JP5546520B2 - Information communication apparatus and information communication method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information communication apparatus and an information communication method .

  In recent years, the rapidly spreading Internet is not limited to business use in the company, but is also increasingly used at home, and there are many cases where it is used in devices other than personal computers for Internet connection and mobile phones. In recent years, Internet television has also appeared that realizes reception of the Internet and television (television) broadcasts with a single device.

  The Internet is gaining more and more attention as a source of information alongside television broadcasts as usage at home increases from the business center. On the Internet, information is distributed by a method called a homepage, and many companies have released homepages as business information sources. Television broadcasting stations are actively transmitting information not only through television broadcasting but also through the Internet.

  Opportunities for introducing Internet address information in television broadcasting are increasing as a means for sending and receiving more detailed information in a form that complements television broadcasting. In order to refer to these homepages, it is necessary to designate and input homepage address information corresponding to a television broadcast channel. On a personal computer, you can refer to the homepage by entering address information using the keyboard. As the use of the Internet by mobile phones has become popular, homepages specialized in small screens and few keys on mobile phones have increased. However, in order to access and refer to the home page from the address information, it is also necessary to input the address information by key input.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-28897

  In the case of Internet television, reception of TV broadcasts and functions of Internet connection devices are mixed, and instruction input often uses a remote control. When a remote control is used, inputting address information on a home page with keys is problematic because the number of keys is small. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-28897 “Information Communication Device, Remote Control Device, and Information Communication System” describes an idea of mounting a means for receiving and storing address information in a remote control that is a remote control device and selecting it. ing. However, when switching from the state of watching a television broadcast on the Internet TV to the Internet, it is necessary to input the address information with a key in order to specify the home page to be viewed. Further, if the address information is not known, it is necessary to use a homepage that provides a search service.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information communication apparatus and an information communication method capable of easily accessing a homepage on the Internet related to information provided by content such as television broadcasting.

In order to achieve the above object, a first means of the present invention is an information communication apparatus capable of receiving content, connecting to the Internet and receiving a network service, a receiving unit for receiving the content, and receiving a display control unit for outputting to part is displayed on the display device information of content received, a network connection unit that connects to the Internet, an input controller for inputting an instruction from a user, to the content for each content A memory for storing address information of a related home page as address information for accessing the network, and the information communication device displays the content information on the display device and is in a viewing state, and the input control unit from the a connection instruction to the network, and displays the time at which the connection instruction to the network That acquires the information of the content, the results address information of the home page stored in the memory to confirm whether it is effective, if the address information is valid, the time of the connection instruction to the network sends the information of the time and the content to the information providing server, the address of the home page associated with the content corresponding to the information of the time and the content of the connection instruction time points from the information providing server to the network Information is acquired, and the display control unit selects the address of one of the homepages by the user to display information on one or more homepage addresses on the display device based on the homepage address information sent from the external server. Output as possible, and to one of the one or more homepages according to user instructions When the connection is requested, the network connection unit connects to the home page based on the address information related to the information providing server device via the Internet, and the display control unit displays the home page based on the address information on the display device. If the address information is valid, the address information is obtained by referring to the memory, and when a connection to one of one or more home pages is requested by the user's instruction, the network connection unit connects to the Internet. And connecting to a home page based on the address information related to the external server via the display server, and displaying the home page based on the address information on the display device. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information communication method in an information communication apparatus capable of receiving content and receiving a network service by connecting to the Internet, wherein the information communication apparatus receives the content. and parts, a display control unit receiving portion outputs for display on the display device information of content received, a network connection unit that connects to the Internet, an input controller for inputting an instruction from a user, each content A memory for storing address information of a home page related to the content as address information for accessing the network, and when the information communication device displays the content information on the display device and is in a viewing state When a connection instruction from the input control unit to the network, connection instruction of the relevant network It acquires the information of the time and the display to have the content of the time point, depending on the result of the address information of the home page stored in the memory to confirm whether it is effective, if the address information is invalid The time when the connection instruction to the network is instructed and the information of the content are transmitted to the information providing server device, and the time when the connection instruction to the network is instructed from the information providing server device and the information of the content are transmitted. obtains the address information of the corresponding home page associated with the content, information for display control unit displays the address of one or more home based on the address information of the home page transmitted from the external server to the display device Is output so that any homepage address can be selected by the user. When a connection to any of the homepages is requested, the network connection unit connects to the homepage based on the address information related to the information providing server device via the Internet, and the display control unit includes the address information. The home page based on this is displayed on the display device, and if the address information is valid, the address information is obtained by referring to the memory, and a connection to any one or more home pages is requested by a user instruction. And the network connection unit connects to the home page based on the address information related to the external server via the Internet, and the display control unit displays the home page based on the address information on the display device. To do.

According to the present onset Akira, without having to input operation of the address information, it is possible to access the deep home page related to the content being viewed, the remote control of Rutoki watch the website related to the content while viewing the content, etc. The operability of the input device is greatly improved , and content information and address information for accessing the Internet are obtained through the Internet, so that a homepage related to the content being viewed can be obtained without knowing the address information. It can be accessed and referenced.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information communication apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision server apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention. It is an external view which shows one Embodiment of the input device used with the information communication apparatus of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the information communication apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is an address information conversion table held by the information providing server device shown in FIG. It is a flowchart when switching to the Internet in the embodiment of the present invention. It is an address information selection screen in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows one Embodiment for the information communication apparatus of this invention for acquiring the address information conversion table collectively. It is a flowchart which shows one Embodiment for the information communication apparatus of this invention to input the character string code which shows time and a channel, and to switch to the internet. It is a code input screen for inputting the character string code in the information communication apparatus of the present invention. It is an example of the character string code input in the information communication apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows one Embodiment for correcting and using the address information acquired in the information communication apparatus of this invention. It is an example of the display screen for displaying and correcting address information.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information communication apparatus described in this embodiment.

The information communication apparatus 101 in this embodiment includes a control unit 102 that controls the entire apparatus, an input device 103 that is a remote controller that inputs an instruction from the user to the information communication apparatus 101, and input control that analyzes and controls input information. Unit 104, display device 105 capable of displaying both a television broadcast as an example of content and a homepage on the Internet, display control unit 106 for transmitting information to the display device, and information in information communication device 101 are stored A memory 107 serving as a storage unit, a television broadcast receiving unit 108 that receives radio waves of a television broadcast and displays the contents of the television program on the display device 105 through the display control unit 106, and a channel control unit 109 that controls a channel of the television broadcast. And a time management unit 110 serving as a clock in the information communication apparatus 101, and this information communication A network connection unit 111 that connects the device 101 to a communication network and transmits / receives information to / from the Internet, an address information conversion unit 112 that generates address information for connection to the network, and characters input from the input device 103 A character string code conversion unit 113 that converts column code information into time and channel information, and an HTML document analysis that converts hypertext markup language received by the information communication apparatus 101 connected to the Internet into information that can be processed by the display control unit 106 Part 114.

  Here, the code converted by the character string code conversion unit 113 is a character string code including broadcast date, broadcast time, and channel information.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the information providing server device 201. The information providing server device 201 is arranged on the same network as the information communication device 101, and provides a function of converting information such as time and channel into address information necessary for referring to the Internet.

  The information providing server apparatus 201 in this embodiment includes a control unit 202 that controls the entire apparatus, a memory 203 for storing information in the information providing server apparatus 201, and a user in the information providing server apparatus 201. An input device 204 for inputting the instruction, an input control unit 205 for analyzing and controlling the input information, an address information converting unit 206 for generating address information necessary for network connection based on information sent through the network, and a network A network connection unit 207 for controlling the connection.

  FIG. 3 is an external view of the input device 103 of the information communication apparatus 101. The input device 103 includes an Internet button 301 for instructing connection to the Internet, a code input button 306 for instructing code input, a button 302 for inputting numbers and letters, and an arrow button 303 for instructing a moving direction. , A YES button 304 and a NO button 305 are provided.

  FIG. 4 simply shows the functions of the information communication apparatus 101. The information communication apparatus 101 in this embodiment has a TV broadcast receiving function 105 and a function 106 for connecting to the Internet and referring to a home page. By simply pressing the Internet button 301 of the input device 103 while viewing a television broadcast, a homepage related to the television broadcast being viewed can be referred to. In this embodiment, the information communication apparatus 101 is always connected to the network, but is not limited to the constant connection to the network. Further, since the technology for receiving and displaying the television and connecting to the Internet itself is a known technology, a description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 5 shows an address information conversion table 501 managed and stored in the information providing server device 201. Address information 504 of a homepage on the Internet is generated using time 502 and channel number 503 as keys. One table is composed of a plurality of sheets, and data for one day is stored in one sheet. The address information stored in the address information conversion table 501 includes, for each time and broadcast channel, address information of a homepage closely related to a TV broadcast program, for example, a homepage of a TV program provided by a broadcasting station that produces the TV program. Address.

  This address information conversion table 501 can also be held by the Internet provider and the information communication apparatus 101.

  An example of control for switching to an Internet homepage while viewing a TV program will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  When the Internet button 301 of the input device 103 is pressed when a television program is displayed on the display device 105 and is in a viewing state (step 601), a channel control unit 109 and a time management unit are processed in response to a signal from the input control unit 104. From 110, the current time and the channel number of the TV program being displayed are acquired (step 602).

  Next, the address information conversion unit 112 is checked whether the address information conversion table 501 is valid (step 603). If invalid, the time and channel information are sent via the network connection unit 111 to the information providing server. The information providing server apparatus 201 that has transmitted to the apparatus 201 (step 604) and received the information passes the information to the address information conversion unit 206, and receives the address information from the address information conversion table 501 stored in the memory 203. It is acquired and transmitted to the information communication apparatus 101 (steps 605 and 606).

  If the address information conversion table 501 is valid in the information communication apparatus 101, the address information conversion unit 112 acquires address information by referring to the address information conversion table 501 on the memory 107 (step 609). If there is a plurality of address information (step 607), an address information selection screen 701 as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display device 105, and any address is selected (step 608).

  When one piece of address information is selected, the network connection unit 111 connects to the Internet, and the home page of the selected address is displayed on the display device 105 (step 610).

  According to such an embodiment, it is possible to refer to a homepage related to a viewing TV program simply by inputting the Internet button 301 from the input device 103 or selecting a plurality of address information displayed on the screen with the arrow key 303. .

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the information communication apparatus 101 acquires the address information conversion table 501 from the information providing server apparatus 201 in a batch.

  In FIG. 6, it is confirmed whether or not the address information conversion table 501 is valid (step 603), and is valid when the address information conversion table 501 is stored in the memory 107 of the information communication apparatus 101. Since the address information conversion table 501 is invalid when it is not stored in the memory 107 of the information communication apparatus 101, the address information conversion table 501 is acquired from the information providing server apparatus 201.

  First, connection is made to the information providing server device 201 via the network connection unit 111 (step 801). Next, the address information conversion unit 206 is instructed, the address information conversion table 501 stored in the memory 203 is read out, received by the information communication apparatus 101 (step 802), and stored in the memory 107 (step 803). By loading the address information conversion table 501 into the information communication apparatus 101 in this way, it is not necessary to connect to the information providing server apparatus 201 every time the address information is converted, and the address information is immediately acquired and the home page is displayed. be able to.

  Note that the address information conversion table 501 on the information providing server device 201 is regularly updated, and it is desirable that the acquisition processing of the address information conversion table 501 shown in FIG.

  The above-described embodiment is effective when you want to see the homepage related to the TV program you are watching when you are watching TV broadcast, but actually you want to check the contents of the TV program in advance. For example, it is convenient that information can be referred to by arbitrarily specifying a time. In the next embodiment, the address information of the homepage related to the TV program can be acquired by specifying the time and the channel.

  The control for designating an arbitrary time and a television broadcast channel and displaying a homepage related to the corresponding television program will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  When the code input button 306 of the input device 103 is pressed (step 901), a code input screen 1001 as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display device 105 (step 902).

  When a user inputs a character string representing time and channel from the input device 103 to the input control unit 104, the input character string is transferred from the input control unit 104 to the character string code conversion unit 113 in the information communication device 101. Sending, time and channel information are converted (step 903). In the character string code used in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the date, time, and channel are represented by numbers only. However, the method of expressing the character string code is not limited, and for example, a G code that designates a television program can be used.

  If the input character string code is invalid (step 904), an error message screen 1002 is displayed (step 913) and an inquiry is made as to whether or not to input again (step 914).

  If the character string code is correct, the address conversion unit 112 is checked whether the address information conversion table 501 is valid (step 905), and if invalid, the time and channel information are sent via the network connection unit 111. To the information providing server device 201 (step 906). The information providing server apparatus 201 that has received the information passes the information to the address information conversion unit 206, acquires address information from the address information conversion table 501 stored in the memory 203, and transmits the address information to the information communication apparatus 101. (Steps 907 and 908).

  If the address information conversion table 501 is valid on the information communication apparatus 101, the address information conversion unit 112 refers to the address information conversion table 501 on the memory 107 and acquires address information (step 912).

  If there is a plurality of address information (step 909), an address information selection screen 701 is displayed on the display device 105 to select an address (step 910).

  Then, the network connection unit 111 is connected to the Internet using the selected one address information, and the home page of the selected address is displayed on the display device 105 (step 911).

  In this embodiment, it is possible to display and refer to the home page simply by inputting the numeric key 302 indicating the date, time, and channel from the input device 103 or selecting the displayed multiple address information with the arrow key 303.

  In the above embodiment, the address information stored in the address information conversion table 501 cannot be corrected, but it is also possible to refer to a wider range of address information by correcting a part thereof.

  FIG. 12 shows an example in which the acquired address information can be displayed and corrected on the screen.

  According to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 9, the address information is acquired by the Internet button 301 or the character string code input (step 1201), and the address information is displayed on the display device 105 (step 1202) (see FIG. 13).

  When the user corrects the displayed address information by operating the input device 103 (step 1203) and presses the YES button 304 (step 1204), the user accesses the Internet according to the corrected address information and displays the corresponding home page. Display on the device 105.

  According to this embodiment, since the base address information is displayed in advance, a desired homepage can be referred to with a few key operations.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Information communication apparatus 102 Control part 103 Input device 104 Input control part 105 Display apparatus 106 Display control part 107 Memory 108 Television broadcast receiving part 109 Channel control part 110 Time management part 111 Network connection part 112 Address information conversion part 113 Character string code conversion Unit 114 HTML document analysis unit 201 Information providing server device 202 Control unit 203 Memory 205 Input control unit 206 Address information conversion unit 207 Internet connection unit

Claims (2)

An information communication device capable of receiving content, connecting to the Internet and receiving network services,
A receiving unit that receives the content, a display control unit that outputs the content information received by the receiving unit for display on a display device, a network connection unit that connects to the Internet, and an instruction from a user It has an input control unit, a memory for storing address information of the home page related to the contents before each Symbol contents as the address information for accessing the network, the to,
The information communication device, when the display device is the information display to the viewing state of the content, from the input control unit when there is a connection instruction to the network, the time when the connection instruction to the network acquires the information of the content being displayed with time, the result in which the address information of the home page stored in the memory to confirm whether it is effective,
When the address information is invalid, the time when the connection instruction to the network is instructed and the content information are transmitted to the information providing server apparatus, and the information providing server apparatus is instructed to connect to the network. get the homepage address information related to the content corresponding to the time and information of the content of the time, the display control unit 1 or more based on the address information of the home page transmitted from the external server Information for displaying the homepage address on the display device is output so that the user can select any homepage address, and a connection to any of the one or more homepages is requested by the user's instruction. Then, the network connection unit is connected to the information providing server device via the Internet. While connecting to the home page based on the address information relating to, and display the home page in which the display control unit based on the address information to the display device,
When the address information is valid, the address information is obtained by referring to the memory, and when a connection to any one or more home pages is requested by a user instruction, the network connection unit connects the Internet. An information communication device characterized in that the display control unit displays a home page based on the address information on the display device while being connected to the home page based on the address information related to the external server. An information communication method in an information communication apparatus capable of receiving content and connecting to the Internet and receiving a network service,
The information communication device includes a receiving unit that receives the content, a display control unit that outputs the content information received by the receiving unit on a display device, a network connection unit that connects to the Internet, has an input controller for inputting an instruction from a user, a memory for storing the home page address information associated with the content before each Symbol contents as the address information for accessing the network, and
In the information communication device, when the content information is displayed on the display device and in a viewing state, if there is a connection instruction to the network from the input control unit, the time at which the connection instruction to the network is instructed acquires the information of the content being displayed with time, depending on the result of the address information of the home page stored in the memory to confirm whether it is effective,
When the address information is invalid, the time when the connection instruction to the network is instructed and the content information are transmitted to the information providing server apparatus, and the information providing server apparatus is instructed to connect to the network. get the homepage address information related to the content corresponding to the time and information of the content of the time, the display control unit 1 or more based on the address information of the home page transmitted from the external server Information for displaying the homepage address on the display device is output so that the user can select any homepage address, and a connection to one or more homepages is requested by the user's instruction. And the network connection unit to the information providing server device via the Internet. While connecting to the home page based on the address information that displays a home page in which the display control unit based on the address information to the display device,
When the address information is valid, the address information is obtained by referring to the memory, and when a connection to any one or more home pages is requested by a user instruction, the network connection unit connects the Internet. An information communication method characterized by connecting to a home page based on the address information related to the external server via the display and the display control unit displaying the home page based on the address information on the display device.

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