JP2003339041A - Contents providing system, server apparatus, and terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contents providing system whereby a user utilizes desired terminal equipment to reserve video recording of a television program and view a recorded television program from a desired place. <P>SOLUTION: A server apparatus 1 distributes a program guide of television programs to a mobile phone 2 and the user refers to the distributed program guide of television programs to reserve video recording of a desired television program via the Internet 3. When the mobile phone makes video recording of the television program, the server apparatus 1 records the television program whose recording is reserved. The server apparatus 1 converts a data form of the recorded television program into a data form suitable for a display section 4 of the mobile phone 2 in response to the reception of a view request of the television program and transmits the television program whose data form is converted to the mobile phone 2. Through the configuration above, the user accessible to the Internet 3 can simply reserve and view the recorded television program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is suitable for application to, for example, a process of recording a television program for which a recording reservation is accepted and providing the recorded television program to a user via the Internet. The present invention relates to a device and a terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a portable terminal device has been used to connect to a server device that publishes a program list of TV programs via the Internet, and a TV program to be reserved for recording is designated by referring to the published program table. There is known a TV program recording reservation system capable of making a recording reservation of a desired TV program via the Internet by transmitting the information to the server device. According to such a video recording reservation system, the user can make a video recording reservation of a television program from any place as long as the user can connect to the server device via the Internet.

[0003]

However, in the above-described recording reservation system, the TV program for which recording reservation has been made operates on the side of the personal computer installed in the user's home, which operates in cooperation with the server device via the Internet. Since it is configured to be recorded at, even if the user can reserve the recording of the TV program outside the home, the user cannot watch the television program reserved for the recording unless he returns to his home.

Further, in the above recording reservation system,
Since the user must operate the mobile terminal device and connect to the server device each time the user refers to the program guide, the user cannot browse the program guide immediately and make a recording reservation of the television program promptly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to perform both a recording reservation process and a viewing process of a television program from a desired place by using a desired terminal device. A possible object is to provide a content providing system, a server device, and a terminal device.

[0006]

A feature of the present invention is that the server device records the content reserved by the user for recording via the electronic network, and converts the recorded content into a data format suitable for the user's terminal device. Later, it is to provide the content to the terminal device via the electronic network. With such a configuration, the user can perform recording reservation and viewing of the content from any terminal device as long as the user can connect to the electronic network. In addition, the user can perform the recording reservation and the viewing of the content from any place under the environment where the user can connect to the electronic network.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration of Content Providing System] First, with reference to FIG. 1, the configuration of a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the content providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention records a television program designated according to a recording reservation from the user, and the recorded television program is suitable for the viewing environment of the user. It is provided with a server device 1 for converting into a format for distribution, and a mobile phone 2 connected to the server device 1 for instructing the server device 1 to execute the processing described later. Further, the server device 1 and the mobile phone 2 are configured to be connectable via the Internet 3.

In this content providing system, the server device 1 and the mobile phone 2 are connected to the Internet 3
However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a telephone communication line, a WAN (Wide Are
a Network), LAN (Local Area Network), optical fiber communication, cable communication, satellite communication, and other forms of information communication networks.

[Configuration of Server Device] The server device 1
Is constituted by a computer system such as a general-purpose personal computer or a workstation, and as shown in FIG. 2, a control unit 11 and a RAM (Random Access Memor).
y) 12, ROM (Read Only Memory) 13, communication control unit 14, recording processing unit 15, recorded content storage 1
6, a program guide database 17 and a user information database 18.

The control unit 11 has a CPU (Central Proc.
essing unit) and other general processor devices. The control unit 11 implements various functions of the server device 1 described below by executing various processes by using a computer program and processing data stored in the ROM 13.

The RAM 12 is composed of a volatile recording medium such as a semiconductor memory. The RAM 12 provides a work area for temporarily storing a computer program used by the control unit 11 and processing data.

The ROM 13 is composed of a non-volatile recording medium that can be read by the control unit 11 such as a magnetic or optical recording medium or a semiconductor memory, and is a basic program (not shown) such as a boot program of the server device 1. , A program guide management program 1 for realizing the operation of the server device 1 described later
9, application programs such as a recording reservation program 20, a viewing program 21, a conversion program 22 and the like, and processing data (not shown) necessary for executing these programs are stored.

The computer program and the processing data stored in the ROM 13 may be partially or wholly received and stored via the Internet 3. Further, in the present embodiment, the application program is configured by dividing each function realized by the server device 1, but these functions may be collectively configured as one computer program. Further, the application program may be read from the recording medium by the control unit 11 when executing the processing described below. In this case, when executing the process, the control unit 11 reads the recording medium, stores the application program stored in the recording medium in the RAM 12, and executes the application program. here,
The recording medium is, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk,
Control unit 1 for optical disc, magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, etc.
1 includes all recording media that can be read.

The communication control unit 14 is composed of, for example, a communication modem device, and mounts a communication protocol corresponding to the form of the information communication network used for communication with the mobile phone 2. In this embodiment, since the communication control unit 14 communicates with the mobile phone 2 via the Internet 3,
HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), TCP /
IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Pro
Internet communication protocols such as tocol), SMT
P (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and POP (Post
Office protocol) and other e-mail communication protocols are implemented, and the Internet 3
Various information instructed from the control unit 11 is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 via. Further, the communication control unit 14 receives various kinds of information from the mobile phone 2 via the Internet 3 according to this communication protocol, and receives the received information from the control unit 11
Is converted to a format that can be processed.

The recording processing unit 15 includes a timer (not shown) for recognizing the recording start time and recording end time of a television program, and the recording content storage 16 in a predetermined data compression format according to an instruction from the control unit 11. Record TV programs in. Further, the recording processing unit 15 includes the control unit 11
According to the instruction from, the TV program is read from the recorded content storage 16 and the TV program recorded in the instructed data compression format is converted. The data compression format is MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group).
Format, AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) format, WM
V (Windows (registered trademark) Media Video) format, ASF
(Advanced Streaming Format) format etc. are included.

Further, when the server device 1 is installed at a position away from a television broadcasting station such as a user's home side or a service provider side which undertakes a content providing service, the recording processing section 15 causes the television broadcasting. A receiving device (not shown) such as an antenna for receiving information broadcast by the station
Equipped with. Then, the recording processing unit 15 extracts the signal of the TV program designated by the control unit 11 from the plurality of TV programs received from the receiving device, and stores the extracted TV program signal in the recorded content destorage 16. To do.

The program guide database 17 is an EPG.
(Electronic Program Guide) data or data relating to a television program is stored in a form that the control unit 11 and the recording processing unit 15 can refer to. Further, the data stored in the program guide database 17 is configured so that the control unit 11 or the recording processing unit 15 can update the data at any time.

Specifically, this program guide database 17
Stores EPG data in a data format as shown in FIG. 3, in which the program ID, broadcast station, program name, broadcast start time, and broadcast end time of each television program are shown. According to this EPG data, the user
Only by designating D to the server device 1, it becomes possible to perform recording reservation and viewing processing of a desired television program. Although not shown in FIG. 3, the user searches for the TV program according to the specific content of the TV program, including the specific content of the TV program such as genre, performer, creator, etc. in the EPG data. However, it may be configured so that a television program to be reserved for recording can be selected.

The user information database 18 stores information about a user who operates the mobile phone 2 in a form that the control unit 11 can refer to. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the user information database 18 includes a user ID, a login password used when connecting to the server device 1, a viewing password used when viewing a recorded TV program, Information such as an e-mail address and recording reservation status information is stored for each user. In the recording reservation information shown in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 5, the program ID of the TV program reserved by the user, the recording of the TV program designated by the user in each week / same time zone, weekly same time zone, etc. It includes format information and a recording status flag indicating whether or not the reserved TV program is reserved / recorded.

Each user information in the user information database 18 is associated with a television program stored in the recorded content storage 16, as shown in FIG. 6, and the recording processing by the recording processing unit 15 is performed. The result is reflected in the recording status indicated by the recording status flag. According to the recording reservation information, the user can confirm the recording status of the TV program, which the user has reserved for recording, in real time via the Internet 3.
In addition, the server device 1 uses the recorded content storage 16
It is not necessary to store a plurality of the same TV programs inside, and hardware resources can be efficiently used.

Further, in this embodiment, since the user can be specified by the telephone number of the mobile phone 2, the user information database 18 stores the telephone number of the mobile phone 2 as the user ID shown in FIG. However, if the user is a personal computer or PDA (Person
When connecting to the server device 1 by using another information processing device such as al Digital Assistant), the control unit 11 issues a unique user ID to the user and stores this user ID in the user information database 18. Good to do. Also,
Although not shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 11 includes the user attribute information such as the address, telephone number, sex, age, occupation, and billing information in the user information database 18, and the control unit 11 uses these information for authentication. Processing or billing processing may be executed.

[Overview of Mobile Phone] The above mobile phone 2
1, includes a display unit 4, an operation input unit 5, an earpiece 6, and a mouthpiece 7 as main components.

The display unit 4 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal).
It is configured by a display device such as a display) or an EL (Electro Luminescence) panel, and visually displays characters, numbers, symbols, icons, cursors, images, moving images, etc. under the control of the CPU 37 described later.

The operation input section 5 is operated, for example, by inputting numbers from "0" to "9", inputting characters, inputting symbols, inputting instructions for transmission and reception, inputting instructions for turning power on / off, and the like. It has a plurality of key buttons 8 used for. The operation input unit 5 also has a dial (jog dial) 9 used for operations such as moving the cursor displayed on the display 4 and scrolling the screen. By operating this operation input unit 3, the user can instruct the mobile phone 2 to execute various processes such as recording reservation of TV programs and viewing process.

The earpiece 6 and the mouthpiece 7 are respectively connected to a speaker and a microphone, which will be described later, and used when the user makes a voice call with the other party.

[Internal Structure of Mobile Phone and Basic Operation Thereof] Next, the internal structure of the mobile phone 2 and its basic operation will be described with reference to FIG. The display unit 4
Since the configuration and the operation of the operation input unit 5 have already been described, the description thereof will be omitted below.

In the mobile phone 2 shown in FIG. 7, the microphone 30 connected to the mouthpiece 7 converts the call voice of the user into an analog voice signal. Then, this analog audio signal is amplified by an amplifier (not shown) and then input to a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 31.

When the analog audio signal is input, the DSP 31 converts the analog audio signal into analog / digital (A / D) at a predetermined sampling rate. And D
SP31 performs CR for each transport block (TB) for digital audio data obtained by A / D conversion.
A C (Cyclic Redundancy Check) code is added, and channel coding (error correction coding) and interleaving processing are performed. The transport block is a basic unit of data processed by the physical layer (MAC (Medium Acces
s Control) is the unit by which data is transferred from the layer to the physical layer.

Further, the DSP 31 performs data modulation processing after adding overhead such as pilot bits for channel determination to the bit sequence after the interleaving processing, and performs in-phase (In -Phase) and quadrature components are spread by spreading code sequences of two layers. And DS
P31 converts the spread chip data sequence into an analog signal by digital / analog (D / A) conversion after band limiting to a predetermined band (5 MHz) with a squared cosine root Nyquist filter, and inputs the analog signal to the transmission unit 32. To do.

When the analog signal is input from the DSP 31, the transmitter 32 orthogonally demodulates the analog signal, and the orthogonally demodulated intermediate frequency signal is a high frequency signal (R of 2 GHz band).
Frequency conversion to F signal). Then, the transmitter 32 amplifies the high frequency signal and outputs the amplified high frequency signal to the duplexer 33 as a transmission signal.

The duplexer 33 is an antenna duplexer. That is, the duplexer 33 shares one antenna 34 for the transmission signal and the reception signal, sends the reception signal from the antenna 34 to the reception unit 35, and sends the transmission signal from the transmission unit 32 to the antenna 34. It is composed of a filter circuit having a function.

The receiver 35 amplifies the high frequency received signal supplied via the antenna 34 and the duplexer 33, and frequency-converts the amplified received signal into an intermediate frequency signal. Then, the receiving unit 35 linearly amplifies the intermediate frequency signal by automatic gain control, and inputs the linearly amplified intermediate frequency signal to the DSP 31.

At this time, the DSP 31 performs quadrature detection on the signal from the receiving section 35, and A / D-converts the in-phase and quadrature component analog signals by the quadrature detection at a predetermined sampling rate. And DSP31
Is the propagation delay time by despreading the in-phase and quadrature components converted into digital values by A / D conversion with the same spreading code as the spreading code of the received signal after band limiting with the squared cosine root Nyquist filter. It is time-separated into different multipath components.

Further, the DSP 31 performs coherent lake combining of the data of each path separated by time, deinterleaves and channel-decodes the data sequence after the coherent lake combining, then performs binary data determination, and the other terminal Replay the transmitted data series. And DSP
Reference numeral 31 discriminates the reproduced data series into voice data and other communication data.

The voice data is D / A converted by the DSP 31 and further amplified by an amplifier (not shown).
It is sent to the speaker 36 built in the earpiece 6. The speaker 36 is driven by the amplified analog audio signal. As a result, the call voice from the other party's terminal is emitted from the speaker 36.

Further, the DSP 31 analyzes what kind of data the communication data is, and performs processing according to the analysis result. For example, when the communication data is text data, the DSP 31 sends the text data to the CPU 3
7, the CPU 37 controls the display of the text data on the display unit 4. Further, for example, when the communication data is compressed image data, the DSP 31 decompresses the compressed image data and sends it to the CPU 37, and the CPU 37 controls the display of the image data on the display unit 4. Further, for example, when the communication data is compressed audio data, the DSP 31 decompresses the compressed audio data, and the speaker 36 or the speaker 38.
Output audio data to.

The recording unit 39 is composed of a rewritable memory such as a flash memory that does not require a memory holding operation, and records various data such as transmitted / received data such as electronic mail, image data, voice data, and the like. The recording unit 39 also records various kinds of information such as the program guide data transmitted from the server device 1 and a user ID and a viewing password used in the process described later.

A ROM (Read Only Memory) 40 is various computer programs such as a program reproduction program used when reproducing a television program distributed from the server device 1, and a process used when executing the computer program. Data for use is stored. This ROM40 is E
EPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable
It may be a rewritable ROM such as a Read Only Memory). Further, part or all of the computer program and the processing data may be received via a network.

A RAM (Random Access Memory) 41 is
It is composed of a volatile storage device. This RAM41
Functions as a work area when the CPU 37 performs various processes and stores data as needed.

The CPU 37 is composed of a general processor device. The CPU 37 controls the operation of each unit according to a computer program stored in the ROM 40 and also performs various arithmetic processes.

[Operation of Content Providing System] The content providing system having the above configuration is roughly classified into
(1) A program guide acquisition process in which a user acquires a program guide from the server device 1, (2) a recording reservation process in which a recording of a television program is reserved in the server device 1 using the acquired program guide, (3) a server The device 1 executes four processes, that is, a recording process for recording a television program reserved for recording by the user, and (4) a viewing process for the user to view the television program recorded by the server device 1 via the Internet 3. Hereinafter, these four processes will be sequentially described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Program Guide Acquisition Process] First, the operation of the server device 1 and the mobile phone 2 when executing the program guide acquisition process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In the flow chart shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 11 of the server device 1 stores the program guide management program 19 in the ROM.
Start by loading from 13 to RAM12,
The acquisition process proceeds to step S1.

In the processing of step S1, the control section 11
It is determined whether or not the program guide data stored in the program guide database 17 has been updated. Then, as a result of the determination, if it is not updated, the control unit 11 waits until the program guide data is updated. On the other hand, as a result of discrimination,
When the program guide data is updated, the control unit 11 advances this acquisition processing from the processing of step S1 to the processing of step S2. The process of step S1 is a process for the case where the program guide data has already been transmitted to the user once, and the control unit 11 has never transmitted the program guide data of a new user or the like. The process of step S1 is not performed on the user, but the process of step S2 is performed.

In the process of step S2, the control unit 11
The program table data is read from the program table database 17. As a result, the process of step S2 is completed, and the acquisition process proceeds from step S2 to step S3.

In the process of step S3, the control unit 11
The program guide data read out from the program guide database 17 is attached to an electronic mail in a predetermined format, and this electronic mail is transmitted to the electronic mail address registered in the user information database 18. As a result, this step S
The process of step 3 is completed, and the acquisition process proceeds from step S3 to step S4.

In the process of step S4, the mobile phone 2 operated by the user receives the electronic mail transmitted by the control unit 11, and the CPU 37 of the mobile phone 2 stores the received electronic mail in the storage unit 39. As described above, the program guide data includes the program ID, the broadcast station, the program name, the broadcast start time, and the broadcast end time of each TV program. Therefore, when the process of step S4 is completed, the user Is
By operating the operation input unit 5 and selecting the program guide display menu 51 from the menu screen 50 displayed on the display unit 4 as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the program guide data can be read from the storage unit 39 and the program guide 52 can be displayed on the display unit 4. In addition, the user operates the operation input unit 5 to select the broadcast station selection button 54 and the display time zone change button 55 displayed on the display unit 4 to display the television program displayed on the display unit 4. You can change the broadcasting station and broadcasting time. As a result, the process of step S4 is completed, and the series of acquisition processes ends.

[Recording Reservation Processing] Next, operations of the server device 1 and the mobile phone 2 when executing the recording reservation processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the operation of the server device 1 described later, the control unit 11 of the server device 1 causes the recording reservation program 20 to be stored in the ROM 1
Recording reservation program 2 loaded from RAM 3 to RAM 12
It is realized by executing 0.

In the flow chart shown in FIG. 10, the user selects a desired TV program from the program table 52 displayed on the display unit 4, specifies the recording system of the selected TV program, and then instructs the recording reservation. Then, the reservation process starts, and the reservation process proceeds to step S11. At this time, the CPU 37 of the mobile phone 2 allows the user to easily display the selected TV program 53 by displaying the TV program 53 selected by the user in reverse video or blinking, as shown in FIG. 9B. It is desirable to be recognizable.

In step S11, the mobile telephone 2
The CPU 37 reads out the user ID from the recording unit 39, and then forms a recording reservation packet in the format shown in FIG. 11 using the user ID, the program ID of the TV program designated by the user, and the recording method information. . Then, the mobile phone 2 transmits the formed recording reservation packet to the server device 1. The user ID may be input by the user operating the operation input unit 5. If a logon password for logging on to the server device 1 is defined, the CPU 37 may include this logon password in the recording reservation packet. As a result, the process of step S11 is completed, and the reservation process proceeds from step S11 to step S12.

In the process of step S12, the server device 1
Is the user ID included in the received recording reservation packet
Is read and the user information corresponding to the read user ID is retrieved from the user information database 18. If the logon password is included in the recording reservation packet, the server device 1 executes the user authentication using the user ID and the logon password, and only if the user authentication succeeds, Execute the process. As a result, the process of step S12 is completed, and the reservation process proceeds from step S12 to step S13.

In the process of step S13, the server device 1
Determines whether the user who operates the mobile phone 2 that has transmitted the recording reservation packet is a new user by determining whether or not the user information corresponding to the read user ID is registered in the user information database 18. Determine whether. Then, as a result of the determination, if the user is not a new user, the server device 1 advances the reservation process from the process of step S13 to the process of step 15. On the other hand, as a result of the determination, when the user is a new user, the server device 1 advances the reservation process from the process of step S13 to the process of step S14.

In the process of step S14, the server device 1
Generates a viewing password for a new user and a storage area for storing information of this user in the user information database 18. Then, the server device 1 stores the user ID and the viewing password in this storage area. In this embodiment, the server device 1 generates one viewing password for each user, but a plurality of viewing passwords are created for each user by, for example, creating a viewing password for each TV program to be reserved for recording. A viewing password may be generated. As a result, the processing in step S14 is completed, and the reservation processing is performed in step S1.
The process proceeds from step 4 to step S15.

In the process of step S15, the server device 1
Reads the program ID and the recording method information included in the recording reservation packet and stores them in the storage area of the user as the recording reservation information as shown in FIG. As a result, the process of step S15 is completed, and the reservation process proceeds from step S15 to step S16.

In the processing of step S16, the server device 1
Determines the storage area (path name) of the recorded content storage 16 that stores the TV program for which recording reservation has been made. Then, the server device 1 inputs the determined storage area, the program ID of the TV program stored in the storage area, and the recording method information thereof to the recording processing section 15 to specify the recording processing section 15 by the user. Instruct to record the TV program. As a result, the process of step S16 is completed, and the reservation process proceeds from step S16 to step S17.

In the process of step S17, the server device 1
12 forms a reservation confirmation packet as shown in FIG. 12 using the program ID, recording method information, and generated viewing password, and transmits the reservation confirmation packet to the mobile phone 2.
As a result, the process of step S17 is completed, and the reservation process proceeds from step S17 to step S18.

In step S18, the mobile phone 2
Receives the reservation confirmation packet transmitted from the server device 1 and stores it in the storage unit 39. As a result, the process of step S18 is completed, and the series of reservation processes ends.

When the reservation process is completed in this way, the CPU 37 of the mobile phone 2 refers to the information in the reservation confirmation packet when displaying the program guide on the display unit 4, and refers to the TV program for which the recording reservation is completed. A reservation completion flag 56 as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed and output. As a result, the user can recognize, through the program guide displayed on the display unit 4, that the recording reservation of the desired television program has been completed. When the user operates the operation input unit 5 to select the password display button 57 displayed on the display unit 4 as shown in FIG. 13, the CPU 37 refers to the information in the reservation confirmation packet and displays it. The viewing password is controlled to be displayed on the section 4. As a result, the user can confirm the viewing password used when viewing the television program for which the recording reservation has been made.

[Recording Process] Next, the operation of the server device 1 when executing the above-described recording process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The flow chart shown in FIG. 14 starts when the program ID of the TV program to be recorded, the recording method information, and the storage area thereof are input to the recording processing section 15, and this recording processing proceeds to the processing of step S21. .

In the processing of step S21, the recording processing unit 1
5 refers to the program table database 17 to search for the broadcast start time and broadcast end time of the television program corresponding to the input program ID. As a result, this step S21
Processing is completed, and the recording processing advances from the processing of step S21 to the processing of step S22.

In the processing of step S22, the recording processing unit 1
5 compares the current time indicated by the timer with the broadcast start time of the television program, and determines whether or not the current time is the broadcast start time of the television program. Then, as a result of the determination, when the broadcast start time of the TV program is not reached, the recording processing unit 15 repeatedly executes the process of step S22 until the broadcast start time of the TV program is reached. On the other hand, as a result of the determination, when the broadcast start time of the television program is reached, the recording processing unit 15 advances the recording processing from the processing of step S22 to the processing of step S23.

In the processing of step S23, the recording processing unit 1
5 records the television program in the designated storage area. As a result, the process of step S23 is completed, and the recording process proceeds from step S23 to step S24.

In the processing of step S24, the recording processing unit 1
5 compares the current time indicated by the timer with the broadcast end time of the television program, and determines whether or not the current time is the broadcast end time of the television program. Then, as a result of the determination, when the broadcast end time of the TV program is not reached, the recording processing unit 15 repeatedly executes the process of step S24 until the broadcast end time of the TV program is reached. On the other hand, as a result of the determination, when the broadcast end time of the television program is reached, the recording processing unit 15 advances the recording processing from the processing of step S24 to the processing of step S25.

In the processing of step S25, the recording processing unit 1
5 finishes the recording process of the television program, and outputs the program ID for which the recording process is completed to the control unit 11. As a result, the process of step S25 is completed, and the recording process proceeds from step S25 to step S26.

In the processing of step S26, the control unit 11
However, by referring to the program ID output from the recording processing unit 15, the recording status flag of the user who has made a recording reservation for this program ID is set to a state indicating recording completion. As a result, the process of step S26 is completed, and the series of recording processes is completed.

[Viewing Process] Next, the operations of the server device 1 and the mobile phone 2 when executing the viewing process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the operation of the server device 1 described later, the control unit 11 of the server device 1 executes the viewing program 21 from the ROM 13 to RA
It is realized by loading the program in M12 and executing the viewing program 21.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 15 starts when the user operates the operation input unit 5 to input the user ID and the viewing password, and the viewing process proceeds to step S31. The user ID and the viewing password may be read from the storage unit 39 by the CPU 37 of the mobile phone 2 in response to a viewing request from the user.

In step S31, the mobile phone 2
Sends the information about the screen size of the display unit 4 and the data compression method of the reproducible television program on the display unit 4 to the server device 1 as the viewing environment information together with the user ID and the viewing password. As a result, the process of step S31 is completed, and the viewing process proceeds from step S31 to step S32.

In the process of step S32, the server device 1
However, the viewing password corresponding to the received user ID is read from the user information database 18, and the user authentication process is performed by comparing the read viewing password with the received viewing password. In this embodiment, the server device 1 performs the user authentication process using the user ID and the viewing password transmitted from the mobile phone 2, but the user authentication process is performed by, for example, fingerprint authentication or voiceprint authentication. You may make it perform an authentication process. As a result, the process of step S32 is completed, and the viewing process proceeds from step S32 to step S33.

In the process of step S33, the server device 1
Determines whether the read viewing password and the received viewing password are the same. If the result of the determination is that they are not the same, the server device 1 determines that the authentication has failed, and in the process of step S34, an error message such as "Cannot authenticate. Please enter correct user ID and viewing password". Is transmitted to the mobile phone 2, and the viewing process is terminated. on the other hand,
If the result of the determination is that they are the same, the server device 1 determines that the authentication has succeeded and advances this viewing process from the process of step S33 to the process of step S35.

In the process of step S35, the server device 1
Transmits to the mobile phone 2 recording status information in a format as shown in FIG. 16, for example, including the program ID of the TV program that has been recorded by the user and has been recorded.
Then, in response to the reception of the recording status information, the mobile phone 2 refers to the program table recorded in the recording unit 39 and displays the TV program name corresponding to the program ID included in the recording status information on the display unit. 4 Display control is performed. As a result, the process of step S35 is completed, and the viewing process proceeds from step S35 to step S36.

In the process of step S36, the user operates the operation input unit 5 to select a television program to watch from the television program names displayed on the display unit 4. Then, the mobile phone 2 refers to the program guide recorded in the recording unit 39 and transmits the program ID of the selected television program to the server device 1. As a result, this step S3
The process of 6 is completed, and the viewing process proceeds from step S36 to step S37.

In the processing of step S37, the control unit 11
However, the recording processing unit 1 is to read the TV program corresponding to the received program ID from the recorded content storage 16.
Give instructions to 5. As a result, this step S37
Processing is completed, and this viewing processing proceeds from step S37 to step S38.

In the processing of step S38, the server device 1
The control unit 11 loads the conversion program 22 from the ROM 13 to the RAM 12, and the control unit 11 reads the screen of the TV program read from the recorded content storage 16 according to the viewing environment information transmitted from the conversion program 22 and the mobile phone 2. Determine if size and data compression scheme need to be converted. Then, as a result of the determination, when there is no need for conversion, the control unit 11 advances the viewing process from the process of step S38 to the process of step S40. On the other hand, if the result of determination is that conversion is necessary, the control unit 11 advances this viewing process from the process of step S38 to the process of step S39.

In the processing of step S39, the control unit 11
Controls the recording processing unit 15 according to the conversion program 22, and converts the TV program into a data format corresponding to the screen size and the data compression method of the mobile phone 2. Specifically, since the display screen of the mobile phone 2 is smaller than that of a general-purpose television receiver, the control unit 11 reduces the screen size of the television program according to the conversion program 22. Further, at this time, the control unit 11 converts the data compression method of the television program into a format such as MPEG2 according to the data compression method handled by the mobile phone 2 according to the conversion program 22. As a result, this step S3
The process of 9 is completed, and the viewing process proceeds from step S39 to step S40.

In the processing of step S40, the server device 1
Delivers the TV program to the mobile phone 2 in a streaming format. At this time, the server device 1 may perform processing such as chasing reproduction according to an instruction from the user via the mobile phone 2. According to such processing, the user can watch the television program almost in real time with respect to the broadcast time. As a result, the process of step S40 is completed, and the viewing process proceeds from step S40 to step S41.

In step S41, the mobile telephone 2
Displays the TV program distributed from the server device 1 on the display unit 4
Playback up and the user views the television program displayed on the display unit 4. As a result, the processing of step S40 is completed, and the series of viewing processing ends.

[Effects of the Embodiment] As is clear from the above description, in the content providing system of this embodiment, the server device 1 refers to the program table of the distributed TV program, and the user makes a recording reservation. The recorded television program is recorded, and the recorded television program is provided via the Internet 3. With such a configuration, the user can easily perform the recording reservation and the viewing of the television program from any terminal device as long as the user can connect to the Internet 3. Further, the user can easily make a recording reservation and a viewing of a television program from any place as long as the user can connect to the Internet 3.

Further, in the content providing system according to this embodiment, the server device 1 records the TV program after converting the TV program into a data format corresponding to the screen size and the data compression format of the terminal apparatus providing the TV program. Provide TV programs. With such a configuration, the user can watch the television program in an optimal state from any terminal device.

Further, in the content providing system according to this embodiment, since the server device 1 provides the user with the program guide, the user does not need to connect to the server device 1 to browse the program guide. , It is possible to browse the program guide at a desired time and make a recording reservation. Further, since the server device 1 provides the updated program guide as the contents of the program guide are updated, the user can always easily browse the program guide with the latest contents.

Further, in the content providing system according to this embodiment, each user information in the user information database 18 is associated with the television program stored in the recorded content storage 16 and recorded by the recording processing section 15. The processing result is configured to be reflected in the recording status indicated by the recording status flag. With such a configuration, the user can check the recording status of the television program that he / she has reserved for recording in real time via the Internet 3. Further, the server device 1 does not need to store a plurality of the same TV programs in the recorded content storage 16, so that the hardware resources can be efficiently used.

Further, in the content providing system according to this embodiment, the server device 1 distributes the recorded TV program to the mobile phone 2 by the streaming method. Therefore, the server device 1 follows up according to the instruction from the user. By performing reproduction, various processing such as delivering a television program in real time can be performed.

[Other Embodiments] The embodiments to which the invention made by the present inventors is applied have been described above. The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings and drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention according to the embodiments. Is not limited.

For example, in the above embodiment, the server device 1 converted the television program into a data format corresponding to the screen size and the data compression method of the mobile phone 2, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the mobile phone The telephone 2 may perform this conversion process. Also, the server device 1
Although the TV programs are sequentially recorded in the recorded content storage 16, the recorded TV programs may be deleted after a predetermined time elapses in order to effectively use the hardware resources.

Although the TV program content is reserved for recording, any content in digital form that can be transmitted via the Internet 3 may be used. Further, the server device 1 is configured to be installed on the side of the television broadcasting station, but may be installed at a place other than the television broadcasting station such as the user's home. It may be installed in a home electric appliance such as a user's home.

As described above, it goes without saying that all other embodiments, examples, operation techniques and the like made by those skilled in the art based on this embodiment are included in the scope of the present invention. deep.

[0090]

According to the present invention, recording reservation processing and viewing processing of contents can be performed from a desired place by using a desired terminal device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a server device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a program guide according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of user information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing a configuration of recording reservation information shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the relationship between the data in the user information database shown in FIG. 1 and the data in the recorded content storage.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of the mobile phone shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a program guide acquisition process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining program guide display processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a recording reservation process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a recording reservation packet according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a reservation confirmation packet according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram for explaining how a reservation completion flag is displayed on the program guide shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a recording process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a viewing process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing recording status information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server device, 2 ... Mobile phone, 3 ... Internet, 4 ... Display part, 5 ... Operation input part, 11 ... Control part, 12
... RAM, 13 ... ROM, 14 ... Communication control section, 15 ... Recording processing section, 16 ... Recorded content storage, 17 ... Program guide database, 18 ... User information database, 1
9 ... Program guide management program, 20 ... Recording reservation program, 21 ... Viewing program, 22 ... Conversion program, 3
7 ... CPU, 52 ... Program guide, 56 ... Reservation completion flag

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5C052 AB02 AB04 DD04                 5C053 GA11 GB21 KA01 KA24 LA06                       LA07 LA14                 5C064 BA07 BB03 BB07 BC16 BC23                       BC25 BD02 BD07 BD08                 5K067 AA22 BB21 DD17 DD27 EE02                       EE12 FF02 FF23 FF31 HH21                       HH23

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A recording processing unit for recording content reserved for recording via an electronic network in a predetermined recording unit,
And a server device including a control unit for transmitting the content recorded in the recording unit via an electronic network, and the content transmitted from the control unit on the display unit by connecting to the server device via the electronic network. And a terminal device for displaying and outputting, wherein the control unit refers to the user identification information transmitted from the terminal device to identify the content reserved for recording by the user, and the attribute information of the display unit transmitted from the terminal device. A content providing system characterized by transmitting a content after converting the data format of the content into a data format suitable for a display unit based on the above. 2. The content providing system according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information of the display section includes at least information regarding a size of the display section and a data compression method of content that can be displayed on the display section. Content provision system. 3. The content providing system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit transmits a list of contents for which recording reservation is possible to a user via an electronic network, and the user refers to the transmitted list. A content providing system, characterized in that a content recording reservation is made to a server device. 4. The content providing system according to claim 3, wherein the control unit transmits the list to the user when the content of the list is updated. 5. The content providing system according to claim 1, wherein the server device includes a user information database that stores information about a user of the terminal device, and the recording processing unit stores the content reserved for recording. A content providing system characterized by recording in the predetermined recording unit in association with information about a user. 6. The content providing system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit transmits the content recorded in the recording unit in a streaming format. 7. A recording processing unit for recording the content reserved for recording via an electronic network in a predetermined recording unit, and a control unit for transmitting the content recorded in the recording unit via the electronic network, The control unit identifies the content reserved for recording by the user with reference to the user identification information, converts the content data format into a data format suitable for the user's viewing environment based on the information about the user's viewing environment, and then A server device characterized by transmitting the following. 8. The server device according to claim 7, wherein the information regarding the viewing environment includes at least information regarding a size of a screen for displaying the content and a data compression method of the content that can be displayed on the screen. Characteristic server device. 9. The server device according to claim 7, wherein the control unit transmits a list of contents for which recording reservation is possible to a user via an electronic network, and the user refers to the transmitted list. A server device for making a recording reservation of content. 10. The server device according to claim 9, wherein the control unit transmits the list to the user when the content of the list is updated. 11. The server device according to claim 7, further comprising a user information database that stores information regarding the user, wherein the recording processing unit associates the content reserved for recording with the information regarding the user. A server device characterized by recording in a predetermined recording unit. 12. The server device according to claim 7, wherein the control unit transmits the content recorded in the recording unit in a streaming format. 13. A means for accepting a recording reservation of content, a means for issuing unique authentication information to the user who has reserved the recording, a means for recording the content specified by the recording reservation, and the authentication information. The data format of the specified content is converted into a data format suitable for the user's viewing environment by referring to the means for authenticating the user based on the user and specifying the content reserved for recording by the user and the user's viewing environment. And a means for providing the user with the content whose data format has been converted. 14. A display means for displaying various information on a screen, a recording reservation means for making a recording reservation of contents through an electronic network, and a reception means for receiving authentication information issued according to the recording reservation. And a transmission means for transmitting the authentication information and the attribute information of the display means, and a control means for controlling the display of the content, which is specified by the authentication information and whose data format is converted by the attribute information, on the screen. Terminal device. 15. The terminal device according to claim 14, wherein the attribute information includes at least information regarding a size of the screen and a data compression method of content that can be displayed on the screen. .