JP2001142800A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize an information processor by which a plurality different kind of information are processed and optimum processings are executed respectively in accordance with the kind or attribute, etc., of receiving information. SOLUTION: Receivers 10-1 to 10-m for receiving a plurality different kind of information are integrated with an information converting device 20. In the information converting device 20, information received by each receiver are converted into a prescribed format, received information are analyzed, the kind or attribute, etc., of the received information is obtained and the output destination of the received information is selected in accordance with the kind or the attribute of the received information. Besides, the output destination of the received information is selected in accordance with a selecting indication from a user so that the plurality different kind of received information are properly distributed. Then a large capacity of information with respectively different kinds and attributes are optimally processed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a plurality of types of information,
For example, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that receives a reception signal of a satellite broadcast, a reception signal of a cable television, a transmission signal of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), and distributes the received signal to different processing apparatuses according to the attribute of the received signal. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of communication technology, computerization has progressed.
A great deal of information is transmitted through different media. At present, it is necessary for the user to prepare different receiving devices according to the type of information to be handled. For example, in an office, packet information transmitted by a wireless LAN is received by a server composed of a computer, a workstation, and the like via a dedicated interface, and packet information transmitted through an optical fiber is transmitted by the server through an optical interface. Receive. Also, when receiving the information distribution service via a radio wave transmitted by a satellite, the radio wave is received by a dedicated satellite radio wave receiver and the information is received.

[0003] Even in ordinary households, as information becomes more advanced, it becomes necessary to process a large amount of information. For example, in the case of receiving a signal of a television broadcast and a signal of a cable television and receiving packet information such as ISDN transmitted through a telephone line, a dedicated receiver, for example,
A television receiver, a cable television receiver, and a modem are required.

[0004]

According to the conventional method described above, when a user handles information using a plurality of information media, a receiving device must be prepared for each type of information medium to be used. No. In the future, as information transmission technology further evolves, in offices and homes,
Since the types of information media to be used increase more and more, and it is necessary to provide a dedicated information processing device for each different medium, it is costly to prepare the equipment. Can be expected to be subject to various restrictions.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to handle a plurality of different types of information, and to perform optimal processing in accordance with the types and attributes of received information. Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of distributing received information to apparatuses that handle respective information.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention receives information transmitted through a plurality of transmission media, and converts the received information according to the attribute of each information. An information processing apparatus for processing, comprising: a receiving unit that receives each of the plurality of pieces of information; and a processing unit that determines an attribute of the information received by the receiving unit, and that corresponds to the received information according to a result of the determination. There is a control means for selecting and a switching means for outputting the received information to a processing device corresponding to the received information in accordance with the control of the control means.

There is provided format conversion means for converting the received information into a predetermined format, and the switching means outputs the format-converted received information to a processing device corresponding to the received information.

In the present invention, preferably, the control means controls the switching means so as to output the received information to a designated processing device in accordance with a selection instruction from a user.

In the present invention, preferably, the control means has a display means for displaying currently received information and its output destination, and further displays a currently selectable output destination on the display means. .

Further, in the present invention, preferably, there is provided storage means for storing the reception information or the reception information subjected to the format conversion, wherein the control means includes a current reception information, an output destination thereof, and a currently selectable information. The information indicating the output destination is stored in the storage means.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. As illustrated, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of receivers 10-1 and 10-1.
−2,..., 10-m (m is a natural number, m> 2), the information conversion device 20 and the plurality of information display / recording devices 30-1, 30
,..., 30-n (n is a natural number, n> 2).

The receivers 10-1, 10-2,..., 10-m
Receives information transmitted via each information transmission path, and supplies the received information to the information conversion device 20. For example, the receiver 10-1 receives satellite radio waves, performs a process such as decoding a received signal as necessary, and outputs the result. The receiver 10-m is a modem connected to a telephone line, receives packet data transmitted through a telephone circuit, decodes the received data, and outputs the result.

The information conversion device 20 converts information received by each receiver according to a predetermined signal format, and converts the converted information to each information display device 30.
-1, 30-2,..., 30-n.

The information display / recording devices 30-1, 30-2,
, 30-n perform predetermined processing on each piece of information according to the information supplied by the information conversion apparatus 20. Here, these information display / recording devices include, for example, an image display device (including a television monitor), an audio device,
Examples include a recording device that records image and audio information, and a data processing device that also has information processing, display, and recording functions, such as a computer.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the information conversion device 20. As shown, the information conversion device 20 includes a format conversion circuit 22, a storage circuit 24, an information distributor 26, and a control circuit 28.

The format conversion circuit 22 receives the information received by each of the receivers 10-1, 10-2,..., 10-m, and according to the format of the received information, a predetermined format specified in advance. Convert to The received information is transmitted after being converted into a format corresponding to each attribute and the characteristics of the transmission path. Therefore, the information received by the receivers 10-1, 10-2,..., 10-m is modulated in different formats. Converting the format of the received information to a predetermined common format facilitates subsequent information identification and information processing.

The control circuit 28 controls each of the receivers 10-
1, 10-2,..., And 10-m, receives the format-converted information by the format conversion circuit 22, and responds to the identification signal and other control signals included in the information. Then, the type and attribute of each piece of information are identified, and the transfer destination of each piece of information is determined accordingly.

The storage circuit 24 is provided with the receiver 10 if necessary.
-1, 10-2,..., 10-m, or information that has been format-converted by the format conversion circuit 22. Then, the control circuit 28
Of the stored information via the information distributor 26 at predetermined times according to the control of the information display / recording devices 30-1 and 30-3.
-2, ..., 30-n.

The information distributor 26 displays each information in the information display / recording device 30 according to the judgment result of the control circuit 28.
-1, 30-2,..., 30-n. For example, when the control circuit 28 identifies that the received information is a television broadcast signal, it outputs the received information to a television monitor. If the received information is a radio broadcast signal or music distribution information transmitted via satellite radio waves,
Outputs received information to audio equipment such as stereo. Further, when the received information is computer data, the received information is output to a computer.

Further, as shown in FIG.
By integrating the information conversion device 20 with 1, 10-2,..., 10-m, a single device can receive a plurality of different types of information, and the installation work of the device can be simplified. Furthermore, the installation space is reduced due to the miniaturization of the apparatus itself, and the installation place is easily secured.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are flowcharts showing the flow of the operation of the information processing apparatus of the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to these flowcharts. Here, the information conversion device 20 has a display for displaying display information, the current connection status, and the like, or these information are, for example,
It is assumed that it has a function of displaying on a television monitor.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information conversion device 20. As shown in the figure, first, an initialization process is performed (step S1), and a display or a television monitor starts up. Next, the setup data is reproduced (step S2). Note that the setup data is, for example, data for initialization stored in the storage circuit 24 provided in the information conversion device 20, for example, data representing the connection status up to the previous time, display information at the time of the previous end, and the like. It is.

Next, in step S3, a menu is displayed on the display of the information conversion device 20 or on the television monitor. The display menu includes, for example, selection information for selecting a connection destination.

Next, it is determined whether or not the user has performed an operation of selecting a connection destination from the display menu (step S4). If no connection destination selection operation has been performed, the process returns to step S3, and the menu display is continued. When the connection destination is selected, the process proceeds to the next step S5, and a new connection destination is selected according to the selection instruction from the user.

In step S6, it is determined whether or not the connection to the new connection destination has been normally performed. If the connection has not been normally performed, the process returns to step S5, and another connection to the new connection destination is attempted. If the connection is normally made, the new connection state is stored in the setup data (step S7). As a result, various information such as the current connection destination, that is, the information display / recording device selected by the information distributor 26 and its operation state are stored in the storage circuit 24 as setup data. Where, for example,
In a storage medium such as a hard disk in the storage circuit 24,
Setup data is written.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the menu display processing in step S3 described above in further detail.
As shown in the figure, after the menu display is started, first, the display is initialized (step S31). Then, the read setup data is reproduced (step S32), and the display device is prepared (step S33).

Next, the current setup information is displayed on the display device (step S34). For example, information such as a currently connected information display / storage device, its operation state, and a list of selectable connection destinations is displayed. Through the above-described processing, information for selecting a connection destination is provided to the user. Then, the user can select a new connection destination based on the provided information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing in detail the processing when the connection destination is selected by the user. First, initialization of connection selection is performed (step S51).
Next, it is determined whether a connection destination different from the current setup state has been selected (step S52). As a result of the determination, if the same connection destination as the current connection state is selected, this processing ends without changing the connection destination. On the other hand, if a selection different from the current setup is instructed, the connection destination is changed accordingly (step S53).

Although the flow of the process of selecting and changing the connection destination according to the user's selection instruction has been described above, in the present embodiment, in addition to the instruction from the user, as described above, the information change device 20 Thus, for example, the selection of the connection destination can be automatically performed according to the type and attribute of the received information. For example, when new information is received, the control circuit 28 of the information conversion device 20 analyzes the received information, obtains information such as the type and attribute of the received information, and determines the output destination of the received information based on the information. It can be determined automatically. The output destination of the information set by the automatic selection can be changed in accordance with the user's instruction by the processing shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 described above.
As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment automatically distributes received information according to the type, attribute, and the like of the received information, and further transmits the information to the connection destination selected by the user in accordance with the user's instruction. It is also possible to distribute, and it is possible to flexibly deal with a plurality of types of different information, and it is possible to perform an optimum process for each information.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the receiving apparatuses 10-1 and 10-1 that receive a plurality of different pieces of information.
, 10-m and the information conversion device 20 are integrated,
The information conversion device 20 converts the information received by each receiving device into a predetermined format, further analyzes the received information, selects an output destination of the received information according to the type, attribute, etc. of each information. In accordance with the selection instruction from, the output destination of the received information can be selected, a plurality of different received information can be appropriately distributed, and a large amount of information having different types and attributes can be optimally processed. .

[0031]

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of types of different information are received, and the respective information is appropriately distributed according to the type, the attribute, and the like of the received information, and the predetermined information is obtained. It can be supplied to devices, can respond to the diversification of information transmission media, can omit the work of switching the receiving device when the information media to be received is changed, can reduce the installation cost, and can easily cope with the diversification of information There are advantages that can be done.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information conversion device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the information conversion device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a menu display process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of connection control according to a selection instruction.

[Explanation of symbols]

10-1, 10-2,..., 10-m receiver, 20 information converter, 22 format converter 24 storage circuit, 26 information distributor, 28 control circuit, 30-1, 30- 2, ..., 30-n ... information display / recording device.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) // G06F 13/12 340 G06F 13/12 340G 5K101 F term (Reference) 5B014 GD37 GD43 5B089 GA04 HA01 HA06 HA11 HA14 HA20 KA09 KA11 KC21 KG08 KH04 5C025 BA01 BA14 BA18 DA01 DA04 5K051 AA03 BB01 BB02 CC01 CC02 CC05 CC07 DD01 DD13 DD15 FF07 GG02 5K061 BB17 CC45 DD00 GG00 JJ06 JJ07 JJ07 5K101 KK02 LL01 LL02 LL01 LL02 LL01 LL02

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for receiving information transmitted via a plurality of transmission media and processing the received information in accordance with an attribute of each of the information, wherein the receiving means receives each of the plurality of information Control means for determining an attribute of the information received by the receiving means, and selecting a processing device corresponding to the received information according to a result of the determination; and receiving the received information according to the control of the control means. An information processing apparatus having switching means for outputting to a processing apparatus corresponding to information. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising format conversion means for converting said received information into a predetermined format. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said switching means outputs the format-converted reception information to a processing apparatus corresponding to the reception information. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means controls said switching means so as to output said received information to a designated processing device in accordance with a selection instruction from a user. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means has a display means for displaying the information currently received and its output destination. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said control means displays a currently selectable output destination on said display means. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing the received information. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said storage means stores the format-converted reception information. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said control means stores current reception information, information indicating its output destination and information indicating a currently selectable output destination in said storage means.