JP2002344342A - Receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a receiver in which a channel broadcasting information of desired content can be searched for efficiently. SOLUTION: When a user performs a specified channel selecting operation, a control section 9 makes a decision whether the information of a broadcast channel designated by the channel selecting operation is under broadcast or not. If it is not under broadcast, the control section 9 retrieves a channel broadcasting the information belonging to the same category as that of the information of a broadcast channel designated by the user among broadcast channel registered previously as objects of preset channel selection. If a broadcast channel belonging to the same category exists, the control section 9 makes a decision whether the information of that broadcast channel is under broadcast or not and controls the operation to receive that broadcast channel if it is under broadcast.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a receiver for receiving various digital broadcasts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, various digital broadcasts for digitizing video signals and audio signals for broadcasting have been put to practical use. For example, CS (Communication Satellite) digital broadcast, BS (Broadcasting Satellite) digital broadcast, digital audio broadcast DAB (Di
gital Audio Broadcasting) has been put to practical use, and high-quality video and audio broadcasting has been performed. In general, digital broadcasting forms allow more effective use of radio waves than conventional analog broadcasting forms, so that many programs can be multiplexed into one broadcast wave. For this reason,
In various types of digital broadcasting, the number of receivable channels is much larger than in conventional analog broadcasting, and so-called multi-channel broadcasting is realized.

[0003]

By the way, in the conventional receiver, when a broadcast channel to be received is changed by performing a channel selection operation and the distribution information of the changed broadcast channel is not being broadcast, Processing is performed such that the broadcast channel is received in a state where the audio or video is not output, or the broadcast channel received before the channel selection operation is performed is received again.
For this reason, in order to search for another broadcast channel that broadcasts the desired content distribution information, the channel selection operation is performed again. However, as described above, there are many broadcast channels that can be selected in various digital broadcasts. Therefore, it has been difficult to efficiently search for a broadcast channel that broadcasts distribution information having desired contents.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a receiver capable of efficiently searching for a broadcast channel for broadcasting distribution information of desired contents. is there.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a receiver according to the present invention receives distribution information corresponding to a broadcast channel by a receiver, and changes the broadcast channel to be received by the receiver. If the broadcast channel is changed by the channel selecting means and the distribution information of the changed broadcast channel is not being broadcast, other distribution information belonging to the same category as the distribution information Is retrieved from the distribution information of another broadcast channel by the retrieval means. When the distribution information of the changed broadcast channel is not being broadcast, a search is made for a broadcast channel that broadcasts other distribution information belonging to the same category as the distribution information of this broadcast channel. Broadcast channel to be searched can be efficiently searched.

[0006] Further, a registration means for registering a plurality of broadcast channels selected in advance is further provided, and from among distribution information corresponding to the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration means, a search operation by the search means is performed. It is desirable to extract distribution information. Since the distribution information corresponding to the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration means is considered to include contents particularly preferred by the user, the distribution information corresponding to such a plurality of broadcast channels is searched for. By targeting, it is possible to reliably search for a broadcast channel that broadcasts distribution information that is highly likely to be desired by the user.

[0007] Further, the above-mentioned retrieval means first extracts distribution information in a retrieval operation from distribution information corresponding to a plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration means.
If there is no such information among the distribution information, it is preferable to perform the next distribution information from among the broadcast information other than the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration unit. Even if there is no distribution information corresponding to the search target in the distribution information corresponding to the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration means, the search operation for the distribution information of the broadcast channel which is not registered next Is performed, so
It is possible to search for a broadcast channel that broadcasts distribution information having a content close to a desired one without performing a complicated operation.

[0008] It is desirable that the above-mentioned tuning means designates one of the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration means and instructs the receiving means to switch the broadcast channel to be received. Since the switching of the reception target is instructed using the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration means, the broadcast channel for broadcasting the desired distribution information can be easily specified.

[0009] The distribution information corresponding to the above-mentioned broadcast channel is added with additional information indicating whether the distribution information is being broadcast or not. It is desirable to determine whether or not the status is inside based on the attached information. By using the additional information added to the distribution information, it is possible to easily determine whether the distribution information of the broadcast channel is being broadcast.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiver according to an embodiment. FIG.
The receiver shown in FIG. 1 is for receiving a digital audio broadcast, and includes an antenna 1, a front end unit (F /
E) 2, demodulation unit 3, channel selection unit 4, audio decoding unit 5, digital-analog (D / A) conversion unit 6, amplifier 7, speaker 8, control unit 9, operation unit 10, display unit 11,
It is configured to include a memory 12.

The front-end unit 2 extracts a desired reception frequency (tuning frequency) component from a broadcast wave received via the antenna 1 and converts the extracted signal into an intermediate frequency signal. Is output. The demodulation unit 3 demodulates transmission data by performing a predetermined demodulation process after converting the intermediate frequency signal output from the front end unit 2 into digital data.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of transmission data in the present embodiment. As shown in the figure,
In the present embodiment, a plurality of programs are multiplexed in one broadcast signal and transmitted in a predetermined frame unit, and (1) a synchronization signal, (2) ancillary information, and (3) distribution information are sequentially transmitted from the top. include.

The synchronization signal is used for recognizing the start point of a frame. The distribution information is information for reproducing the sound corresponding to the program, and includes a plurality of distribution information # 1, # 2, # 3,..., #N corresponding to the plurality of programs. The attached information includes various information related to the program of each broadcast channel. Specifically, the accompanying information includes
The information includes a broadcast channel number and a channel name corresponding to each program, a category indicating a schematic content of each program, identification information as to whether each broadcast channel is currently being broadcast, and other various information. By examining the attached information, it can be determined whether or not the distribution information of each broadcast channel is currently being broadcast.

The channel selection unit 4 extracts distribution information of a desired broadcast channel from the transmission data output from the demodulation unit 3 based on an instruction from the control unit 9 and outputs the information to the audio decoding unit 5. The audio decoding unit 5 generates audio data by performing a predetermined decompression process on the distribution information output from the channel selection unit 4.

The digital-analog converter 6 converts audio data output from the audio decoder 5 into an analog signal. The amplifier 7 amplifies the analog signal output from the digital-analog converter 6 with a predetermined gain and outputs the amplified signal to the speaker 8. The speaker 8 outputs a sound corresponding to the amplified analog signal.

The control section 9 controls the overall operation of the receiver according to the present embodiment. In addition, the control unit 9 selects and registers an arbitrary broadcast channel in advance, and presses a predetermined operation key provided on the operation unit 10 to easily select a registered broadcast channel. A process for realizing the “preset tuning function” to enable the function is performed. Specifically, the control unit 9 registers a broadcast channel targeted for preset tuning in accordance with a user's operation instruction and stores the content in the memory 12 in order to realize the preset tuning function. Or, when a predetermined operation key is pressed and one of the registered broadcast channels is designated, control for receiving distribution information of the broadcast channel is performed.

The operation unit 10 includes operation keys for the user to give various operation instructions such as channel selection.
A signal corresponding to the operation status of the operation key is output to the control unit 9. The display unit 11 displays a channel name and a category added to a currently received broadcast channel, a user's operation status of the operation unit 10, and the like.

The memory 12 stores registration information (number of channels, channel names, categories, etc.) regarding a plurality of broadcast channels registered as preset channel selection targets. The antenna 1, the front end unit 2, the demodulation unit 3, the channel selection unit 4, and the control unit 9 are used as reception means, the channel selection unit 4 and the control unit 9 are used as channel selection means, the control unit 9 is used as search means, and the memory Reference numerals 12 respectively correspond to the registration means.

The receiver according to the present embodiment has such a configuration, and its operation will be described next. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the receiver when selecting a broadcast channel to be received. The broadcast channels that can be received by the receiver of the present embodiment and the categories associated with them are described below as being stored in an internal memory (not shown) of the control unit 9. .

The control unit 9 determines whether a predetermined channel selection operation has been performed by the user using the operation unit 10 (step 100). For example, by pressing a preset channel selection key provided in the operation unit 10, one of a plurality of broadcast channels registered in advance is designated. Alternatively, an arbitrary broadcast channel is specified using a predetermined tuning key provided on the operation unit 10 or the like.
While the channel selection operation is not performed, the determination in step 100 is repeated.

When a predetermined tuning operation is performed, step 1
The control unit 9 makes an affirmative determination at 00, and determines whether or not the distribution information of the broadcast channel specified by the user is being broadcast based on the additional information added to the distribution information (step 101). ). If the distribution information of the designated broadcast channel is being broadcast, an affirmative determination is made in step 101, and the control unit 9 sends an instruction to the channel selection unit 4 and receives the distribution information of the designated broadcast channel. Control (step 102).

If the distribution information of the designated broadcast channel is not being broadcast, a negative determination is made in step 101 described above, and then the control unit 9 executes the processing based on the registration information stored in the memory 12. Whether there is another broadcast channel that broadcasts distribution information belonging to the same category as the distribution information of the broadcast channel specified by the user among the broadcast channels registered in advance as preset tuning targets. (Step 10
3).

If there is another broadcast channel belonging to the same category, an affirmative determination is made in step 103, and the control section 9 determines whether or not the distribution information of this broadcast channel is being broadcast (step 103). Step 104). If the distribution information of this broadcast channel is not being broadcast, a negative determination is made in step 104, and in this case, the process returns to step 103 to determine whether or not there is another broadcast channel belonging to the same category. The determination is made, and the subsequent processing is repeated.

If no broadcast channel belonging to the same category as the broadcast channel specified by the user exists in the pre-registered broadcast channels, a negative determination is made in step 103 and the control The section 9 targets broadcast channels that are not subject to preset channel selection, specifically, broadcast channels that are not registered in advance, and that include broadcast channels belonging to the same category as the broadcast channel specified by the user. It is determined whether or not to perform (step 105).

If there is another broadcast channel belonging to the same category, an affirmative determination is made in step 105, and the control section 9 determines whether or not the distribution information of this broadcast channel is being broadcast (step 105). Step 106). If the broadcast information of the broadcast channel is not being broadcast, a negative determination is made in step 106, and in this case, the process returns to step 105 described above to determine whether there is another broadcast channel belonging to the same category. And the subsequent processing is repeated.

A broadcast channel for broadcasting distribution information belonging to the same category as the broadcast channel designated by the user is:
If it exists in a broadcast channel registered in advance as a target of preset channel selection (Yes in step 104), or if it exists in a broadcast channel not subject to preset channel selection (positive determination in step 106).
Next, the control unit 9 controls to receive a broadcast channel for broadcasting the distribution information belonging to the same category (step 107).

If there is no broadcast channel belonging to the same category as the broadcast channel specified by the user among the broadcast channels not subject to the preset channel selection, a negative determination is made in step 105 described above. The control unit 9 performs control to re-receive the broadcast channel received before the user performs the tuning operation (step 108).

As described above, when the broadcast channel to be received is changed, if the distribution information of the broadcast channel after the change is not being broadcast, the receiver of the present embodiment distributes the broadcast channel. Since a search is made for a broadcast channel that broadcasts distribution information belonging to the same category as the information, it is possible to efficiently search for a broadcast channel that broadcasts distribution information of desired content. As a result, for example, a user who likes listening to music programs can continuously listen to music programs of various broadcast channels without performing any special operation.

A plurality of broadcast channels selected in advance according to the user's preference and the like are registered in the memory 12 as preset tuning targets. Is the memory 12
Since broadcast channels are searched with priority given to distribution information corresponding to multiple broadcast channels registered in, a broadcast channel that broadcasts distribution information that is highly likely to be desired by the user, There is an advantage that the search can be performed efficiently and easily.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the embodiment described above,
When a predetermined channel selection operation has been performed and the distribution information of the broadcast channel specified by the user has not been broadcast, another broadcast channel belonging to the same category has been searched. When the broadcast of the broadcast information of the broadcast channel is ended and the broadcast of the broadcast information is not performed thereafter, another broadcast channel belonging to the same category may be automatically searched.

When the distribution information of the broadcast channel specified by the user is not broadcast and another broadcast channel belonging to the same category is searched, the user is notified by voice output or image display. You may make it notify. Further, the user may be allowed to select whether or not to search for another broadcast channel.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that one category is basically associated with one broadcast channel. However, a plurality of categories are assigned to one broadcast channel. The present invention can also be applied to cases in which they are associated. For example, when priorities are assigned to each of a plurality of categories, it may be determined whether the categories match by comparing the priorities in descending order of priority. If no priority is assigned to each category, the categories may be compared in accordance with the storage order of the data indicating the categories to determine whether the categories match. Also, regarding the conditions for determining that the categories match, when any one or more categories match, when a plurality of (for example, two or more) categories match, when all the categories match,
Although various variations are conceivable, any of them may be adopted.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the description has been made by taking the digital audio broadcast receiver as an example.
Not limited to this, BS digital broadcasting, C
The present invention can be similarly applied to a receiver for receiving various broadcasts including video such as S digital broadcast. In this case, in addition to the audio signal reproduction system, the video signal reproduction system may be included in the configuration of the receiver.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a broadcast channel to be received is changed and the distribution information of the broadcast channel after the change is not being broadcast, distribution of this broadcast channel is not performed. Since a broadcast channel that broadcasts other distribution information belonging to the same category as the information is searched, a broadcast channel that broadcasts distribution information having desired contents can be efficiently searched for.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiver according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of transmission data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the receiver when selecting a broadcast channel to be received.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna 2 Front end part (F / E) 3 Demodulation part 4 Channel selection part 5 Audio decoding part 6 Digital-analog (D / A) conversion part 7 Amplifier 8 Speaker 9 Control part 10 Operation part 11 Display part 12 Memory

Claims (5)

[Claims] A receiving unit for receiving distribution information corresponding to a broadcast channel; a channel selecting unit for changing the broadcast channel to be received by the receiving unit; and the broadcast channel being changed by the channel selecting unit. When the distribution information of the changed broadcast channel is not being broadcast, a search operation for extracting other distribution information belonging to the same category as the distribution information from the distribution information of another broadcast channel is performed. Means, and a receiver. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a registration unit for registering a plurality of broadcast channels selected in advance, wherein the search unit registers the extraction of the distribution information in the search operation with the registration unit. A receiver, wherein the reception is performed from distribution information corresponding to the plurality of broadcast channels. 3. The search unit according to claim 2, wherein the search unit first extracts the distribution information in the search operation from distribution information corresponding to the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration unit. , If none of these distributions match,
Next, the reception is performed from distribution information of broadcast channels other than the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration means. 4. The broadcasting station according to claim 2, wherein the tuning unit designates one of the plurality of broadcast channels registered in the registration unit, and selects the broadcast channel to be received by the receiving unit. A receiver for instructing switching. 5. The distribution information according to claim 1, wherein the distribution information corresponding to the broadcast channel is added with additional information indicating whether the distribution information is being broadcast. Wherein a determination is made as to whether or not the distribution information of the broadcast channel after switching is being broadcast based on the attached information.