FR2938145A1 - PROCESSING A REQUEST FOR AN INTERACTIVE PROGRAM GUIDE SERVER, RECEPTION EQUIPMENT AND INTERACTIVE SERVER THEREFOR - Google Patents

Abstract

During the reception of a TV program, a TV reception equipment (R) receives and stores in memory associated query and answer pairs, a pair of associated request and response including a request for the interactive program guide server (2). ) and a response to said interactive server request (2). In the event of a new request from the reception equipment (R) intended for the interactive server (2), there is provided a verification step (F7) in which the reception equipment (R) checks whether said new request (REQ) corresponds to a request included in a pair of associated request and response already received and valid (REQ, RESP), and, if the new request (REQ) corresponds to a request (REQ) included in a pair of associated request and response already received and valid (REQ, RESP), a step (F8) for obtaining the response (RESP) associated with the request (REQ) corresponding to the new request (REQ) in a memory (19) of the receiving equipment ( R).

Description

Title: Processing a Request for an Interactive Program Guide Server, Attendant Equipment, and Associated Interactive Server

The invention relates to the processing of requests relating to TV programs transmitted by TV reception equipment to an interactive server. In the field of digital television, there are interactive servers to which users can, with the aid of their TV reception equipment, send requests relating to TV programs in order, for example, to obtain the title of the program being broadcast. on a given TV channel, the start and / or end times of this program, the title of the next program, etc. When an interactive server receives a request from a TV reception equipment, it sends an individual reply directly to the requesting equipment. The request and the response are transmitted through the same point-to-point link between the equipment and the server. If the server receives several requests from several receiving equipment, it must address individual responses respectively to the different receiving equipment applicants. However, users often react in a similar and concomitant manner to certain events, for example when starting a range of advertisements. Thus some events are likely to cause the issuance of a massive number of requests to the interactive server. It must respond to each of these requests individually, which poses a problem of processing capabilities. One of the aims of the invention is to improve the situation. For this purpose, the invention relates to a method of processing a new request by a TV reception equipment, said request being intended for an interactive program guide server, in which, during the reception of a TV program, the the TV receiving equipment receives and stores in memory associated request and response pairs, a pair of associated request and response including a request for the interactive program guide server and a response to said request of the interactive server, and, in case for a new request of the reception equipment intended for the interactive server, there is provided a verification step in which the reception equipment verifies whether said new request corresponds to a request included in a pair of associated request and answer already received and valid , and if the new query matches a request included in a pair of associated query and answer already received and valid, a step of obtaining the response associated with the request corresponding to the new request in a memory of the receiving equipment. Advantageously, if the new request does not correspond to any request included in a pair of associated request and answer already received and valid, a step of sending the new request to the interactive server. Thus, when the receiving equipment generates a request for the program guide server, for example a request to know the title of the current program on a given TV channel, it is not immediately sent to the interactive server. The receiving equipment first verifies if it has not already received the response to this request, by comparing the created request with the requests included in the received request-response couples. If this is the case, the response to the created request, already received, is used by the receiving equipment for example to display a message on the screen. Otherwise, the receiving equipment sends the request to the interactive server. Thanks to this, we can significantly reduce the number of requests received by the interactive server following an event, such as the start of an advertising range or the start of a TV program, which triggers the creation of identical requests. by many reception equipment. Advantageously, the receiving equipment stores in memory a pair of request and response associated with an associated expiration time beyond which said pair is no longer valid. The validity of the request-response couples is thus limited in time. For example, in the case of a request to obtain the title of the TV program in progress on a given channel, the moment of expiration of the pair comprising this request and the associated response corresponds to the end time of the TV program. . Beyond this time, the request-response pair has expired and is no longer valid. In a particular embodiment, the receiving equipment receiving a TV program through a transmission channel, it receives the associated response and request couples in a stream transmitted through said transmission channel of the TV program.

The invention also relates to a method of processing, by an interactive program guide server, requests from TV reception equipment, in which, following the receipt of a request from a requesting equipment, it is provided a step of sending a response to said request to the requesting equipment, characterized in that there is provided a step of sending a pair comprising said request and said associated response to destination of at least TV receiving equipment other than the requesting equipment. The invention also relates to a TV program data reception equipment comprising means for receiving associated request and response couples during the reception of at least one TV program, a pair of associated request and response including a request for the server interactive program guide and a response to said query of the interactive server, means for storing the associated request and response pairs received, means for creating a new request for the interactive server, means for comparing said new request with those included in the associated query and response pairs stored, and processing means arranged for, in case of correspondence between a new request and a request included in a pair of request and associated response received and valid, obtain the response associated with the corresponding request to the new query in said memory means we. The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description of the processing methods implemented by a receiving equipment and by an interactive server respectively, as well as the reception equipment and the interactive server, according to a particular embodiment of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 represents a TV program broadcasting system equipped with an interactive program guide server; FIG. 2 represents a functional block diagram of a TV reception equipment of the system of FIG. 1, according to the particular embodiment described, FIG. 3 represents a functional block diagram of the interactive program guide server of FIG. 1. according to the particular embodiment described, FIG. 4 represents a flowchart of the steps of the method of processing a request by the interactive server of FIG. 3, according to the particular embodiment of the invention, FIG. 5A represents a flow diagram of the steps of a method for receiving and processing a pair of request and response associated with the receiving equipment of FIG. 2, according to the particular embodiment of the invention, FIG. 5B represents a flowchart of the steps of a method of processing a request by the receiving equipment of FIG. 2, according to the particular embodiment of the invention. With reference to FIG. 1, the TV program broadcasting system comprises a plurality of TV data channel sources SN, S2,..., SN, an interactive program guide server 2, a channel broadcaster television 3 and an insertion device 4. The different TV broadcast channels correspond to different TV channels, denoted TVi,..., TVN, and bear the respective references Ci, C2, ..., CN. In Figure 1, there is also shown a plurality of TV reception equipment, referenced Ri, ..., Rx. The reception equipment Ri, ..., Rx are connected to the TV broadcasting system through a broadcast network, in the hope of an ADSL network 5.

In the particular example shown in FIG. 1, the reception equipments R1 and Ry (with 1 <y <X) receive the transmission channel C2 of the TV programs of the channel TV2. Note that, in the particular example described here, the broadcast network being an ADSL network, reception equipment R1, ..., Rx can receive only a limited number of TV broadcast channels at a time. With reference to FIG. 4, the reception and processing of a request, denoted REQy, originating from the equipment Ry, will now be described by the program guide server 2. It is assumed here that the equipment Ry is in receiving a TV program from the TV2 channel through the C2 channel. In the example described here REQy is a request to obtain the title of the TV program being broadcast on the channel C2. In addition, the REQy request contains an identifier of the current channel received by the equipment Ry, in this case the channel C2. In the particular example described here, the identifier of the current TV channel received by the requesting equipment is present in the transmitted request, regardless of the channel to which this request relates. Thus, if the equipment receives the channel C2 and for example sends a request for information relating to the next channel C3, this request also contains the identifier of the channel C2 in a channel identification field received by the requesting equipment . The interactive program guide server 2 receives requests sent by the different TV reception equipment R1,..., Rx, and relating to the TV programs of the various TV1, TV2,..., TVN channels. Following the receipt of a REQy request from the reception equipment Ry, during a step El, the server 2 processes the request REQy in order to generate a response, denoted RESPy, during a step E2, and transmits this RESPy response directly to the requesting equipment Ry during a step E3. The transmission of the request REQy and that of the associated response RESPy is carried out through a direct link, here point-to-point or "unicast", between the equipment Ry and the interactive server 2. In addition, according to the example of particular embodiment of the invention described here, following the receipt and processing of the REQy request from the equipment Ry, the interactive server 2 transmits to the insertion device 4, during a step E4, a message Mans of insert request containing - a request-response pair comprising the request REQy and the associated response RESPy, denoted (REQy, RESPy), - an expiry time texp, y associated and - the identifier of at least one channel broadcast to use for the diffusion of the couple (REQy, RESPy). Since the request REQy is a request to obtain the title of the TV program being broadcast on the channel C2, the expiry time texp, y associated with the pair (REQy, RESPy) corresponds here to the end time of the TV program. whose title is required. In addition, in the particular example described here, the pair (REQy, RESPy) is transmitted by the server 2 to the insertion device 4 with the identifier of the channel C2 received by the requesting equipment so that the channel C2 is used. to broadcast the couple (REQy, RESPy). The interactive server 2 could also transmit the identifier of the preceding channel and that of the channel following the channel C2, namely the identifiers of the channels Ci and C3 so that these two channels are also used to broadcast the couple (REQy, RESPy). In general, it would be possible to transmit with the pair (REQy, RESPy) the identifiers of all or part of the TV channels Ci, ..., CN so that they are used to transmit the couple (REQy, RESPy) . During a step E5, after reception of the message Mans, the insertion device 4 inserts the pair (REQy, RESPy) as well as the associated expiry time texp, y, contained in the message Mans received, into the channel broadcast C2 indicated in this message Mans, in order to transmit the pair (REQy, RESPy) to all reception equipment, here Ri, RR, which receive the channel C2, in a step E5. Thus, the interactive server 2 transmits the torque (REQy, RESPy) to all the equipment receiving the channel C2 via the insertion device 4.

In the case where the insertion request message Mans contains the identifiers of several TV channels in the identification field of the channels to be used for broadcasting, the pair (REQy, RESPy) and the associated expiration time texp, are inserted in all these channels. Thus equipment receiving at least one of these TV channels identified in the message Mans receives the pair (REQy, RESPy) through that particular TV channel they receive.

Each of the TV broadcast channels Ci,..., CN here comprises a set of sub-channels respectively intended to transmit different types of streams such as audio, video, text streams (for example subtitles) or else metadata, that is, information data relating to the TV program being broadcast (eg title, genre, theme, program start and end times, etc.). In the particular example described here, the pair (REQy, RESPy) and the associated expiration time te% p, y are inserted by the insertion device 4 into an additional subchannel of the broadcast channel C2, specifically dedicated to the transmission of the pairs of question and answer associated. As a variant, the associated query and answer couples could be inserted into a transmission sub-channel of an audio, video, subtitle or even metadata stream. One could also consider adding an independent common channel, distinct from the TV channel channels, for transmitting the pair of questions and associated response, in the case where the network allows the receiving equipment to receive several broadcast channels simultaneously.

Once inserted in the dedicated subchannel of the channel C2, the pair (REQy, RESPy) and the associated expiry time texp, are transmitted thereto to the equipment receiving the channel C2, in this case the equipment R1 and RR during a step E6. With reference to FIG. 5A, the method of reception of a TV program by a TV reception equipment, here the reception equipment R1, will now be described. The reception equipment R1 receives TV program data through a TV broadcast channel, in this case the C2 channel. The reception of TV program data on the channel C2 is represented in FIG. 5A by a step F1. Of course, this IF stage lasts for the entire period of reception of the channel C2 by the equipment R1. The steps described hereinafter referenced F2 to F4 are performed during the reception F1 of TV program data through the channel C2 by the equipment R1. During the reception of the TV program data through the channel C2, the receiving equipment R1 receives pairs (REQ; RESP;) of request and response associated with associated expiration times te% p, i. As previously explained, these pairs (REQ ;, RESP;) of request and response associated with their respective expiry dates texp, i are transmitted through the subchannel dedicated to the transmission of request and response pairs associated with the transmission channel. C2 diffusion. By way of illustrative example, FIG. 5A shows a step F2 receiving by the equipment R1 a request-response pair (REQ ;, RESP;). During a step F3, the equipment R1 records the couple (REQ ;, RESP;) received with its associated expiry date texp, i in a specific memory 19. The pair (REQ ;, RESP;) is stored in the memory 19 at least until the expiry time texp, i is reached. It is valid only until this expiry time texp, i. It is possible to provide a process for checking the expiry dates of the associated query and response pairs of the memory 19, carried out periodically, for example every 30 seconds, the couples being deleted during a step F4 if they are no longer valid, that is, whether their expiration time has been reached or exceeded. Alternatively, one could also consider deleting from memory 19 the expired couples, invalid, only when the memory 19 is filled so as to be able to record a new pair of request and associated response received. The moment of expiration is here provided with the pair (REQ ;, RESP;). Alternatively, it could be calculated by the receiving equipment R1 from a moment of receipt of the torque and a duration ti configured in the equipment Ri. The steps F2 to F4 are repeated for each pair of request and response associated (REQ; RESP;) received by the equipment R1.

We will now describe a method of processing a request for the interactive server 2 by the receiving equipment R1, with reference to Figure 5B, according to a particular embodiment of the invention. In the example described, it is assumed that the equipment R1 receives a TV program through the channel C2. With reference to FIG. 5B, during a step F5, a user enters a program Q question for the interactive program guide server 2 using a program guide user interface. From the question entered by the user, the reception equipment R1 generates a request REQ1 in a predefined syntax that can be interpreted by the interactive server 2, during a step F6. In the particular example described here, REQ1 is a request to obtain the title of the current program on the C2 channel received by the equipment R1.

As illustrative examples, the request REQ1 could also be one of the following queries: What is the title of the following program on the channel C2? What is the information about the current C2 channel program? - What is the title of the 21:00 movie on the C2 channel? What is the end time of the current program on channel C2? What is the title of the program on the previous channel C1? What is the title of the program on the next channel C.3? In the example described here, the request REQ1 is generated from a question entered by a user. The reception equipment R1 could also generate automatically and periodically predefined requests for the server 2, in particular to anticipate frequent questions that may be entered by the user. In both cases, whether it is a query generated from a user's question or a predefined and automatically generated query, the processing of the REQ1 request by the R1 equipment is performed according to the steps F7 to F11 which will now be described. The step F7 is a verification step during which the receiving equipment R1 checks whether said request REQ1 corresponds to a request of a pair of associated request and response already received and valid. The check consists in comparing the REQ1 request and each of the received and valid queries (not expired), stored in the memory 19, in a synchronous comparison. The comparison can be a strict comparison of the respective syntaxes of the two queries or a non-strict comparison allowing the recognition of two equivalent queries that are not strictly syntactically identical. If the verification F7 is positive, in other words if the request REQ1 corresponds to a request REQk included in a pair of request REQk and response RESPk associated already received, stored in memory 19 and valid (that is to say, not expired), the reception equipment R1 obtains the response RESPk, associated with the corresponding request REQk already received, in the memory 19, during a step F8. It will be noted that a response to the request REQ1 is obtained without requesting the interactive server 2. By this, we reduce the load of requests submitted to the interactive server 2 and avoids that the server 2 is faced with a large number of requests. at certain events, such as starting a range of advertisements. The request REQ1 having been generated following a question entered by the user, the response obtained RESPk is returned to the user here by displaying a message using the user interface, during a step F9. In the case of an automatic request (without prior question from the user), the response obtained in the memory 19 is stored on hold by a program guide management module 15 of the equipment Ri. If the verification F7 is negative, in other words if the request REQ1 does not correspond to any request included in a pair of associated request and answer already received, stored in memory 19 and valid (not expired), the reception equipment R1 sends the request REQ1 to the interactive program guide server 2, during a step F10. During a step F11, in response to the request REQ1, the reception equipment R1 receives a response RESP1 transmitted directly by the interactive server 2. It will be noted that the transmission of the request REQ1 and the response RESP1 during the steps F10 and F11 is performed by a direct connection between the equipment R1 and the interactive server 2. In Figure 2, there is shown a functional block diagram of the receiving equipment R1. For the sake of brevity, only the elements of the equipment R1 relating to the invention will be described.

The equipment R1 comprises a connection interface 10 to the ADSL network 5, a module 11 for receiving the TV program data transmitted through a given TV channel, means 12 for processing the TV program data received through the received TV channel. , means 13 for rendering received TV program data, user interface means 14 and a module 15 for managing a program guide.

The reception module 11, connected to the ADSL connection interface 10, is arranged to receive data streams relating to a TV program being broadcast through a given channel (C1, ... or CN), particularly the audio, video and subtitle streams. The processing means 12 are adapted to process the TV program data received, that is to say to decode them and, in the case where the data is encrypted, decrypt them. The rendering means 13 are arranged to render, ie play, the data and to provide them to suitable user interface members, namely loudspeakers for the audio data and a screen for the data. video and text data. The user interface means 14 comprise rendering and input user interface elements (loudspeakers, screens, input keys, remote control, etc.) as well as applications managing graphic interfaces intended to display on the screen. 'screen. The program guide module 15 has several roles: management of program information, presentation of program information, creation of queries for the interactive program guide server 2. The program guide module 15 is intended to create queries. REQ relating to programs either automatically and periodically (these requests being pre-programmed in module 15), or from a question entered by the user. The queries are for the interactive server 2 and are written in a syntax understandable by it. In addition, the module 15 is arranged to manage the received program information and to present it on the screen. It is connected to the user interface means 14. The receiving equipment R1 further comprises a module 16 for obtaining associated request and response pairs, a query comparator 17 and a request processing module 18. The obtaining module 16 is arranged to recover the associated request and response couples and their respective expiry times in the specific stream of associated request and response couples, broadcast through the TV channel received by the equipment Ri. The module 16 is connected to the reception module 11 and to a memory 19 for storing the received request-response couples. The memory 19 is itself connected to a memory management module 19A, for deleting from memory 19 the request-response couples having expired. The comparator 17 is connected, as input, to the memory 19 and to the module 15 and, at the output, to the module 18 for processing requests.

When a request REQ intended for the interactive server 2 is created, it is first provided to the comparator 17 which compares it to each of the requests included in the request-response couples stored in the memory 19. The processing module 18 is arranged to process the REQ request according to the result of the comparison performed by the comparator 17. In the case of a positive comparison, it obtains the response to the request REQ in the memory 19 and transmits it to the module 15. In the event of a negative comparison, the request REQ is transmitted to the interactive server 2 through the connection interface 10. The processing module 18 is connected to the comparator 17, to the network interface 10 and to the module 15.

The equipment R1 further comprises a central unit, not shown, for controlling the operation of all the elements of the equipment Ri. In addition, the modules 16, 17, 18 and 19A are software modules of a computer program. They include software instructions for controlling the execution by the equipment R1 of steps F3, F4, F7, F8, F9 and F10 previously described. In Figure 3, there is shown the interactive server 2 program guide. For the sake of brevity, only the elements of the server 2 relating to the invention will be described. It comprises a broadcast network connection interface 5, a program guide module 21 and a database 22.

The database 22 is intended to store information relating to the programs of the various television channels (title of the program, start and end times, theme, type of program, summary, etc.). The program guide module 21 is adapted to provide a program guide service to users equipped with their TV reception equipment.

In particular, the module 21 comprises a block 210 for transmitting program guide data to the reception equipment TV a request reception block 211 from TV reception equipment and relating to the programs, a block 212 for determining a program response to a received request, from the information stored in the database 22, and a block 213 sending the response to the request to the receiving equipment that issued this request. In addition, according to the particular embodiment of the invention, the server 2 comprises a block 214 for sending to the insertion device 4 an insertion request message Mans containing a pair comprising a request and an answer. associated, a moment of expiration of the pair and the identifier of at least one channel to be used for the transmission of the pair (one or more particular TV channels and / or a channel common to all the TV channels). Block 214 is a software module or computer program comprising software instructions for controlling the execution of step E4 previously described. The insertion device 4 comprises means for inserting the request and response pair and the associated expiration time, contained in the message Mans transmitted by the server 2, into the TV channel or channels identified in this message Mans, and more specifically in a specific flow dedicated to the transmission of pairs of request and associated response, as previously explained in step E5. In the above description, the broadcast network is an ADSL network. It could of course be another network, such as a satellite network. In this case, the receiving equipment simultaneously receive all the broadcast channels C1,..., CN.

In the above description, a request transmitted by a reception equipment to the interactive server 2 is accompanied by the identifier of the current channel received by the equipment. It could be envisaged that the request is not transmitted with the identifier of the current channel received by the equipment. In this case, the server determines the channel (s) to be used for transmitting the associated request and response pair from the information contained in the received request. 5 10 15 20 25

Claims (12)

REVENDICATIONS1. A method for processing a new request by a TV reception equipment (R1), said request (REQ1) being intended for an interactive program guide server (2), in which, during the reception of a TV program, the TV reception equipment (R1) receives and stores in memory associated query and answer pairs (F2, F3), a pair of associated request and response including a request (REQ;) for the interactive program guide server (2 ) and a response (RESP;) to said request (REQ;) of the interactive server (2), and, in case of a new request (REQ1) of the reception equipment (R1) intended for the interactive server (2), it there is provided a verification step (F7) in which the reception equipment (R1) checks whether said new request (REQ1) corresponds to a request included in a pair of associated request and response already received and valid (REQk, RESPk), and if the new request (REQ1) corresponds to a re quest (REQk) included in a pair of associated request and response already received and valid (REQk, RESPk), a step (F8) obtaining the response (RESPk) associated with the request (REQk) corresponding to the new request ( REQ1) in a memory (19) of the receiving equipment (R1). 2. Method according to claim 1, in which if the new request (REQ1) does not correspond to any request included in a pair of request and answer associated already received and valid, a step (F10) sending the new request (REQ1 ) to the interactive server (2). The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving equipment (R1) stores in memory a pair of associated request and response (REQ; RESP;) with an associated expiration time (texp, i) beyond which said pair (REQ; RESP;) is no longer valid. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving equipment (R1) receiving a TV program through a transmission channel, it receives the associated request and response couples in a stream transmitted through said transmission channel of the program. TV. 5. Method of processing, by an interactive program guide server (2), requests from TV reception equipment (R1, ..., Rx), in which, following receipt of a request (REQy ) from a requesting equipment (R)), there is provided a step (E3) of sending a response (RESPy) to said request (REQy) to the requesting equipment (Ry), characterized in that that there is provided a step (E4) for transmitting a pair comprising said request and said associated response (REQy, RESPy) to at least one TV reception equipment other than the requesting equipment. The processing method according to claim 5, wherein the interactive server (2) sends the pair comprising the associated request and response (REQy, RESPy) to an insertion device (4) for inserting said pair into at least one a TV program data broadcast channel. 7. Processing method according to claim 6, wherein the interactive server (2) sends the pair comprising the request and the associated response (REQy, RESPy) to the insertion device with an identifier (ID (C2)) of least one broadcast channel to be used for transmission of the torque. The method of claim 5, wherein, in the sending step, the pair comprising the associated request and response (REQy, RESPy) is transmitted with associated expiration information (texp, y). 9. TV program data receiving equipment comprising means (11, 16) for receiving associated request and answer couples during the reception of at least one TV program, a pair of associated request and response including a request for an interactive program guide server and a response to said interactive server request, means (19, 19A) for storing associated request and response pairs received, means (15) for creating a new request for the interactive server, means (17) for comparing said new request with those included in the associated query and response pairs stored, and processing means (18) arranged for, in case of correspondence between a new request and a request included in a request pair and associated response received and valid, obtaining the response associated with the request corresponding to the new request in said memo means authorization. 15 A computer program recorded on a data carrier for a TV program receiving equipment, comprising software instructions for controlling the execution of the steps of the method of claim 1, when said instructions are executed by a computer. 20 11. An interactive program guide server comprising means (210) for transmitting program guide data to reception equipment, means (211, 212) for receiving and processing a request from a communication equipment. receiving, means (213) for sending a response to the requesting receiving equipment, and means (214) for sending a pair including the associated request and response to at least one other device reception. A system comprising the interactive server according to claim 11 and an insertion device comprising means for inserting a pair of associated request and response transmitted by the interactive server into at least one TV program data broadcast channel received by a plurality of reception equipment.