KR100265724B1 - Internet television - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An internet television is provided to easily access to a webpage with information related with a broadcasting program by using a website information transmitted by VBI(vertical blanking interval) data. CONSTITUTION: A data processor(520) detects a transmitted website address superimposed with the television waves. A memory(514) stores the corresponding webpage. A graphic processor(516) converts the stored webpage to an image signal. A display displays the image signal generated by the graphic processor(516). When a website is detected at the data processor(520), a controller controls a modem to access to an internet server and transmit the website address to the internet server. The controller also controls the memory(514) and the graphic processor(516).

Description

Internet television {Internet television}

The present invention relates to an internet television, and more particularly, to accesses a website indicated by a website address superimposed on a television signal and transmits information related to a program currently being broadcast. It relates to a device that can receive through.

Internet television is a device capable of performing a television function and a communication function by creating a modem in a normal television. In particular, since it is equipped with a web browser (wep browser) can be connected to the Internet server (internet server) to enjoy web surfing (web surfing).

Recently, many websites have been established for the promotion and guidance of television and radio broadcasting programs through the Internet. There are also a number of sites for the promotion of organizations hosting events introduced on television or radio.

In order for users to access these websites, they must know the website addresses for these promotional sites. These website addresses can be obtained through communication bulletin boards, publications, and the like.

However, the layer at which website addresses are readily available is limited to communications, especially those who are familiar with the Internet. Given that Internet television is used not only for familiar users but also for people with various and unspecified characteristics, there is a need to provide a convenient device for unfamiliar users.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved internet TV that detects a website address superimposed on a broadcast signal and which can be accessed directly, in order to meet the above needs.

1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a conventional Internet television.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the communication processing unit shown in FIG. 1.

3 is a flow chart showing operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

4 shows the configuration of the Internet initial screen.

5 shows the ISP login screen.

6 shows the ISP dialing screen.

7 shows a web menu screen.

8 shows a favorites screen.

9 shows a directory screen.

10 shows a search screen.

11 shows a URL input screen.

12 shows a web page screen.

13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an Internet TV according to the present invention.

14 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the communication processing unit shown in FIG.

15A and 15B are flowcharts showing a connection operation to a website transmitted through a VBI data packet in the apparatus shown in FIG.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an internet television includes: a data processing unit for detecting a website address transmitted overlaid on television radio waves, the internet television including a modem for communication with an internet server; A memory for storing a web page received from a website specified by the website address; A graphic processor converting a web page stored in the memory into an image signal; Display means for displaying an image signal generated by the graphic processor; And when the website address is detected by the data processor, controls the modem to connect to the internet server, transmit the website address to the internet server, store the web page information received from the website in the memory, and at the graphic processor, And a controller for controlling the display of the generated video signal. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional Internet TV. The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes an antenna 100 for introducing television radio waves, and a tuner 200 that tunes to television radio waves of a predetermined channel among television radio waves introduced through the antenna. ), A television color signal (TV-RGB) and a synchronization in the composite image signal provided by the intermediate frequency amplifier 300 and the intermediate image amplification unit 300 for detecting a composite image signal in the television radio wave provided by the tuner 200. The television signal processing unit 400 for generating the signal H. SYNC. The image signal selector 600 selects and outputs (I_RGB) and the display unit 700 displays a color signal (TV_RGB or I_RGB) provided by the image signal selector 600. In addition, the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a communication processor 900, a television macro processor (hereinafter referred to as a TV microcomputer) 1000, and a deflection unit 1100 that control operations of the communication processor 500 and the switch 900. .

The operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be briefly described.

Television radio waves broadcast from broadcasting stations enter the device shown in FIG. 1 through the antenna 100. The television radio waves of the broadcasting stations selected from among them are tuned by the tuner 200, and are converted into an image intermediate frequency signal VIF and output. The image intermediate frequency amplifier 300 detects a composite video signal from the image intermediate frequency signal VIF. The detected composite video signal is converted into a television color signal TV_RGB through the image signal processing unit 400, and the communication processing unit 500 provided as an input of the video signal selecting unit 600 is configured as a built-in modem ( PC communication or internet communication is performed through an integrated graphics processor, and a communication color signal I_RGB is output through an embedded graphic processor (not shown). The communication color signal I_RGB output from the communication processor 500 is provided to another input of the image signal selector 600. Here, the selection operation of the image signal selection unit 600 is controlled by the selection control signal I_SW provided by the communication processing unit 500.

The TV microcomputer 1000 controls the operation of the communication processor 500.

The operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail. The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 operates in a TV mode and a communication mode.

The TV mode is a mode that operates as a normal television receiver, and both the power supply selection signal PWR_SW and the communication enable signal I_ON remain in a logic low state.

The communication mode is a mode that operates as a communication emulator, where both the power selection signal PWR_SW and the communication enable signal I_ON remain logic high.

When the communication mode is designated, the TV microcomputer 1000 of FIG. 1 performs the following initialization operation.

-Output the power select signal PWR_SW and the communication enable signal I_ON at a high level. The power selector 900 causes the operating processor (+ 5V) provided from the power supply 800 to be applied to the communication processor 500 in response to the high level power select signal SWR_SW applied thereto.

Converts the screen size of the television to the size corresponding to the communication mode. This is done in the vertical blanking period and is achieved by controlling the operating parameters of the deflection section 1100.

-Contrast / brightness of the screen is converted into a value corresponding to the communication mode. This is accomplished by controlling the operating parameters of the display 700.

-Convert the speaker output to the value corresponding to the communication mode. This is accomplished by controlling the operating parameters of the voice output section (not shown).

In order to interface with a user, a key input unit 1200 such as a mouse or a keyboard is provided. When a mouse is used, it is interfaced through a graphic interface and a keyboard is displayed for text input. When using a keyboard, direct control is possible. Instead of the key input unit 1200, a remote control device may be used. The remote control device uses an infrared signal to interface.

The TV microcomputer 1000 ignores commands other than the TV mode switching command and the communication mode ending command among the barrel-related commands input from the key input unit 1200 before the communication mode ends. Communication related commands input from the key input unit during the communication mode are received and processed by the communication processing unit 500.

When the TV mode switch command is input, the TV microcomputer 1000 switches to the TV mode and processes TV related commands provided through key input, a remote controller, and a menu screen. When the communication mode end command is applied, the communication processor 500 is disabled by setting the I_ON signal to logic low.

The communication processing unit 500 performs a communication mode in response to the communication enable signal I_ON applied thereto.

2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the communication processing unit 500 shown in FIG. The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 includes a central processing unit 502, a modem 504, a clock generator 506, a voice processing unit 508, a program ROM 510, a data ROM 512, a data RAM 514, and graphics. A processing unit 516 and a video RAM 518.

The central processing unit 502 interfaces with the TV microcomputer 1000 shown in FIG. 1 and controls the operation of the communication processing unit 500.

The modem 504 performs data with an external communication server.

The clock generator 506, the communication processor 506 generates a clock signal (CLOCK) required for the operation of the communication processor 500.

The sound processor 508 processes the voice data transmitted by the real audio file, the wave file, the MIDI file, and the like to generate stereo voice outputs R_OUT and L_OUT. The stereo audio outputs R_OUT and L_OUT output from the voice processing unit 508 are output through the built-in speaker (not shown).

The program ROM 510 stores a boot program, an operation program, a communication program, and the like.

The data ROM 512 stores data to be stored permanently among data processed by the central processing unit 502, for example, data related to a communication server.

The data RAM 514 stores data to be stored non-permanently among data processed by the central processing unit 502, for example, web page information and bulletin board information.

The graphic processor 516 converts the graphic signal into a color signal and outputs the color signal. The video RAM 518 stores contents processed by the graphic processor 516.

The operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be described in detail.

The central processing unit 502 is enabled by the control signal I_ON provided by the TV microcomputer 1000 shown in FIG.

When enabled by the control signal I_ON, the central processing unit 502 reads a boot program from the program ROM 510 and performs an initialization operation of the communication processing unit 500. Initialization tasks include setting communication parameters of the modem 504, generating the initial internet screen for interfacing with the user, and the like.

The graphic processor 516 generates the control signal I_SW applied to the image selector 600 of FIG. 1 when the internet initial screen is prepared.

The image selector 600 of FIG. 1 selects and outputs the communication color signal I_RGB provided from the graphic processor 516 in response to the control signal I_SW applied thereto. Accordingly, the display unit 700 displays an image signal provided from the communication processor 500.

In the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2, display specifications of the graphic processor 516 are as follows.

1) Resolution

512 x 480, interlaced

2) the number of display colors

Up to 16 color representations

3) Display way

-Display characters at high speed over graphic backgrounds using techniques to overlay graphics and text

-Overlaid display of TV images and text and graphics

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, in particular, a web browsing operation. When the communication mode is enabled, the initial screen of the Internet occurs in step 30.

The initial Internet screen is a screen for selecting Internet browsing, e-mail, configuration, and TV menu.

4 shows the configuration of the Internet initial screen. On the Internet home screen, there are menu boxes labeled (1) Browsing, (2) E-mail, (3) Exit, and (4) Configuration. The user can select one of these menus using the key input 1200 or the remote controller.

If the exit menu is selected on the initial screen of Internet, the communication mode is terminated and the screen returns to the TV screen. When the browsing menu is selected, the browsing function described by FIG. 3 is performed. The e-mail function is performed when the e-mail menu is selected, and the configuration function is performed when the configuration menu is selected. If the browsing menu is selected on the internet initial screen, it is determined whether a password is required in step 32. If a password is required, the ISP (Internet Service Provider) login screen appears in step 34.

5 shows the ISP login screen. In the ISP login screen, a login ID (identification number) and a password (password) can be set, and the set ID and password can be stored.

If a password is not required in step 32 or an ID and password are set in step 34, dialing to the ISP specified in step 36 is performed. 6 shows the ISP dialing screen shown in step 36. Here is an example of connecting to UNIITEL.

In step 38, it is determined whether the connection is established. If not set up, reconnection is initiated for a predetermined number of times, for example three times, in step 40. If the connection is not set up even after the predetermined number of attempts, the process returns to step 30. If the connection is set up in step 38, the web menu screen is displayed in step 42.

7 shows a web menu screen. The web menu screen has four menu boxes: Favorites, Directory, Home, and Search. The default is the Favorites menu.

If the favorite menu is selected, the favorite screen is generated (step 44), if the directory and menu are selected, the directory screen is generated (step 46), and if the navigation menu is selected, the search screen is generated (step 48). You can specify the URL directly on the screen. The URL input menu is displayed at the bottom of the web menu screen. If the URL input menu is selected, a URL input screen for URL input is generated (step 50).

8 shows a favorites screen. As in other configurations, the favorites configuration can have a folder structure. In FIG. 8, the symbol ♣ next to the game site indicates a folder structure. If you select a game site, other sites that are attached to it are displayed on the sub screen.

9 shows a directory screen, FIG. 10 shows a search screen, and FIG. 11 shows a URL (Universal Resourse Location) input screen.

If the home directory menu is selected in steps 44, 48, 50, or 42, a web page screen is generated in step 52. 12 shows a web page screen.

In the status line of Fig. 12, the buttons marked with ◁ and ▷ indicate "Previous" and "Next", respectively. The ◁ button is used to go to the previously opened page.

If there is no previous page, it is inactive. The ▷ button is used to move to the original page when using the ◁ button to move to the previous page.

In the status line of Fig. 12, an address display field of the center display shows the address of the website which is currently connected.

13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an Internet TV according to the present invention. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 13, the communication processor 500 further includes a VBI data processor 520, and the composite image signal generated by the image intermediate frequency amplifier 300 may be compared with the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. What is provided in the VBI data processing section is different.

14 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the communication processing unit 500 shown in FIG.

The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 14 is different from the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2 further including a VBI data processor 520. Therefore, a detailed description of performing the same function as the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be omitted.

The VBI data processor 520 may include a vertical blanking interval (VBI) of an image signal; The address of the website is detected from the data packet transmitted in the vertical blanking interval.

Once a website address is detected, it is stored in an internal buffer (not shown). In FIG. 14, the VBI data processing unit 520 is illustrated as being installed inside the communication processing unit 500 for convenience, but may be installed outside the communication processing unit 500.

When the VBI data processing unit 520 is installed inside the communication processing unit 500, the VBI data processing unit 520 operates when in the communication mode.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a connection operation to a website transmitted through a VBI data packet in the apparatus shown in FIG.

The process shown in Fig. 15 is triggered by a request for a connection function (hereinafter referred to as quick service) to a website transmitted by VBI data. The quick service request is requested through a menu screen, a key input unit 1200, or a remote controller.

When the quick service request is generated, the TV microcomputer 1000 operates the communication processing unit 500 by performing a communication mode and checks whether there is a website address in the internal buffer of the VBI data processing unit 520 (step 150). If there is no website address, the process is continuously checked for a predetermined period through steps 152 and 154. If there is no website address, the service unavailable message is displayed in step 156.

If there is a website address in step 150, the website address of the internal buffer is stored in the memory RAM 514 (step 160).

Then dial through modem 504 to connect to the specified ISP. If the connection is not established, the connection is attempted for a predetermined number of times through step 162. When the connection is established, the communication protocol with the ISP is checked (step 164).

If the communication protocol does not match, the call is dropped (step 168).

If the communication protocol is correct, the web site address stored in the memory RAM 514 is transmitted to the designated ISP (step 170). The web page of the website is received and stored in the data RAM 514 (step 172). In step 174 and 176 it is checked whether all data has been received. When all data is received, the message "Data reception complete" is displayed on the TV screen and the telephone is disconnected (step 180).

Check whether the received information is displayed. If there is a display request, the web page information stored in the data RAM 514 is decoded and displayed on the TV screen through the graphic processor 516.

The VBI data packet is transmitted through a data communication system such as the Video Packet System (VPS) system of the Federal Republic of Germany or Korea Broadcasting Packet System (KBPS). The address of the website is data modulated and transmitted to one of the horizontal scanning lines included in the vertical blanking section. For example, as in the KBPS system, non-return to zero (NRZ) modulation is transmitted between the 16th horizontal syringes in the vertical retracement. The data packet will include a header, body, and error correction code as usual packets.

VBI data may be included in KBPS data transmitted from a KBPS system. Data representing the address of a website may be distinguished by header information or packet identification information.

The operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 14 will be described in detail. The broadcasting station transmits the address of the website related to the broadcasting program through the VBI data packet. The website address thus transmitted is captured by the VBI data processing unit 520. The VBI data processor 520 stores the obtained website information in an internal buffer (not shown). The address of the internal buffer that stores the website address is also known to the TV microcomputer 1000. In addition to using an internal buffer, a FLAG may be used to indicate that a website address has been stored in an internal buffer.

When a user wants to view a web page of a web site related to a broadcast program while receiving a television, a user generates a quick service request. The quick service command may be started by a separate command key installed in the key input unit 1200 or the remote control apparatus or included in a menu screen to be started when a corresponding menu is selected.

The TV microcomputer 1000 operates as follows in response to the quick service request. First, it operates by supplying operating power to the communication processing unit 500 and checks whether website information is stored in an internal buffer of the VBI data processor 520.

If the website address is not stored in the internal buffer of the VBI data processor 520, the test is continuously performed for a predetermined time. If the website address is stored in the internal buffer of the VBI data processor 520, the website address is read and stored in the data RAM 512.

The central processing unit 502 performs a web browsing operation as shown in FIG. 3 using the website address stored in the data RAM 512. As a result of the web browsing operation, a desired web page is output through the web browsing screen shown in FIG.

As described above, the Internet television according to the present invention has an effect of conveniently accessing a website having information related to a broadcast program using a website address transmitted through a VBI data packet.

Claims (4)

An internet television comprising a modem for communication with an internet server, A data processor for detecting a website address superimposed on television radio waves; A memory for storing a web page received from a website specified by the website address; A graphic processor converting a web page stored in the memory into an image signal; Display means for displaying an image signal generated by the graphic processor; And When the web site address is detected by the data processing unit, the modem is controlled to access an internet server, transmit the web site address to the internet server, store the web page information received from the web site in the memory, and generate the data from the graphic processing unit. And a control unit for controlling the displayed video signal to be displayed. The Internet television of claim 1, wherein the data processor detects a website address transmitted by data modulation in a vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a television signal. The method of claim 1, The data processor further includes a buffer for storing the extracted website address, And the controller recognizes that a website address has been detected by accessing the buffer. The method of claim 4, wherein The data processor generates a flag indicating that a website address is stored in the internal buffer. And the controller recognizes that a website address has been detected by receiving the flag.

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