JP2003316699A - Digital broadcasting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcasting system for preventing significant mail from being overlooked in receiving broadcasting transmitted to all viewers from a broadcasting entity and mail transmitted to a particular viewer with a receiver. <P>SOLUTION: An EMM message is received, and mail to a viewer himself/ herself is selected by comparing the EMM message with recorded information of a viewer's IC card 20. An entity filter (significant mail detection filter) 13 detects particular broadcasting entities preregistered in a storing part 12, mail including a special term in the mail or a special mail senders. They are displayed in a different form on a display part 21 in accordance with the significance of mail stored in a message storing part 14. Significant mail is displayed, for example, in a display picture. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system, and more particularly to a digital broadcasting system capable of receiving and reading mail transmitted with broadcasting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The progress of digital technology has been remarkable, and digitization is progressing also in the field of communication or broadcasting technology, which has heretofore been centered on analog technology. In the broadcasting field of the 21st century, the number of broadcasting companies is increasing, and the era of full-scale digitalization (the period of popularization of digital broadcasting) is approaching. Along with such a situation, multi-channel, high quality / high image quality, and multi-functionality are being made. Also, fusion of broadcasting and communication is being considered, and various functions using digital technology are being added. In the current BS (satellite broadcasting) digital broadcasting, one of the functions is a mail function. This is a function of displaying a message sent from a broadcasting company on a TV (television) screen by a viewer's operation like an electronic mail so that the message can be read.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of a general receiver. The receiver 100 includes a tuner unit 101, a descrambler 102, a DEMUX unit 103,
Video / audio decoding unit 104, display unit 105, control unit 10
6 and a key input unit 107. The IC card 111 can be inserted into the control unit 106. The key input unit 107 is also configured to be operable from a remote control keyboard 110. The outputs of the video / audio decoding unit 104 and the display unit 105 are output to a monitor including a video display device such as a cathode ray tube, a liquid crystal display panel or a plasma display (display) panel, and a speaker.

The tuner section 101 of the receiver 100 receives a broadcasting signal from a broadcasting satellite by using, for example, a parabolic antenna. Since the received signal is generally scrambled so that only the contractor can view it, the contracted viewer descrambles it by the descrambler 102 so that normal video and audio can be viewed. Also, DEMU
The X section 103 demultiplexes the multiplexed signal.

In the current digital broadcasting, mail is
EMM (Entitlem) that contains the key to decrypt the contract information for each subscriber to the subscriber who has subscribed to the viewing from the pay broadcasting business
entManagement Message) and is transmitted as an EMM message in the MPEG2 system section format (EMM message section). Therefore, the receiver 100
On the side, as shown in FIG. 12, the card ID filter 201 and the message storage unit 20 are provided in the control unit 106 of FIG.
It has a card ID inquiry unit 200 including 2. Then, based on the EMM information and a plurality of IDs such as an individual card ID for identifying each receiver stored in the IC card 111 and a group ID for performing group control according to the type of the receiver, whether or not the mail is addressed to itself Ka card ID filter 20
Filter by 1 and receive. The received EMM message is stored in the message storage unit 202.

Next, the mail receiving operation of the conventional receiver shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The receiver 100 receives the EMM message (step S1). The IC card 111 is inquired about the card ID (step S2). Next, it is determined whether the received EMM message is a message addressed to itself (step S3). If the message is addressed to itself (step S3: YES), the message is stored in the message storage unit 202 (step S4). And an LED (light emitting diode) on the front panel of the receiver 100
The display lamps such as the above are turned on to notify the viewer of the reception or arrival of the message (step S5), and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if the message is not addressed to itself (step S3: N
In (O), the received message is discarded (step S).
6).

As described above, the current method of notifying the user that a mail has been received is to turn on the LED on the main body (for example, the front panel) of the receiver 100 or to send a mail to the display (screen) of the receiver 100. The purpose is to provide a dedicated space for notification of arrival. User (viewer)
When the user notices that the mail has arrived, he / she reads the mail and displays the mail contents on the TV screen.

[0008]

However, in the above-described mail arrival notification method, the user / viewer may not notice the arrival of the mail and may forget to read the mail. For example, if the unread email is an email notifying the end of the contract period with the pay broadcasting business body, the contract renewal may be delayed, and a broadcast unviewable period may occur. Also, the receiver 1
If the user forgets to read an important e-mail such as the 00 program update notification, the user may not be able to update the receiver by turning off the power of the receiver at the time when the program update is necessary.

Further, in the future, not only mails from broadcasting companies but also mails between individuals can be transmitted and received. In that case, the possibility of arrival of an important or urgent message increases, and if the response timing is delayed, serious inconvenience or disadvantage may occur.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and provides a digital broadcasting system in which a user can know the arrival of important mail without fail and effectively prevent the user from forgetting to read. The purpose is to do.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the digital broadcasting system of the present invention adopts the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In a digital broadcasting system in which a receiver receives a broadcast transmitted from a plurality of broadcasting companies and a mail transmitted to a specific viewer, each viewer is
A digital broadcasting system that alerts viewers by displaying important emails that they receive, identifying them as other emails.

(2) The digital broadcasting system according to (1), wherein the important mail is a mail from one or more specific broadcasting enterprises selected and registered in advance by a viewer among the plural broadcasting enterprises.

(3) The digital broadcasting system according to (1), wherein the important mail is sent by the broadcasting business in advance by adding identification information to the mail in order to call the attention of the viewer.

(4) The digital broadcasting system according to (1), wherein the important mail is a mail containing a specific term previously registered by the viewer in the mail.

(5) The important mail is displayed on the display screen of the receiver immediately when the mail is received, and the reception of the other mails is displayed by a reception display lamp or the like of the receiver. The digital broadcasting system according to any one of 4).

(6) In a digital broadcasting system in which a receiver receives a broadcast transmitted from a broadcasting enterprise and a mail transmitted to a specific viewer, the received mail is an IC card in which information of each viewer is recorded. Card ID filter for selecting mail addressed to itself, a storage unit for storing important mail selection information selected and registered by each viewer, and contents stored in the storage unit and the received mail addressed to self. And an important mail detection filter for detecting important mail, a message storage unit for holding mail addressed to itself, and a display for displaying received mail addressed to self in different modes based on the detection result of the important mail detection filter. A digital broadcasting system including a section.

(7) The digital broadcasting system according to the above (6), in which the viewer determines the importance and display mode of the received mail by the address book of the storage unit.

(8) The display mode of the received mail is divided into three or more levels according to the degree of importance and displayed on the screen or in the vicinity of the screen, according to (6) or (7). .

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration and operation of a preferred embodiment of a digital broadcasting system according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a main part of a first embodiment of a digital broadcasting system according to the present invention. This embodiment is applied to a current digital broadcasting system in which mail is transmitted only from broadcasting companies. Broadcast receiver 10A of this digital broadcasting system
Is a card ID filter 11 and pay business entity ID storage unit 1
2. It includes a business entity filter 13 and a message storage unit 14.

Here, the card ID filter 11 is an EM.
It receives the M message and is connected to the IC card 20. The card ID filter 11 is connected to the business entity filter 13. The business entity filter 13 is connected to the pay business entity ID storage unit 12 and also the message storage unit 1
4 is connected. The message storage unit 14 includes a display unit 21.
Connected to.

In the first embodiment, the broadcast business entity that is judged to be important to the user is registered in advance in the pay business entity ID storage unit 12. After that, when the mail from the registered broadcasting company is received, the contents of the mail are displayed as they are on the screen to prevent the important mail from being forgotten to be read. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment of the digital broadcasting system shown in FIG. The operation will be described below based on this flowchart.

First, the broadcast receiver 10A receives the EMM message in the card ID filter 11, inquires the IC card 20 about the card ID, and receives the EMM mail addressed to itself (step A1). Next, the business entity filter 13 inquires about the pay business entity ID registered in the pay business entity ID storage unit 12 (step A2). Then, it is determined whether or not the message is from the registered business entity (step A3). If the message is from the registered entity (step A3: YES), the message is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step A3).
4) Immediately display the email on the screen (step A)
5). On the other hand, if the message is not from the registered broadcasting company (step A3: NO), the message is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step A6) and the LED on the front panel of the receiver is turned on to receive the mail. Is notified (step A7).

As described above, the pay business unit ID storage unit 1 stores one or more specific pay business units that the user determines to be important.
By registering in 2 (the registered multiple IDs are stored as a broadcasting business entity file), only the business entity ID that identifies the broadcasting business entity in the pay broadcasting operation included in the EMM message section is filtered by the business entity filter. Filter by 13. This registration can be realized by a simple operation such as registering the address of the received mail by mail between individuals. Then, the important message from the registered business entity can be stored in the message storage unit 14.
In addition, when the mail is received, the pay business entity ID storage unit 12
Read the broadcast business entity file from the business entity filter 1
By filtering the business entity ID of the received mail (EMM message) in 3 and judging the important one and its exception,
The display mode of the display unit 21 is changed so that the contents of important mails are displayed on the screen and the LEDs of the front panel are lit up in other cases.

Next, a second embodiment of the digital broadcasting system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart. The broadcast receiver 10B includes a card ID filter 11, a message synthesis unit 15, a term filter 17, a term storage unit 16 and a message storage unit 14. Further, the IC card 20 is the card ID filter 11
And the message synthesis unit 15. The message storage unit 14 is connected to the display unit 21.

In the second embodiment, the material judged to be important is not the broadcasting company but the specific term selected and registered in advance. The important term is registered when the user displays the content of the mail on the screen and reads it after receiving the mail. That is, if there is an important term in the mail content, the user extracts it and registers it in the term storage unit 16. For the registration operation, for example, a term registration button is prepared on the remote controller, and when this button is pressed, the cursor is displayed on the screen. As a result, the start and end of the clipped term are specified, and the clipped term is stored and registered in the term storage unit 16. For example, when a similar email is judged to be important when receiving an email regarding a contract, the term "contract" is saved (registered) as a term file. When the mail is received, the term file is read out, and the term filter 17 determines whether or not there is a term registered in the file in the text of the email. The display mode is changed depending on the presence or absence of the registered term as in the first embodiment described above.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the EMM message addressed to itself is received (step B1). The message is synthesized (step B2). The term filter 17 makes an inquiry to the term storage unit 16 (step B3). Next, it is determined whether or not the registered term is used in the message body (step B4). If the registered term is used (step B4: YES), the message storage unit 14
The message is stored in (step B5), and the message is immediately displayed on the screen (step B6). On the other hand, if the registered term is not used (step B4: NO), the message is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step B7) and, for example, the LED on the front panel of the receiver 10B is turned on (step B8). .

Next, a third embodiment of the digital broadcasting system according to the present invention will be described. Although it has not been put into practical use at present, instead of the viewer preselectively registering an important email as in the above-described first and second embodiments, it is troublesome for the broadcaster to be overlooked by the viewer or user. It is also possible to add additional information to be transmitted by distinguishing it from the "normal mail" that provides "mail" as general information. That is, a bit (important mail identification bit) for weighting according to the importance of the mail is assigned in the EMM message section or the EMM message section is expanded and included. On the receiver side, after receiving the EMM message, the importance level of the received mail is judged by this important mail identification bit and the important mail is displayed on the screen, and the other parts are displayed on the normal front panel, for example.

Further, a fourth embodiment of the digital broadcasting system according to the present invention will be described. In the above-described first to third embodiments, the mail is transmitted from the broadcasting business to the viewer / user, but in the future, mail transmission / reception between individuals (users) is also expected. The senders of emails between individuals are families,
A friend, a work place (for example, a customer), or the like can be considered. Therefore, the importance ranking cannot be adequately handled by only two types, “important” and “normal”. Therefore, the importance is displayed in three levels, for example, “high (level 1)”, “middle (level 2)”, and “low (level 3)”. In consideration of privacy issues, the sender's name and mail arrival mark are displayed on the screen. Further, an address book is used for mail exchange between individuals, so the address book is used.

FIG. 5 is suitable for the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
An example of a mail arrival display according to the degree of importance is shown. FIG. 5A is a display example of the arrival of a mail whose importance is “high”.
(B) is an example of a mail arrival display when the importance is "medium". In this particular example, when an email arrives with a high importance level, as shown in Fig. 5 (A), the sender "Ami Hayashida email arrived in the approximate center of the TV screen. A message such as "is displayed when the mail arrives. On the other hand, when the mail with the importance of "medium" arrives,
As shown in (B), a "mail arrival mark" is displayed at the lower right of the TV screen. When a mail with a low importance level arrives, a reception lamp such as an LED on the front panel of the receiver is turned on as in the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the address book used in the inter-personal mail of the above-mentioned fourth embodiment. The address book 60 includes a name 61, an address (e-mail address) 62, others (for example, a mobile phone number) 63, and a display setting 64. As a supplementary service when registering in the address book 60, a display setting 64 column is provided so that the display method upon arrival of mail can be selected. That is, the email of the most important person is displayed with the importance level 1,
Next, it is possible to select and set the display mode according to the other party, such as the display of the importance level 2 for the mail from the important person and the LED lighting display for the mail from the less important person.

FIG. 7 is a system configuration diagram for realizing the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The broadcast receiver 10C includes a card ID filter 11, an address filter 19, a storage unit (address book) 18, and a message storage unit 14. The EMM message reception signal is input to the card ID filter 11, and the IC card 20 is connected to the card ID filter 11 to make a card ID inquiry. Address filter 1
9 inquires of the storage unit 18 about the address book. The message storage unit 14 outputs a display signal to the display unit 21.

FIG. 8 shows the receiver 1 of the above-described fourth embodiment.
It is a flow chart which shows operation in 0C. First,
Receive an EMM message addressed to itself (step C1).
Next, the address book 60 stored (registered) in the storage unit 18 of FIG. 7 is read (step C2). Then, it is determined whether or not an address matching the mail sender is registered in the address book 60 (step C3). Address book 60
If there is a name in (step C3: YES), the importance level in the display setting 64 column of the address book 60 is detected (step C4). Name 61 if important level 1
Is read (step C5), the message is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step C6), and the name of the mail sender is displayed on the screen (step C7).

When the importance level 2 is detected in the importance level detection (step C4), the received mail is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step C8) and the mail reception mark is displayed on the screen (step C9). ). On the other hand, if there is no record of the importance level or if there is no name in the address book 60 (step C3: NO), the mail is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step C10) and L
Turn on the ED to notify the reception of mail (step C1).
1).

Next, FIGS. 9 and 10 show a system configuration diagram and a flow chart of a fifth embodiment of the digital broadcasting system according to the present invention, respectively. In the fifth embodiment, the user extracts the important term portion from the content of the email contained in the email and registers it. Then, when the received mail contains the registered term, it is judged as an important mail. Alternatively, the user himself may register the important term in advance. At the same time, it is possible to register the method of displaying the importance of the received mail.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, it includes a card ID filter 11, a term filter 17, a storage section 16 'having an address book and an important term file, and a message storage section 14. The card ID filter 11 has an EM
M message reception signal is input and IC card 2
0 is connected. The storage unit 16 ′ has a term filter 1
Connected to 7. Further, the output of the message storage unit 14 is input to the display unit 21.

Next, the operation of the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the EMM message addressed to itself is received (step D1). Then, the term file 16 'is read (step D
2) Then, it is judged whether or not a term that matches the registered term is used in the received mail (step D3), and the importance level is detected (step D4). In the case of the important level 1, the address book is read from the storage unit 16 '(step D5), and it is determined whether or not an address matching the mail sender is registered (step D6).

If it is registered in the address book (step D6: YES), the name is read (step D).
7) Save the mail in the message storage unit 14 (step D8) and display the name on the screen (step D9). Thereby, the user knows the arrival or reception of the important mail. On the other hand, if it is not registered in the address book (step D6: NO), the address book is read (step D10), the mail is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step D11), and the address is displayed on the screen (step D11). D12).

On the other hand, importance level detection (step D4)
Then, when the importance level 2 is detected, the mail is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step D13), and the mail reception mark is displayed on the screen (step D14). If the term that matches the registered term is not used in the received mail (step D3: NO), the mail is saved in the message storage unit 14 (step D15) and provided on the front panel of the receiver 10D or the like. The LED is turned on (step D16).

The configuration and operation of various preferred embodiments of the digital broadcasting system according to the present invention have been described above in detail. However, such an embodiment is merely an example of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any way. Those skilled in the art can easily understand that various modifications and changes can be made according to a specific application without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0042]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the digital broadcasting system of the present invention, the following remarkable practical effects can be obtained. First, the user is notified of the mail reception by different methods depending on the importance of the received mail. Second
In addition, the reception of important mail is displayed in the center of the screen, for example, so it is possible to prevent users (viewers) from forgetting to read the received mail, and to receive mail of low importance. Since it is simply displayed by, for example, turning on the LED, it does not interfere with the broadcast reception or viewing of the user. Thirdly, the user can selectively register the broadcaster, the mail sender, or the term in the mail to determine the degree of importance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a main part of a first embodiment of a digital broadcasting system according to the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the digital broadcasting system of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of a main part of a second embodiment of a digital broadcasting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the digital broadcasting system of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a received mail display example of a fourth embodiment of the digital broadcasting system according to the present invention.

6 is an example of an address book used in the digital broadcasting system of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a system configuration diagram of a main part of a fourth embodiment of a digital broadcasting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a system configuration diagram of main parts of a fifth embodiment of a digital broadcasting system according to the present invention.

10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the digital broadcasting system of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram of a general digital broadcasting system.

12 is a configuration diagram of a main part of the digital broadcasting system shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the digital broadcasting system shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

[Explanation of symbols]

10A, 10B, 10C, 10D Broadcast receiver 11 Card ID filter 12 Pay entity ID storage 13 Business unit filter 14 Message storage 15 message composition 16 term storage 17 Term Filter 18 Memory 19 Address filter 20 IC card 21 Display 60 address book

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Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. In a digital broadcasting system in which a receiver receives a broadcast transmitted from a plurality of broadcasting companies and a mail transmitted to a specific viewer, each viewer is important among received mail addressed to himself / herself. an email,
A digital broadcasting system characterized by being displayed separately from other e-mails to alert the viewer. 2. The digital mail according to claim 1, wherein the important mail is a mail from one or more specific broadcasting companies which a viewer has selected and registered in advance among the plurality of broadcasting companies. Broadcast system. 3. The digital broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the important mail is transmitted by the broadcaster by adding identification information to the mail in advance in order to call the viewer's attention. 4. The digital broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the important mail is a mail containing a specific term previously registered by a viewer in the mail. 5. The important mail is displayed on the display screen of the receiver immediately when the mail is received, and the other mail reception is displayed by a reception display lamp of the receiver. The digital broadcasting system according to any one of 1 to 4. 6. In a digital broadcasting system in which a receiver receives a broadcast transmitted from a broadcasting enterprise and a mail transmitted to a specific viewer, the received mail is stored in an IC card in which information of each viewer is recorded. The card ID filter for inquiring and selecting the mail addressed to itself, the storage unit for storing the important mail selection information selected and registered by each viewer, the stored contents of the storage unit and the received mail addressed to self are compared. Important mail detection filter for detecting important mail, a message storage unit for holding mail addressed to itself, and a display unit for displaying received mail addressed to self in different modes based on the detection result of the important mail detection filter A digital broadcasting system comprising: 7. The digital broadcasting system according to claim 6, wherein the viewer determines the importance and the display mode of the received mail by the address book of the storage unit. 8. The digital broadcast according to claim 6, wherein the display mode of the received mail is divided into three or more levels according to the importance and displayed on the screen or in the vicinity of the screen. system.