JP2002215512A - Television program link url information distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To actualize two-way broadcasting service by making the best use of Internet facilities which are already spreading. SOLUTION: A home gateway device 2 obtains information on a television channel that a user 9 selects for television broadcasting and sends it by using the Internet 3 as a medium. A TV program link URL information distribution server 4 distributes contents on the Internet 3 which are related to television programs corresponding to selected television channel information sent from home gateway devices 2 at respective homes and URL information on the contents to the users.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a technical field related to a subscriber communication network device for realizing IP communication and a server configuration for realizing a portal site or the like on the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information providing service using BS digital broadcasting started in December 2000, a broadcast wave using broadcast compression BML (Broadcast Markup Language) using digital compression technology.
Providing various data information related to the program using a markup language formulated for BS data broadcasting
TV viewers realize an interactive broadcast service such as requesting and obtaining information they want to view on their own telephone line via a 2400 bps modem built in a dedicated tuner.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, BML uses IP (Inter
net Protocol) and HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)
HTML (Hyper Text Ma
Content on the Internet described in rkup Language) cannot be displayed as it is, and if content developed on the Internet is provided by BS data broadcasting, it must be recreated for BML. In addition, ADAMS (A Symmetric
There are Digital Subscriber Line) broadcasts, but these require a separate communication modem and receiving antenna, and can be enjoyed only by PC users equipped with dedicated boards or users who have dedicated TVs.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a TV program link URL information distribution system that realizes an interactive broadcast service by making full use of Internet facilities that have already become widespread.

[0005]

A television program link URL information distribution system according to the present invention is provided with a home gateway device for acquiring information on a television channel selected by a user in a television broadcast and transmitting the information through an Internet network as a medium. A TV program link URL for distributing to a user URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information on the Internet related to the TV program or the content where the content exists, which corresponds to the selected TV channel information transmitted from the home gateway device of each home. It has an information distribution server.

In each home, a home gateway device having a web browsing function is provided with various tuners (CATV / BS / C).
S) Connected to a TV, the TV program link URL information distribution server is used between a public communication network connecting users in the area and an ISP (Internet Service Provider) access point in a certain area unit such as a municipal area (for example, telephone subscription and exchange). Bureau). With this configuration, other CPs (Contents Providers), such as broadcasting station sites, can provide content linked to broadcasting without recreating HTML content on the Internet for BML, and users who only own TVs can use ADSL. In addition, it is possible to comfortably browse program contents and related contents on the Internet in real time while watching broadcast programs using a medium-high-speed IP network using optical fibers or the like as a medium.

[0007]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a television program link URL information distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1A shows a case where a user is a television (hereinafter referred to as TV).
It has only a TV 1, a home gateway device (hereinafter, HGW) 2, an IP network (Internet) 3, and a TV program link URL information distribution server 4. Figure 1
(2) is a case where the user 9 owns a TV and a personal computer (hereinafter, PC), and is composed of the TV 1, the HGW 2, the IP network 3, the TV program link URL information distribution server 4, and the PC 5.

In the case of FIG. 1A, there are three screens on the TV monitor: a general TV screen A1, TV program link URL information A2, and a web page display screen A3. The program home page is displayed on the web page display screen A3 by default, and the user can arbitrarily select maximization and minimization of the screen display. General TV broadcast A1 is antenna or C
The information is received from the coaxial cable 6 of the ATV company, or the TV program link URL information A2 and the web page display screen A3 are received using the IP network 3 as a medium. This provides an environment in which the user 9 can browse the program homepage and related contents being viewed while watching the TV 1 without a PC. In addition, it is said that a TV is a medium of 2 to 3 m as a distance at which a person comes into contact with a screen, while a PC is a medium of 0.3 to 0.5 m. In the case of FIG. 1 (2), the general TV broadcast A1 is displayed on the TV monitor as before, and the TV program link URL information A is displayed.
2. The web page display screen A3 is displayed on the PC 5, so that the usability of the Internet is further improved and the user 9 can enjoy more comfortable services.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the flow of information until the user 9 acquires the TV program link content. All the information in the figure is transmitted and received via the IP network 3. The TV program link URL information distribution server 4 receives the channel selection TV channel (hereinafter, TVCH) information a sent from the user 9 and returns the corresponding TV program link URL information b to the user 9,
The user 9 receives the TVCH information a and requests and acquires the TV program link content c from the broadcasting station site 8 or the CP 7 of the program-related content site. In order to realize this series of procedures, the broadcasting station site 8 registers in advance the information such as the program title, date and time, and broadcasting time scheduled to be broadcast and the URL information of the program homepage in the TV program link URL information distribution server 4 in advance. I decided to.

The HGW 2 obtains information on a TV channel selected by the user 9 in a TV broadcast and transmits the information using the IP network 3 as a medium. As shown in FIG.
16, 18, channel selection TVCH information acquisition section 12, man-machine interface 13, control CPU 14, and transmission sections 15, 17
It has an IP relay packet filter 19, a timer 20, a URL writing unit 21, a web browsing unit 22, and a web browser automatic activation unit 23, an external tuner 24 such as BS / CS / CATV, and a remote control or mouse 25 of the TV 1. Comes with.

The HGW 2 is always powered on and the TV 1
When the power is turned on, the broadcast program being watched by the user 9 is transmitted through the antenna or the CATV coaxial cable 6 via the tuner 24 if the tuner 24 is provided. , Through the receiving unit 11 inside the HGW 2, and tunes in the tuning TVCH information acquisition unit 12
Acquired as TVCH information a. When the timer 20 detects that the channel selection TVCH information a is the same for a certain period of time, it determines that the user 9 is selecting (viewing) the TV program, and passes through the IP relay packet filter 19. Transmission unit 1
5 transmits the channel selection TVCH information a to the TV program link URL information distribution server 4. Here, the certain time period is a time period of about 30 seconds to 1 minute in which it is possible to confirm that the viewer is surely watching a program of an arbitrary channel. HG is one of the implementation examples for acquiring TV program link contents
The channel selection TVCH information a sent from the W2 to the TV program link URL information distribution server 4 and the TV program link URL information b returned from the TV program link URL information distribution server 4 to the HGW 2 are IP.
A method of transmitting and receiving in a packet is considered. I using the channel selection TVCH information a acquired by the channel selection TVCH information acquisition unit 12 as data
The P packet is sent to the IP
The IP address of the receiving unit of the TV program link URL information distribution server 4 is written as the destination address in the header, and the IP address of the own HGW 2 is written as the transmission source address. The TV program link URL information distribution server 4 receiving the channel selection TVCH information a refers to the program title and the TV program link URL information for each broadcast date and time of each TV station (channel selection) stored in the TV program link URL information database 34. Then, it transmits the TV program link URL information b to the receiving unit 16 of the HGW 2. In the HGW 2, the source address of the IP packet received by the IP relay packet filter 19 is the TV program link UR.
If it is confirmed that the transmission unit 34 (FIG. 4) of the L information distribution server 4 is selected, the selected HTV 2 transmits the selected channel TVCH information a.
It recognizes that the TV program link URL information b has been returned. TV
Web browsing unit 2 in HGW 2
When the TV program link URL information b is obtained, the URL obtained by the URL writing unit 21 at the address input destination of the web browsing unit 22 (the default is the program Homepage) is written and displayed on the TV monitor. TV and
In the case of a user who owns both PCs, it is assumed that the PC 5 has the web browsing unit 22. If the PC 5 is connected to the HGW 2, the web browser is automatically started by the web browser automatic starting unit 23 when the PC 5 is started up. After the TV program link URL information b passes through the IP relay packet filter 19, the UR
The data is written to the address input destination of the web browser by the L writing unit 21 and displayed on the monitor of the PC 5. Figure 1
The homepage of the currently viewed TV program is displayed on the web page display screen A3 of the TV 1 in the case of (1) or the PC 5 in the case of (2) by default.

The URL displayed on the TV program link URL information screen A2 is linked to the content provider 7, and when the URL of A2 is clicked (a request for acquiring the content c), the transmission section 17 sends the content provider 7 7 is received by the receiving unit 18.

Thereafter, through the IP relay packet filter 19, 1) In the case of TV1 When the URL of the TV program link URL information A2 in FIG. 1 is clicked, another window screen is opened and the content c obtained from the content provider 7 is displayed on the web. It is displayed as a page display screen A3.

At this time, in the HGW 2, the acquired content c is passed through the URL writing unit 21 and another window screen (that is, a web page display screen A3) is opened by the web browsing unit 22, and the current broadcast is displayed on the TV screen. It is possible to browse web pages related to the program in progress.

2) In the case of PC5 As in the case of TV, the TV program link URL information A of FIG.
2 is opened, and the content c acquired from the content provider 7 is displayed on the web page display screen A.
3 is displayed.

At this time, the acquired content c is passed through the URL writing unit 21 and the web browser automatic activation unit 23, and another window screen (web page display screen A3) is opened by the web browser of the PC, and is displayed on the PC screen. It is possible to browse web pages related to the program currently being broadcast.

A user who connects both the TV 1 and the PC 5 to the HGW 2 can display a web page on either the TV 1 or the PC 5, but the selection can be easily operated by using the remote controller or the mouse 25.

[0020] The TV program link URL information distribution server 4 uses the HGW
And distributes, to the user 9, content on the Internet 3 or URL information where the content exists, which is associated with the selected TVCH information a transmitted from the receiver 2 as shown in FIG. And collation / search unit 32
And a TV program URL information DB 33 and a transmission unit 34.

The channel selection TVCH information a transmitted from the user 9 is T
Via TV program receiving unit 31, TV program link URL information DB3
3 is referred to the program title and the TV program link URL information for each broadcast date and time of each TV station managed and stored in 3 by the collation / search unit 32, and then transmitted as TV program link URL information b from the transmission unit 34 to the user 9. Is done. As described with reference to FIG. 3, transmission and reception of the channel selection TVCH information a and the TV program link URL information b between the HGW 2 and the TV program link URL information distribution server 3 are performed by IP.
It is carried out in packets, and as an example, each data format is as shown in the figure. In the collation / search unit 32, the channel selection TVCH information a uses the viewing program CH, broadcast date, and time of the TV program link URL information DB 33 as keys. After the collation / search is easily performed, the transmission section 34 sends the information to the user as the TV program link URL information b.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, each CP uses existing HTML content described on the Internet.
It can be used as it is without recreating it for BML, promotes the convergence of broadcasting and the Internet, and allows users to enjoy more comfortable interactive services through high-speed access lines. For TV users, connecting to the HGW using an existing TV allows them to browse the program homepage while watching TV broadcasts.
Can also be connected to a PC, and browsing the Web on a TV while watching programs on a TV makes it easier to use the Internet. from now on,
When providing a quiz program with viewer participation at a broadcasting station site, or when a user requests replay from an angle that the user wants to watch when watching a sport, the content can be broadly applied to interactive services in broadcasting by enriching the content.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a television program URL link information distribution system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flow of information until a user acquires TV program link content c.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an HGW (home gateway device) 2.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a TV program link URL information distribution server 4.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 TV 2 HGW (Home Gateway Device) 3 IP Network (Internet) 4 TV Program Link URL Information Distribution Server 5 PC 6 Coaxial Cable 7 Content Provider 8 Broadcasting Station Site 9 Users 11, 16, 18 Receiving Unit 15, 17 Transmitting Unit 12 Tuning TVCH information acquisition unit 13 Man-machine interface 14 Control CPU 19 IP relay packet filter 20 Timer 21 URL writing unit 22 Web browsing unit 23 Web browser automatic activation unit 24 Tuner 25 Remote control / mouse 31 Receiving unit 32 Matching / searching unit 33 TV program URL information DB 34 Transmitter a Channel selection TVCH information b TV program link URL information c TV program link content

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Watanabe 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Shoichi Furushiro 3 Babacho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. 15 West Japan Telegraph and Telephone Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C064 BA07 BB05 BB07 BC07 BC16 BC20 BD02 BD08

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A home gateway device for acquiring information of a television channel selected by a user in a television broadcast and transmitting the acquired information via the Internet network, and channel television information transmitted from a home gateway device of each home. A television program link URL information distribution system having a television program link URL information distribution server that distributes to the user content on the Internet related to the television program or URL information where the content exists. 2. The home gateway device has a timer for confirming whether or not a program of the same channel has been viewed for a certain period of time or more when a selected television channel changes, including when the television is turned on. 2. The television program link URL information distribution according to claim 1, wherein when it is confirmed that a program of the same channel has been viewed for a predetermined time or more, the selected television channel information is transmitted to the television program link URL information distribution server. system. 3. The television program link URL information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the home gateway device has an interface for input / output relating to television broadcast reception and an interface for transmission / reception of an IP system. 4. The TV program link URL information distribution server includes: a TV program link URL information database for holding a program title for each broadcast date and time of each TV channel and TV program link URL information in association with each other; 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for checking channel information of the selected TV channel transmitted from the apparatus against information of the TV program link URL information database and searching for corresponding TV program link URL information.
TV program link URL information distribution system described in section. 5. A receiving section for receiving a television broadcast program being viewed by a user, and a tuning TV for acquiring television channel information selected by the user from the television broadcast program received by the receiving section.
A CH information acquisition unit, a timer for confirming whether the channel information acquired by the channel selection TVCH information acquisition unit is the same for a predetermined time, and a first transmission / reception unit for transmission / reception to / from a TV program link URL information distribution server. A web browsing unit or a web browser automatic starting unit; a URL writing unit that writes the acquired TV program link URL information to an address input destination of the web browsing unit or outputs the information to the web browser automatic starting unit; A second transmission / reception unit for transmitting / receiving, and when the timer confirms that the channel selection TVCH information is the same for a certain period of time, the channel selection TVCH information is used as data, and the TV program link URL information distribution as a destination address The IP address of the receiving section of the server is written, and the Over beam-way gate device IP address the IP packets that have been written the first
Transmitted from the transmitting and receiving unit of
The source address of the P packet is the TV program link U
When confirming that the transmission unit of the RL information distribution server,
When the TV program link URL information transmitted from the TV program link URL information distribution server is acquired and the user requests the TV program link content of the TV program link URL information, the second transmitting / receiving unit transmits a TV program link to the content provider. A home having an IP relay filter for sending a program link content request, acquiring content from the content provider via the second transmitting / receiving unit, and displaying the content on a television screen or displaying on a PC screen by the web browsing unit. Gateway device. 6. A receiving section for receiving channel selection TVCH information, which is information on a television channel by a user selecting a channel, and holding a number title for each broadcast date and time of each television channel and a television number link URL information in association with each other. A TV program URL information DB; and a matching / search unit that checks channel tuning TVCH information received by the receiving unit against information in the TV program URL information DB and searches for corresponding TV program link URL information. A television program link URL information distribution server having a transmission unit for transmitting television program link URL information.