JP2001111911A - Program guide data processing method and program guide data processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a program list and a program using EPG data in an excellent way and to simplify the device handling the EPG data. SOLUTION: One data of retrieved items designated in the past or more are stored, and when program guide data added to broadcast data are extracted, the stored retrieval item is retrieved from the extracted program guide data, and when the program guide data coincident with the retrieval are in existence, the stored program guide data are updated and the program list and the program itself are displayed on the basis of the updated program guide data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an EPG (Electron
The present invention relates to a program guide data processing method and a program guide data processing apparatus for receiving and processing electronic program guide data referred to as ic program guide).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various digital television broadcasts have been put to practical use. This digital television broadcast
The program data, such as video data and audio data, is converted into digital data and transmitted. Various sub data can be added to the program data and transmitted.

[0003] As one of sub-data transmitted in addition to program data, an electronic program guide (Electronic) is used.
(Program Guide: hereinafter referred to as EPG)
Service data (EPG data). In the EPG, information (program name, program start time, program end time, simple program description, etc.) relating to the contents of a program transmitted on each channel is digitized and transmitted. The receiver displays the image such as a program guide based on the EPG data. It is also conceivable that an operation such as reservation for recording a program can be performed by a selection operation in an image of a program table based on the EPG.

[0004] An example of receiving EPG data and displaying an electronic program guide is, for example, a list in which the horizontal axis is a time axis and the vertical axis is a channel number. To display a list of programs to be broadcast. Then, when an operation of selecting an arbitrary program from the displayed programs is performed by an operation of a cursor key or the like, guidance such as simple contents of the program is displayed.

[0005] In addition to such a program table, a long-term (one week or the like) program table of a specific channel is displayed, or only a program of a specific genre among a plurality of predetermined genres is displayed. It can be displayed or displayed in various program guides. The form in which the program guide is displayed depends on the software of the receiving device. By providing such an EPG service, the content of each channel can be accurately guided, and the user can easily grasp the content of the channel.

[0006]

The EPG data included in the broadcast data is program data that is broadcast for a relatively long period of time, for example, one week ahead or one month ahead from the present. There will be as many as the number of channels providing the broadcasting service, and the amount of data will be extremely enormous. Therefore, when the program guide table is displayed from the received EPG data, the program guide table is divided into categories called a genre and added to the program data in advance, or a search is performed according to a specific search key transmitted by the broadcast station. The displayed program table can be displayed. Then, the user confirms the channel on which the program he / she wants to view is being broadcast from the program table or the like classified into categories. The category is a relatively broad classification such as movie, drama, sports, news, and the like.

As described above, in the conventional display of a program table using EPG data, it is possible to display a program table divided into a certain number of categories, but since the amount of program data is enormous, it is still displayed. There is a problem that the number of programs shown in a program table is enormous, and it takes time for a user to find a target program.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, a user selects a channel on which a desired program is being broadcast from a program table displayed as a search result, and selects the selected channel. By performing this operation, the intended program is viewed.

Even when a program table classified by genre is generated, the EPG data itself receives and stores all the EPG data contained in the broadcast wave of the receiving channel, and stores all the stored EPG data. A process of extracting only program data of a designated genre from the EPG data of the above and generating a program table is performed. Therefore, even if a program table classified by genre is displayed, the storage capacity of the storage unit of the EPG data required by the receiving device is to store all the EPG data transmitted by at least one channel. A large capacity is required, and there is a problem that the EPG data storage unit of the receiving apparatus has a complicated configuration using a large-capacity memory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to display a good program guide or a program using EPG data and to simplify the configuration of an apparatus for handling EPG data.

[0011]

According to a program guide data processing method of the present invention, program guide data added to broadcast data is extracted, and one or a plurality of predetermined programs designated in the past are extracted from the extracted program guide data. Is searched for, and when there is program guide data that matches in the search, the stored program guide data is updated.

A program guide data processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a receiving unit for receiving broadcast data, an extracting unit for extracting program guide data added to the broadcast data received by the receiving unit, and a program guide extracted by the extracting unit. Search means for searching for one or more items designated in the past from the data, storage means for updating the program guide data searched by the search means as storage data, and program guide data stored in the storage means. Display processing means for generating image data for displaying a program guide screen on the basis of the program guide screen.

According to the program guide data processing method and the program guide data processing apparatus of the present invention, only the program guide data of one or a plurality of items specified in the past is updated as the storage data, and the program guide data other than the specified items is updated. No data is stored.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a digital satellite broadcasting system, and FIG. 1 shows the entire configuration of the system. The broadcast station 100 encodes video data and audio data constituting a broadcast program in a method determined by a broadcast method.
１１１, 111a to 111n are prepared in an arbitrary number corresponding to the number of channels. In each encoder, for example, MPEG
(Moving Picture Expers Group) Encodes video data and audio data in two systems.

The data encoded by each encoder is multiplexed by multiplexing units 102,.
12 for multiplexing. Here, each of the multiplexing units 102 to 112 includes an EPG data generation device 103,
１１３, 113 are connected, and EPG data (ie, electronic program information) generated by each of the EPG data generation devices 103 to 113 is converted into data of each system multiplexed by the multiplexing units 102 to 112. Add. The details of the added electronic program information will be described later, but here, the electronic program information is common information in each transmission channel.

The data multiplexed by the multiplexing units 102 to 112 are supplied to modulation units 104,..., 114, respectively, where they are subjected to a modulation process for transmission to a satellite. Wireless transmission is performed from 121 to satellite 122 by uplink u. The signal received by the satellite 122 is subjected to conversion processing for transmission from the satellite, and the converted signal is wirelessly transmitted on the downlink d.

A signal wirelessly transmitted from the satellite 122 is received by a parabolic antenna 200a connected to the receiver 200, a predetermined transmission channel is received by a tuner 201 in the receiver 200, and the received signal is demodulated. The signal is supplied to a demodulation unit 202 and demodulated. At this time, if the reception channel is scrambled, the descrambling process is also performed.

The received data demodulated by the demodulator 202 is supplied to a demultiplexing unit 203, which extracts video data, audio data, and other data of a required channel from the data multiplexed on the transmission channel. I do. For the video data and audio data extracted by the separation unit 203,
The video data and the audio data are supplied to the decoder 204 and decoded by the MPEG2 system. The decoded video data is supplied to the video processing unit 205,
The processed video data (digital video data or analog video signal) is supplied from an output terminal 200V to a video input terminal of a receiver (not shown). The decoded audio data is supplied to the audio processing unit 206 and processed audio data (digital audio data or analog audio signal)
Is supplied from the output terminal 200A to the audio input terminal of the receiver.

The program guide data among the other data extracted by the demultiplexing unit 203 is
7 The EPG processing unit 207 is connected to an EPG data memory 208.
The program guide data supplied from the separation unit 203 is stored and held. EPG processing unit 207
In this configuration, video data for an EPG screen is generated based on the program guide data held in the memory 208, and the video data is supplied from an output terminal 200E to a receiver or the like. It should be noted that video data based on the program guide data is supplied to the video processing
The video data for the EPG screen may be output from the output terminal 200V connected to the terminal 5. Further, the receiver 200 itself is configured as a television receiver having a video display unit such as a cathode ray tube, and a program table based on received program guide data or the like is directly displayed on the video display unit. Is also good.

The processing of receiving and storing the program guide data and the processing of generating the video data of the program guide based on the stored program guide data are executed under the control of the controller 209 which controls the receiving operation of the receiver 200. Is done. The details of the processing related to the program guide data under the control of the controller 209 will be described later. An operation button (not shown) is arranged on the receiver 200, and the controller 20 is operated based on the operation of the operation button.
9 executes processing such as selection of ON / OFF of the reception of the television broadcast, selection of the reception channel, ON / OFF of the display of the program guide, and the like. Similar processing can be performed by operating a remote control device that wirelessly transmits an infrared signal or the like, in addition to operating the operation buttons provided in the device. In the case of this example, a search button for instructing a search for the program guide data is provided as the operation button.

Next, the configuration of program guide data included in broadcast data wirelessly transmitted from the broadcasting station 100 to each receiver via the satellite 122 will be described. FIG. 2 shows the EP
It shows an example of a state in which the program guide data for G is transmitted. In this example, the program guide data is data divided into units called sections, and an arbitrary number of sections is set according to the information amount of the program guide data at that time. In the example of FIG. 2, one program guide data is constituted by 100 sections.

As shown in FIG. 3, for example, one section includes table ID, version number data, section number data, last section data,
Actual data (actual program data) and error correction code CRC
The data amount of one section is determined in advance. The data of one section configured in this manner is packetized for each predetermined amount of data, the packet data is added to program data such as video data and audio data as needed, and the broadcast data is transmitted. It is repeatedly transmitted on a channel.

In the example of FIG. 2, when one unit of program guide data from the data of section number 1 to the data of section 100 is transmitted, the transmission is repeated from section number 1 again. The time required to transmit one set of program guide data varies depending on the data amount of the program guide data at that time. For example, the shortest time is several seconds, and the longest time is tens of minutes. Therefore, on the receiving side, the program guide data can be obtained any time the broadcast is received. However, if the program guide data is not stored in the memory of the receiver at the start of reception, at least one unit of program guide data is obtained. Is not transmitted, all data cannot be obtained and E
The correct program guide etc. by PG cannot be displayed.

Next, a process of receiving and storing program guide data (EPG data) included in broadcast data by the receiver 200 of this embodiment will be described. Controller 2 of receiver 200
09, when generating video data for displaying a program guide based on the program guide data, a specific item is designated by operating an operation key or a remote control device,
The program guide can be generated only from the program guide data relating to the designated item. Specific items include:
For example, a specific genre or search key is specified, and a program guide is generated only from program guide data that matches the specified genre or program guide data that includes a character string (keyword) specified as a search key. I can do it.

In this case, a certain number (one or a plurality) of data of items to be searched, such as a genre and a search key designated by a user operation, is stored in the memory 208 (or the memory in the controller 209). When a new item is specified, the data of the oldest specified item is erased and updated to the data of the newly specified item. The history of the times is stored.

Then, the search for the program guide data for the stored search items is performed at any time. That is,
As shown in the flowchart of FIG.
0 stores the history of the search items such as the history of the search key under the control of the controller 209 (step S11), and performs the reception in the tuner 201 as needed based on the stored data of the history of the search items. From the broadcast data of the channel received by the tuner 201, the demultiplexer 203
Is searched for whether the data of each program indicated by the program guide data supplied to the EPG processing unit 207 is data that matches the stored search item (step S1).
2). The reception in step S12 is periodically performed at any time irrespective of the reception of the television broadcast by the receiver 200 by the operation of the user, and the acquisition and the search of the program guide data are performed in a so-called background. State.

If it is determined in the background search that the program matches, the searched program guide data is stored in the program guide data storage area of the memory 208 (step S13). As the storage state at this time, for example, new data is stored while erasing the oldest data. As the storage state of the searched program guide data, in addition to storing all the data related to the searched program, only a part of the searched program may be stored. For example, only some data such as the service ID and event ID of the corresponding program may be stored. At this time, a search score (a degree of matching by the search), data relating to the time of the search, and the like may be stored at the same time. And memory 2
The search result data stored in 08 is stored as it is (step S14).

Next, an example of processing when a user watches television broadcasts based on EPG data using the receiver 200 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this example, it is assumed that a search is performed using a search key (keyword). First, the user operates a search button or the like of the remote control device or the device main body to set a search mode of the program guide data (step S21). At this time, it is determined whether or not a key (keyword) for performing a search is set (stored) (step S2).
2) If set, the program guide data is searched using the stored past search key data (step S23).

If no search key is set in step S22, the user is caused to execute an operation for inputting the search key (step S24), and the input search key is stored (step S25). ), Step S23
Move on to

When executing the search in step S23,
The determination of the search result in the background operation already described in the flowchart of FIG. 4 (step S26), and the determination of the search result between the program guide data and the search key received and stored in the memory 209 at that time (step S27) )
Then, the search result of the search key and the program guide data acquired within a predetermined time is determined (step S28). Then, the controller 209 determines the search result with the highest matching degree among these searches, that is, the program with the highest score by the search, and when the determined program is currently being broadcast, The tuner 201 receives the channel on which the corresponding program is being broadcast, and outputs the video data and the audio data of the corresponding program from the output terminals 200V and 200A (step S29).
If the program with the highest search score is a program that will be broadcast in the future, based on the received program guide data,
EPG processing section 207 generates video data for guiding the program, and outputs the video data to output terminal 200E or 2E.
Output from 00V.

At the time of displaying a program in step S29, if there are a plurality of searched programs, each time the search button is pressed, the searched programs are switched and displayed in order of, for example, a higher score by the search. A toggle display may be performed. Also, a so-called small-screen display may be performed in which the searched video is displayed small in a corner or the like of the video being received.

When judging a program having a high score based on a search result with a search key, whether the program is currently being broadcast or a program to be broadcast in the future, the degree of matching with the search key, or a channel designated as a favorite channel , Etc., a condition designated by the user may be weighted according to the designated order and determined.

In the flowchart of FIG. 5, as the search processing, the search in the background operation in steps S26, S27, and S28, the search by the program guide data received at that time, and the search within the predetermined time. Search by program guide data is all performed,
Only one of the searches may be performed.

As described above, the receiver 200 of this embodiment
Is used, the received program guide data is retrieved and stored in the internal memory 208, and efficient storage of the program guide data is performed. That is, the memory 2
In step 08, it is sufficient to store only the program guide data based on the searched result, and it is not necessary to always store all the received program guide data, and the burden on the receiver can be reduced accordingly.

In this case, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the program guide data retrieved by performing the background operation is stored, so that the television broadcast is not viewed using the receiver 200. In some cases, it is possible to immediately display a program using the search result, and it is not necessary to wait for a period in which the program guide data is transmitted for one cycle.

As shown in FIG. 6, when there is a program that matches from the searched result, the channel on which the program is broadcast is displayed immediately without performing a channel selection operation, so that the user can display the channel. This eliminates the need to perform an operation of searching for a favorite program from the displayed program table, and allows the user to view the favorite program very easily.

In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the case where the EPG service is performed in the digital satellite broadcasting system, but can be applied to the case where the EPG service is executed in other various broadcasting systems. In this case, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a case where an EPG service is executed in audio broadcasting, data broadcasting, and the like other than television broadcasting.

In the above-described embodiment, the receiver for receiving the program guide data is configured to be able to receive only one channel. The program guide data may be simultaneously extracted from the received data, and the search may be performed on the extracted program guide data simultaneously. With such a configuration, it is possible to quickly search even if the contents of the program guide data are different for each channel.

[0040]

According to the program guide data processing method of the present invention, only the program guide data searched based on one or a plurality of search items specified in the past is updated as storage data, and the specified program guide data is updated. The program guide data other than the items are not stored, and only the necessary program guide data can be efficiently stored.

According to the program guide data processing method described in claim 2, in the invention described in claim 1, the broadcast data receiving process is periodically performed, and the program guide data is extracted from the received broadcast data. By regularly performing it as needed, broadcast data can be received even when it is not originally necessary, program guide data is updated, and for example, while television broadcast viewing is not performed, Then, the program guide data of necessary items is stored, and a program guide or the like based on the program guide data retrieved quickly can be displayed.

According to the program guide data processing method described in claim 3, in the invention described in claim 1, the predetermined item is a search key or a genre specified by a predetermined operation, so that the predetermined item is specified in the past. The program guide data obtained by the search based on the specified search key or the search based on the genre specified in the past is stored.

According to the program guide data processing method described in claim 4, in the invention described in claim 1, an item specified by a search is selected from the programs indicated by the updated and stored program guide data. By performing control to display a program having the highest degree of matching with, it is possible to directly display a searched program without performing a channel selection operation.

According to the program guide data processing device of the present invention, only the program guide data retrieved based on one or a plurality of search items designated in the past is stored in the storage means, and based on the past operation. Thus, an apparatus is obtained in which only necessary program guide data is efficiently stored in the storage means.

According to the program guide data processing apparatus described in claim 6, in the invention described in claim 5, reception by the receiving means is periodically performed at any time, and data stored in the storage means is updated at any time. The program guide data is updated even when the reception of the broadcast data is not actually necessary. For example, the program guide data of the necessary items is stored while the television broadcast is not viewed. Is performed to obtain a device capable of displaying a program guide or the like based on the program guide data retrieved quickly.

According to the program guide data processing device described in claim 7, in the invention described in claim 5, the predetermined item searched by the search means is a search key or a genre specified by operation of the operation means. Thus, an apparatus is provided in which program guide data obtained by a search based on a search key specified in the past or a search based on a genre specified in the past is stored.

According to the program guide data processing device described in claim 8, in the invention described in claim 5, the channel on which the program having the highest degree of matching with the set item is broadcast by the search means. Is received by the receiving means, a device in which the searched program is directly displayed without performing a channel selection operation can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of EPG data.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a data configuration example of one section of EPG data;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a background operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a search operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a processing example according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional search operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 broadcast station, 102, 112 multiplexing section, 103,
113: EPG data generation device, 200: receiver, 2
01: tuner, 202: demodulator, 203: separation unit,
204 decoder, 207 EPG processing unit, 208 E
PG data memory, 209 ... Controller

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Keiichi Kurokawa, Inventor 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Hirofumi Yuchi 6-35, Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo No. Sony Corporation F term (reference) 5C025 BA27 BA30 CB08 DA01 DA04 5C063 AB03 AC01 AC05 AC10 CA23 CA40 DA03 EB03 EB35 EB46

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. When one or a plurality of data of a search item designated in the past is stored and program guide data added to broadcast data is extracted, the stored item is searched from the extracted program guide data. A program guide data processing method for updating the stored program guide data when there is program guide data that matches in the search. 2. The program guide data processing method according to claim 1, wherein the broadcast data receiving process is performed periodically, and the program guide data is extracted from the received broadcast data periodically as needed. , A program guide data processing method. 3. The program guide data processing method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined item is a search key or a genre specified by a predetermined operation. 4. The program guide data processing method according to claim 1, wherein, among the programs indicated by the updated and stored program guide data, the degree of matching with the item specified by the search is the highest. A program guide data processing method for controlling the display of a program. 5. A receiving means for receiving broadcast data, an extracting means for extracting program guide data added to the broadcast data received by the receiving means, and a program designated in the past from the program guide data extracted by the extracting means. Searching means for searching for one or more of the selected items; storage means for updating the program guide data searched by the searching means as storage data; and program guide data stored in the storage means. A program guide data processing device, comprising: display processing means for generating image data for displaying a program guide screen. 6. The program guide data processing device according to claim 5, wherein the receiving means periodically performs reception at any time, and updates data stored in the storage means at any time. 7. The program guide data processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined item searched by the search means is a search key or a genre specified by an operation of the operation means. 8. The program guide data processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, in the search by the search means, a channel on which a program having the highest degree of matching with the item is broadcast is received by the reception means. Data processing device.