KR100243192B1 - Apparatus for and method of voice-operated video-on-demand service - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for a voice-activated video service, and more particularly to a subscriber of a video-on-demand system capable of ordering a service using voice, and a subscriber voice signal input for the purpose of the present invention Terminal means for generating a service command when the subscriber voice signals are identical and for outputting a service signal corresponding to the service command to the television of each subscriber, a command voice signal of the subscriber is transmitted to the terminal means, A server means for comparing the voice command with a voice command of the subscriber and providing a service to the terminal unit when the voice command matches the voice command, and a transmission means for transmitting data and connecting the transmission path between the terminal unit and the server unit. According to the present invention, a subscriber can control a video-on-demand system through a simple voice command through a command registered by the subscriber. By providing a device and a service control by a voice input method, There is an advantage that the same selection method can be provided to the subscriber regardless of the method.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR VIDEO-OPERATING VIDEO-SERVICE [0002]

The present invention relates to a voice-activated video-on-demand service apparatus, and more particularly to a subscriber of a video-on-demand system capable of ordering services using voice. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional video-on-demand service apparatus.

The terminal unit 110 of FIG. 1 includes a network connection unit 114 for connecting signals transmitted from a network, a remote control processor 116 for extracting control signals from an external remote control signal, A central processor 118 for outputting the generated control signals to the network connection unit 114, a signal decoder 112 for decoding the signals output from the network connection unit 114 into video and audio signals and outputting them to a television (TV) And transmits the menu control signal to the server side 140 by the remote control signal and the video and audio signals corresponding to the menu control signal from the servo side 140 to the television 100. The Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) unit 120 is a transmission apparatus for transmitting high-speed data between the terminal unit 110 and the server 140 connected through the exchange unit 130.

2 is a flow chart illustrating a conventional video-on-demand service procedure.

As shown in FIG. 2, a subscriber requesting a service requests a service start using a terminal device (set top box or personal computer) 110 (step 210). If the request is received, the server 140 determines whether the subscriber is a registered subscriber (step 230). If the subscriber is a registered subscriber, the server 140 transmits a menu for selecting a type of service to be provided to the subscriber (step 230). When the subscriber selects a desired service or image using the input device (remote controller or keyboard) of the terminal device 110 (operation 240), the server transmits the selected service to the subscriber (Step 250). Here, the subscriber can transmit a request such as pause, fast forward, and termination using the input device as needed during the service.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the user controls the terminal 100 using the remote control by the remote controller, and selects a menu received from the server using a numeric key or a direction key. However, such an input device provides only a limited range of selection functions to the subscriber, and is not suitable as means for searching for any information or inputting a series of information. For example, in the case of a selection menu that goes beyond one screen, the user has a disadvantage of repeating the process of moving the screen, searching and selecting again after receiving a command to move to the next screen and a procedure of visually confirming desired information on the screen. In addition, since the method of selection must be tailored to a predetermined standard provided by the server side, if various service providers provide menus through different procedures, subscribers have to know how to use all of them.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for allowing a subscriber to easily order a desired service using a voice in a video-on-demand service.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional video-on-demand service apparatus.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional on-demand driving video service procedure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a voice-activated video service apparatus according to the present invention.

4 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the terminal device of FIG.

5 is a flowchart for processing speech in the terminal unit 320 of FIG.

6 is a flowchart for processing voice in the server unit 350 of FIG.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of storing voice in the server unit 350 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a voice-activated video service in a server according to the present invention.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a voice-activated video service apparatus for generating a service command when an input subscriber voice signal matches a stored subscriber voice signal, and transmitting a service signal corresponding to the service command to a television A server unit for transmitting a command voice signal of a subscriber to the terminal unit, comparing the voice command transmitted from the terminal unit with a voice command of the subscriber unit, and providing a service to the terminal unit when the voice command matches, And transmitting means for transmitting data and connecting the transmission path between the server and the server.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video service method of a server for providing information according to a user's order in a terminal for reconstructing and reproducing information, the method comprising: receiving a service command from the terminal; Determining whether the subscriber who requested the subscriber is a registered subscriber, terminating the service if the subscriber is not a registered subscriber, determining whether the command of the subscriber is stored in the voice database if the subscriber is a registered subscriber, If the command is stored, transmitting a command to the terminal and transmitting a menu for selecting a type of service to be provided to the subscriber to the terminal; determining whether to select information of a desired menu from the terminal; The service is transmitted to the subscriber, And continuing to transmit the service until it is completed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a video service apparatus driven by voice according to the present invention. The video service apparatus includes a network connection unit 322 for connecting signals transmitted from a network, a remote control processor A voice processor 325 for generating a control signal by a voice signal input by a wireless microphone and a control signal generated by the remote control processor 323 and a voice processor 325 to the network connection unit 322 A terminal unit 320 having a central processor 324 for outputting a video signal and a signal decoder 324 for decoding a signal output from the network connection unit 322 into video and audio signals and outputting the video and audio signals to a television (TV) A server unit 350, an ADSL unit 332, and an exchange 334, which are provided with a voice processor 352, a voice processor 354, and an audio database 356 and provide corresponding menus according to a voice service request of the terminal unit 320, ) It consists of the transfer unit 330 to transfer to a high-speed data between the terminal group 320, and the server unit 350, and connect the transmission path.

3, the terminal unit 320 transmits a service request signal to the server 350 using a remote control signal, a microphone, or the like, and transmits the video and audio signals received from the server 350 to the network connection unit 322, And restores the video signal and the audio signal through the signal decoder 321 and outputs the video signal and the audio signal to the television 310. [ The remote controller control processor 323 in the terminal unit 320 extracts a control (command) signal from a remote control signal received from the remote controller, and the voice processor 325 extracts a voice signal of the subscriber input by voice input means such as a wireless microphone And compares it with the voice signal pattern of the corresponding subscriber received from the voice database 356 of the server 350 via the transmission unit 330, and generates a control signal (command) when they match. The central processor 324 selects the control signals generated by the remote controller control processor 323 and the voice processor 325 and outputs them to the network connection unit 322. The service supplier 352 of the server unit 350 receives the remote control signal or the voice signal transmitted from the terminal unit 320 through the transmission unit 330 and provides a menu to the terminal unit 320 and provides the selected program . Also, the voice processor 354 receives the voice signal from the subscribers first through the terminal unit 320 and performs a training process to match the corresponding voice command with the corresponding command (for example, 'play, stop'), And stores voice commands in base 356.

4 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the terminal device of FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a voice input unit 410 for filtering only voice signals input from a microphone, a voice command storage unit 430 for storing voice commands received from the server, a voice input unit 410 and a voice command storage unit And a voice signal converting unit 440 for converting the control signal to a corresponding menu signal in the case of a coincident command signal.

5 is a flowchart for processing a voice command in the terminal unit 320 of FIG. 3. The voice command input process 510, the voice comparison process 520, the command determination process 530, A converting process 540, and a process of transmitting to the server 550.

As shown in FIG. 5, the voice input unit 410 filters a signal input from a microphone and inputs only a voice signal (operation 510). The voice command storage unit 430 is a memory for storing voice commands received from the server. The voice comparison unit 420 compares the voice command signal stored in the voice command storage unit 430 with the voice signal output from the voice input unit 410 at step 520. If the two voice signals are the same, (Operation 530). If the command is a command, the control signal is converted into a corresponding control signal and transmitted to the server. If not, the voice input unit 410 inputs a voice command.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for processing voice in the server unit 350 of FIG. 3. The terminal signal input process 610, the voice data determination process 630, the voice voice comparison process 630, A control signal conversion process 650, a control signal determination process 660, and a service control execution process 670.

As shown in FIG. 6, the server unit 350 inputs a terminal signal as a service request in the terminal unit 320 (step 610), determines whether the terminal signal is voice data (step 620) If it is determined in step 660 that the signal is a signal for control, service control is performed in step 670. If not, the process is terminated. The server unit 350 transmits the voice data to the voice processor 354 in the servo unit 350 if the terminal signal is voice data. The voice processor 354 compares the initial voice signal pattern registered for each subscriber stored in the voice database 356 with the voice signal pattern input from the terminal device 320 (step 630) (Step 640). If the patterns match, it is recognized as an instruction and converted into a control signal by a mapping method (step 650). The voice processor 354 determines whether the control signal converted in step 650 is a control signal, and performs a service control if the control signal is a control signal (step 670). Examples of voice commands herein may be "seek", "forward", "stop", "start", "movie", "song", "singer", "end", "change" Thus, the subscriber can control the video on demand in various ways according to the initially registered voice.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of storing voice in the server unit 350 shown in FIG. 3. The voice command registration service request process 710, the server service start process 720, the voice storage process 730, A storage completion judgment process 740, and a voice database storing process 750.

As shown in FIG. 7, the server unit 350 inputs a voice service registration service request transmitted from the terminal unit 320 to the service provider 352 (step 710) and starts a service (step 720). The voice processor 354 performs voice storage using the microphone and voice remote controller (step 730), determines whether the storage is completed (step 740), and if the storage is not completed, the voice processor 354 continues the storing process, The voice command is stored in the voice database 356 (operation 750).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of voice-activated video service in a server according to the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a service input method 810 from a terminal, a registered subscriber determination step 820, A menu transmission process 850, a menu selection determination process 860, a service transmission process 870 when a menu is selected, a service selection process 860, And an end determination process 880.

As shown in FIG. 8, a subscriber who desires a service requests service start using a terminal unit (a set-top box or a personal computer) (operation 810). The server determines whether the subscriber requesting the service is a registered subscriber (step 820). If the registered subscriber is not a registered subscriber, the service is terminated. If the subscriber is a registered subscriber, (Step 830). If the command is stored in the voice database, the server transmits the command to the terminal and transmits a menu for selecting the type of the service to be provided to the subscriber to the terminal (step 850). If the command is not stored, the server terminates the service . If the menu is selected (operation 860), the server transmits the selected service to the subscriber (operation 870). If the menu is selected (operation 860), the server determines whether the subscriber selects a service or image of the desired menu using the input device (remote controller or keyboard) , And continuously transmits the service until the service is terminated (operation 880). Here, the subscriber can send a request such as pause, fast forward, and termination by voice using the input device as needed during the service.

As described above, according to the present invention, a subscriber can control a video-on-demand system through a simple voice command through a command registered by the subscriber. By providing a device and a service control by a voice input method, There is an advantage that the same selection method can be provided to the subscribers irrespective of the different menu selection methods of the subscribers.

Claims (4)

A television receiver for receiving voice and text messages from an external host computer storing character and voice information, Storage means for storing a voice signal for a service command for each subscriber; A voice signal corresponding to a predetermined service command is inputted by a subscriber and a service command is recognized when a subscriber voice signal pattern matches a subscriber voice signal pattern stored in the storage means and a service signal corresponding to the service command is output Terminal means; A server means for transmitting a voice signal corresponding to a command of a subscriber to the terminal means and providing a service to the terminal portion when a service command based on voice received from the terminal means and a voice command registered for each subscriber match; And transmission means for transmitting a signal between said terminal means and said server means. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, A terminal voice processor for generating a control signal when a subscriber voice signal and a subscriber voice signal stored in the server means coincide with each other; A central processor for selecting a control signal generated in the terminal voice processor and a control signal generated in the remote controller; A network connection unit for transmitting a control signal selected by the central processor to the server unit and receiving a program transmitted from the server unit; And a signal decoder for decoding the program received at the network connection unit into video and audio signals. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the terminal voice processor A voice input unit for inputting a voice signal; A voice comparing unit for comparing the voice signal pattern input to the voice input unit and the voice signal pattern of the voice storage unit and outputting a voice signal corresponding to the voice signal pattern; And a voice signal converting unit for converting the voice signal output from the voice comparing unit into a control signal. A video service method for providing information according to a subscriber's order, A first step of registering a voice signal defined according to a predetermined service command for each subscriber; A second step of inputting a signal to a voice corresponding to a service command by a subscriber; And transmitting the service of the selected menu to the subscriber according to a command corresponding to the voice signal if the voice signal of the subscriber inputted in the second step coincides with the voice signal of the subscriber registered in the first step Wherein the method comprises the steps of: