JP2003264515A - Information processor and receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that a user has few incentives to watch a program because the program that the user watches is not linked with a game. <P>SOLUTION: An information processor performing an application, is provided with a program information receiving part for receiving program information being information on a program from a receiver for receiving the program, allows the user to enjoy performing an application by changing the performance contents of the application on the basis of the program information and allows a program sponsor to watch more programs. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing device that changes the execution content of an application in cooperation with a receiving device such as a television.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, there have been broadcasting devices for broadcasting programs competing for video game capabilities, and receiving devices for receiving the programs. In this program, he was also involved in the strategy of a game of a certain manufacturer and advertisement. Then, the user who has learned the capture method in the program is playing the game using the capture method in a game machine independent of the receiving device.

As for the game machine, there is a game machine that plays a competitive game using a network.

[0004]

However, according to the above conventional technique, the program and the game are not linked, and the user has little incentive to watch the program. In addition, in a battle-type game machine that uses a network, the progress of the game and the display contents of the game differ depending on information from the outside (input from the opponent) It wasn't.

[0005]

Therefore, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that executes an application, and is program information that receives program information that is information about the program from a receiving apparatus that receives the program. It is characterized by including a receiving unit and changing the execution content of the application based on the program information. An information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that executes an application, and stores a program receiving unit that receives a program and program information that is information about the program when the program receiving unit receives the program. It is characterized by including a program information acquisition unit for acquiring and changing the execution content of the application based on the program information. When a certain program is output by such an information processing device while the information processing device is executing an application related to the program, the operation of the application changes. Therefore, the user can enjoy the execution of the application, and the sponsor of the program can watch the program more.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an information processing system having a receiving device, an information processing device and the like will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the embodiments, the components denoted by the same reference numerals perform the same operation, and thus the repeated description may be omitted.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system according to the present embodiment.
The information processing system includes a transmission device 11, a reception device 12, and an information processing device 13.

The transmitter 11 has a program storage unit 1101, a program transmission unit 1102, a program information storage unit 1103, and a first program information transmission unit 1104.

The program storage unit 1101 stores programs. A program is data in which one or more types of various types of data such as moving images, voices, still images or texts are combined. The program storage unit 1101 is usually a non-volatile recording medium, but it does not exclude a volatile recording medium.

The program transmission section 1102 includes a program storage section 110.
The program stored in 1 is acquired and transmitted. This transmission usually refers to broadcasting using terrestrial waves or satellites. Broadcasting may be digital or analog. The transmission also includes Internet broadcasting.

The program information storage unit 1103 stores program information. The program information may be any information related to the program. The program information is, for example, a program identifier (a program name, a time and a channel number, etc.) for identifying a program. In addition, the program information may be, for example, a company identifier that is information that identifies a sponsor company that provides a program. The program information storage unit 1103 is usually a non-volatile recording medium, but it does not exclude a volatile recording medium.

The first program information transmission unit 1104 transmits the program information stored in the program information storage unit 1103.
This transmission usually refers to broadcasting using terrestrial waves or satellites. Broadcasting may be digital or analog.
The transmission also includes Internet broadcasting. The program and the program information are associated with each other. In the receiving device 12 etc.,
This is to determine which program information is related to which program.

The program transmitting unit 1102 and the first program information transmitting unit 1104 are usually composed of physically the same hardware and software. However, the program transmission unit 110
2 and the first program information transmission unit 1104 may be physically separated.

The receiving device 12 has a program receiving unit 1201, a first program information receiving unit 1202, a program output unit 1203, and a second program information transmitting unit 1204.

The program receiving section 1201 receives a program.
The program receiving unit 1201 is usually a means for receiving a broadcast (a tuner and its driver software), but it may be a wired or wireless communication means.

The first program information receiver 1202 receives program information. The first program information receiving unit 1202 is usually a unit (tuner and its driver software) for receiving a broadcast, but may be a wired or wireless communication unit. Program receiver 1201 and first program information receiver 1202
Are typically physically implemented in one piece of hardware and / or software.

The program output unit 1203 is a program receiving unit 120.
1 outputs the received program. The program output unit 1203
It is usually realized by a display such as a CRT or liquid crystal and its driver software. However, the program output unit 1203 may not include a display. In such a case, the receiving device 12 is in the form of a set top box (STB).

The second program information transmission section 1204 transmits program information to the information processing device 13. Second program information transmitter 1
204 is usually a communication means. However, the broadcasting means is not excluded. In addition, the second program information transmission unit 120
4 is preferably a wireless communication means. The second program information transmitting unit 1204 is preferably a short-distance wireless communication means such as Bluetooth.

The information processing apparatus 13 has an application storage section 1301, an application execution section 1302, a second program information receiving section 1303, and a program information giving section 1304.

The application storage unit 1301 stores applications executed by the information processing device 13. The applications refer to various programs operating on the information processing device 13. However, this program
Usually, it is realized by software, but it may be realized by a dedicated circuit (hardware). The application is preferably a game, but various applications such as schedule management software and various browser software may be applicable. Applications usually refer to interactive software that has interaction with a user. Application storage unit 1301
Can usually be realized by a non-volatile recording medium such as a CD-ROM or ROM, but may be realized by a volatile recording medium.

The application execution unit 1302 acquires and executes the application stored in the application storage unit 1301. The application execution unit 1302 can be generally realized by a CPU, a memory, an OS, software for executing an application, and the like.

The second program information receiving section 1303 receives the program information transmitted by the receiving device 12. The second program information receiving unit 1303 can be usually realized by wireless or wired communication means, but it does not exclude means for receiving broadcasts. Further, the second program information receiving section 1303 is preferably a wireless communication means.

The program information giving unit 1304 gives the program information received by the second program information receiving unit 1303 to the application executing unit 1302. Note that it is assumed that the application executed by the application execution unit 1302 given the program information changes some operation as compared with the case where there is no program information.

The operation of this information processing system will be described below. First, the operation of the transmission device 11 is as follows. The transmitting device 11 transmits a program and program information in association with each other. Correspondence between programs and program information may be realized by multiplexing and transmitting, or information indicating correspondence may be included in the header of each information. Also, other association methods may be used.

Next, the operation of the receiver 12 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of.

(Step S201) Program receiver 1201
The first program information receiving unit 1202 determines whether each program and program information has been received. If a program etc. are received, it will go to step S202, and if a program etc. will not be received, it will return to step S201.

(Step S202) Program output unit 1203
Judges whether or not the program output instruction is received, and if the program output instruction is received, the program is output, and step 2
Go to 03. The program output unit 1203 ends if it has not received a program output instruction.

(Step S203) The second program information transmitter 1204 acquires the program information received in step S201.

(Step S204) The second program information transmitting section 1204 transmits the program information acquired in step S203.

Next, regarding the operation of the information processing device 13,
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S301) The application execution unit 1302 determines whether or not an application execution instruction has been received. If the application execution instruction is accepted, the process proceeds to step S302, and if the application execution instruction is not accepted, the process returns to step S301.

(Step S302) The application execution unit 1302 acquires an application from the application storage unit 1301. This acquisition usually means reading into main memory.

(Step S303) The application executing section 1302 executes the application.

(Step S304) The second program information receiving section 1303 judges whether or not the program information has been received. If program information is received, it will go to step S305, and if program information is not received, it will jump to step S306.

(Step S305) Program information giving section 13
04 gives the program information received in step S304 to the application of the application execution unit 1302. To give program information to an application (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as “app”) means to give it as a parameter when the application is executed, or to give an execution module that can be called from the application. When the execution module that can be called from the application is given, the program information is the execution module that can be called from the application.
That is, various data can be considered as the program information. However, giving the program information to the application may be other than the above two methods. That is, giving the program information to the application means giving various kinds of information in order to show changes in the execution of the application.

(Step S306) The application executing section 1302 determines whether or not an instruction to end the application has been input. If you enter an instruction to end the application, it will end,
If an instruction to end the application is not input, step S303
Return to.

The specific operation of the information processing system according to this embodiment will be described below.

Now, let us say that a so-called video game is introduced and a program competing for the skill of the game is being broadcast. This game is a battle-type game. FIG. 4 shows how the game is being executed. The user of the game is fighting with the monster on the left and the monster on the right. The monster on the left is
The current power is “22”, the monster on the right side is currently “30”, and the left side is inferior.

Then, as the program information, the power information, which is the information about the power for becoming stronger in the introduced game, is transmitted. For example, power information “10”
Is transmitted from the transmitting device to the receiving device.

Then, the receiving device outputs the program, recognizes that the program is being output, and transmits the received power information "10" to the information processing device.

In the information processing device, the above-mentioned battle-type game (application) is being executed. In this state, the information processing device receives the power information “10”. Then, in the competitive game, the power information "10" is added to the person who is playing the game, and the power information becomes stronger, and the probability of winning the game increases. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the power of the monster on the left side becomes “32”, which is superior to the monster on the right side.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the information processing apparatus is executing the application related to the program while the receiving apparatus is outputting the program, the operation of the application changes. Therefore, the user can enjoy the execution of the application, and the sponsor of the program can watch the program more.

Although the application is a game in this embodiment, it may be another application as described above. The fact that the application is not limited to the game is the same in other embodiments.

Further, in the present embodiment, the transmitting device transmits the program information to the receiving device. However, the program information may not be transmitted from the transmission device. That is, the receiving device that has detected that the program is output may generate the program information. The generation of the program information means the following, for example. A method for obtaining the program identifier currently output from the currently tuned channel number and the EPG (electronic program guide) information (for example, SI information) transmitted from the transmission device, and using this program identifier as the program information Is. In such a case, the information processing device receives the program identifier. Then, the information processing apparatus, for example, when receiving a certain program identifier, generates a parameter to be given when the application is executed. This parameter is, for example, the power information “10” described above. By this processing, the probability of winning in the competitive game is increased, as in the above case. Also,
The user is given an incentive to watch a particular program, which is convenient for the sponsor of the program.
In such an example, the information processing device generates new program information from the program information transmitted from the receiving device. That is, the program information transmitted from the receiving device and the program information given to the application by the information processing device may not be the same.

Further, in the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus changes the parameters used for executing the application by using the program information, but the execution procedure of the subprograms forming the application may be changed. That is, for example, there is a game composed of a plurality of scenes as shown in FIG. 6, and as shown in the figure, “scene A → scene B → scene C”
→ There is a role-playing game in which the flow is scene D ... In such a case, if the information processing device receives the program information, for example, the scene B may be skipped as shown in FIG. 7. The execution procedure can be changed (including deletion and addition) by, for example, changing the calling order of the functions forming the application.
Therefore, any change may be made as long as the execution content of the application is changed based on the program information.

Further, the operation described in this embodiment may be realized by a computer-readable program. The program may be recorded in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed, may be distributed by network distribution, or may be distributed by broadcasting. This also applies to other embodiments.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system according to the present embodiment.
The information processing system includes a transmitter 81 and an information processor 82.
Have.

The transmission device 11 has a program storage section 1101 and a program transmission section 1102.

The information processing device 82 includes a program receiving section 120.
1, program output unit 1203, application storage unit 13
01, an application execution unit 1302, a program information generation unit 8201, and a program information giving unit 1304.

The program information generation unit 8201 generates program information based on the received program (or the output program). There are various program information generation algorithms. An example of a program information generation algorithm will be described in detail below.

The operation of the information processing system will be described below. First, the operation of the transmission device 81 is as follows. The transmitter 11 transmits a program. Then, the operation of the information processing device 82 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S901) Program receiver 1201
Determines whether the program has been received. If the program is received, the process goes to step S902, and if the program or the like is not received, the process returns to step S901.

(Step S902) Program output unit 1203
Judges whether or not the program output instruction is received, and if the program output instruction is received, the program is output, and step S
Go to 903. If the program output unit 1203 has not received a program output instruction, the program output unit 1203 proceeds to step S904.

(Step S903) Program Output Unit 1203
Outputs the program.

(Step S904) The application execution unit 1302 determines whether or not an application execution instruction has been received. If the application execution instruction is received, the process proceeds to step S905, and if the application execution instruction is not received, the process proceeds to step S910.

(Step S905) The application execution unit 1302 acquires an application from the application storage unit 1301. This acquisition usually means reading into main memory.

(Step S906) The application executing section 1302 executes the application.

(Step S907) Program Information Generation Unit 82
01 determines whether or not the program is being output. If the program is being output, the procedure goes to step S908, and if the program is not being output, the procedure goes to step S910.

(Step S908) Program information generation unit 82
01 generates program information.

(Step S909) Program information generation unit 82
01 gives the program information generated in step S908 to the running application. Giving the program information to the application means giving it as a parameter when the application is executed, or giving an execution module that can be called from the application. However, giving the program information to the application may be other than the above two methods. That is, giving the program information to the application means giving various kinds of information in order to show changes in the execution of the application.

(Step S910) The application execution unit 1302 determines whether or not an instruction to end the application has been input. If you enter an instruction to end the application, it will end,
If the instruction to end the application is not input, step S906
Return to.

In the flowchart of FIG. 9, the program output is normally kept to be output, and is not shown in the flowchart of FIG. Then, by receiving the program end signal, the output of the program is ended.

The specific operation of the information processing system according to this embodiment will be described below.

Now, let us assume that a so-called video game is introduced and a program competing for the game is being broadcast. This game is a role-playing type game. And
The game requires a key to open the door to some scenes. To get this key information, use the money held in the game.

While the game is being executed, a program introducing the game is being output. Then, the information processing device
Program information is generated by the following algorithm. EPG held in advance by the channel number and time when the program is received (the information processing device holds a clock)
To get the program identifier. Such program identifier is used as program information.

Then, in the game, when the program identifier held in advance and the generated program identifier have a fixed relationship, the generated program information is used in the game. That is, for example, it is assumed that the generated program information is the program name “program A”. Then, when the user plays the game while watching the "program A", a key for entering a certain scene is given to the application (game). In such a case, when the user watches the program, the game is more likely to proceed, and the incentive to watch the program increases.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the information processing apparatus outputs a certain program, the operation of the application changes while the information processing apparatus is executing the application related to the program. Therefore, the user can enjoy the execution of the application, and the sponsor of the program can watch the program more.

In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus uses the program information to give the parameter (key) to be used for executing the application. However, even if the execution procedure of the subprogram that constitutes the application is changed. good.
The execution procedure can be changed, for example, by changing the calling order of the functions forming the application.
That is, any change may be made as long as the execution content of the application is changed based on the program information.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a program is being output and an application is being executed, the operation of the application changes. Therefore,
Users will be able to enjoy running the app, and program sponsors will be able to see the program better.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the receiving device in Embodiment 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information processing device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an application according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an application according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an application according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an application according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information processing device according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 81 transmitter 12 Receiver 13, 82 Information processing device 1101 Program storage section 1102 Program transmitter 1103 Program information storage section 1104 First program information transmission unit 1201 Program receiver 1202 First program information receiving section 1203 Program output section 1204 Second program information transmission section 1301 Application storage unit 1302 Application execution unit 1303 Second program information receiver 1304 Program information awarding section 8201 Program information generation unit

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 7/035 A63F 13/12 C 7/173 630 H04N 7/08 A // A63F 13/00 13/12 (72) Inventor Takumi Ikeda 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshihiko Nakazato 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture F Term (reference) 2C001 BB06 BB08 CB01 CB08 CC02 CC08 5C025 AA30 BA25 CA02 CA09 CB10 DA05 5C063 AA01 AB05 AC01 AC05 AC10 CA23 CA36 DA03 DA07 DB10 5C064 BA01 BB10 BC18 BC23 BD02 BD08 BD09

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for executing an application, comprising: a program information receiving unit for receiving program information, which is information about the program, from a receiving apparatus for receiving the program, and the application based on the program information. An information processing device, characterized in that the execution content of the. 2. An information processing apparatus for executing an application, comprising: a program receiving unit for receiving a program; and program information for obtaining program information that is information about the program when the program receiving unit receives the program. An information processing apparatus, comprising: an acquisition unit, and changing execution contents of the application based on the program information. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program information is a program identifier for identifying a program. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the application is a game. 5. Changing the execution content of the application based on the program information means changing a parameter used for executing the application when the program information satisfies a predetermined constant condition. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 6. Changing the execution content of the application based on the program information means changing an execution procedure of a sub-program constituting the application when the program information satisfies a predetermined certain condition. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 7. A receiving device for receiving a program, the receiving device transmitting program information to the information processing device according to claim 1. 8. A program for causing a computer to execute a program information receiving step of receiving program information, which is information about the program, from a receiving device for receiving the program, and an application executing step of executing a stored application, A program for changing the execution content of the application based on the program information. 9. A computer stores a program receiving step of receiving a program, and a program information obtaining step of obtaining program information that is information about the program when the program is received in the program receiving step. A program for executing an application executing step of executing an application, characterized in that the execution content of the application is changed based on the acquired program information.