JP2003069927A - Program reservation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program reservation system where a plurality of portable terminals accessible to a network reserve programs to information recording and reproducing devices via a server, the users can quickly adjust reserved contents such as revision of the reserved contents when a reserved time is in duplicate. SOLUTION: In the program reservation system comprising a home server connected to a plurality of portable terminals via the network and a single or a plurality of information recording and reproducing devices connected to the home server and controlled by the home server, the home server is characterized in which it includes an information transmission reception section that communicates with a plurality of the portable terminals via the network, an information recording and reproducing device control section that controls the single or plurality of information recording and reproducing devices; a program reservation information storage section that stores program reservation information; a duplicate reservation information storage section that stores duplicate reservation information; and a reservation information comparison section that compares the program reservation information received from the information transmission reception section with the program reservation information stored in the program reservation information storage section.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a plurality of portable terminals that can access a network via a server,
It is a technique relating to a system for reserving a program for an information recording / reproducing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A program reservation function has been conventionally used as a program miss prevention function or an answering machine function.
Various proposals for an expanding function have been made with the increase in capacity of recording media. In a general digital broadcast receiving apparatus and program reservation apparatus, a user needs to search for information such as a program list obtained from a digital tuner when reserving a program.

In some cases, the broadcast time and the like may overlap with the beginning time and the ending time. If the user makes a recording reservation without noticing this, the device will record in the order of the reserved time or the broadcast time, and the user cannot always record the desired program.

A program reservation device and method by which a user can reserve a program by simply selecting a desired program without searching the program list and not making a recording reservation without realizing that the program overlaps with other programs. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-76735 is disclosed as a means for providing the above. According to this
A digital tuner having a reservation information storage unit for storing reserved program information, which is information on programs reserved by the user in advance, a control unit for selecting program reservation information by the user, and reserved program information, which is information about reserved programs in advance And the reserved program information that the user newly reserves, and if there is an overlap, it will be displayed in the control section, and if there is no overlap, the duplication check section that adds the reserved program information that the user newly reserves to the reservation information storage section will be displayed. It stores the client terminal that it has and the program information and advertisements sent from the broadcasting station, sends the program information and advertisements to the control unit of the client terminal, and the reserved program information that the user newly reserves is from the control unit. A server having a program information providing unit for receiving and transmitting to the duplication check unit, It is possible to avoid duplication of program reservations without searching the broadcast time, channel, program name, parameters, etc. for program information sent from the station. Also, for example, the program desired by the user can be displayed on the display unit. It is disclosed that it is possible to automatically search for duplication of broadcast time and notify the user of the presence or absence of duplication simply by inputting according to the displayed instruction.

[0005]

However, when the user desires to change the reservation contents when the reservation times are overlapped as in the above-mentioned program reservation apparatus, the user can be notified only by issuing a warning. Adjustments can be made only if the group is made up of family members at the location.When changing the reservation content, it is necessary to contact each other by phone etc. if the users are not close to each other. It has the problem that it is difficult to do. The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and makes it possible to promptly make adjustments such as change of reservation contents between users when the reservation times overlap.

[0006]

The present invention provides means for solving these problems, and the invention of each claim constitutes the following technical means.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program reservation system in which a home server connected to a plurality of mobile terminals via a network, and one or more information recordings connected to the home server and controlled by the home server. In a program reservation system including a reproducing device, the home server includes an information transmitting / receiving unit that communicates with the plurality of mobile terminals via the network, and an information recording / reproducing control unit that controls the one or more information recording / reproducing devices. A program reservation information storage unit that stores program reservation information, a duplication reservation information storage unit that stores duplication reservation information, program reservation information received from the information transmission / reception unit, and programs stored in the program reservation information storage unit. And a reservation information comparison unit that compares the reservation information with the reservation information. Since duplication of reserved programs is automatically detected and notified to the user, adjustments such as changes in reservation contents can be swiftly made between users, and adjustment results can be automatically followed. In addition, the user can make a program reservation from anywhere as long as the user has a mobile terminal.

A program reservation system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the program reservation system according to the first aspect, wherein the home server generates a comment to be transmitted to a mobile terminal, and a communication comment generation section which causes the information transmission / reception section to transmit program reservation information from the network. And a time control unit for controlling the time for taking in. It is possible to control the automatic fetching time of reservations from users and add comments to users.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the program reservation system according to the first or second aspect, wherein the home server determines that the reservation information comparison unit has duplication of the program reservation information.
It is characterized in that the duplication information is written in the duplication reservation information storage unit and at the same time, the reservation adjustment information is transmitted to the mobile terminal of the advance reservation and the mobile terminal of the late reservation.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program reservation system according to the third aspect, wherein the advance reservation mobile terminal and the late reservation mobile terminal that have received the reservation adjustment information from the home server exchange reservation adjustment. Is performed and the reservation adjustment result is transmitted to the home server.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the program reservation system according to the fourth aspect, the home server rewrites the program reservation information storage unit when the program reservation information is updated according to the reservation adjustment result. And instruct the information recording / reproducing apparatus related to the program reservation to update the reservation,
Reservation update information is transmitted to the mobile terminal of the advance reservation and the mobile terminal of the subsequent reservation. According to the third to fifth aspects, it becomes possible to make an adjustment between the reservation persons in the case of overlapping reservation, and the final reservation is set by the adjustment result. Also, you can check the program reservation on your mobile terminal,
Reliable program reservation is possible.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a program reservation system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of a program reservation system apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1a and 1c are mobile phones that can send and receive electronic mail (hereinafter abbreviated as mail) and have display units 1b and 1d, 2 is a home server such as a PC, and 2a is information such as control information and mail. An information transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving, 2b is a time control unit (timer) for controlling the communication time of the control information transmitting / receiving unit 2a, and 2c is an operation control of the information recording / reproducing apparatus via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) or the like. An information recording / reproducing control unit (AV device control driver), 2d is a reservation information comparing unit for comparing program reservation information received from the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a with program reservation information in a program reservation information storage unit 2f described later, and 2e is an information storage unit. (Memory) 2f is a program reservation information storage unit for storing the program reservation information in the memory 2e, and 2g is a duplicate for storing the overlapping reservation information in the memory 2e. Reservation information storing unit, 2h communication text generation unit for creating a comment, the VTR of the Internet, 4a, 4b as the information recording and reproducing device 3
(Video Tape Recorder) and STB (Set-top Box).

First, an embodiment of a program reservation processing procedure from a mobile phone will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of program reservation according to this embodiment. When the user A who has the mobile phone 1a makes a program reservation, the user A first uses the mobile phone 1a as the program reservation information necessary for the program reservation such as "Drama Cx channel 21:00 to 22:00" and "Record with VTR". Is input (step ST101).

The inputted program reservation information is stored as a mail from the mobile phone 1a in a provider server (not shown) on the Internet 3 (step ST102). The information transmitting / receiving unit 2a in the home server 2 accesses the provider server at a time / interval (such as what time and every few minutes) determined by the time control unit (timer) 2b to access the program reservation information (mail) from the mobile phone 1a. ) Is automatically received (step ST103).

When the information transmitter / receiver 2a receives the mail,
Information recording / reproduction control unit (AV device control driver) 2
c extracts only the mail including the program reservation information from the mails received by the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a (step ST10).
4) Send it to the reservation information comparison unit 2d as program reservation information ("User A", "Drama Cx channel 21:00 to 22:00", "Record on VTR").

The reservation information comparison section 2d compares the received program reservation information with the program reservation information in the program reservation information storage section 2f in the information storage section (memory) 2e (step ST10).
5) The presence or absence of duplication is determined (step ST106).
If the reservation information comparison unit 2d determines that there is no overlap, the program reservation information is added to the program reservation information storage unit 2f (step ST107), and the comparison end report is sent to the information recording / reproduction control unit (AV device control driver). ) 2c (step ST108).

The information recording / reproducing control unit (AV device control driver) 2c which has received the comparison end report is stored in the memory 2e.
Program reservation information storage unit 2f and duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g
, And transmits a reservation command to the VTR 4a based on the newly added program reservation information (step ST1).
09).

The reservation is completed by the VTR 4a and the VTR 4a
When the reservation completion notification is received by a (step ST11
0), the information recording / reproducing control unit (AV device control driver) 2c sends the program reservation completion information to the information transmission / reception unit 2a, and makes a reservation to the mobile phone 1a together with the text information such as "program reservation completed" from the communication text generation unit 2h. Information is transmitted (step ST111). The user A confirms the reservation completion on the display unit 1b of the mobile phone 1a, and the reservation process ends.

Here, the case where the user B makes a program reservation in the VTR 4a from the mobile phone 1c at the same time as the user A's reservation time will be described. As a first embodiment of the duplicate reservation adjustment according to the present invention, a flow of first confirming the necessity with a late reservation person when a duplicate reservation is made will be described with reference to FIG. The program reservation flow will be described with reference to FIG.

Input by user B (step S
(T101) The subsequent program reservation information is stored as a mail in the provider server (not shown) on the Internet 3 from the mobile phone 1c (step ST102). The home server 2 regularly accesses the provider server to automatically receive the mail (step ST103). When the information transmitter / receiver 2a receives the mail, the AV device control driver 2c extracts only the mail including the program reservation information from the mails received by the information transmitter / receiver 2a (step ST104), and the program reservation information (“user B”). "Movie D
It is sent to the reservation information comparison unit 2d as "channel y21: 00-23: 00""record on VTR").

The reservation information comparison unit 2d compares the received program reservation information with the program reservation information in the program reservation information storage unit 2f in the memory 2e (step ST105) and determines that there is an overlap (step ST106). Duplication reservation information in the duplication reservation information storage unit 2g (subsequent reservation "user B""movie D channel y 21:00 to 23:00""record on VTR" / advance reservation "user A""drama C x channel 21:00"
~ 22: 00 "(recorded by VTR)) (step ST112), and sends a comparison end report to the AV device control driver 2c (step ST113).

Upon receiving the comparison end report, the AV device control driver 2c refers to the program reservation information storage unit 2f and the duplication reservation information storage unit 2g in the memory 2e and sends the duplication reservation information to the information transmission / reception unit 2a. When the information transmission / reception unit 2a receives the duplicate reservation information, the information transmission / reception unit 2a transmits the duplicate reservation notification mail to the mobile phone 1c together with the text data from the communication text generation unit 2h (step ST114). After that, the flow of duplicate reservation adjustment will be described with reference to FIG.

When the mobile phone 1c receives the duplicate reservation notification mail (step ST201), it causes the display unit 1d to select "cancel the contents of the subsequent reservation" or "request the cancellation of the advance reservation of the user A". The screen is displayed (step ST202). When "Cancel my subsequent reservation" is selected as the first selection by the user B, the mobile phone 1c causes the home server 2 to reserve the program reservation information (duplicate reservation cancellation: subsequent reservation "user B""movie D channel y". 21: 00-23: 00 "" Record on VTR ") (step ST203).

The AV device control driver 2c selects the program reservation information (duplicate reservation cancellation: subsequent user "user B""movie D channel y 21: 00-23: 00""VTR" from the mail received by the information transmitter / receiver 2a. "Recording") is extracted and sent to the reservation information comparison unit 2d (step ST204).

The reservation information comparison unit 2d receives the received program reservation information (duplicate reservation cancellation: subsequent reservation "user B""movieD"
Channel y 21: 00-23: 00 "" Record on VTR "and duplicate reservation information stored in memory 2e 2g of duplicate reservation information (subsequent reservation" User B "" Movie D channel y 21: 00 ~ 23:00 "Record on VTR" / Advance reservation "User A""Drama C channel x 21:00 ~ 22:00""V
When it is confirmed that the information is the target information by comparing with “Recorded by TR”), the duplicate reservation information (subsequent reservation “user B” “movie D channel y 21:00 to 23:
"00""Record with VTR" / Advance reservation "User A""Drama C channel x 21:00 to 22:00""Record with VTR")
Is deleted (step ST205), and the reservation duplication process ends.

When the user B's second selection is "request user A's advance reservation cancellation", the mobile phone 1c causes the mobile phone 1a to receive a duplicate reservation adjustment mail containing reservation information (reservation cancellation request). Is transmitted (step ST2
06). It is also possible to add a simple comment from User B to this email. Upon receiving the duplicate reservation adjustment mail (reservation cancellation request) (step ST207), the mobile phone 1a of the user A displays a screen on the display unit 1b for selecting "cancel the user's previous reservation" or "do not allow cancellation". It is displayed (step ST208).

When the user A's first selection is "Cancel his / her advance reservation", the mobile phone 1a sends a duplicate reservation adjustment mail to the mobile phone 1c (cancellation consent: cancellation by user A is accepted. I will change your reservation details). Program reservation information on home server 2 (duplicate reservation change: subsequent reservation "User B""Movie D channel y 21: 00-23: 00""Record on VTR")
Is sent (step ST209), the AV device control driver 2c sends program reservation information (duplicate reservation change: subsequent reservation "user B""movie D channel y 21: 00-23: 00) from the mail received by the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a. 00 "" VTR
"Recording" and is sent to the reservation information comparison unit 2d (step ST210).

The reservation information comparison unit 2d receives the received program reservation information (duplicate reservation change: subsequent reservation "user B""movieD"
Channel y 21: 00-23: 00 "" Record on VTR "and duplicate reservation information stored in the duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g in the memory 2e (subsequent reservation" User B "" Movie D channel y 21:00 " ~ 23:00 "" Record on VTR "/ Advance reservation" User A "" Drama C channel x 21:00 ~ 22: 0 "
0 "" Record on VTR ") and confirm that the information is the target information, the program reservation information in the program reservation information storage unit 2f is set to" User B "" Movie D channel y 21: 00-23: 0
0 "" Record with VTR "and duplicate reservation information in the duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g (subsequent reservation" User B "" Movie D channel y 21:00 to 23:00 "" Record with VTR "/ advance reservation After deleting "User A", "Drama C Channel x 21: 00-22: 00" and "Record on VTR")
A comparison completion report is sent to the AV device control driver 2c. Upon receiving the comparison end report, the AV device control driver 2c refers to the program reservation information storage unit 2f and the duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g of the memory 2e, transmits a reservation change command to the VTR 4a based on the reservation information, and the VTR 4a makes the reservation. Change (step ST205).

The reservation change is completed by the VTR 4a, and the VT
Upon receiving the reservation change completion notification from R4a, the control driver 2c sends the program reservation completion information to the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a.
And the reservation change information is transmitted to the mobile phones 1a and 1c. The users A and B confirm the completion of the reservation change on the display units 1b and 1d of the mobile phones 1a and 1c, respectively,
The duplicate reservation process ends.

When "Cancellation is not accepted" is selected as the second selection by the user A, the mobile phone 1a is replaced by the mobile phone 1a.
A duplicate reservation adjustment mail (reservation cancellation refusal) including duplicate reservation information is transmitted to c (step ST211). User B
On the display unit 1d of the mobile phone 1c, the duplicate reservation re-adjustment mail (reservation cancellation refusal) "User A's pre-reservation cancellation is rejected" is displayed, followed by "Request for user A's pre-reservation cancellation". Alternatively, the selection screen of "Cancel the subsequent reservation of oneself" is displayed again (step ST212).

If the user B selects "cancel the subsequent reservation", the same process as the first selection by the user B is performed (step ST213). When the user B again selects “request cancellation of advance reservation of user A”, the second selection of user B is reprocessed, and the duplicate reservation adjustment mail (reservation reconfirmation mail) is sent to the user A from the mobile phone 1c. Adjustment: "Re-adjustment of reservation by user B.")
Is sent, and after "User B re-adjusts the reservation." Is displayed, a screen display is again displayed to select "Cancel my advance reservation" or "Cannot cancel" (step ST2).
14).

When the user A again selects "Do not allow cancellation", the advance program reservation is finally decided as an advantage of the advance reservation, the same processing as step ST211 is repeated, and the mobile phone 1a receives The comment “User A's pre-order was given priority” was sent to mobile phone 1c, and mobile phone 1c displayed “User A” on display 1d.
Pre-ordering has been prioritized. Is displayed and the program reservation information (duplicate reservation cancellation: subsequent reservation “user B” “movie D” is displayed on the home server 2 as in step ST213.
Channel y 21: 00-23: 00 "" Record on VTR ") is sent, and thereafter, the server 2 performs the same process as the first selection process of the user B (step ST203 and thereafter). Further, when the user A selects “cancel the contents of his or her own reservation” in the second overlapping reservation adjustment, the process of selecting the “cancel the contents of his or her own reservation” of the user A for the first time (from step ST209) Similar processing will be performed.

As a second embodiment of the duplicate reservation adjustment according to the present invention, a flow for first confirming the necessity with the preceding reservation person when a duplicate reservation is made will be described with reference to FIG. The program reservation flow is the same as in FIG.

Input by user B (step S
(T101) The program reservation information is stored as a mail from the mobile phone 1c in a provider server (not shown) on the Internet 3 (step ST102). The home server 2 regularly accesses the provider server to automatically receive the mail (step ST103).

When the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a receives the mail,
The AV device control driver 2c includes the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a.
Only the mail including the program reservation information is extracted from the received mails (step ST104), and the program reservation information (“user B” “user 11” “movie D channel y 21:00 to 23:00” “VTR It is sent to the reservation information comparison unit 2d as "recording").

The reservation information comparison unit 2d compares the received program reservation information with the program reservation information in the program reservation information storage unit 2f in the memory 2e (step ST105), determines that there is duplication (step ST106), Duplication reservation information in the duplication reservation information storage unit 2g (subsequent reservation “user B” “movie D channel y 21:00 to 23:00” {recorded on VTR} / advance reservation “user A” “drama C x channel 21:00”
~ 22: 00 "(recorded by VTR)) (step ST112), and sends a comparison end report to the AV device control driver 2c (step ST113).

Upon receiving the comparison end report, the AV device control driver 2c refers to the program reservation information storage unit 2f and the duplication reservation information storage unit 2g in the memory 2e and sends the duplication reservation information to the information transmission / reception unit 2a. When the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a receives the duplicate reservation information, the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a transmits the duplicate reservation notification mail to the mobile phone 1a together with the text data from the communication text generating unit 2h (step ST114). After that, the flow of duplicate reservation adjustment will be described with reference to FIG.

When the mobile phone 1a receives the duplicate reservation notice mail (step ST301), the user A "cancels his / her previous reservation contents" or "user B cancels the subsequent reservation" on the display section 1b together with the duplicate reservation information. A screen display for selecting "Request" is displayed (step ST3
02).

When the user A's first selection is "Cancel his / her advance reservation contents", the mobile phone 1a informs the home server 2 of program reservation information (duplicate reservation change: subsequent reservation "user B""movieD"). Channel y 21: 00〜23: 0
"0""record on VTR") (step ST30)
3).

The AV device control driver 2c extracts the mail including the program reservation information from the mails received by the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a, and changes the program reservation information (duplication reservation change: subsequent reservation "user B") "movie D channel y". 21:00
~ 23: 00 "" Record on VTR ") is sent to the reservation information comparison unit 2d (step ST304).

The reservation information comparison unit 2d receives the received program reservation information (duplicate reservation change: subsequent reservation "user B""movieD"
Channel y 21: 00-23: 00 "" Record on VTR "and duplicate reservation information stored in the duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g in the memory 2e (subsequent reservation" User B "" Movie D channel y 21:00 " ~ 23:00 "" Record on VTR "/ Advance reservation" User A "" Drama C channel x 21:00 ~ 22: 0 "
0 "" Record on VTR ") and confirm that the information is the target information, the program reservation information in the program reservation information storage unit 2f is set to" User B "" Movie D channel y 21: 00-23: 0
0 "" Record with VTR "and duplicate reservation information in the duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g (subsequent reservation" User B "" Movie D channel y 21:00 to 23:00 "" Record with VTR "/ advance reservation After deleting "User A", "Drama C Channel x 21: 00-22: 00" and "Record on VTR")
A comparison completion report is sent to the AV device control driver 2c. Upon receiving the comparison end report, the AV device control driver 2c refers to the program reservation information storage unit 2f and the duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g of the memory 2e, transmits a reservation change command to the VTR 4a based on the reservation information, and the VTR 4a makes the reservation. Change (step ST305).

Reservation change is completed by the VTR 4a, and VT
Upon receiving the reservation change completion notification from R4a, the control driver 2c sends the program reservation completion information to the information transmitting / receiving unit 2a.
The reservation change information is transmitted to the mobile phones 1a and 1c. The users A and B confirm the completion of the reservation change on the display units 1b and 1d of the mobile phones 1a and 1c, respectively.

On the other hand, when the user A's second selection is "request for cancellation of subsequent reservation of user B",
The mobile phone 1a sends a duplicate reservation adjustment mail (reservation cancellation request) including duplicate reservation information to the mobile phone 1c (step S).
T306). It is also possible to add a simple comment from User A to this email. Upon receipt of the duplicate reservation adjustment mail (reservation cancellation request) (step ST307), on the display portion 1d of the mobile phone 1c of the user B, select "cancel the subsequent reservation" or "do not allow cancellation" together with the duplicate reservation information. The screen to be displayed is displayed (step ST30
8).

When the user B's first selection is "cancel the subsequent reservation", the mobile phone 1c gives the user A a duplicate reservation adjustment mail (cancellation agreement: "user B has confirmed the cancellation." ) Is sent, and the mobile phone 1c sends program reservation information (duplicate reservation cancellation: subsequent reservation “user B” “movie D channel y 21:00 to 23:00” “record on VTR”) to the home server 2 ( Step ST309).

The AV device control driver 2c receives program reservation information (duplicate reservation cancellation: late reservation "user B""movie D channel y 21: 00-23: 00""VTR" from the mail received by the information transmitter / receiver 2a. "Recording") is extracted and sent to the reservation information comparison unit 2d (step ST310).

The reservation information comparison unit 2d receives the received program reservation information (duplicate reservation cancellation: subsequent reservation "user B""movieD".
Channel y 21: 00-23: 00 "" Record on VTR "and duplicate reservation information stored in the duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g in the memory 2e (subsequent reservation" User B "" Movie D channel y 21:00 " ~ 23:00 "" Record on VTR "/ Advance reservation" User A "" Drama C channel x 21:00 ~ 22: 0 "
When it is confirmed that the information is the target information by comparing with “0” “record on VTR”), the duplicate reservation information (subsequent reservation “user B” “movie D channel y 2” in the duplicate reservation information storage unit 2g is confirmed.
1:00 ~ 23:00 "Record on VTR" / Advance reservation "User A""Drama C channel x 21:00 ~ 22:00""VTR
“Record with” is deleted) (step ST305).

When "Cancellation is not accepted" is selected as the second selection by the user B, the user A is selected from the mobile phone 1c.
A duplicate reservation adjustment mail (rejection refusal: “User B readjusts the reservation.”) Is sent to (step ST311),
After "Re-adjustment of reservation by user B." is displayed, a screen display is again displayed to select "cancel the contents of his / her previous reservation" or "request cancellation of subsequent reservation by user B" (step ST312).

If the user A again selects "request for cancellation of subsequent reservation of user B" (step S
(T314), the advance program reservation is finally decided as an advantage of the advance reservation, and the mobile phone 1a transmits a comment of "User A's prior reservation has been given priority" to the mobile phone 1c and the home server 2 The program reservation information (deletion of duplicate reservation: subsequent reservation “user B”, “movie D channel y 21:00 to 23:00”, “record by VTR”) is sent to the user, and thereafter, the first selection processing of user B (step ST
309 and the subsequent steps) are performed. Further, when the user A selects "Cancel his / her previous reservation content" in the second overlapping reservation adjustment, the same processing as the first selection processing (after ST303) of the user A is performed ( Step ST313).

In the above embodiment, the overlapping reservation for the VTR 4a has been described in order to explain the basic processing of the overlapping reservation, but the STB 4b having the recording / reproducing function is the VTR 4a.
When the reservation information is input together with the home server 2, the reservation information comparison unit 2d extracts the reservation information of both the VTR 4a and the STB 4b from the program reservation information storage unit 2f and executes the comparison. As a result VTR4
The processing similar to the above may be performed when it is determined that the reservation is a duplicate reservation for both a and STB 4b.

Note that the number of mobile phones is not limited to two, access from a plurality of mobile phones is possible, and the number of recording / reproducing devices is not limited to two. In this case, there are various options as to to whom of the pre-ordering persons the reservation adjustment email is to be sent, and to whom when the adjustment with that person fails, but similar methods can be applied. Further, a flag indicating that effect may be used for those who may accept the adjustment at the time of reservation.
In the present embodiment, the prior reservation is prioritized when the prior reservation person rejects the second reservation, but basically, if one of the users approves the cancellation of the reservation, the duplicate reservation adjustment will be completed. The setting of the number of repetitions of the decision right is not specified.

Not only a comment urging "reservation completion" or "reservation adjustment" to be sent from the server to the mobile phone, but also icons and characters representing them can be sent. It is also possible to send reservation information such as or reservation time, and details of overlap reservation information such as overlapped program name or overlap time. Further, when the movie or drama can be specified in the display of the program reservation information or the overlapping reservation information, it is not always necessary to display the channel. In addition, it is obvious that various modifications can be made to the embodiment without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0053]

The following effects are brought about by the present invention described above. In claim 1 of the present invention, duplication of reserved programs is automatically detected and notified to the user, so that adjustments such as changes in reservation contents can be swiftly made between users, and adjustment results can be automatically followed. . In addition, the user can make a program reservation from anywhere as long as the user has a mobile terminal. According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to control the automatic capture time of the reservation from the user and add a comment to the user. Claims 3, 4, 5 of the present invention
In the above, in the case of overlapping reservations, adjustments can be made between the reservation persons, and the final reservation is set based on the adjustment result. Also, you can check the program reservation on your mobile terminal,
Reliable program reservation is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of a program reservation system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of program reservation according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for first confirming the necessity with a later reservation person when a duplicate reservation is made.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for first confirming the necessity with a preceding reservation person when a duplicate reservation is made.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a. Mobile phone 1b. Mobile phone display 1c. Mobile phone 1d. Mobile phone display 2. Home server 2a. Information transmitting / receiving unit 2b. Time control unit (timer) 2c. Information recording / reproduction control unit (AV device control driver) 2d. Reservation information comparison unit 2e. Information storage unit (memory) 2f. Program reservation information storage unit 2g. Duplicate reservation information storage unit 2h. Communication text generation unit 4a. VTR 4b. STB

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A program reservation system comprising a home server connected to a plurality of portable terminals via a network, and a single or a plurality of information recording / reproducing devices connected to the home server and controlled by the home server, The home server includes an information transmitting / receiving unit that communicates with the plurality of mobile terminals via the network, and an information recording / reproducing control unit that controls the one or more information recording / reproducing devices.
A program reservation information storage unit that stores program reservation information, an overlapping reservation information storage unit that stores overlapping reservation information, program reservation information received from the information transmission / reception unit, and program reservation information stored in the program reservation information storage unit And a reservation information comparison unit for comparing with the program reservation system. 2. The home server includes a communication comment generation unit that generates a comment to be transmitted to a mobile terminal, and a time control unit that controls a time at which the information transmission / reception unit takes in program reservation information from the network. The program reservation system according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 3. The home server, when the reservation information comparison unit determines that there is duplication in the program reservation information, writes the duplication information in the duplication reservation information storage unit, and simultaneously, the mobile terminal of the pre-booked and the late reservation The program reservation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein reservation adjustment information is transmitted to a mobile terminal. 4. The advance reservation mobile terminal and the subsequent reservation mobile terminal that have received the reservation adjustment information from the home server perform reservation adjustment communication and send the reservation adjustment result to the home server. The program reservation system according to claim 3, wherein 5. The home server, when the program reservation information is updated based on the reservation adjustment result, rewrites the program reservation information storage unit and causes the information recording / reproducing apparatus for the program reservation to operate. 5. The program reservation system according to claim 4, wherein the reservation update information is instructed, and reservation update information is transmitted to the mobile terminal of the advance reservation and the mobile terminal of the subsequent reservation.