history storage unit 102A. At this time, an identifier for identifying the user, a content identifier to be operated, information on an operation command, and the like are recorded.

  Next, in the group calculation unit 104A, viewers are grouped based on the user information stored in the user information storage unit 103A. The processing procedure will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step S1001A, the number of groups is set to 1. In step S1002A, one user preference stored in the user information storage unit 103A (FIG. 19) is acquired. In step S1003A, the similarity between the group information already registered and the user preference acquired in step S1002A is calculated.

  Note that for categories that are classified into categories such as age, gender, place of residence, program genre, etc., the similarity is 0 (completely different) if the category is different. However, in the case of the age, a calculation method may be performed in which the similarity becomes higher as the age gets closer.

  On the other hand, if the categories match, the similarity is 1. When considering keywords or the like, a technique for expressing the meaning of the keywords in a multidimensional vector may be used. In this case, the similarity takes a value from 0 to 1.

  In step S1004A, it is determined whether the similarity is smaller than a predetermined value. If the determination in step S1004A is Yes, the process proceeds to step S1005A. In step S1005A, a new group setting is made using the user preference as an initial value. In step S1006A, the number of groups is increased by one. Although not shown in FIG. 22, the same processing is performed when there is no group that has already been registered, and the processing of step S1005A and step S1006A is performed.

If the determination in step S1004A is No, in step S1007A, a viewer corresponding to the corresponding group is added. Further, the group preference is updated with the user preference acquired in step S1002A. As a method of updating, a method of adding a user preference keyword to a group preference is conceivable.
At this time, if there is a similar keyword, it is possible to increase the weighting for the keyword.

  In step S1008A, it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all user preferences. If the determination is No, the same processing is repeated from step S1002A for the next user preference. If the determination in step S1008A is Yes, the process ends.

  In order to improve the grouping accuracy, the processing from step S1002A to step S1008A can be repeated several times.

  With the above processing, the group calculation unit 104A determines which group each viewer belongs to.

  Next, the popularity calculation unit 105A calculates the popularity according to the grouping obtained by the group calculation unit 104A. The processing procedure at that time is the same as the procedure described with reference to FIG. 11 in the first embodiment. That is, the operation history corresponding to the user ID is acquired from the user operation history storage unit 102A, and the popularity of each program is obtained.

  The popularity data for each group calculated by the popularity calculation unit 105A is used to create an EPG (electronic program guide) together with the content information stored in the content information storage unit 108A in the metadata generation unit 107A. The data required for is created as metadata. At this time, group categorization information (such as age and gender) and some of the most frequently used keywords in each group are added as group preferences for each group.

  The content selection unit 108A selects necessary content to be transmitted based on the information stored in the content information storage unit 106A. The multiplexing unit 109A multiplexes the metadata generated by the metadata generation unit 107A and the content selected by the content selection unit 108A and transmits it as a broadcast wave.

The processing of the similarity calculation unit 126A in the receiving device 20A will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in step S1201A, the group ID is initialized. In step S1202A, the group preference stored in the metadata storage unit 125A is acquired.

  Examples of group preferences are shown in FIGS. Since FIG. 18 has been described in the first embodiment, an example of group preference will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 24, group preference information included in metadata includes group ID 1701A, categorization information (age / gender) 1702A, program ID 1703A, and popularity 1704A corresponding to each program ID. As shown in FIG. 18, a genre 1802 may be assigned.

  In step S1203A, the similarity between the viewer's personal information and preferences stored in the personal information storage unit 124A and the grouping information and preferences of the aforementioned groups is calculated. In the case of the data structure of FIG. 24, the similarity is calculated by comparing the grouping information (age / gender) 1702A with the personal information, and calculating the similarity. In the case of the data structure of FIG. 18, the genre 1802 is compared with the genre of personal information or a keyword of preference, and the similarity is calculated.

  In step S1205A, it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all groups. If the determination is No, the process proceeds to step S1204A. In step S1204A, the group ID is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step S1202A to repeat the same process. . If the determination in step S1205A is Yes, in step S1206A, the group IDs are sorted according to the calculated similarity. In step S1207A, the sorted group IDs are displayed in the sort order. A display example in the case of the data structure of FIG. 24 is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 25, a group ID and a keyword are displayed in a display field denoted by reference numeral 503A. The group ID displayed first is the group closest to the viewer's personal information (preference). Mark 501A and mark 502A indicate that the next group ID exists, and the next group ID can be displayed by pressing the left arrow key or the right arrow key of the remote controller or the like.
A display example in the case of the data structure of FIG. 18 is shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the program service providing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the popularity ranking table compiled for each group by sending the operation history and personal information from the receiving device side to the program service providing device. Can be provided to the viewer. Since the grouping is performed based on the personal information designated by the viewer, the grouping can be performed regardless of the preference.

  Regarding personal information, since an ID is given once sent to the service providing apparatus 10A first, only the operation history may be sent from the second time. In this case, if there is a change in the personal information, the personal information may be sent to the service providing apparatus 10A.

  Next, a program service providing system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the third embodiment of the present invention, preference information generated on the viewer side is sent directly to the service providing apparatus side, and grouping is performed based on the preference information. Since grouping is performed directly using the preference information on the viewer side, consistency between the grouping standard on the service provider side and the criterion for determining which group on the viewer side belongs is good.

  Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings common to the service providing system according to the first embodiment, the drawings will be referred to, and the drawings different from each other will be described with new drawing numbers.

  Since the schematic configuration of the service providing system according to the present embodiment and the configuration of the receiving apparatus are the same as those of the service providing system according to the first embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2), description thereof is omitted. Regarding the reference numerals, the same components are distinguished by adding B after the numbers.

  FIG. 26 is a functional block diagram of an information service providing system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 26, the service providing apparatus 10B in the information service providing system according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a receiving unit 101B, a user operation history storage unit 102B, a user preference storage unit 103B, and a group calculation. A section 104B, a popularity calculation section 105B, a content information storage section 106B, a metadata generation section 107B, a content selection section 108B, and a multiplexing section 109B are configured.

  On the other hand, the receiving device 20B includes an operation unit 121B, an operation history storage unit 122B, a transmission unit 123B, a personal preference generation unit 124B, a personal preference storage unit 125B, a demodulation unit 126B, a separation unit 127B, and metadata. A storage unit 128B, a similarity calculation unit 129B, a synthesis unit 130B, and a display unit 131B are included.

First, the operation of the receiving device 20B will be described in detail.
The viewer first operates from the operation unit 121B using an input device such as a remote controller. The operation at this time includes an operation of selecting a menu to be displayed or selecting and viewing a program.

  A viewer operates an input device such as a remote controller while viewing program information displayed on the display unit 131B, and performs operations such as viewing or program reservation. Here, the operation performed by the viewer is called an operation command, and an example of an operation command related to viewing is shown in FIG. In this figure, an operation content 1402 for the operation command 1401 is described. Details of the contents are the same as those of the information service providing system according to the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  An example of a display screen at the time of recording reservation is the same as that of the information service providing system according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

  The transmission unit 123B transmits the data recorded in the operation history storage unit 122B to the service providing apparatus 10B periodically or whenever a new operation command is recorded in the operation history storage unit 122B. The transmission unit 123B can arbitrarily set whether or not to transmit the operation history of the viewer. As described with reference to FIG. 6, when “Yes” is selected, the operation history of the viewer is transmitted to the service providing apparatus periodically or as needed. When “No” is selected, the operation history of the viewer is not transmitted to the service providing apparatus 10B.

  On the other hand, the personal preference generation unit 124B creates viewer preference data based on the operation history stored in the operation history storage unit 122B.

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart of processing for generating preference data. The processing shown in FIG. 27 is performed based on the idea that the viewer has some interest in the program that the viewer has watched or reserved for recording.

  First, in step S901B, an operation history is acquired. In step S902B, it is determined whether or not the operation command is viewing or recording reservation. If this determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S903B. In step S903B, keywords are extracted from the program information corresponding to the operation command. In step S904B, the weighting coefficient of the extracted keyword is increased by a predetermined value (positive number). If the determination in step S902B is No, steps S903B and S904B are skipped.

  Next, in step S905B, it is determined whether or not the processing for all operation histories has been completed. If this determination is No, the process returns to step S901B and the same processing is repeated. If the determination in step S905B is Yes, the process ends.

  Note that the processing flow shown in FIG. 27 is an example in which positive weighting is performed, but processing that considers negative weighting may be performed on programs that the viewer has not shown interest in. FIG. 28 shows a flowchart of the process considering negative weighting.

  As shown in FIG. 28, first, in step S2101B, an operation history is acquired. In step S2102B, it is determined whether or not the operation command acquired in step S2101B is viewing or recording reservation. If this determination is Yes, the process proceeds to step S2103B.

In step S2103B, keywords are extracted from the program information corresponding to the operation command. In step S2104B, the weighting coefficient of the extracted keyword is increased by a predetermined value (positive number). When determination of step S2102B is No, it progresses to step S2105B. In step S2105B, keywords are extracted from the program information corresponding to the operation command. In step S2106B, the weighting coefficient of the extracted keyword is reduced by a predetermined value (positive number). Next, in step S2107B, it is determined whether or not the processing for all operation histories has been completed. If this determination is No, the process returns to step S2101B and the same processing is repeated. If the determination in step S2107B is Yes, the process ends.
Note that this negative weighting process can also be applied to the first or second embodiment.

  Returning to FIG. 26, the description will be continued. The demodulator 126B receives the broadcast wave transmitted from the service providing apparatus 10B and demodulates the modulated signal. The separation unit 127B separates content data and metadata from the demodulated signal. The metadata is stored in the metadata storage unit 128B. The content data is displayed on the display unit 131B via the synthesis unit 130B.

  The similarity calculation unit 129B compares the metadata collected for each group stored in the metadata storage unit 128B with the viewer's personal data stored in the personal information storage unit 124B, and selects a group. And generate an output result of popularity ranking. Details of the calculation method will be described later.

  An example of metadata grouped for each group stored in the metadata storage unit 128B is the same as the example according to the first embodiment as shown in FIG. An example of the metadata data structure is also the same as the example according to the first embodiment as shown in FIGS.

  In the similarity calculation unit 129B, the group ID closest to the viewer's preference is selected, and the data of the group is output to the synthesis unit 130B. The combining unit 130B combines the content video separated by the separating unit 127B and the popularity ranking output from the similarity calculating unit 129B, and sends the combined result to the display unit 131B. The display unit 131B performs display on the display.

  The display example of the popularity ranking is the same as that described in the first embodiment with reference to FIGS. 5a and 5b.

Next, the operation of the service providing apparatus 10B will be described in detail.
The receiving unit 101B receives personal preference information and operation history sent from the viewer. The received personal preference information is recorded in the user preference storage unit 103B. At this time, identifier information for identifying the viewer is recorded together. On the other hand, the received operation history is recorded in the user operation history storage unit 102B. At this time, an identifier for identifying a viewer, a content identifier to be operated, information on an operation command, and the like are recorded.

  Next, in the group calculation unit 104B, the viewers are grouped based on the user preference information stored in the user preference storage unit 103B. The processing procedure is the same as that of the broadcast service providing system according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.

  In step S1003 of FIG. 10, the similarity between the already registered group preference and the acquired user preference is calculated. For calculating the similarity based on a keyword or the like, a technique for expressing the meaning of the keyword in a multidimensional vector can be used. In this case, the similarity takes a value from 0 to 1. When using vector representation, it can be realized by taking the inner product of the vectors. Whether to add a new group is determined depending on whether the similarity is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  Through the above processing, the group calculation unit 104B determines which preference group each viewer belongs to.

  Next, the popularity calculation unit 105B calculates the popularity according to the grouping determined by the group calculation unit 104B. The processing procedure at that time is the same as in the first and second embodiments, and can be described with reference to FIG. With this process, the popularity of the program for each group is calculated.

  The popularity data for each group calculated by the popularity calculation unit 105B creates an EPG (electronic program guide) together with the content information stored in the content information storage unit 106B in the metadata generation unit 107B. The data required for is created as metadata. At this time, group categorization information (such as age and gender) and the most frequently used keyword in each group are added as the group preference of each group. The content selection unit 108B selects necessary content to be transmitted based on the information stored in the content information storage unit 106B. The multiplexing unit 109B multiplexes the above-described metadata generated by the metadata generation unit 107B and the content selected by the content selection unit 108B and transmits them as a broadcast wave.

The processing of the similarity calculation unit 129B in the receiving device 20B is the same as the processing described in the first embodiment as shown in FIG.
In step S1202 shown in FIG. 12, the group preference stored in the metadata storage unit 125B is acquired.

  Examples of group preferences include the popularity ranking table described with reference to FIG. 24 in the second embodiment, and the popularity ranking table described with reference to FIG. 18 in the first and second embodiments. It is the same.

  In step S1203, the similarity between the viewer preference stored in the personal preference storage unit 125B and the grouping information or preference is calculated. In the case of the data structure of FIG. 24, the similarity is calculated by comparing the grouping information (age / gender) 1702 with the personal information. In the calculation of the similarity, the similarity may be calculated not only by comparing the character strings of the keywords but also by taking account of the meanings between words by a calculation method based on the keyword semantic vector expression.

  In the case of the data structure of FIG. 18, the genre 1802 is compared with the genre of personal information or a keyword of preference, and the similarity is calculated. In step S1205, it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all groups. If the determination is No, the group ID is incremented by one in step S1204, and the process returns to step S1202 to repeat the same processing.

If the determination in step S1205 is Yes, in step S1206, the group IDs are sorted according to the calculated similarity. In step S1207, the program whose broadcast time has ended is deleted from the list. In step S1208, the sorted group IDs are displayed in the sort order. The display example in the case of the data structure of FIG. 17 is the same as the display example described with reference to FIG. 25 in the second embodiment. 24 is the same as the display example described with reference to FIG. 8 in the first embodiment.
As described above, the popularity ranking table is created and transmitted to the receiving apparatus side, that is, the viewer.

  FIG. 29 shows an example of a hierarchical structure of categorized data. The category 1901, performer 1902, broadcast time 1903, channel 1904, preference keyword 1905, and restriction keyword 1906 are categorized.

  Here, genre 1901 indicates data classified by program genre, performer 1902 indicates data classified by information on performers appearing in the program, and broadcast time 1903 indicates broadcast time zone. The channel 1904 indicates the data classified by the channel number, the preference keyword 1905 indicates the data classified with respect to the user's preference, and the restriction keyword 1906 indicates a specific user. The data classified by the keyword set in order to restrict | limit viewing of the program containing this keyword is shown.

  Further, the data classified into categories is grouped respectively. For example, the genre is divided into a group 1901 of group 1-1, group 1-2, group 1-3, group 1-4, and group 1-5. Each group has a keyword or the like for identifying the group. Compared with the preference data generated on the receiver side, it is judged which group is close to the user's preference, and the group is selected. Thus, a program guide suitable for the user's preference can be created.

  According to the program service providing system according to the present embodiment, the preference generated directly on the user side is used as the grouping criterion, so the grouping on the program service providing device side and the criteria for determining which group the viewer belongs to There is an advantage that and are easy to match.

The specification of the present application includes the disclosure of the following invention.
(Appendix)
1) In a system for aggregating information from viewers and providing program services corresponding thereto, operation history transmission means for transmitting the operation history of viewers is provided on the receiver side, and viewing is provided on the program service provider side. An operation history receiving means for receiving a viewer's operation history, a user operation history storage means for storing the viewer's operation history, a group calculation means for grouping viewers, and a program for each group grouped. A popularity degree calculating means for calculating the popularity degree and a transmitting means for transmitting the popularity degree for each group to the receiver. Therefore, the degree of popularity according to the viewer's preference can be totaled and provided to the viewer.

  2) In the above 1), a user preference generation unit that generates the user preference from a user operation history is provided. Therefore, the viewer does not need to input and transmit user preferences separately, and can enjoy the service.

  3) In the above 2), as the operation history, at least one of viewing, recording reservation, skip, and pause is used. Therefore, for example, it is possible to effectively generate the user's preference by determining that he / she is interested in viewing, recording reservation, and paused content and not interested in the skipped content.

  4) In the above 1) or 2), the group calculation means performs grouping based on the user preference. Therefore, classification according to the degree of user preference is possible.

  5) In the above 1), on the receiver side, on the receiver side, operation means for inputting the operation of the viewer, operation history storage means for recording the operation content, personal preference storage means for storing the personal preference of the viewer, Metadata storage means for storing a group preference including the degree of popularity for each group provided by the service provider side, and similarity calculation means for calculating the similarity between the personal preference and the group preference. Therefore, it is possible to display popularity according to the user's preference.

  6) In the above 5), personal preference generation means for calculating the viewer's preference from the operation history is provided. Therefore, the viewer can save the trouble of inputting preference information separately.

  7) In the above 1) to 5), the group preference includes at least one keyword indicating a genre and program content. Therefore, the display according to each becomes possible, and the program which a user especially wants to watch can be found efficiently.

  8) In the above 5), when the operation history is not transmitted, the popularity ranking is not displayed. Accordingly, in order to receive the provision of this service, the viewer is willing to transmit the operation history by himself / herself. As a result, data from a larger number of viewers can be collected, and a more accurate popularity ranking can be provided.

  9) In the above 5), when the popularity is displayed, the popularity is displayed in an order corresponding to the similarity between the viewer's personal preference and the group preference. Therefore, the viewer can efficiently find a program that he / she wants to watch in the order of his / her interest.

  10) An operation history receiving step for receiving a viewer's operation history, a user operation history storage step for storing the viewer's operation history, a group calculation step for grouping users, and for each of the grouped groups The method includes a popularity calculation step for calculating the popularity of a program and a transmission step for transmitting the popularity for each group to a receiver. Therefore, the degree of popularity according to the user's preference can be totaled and provided to the viewer.

  11) A procedure for receiving a viewer's operation history, a procedure for storing the viewer's operation history, a procedure for grouping users, and a procedure for calculating the popularity of a program for each of the grouped groups And a program for causing a computer to perform a procedure of transmitting the popularity for each group to a receiver.

  12) In a system for aggregating information from viewers and providing program services corresponding thereto, the program service provider side includes receiving means for receiving operation history and personal information from viewers, and operation of the viewers User operation history storage means for storing history, user information storage means for storing the viewer's personal information, group calculation means for grouping users, and calculating the popularity of the program for each of the grouped groups And a transmission means for transmitting the degree of popularity for each group to the receiver. Therefore, the degree of popularity according to the user's preference can be totaled and provided to the viewer.

  13) In the above 12), as the personal information from the viewer, it includes information related to individuals and information related to programs. Accordingly, it is possible to aggregate the degrees of popularity among people with similar personal information and personal preferences and provide them to viewers.

  14) In the above 13), the information related to the individual includes any of gender, age, and place of residence. Therefore, it is possible to provide information on what is a popular program among people of the same gender, age, and place of residence.

  15) In the above 13), the information related to the program is at least one selected from the group consisting of a program genre, a performer, a program title, a broadcast time zone (date and time), a channel number, a preference keyword, and a restriction keyword. It consists of one. Therefore, it is possible to provide information on what programs are popular among users who have similar user preferences.

  16) In the above 12), viewing and recording reservations are used as the operation history commands. Therefore, it is possible to aggregate which programs are popular without the viewers being conscious.

  17) In the above 13), the group calculation means performs grouping based on the personal information. Accordingly, it is possible to tabulate what programs are popular among users who have similar personal information.

  18) In the above 12), the receiving device side including the receiving device further stores operation means for inputting the operation of the viewer, operation history storage means for recording the operation content, and personal information of the viewer. Personal information storage means, metadata storage means for storing group preference including popularity for each group provided by the service provider, and similarity calculation for calculating similarity between the personal information and the group preference Means. Therefore, the popularity ranking according to personal information can be displayed.

  19) In the above 12) to 18), the group preference is selected from a group consisting of a program genre, a performer, a program title, a broadcast time zone (date / day), a channel number, a preference keyword, and a restriction keyword. Preferences based on at least one piece of information. Accordingly, it is possible to aggregate and display the popularity of programs that are popular among users with similar preferences.

  20) The program service providing system described in 18) above includes means for determining whether or not to transmit personal information, and when the personal information is not transmitted, the popularity ranking is not displayed. Therefore, privacy can be protected and services can be received at the user's discretion.

  21) The program service providing system according to 18) above, further comprising means for determining whether or not to transmit an operation history, and when the operation history is not transmitted, the popularity ranking is not displayed. Accordingly, privacy can be protected and services can be received at the discretion of the viewer.

  22) In the program service providing system described in 18) above, when the popularity is displayed, the popularity is displayed in the order of similarity between the viewer preference information and the group preference. Therefore, it is possible to quickly find a popular program among people close to the user's preference.

  23) In the program service providing system described in 19) above, when the popularity level is displayed, a program for which broadcasting has ended is not displayed. Therefore, when searching for a program to be viewed or reserved for recording, a target program can be efficiently searched.

  24) On the program service provider side, a receiving step of receiving operation history and personal information from the viewer, a user operation history storing step of storing the viewer's operation history, and the viewer's personal information are stored. A user information storage step, a group calculation step for grouping users, a popularity calculation step for calculating the popularity of a program for each of the grouped groups, and a transmission for transmitting the popularity for each group to a receiver A process is provided. Therefore, the degree of popularity according to the user's preference can be totaled and provided to the viewer.

  25) On the program service providing side, a procedure for receiving operation history and personal information from the viewer, a procedure for storing the operation history of the viewer, a procedure for storing the personal information of the viewer, A procedure for grouping, a procedure for calculating the popularity of a program for each group that has been grouped, and a transmission procedure for transmitting the popularity for each group to a receiver. Therefore, the degree of popularity according to the user's preference can be totaled and provided to the viewer.

  26) In a system for aggregating information from viewers and providing a program service corresponding thereto, the program service providing side includes a receiving means for receiving viewer operation history and preference information, and the viewer operation history. Operation history storage means for storing user preference storage means for storing the preference information of the viewer, group calculation means for grouping users, and popularity calculation means for calculating the popularity of programs for each group And metadata generating means for generating metadata by combining the information for identifying the group, the degree of popularity, and the program information, and transmitting means for transmitting the metadata to the receiver side. Therefore, popular programs can be aggregated from the user's operation history, grouped according to the user's preference, and provided to the viewer.

  27) In the above 26), on the receiver side, the operation means for inputting the operation of the viewer, the operation history storage means for recording the operation content, and the personal preference for generating the viewer preference information from the operation history Generation means, personal preference storage means for storing the preference information, metadata storage means for storing the metadata provided by the service provider, and similarity between the personal preference information and the metadata for each group And a similarity calculation means for calculating. Therefore, the viewer can know a popular program among people close to his / her preference.

  28) In the above 26) or 27), the category of the preference information includes any one of a program genre, a performer, a broadcast time (date and day), a channel number, a preference keyword, and a restriction keyword. . Therefore, the viewer can find a popular program from the above categories.

  29) In the above 28), the group calculation means divides users into categories for each category of preference information. Therefore, the viewer can find a popular program among the categories.

  30) In the above 26), when the metadata generation means calculates groups for each category, only the category having the largest number of groups is generated as metadata. Therefore, it is possible to provide the popularity ranking most suitable for the viewer without increasing the amount of metadata.

  31) In the above 29), the category of the preference information is used as information for identifying the group. Therefore, the viewer can find a popular program for each category.

  32) In the above 29) or 30), as information for identifying the group, a predetermined number of keywords appearing most frequently from the preference information of users belonging to the group are used. Therefore, it is possible to know what is the highest preference of people belonging to the group, and based on that, it can be compared with one's preference and can be used for group selection.

  33) In the above 26), the popularity degree calculation means calculates the popularity degree for the program corresponding to the viewing and recording reservation operation history commands. Therefore, it is possible to provide data for calculating a popular program without making the viewer aware.

  34) In the above 27), in the personal preference generation means, preference information is generated according to a determination as to whether or not the program information presented by the viewer has been selected. Therefore, the viewer does not need to input preference information separately.

  35) In the above 26), the personal preference generation means generates preference information according to the broadcast time length of the program and the time actually viewed by the viewer. Therefore, if the preference data is reflected only on a program that has been viewed for a certain time (ratio) over a certain time, the effect of viewing for a short time (zapping) can be reduced.

  36) In the above 27), the personal preference generation means generates preference information according to the evaluation of the viewer after watching the program. Therefore, preference data that truly reflects the viewer's preference can be created.

  37) In the above 27), the personal preference storage means is a removable recording medium. Therefore, preference data generated by another device can be used, and preference data generated by this device can be used by another device.

  38) In the above 27), a means for determining whether or not to transmit personal preference information is provided, and when the personal preference information is not transmitted, the popularity ranking is not displayed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent leakage of preference information, protect privacy, easily send preference data, and not hesitate to contribute to the creation of popularity ranking.

  39) In the above 27), there is provided means for determining whether or not to transmit the operation history, and when the operation history is not transmitted, the popularity ranking is not displayed. Therefore, leakage of preference information can be prevented, privacy can be protected, preference data can be sent positively, and there is no need to hesitate to contribute to the creation of popularity ranking.

  40) In the above 27), when the popularity is displayed, it is displayed in the order of similarity between the viewer preference information and the preference for each group. Therefore, the viewer can quickly find a popular program close to his / her interest.

  41) In the above 27), when the popularity degree is displayed, a program for which broadcasting has ended is not displayed. Therefore, it is possible to provide useful information for viewers who will view the program.

  42) In the above 27), when the popularity degree is displayed, a means for determining whether or not the program is being broadcast is provided, and an icon indicating that the program is being broadcast is displayed together with the program information. Therefore, it is possible to provide useful information for viewers who will view the program.

  43) On the program service providing side, a receiving step of receiving viewer operation history and preference information, a user operation history storing step of storing the viewer operation history, and a user storing the viewer preference information A preference storage step, a group calculation step for grouping users, a popularity calculation step for calculating the popularity of a program for each group, and information for identifying a group together with the popularity and program information A metadata generation step of generating data; and a transmission step of transmitting the metadata to the receiver side. Therefore, popular programs can be aggregated from the user's operation history, grouped according to the user's preference, and provided to the viewer.

  44) In the medium on which the program service providing program is recorded, the service providing side receives a viewer operation history and preference information, a user operation history storage step for storing the viewer operation history, A user preference storage step for storing viewer preference information, a group calculation step for grouping users, a popularity calculation step for calculating the popularity of a program for each group, information for identifying a group, and The method includes a metadata generation step of generating metadata by combining popularity and program information, and a transmission step of transmitting the metadata to the receiver side. Therefore, popular programs can be aggregated from the user's operation history, grouped according to the user's preference, and provided to the viewer.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the receiver included in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the program recording reservation screen in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5B is a display example of the popularity ranking in the service providing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5B shows the program title and popularity that are one degree lower in popularity (popularity 5) from the display screen of FIG. 5A. It is the figure which displayed. It is a display example of the initial setting screen in the service providing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a display example of the popularity ranking which used the keyword for the group preference in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a display example of the popularity ranking using the genre for the group preference in the service providing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart figure of the process which produces | generates the user preference in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure of the process of grouping in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure of the process which calculates the popularity for every group in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure of the process which displays the popularity ranking in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram showing the group preference in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of a display of the operation command and operation content in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of a display of the popularity ranking for every group in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the data structure regarding program ID in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of a display of the data structure of the popularity ranking which used the keyword for the group preference in the service provision system by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a display example of the data composition of the popularity ranking using the genre for the group preference in the service providing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the service provision system by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a display example of the personal information setting screen in the service providing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of a display of the personal information transmission screen in the service provision system by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure of the grouping process in the service provision system by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure of the process which calculates the popularity for every group in the service provision system by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the data composition example of the popularity ranking using the keyword for the group preference in the service provision system by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a display example of the popularity ranking using personal information for grouping in the service providing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of the service provision system by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the process at the time of creating a viewer's personal preference data. It is a flowchart figure which shows the process which performs negative weighting when producing | generating preference data. It is a figure which shows the hierarchical structure example of the data classified into categories.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Service provision apparatus, 20 ... Reception apparatus, 101 ... Reception part, 102 ... User operation history storage part, 103 ... User preference storage part, 104 ... Group calculation part, 105 ... Popularity degree calculation part, 106 ... Content information storage part 107: Metadata generation unit, 108 ... Content selection unit, 109 ... Multiplexing unit, 121 ... Operation unit, 122 ... Operation history storage unit, 123 ... Transmission unit, 124 ... Personal preference generation unit, 125 ... Personal preference storage unit, 126: Demodulation unit, 127: Separation unit, 128 ... Metadata storage unit, 129 ... Similarity calculation unit, 130 ... Synthesis unit, 131 ... Display unit.

Claims (18)

In a system that aggregates information from viewers and provides program services corresponding to the information, transmission means for transmitting the operation history of the viewers and personal preferences is provided on the receiver side, and viewing on the program service providing apparatus side. receiving means for receiving a user operation history and personal嗜good, and a user operation history storage means for storing the operation history of the viewer, and the profile memory means for storing preference information of the viewer, the preference information Group calculating means for grouping users based on; popularity calculating means for calculating popularity of each program based on the operation history; information for identifying the group; popularity and program information there in the program service providing system comprising a meta-data generating means for generating metadata combined bets, and a transmitting means for transmitting the metadata to a receiver side ,
Further, the receiver side includes an operation means for a viewer to input an operation, an operation history storage means for recording the operation content, and data including the degree of popularity of the program for each group provided by the program service provider side. Metadata storage means for storing the viewer, and the viewer's personal preference generated from the metadata stored in the metadata storage means and the operation history of the viewer stored in the operation history storage means Based on personal preference storage means, metadata stored for each group stored in the metadata storage means, and viewer preference data stored in the personal preference storage means, the viewer's personal preference And a similarity calculation means for selecting a group ID close to . 2. The program according to claim 1 , wherein the preference information category includes at least one of a program genre, a performer, a broadcast time (date and time, day of the week), a channel number, a preference keyword, and a restriction keyword. Service provision system. 3. The program service providing system according to claim 1, wherein the group calculating unit groups users for each category of preference information. 4. 4. The program service providing system according to claim 3 , wherein the metadata generation means generates only the category having the largest number of groups as metadata when grouped by category. The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein a category of the preference information is used as information for identifying the group. Program service according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that as information for identifying the group, the most a predetermined number of keywords that appear from the preference information of users belonging to the group Offer system. The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the popularity degree calculating means calculates a popularity degree for a program corresponding to a command of an operation history for viewing and recording reservation. The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the personal preference is preference information according to a determination as to whether or not the program information presented by the viewer has been selected. . The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the personal preference is preference information according to a broadcast time length of a program and a time actually viewed by a viewer. The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the personal preference is preference information according to an evaluation of a viewer after viewing the program. The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the personal preference storage means is a removable recording medium. The receiver side includes means for determining whether or not to transmit the preference information, and when the personal preference information is not transmitted, the program service providing apparatus side does not transmit the popularity degree to the receiver. The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 11 . The receiver side includes means for determining whether or not to transmit the operation history, and when the operation history is not transmitted, the program service providing apparatus side does not transmit the popularity to the receiver. The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 11 . The program service providing apparatus side transmits data so that the receiver side displays the popularity degree in order of similarity between the viewer preference information and the preference for each group. Item 14. The program service providing system according to any one of Items 1 to 13 . The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 13 , wherein when the popularity level is displayed on the receiver, a program that has been broadcast is not displayed. The program service providing apparatus includes means for determining whether or not the program is being broadcast when displaying the popularity degree in the receiver, and displays an icon indicating that the program is being broadcast together with program information when the program is being broadcast. The program service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein In a program service providing method for collecting information from viewers and providing a program service corresponding thereto, a transmission process for transmitting an operation history of viewers and personal preferences is performed on the receiver side. A receiving step for receiving the viewer's operation history and personal preferences, a user operation history storing step for storing the viewer's operation history, a user preference storing step for storing the viewer's preference information, and the preference information A group calculation step for grouping users based on the user, a popularity calculation step for calculating the popularity of the program for each group based on the operation history, information for identifying the group, the popularity and the program A program service comprising: a metadata generation step for generating metadata in combination with information; and a transmission step for transmitting the metadata to the receiver side. A method for providing,
Further, the receiver side includes an operation step in which a viewer inputs an operation, an operation history storage step in which the operation content is recorded, and the popularity of the program for each group provided from the program service provider side An individual storing the metadata personality of the viewer generated from the metadata storage step of storing data, the metadata stored in the metadata storage step and the operation history of the viewer stored in the operation history storage step A group close to the viewer's personal preference based on the preference storage step, the metadata collected for each group stored in the metadata storage step, and the viewer's preference data stored in the personal preference storage step A program service providing method comprising: a similarity calculation step of selecting an ID . A program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 17 .

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