JP2002108750A - Information receiving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to access a related home page at desired time by specifying the URL of the homepage according to media information of a received television broadcast, etc. SOLUTION: The information receiving device having a specification information storage mans (URL specification information memory) storing specification information specifying the homepage included in the media information of the television broadcast, etc., as the user indicates enables the user to retrieves and specifies the URL in an electronic program table present on the Internet at any time through Internet connecting equipment such as a personal computer according to the specification information and also access the homepage of the URL.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information device for storing URL specifying information for specifying a home page related to media information based on various media information such as a television broadcast and the like. The present invention relates to an information device for causing another information device to search for address information of a related homepage based on the information device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, service content providers have tended to open homepages linked to service content on the Internet, aiming at complementing services and synergistic effects of composite media. For example, TV program producers provide performers' profiles and questionnaires on homepages linked to broadcast content, and musicians and others provide new song viewing services on their own homepages. . On the other hand, it has been troublesome for the user of the service to obtain the address information of the homepage (hereinafter referred to as URL information) and to input the URL information to an Internet connection device such as a personal computer. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 164529 discloses a method of including URL information in TV broadcast reception data, and discloses a method of releasing input of URL information from a user's manual operation. A method for obtaining the URL information from a TV program table converted into electronic data based on information for specifying URL information such as time (hereinafter, URL specifying information) is disclosed. An environment that allows easy access to homepages is being prepared.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned prior art is a technique capable of acquiring URL information related to a television program based on information obtained only while viewing the program. Movies and the like tend to concentrate on viewing, and it is often observed that related homepages are browsed to enjoy the lingering sound after the program ends. In such a case, there is a problem that the URL information cannot be obtained with the above-described conventional technology because the television program has ended.

[0004] In addition to the TV, various information receiving devices such as a music player and a radio may use service contents using the Internet. In the devices disclosed in the above prior art, each device is connected to the Internet. It is necessary to provide functions, and in such a case, one user has duplicate functions for each device, which results in waste in cost. In addition, it is conceivable to integrate the various information receiving apparatuses into one, but problems arise in terms of portability and maintenance. Further, since the various information receiving apparatuses have different processing performances depending on the application, it is preferable that the information receiving apparatuses can access, browse, and display a homepage corresponding to the processing performance of each apparatus.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an information receiving apparatus according to the present invention can receive and view media information and store specific information for specifying a home page of the Internet based on the received media information. Specific information storage means, a storage instruction means for instructing the specific information storage means to store the specific information, and a communication means for transmitting and receiving data to and from an information processing device connectable to the Internet, The storage instruction means stores the specific information based on the media information being viewed,
While instructing the specific information storage means, the specific information storage means stores the specific information in accordance with the instruction of the storage instruction means, and the communication means transmits the specific information from an information processing apparatus connectable to the Internet. When there is an acquisition request, the specific information stored in the specific information storage unit is transmitted.

Further, the information receiving apparatus of the present invention further comprises a transmission instruction means for instructing the information processing apparatus connectable to the Internet to transmit the specific information by itself.
In response to an instruction from the transmission instructing means, a U based on the specific information is transmitted to an information processing apparatus connectable to the Internet.
It is characterized by requesting acquisition of RL information and access to the homepage of the URL.

Further, the specific information storage means of the information receiving apparatus of the present invention further stores identification information indicating processing performance of homepage information of the information receiving apparatus in accordance with an instruction of the storage instructing means, and The receiving device transmits the identification information to an information processing device connectable to the Internet using the transmission instructing means, thereby causing the information processing device to specify and access a homepage corresponding to the processing performance of the information receiving device. In addition, by receiving the homepage information accessed by the information processing device using the communication means, the user can view the contents of the homepage.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The information receiving apparatus of the present invention can receive media information by itself and demodulate and reproduce the information. For example, a television, a monitor, a music player,
A mobile phone, a mobile terminal, and the like are conceivable, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any device that receives, demodulates, and reproduces media information may be used.

Further, the information receiving apparatus of the present invention includes an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer which can access various homepages by connecting to the Internet, and some communication means (for example, a television or a monitor using a US.
Data can be transmitted and received to and from the information processing device separately from the media information via a B bus, an I2C bus, an IEEE 1394 bus, or the like. The communication means is not limited to this, and may be any means capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from the information processing device.

The following description is based on the assumption that a television broadcast, which is one of the media information, is received and URL information related to the television program being viewed on the television broadcast is searched.

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of an information receiving apparatus according to the present invention. Reference numeral 11 denotes an output device for the received media information, which is equivalent to, but is not limited to, a display such as a liquid crystal display or a cathode ray tube or a speaker or a combination of the two, and is capable of viewing the media information reproduced by the reception device 12. I just need. Reference numeral 12 denotes a media information receiving device, which is equivalent to a tuner for television broadcasting or browser software for a homepage, but is not limited to this and may be any device capable of demodulating and reproducing media information. Reference numeral 13 denotes a clock device that holds the current time. Reference numeral 14 denotes a UR related to the received information (for example, a TV broadcast program).
A URL specifying information memory serving as specific information storing means for storing information for specifying L; a storage button 15 serving as a storage instructing means for instructing an operation of setting the URL specifying information in the URL specifying information memory; A CPU 16 controls the information receiving device. A communication device 17 is a communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from an Internet connection device that is an information processing device. Reference numeral 18 denotes a start button, which is transmission instruction means for transmitting URL identification information from the information receiving device side to the Internet connection device 19 and instructing acquisition of content information described below. Reference numeral 19 denotes an Internet connection device, which is an information processing device that can be connected to the Internet, such as a personal computer, and is connected to the communication device 17. 20 and 21 are content information possessed by a server existing on the Internet, 20 is a database for searching for a related URL based on URL specifying information, and corresponds to an electronic program guide in the case of a TV broadcast program; Is a home page indicated by URL information related to.

FIG. 2 exemplifies storage contents stored in the URL specifying information memory 14 when the storage button 15 in FIG. 1 is pressed. The first of the N pieces of information is broadcasting station A
Is a record watched on July 10, 2000 at 10:53:45. The upper limit value of N depends on the memory size at the time of mounting. If the amount of information to be stored exceeds N, the stored information is deleted from the oldest one (in this case, the first one). And storing new information. The information receiving apparatus of the present invention uses the Internet connection device 19 to search for and acquire a related URL based on the record. This is an example of the case of a television program. When the user presses the storage button 15 while listening to music while reproducing music information on the receiving device, information for specifying the music (such as the composer, announcement date, If a music identification number is attached to the music information, the information is stored in the URL specifying information memory 14 and the related U.S.
Search / acquire RL information using the Internet connection device 19
May be used.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the contents of the electronic program guide database 20 shown in FIG. 1, which is a URL search target. The program being viewed is specified from the URL specifying information including the date, time, and broadcasting station, and the related URL has a content that can be specified from the electronic program guide database 20. The electronic program guide database 20 is not limited to television programs, and can be applied to various genres (for example, the above-described music information).

Hereinafter, the UR in the information receiving apparatus of the present invention will be described.
The operation process for specifying the L information will be described by taking the reception of a television broadcast as an example. According to the information receiving apparatus of the present invention, the broadcast of a television program can be received by the receiving apparatus 12 and the content of the television program can be viewed on the output apparatus 11 by the above configuration. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an operation process for acquiring a URL in the information receiving apparatus of the present invention. First, it is checked whether or not the user presses the storage button 15 while watching a television program (S4-1). When the storage button 15 is pressed, the channel number of the broadcasting station being viewed is acquired from the receiving device 12 and stored in the URL specifying information memory 14 (S4-
2). Subsequently, the current time is obtained from the clock device 13 and stored in the URL identification information memory 14 (S4-
3). At this time, when the upper limit of the number of storable information has been reached, the oldest information may be deleted. After that, the storage button 15 is pressed again (S4-
Return to 1). If the storage button 15 has not been pressed, the CPU 16 checks whether or not a command for requesting acquisition of URL specific information has been transmitted from the Internet connection device 19 (in this case, a personal computer) via the communication device 17 (S4). -4). If the command has been transmitted, the channel information is read from the URL specifying information memory 14 and transferred to the communication device 17 (S4-5). Similarly, the time information is transmitted from the URL specifying information memory 14 to the communication device 1.
7 (S4-6). Subsequently, the communication device 17 transmits the URL specifying information including the channel information and the date and time information to the Internet connection device 19 (S4-
7), the process returns to the check for pressing the storage button 15 again (S4).
-1). The Internet connection device 19 transmits the UR
Based on the L specifying information, the electronic program guide database on the Internet can be searched to obtain related URL information and access to the homepage 10, which will be described later. If there is no information acquisition request from the Internet connection device 19 in S4-4,
It is determined whether the start button 18 of the information receiving device has been pressed (S4-8). If the button is pressed, the URL as illustrated in FIG. 2 is displayed on the output device of the information receiving device.
The URL specific information stored in the specific information memory is displayed in a list, and the user is prompted to select the URL specific information to be transmitted to the Internet connection device 19 (S4-9). When the URL selection information is selected by the user (S4-10),
The selected URL specifying information is transmitted to the Internet connection device 19 via the communication device 17, and the process returns to the check of the depression of the storage button (S4-1). If the start button has not been pressed in S4-8, it is checked whether or not the user continues to watch the television program (S4-12). The continuation of the viewing is determined based on whether the information receiving apparatus according to the present invention is turned on or off. If the viewing is continued, the process returns to the depression check of the storage button 15 (S4-1) again, and
Otherwise, the process ends.

Further, even if there is no information acquisition request from the Internet connection device 19, the information reception device of the present invention can send the Internet connection device 19 to the Internet by pressing the start button 18 provided on the information reception device. Can request a connection. This start button is convenient to use when you want to immediately check the URL information related to the television program being viewed. In addition, the homepage may be accessed based on the acquired URL information.

Next, an example of the operation of the Internet connection device 19 that has acquired the URL specifying information from the information receiving device will be described with reference to FIG. First, the Internet connection device 19 determines whether a request to acquire URL identification information has been made to the information receiving device (S5).
1). This acquisition request may be performed by the user instructing the Internet connection device 19 to execute the acquisition request, or may be set to be automatically performed immediately after the Internet connection device 19 is turned on and activated. When this acquisition request is made, the information receiving device accepts the acquisition request via the communication device 17 (corresponding to S4-4 in FIG. 4). In response to the acquisition request, the URL specifying information stored in the URL specifying information memory of the information receiving device is read out and transmitted from the communication device 17.
5-2), a list of the received URL specifying information is displayed on a display screen (not shown) of the Internet connection device with contents as illustrated in FIG. 2 (S5-3). Next, the user is prompted to select URL identification information to be searched (S5-
4) The selected URL specifying information is transmitted to a server that provides URL information existing on the Internet, and an electronic program guide of the server is searched (S5-5). The search result is acquired, and the user can connect to the homepage based on the address of the URL information included in the search result (S5-6). If the URL specifying information is not requested from the Internet connection device 19 in S5-1,
Conversely, it is determined whether or not URL identification information has been transmitted from the information receiving device to the Internet connection device 19 (S5-7). This URL specifying information corresponds to the URL specifying information transmitted by the information receiving apparatus in S4-8 in FIG. If URL identification information has been sent, the URL
The process transitions to S5-5 based on the specific information. If URL identification information has not been transmitted from the information receiving apparatus, S
Return to 5-1. U stored by the information receiving apparatus in the above procedure
The RL specifying information is passed to the Internet connection device, and the corresponding URL can be searched on the Internet to access the homepage.

In the information receiving apparatus of the present invention, the browsing of the home page is performed not from the Internet connection device 19 but from the Internet connection device 19 to the communication device 1.
7, the home page information can be obtained and demodulated and reproduced by the receiving device 12. In this case, if only the image information and audio information of the homepage are to be reproduced, the information receiving device is a TV with an Internet function or the like.
Depending on the application, it may be a portable music player. In this case, the receiving device 12 is a storage medium / playback device, and the output device 11 is a speaker, and various pieces of information (artist name, announcement date,
If the music identification number or the like is attached, the information can be stored in the URL specifying information memory 14. Based on the information stored in the URL specifying information memory 14, an access to a URL information database or a related homepage is made. It is also conceivable to use it to acquire music trial data provided from the homepage and listen to it.

Since the information receiving apparatus of the present invention is assumed to be used in various forms as described above, the information receiving apparatus itself often has a homepage browser function. In this case, the optimum display size and the corresponding browser version are different depending on the processing performance such as the display capability of each information receiving apparatus. Therefore, the electronic program guide database of the electronic program guide 20 is stored in advance in the electronic program guide database according to the processing performance of each information receiving apparatus. By classifying the URL information and storing identification information for identifying a display size, browser version information, and the like in the URL identification information of the URL identification information memory 14, the processing of the information receiving apparatus used without the user's awareness is performed. It is possible to view the contents of the homepage by acquiring URL information that is optimal for performance via the Internet connection device 19, accessing the corresponding homepage, and incorporating the homepage information into the user.

[0019]

As described above in detail, according to the information receiving apparatus of the present invention, by storing information for specifying the Internet homepage, a plurality of information receiving apparatuses can be connected to an Internet connection device such as a personal computer. Since the homepage can be accessed from the Internet-connected device in accordance with the purpose of each information receiving apparatus, it is possible to use Internet content services without having an Internet connection function by itself.

According to the information receiving apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of information receiving apparatuses are connected to an Internet connecting apparatus such as a personal computer, and when the information receiving apparatus is convenient for the user, the information receiving apparatus is connected to the Internet connecting apparatus. Usability is improved because the homepage can be specified and accessed.

Further, according to the information receiving apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to specify a homepage suitable for the processing performance of the information receiving apparatus used by the user and access the homepage via an Internet connection device such as a personal computer. An optimal content service can be enjoyed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of an information receiving apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration example of a storage content of a URL specifying information memory.

FIG. 3 is a configuration example of an electronic program guide database.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation process in the information receiving device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation process of an Internet connection device that transmits and receives data to and from the information receiving device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Output device 12 Receiving device 13 Clock device 14 URL specific information memory 15 Storage button 16 CPU 17 Communication device 18 Start button 19 Internet connection device 20 Electronic program guide database 21 Homepage

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An information receiving apparatus for receiving and viewing media information, wherein the information receiving apparatus stores specific information for specifying a homepage of the Internet based on the received media information, and the specific information storage. Storage means for instructing the means to store the specific information; and communication means for transmitting and receiving data to and from an information processing apparatus connectable to the Internet. The specific information storage unit instructs the specific information storage unit to store the specific information based on information, and the specific information storage unit stores the specific information in accordance with the instruction of the storage instruction unit, and the communication unit is connected to the Internet. When there is a request to obtain the specific information from a possible information processing device, the request is stored in the specific information storage unit. An information receiving apparatus for transmitting the specific information. 2. The information receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmission instruction unit that instructs the information processing apparatus connectable to the Internet to transmit the specific information by itself. , Based on the specific information for an information processing device connectable to the Internet.
The information receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information receiving apparatus requests acquisition of RL information and access to a homepage of the URL. 3. The specific information storage means further stores identification information indicating processing performance of homepage information of the information receiving apparatus in accordance with an instruction of the storage instructing means, and the information receiving apparatus is provided with the transmission instructing means. By transmitting the identification information to an information processing device that can be connected to the Internet by using the information processing device, the information processing device specifies and accesses a homepage corresponding to the processing performance of the information receiving device, The accessed homepage information,
3. The contents of a homepage can be viewed by receiving using the communication means.
An information receiving device according to claim 1.