JP4965893B2 - Information providing system, information providing apparatus, and information providing program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing system, an information providing apparatus, and an information providing program for creating a program guide based on a search condition received from a user terminal owned by a user via a communication network and transmitting the program guide to a recorder owned by the user. .

  With the recent development of communication networks and information devices, it has become possible to provide information that can meet a variety of user hobbies. Specifically, in the broadcasting industry such as television, the number of channels that can be broadcast has increased due to improvements in broadcasting equipment and communication bands. As a result, the user has been able to view a program that matches the taste of each person, while previously viewing the program broadcast for everyone. Furthermore, with the spread of products such as hard disk recorders, users can record programs in a space-saving manner without changing media, and enjoy the programs at any time.

  On the other hand, with the increase in the number of programs, the degree of difficulty for users to search for programs that suit their tastes has increased. Furthermore, if only watching programs that meet the user's preference, searching for new programs may be costly. In view of such a situation, development of a method for providing program guide data which is a list of programs recommended to the user is expected.

  In order to solve such a problem, there is a broadcast receiving device with a viewing information storage function and a recommended content display device that facilitate content that matches the user's preference (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the broadcast receiving apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the program information input unit inputs information from an external recording medium in which information related to a program viewed by the broadcast receiving apparatus with a viewing information storage function is written, and preference analysis recommendation information The generation unit generates recommended content information suitable for the user from the input information and displays the recommended content information on the recommended information display unit. The recommended content display device described in Patent Document 1 analyzes and analyzes the preference of a viewer from a program information input unit that captures program information and recorded program information recorded by a broadcast receiving device, and the input information. A preference analysis recommendation information generation unit that generates content recommendation information according to the result, and a recommendation information display unit that displays content recommendation information according to the content recommendation information generated by the preference analysis recommendation information generation unit.

Furthermore, there is an information search system that can recommend content in accordance with the user's purpose (see Patent Document 2). In this information retrieval system, the server acquires unique interest data of each device such as a personal computer and an HDD recorder via a network. The server analyzes the device characteristics and generates specific interest data of the device based on the device characteristics. The server receives an input of a purpose, extracts device-specific interest data of a plurality of devices corresponding to the purpose, and generates purpose-specific interest data based on the device-specific interest data.
JP 2005-94115 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-366991

  However, according to the techniques described in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 described above, one-way program data is provided from the service site to the user.

  The user simply creates and sends program guide data by himself / herself only by transferring program guide data provided from the system. Therefore, according to the techniques described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above, the user cannot customize the given program guide data. In addition, with the diversification of personal preferences, viewing programs have become one of the means for personal self-expression, and the creation of program guides suitable for personal preferences is expected.

  On the other hand, when the user creates the program guide data, since the program broadcast every moment is changed, there is a problem that the user has to collect program information every time.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an information providing system, an information providing apparatus, and an information providing program for supporting creation of useful program guide data by a user.

In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present invention includes a user terminal and recorder owned by the user, to create a program table based on the search conditions received via the communication network from the user terminal, the recorder The present invention relates to an information providing system including an information providing device for transmission. That is, in the information providing system according to the first feature of the present invention, the user terminal has means for transmitting a search condition of the program guide to the information providing apparatus. The recorder has a means for receiving the program guide data transmitted from the information providing device for receiving the program guide distribution request including the program guide ID from the recorder, as well as transmitting the program guide ID to the information providing device. The information providing apparatus includes a program information data storage unit for storing program information data in which a program ID and program broadcast time and program information are associated with a program ID, and a search including a program table search condition from a user terminal When a condition storage request is received and a request receiving unit that receives a program schedule distribution request including a program schedule ID from the recorder and a search condition included in the search condition storage request are input, the program schedule ID is numbered. Then, the search condition management unit for storing the search condition data in which the numbered program guide ID is associated with the input search condition in the storage device, and the program information data is read from the storage device, and the program guide ID is obtained. Based on the associated search condition, the program ID after the broadcast time is searched for the program ID, and the program guide data in which the searched program ID is associated with the program guide ID is stored. A program table generating unit for storing the location, from the storage unit, reads the program table data corresponding to the program table ID received from the recorder, and transmits to the recorder by filtering program information available broadcasters recorder program And an information distribution unit .

  According to such an information providing system according to the first feature of the present invention, the latest program guide data at that time can be created based on the search condition uniquely created by the user.

A second feature of the present invention relates to an information providing apparatus that creates a program guide based on a search condition received from a user terminal owned by a user via a communication network and transmits the program guide to a recorder . That is, the information providing apparatus according to the second feature of the present invention includes a program information data storage unit that stores program information data in which a program ID is associated with a broadcast time of a program and program information, and a user. A request receiving unit that receives a search condition storage request including a program guide search condition from a terminal and receives a program guide distribution request including a program guide ID from a recorder, and a search condition included in the search condition storage request When input, the search condition data is assigned to the program guide ID, and the search condition data that associates the assigned program guide ID with the input search condition is stored in the storage device, and the storage device. The search condition data and the program information data are read, and the broadcast time is determined from the program information data based on the search condition associated with the program guide ID of the search condition data. Searching for a program ID, a program list generation unit for storing program guide data associated program ID retrieved in program list ID in the storage unit, from the storage device, corresponding to the program table ID received from the recorder program A program information distribution unit that reads out the table data, filters the program information of broadcast stations that can be used by the recorder, and transmits the filtered program information to the recorder;

  According to the information providing apparatus according to the second feature of the present invention as described above, the latest program guide data at that time can be created based on the search condition uniquely created by the user.

Here, the storage device further includes a user area data storage unit that stores user area data in which the user ID and the area number where the user is located are associated, and the program information may include an area number where the program is broadcast. good. In this case, when the program guide ID is input, the search condition management unit further reads the search condition data from the storage device and outputs the search condition associated with the input program guide ID. When the program guide display request including the user ID and the program guide ID is received from the user terminal, the user region data is read from the storage device, and the region number associated with the user ID included in the program guide display request is extracted. enter the table ID in the search condition management unit, acquires the output retrieval condition by the search condition management unit, searches the program information data from the storage device, based on the area code and the search condition, broadcasting time is the current time The subsequent program information data is transmitted to the user terminal.

  According to such an invention, it is possible to create program guide data suitable for the user's area based on the search condition once created, display it to the user, and confirm it.

  Here, the program information distribution unit may read the program guide data from the storage device, convert the program guide data into a format suitable for the recorder, and transmit the program guide data to the recorder. Thereby, program guide data corresponding to various recorders can be transmitted to the recorder.

A third feature of the present invention relates to an information providing program for creating a program guide based on a search condition received from a user terminal owned by a user via a communication network and transmitting the program guide to a recorder . That is, an information providing program according to the third aspect of the present invention includes a program information data storage unit that stores program information data in which a program ID is associated with a program broadcast time and program information, and a user terminal. Receiving a search condition storage request including a search condition of the program guide, and receiving a request receiving means for receiving a program guide distribution request including the program guide ID from the recorder, and the search condition included in the search condition storage request Then, the program condition ID is numbered, search condition data that associates the numbered program schedule ID with the input search condition is stored in the storage device, and the storage device is searched. The condition data and the program information data are read out, and the broadcast time is determined from the program information data based on the search condition associated with the program guide ID of the search condition data. A program guide generating means for searching for a program ID after the current time and storing program guide data associated with the searched program ID in the program guide ID in the storage device , and a program guide ID received from the recorder from the storage device. The corresponding program guide data is read out, and the program information distribution means for filtering the program information of the broadcasting stations available for the recorder and transmitting it to the recorder is executed by the computer.

Here, the computer further executes user area data storage means for storing the user area data in which the user ID and the area number where the user is located are associated with each other in the storage device, and the program information is the area number where the program is broadcast. May be included. In this case, when the program guide ID is input, the search condition management means reads the search condition data from the storage device and outputs the search conditions associated with the input program guide ID. When the program guide display request including the user ID and the program guide ID is received from the user terminal, the user region data is read from the storage device, and the region number associated with the user ID included in the program guide display request is extracted. enter the table ID in the search condition management means acquires the output retrieval condition by the search condition management unit, searches the program information data from the storage device, based on the area code and the search condition, broadcasting time is the current time The subsequent program information data is transmitted to the user terminal.

  Further, the program information distribution means may read the program guide data from the storage device, convert the program guide data into a format suitable for the recorder, and transmit it to the recorder.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information provision system, information provision apparatus, and information provision program which assist creation of useful program schedule data by a user can be provided.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

(Best Embodiment)
(Information provision system)
With reference to FIG. 1, an information providing system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described. The information providing system includes an information providing device 1, user terminals 2 a and 2 b, a recorder 3, a display device 4, and a broadcast distribution device 5.

  The information providing apparatus 1 creates a program guide based on the search conditions received from the user terminals 2a and 2b owned by the user via the communication network, and transmits them to the recorder 3 owned by the user.

  The user terminals 2a and 2b are terminals owned by the user. The user terminal 2a is a computer installed in a user's home, for example. The user terminal 2a is a user's mobile terminal. The user terminals 2a and 2b have means for transmitting program table search conditions to the information providing apparatus 1. Specifically, the user terminals 2a and 2b have a configuration of a general information processing terminal such as a central processing control device, a memory, an input device, and a display device. Furthermore, software such as a browser is installed in the user terminals 2a and 2b, and information can be transmitted to and received from the information providing apparatus 1 via the browser. Here, the “search condition” is, for example, when the user independently creates program guide data that is a set of programs that match the user's preference and genre, to create a program from the program information data in order to create the program guide data. This is a search condition for searching.

  The recorder 3 records broadcast content distributed from the broadcast distribution device 5. The recorder 3 has means for receiving program guide data transmitted from the information providing apparatus 1. Further, the recorder 3 is a device that displays information received from the information providing device 1 via the communication network and transmits information input via the input device to the information providing device 1. The recorder 3 is a hard disk recorder installed in a user's home, for example. The display device 4 is a device that receives a display signal from the recorder 3, analyzes the received display signal, and displays it on the screen. The display device 4 further displays broadcast content distributed from the broadcast distribution device 5. The display device 4 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display.

  The broadcast distribution device 5 is a device that distributes broadcast content to the display device 4 installed in each home such as a user home.

  The information providing apparatus 1, the user terminals 2a and 2b, and the recorder 3 are connected to be communicable with each other via a communication network such as the Internet. The broadcast distribution device 5 and the display device 4 are communicably connected via a broadcast network.

  Here, the configuration of the recorder 3 will be described. The recorder 3 can record data such as a program broadcast on a broadcasting station or the like, and includes a user instruction input unit, a tuner, an encoder, a program information acquisition unit, a control unit, a clock, a storage device, and the like. The user instruction input unit inputs an instruction to the recorder 3 such as making a reservation for recording a program scheduled to be broadcast or recording a program currently being viewed. Based on the operation of the user instruction input unit, the tuner extracts the broadcast of the designated channel from the broadcast signal, extracts the image signal and the video signal, and inputs them to the encoder. The encoder receives the image signal and the audio signal input from the tuner, performs processing such as compression, generates image data and audio data, and stores them in the storage device. The program information acquisition unit receives program information from the information providing apparatus 1 via the communication network and stores it in the storage device. Based on an instruction from the user instruction input unit, the control unit acquires a program at a designated time and stores the program in a storage device or records a currently viewed program in the storage device. When a recording or reservation instruction for storing a broadcast program in a storage device is input from the user instruction input unit by a user operation, the control unit records the program ID of the program to be recorded or reserved in the information providing device 1 Are transmitted to the information providing apparatus 1 via the communication network. The recorder 3 is a hard disk recorder, for example. The recorder 3 may be replaced by a computer with a tuner, a television with a recording function, or the like, and may be any device that is connected to a communication network and can receive a broadcast.

(Information provision device)
Next, the information providing apparatus 1 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the information providing apparatus 1 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a central processing control device 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, and an input / output interface 109. Are connected via a bus 110. An input device 104, a display device 105, a communication control device 106, a storage device 107, and a removable disk 108 are connected to the input / output interface 109.

  The central processing control device 101 reads and executes a boot program for starting the information providing device 1 from the ROM 102 based on an input signal from the input device 104, and further reads an operating system stored in the storage device 107. Further, the central processing control device 101 controls various devices based on input signals from the input device 104, the communication control device 106, etc., and reads programs and data stored in the RAM 103, the storage device 107, etc. into the RAM 103. A processing device that loads and implements a series of processes to be described later, such as data calculation or processing, based on a program command read from the RAM 103.

  The input device 104 includes input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse through which an operator inputs various operations. The input device 104 generates an input signal based on the operation of the operator, and inputs via the input / output interface 109 and the bus 110. It is transmitted to the central processing control apparatus 101. The display device 105 is a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or the like. The display device 105 receives an output signal to be displayed on the display device 105 from the central processing control device 101 via the bus 110 and the input / output interface 109. It is a device that displays the processing result of the control device 101 and the like. The communication control device 106 is a device such as a LAN card or a modem, and is a device that connects the information providing device 1 to a communication network such as the Internet or a LAN. Data transmitted / received to / from the communication network via the communication control device 106 is transmitted / received to / from the central processing control device 101 via the input / output interface 109 and the bus 110 as an input signal or an output signal.

  The storage device 107 is a semiconductor storage device or a magnetic disk device, and stores programs and data executed by the central processing control device 101. The removable disk 108 is an optical disk or a flexible disk, and signals read / written by the disk drive are transmitted / received to / from the central processing control apparatus 101 via the input / output interface 109 and the bus 110.

  An information providing program is stored in the storage device 107 of the information providing apparatus 1 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and program information data 21, search condition data 22, and program guide data 23c, 23b, and 23c are stored. Is done. In addition, the information providing program is read and executed by the central processing control device 101 of the information providing apparatus 1 so that the Web request receiving unit 11, the search condition managing unit 12, the program searching unit 13, the program table generating unit 14, and the device A program information distribution unit 15 is mounted on the information providing apparatus 1.

  The program information data 21 is data in which program information is associated with a program ID. The program information data 21 is stored in the storage device 107 by the processing of the program information data storage unit implemented by the CPU 101 of the information providing device 1. The program ID is an identifier for identifying a program stored in the program information data 21. Specifically, the program information associated with the program ID in the program information data 21 includes, as shown in FIG. 4, a broadcasting station ID that broadcasts a program, a region number that is an identifier of a broadcasting target region, a broadcast start date and time, and a broadcast end. The genre ID is an identifier of the genre to which the date / time, broadcast program title, subtie title, performer name, program description, and program belong. This program information data 21 is linked to an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) displayed on the recorder 3, and new program information is added as needed. The program information data 21 may also store past programs.

  The search condition data 22 is data in which a program guide ID for identifying program guide data generated by the search condition and a search condition for generating the program guide data 23 from the program information data 21 are associated with each other. The search information data 21 is stored in the storage device 107 by the processing of the search condition management unit 12 implemented by the CPU 101 of the information providing apparatus 1. The program guide ID of the search condition data 22 has a one-to-one correspondence with a program guide ID which is a key of program guide data described later. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the search condition is associated with a search word, a search word target, an excluded word, an excluded word target, a broadcast time zone, a broadcast day, a target genre, and the like. The search word target is a column name of the program information data 21 to be searched for the presence or absence of the search word. For example, in the case of the search word “ramen” and the search word target “title”, program information including “ramen” in the column name “title” of the program information data 21 is extracted. The excluded word target is a column name of the program information data 21 to be searched for the presence or absence of the excluded word. For example, in the case of the exclusion word “extremely spicy” and the exclusion word target “title”, “subtitle”, and “program description”, the column names “title”, “subtitle”, and “program description” in the program information data 21 include “extremely spicy”. No program information is extracted.

  The program guide data 23 is data in which a plurality of program IDs and program information are associated with a program guide ID. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the program information includes a broadcast station ID, a region number, a broadcast start date / time, a broadcast end date / time, a title, a subtitle, and a genre ID. The program guide ID of the program guide data 23 corresponds to the program guide ID of the search condition data 22. The program ID and program information in the program guide data 23 correspond to the program ID and program information in the program information data 21.

  The Web request receiving unit 11 is a unit that receives a request transmitted from the user terminal 2a, analyzes the request content, and distributes processing according to the type of request. The types of requests received by the Web request reception unit 11 include a search condition storage request and a program guide display request. The Web request receiving unit 11 may receive a request only from a user terminal of one user, or may receive a request from user terminals of a plurality of users.

  The search condition storage request includes the program table search condition. When the Web request reception unit 11 receives the search condition storage request, the search condition is input to the search condition management unit 12, and the search condition management unit 12 is made to register the search condition in the search condition data 22.

  The program guide display request includes a user ID and a program guide ID. When the Web request receiving unit 11 receives the program guide display request, it reads out user region data in which the user ID and the region number to which the user belongs are associated with each other, and acquires the user region number included in the program guide display request. Further, the Web request reception unit 11 inputs the program guide ID into the search condition management unit 11 and acquires the search condition data associated with the input program guide ID. Further, the Web request reception unit 11 inputs the acquired search condition data and the area number to the program search unit 13, acquires program information after the broadcast time and transmits it to the user terminal 2 a.

  The search condition management unit 12 is means for processing the search condition data 22. When the search condition is input, the search condition management unit 12 assigns the program guide ID, and stores the search condition data in which the numbered program guide ID is associated with the input search condition in the storage device 107. Remember. Further, when the program guide ID is input, the search condition management unit 12 reads the search condition data 22 from the storage device 107 and outputs the search conditions associated with the input program guide ID.

  The program search unit 13 is means for processing the program information data 21. When a search condition is input, the program search unit 13 reads the program information data 21 from the storage device 107, and outputs a program ID and program information that match the input search condition as a search result.

  The program guide generation unit 14 receives data associated with the program guide ID and the search condition from the search condition management unit 12 and inputs the search condition input from the search condition management unit 12 to the program search unit 13. Of the search results that match the input search conditions, the program ID having the broadcast time after the current time is searched, and the program guide data 23 in which the searched program ID is associated with the program guide ID is output. At this time, the program guide generator 14 outputs the program guide data 23 including information on the program associated with the program ID.

Here, when the same program title is included in a plurality of regions, the program guide generation unit 14 preferably groups these to output only one program ID and program title. Specifically, the program table generating module 14 further from the storage device 107 reads the program information data 21, broadcast time from the associated search condition program table ID is you find the program ID after the current time. Here, the program guide generation unit 14 extracts a program title and a region number associated with the searched program ID, and when a plurality of region numbers are associated with one program title, one of the plurality of region numbers is extracted. The program ID associated with the selected area number is extracted. Further, the program guide generation unit 14 stores the program guide data 23 in which the searched program ID is associated with the program guide ID in the storage device 107.

  The device program information distribution unit 15 reads the program guide data 23 from the storage device 107, converts the program guide data 23 into a format suitable for the recorder 3, and transmits the data to the recorder. For example, the device-oriented program information distribution unit 15 receives a request including the recorder type code and the program guide ID from the recorder 3 and associates the request with the program guide ID according to the template data associated with the type code included in the request. The program guide data 23 a is converted and transmitted to the recorder 3.

  Next, processing of the information providing apparatus 1 according to the best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, with reference to FIG. 12, the case where the search conditions for program guide data already registered in the user terminal 2a are changed will be described.

  The user terminal 2a transmits a search condition registration request including the program guide ID of the program guide data for changing the program guide and the user ID to the information providing apparatus 1.

  When the search request creation request is received by the Web request receiving unit 11 of the information providing apparatus 1, the program guide ID is extracted from the search condition creation request. Further, the program request ID is input to the search condition management unit 12 by the Web request reception unit 11, and the search condition acquisition process shown in FIG. 8 is executed by the search condition management unit 12 in step S101.

  On the other hand, the user area data is read by the Web request receiving unit 11 and the area number of the user is extracted from the user ID included in the search condition creation request. When the search condition associated with the program guide ID is extracted from the search condition management unit 12, the Web request receiving unit 11 inserts the area number into the search condition, and the search condition with the area number inserted is the program search unit 13. Is input. Further, in step S103, the program search unit 13 executes the program search process shown in FIG. 9, and searches for the program ID and program information that match the search condition in which the area number is inserted. When the program search process is executed, in order to display the program guide data on the browser of the user terminal 2a, the program guide data is shaped to generate screen data and output to the user terminal 2a in step S104.

  If a command that the user does not want to store the search condition is input in step S105, a new search condition is acquired in step S106, and the area number is inserted into the newly acquired search condition in step S102. Processing is executed.

  On the other hand, when the user inputs a command for storing the search condition in step S105, the search condition storing process shown in FIG. 10 is executed in step S107.

  The search condition acquisition process shown in FIG. 8 will be described. When the program guide ID is input in step S201, the search condition management unit 12 reads the search condition data 22 from the storage device 107 in step S202, and searches for the search condition associated with the input program guide ID. The In step S203, the search condition management unit 12 outputs a search result.

  The program search process shown in FIG. 9 will be described. When the search condition is input, the program search unit 13 adds the current time to the search condition in step S301, and a search formula is generated from the search condition in step S302. In step S303, the program search unit 13 reads the program information data 21 from the storage device 107, and searches for the program information data 21 based on the search formula generated in step S302. In step S304, a search result is acquired by the program search unit 13.

  The search condition storing process shown in FIG. 10 will be described. When the search condition is input, the search condition management unit 12 acquires the search condition in step S401, and the program guide ID and the search condition are registered in the search condition data 22 in step S402. When there is no program guide ID, when the search condition management unit 12 specifically registers a new search condition, the program guide ID is assigned, and the numbered program guide ID is associated with the search condition. Is inserted into the search condition data.

  Next, the program guide generation process will be described with reference to FIG. This program guide generation process is executed by the program guide generator 14. The program guide generation process may be periodically performed by night batch processing, the timing when the search condition registered in the search condition management unit 12 is changed, the timing when the data of the program information data 21 is updated, or the like. May be executed at any time.

  First, in step S501, the program guide ID acquisition process shown in FIG. 12 is executed, and the program guide ID to be generated by the program guide generator 14 is acquired. The processing from step S502 to step S505 is executed for all acquired program guide IDs.

  First, in step S502, the program guide ID is input to the search condition management unit 12 by the program guide generation unit 14, and the search condition associated with the program guide ID is acquired from the search condition management unit 12. In step S503, the search conditions acquired in step S502 by the program guide generation unit 14 are input to the program search unit 13, and the program search process shown in FIG. 9 is executed. When the program table generation unit 14 acquires data of a combination of program ID and program information that meets the search condition as a result of the program search process, the same program broadcast in a plurality of regions is grouped in step S504. The The result is stored in the storage device 107 as program guide data 23 by the program guide generator 14. When the processing from step S502 to step S505 is executed for one program guide ID, the processing from step S502 to step S505 is executed similarly for the next program guide ID.

  The program guide ID acquisition process shown in FIG. 12 will be described. When a program guide ID acquisition request is input, the search condition management unit 12 reads the search condition data 22 from the storage device 107 and searches for the program guide ID. In step S602, the search condition management unit 12 outputs a search condition.

  Next, the program information distribution process will be described with reference to FIG. This program information distribution processing is executed by the device-oriented program information distribution unit 15. The program information distribution process may be periodically executed by night batch processing or the like, or may be executed at any time at a timing requested from the recorder 3 or the like. Here, a case where the program information is distributed upon request from the recorder 3 will be described.

  First, when a request including a program guide ID for requesting program information is received by the device program information distribution unit 15 in step S701, the program guide ID is extracted from the request in step S701. Program guide data associated with the program guide ID is acquired. Furthermore, only the program information of only the broadcasting stations that can be used by the recorder 3 requested in step S701 is filtered by the device program information distribution unit 15, and the filtered program information is shaped for the recorder 3 in step S703. It is transmitted to the recorder 3.

  Next, examples of screens displayed by the information providing apparatus 1 according to the best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 14 shows a program guide data list display screen P101 displayed on the user terminal 2. Here, a list of program guide data is described. When the new creation button B101 is clicked by the user, a search condition input screen for inputting conditions for searching for program guide data is displayed in order to create new program guide data. When the program guide data edit link L101 is clicked, a search condition edit screen P150 for editing conditions for searching for program guide data corresponding to this link as shown in FIG. 15 is displayed. When the search condition input here is stored, it is registered in the search condition data 22 by the search condition management unit 12.

  FIG. 16 is a program guide data display screen P201 for displaying a list of programs of the program guide data displayed on the display device 4 connected to the recorder 3. On this program guide data display screen P201, a list of programs searched under the search condition input from the user terminal 2 is displayed.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a user or a group that is a set of users can independently create a program guide and share the program guide data. In addition, by causing the other user's device to acquire the program guide data created by the user, the program guide data can be distributed, and the user's self-expression can be realized. Further, by recording only the program table generation conditions, it is possible to create program guide data that can be applied at any time by searching for new program information at that time even if time elapses.

  Specifically, even if the program referred to when creating the program schedule conditions has already ended, as long as the search conditions are met, a series program broadcast every week is incorporated into the program schedule data. Furthermore, even when the user creates a program guide condition, the information providing apparatus 1 can be applied nationwide without including the area number in the search condition, even if the user refers only to the program broadcast in his / her residence area. Program table data is created, and when transmitting to the recorder 3, only the program table that matches the area number suitable for the area where the recorder is installed is filtered from the program table data applicable to the whole country. As described above, according to the information providing apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to create program guide data without considering the conditions of the program guide and the regional conditions.

  In the information providing apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the program information data referred to when the search condition is created by the processing of the Web request receiving unit 11 and the program by the processing of the program guide generating unit 14 Although the case where it is the same as the program information data referred to when the table data is created has been described, it is not necessarily the same. Thereby, it may be applied to local program information using only the search condition.

(Modification)
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the case where the information providing apparatus 1 manages the search conditions and creates the program guide data each time based on the search conditions has been described. However, the information providing apparatus 1 determines the search conditions. The program guide ID to be included in the program guide data may be specified by the user without management. This method is effective when past program information and contents broadcast in the past are also stored.

(Other embodiments)
As described above, the best embodiment of the present invention and its modifications 1 to 3 have been described. However, it should not be understood that the description and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. . From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples, and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  For example, the approval support apparatus described in the best embodiment of the present invention may be configured on one piece of hardware as shown in FIG. 1, or on a plurality of pieces of hardware according to the functions and the number of processes. It may be configured. Further, it may be realized on an existing information providing apparatus or EPG system.

  It goes without saying that the present invention includes various embodiments not described herein. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the invention specifying matters according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

1 is a system configuration diagram of an information providing system according to a best embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of the information provision apparatus which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a hardware block diagram of the information provision apparatus which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data structure and data of program information data concerning the best embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining an example of data structure and data of search condition data concerning the best embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data structure and data of program guide data which concern on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the search condition creation process of the information provision apparatus which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the search condition acquisition process of the information provision apparatus which concerns on best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the program search process of the information provision apparatus which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the search condition preservation | save process of the information provision apparatus which concerns on best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the program schedule preparation process of the information provision apparatus which concerns on best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the program schedule ID acquisition process of the information provision apparatus which concerns on best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the program information delivery process of the information provision apparatus which concerns on best embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the program schedule data list display screen which the information provision apparatus which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention displays on a user terminal. It is an example of the search condition edit screen which the information provision apparatus which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention displays on a user terminal. It is an example of the program schedule data display screen which the information provision apparatus which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention displays on a recorder.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information provision apparatus 2a, 2b ... User terminal 3 ... Recorder 4 ... Display apparatus 5 ... Broadcast delivery apparatus 11 ... Web request reception part 12 ... Search condition management part 13 ... Program search part 14 ... Program guide production | generation part 15 ... For apparatuses Program information distribution unit 21 ... Program information data 22 ... Search condition data 23, 23a, 23b, 23c ... Program guide data 101 ... Central processing control device 102 ... ROM
103 ... RAM
104 ... Input device 105 ... Display device 106 ... Communication control device 107, 8a ... Storage device 108 ... Removable disk 109 ... Input / output interface 110 ... Bus

Claims (7)

An information providing system comprising a user terminal and a recorder owned by a user, and an information providing apparatus that creates a program guide based on a search condition received from the user terminal via a communication network and transmits the program guide to the recorder ,
The user terminal is
Means for transmitting program table search conditions to the information providing device;
The recorder is
Means for transmitting a program guide ID to the information providing device and receiving the program guide data transmitted from the information providing device;
The information providing device includes:
A program information data storage unit for storing, in a storage device, program information data in which program broadcast time and program information are associated with the program ID;
A request receiving unit that receives a search condition storage request including a search condition for the program guide from the user terminal, and receives a program guide distribution request including a program guide ID from the recorder ;
When the search condition included in the search condition storage request is input, the program condition ID is assigned, and the search condition data relating the numbered program guide ID and the input search condition is obtained. A search condition management unit stored in the storage device;
The program information data read from the storage device, searched for the program ID after the current time on the basis of a search condition associated with the program guide ID, and searched for the program guide ID A program guide generator for storing program guide data associated with an ID in the storage device;
A program information distribution unit that reads out the program guide data corresponding to the program guide ID received from the recorder from the storage device , filters program information of broadcast stations available for the recorder, and transmits the program information to the recorder; An information providing system characterized by comprising: An information providing device that creates a program guide based on a search condition received from a user terminal owned by a user via a communication network, and transmits the program guide to a recorder ,
A program information data storage unit for storing, in a storage device, program information data in which program broadcast time and program information are associated with the program ID;
A request receiving unit that receives a search condition storage request including a search condition for the program guide from the user terminal, and receives a program guide distribution request including a program guide ID from the recorder ;
When the search condition included in the search condition storage request is input, the program condition ID is assigned, and the search condition data relating the numbered program guide ID and the input search condition is obtained. A search condition management unit stored in the storage device;
The search condition data and the program information data are read from the storage device, and the broadcast time after the current time is determined based on the search condition associated with the program guide ID of the search condition data from the program information data. A program guide generator for searching for a program ID, and storing program guide data in which the searched program ID is associated with the program guide ID in the storage device;
A program information distribution unit that reads out the program guide data corresponding to the program guide ID received from the recorder from the storage device , filters program information of broadcast stations available for the recorder, and transmits the program information to the recorder. An information providing apparatus comprising: A user area data storage unit that stores user area data in which a user ID and an area number where the user is located are associated with each other in a storage device;
The program information includes an area number where the program is broadcast,
The search condition management unit further reads out the search condition data from the storage device when the program guide ID is input, and outputs the search conditions associated with the input program guide ID,
When the request receiving unit receives a program guide display request including the user ID and the program guide ID from the user terminal, the request receiving unit reads the user area data from the storage device and includes the user included in the program guide display request. extracts the area code associated with the ID, enter the program table ID in the search condition management unit, obtains the search condition outputted by said search condition management unit, said program information data from said storage device The information providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the program information data after the broadcast time is transmitted to the user terminal based on the area number and the search condition. The said program information delivery part reads the said program schedule data from the said memory | storage device, converts the said program schedule data into the format suitable for the said recorder, and transmits to the said recorder. The information providing apparatus according to the description. An information providing program for creating a program guide based on a search condition received from a user terminal owned by a user via a communication network and transmitting the program guide to a recorder ,
Program information data storage means for storing, in a storage device, program information data in which program broadcast time and program information are associated with the program ID;
A request receiving means for receiving a search condition storage request including a search condition for the program guide from the user terminal and receiving a program guide distribution request including a program guide ID from the recorder ;
When the search condition included in the search condition storage request is input, the program condition ID is assigned, and the search condition data relating the numbered program guide ID and the input search condition is obtained. Search condition management means stored in the storage device;
The search condition data and the program information data are read from the storage device, and the broadcast time after the current time is determined based on the search condition associated with the program guide ID of the search condition data from the program information data. A program table generating means for searching for a program ID and storing in the storage device program table data in which the searched program ID is associated with the program table ID;
Program information distribution means for reading out the program guide data corresponding to the program guide ID received from the recorder from the storage device , filtering program information of broadcast stations available for the recorder, and transmitting the program information to the recorder. An information providing program that is executed by a computer. Causing the computer to further execute user area data storage means for storing in the storage device user area data in which the user ID and the area number where the user is located are associated;
The program information includes an area number where the program is broadcast,
The search condition management means further reads out the search condition data from the storage device when the program guide ID is input, and outputs the search condition associated with the input program guide ID,
When the request receiving unit receives a program guide display request including the user ID and the program guide ID from the user terminal, the request receiving unit reads the user area data from the storage device and includes the user included in the program guide display request. extracts the area code associated with ID, the program table ID entered in the search condition management unit, obtains the search condition outputted by said search condition management unit, said program information data from said storage device The information providing program according to claim 5 , wherein the program information data after the broadcast time is transmitted to the user terminal based on the area number and the search condition. The program information distribution unit reads the program table data from said storage device, to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that by converting the program guide data in a format compatible with the recorder sends to the recorder The information provision program described.