JP2001006284A - Information storage device and information storage system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically record programs having the same key word without reservation by a user in the case where a key word to the programs exists as additional information, and moreover, to notify the user of it when recording for a pre-determined time has been completed. SOLUTION: When a record control part 16 receives such information, from a key word judging part 11, that a key word of an input signal has agreed with that of a key word holding part 13, the record control part 16 instructs a recording part 1a to start recording, and instructs the recording part to stop recording when the duration of the program detected by a continuing data amount detecting part 17 has elapsed, and also updates an accumulated recording time held inside. When the updated accumulated recording time exceeds a fixed time set by a data amount setting part 10, the record control part 16 informs a user notifying part 15 to inform the user of it, and further, instructs the recording part 1a to transfer the information to an external recording device for recording it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used in a broadcasting system in which a keyword and the duration or data amount of a program are broadcast as additional information, and the information storage device records and holds broadcast audio, video and data. And information storage systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In digital satellite broadcasting and digital CATV, since there are many channels, the receiving terminal device has:
Many programs have a program search function and a function of providing a program list to the user so that the user can receive favorite programs and data.

[0003]

However, in order to record the music of the same player, for example, the user must search for the program in advance and make a channel selection or reservation, which takes extra time. ing.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an information storage device and an information storage system that allow a user to record a program of a predetermined keyword such as a recording of music in advance without searching and investigating the program. And to prompt the user to back up the information at the time when the recording of the data amount of the fixed size is completed.

[0005]

In order to solve this problem, an information storage device and an information storage system according to the present invention are provided.
Keyword holding means for holding a keyword of an input signal to be recorded, keyword detection means for detecting a keyword included in the received input signal, and holding of the keyword of the input signal detected by the keyword detection means and the keyword holding means Keyword determining means for determining whether the keywords of the input signal match or not based on the keyword to be input, continuous data amount detecting means for detecting the duration or data amount of a program or data unit of the input signal, and determining by the keyword determining means Recording control means for controlling the start and stop of the recording of the input signal based on the result and the duration or the continuous data amount detected by the continuous data amount detection means.

The continuous data amount detecting means detects the duration or data amount of the keyword of the input signal. Further, the keyword determination unit notifies the recording control unit that the keyword of the input signal detected by the keyword detection unit matches the keyword held by the keyword holding unit. The recording control means, which has received the notification of the matching of the keyword and the duration or data amount of the program including the keyword, starts recording the input signal and continues recording until the duration or the data amount is recorded.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire information storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an information storage device 1 is a device for extracting and decoding a broadcast signal stream for viewing or recording, storing the extracted data, and outputting the extracted data to an external recording device 2. In this case, the input signal to the information storage device 1 includes a multi-channel broadcast program, and various contents are broadcast for each channel. Along with the music signal, information such as the duration per title, the names of the performers and singers of the music, and the titles of the music are simultaneously broadcast.

The external recording device 2 is a device for recording information on a recording medium such as an optical disk or a magnetic disk, and notifies the information storage device 1 of the amount of information recordable on the recording medium. Has functions. In this embodiment, the amount of information that can be recorded on a recording medium will be described as the recordable time Te. However, the same processing can be performed using the amount of information that can be recorded (for example, how many megabytes have a recording capacity) as a guide. It can be realized by the procedure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a more detailed configuration of the information storage device 1 described above.

In FIG. 2, a signal input section 19 is a section for selectively receiving an input signal for a specific channel from among a large number of channels. For data multiplexed by MPEG, a required data is selected. With the ability to

The keyword detecting section 18 includes a signal input section 19
And has a function of extracting a keyword such as a player or singer of a song in a music program or a performer of a drama from an input signal, and corresponds to a keyword detecting means in the claims.

The continuous data amount detection unit 17 is connected to the signal input unit 1
9 has a function of detecting the duration of the keyword in the music program included in the input signal selected in step 9, that is, a broadcast time slot of a song or a drama, and corresponds to a continuous data amount detecting means in the claims. .

The keyword setting section 12 sets in advance keywords such as names of performers and singers of music in a music program or performers of a drama in accordance with user's preference. It has a function of selecting and inputting a desired keyword from known items by operation.

The keyword holding unit 13 holds information on the keyword set by the keyword setting unit 12,
It corresponds to the keyword holding means in the claims.

The keyword judging section 11 compares the keyword detected by the keyword detecting section 18 with the keyword held in the keyword holding section 13 to judge whether or not the two match. Recording control unit 1
6, and corresponds to a keyword determining means in the claims.

The recording section 1a is composed of a hard disk, for example, and is connected to the signal input section 19 and the recording control section 16. The recording unit 1a has a function of recording a signal from the signal input unit 19 in accordance with an instruction from the recording control unit 16 and notifying the recording control unit 16 of information on the recording position (for example, a sector position). And it corresponds to the recording means in the claims.

The data amount setting unit 10 is connected to the recording control unit 16 and the external recording device control unit 14, and receives a notification from the external recording device control unit 14 to
Has a function of setting a recordable time Te that can be recorded on the recording medium as a threshold value to the recording control unit 16.

The recording control unit 16 includes a keyword determining unit 11
In addition to controlling the recording unit 1a and the external recording device control unit 14 based on information from the continuation data amount detection unit 17, the notification operation to the user notification unit 15 is performed. The details of the configuration will be described later.

The external recording device control unit 14 is connected to the data amount setting unit 10, the recording control unit 16 and the external recording device 2, and the recordable time Te that the external recording device 2 can record on its recording medium. And a function of notifying the external recording device 2 of a recording start / stop control signal for the external recording device 2 from the recording control unit 16. Corresponds to the external recording device control means.

The user notification unit 15 sends a mail or an L to the user based on the information given from the recording control unit 16.
The recordable time Te set in the data amount setting unit 10 by a method such as ED display or on-screen display display
It has a function of notifying a user that the above information has been recorded in the recording unit 1a, and corresponds to a user notifying means in the claims.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the recording control unit 16 constituting the information storage device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The recording control unit 16 corresponds to a recording control unit described in the claims, and comprises a control unit 161, an accumulated data amount management unit 162, a recording position management unit 163, and a threshold value management unit 164. .

The control section 161 starts recording of data in the recording section 1a based on the information on the judgment of the match or non-match of the keywords by the keyword judgment section 11 and the information on the broadcast time and data amount of the continuous data amount detection section 17. , Stop and delete.

The accumulated data amount management unit 162 includes a recording unit 1a
Holds the cumulative data amount (here, cumulative recording time ΔD) of each title whose keyword matches the recorded title.

The recording position management unit 163 holds information on the start position and the end position of the signal of each title that matches the keyword recorded in the recording unit 1a.

The threshold value management section 164 has a threshold value necessary for notifying the user notification section 15 when the cumulative recording time ΔD managed by the cumulative data amount management section 162 exceeds a predetermined time. Hold.

Next, the operation of the information storage system having the above configuration will be described, particularly with the information storage device 1 as a main component.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the external recording device 2 is connected to the information storage device 1, the external recording device control unit 14
Queries the external recording device 2 about the amount of information that can be recorded on the recording medium (here, the recordable time Te).
As a response, the external recording device 2 notifies the information of the recordable time Te to the external recording device control unit 14,
The external recording device control unit 14 sets the information on the recordable time Te in the data amount setting unit 10.

Subsequently, the data amount setting unit 10 gives the information of the recordable time Te to the recording control unit 16 as a threshold value of the accumulated recording time ΔD.

The recording control unit 16 calculates the cumulative recording time ΔD
Is registered in the threshold management unit 164 via the control unit 161.

On the other hand, in order to set a keyword to be held in the keyword holding unit 13, the keyword setting unit 12 selects and inputs a keyword from known items using a keyboard or a remote controller. Then, when the user inputs a keyword, the content is recorded in the keyword holding unit 13.

Next, an operation for starting and stopping recording of information holding the same keyword from an input signal will be described with reference to FIG.

The input signal to the information storage device 1 includes a multi-channel broadcast program, and various contents are broadcast for each channel.

The signal input section 19 always selects and outputs a signal of a specific channel from input signals. Here, as an example, the following description is made assuming that one channel dedicated to a music program is selected by the signal input unit 19.

In the signal of the music program selected by the signal input section 19, information such as the duration of one title, the name of the singer and singer of the music, and the number of the music are simultaneously broadcast along with the music signal. .

Therefore, the continuous data amount detection unit 17 extracts the duration of each title included in the music signal from the signal input unit 19. The keyword detection unit 18 detects a keyword (here, the artist name of each title) included in the signal from the signal input unit 19.

The keyword determination unit 11 constantly compares the keyword (artist name) stored in the keyword storage unit 13 with the keyword (artist name) detected by the keyword detection unit 18. The information is notified to the recording control unit 16.

The recording control unit 16 includes the keyword judgment unit 11
When the notification that the keywords match is received from, the recording unit 1a is instructed to start recording information, and the duration of the music detected by the continuous data amount detection unit 17 is acquired. Then, the recording of the information in the recording unit 1a is continued until the continuation time elapses.

When the recording control unit 16 receives a notification indicating that the keywords do not match from the keyword determining unit 11, the recording control unit 16 instructs the recording unit 1a to stop recording information, and simultaneously The duration of the music when the keywords detected by the detection unit 17 do not match is acquired.

There is a time lag from when the recording section 1a receives the request to start recording until the recording section 1a becomes ready for recording. Therefore, the recording control unit 16 considers this point and sets the timing for restarting the recording of information in the recording unit 1a as
When the information on the duration of the music whose keyword does not match is acquired, the recording unit 1 starts from a time shortly before the duration elapses.
A is instructed to restart recording information.

[0042] For example, in FIG. 5, already, the recording control unit 16 is notified from the keyword determination unit 11 of the keyword matching at time t _1, and have started recording the recording unit 1a.

[0043] Thereafter, when the recording control unit 16 at time t ₂ has elapsed duration D ₁ is notified of the mismatch keywords from the keyword determination unit 11, the recording control unit 16, the recording unit 1a according to this The recording unit 1 is instructed to stop recording, and when the notification of the keyword mismatch is received, the recording unit 1
Query the recording stop position with respect to a, as shown in FIG. 6, the information E ₁ for the recording stop position recording position management unit 16
Record in 3. Further, the cumulative recording time ΔD held in the cumulative data amount management unit 162 is updated.

Further, at time t ₂ , when the recording control unit 16 receives the notification of the keyword mismatch from the keyword determination unit 11, the recording data unit 17 detects the continuation time D of the input signal having the mismatch keyword detected by the continuous data amount detection unit 17. ₂ use of information, an instruction to start recording at time of the recording section _{1a (t 2 + D 2 -α} ). Here, α is the recording unit 1a
Is a margin time set in consideration of the time lag from when the recording request is received until the recording is actually enabled, for example, α = 3 seconds.

When the time has elapsed from the time t ₂ and the above-mentioned time (t ₂ + D ₂ −α) has been reached, the recording control unit 16 starts recording.
A is instructed to start recording.

Thereafter, at time t ₃ , if the recording control unit 16 receives a notice of keyword match from the keyword determination unit 11, the recording control unit 16 responds to the notification by recording it in the recording unit 1 a. instructs the operation continues to win the duration D ₃ per 1 titles of music is continued data amount detecting section 17 has detected. Then, using the information in this duration D _3, until the duration D ₃ passes to the recording unit 1a, instructs to continue the recording of information on the recording section 1a.

[0047] Further, the recording control unit 16 inquires the recording start position to the recording section 1a at the time of receiving the notification of keyword matching, as shown in FIG. 6, the information S ₂ of the recording start position The data is recorded in the recording position management unit 163.

On the other hand, at time t ₃ , the recording control unit 16
Receives a notification of a keyword mismatch from the keyword determination unit 11, the recording control unit 16 instructs the recording unit 1a to stop the recording operation in response to the notification, and the control unit 161 determines whether the keyword mismatch has occurred. At the time when the notification is received (time t ₃ ), the recording unit 1a is inquired of the recording stop position, and the information of the recording stop position is recorded in the recording position management unit 163.

In the above description, the recording control unit 16
.. At each time t ₁ , t ₂ , t ₃ ,..., When a keyword match or mismatch is notified from the keyword determination unit 11, the recording unit 1 a is instructed to continue or stop the recording operation accordingly. However, in order to cope with an abnormal state in which the keyword determination unit 11 does not output a keyword match or mismatch even though the duration time has elapsed, the abnormality determination time range β (for example, β = (1 second) may be set.

[0050] For example, when attention is paid to the time _{t 3 (= t 2 + D} 2), match the keywords from the keyword determination unit 11 after the lapse of time t ₃ is the time of t ₂ + D ₂ + β, disagreement information of Are not output, the recording control unit 16
May forcibly stop the recording operation in the recording unit 1a.

Further, in the above description, the recording unit 1a takes into consideration the time lag from when the recording request is received from the recording control unit 16 to when the recording unit 1a actually becomes in the recordable state, the predetermined time α
However, if the time α of the time lag can be ignored, the recording control unit 16 simply sends the information to the recording unit 1a whenever the keyword judgment unit 11 notifies the keyword matching / mismatch. May be instructed to start and stop recording. In this case, the recording unit 1a
The instruction to stop recording the information may be given based on the information of the music durations D ₁ , D ₂ ,... Detected by the continuous data amount detection unit 17 instead of the notification from the keyword determination unit 11.

As described above, the recording control unit 16 sets the cumulative data amount management unit every time the duration of one music title elapses and the keyword judgment unit 11 notifies the keyword judgment unit 11 of a match / mismatch of the next keyword. The control unit 161 updates the accumulated recording time ΣD held in the accumulated data amount management unit 162 when the accumulated recording time ΣD held in the accumulated data amount management unit 162 is updated.
D is the threshold value T held in the threshold value management unit 164
It is determined whether or not the number has reached the threshold value e. If the threshold value Te has been reached, the fact is notified to the user notification unit 15.

Upon receiving this notification, the user notifying section 15 issues a mail notifying the user that the cumulative recording time ΔD has exceeded the threshold Te. Or, a call to the phone, L
The user is notified of this by display means such as an ED. In response, the user instructs the recording control unit 16 to start transferring the recording of information to the external recording device 2. In response to this instruction, the recording control unit 16 sequentially reads out the music signals having the same keyword stored in the recording unit 1a, and controls the external recording device control unit 14 to store the information of the read music signals. The data is transferred to the external recording device 2 and recorded on the recording medium.

Thus, the information stored in the recording unit 1a of the information storage device 1 is recorded on the recording medium of the external recording device 2, and the information stored in the recording unit 1a overflows and disappears. Can be prevented beforehand.

In the above description, the user is notified to prompt the user to back up the contents of the recording unit 1a on the recording medium of the external recording device 2. However, the backup process can be automated.

For example, the recording control unit 16
At the same time as notifying the user notification unit 15, it instructs the external recording device 2 to start recording information via the external recording device control unit 14, and exceeds the threshold Te managed by the threshold management unit 164. Instructed to reproduce each information from the recording start position to the recording stop position stored in the recording unit 1a to the recording position management unit 163 within a time range that is not available.

Thus, music signals having the same keyword are automatically read out from the recording unit 1a, transferred to the external recording device 2, and recorded on the recording medium.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
A keyword of a program to be recorded is stored in the keyword storage unit 13, and a keyword determination unit 11 for determining whether the keyword detected by the keyword detection unit 18 matches the keyword stored in the keyword storage unit 13 is provided. The unit 11 notifies the recording control unit 16 of the match or mismatch of the keywords, and the recording control unit 16 having received the notification, based on the duration of the program detected by the continuous data amount detection unit 17 and the notification from the keyword determination unit 11. By instructing the recording unit 1a to start and stop recording an input signal, a program having a keyword, such as a music program of a specific artist, can be automatically recorded without the user making a program reservation.

Further, the recording control unit 16 does not simply start or stop recording in response to the keyword match / mismatch notification from the keyword determination unit 11, but rather a time immediately before the keyword match (for example, time). The recording unit 1 starts recording at time D ₂ -α when t ₃ is used as a reference.
a, the recording start position and the recording stop position are recorded in the recording position management unit 163, so that even when there is a time lag from the recording start request to the actual recording in the recording unit 1a, the contents of the program can be recorded. You can record without headache.

In the recording control unit 16, the cumulative recording time of the program is set to the threshold Te managed by the threshold management unit 164.
When D arrives, by notifying the user notifying unit 15 of the fact, it is possible to urge the user to back up. Therefore, the user is notified of the completion of program collection, and the information stored in the recording unit 1a is Here, overflow can be prevented.

Further, the recording control unit 16 notifies the user to the user notifying unit 15 and the external recording device control unit 14
By instructing the external recording device 2 to start recording information and instructing the recording unit 1a to reproduce information, the information can be automatically backed up.

[0062]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) According to the first aspect of the invention, the keyword judging means for comparing the keyword detected by the keyword detecting means with the keyword held by the keyword holding means determines whether the keyword matches or does not match to the recording control means. The user is notified and the recording control unit instructs the start and stop of the recording according to the notification, so that the user can perform the recording without the reservation of the information.

(2) According to the second aspect of the invention, the keyword judging means for comparing the keyword detected by the keyword detecting means with the keyword held by the keyword holding means notifies the recording control means of the coincidence of the keywords. ,
The recording control unit instructs the start of recording, and at the time when the continuation time of the keyword detected by the continuous data amount detection unit elapses or when the detected data amount is input, the recording control unit instructs the stop of the recording, The user can record without reservation of information.

(3) According to the third aspect of the present invention, the recording control means determines whether the keyword detected by the continuous data amount detecting means continues for the duration or the data amount even if the keywords do not match. At the same time as instructing the start of recording of the input signal before the keyword appears, the present recording position is managed and held as the beginning of the recording unit at the time when the keyword is notified from the keyword judging means. When recording is performed on a recording medium that causes a delay in the actual recording time, it is possible to prevent a recording break at the beginning of a recording unit.

(4) According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the recording time or the recording data amount held in the accumulated data amount managing means becomes a certain value or more, the recording control means notifies the user notifying means. This prompts the user to back up the record.

(5) According to the invention according to claim 5, when the recording time or the recording data amount held in the accumulated data amount managing means becomes a certain value or more, the recording control means causes the external recording device to record the data. By instructing the start and the reproduction of the recorded information, the information is transferred to the external recording device, and the backup operation is automated.

(6) According to the invention according to claim 6, the recording control unit notifies the user or externally records the cumulative recording time or recording data amount that determines the timing of transfer to the external recording device. By setting based on the notification from the device, it is possible to determine the optimal notification timing for the capacity of the external recording device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an information storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing details of a recording control unit of the information storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an automatic setting sequence of an accumulated data amount in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an input signal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a memory map diagram showing contents of a recording position management table managed by a recording position management unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 information storage device, 2 external recording device 11 keyword determination unit 12 keyword setting unit 13 keyword storage unit 14 external recording device control unit 15 user notification unit 16 recording control unit 17 continuous data amount detection unit 18 keyword detection unit 19 signal input unit 1a Recording unit 161 Control unit 162 Cumulative data amount management unit 163 Recording position management unit 164 Threshold management unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Keyword detecting means having a function of detecting a keyword included in an input signal, keyword holding means for holding a keyword of an input signal to be recorded, keyword detected by the keyword detecting means and the keyword holding means A keyword determining means for determining whether the keywords held by the keyword match each other; a recording control means for instructing recording of information included in the input signal over a period in which the keyword determining means determines that the keywords match; Recording means for recording information based on an instruction from the recording control means. 2. The information storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a continuous data amount detecting means having a function of detecting a time during which the keyword included in the input signal continues or a data amount during the keyword continues. The recording control unit, when the keyword determination unit determines that the keywords match, information included in the input signal based on the duration or data amount of the keyword detected by the continuous data amount detection unit. An information storage device for instructing recording of an information. 3. The information storage device according to claim 2, wherein the recording control unit stops recording the information and continues the keyword when the keyword determining unit determines that the keywords do not match. Before the passage of time or before receiving the amount of data in which the keyword continues, instruction to restart the recording of information is given again. If the keyword determination means determines that the keywords match, the determination is made at that time. An information storage device having a function of holding a recording position of a record as a recording start position. 4. The information storage device according to claim 1, further comprising: a time period during which the keyword included in the input signal continues or a cumulative data obtained by accumulating a data amount during the time period during which the keyword continues. Cumulative data amount management means to be held, and user notification means for notifying a user that recording at or above the threshold value has been completed when cumulative data to be held by the cumulative data amount management means becomes equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. An information storage device, comprising: 5. The information storage device according to claim 4, wherein the recording control unit is configured to determine whether the cumulative data held by the cumulative data amount managing unit is equal to or larger than the threshold.
An information storage device having a function of transferring information recorded in the recording means to an external recording device. 6. The information storage device according to claim 1, further comprising: an external storage device that records information sent from the information storage device on a recording medium. Is a function of notifying the information storage device side in advance of a recordable time or a data amount as the threshold value.