JP2000312191A - Transmission reception system, transmitter, receiver and display control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve operability of a user that retrieves a source in a transmission reception system. SOLUTION: In this transmission reception system, a transmitter 3 transmits each source with attached information, denoting the genre of each source to a receiver 7, the receiver 7 reads the attached information attached respectively to a plurality of the sources, compares the read attached information with user information stored in advance in a storage means, extracts a source whose genre matches with that of the source stored in the storage means and a display means displays an index of the extracted source. Thus, a source retrieval menu, consisting of indices of sources in response to the preference of a user can be served for the user and the operability of the user that retrieves a source, can be enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transmission / reception system, a transmission device, a reception device, and a display control method, and is suitably applied to, for example, a digital data broadcasting system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the remarkable spread of the Internet used by an unspecified number of users, WWW (World Wide Web) has been widely introduced as an information search system for searching for various information distributed on the Internet. Have been. In this WWW, a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a client) owned by a user has a W
By installing software called a WWW browser (hereinafter simply referred to as a browser), starting this browser in response to a user operation, and accessing a WWW server (hereinafter simply referred to as a server) The user can browse information stored in the server.

When a browser is started by a user operation, a client first displays a home page called a portal page on a monitor and selects a desired title from a plurality of titles displayed on the portal page. The user is prompted to do so. In this state, when a desired title is selected by a user's operation, the client accesses a server storing information corresponding to the selected title and displays the information corresponding to the title on a monitor. .

[0004] Such a portal page can select and display only a title of information according to the user's preference from a plurality of information provided from a server. Hereinafter, a method of displaying the portal page will be specifically described. First, when a title desired to be displayed on the portal page is selected from a plurality of pieces of information that can be provided from the server by a user operation, the client transmits title display information including information on the title desired to be displayed to the server. Send.

[0005] When title display information is supplied from a client, the server issues identification information for identifying the client, and stores the identification information and the supplied title display information as a set in an internal recording medium. . At the same time, the server transmits the issued identification information as so-called cookie data to the client, and the client stores the identification information in an internal recording medium.

[0006] When the browser is started by a user operation, the client transfers the above-mentioned identification information to the server. The server reads the title display information from the internal recording medium based on the identification information, generates a portal page corresponding to the title display information, transmits the portal page to the client, and displays the portal page on the monitor of the client.

[0007]

In the information retrieval system having such a configuration, that is, WWW, a bidirectional communication path must be provided between the server and the client, and the client inquires the server about the title display. As the number of users, that is, the number of clients increases, it becomes necessary to change the system so as to improve the data processing capability of the server. Incidentally, in the digital data broadcasting system, there is a problem that the portal page itself does not exist and the user is inconvenient when searching for information.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to propose a transmitting / receiving system, a transmitting apparatus, a receiving apparatus, and a display control method which can improve operability when searching for a material. .

[0009]

According to the present invention, a plurality of materials supplied from material supply means are transmitted from a transmitting device, and the plurality of transmitted materials are received by a receiving device. In a transmission / reception system that selects a desired material and displays an image corresponding to the selected material on a display unit, the transmission device adds an additional information indicating a type of each material to each of the plurality of materials. Means, and a transmitting means for transmitting a plurality of materials to which the additional information is respectively added, wherein the receiving device stores user information indicating a type of the material desired by the user, which is input using predetermined input means. Means, receiving means for receiving a plurality of materials transmitted from the transmitting device, and additional information respectively added to the plurality of materials, and reading the read additional information. By comparing the user information stored in the storage means and extracts the type of matching material, and to provide a display control means for displaying the heading of the material and the extraction on the display means.

[0010] Additional information indicating the type of each material is added to each of the plurality of materials and transmitted from the transmitting device, and the receiving device reads out the additional information respectively added to the plurality of materials, and reads the additional information. And the user information pre-stored in the storage means to extract a material of the same type and display the heading of the extracted material on the display means, so that the heading of the material according to the user's preference can be obtained. A material search screen can be provided to the user.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Configuration of Digital Data Broadcasting System In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a digital data broadcasting system as a whole, and a broadcast target video material (hereinafter, referred to as a digital data) transmitted from a transmitting device 3 installed in a broadcasting station. This is referred to as content) via the communication satellite 5 to the receiving device 7 installed at the viewer's home.

FIG. 2 shows a specific configuration of the transmitting device 3.
When each of the content authoring terminals 11A to 11N constituting the editing means of the content editing unit 9 is supplied with a content such as a movie or a sports video produced by a content producer as a material supplying means, the content is operated by an operator. Edit as needed. When the editing operation by the operator is completed, the content authoring terminals 11A to 11N transfer the edited content to, for example, MHEG (Multimedia and Hypermedia In).
formation Coding Experts Group) standards and HTML (Hy
perText Markup Language), and converts the resulting content data S1A to
S1N is sent to the content database 14.

The content database 14 stores content data S1A to S1N supplied from each of the content authoring terminals 11A to 11N. The content database 14 reads out the content data S1 to be broadcast at a predetermined timing, and reads out the content data S1 to be broadcast. 15 The broadcast content transmission server 15 transmits the content data S1 to, for example, a DSM-CC (Digital Storage
After converting to a data format of dia-Command and Control) format, the data format is further converted to a continuous packet sequence of a transport stream (TS: Transport Stream) called a data carousel, and the transport stream S5 is transmitted to the multiplexer 17.

The multiplexer 17 adds the transport stream S5 to the transport stream S5.
5 (hereinafter referred to as PSI (Program Specific Inforamatio)
n)) and a service information (SI) indicating a material name and the like, and multiplexes the transport stream S5. The resulting transmission data S7
To the modulator 19.

The modulator 19 performs a modulation process on the transmission data S7 based on a predetermined modulation method, and supplies a transmission signal S9 obtained as a result to an antenna 21 as a transmission means. After amplifying the transmission signal S9 to a predetermined signal level, the antenna 21 emits a radio wave corresponding to the amplified transmission signal S9 toward the communication satellite 5 (FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 3, the receiving device 7 receives a radio wave transmitted from the communication satellite 5 (FIG. 1) by an antenna 25 as a receiving means, and receives a reception signal S11 obtained as a result. Is input to the tuner unit 29.
The tuner unit 29 receives the reception signal S13 having a frequency corresponding to the instruction of the main control unit 31 from the reception signal S11.
And sends it to the demodulator unit 33.

The demodulator section 33 receives the received signal S13
Is demodulated based on a predetermined demodulation method to generate a transport stream S15, which is transmitted to the error correction unit 35. The error correction unit 35 corrects an error in the transport stream S15, and converts the resulting transport stream S17 into a descramble unit 37.
To send to.

The descrambler 37 descrambles the transport stream S17 and sends the resulting transport stream S19 to the demultiplexer 39. The demultiplex unit 39 uses packet identification information (hereinafter referred to as PID (Packet IDentifier)) for identifying the TS packet stored in each TS (Transport Stream) packet forming the transport stream S19.
), A TS packet storing a PID corresponding to the instruction of the main control unit 31 is extracted, and a transport stream S21 including the extracted TS packet is transmitted to the data decoding unit 41. .

The data decoder 41 converts the transport stream S21 into a data format based on the MHEG standard or HTML, and sends out the resulting content data S23 to the graphic engine 43. Graphic engine unit 4 constituting display control means
3 performs an image generation process called rendering on the content data S23 in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 31, and sends the resulting image data S25 to the graphic controller unit 45. The graphic controller unit 45 performs a predetermined modulation process on the image data S25 to thereby control the image data S2.
An image corresponding to 5 is displayed on a monitor 47 as a display unit.

By the way, the main control unit 31
PU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Onl
y Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), EEP
ROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable RO)
M), a timer, and the like, and controls the operation of each circuit of the receiver 27. An IC (Integrated Circuit) card 49 stores information such as viewer charging information and a decryption key for descrambling in an internal EEPROM, and notifies the main control unit 31 of the stored information. I do. The user operation receiving unit 51 receives a radio signal R1 such as infrared light transmitted from a remote controller 53 constituting an input unit by a user operation.
Is received, the operation data S corresponding to the radio signal R1 is received.
29, and sends it to the main control unit 31. The main control unit 31 transmits the operation data S
By controlling the operation of each circuit based on 29, the operation according to the instruction of the user is performed by the receiver 27.

(2) Portal page display control method Here, a portal page is generated as a material search screen used when a desired content is selected from a plurality of contents that can be provided by the transmitting device 2 and the receiving device A portal page display control method to be displayed on the monitor 47 will be described. First, a portal page display control method performed by the transmission device 3 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.

Step SP2 entered from step SP1
, The content authoring terminals 11A to 11N
Is the GU displayed on the monitor when editing content.
By a user operation performed via I (Graphical User Interface), additional information indicating the type of the content is added to the content to be edited. FIG.
5 shows a data structure of additional information when the data format of the content is HTML. This additional information indicates that the content to which the additional information is added is movie information for men and ages 20s to 30s. As described above, when transmitting the content, the transmission device 3 can specify and send a viewing target of the content.

At this time, the content authoring terminal 11
A to 11N create a template 60 as shown in FIG. 6 for displaying the headline of the content at a predetermined position on the screen on the portal page, and perform editing work of the content according to the template 60. Has been made to do.

At step SP3, the content database 13 stores the content authoring terminals 11A to 11A.
Content data S1 with additional information added from 11N
When A to S1N are supplied, the content data S1
A to S1N are stored, and the process proceeds to step SP4, where the content data S1 to be transmitted is read out as necessary and transferred to the broadcast content transmission server 15.

In step SP5, the broadcast content transmission server 15 converts the content data S1 into a DSM-C
After converting to the data format of the C format, a transport stream S5 called a data carousel is further provided.
And sends this to the multiplexer 17. Then, in step SP6, the multiplexer 17 adds the PSI and the SI to the transport stream S5 and multiplexes the same, and transmits the transmission data S7 obtained as a result to the modulator 19.
To send to.

In step SP7, the modulator 19
After generating the transmission signal S9 by modulating the transmission data S7 and supplying it to the antenna 21, the process proceeds to step SP8, and when the antenna 21 emits a radio wave corresponding to the transmission signal S9, the process returns to step SP2 to return to the above step SP2. The operation is sequentially repeated.

Next, a portal page display control method performed by the receiving device 7 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step SP16 entered from step SP15, the main control unit 31 of the receiving device 7 responds to a user's input operation input from the remote controller 53 via the user operation receiving unit 51, as shown in FIG. Page display setting screen 70
Is displayed.

The portal page display setting screen 70 classifies the content provided from the transmission device 3 into a plurality of categories and displays the headings of the classified plurality of categories, respectively, so that a desired one of the plurality of categories is displayed. And the age and gender of the user who is the viewer can be specified.

When the user performs an input operation on the remote controller 53, the main control section 31 specifies information about the user, such as the user's favorite category, age, and gender, from the portal page display setting screen 70. Proceeding to step SP17, the designated result is stored as user information in a storage means such as an internal EEPROM. Incidentally, the data format of the user information is the same as the additional information as shown in FIG.

In step SP18, the demultiplex unit 39 extracts a TS packet in which a required PID is stored from the transport stream S5 sent from the transmitting device 3, and extracts the TS packet in the extracted TS packet. Is transmitted to the data decoding unit 41.

In step SP19, the data decoding unit 41 converts the transport stream S21 into a data format based on the MHEG standard or HTML, and sends out the resulting content data S23 to the graphic engine unit 43. Subsequent step SP2
At 0, the graphic engine unit 43 reads additional information respectively added to a plurality of content groups forming the content data S23 supplied from the data decoding unit 41.

In step SP21, the graphic engine unit 43 compares the additional information added to the content transmitted from the transmission device 3 with the user information stored in the main control unit 31 in advance, and Content to which additional information corresponding to information is added, that is, a portal page template 6
The content to be displayed at 0 is determined.

In response to this, in step SP22,
The graphic engine unit 43 generates a portal page by superimposing and displaying the title of the content determined as the display target on the template 60, and proceeds to step SP23 to generate the display image data S25 corresponding to the generated portal page. Graphic controller 45
To send to. In the following step SP24, the graphic controller unit 45 displays a portal page 80 as shown in FIG.

In step SP25, the main control section 31 determines whether or not there is a request to change the portal page by the operation of the user. As a result, if it is determined that there is a request to change the portal page, step SP16 And the operation is repeated, and when it is determined that there is no request, the process proceeds to step SP26. In this step SP26, when detecting that the desired content is designated among the plurality of contents displayed on the portal page via the remote controller 53, the main control unit 31 displays the image of the designated content on the monitor 47. To be displayed. Thus, the user can browse the desired content. Next, the process moves to step SP27 and ends.

(3) Operation and Effect In the above configuration, when user information is input from the remote controller 53 by a user operation, the receiving device 7 stores the user information in the EEPROM of the main control unit 31. . In this state, the transmission device 3 adds and transmits additional information indicating the type of each content to each of the content groups supplied from the content creator, and transmits the content as a template that defines the display format of the portal page. Send

The receiving device 7 reads the additional information from the group of contents sent from the transmitting device 3 and compares the read additional information with the user information stored in the main control unit 31 in advance. The content to which the additional information matching the information is added is determined. Then, the receiving device 7 provides the portal page corresponding to the user's preference to the user by superimposing the determined content heading on the template and displaying it on the monitor 47.

As described above, in the digital data broadcasting system 1, the transmitting device 3 is transmitted from the receiving device 7 using a telephone line or the like.
The portal page can be provided to the user without providing an upward communication path to the user, and it is necessary to perform processing from the receiving device 7 to the transmitting device 3 only by adding additional information to the content and transmitting the content from the transmitting device 3. Therefore, even if the number of users increases, there is no need to change the system to improve the data processing capability of the transmitting device 3.

According to the above configuration, additional information is added to each content group and transmitted from the transmitting device 3, and the receiving device 7 corresponds to user information specified in advance from the content group received. By selecting a content to which the additional information is added and generating a portal page that displays the content of the selected content, a portal page according to the user's preference can be provided to the user, thus searching for the content. Operability at the time of operation can be improved.

(4) Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiment, user information such as user's favorite contents, age, and gender is received by the receiving device 7.
Is stored in the main control unit 31 of the transmission device 3
In the above description, a case has been described in which a headline of a content to which additional information corresponding to the user information stored in the main control section 31 is added is displayed on a portal page among the content groups sent from the present invention. The present invention is not limited to this. For example, local information such as a postal code indicating the area where the user lives is stored as user information in the main control unit 31 of the receiving device 7, and the content relating to the nationwide weather forecast is transmitted from the transmitting device 3. By generating and transmitting the information for each area, and by adding the regional information as additional information to each content composed of the weather forecast of each area and transmitting the information, the receiving apparatus 7 side displays the weather in the area where the user lives. Only the content of the forecast may be displayed on the monitor 47.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the user information is stored in the EEPROM of the main control unit 31 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The information may be written in an EEPROM inside the C card 49. In this case, the user can generate his / her own portal page regardless of the receiving device 7 used by carrying the IC card 49 storing the user information. can do.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described where the present invention is applied to digital data broadcasting system 1 for transmitting contents via communication satellite 5, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely applied to a broadcasting system for transmitting contents via the Internet, a transmission / reception system used in cable television, digital terrestrial broadcasting, and the like.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, additional information indicating the type of each material is added to each of a plurality of materials and transmitted from the transmitting device. Reading the additional information that has been read, comparing the read additional information with the user information stored in advance in the storage unit, extracting a material of the same type, and displaying a heading of the extracted material on the display unit. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a user with a material search screen including a material heading according to the user's preference, and thus it is possible to improve operability when searching for a material.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a digital data broadcasting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmission device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiving device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a portal page display control method by the transmission device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a data structure of additional information.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a template of a portal page.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a portal page display control method by the receiving device.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a portal page display setting screen.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of a portal page.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital data broadcasting system, 3 ... Transmission device, 5 ... Communication satellite, 7 ... Reception device, 9 ... Content supply unit, 11 ... Content authoring terminal, 13
... Content database, 15 ... Broadcast content transmission server, 17 ... multiplexer, 19 ... modulator, 21, 25 ... antenna, 27 ... receiver, 31 ...
... Main control section, 39... Demultiplex, 41... Data decoding section, 43... Graphic engine section, 45... Graphic controller section, 4.
7 Monitor.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of materials supplied from a material supply means are respectively transmitted from a transmitting device, the plurality of transmitted materials are received by a receiving device, a desired material is selected, and the selected material is selected. In a transmission / reception system that displays a corresponding image on a display unit, the transmission device includes: an editing unit that adds additional information indicating a type of each material to each of the plurality of materials; A transmitting unit for transmitting a plurality of materials, the receiving device comprising: a storing unit configured to store user information indicating a type of the material desired by the user, which is input using a predetermined input unit; Receiving means for receiving the plurality of materials, and reading the additional information respectively added to the plurality of materials received by the receiving means, Display control means for comparing the read additional information with the user information stored in the storage means, extracting the material of the same type, and displaying a heading of the extracted material on the display means A transmission / reception system comprising: 2. The additional information includes information on the age and gender of the user who is to view the material in addition to the type of the material. The user information includes the type of the material desired by the user. 2. The transmission / reception system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission / reception system comprises information on the age and gender of the user. 3. The transmitting device generates a display screen including a title frame for displaying the title of the material by an editing unit, and transmits the material including the display screen together with the plurality of materials from the transmitting unit. The receiving device receives the material of the display screen sent from the transmitting device by the receiving means, and superimposes the heading of the material on the heading frame of the display screen by the display control means. The transmission / reception system according to claim 1, wherein the information is displayed on the display means. 4. A plurality of materials supplied from a material supply means are respectively transmitted from a transmitting device, the plurality of transmitted materials are received by a receiving device, a desired material is selected, and a desired material is selected. The transmission device of the transmission / reception system that displays a corresponding image on a display unit, wherein the editing unit adds, to each of the plurality of materials, additional information indicating a type of each material; A transmission unit for transmitting the material. 5. The transmitting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the additional information is information on the age and gender of a user who is to view the material, in addition to the type of the material. 6. The editing means generates a display screen including a title frame for displaying the title of the material, and the transmitting means transmits the material including the display screen together with the plurality of materials. The transmitting device according to claim 4, wherein: 7. A plurality of materials supplied from a material supply means are respectively transmitted from a transmitting device, the plurality of transmitted materials are received by a receiving device, a desired material is selected, and the selected material is selected. The receiving device of the transmitting / receiving system for displaying a corresponding image on a display device, wherein the storing device stores user information indicating a type of the material desired by the user, which is input using a predetermined input device, and transmits from the transmitting device. Receiving means for receiving the plurality of materials which are received, and additional information respectively added to the plurality of materials received by the receiving means, and the read additional information and the read additional information are stored in the storage means. A display control means for comparing the user information with the user information to extract the material of the same type, and displaying a heading of the extracted material on the display means; Receiver characterized in that it comprises and. 8. The additional information includes age and gender information of a user who is to view the material in addition to the type of the material. The user information includes, in addition to the type of the material desired by the user, The receiving device according to claim 7, wherein the receiving device includes information on the age and gender of the user. 9. The receiving means, when a material indicating a display screen comprising a heading frame for displaying the heading of the material is sent from the transmitting device together with the plurality of materials, the material indicating the display screen. 8. The display control means, wherein the display control means superimposes a heading of the material on the heading frame of the display screen and displays the heading on the display means.
3. The receiving device according to claim 1. 10. A plurality of materials supplied from a material supply means are respectively transmitted from a transmitting device, the plurality of transmitted materials are received by a receiving device, a desired material is selected, and the selected material is selected. In a display control method of a transmission / reception system that displays a corresponding image on a display unit, the transmission device transmits, to each of the plurality of materials, additional information indicating a type of each material, and the reception device includes: User information indicating the type of the material desired by the user input using a predetermined input means is stored in the storage means,
After receiving the plurality of materials transmitted from the transmission device, read the additional information respectively added to the plurality of materials, the read additional information and the user information stored in the storage means, A display control method comprising: extracting the materials having the same type by comparing the data with each other; and displaying a heading of the extracted materials on the display means. 11. The additional information includes information on the age and gender of the user who is to view the material in addition to the type of the material, and the user information includes information on the type of the material desired by the user. 11. The information of age and gender of the user.
Display control method described in 1. 12. The transmitting device generates a display screen including a heading frame for displaying the heading of the material and transmits the display screen together with the plurality of materials. The receiving device transmits the display screen from the transmitting device. The display control method according to claim 10, further comprising: receiving a material indicating the coming display screen, superimposing a heading of the material on the heading frame of the display screen, and displaying the material on the display unit.