JP2004056178A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need for being aware of analog/digital channel changes and to reduce the power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: The information processor1 includes: a digital broadcast reception means 3 for receiving digital television broadcast; an analog broadcast reception means 4 for receiving analog television broadcast; a signal processing means 5 for making broadcast information received by the digital broadcast reception means 3 and broadcast information received by the analog broadcast reception means 4 viewable; a receiver operation change means 8 for changing an operating state of the digital broadcast reception means 3 and the analog broadcast reception means 4; and an operating state monitor means 7 for monitoring the operating state of the information processor 1 and transmitting a discrimination result to change the operating state of a receiver to the receiver operation change means 8 in accordance with the result of monitoring. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a personal computer having a function of receiving digital television broadcasts and other portable information processing devices.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers (PCs) equipped with a television broadcast receiving function have begun to spread. At present, it is common for desktop PCs to be equipped with a TV function, but when digital terrestrial broadcasting starts in 2003, relatively high-quality images can be seen even while traveling, so notebook PCs It is predicted that mobile terminals will also be equipped with TV functions.
[0003]
Digital terrestrial broadcasting will not be launched all at once nationwide, but will gradually spread from the Tokyo metropolitan area. Even after the digital broadcasting service is launched, it will take several years for digital broadcasting tuners and digital broadcasting compatible televisions to become widely available. Therefore, analog broadcasting will be provided at the same time until around 2010.
[0004]
Unlike general home TVs, mobile terminals are often used in different locations, and are expected to be used in large areas. In an area where the broadcasting has not been started, it is necessary to cope with the usage of analog broadcasting.
[0005]
Therefore, until digital broadcasting is started in a wide area, it is necessary to mount a receiver for both digital broadcasting and analog broadcasting.
[0006]
FIG. 15 shows an example in which a television function is mounted on a personal computer.
[0007]
Here, the personal computer 100 is connected to the digital broadcast receiver 120 and the analog broadcast receiver 130 by separating the antenna line connected to the antenna 110 for receiving the terrestrial broadcast.
[0008]
The digital broadcast receiver 120 extracts an RF (Radio Frequency) unit 121 for extracting a signal of a frequency of a channel to be received from the received broadcast signal, and demodulates the received digital broadcast signal to MPEG2 (Moving Picture Coding Experts Group Phase 2). A) a digital demodulation unit 122 for extracting a TS (Transport Stream) signal; and an MPEG decoding unit 123 for decoding the MPEG signal extracted from the digital demodulation unit 122 and outputting a video signal and an audio signal.
[0009]
The analog broadcast receiver 130 includes an RF unit 131 that extracts a signal of a channel to be received from a received broadcast signal, a demodulated analog broadcast signal to be a video signal, digitizes the video signal, and outputs an audio signal. Is provided with an analog demodulation unit 132 that converts the digital signal into a signal that can be processed by a personal computer.
[0010]
The personal computer 100 includes functional components such as a CPU and a memory for performing a normal PC function, and includes a storage medium drive such as a hard disk, a video playback function unit, and an audio playback function unit.
[0011]
These PC functions are collectively referred to as a signal processing unit 140 for convenience. When a signal capable of displaying a moving image is input by the digital broadcast receiver 120 and the analog broadcast receiver 130, the signal processing unit 140 outputs the signal to the display unit 150 by the video playback function unit and displays the signal. Output audio information.
[0012]
FIG. 16 shows another example in which a television function is mounted on a personal computer.
[0013]
The point that the antenna line connected to the antenna 110 for receiving the terrestrial broadcast is separated and connected to the digital broadcast receiver 120 and the analog broadcast receiver 130 corresponds to the example of FIG.
[0014]
The digital broadcast receiver 120 includes an RF unit 121 for extracting a signal of a channel to be received from a received broadcast signal, and a digital demodulation unit 122 for demodulating the received digital broadcast signal and extracting an MPEG-compressed video signal. In addition, no hardware decoder for decoding the MPEG signal extracted from the digital demodulation unit 122 is provided.
[0015]
The analog broadcast receiver 130 extracts the signal of the channel desired to be received from the received broadcast signal, and demodulates the received analog broadcast signal into a video signal. The video signal is digitized and converted to a continuous digital image signal, and the audio signal is also digitized and output. The analog demodulation unit 132 converts the huge data amount of the video signal output from the analog demodulation unit without compression to MPEG. An MPEG encoding unit 133 for compressing and outputting using a standard compression technique is provided.
[0016]
The signal processing unit 140 of the personal computer 100 performs MPEG decoding by software on the MPEG signals input from the digital broadcast receiver 120 and the analog broadcast receiver 130 by using the function of the signal processing unit 140, and outputs a video signal and an audio signal. In a reproducible state, the video reproduction function unit outputs the information to the display unit 150 for display, and the audio reproduction function unit outputs audio information.
[0017]
The configuration shown in FIG. 15 requires a dedicated hardware configuration such as mounting a dedicated bus line because the amount of information output from the digital broadcast receiver 120 and the analog broadcast receiver 130 is extremely large. There is.
[0018]
On the other hand, the configuration shown in FIG. 16 uses a digital broadcast receiver 120 configured to correspond to an analog broadcast receiver 130 that is currently widely used, and a video signal can be sufficiently transmitted using an existing interface. Although it can be processed, it is necessary to perform MPEG decoding by software.
[0019]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When such a conventional configuration mainly used in a desktop personal computer is directly applied to a notebook personal computer, the following problem occurs.
[0020]
Mobile terminals such as notebook computers are often used on the move, for example, digital broadcasting has not been started at the time of travel or business trip, or reception is performed while moving, or decoding processing is required Depending on the condition of the mobile terminal, such as recording with a low processing load on the CPU, or receiving analog broadcasting or digital broadcasting, it is necessary to switch to the other receiving method while receiving either It is necessary for the user to judge whether there is any.
[0021]
Furthermore, it is necessary to switch between digital broadcast reception and analog broadcast reception by predicting the situation during viewing or recording, or before starting viewing or recording, based on the judgment. However, since the operation requires very troublesome operation, there is a case where the merits of being able to receive both broadcasts are not sufficiently exhibited even though both digital broadcast and analog broadcast receivers are mounted.
[0022]
Furthermore, the above-mentioned judgments are often based on the skills of the users, and if there is not sufficient knowledge about the performance of digital broadcasting and personal computers, appropriate judgments cannot be made. A state occurs in which the merit of being able to receive is not sufficiently exhibited.
[0023]
The digital broadcast receiver requires about 3 W of power consumption in both the configurations of FIGS. 15 and 16, and the analog broadcast receiver requires about 1 W of power consumption in the configuration of FIG. Requires about 2W of power consumption.
[0024]
The power consumption of several W is about 1% of the power capacity of a desktop personal computer having a power capacity of several hundred W in total, and does not matter.
[0025]
On the other hand, in a notebook personal computer that can be used by battery drive, power saving on the order of several mW is required, and when a device having power consumption of several W is mounted, the continuous use time is shortened. Further, when both the digital broadcast receiver and the analog broadcast receiver are mounted, there is a problem that the power of the battery is immediately consumed.
[0026]
Further, when MPEG decoding is performed by software as in the configuration of an analog broadcasting receiver that has been widely used as described with reference to FIG. 16, a further problem occurs. In order to use the power consumption of several W, it is necessary to reduce the power consumption in other parts. However, if the power consumption of the signal processing unit is reduced, the processing capacity of the CPU is reduced. If the number is insufficient, the software processing of the MPEG decoding cannot be processed, and other problems such as image skipping occur.
[0027]
In addition, a personal computer designed with emphasis on portability, such as a notebook personal computer, has a problem in terms of power consumption even if an external power supply is used. In other words, a notebook personal computer may have a higher mounting density of each device than a desktop personal computer, and may not be able to sufficiently secure heat radiation performance. If the heat generated by both the digital broadcast receiver and the analog broadcast receiver having power consumption of several W and the large amount of heat generated by the CPU for performing the MPEG decoding by software continue to be generated for a long time. The heat radiation performance is not enough, and control is performed to reduce the power consumption of the signal processing unit. As a result, the processing capability of the CPU is reduced, and if the processing capability is insufficient, the MPEG decoding software process cannot be processed completely, and other problems such as image skipping occur as described above.
[0028]
An object of the present invention is to solve a new problem that occurs when a mobile device such as a notebook personal computer can receive digital broadcasting.
[0029]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An information processing device having digital broadcast receiving means for receiving digital television broadcasts and analog broadcast receiving means for receiving analog television broadcasts,
Broadcast information received by the digital broadcast receiving means, and signal processing means for enabling viewing of the broadcast information received by the analog broadcast receiving means;
The digital broadcast receiving means, and a receiver operation changing means for changing the operation state of the analog broadcast receiving means,
An operation status monitoring unit that monitors an operation status of the information processing apparatus and sends a determination result to change an operation status of the receiver to the receiver operation change unit in accordance with the monitoring result.
[0030]
With this configuration, it is possible to appropriately switch between digital broadcasting and analog broadcasting in accordance with the operation state of the information processing device, and it is possible to select an optimal broadcast for the operation state of the information processing device.
[0031]
Further, the operation status of the information processing apparatus includes power consumption of the information processing apparatus, remaining battery power of the information processing apparatus, CPU load factor of the information processing apparatus, CPU type of the information processing apparatus, The position information, the system configuration of the information processing device, the operation mode of reception in the information processing device, the bit error rate of the digital broadcast receiving means, the reception strength of the digital broadcast receiving means or the analog broadcast receiving means. Configure as follows.
[0032]
Further, the operation state changed by the receiver operation change means is configured so that one of the operation states is set to the reception state, and the other is set to the state where the power consumption is lower than the reception state.
[0033]
Further, the analog broadcast receiving means has an MPEG-2 encoder, and the MPEG-2 encoder can change an encodeable bit rate, and changes the bit rate according to an output of the receiver operation changing means. Configure as possible.
[0034]
The operation status monitoring means may acquire position information as an operation status of the information processing apparatus, specify a reception area based on the position information, and change the operation of the receiver according to a change in the reception area. It is configured to control the means.
[0035]
The operation status monitoring unit has a function of displaying an operation status of the information processing apparatus, acquires input information from a user, and controls the receiver operation change unit based on the input information. I do.
[0036]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
(Schematic configuration)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle configuration of a portable information processing apparatus according to the present invention.
[0037]
The information processing apparatus 1 includes an antenna 2 for receiving terrestrial broadcasting, a digital broadcast receiving unit 3 and an analog broadcast receiving unit 4 connected to the antenna 2. The digital broadcast receiving means 3 includes an RF unit and a demodulation unit, and comprises a digital broadcast receiver that receives a digitally broadcasted signal and demodulates the signal into an MPEG-2 TS signal. The analog broadcast receiving means 4 includes an RF unit and a demodulation unit similarly to the digital broadcast receiver. Although the demodulation method is completely different, the analog broadcast reception unit 4 receives an analog broadcast signal and demodulates it into a video signal. 1 comprises an analog broadcast receiver which outputs a data signal that can be processed by the analog broadcast receiver 1.
[0038]
Further, the information processing apparatus 1 includes a signal processing unit 5 for converting a data signal received by the digital broadcast receiving unit 3 and the analog broadcast receiving unit 4 into image data. The signal processing means 5 has an MPEG decoding function and restores audio data and image data included in the MPEG data.
[0039]
The information processing apparatus 1 further includes a display unit 6 for displaying the image data restored by the signal processing unit 5. As the display unit 6, a flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display panel or a plasma display can be used.
[0040]
The information processing apparatus 1 further monitors the operation state of the information processing apparatus 1 such as power consumption and remaining battery power required for displaying the received data signal, and, depending on the operation state, the digital broadcast receiving unit 3 or the analog The operating state monitoring means 7 for generating a determination signal for controlling one power of the broadcast receiving means 4, and the power consumption of the digital broadcast receiving means 3 and the analog broadcast receiving means 4 is appropriately adjusted according to the determination result of the operating state monitoring means 7. A receiver operation changing means 8 for generating a control signal to be controlled is provided.
[0041]
For example, when detecting the reception of a television broadcast, the operation state monitoring means 7 compares the remaining battery level with a reference value to determine whether the remaining battery level is sufficient to receive the television broadcast for a predetermined time. If there is enough power, a decision signal is sent to the receiver operation changing means 8 so that the power of the digital broadcast receiving means 3 is turned on, and the receiver operation changing means 8 outputs the digital broadcast receiving means 3 based on the judgment signal. Is turned on, and a control signal for turning off the power of the analog broadcast receiving means 4 is sent to each receiver.
[0042]
The operation state monitoring means 7 includes, in addition to the remaining battery power, power consumption at the time of receiving each broadcast, operation modes such as viewing or recording at the time of each broadcast reception, a bit error rate of the receiver, a reception strength of the receiver, GPS (Global Positioning) System information), PHS (Personal Handyphone System), and other parameters obtained from the information processing device, such as information on the position of the information processing device, the CPU type of the information processing device, and the CPU load factor, can be obtained. .
[0043]
The operation state monitoring means 7 is configured to present these parameters to the user, generate a determination signal in accordance with an instruction input by the user, and change the determination criterion. The determination signal is used not only to turn the power of the receiver ON or OFF, but also to change the bit rate of the MPEG encoder built in the analog broadcast receiver, for example, to reduce the power consumption of the analog broadcast receiver and the processing of the CPU. The signal may be a signal for changing power consumption, such as a change in load.
[0044]
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 2 shows a portable information processing apparatus to which the first embodiment of the present invention is applied. Here, an example is shown in which a digital broadcast receiver 30 and an analog broadcast receiver 40 for receiving a television broadcast are mounted in the notebook computer 10.
[0045]
The notebook computer 10 includes an antenna 20 for receiving terrestrial broadcasting, a digital broadcast receiver 30 and an analog broadcast receiver 40 connected to the antenna 20. The digital broadcast receiver 30 includes an RF unit 31 and a demodulation unit 32.
[0046]
The RF unit 31 extracts a frequency of a channel to be received from a radio wave received by the antenna in a band of about 5.6 MHz and performs amplification. Further, the information obtained by digitizing the intensity of the received radio wave as the reception intensity is output to the CPU for use in a function described later.
[0047]
The demodulation unit 32 digitizes the analog signal output from the RF unit 31 with an A / D converter, removes a sampling error generated when digitized by the A / D converter, and performs synchronous processing such as quadrature demodulation and frequency error removal. Do. Next, information divided into a number of carrier frequencies by OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation is demodulated by FFT (Fast Fourier Transform), and detection processing such as synchronous detection and operation detection is performed. Extract information. Further, error correction processing such as Viterbi decoding, TS reproduction, and Reed-Solomon decoding is performed. A digital signal output as a result of performing these processes becomes an MPEG-2 TS signal. Also, a bit error rate is calculated in the error correction processing, and is output to the CPU for use in a function described later.
[0048]
The analog broadcast receiver 40 includes an RF unit 41 and a demodulation unit 42, similarly to the digital broadcast receiver, and further includes an MPEG encoding unit 43. The RF unit 41 extracts a frequency of a channel to be received from a radio wave received by an antenna in a band of about 6 MHz and amplifies the same. In addition, information that is quantified by using the intensity of the received radio wave as the reception intensity is output to the CPU for use in a function described later.
[0049]
The demodulation unit 42 separates the signal output from the RF unit 41 into a video signal and an audio signal. The audio signal is demodulated into an audible audio signal by FM detection and digitized by an A / D converter. On the other hand, the AM-modulated video signal is detected, digitized by an A / D converter, and a vertical synchronizing signal, a horizontal synchronizing signal and a color burst signal are detected. Optimization is performed. The optimized video signal is loaded into the frame memory using the timing of the vertical synchronization signal and the horizontal synchronization signal, and is added to the signal of the previous line or the signal of the previous frame in the frame memory. A luminance signal is generated by performing pattern filtering, and a carrier chrominance signal is generated by subtraction. Whether the comb filter uses a two-dimensional comb filter using the signal of one line before or a three-dimensional comb filter using the signal of one frame before depends on the correlation between the respective data. Dynamically selected.
[0050]
Also, the color difference signal of three colors of RGB is generated by comparing the phase with a color burst signal whose phase is delayed by 90 °, 303.5 °, and 180 ° in accordance with each color of RGB and demodulating the carrier color signal. I do. Then, the RGB signal is demodulated by adding the luminance signal and the color difference signals of the three colors RGB.
[0051]
The MPEG encoding unit 43 compresses the RGB signal and the audio signal demodulated by the demodulation unit 42 by MPEG-2, and converts the audio signal into a signal in a PS (Program Stream) format.
[0052]
The notebook personal computer 10 includes devices including a CPU, a memory, a hard disk, a video, and an audio, which exist as ordinary PC functions. Each device is connected to the CPU by a bus line, and the memory is a dedicated memory bus. And other devices are connected to an I / O bus such as a PCI (Peripheral Components Interconnect) bus. The signal processing unit 50 is configured by these ordinary PC functions. Further, the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 are similarly connected to the PCI bus, so that the CPU can process the MPEG signals generated by the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40. . The digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 will be described as being built in a notebook personal computer as a sufficiently small one. However, depending on their size and cost, they may be mounted in a PC card slot, or Alternatively, it may be of a type mounted on a mobile multi-bay mounted with a DVD drive or an extended battery.
[0053]
The signal processing unit 50 includes an MPEG decoding unit 51, a power consumption prediction unit 52, and a reception operation changing unit 53. Since each of the signal processing units 50 is configured by software, it is operated by a CPU and a memory.
[0054]
The MPEG decoding unit 51 determines whether the format of MPEG data is MPEG-2 TS output from the digital broadcast receiver 30 or MPEG-2 PS output from the analog broadcast receiver 40 by referring to the header of each packet. to decide. In MPEG-2 TS and MPEG-2 PS, MPEG data is packetized and converted into data. Since the size and storage order of the packets are different, the format is determined by checking the header of each packet, and the video information and audio Retrieve information. Furthermore, since there are cases where a plurality of pieces of information exist in the MPEG-2 TS, only the video information and the audio information of the program specified by the user are extracted.
[0055]
In digital terrestrial broadcasting, one channel is divided into 13 segments, and by combining those segments, it is possible to multiplex up to three programs. For example, various services are implemented, such as broadcasting three programs of image quality (resolution) equivalent to SDTV (Standard Definition TV) at the same time and broadcasting only one program of image quality equivalent to HDTV (High Definition TV). It will be done.
[0056]
The extracted video information is restored to RGB video data by the video decoder 511 in the MPEG decoding unit 51 and output to the video of the signal processing unit 50. The video of the signal processing unit 50 converts the RGB video data into a driving signal for the liquid crystal panel of the display unit 60 and outputs the video signal, so that the user can view the television program.
[0057]
On the other hand, the audio information is restored to left and right stereo audio signals by the audio decoder 512 in the MPEG decoding unit 51 and output to the audio of the signal processing unit 50. The audio of the signal processing unit 50 is generated as an audible sound by converting an audio signal into an analog voltage signal and outputting the voltage signal to the speaker unit 70.
[0058]
The power consumption estimating unit 52 includes a battery remaining amount information acquiring unit 521 for acquiring the battery remaining amount of the notebook computer, a current consumption table 522, and a digital / analog selecting unit 523. The current consumption table 522 stores a current value consumed when receiving a digital broadcast and a current value consumed when receiving an analog broadcast. The digital / analog selecting unit 523 determines whether or not the remaining battery level is low based on the remaining battery level information acquired from the remaining battery level information acquiring unit 521. If the remaining battery level is low, the current stored in the current consumption table 522 is determined. Switching to analog broadcasting with low power consumption by referring to the value. Alternatively, based on the battery remaining amount information acquired from the battery remaining amount information acquiring unit 521, the available time is predicted by dividing by the current value stored in the current consumption table 522, and digitally viewed according to the estimated time. Whether to receive a broadcast or an analog broadcast may be determined.
[0059]
The power consumption prediction unit 52 determines, based on the calculated viewable time, to receive a digital broadcast that provides a high-quality image if the watch is available for a sufficient time, and the digital broadcast that is currently being viewed is sufficient. If it is not possible to watch for a long time, but if analog broadcasting can be viewed for a sufficient time, it is configured to determine to receive analog broadcasting.
[0060]
The receiver operation change unit 53 controls the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 according to the instruction of the digital / analog selection unit 523 of the power consumption prediction unit 52. Specifically, a power control signal for turning on or off the power is transmitted to each of the receivers.
[0061]
The operation of the portable information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment thus configured will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0062]
Step S11 is an initial state in which the power of the notebook computer 10 is turned on, and the power of both the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned off.
[0063]
In step S12, it is determined whether or not television reception software has been activated by an application on the notebook computer 10. If it is determined that the television receiving software has been activated, the process proceeds to step S13.
[0064]
In step S13, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned on, the received data signal is demodulated, and MPEG data is output.
[0065]
In step S <b> 14, it is determined whether or not the remaining battery level is equal to or less than the reference value with reference to the remaining battery level information acquisition section 521 of the power consumption prediction section 52. If the remaining battery level is equal to or greater than the reference value, continuous viewing can be performed without changing the reception state. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S18. If the remaining battery level is equal to or less than the reference value, the process proceeds to the next step S15.
[0066]
In step S15, referring to the current consumption table 522 of the power consumption prediction unit 52, the current consumption at the time of digital reception and the current consumption at the time of analog reception registered in advance and switching to the analog broadcasting are less power consumption. If the current receiver is a digital broadcast receiver, it is determined whether switching to analog broadcasting reduces power consumption.
[0067]
In step S16, based on the determination in step 15, if it is not necessary to switch to analog broadcasting, the process proceeds to step S18, and if switching to analog broadcasting reduces power consumption, the process proceeds to step S17.
[0068]
In step S17, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned off by the reception operation changing unit 53, and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned on.
[0069]
In step S18, the MPEG data is decoded and output via the display unit 60 and the speaker unit 70.
[0070]
In step S19, it is determined whether or not termination processing of the television receiving software has been instructed. If the end processing of the television receiving software is instructed, the process proceeds to step S20. If the end process of the television receiving software is not instructed, the process proceeds to step S14.
[0071]
In step S20, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 are turned off.
[0072]
In this way, in the notebook computer 10 equipped with the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40, appropriate power control of the receiver can be performed based on the power consumption and the remaining battery power required for the operation of the receiver being used. Yes, and can be viewed for a longer time even with battery operation.
[0073]
If the battery level of the personal computer is equal to or more than the reference value, the user can view the digital broadcast until the TV receiving software is terminated.
[0074]
Battery level information is generally owned internally by a personal computer in order to notify the user of the remaining level. In addition to the method of pre-registering the power consumption required for each broadcast reception registered in advance by the power consumption prediction unit, the power consumption is calculated from the remaining battery level and viewing time, and the data in the table is automatically updated May be.
[0075]
Although the above is an example of automatically switching from digital to analog, it is also possible to notify the user before switching and switch only when the user approves the switching.
[0076]
In the present embodiment, the description has been given on the assumption that the digital broadcast receiver 30 consumes more power than the analog broadcast receiver 40. However, the analog broadcast receiver 40 is difficult to integrate since the demodulation unit 42 includes many high-frequency analog circuits before the signal input from the RF unit is digitized by the A / D converter. If it does not progress, a decrease in power consumption cannot be expected. On the other hand, since the demodulation unit 32 of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is mostly a digital circuit, the demodulation unit 32 is a circuit whose integration progresses in proportion to the advance of the digital circuit integration technology. Power consumption may be lower. In that case, which receiver is selected from the relation of power consumption is different from the present embodiment, and the design can be changed as appropriate.
[0077]
[Second embodiment]
FIG. 4 shows a control block diagram of a portable information processing apparatus to which the second embodiment of the present invention is applied. Here, as in the first embodiment, an example is shown in which a digital broadcast receiver 30 and an analog broadcast receiver 40 for receiving a television broadcast are mounted in the notebook computer 10.
[0078]
The notebook computer 10 includes an antenna 20 for receiving terrestrial broadcasting, a digital broadcast receiver 30 and an analog broadcast receiver 40 connected to the antenna 20.
[0079]
The MPEG data demodulated by the digital broadcast receiver 30 or the analog broadcast receiver 40 is sent to a signal processing unit 50 that performs signal processing.
[0080]
The signal processing unit 50 includes an MPEG decoding unit 51, a reception operation changing unit 53, and a CPU load ratio monitoring unit 54. Since each of the signal processing units 50 is configured by software, the signal processing unit 50 is operated by a CPU and a memory.
[0081]
The operations of the MPEG decoding unit 51 and the receiving operation changing unit 53 are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.
[0082]
The CPU load factor monitoring unit 54 includes a CPU load factor acquisition unit 541 for acquiring the CPU load factor of the notebook computer, a load factor reference value table 542, and a determination unit 543. The load factor reference value table 542 is a reference value of the CPU load factor that may cause image skipping due to the CPU load factor exceeding 100% during decoding processing and the processing being unable to catch up. I remember. The determination unit 543 compares the CPU load factor acquired from the CPU load factor acquisition unit 541 with the reference value stored in the load factor reference value table 542, and receives a digital broadcast or an analog signal according to the comparison result. Decide whether to receive the broadcast.
[0083]
The operation of the portable information processing apparatus thus configured according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0084]
Step S31 is an initial state in which the power of the notebook computer 10 is turned on, and the power of both the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned off.
[0085]
In step S32, it is determined whether or not software for television reception has been started from an application on the notebook computer 10. If it is determined that the television receiving software has been activated, the process proceeds to step S33.
[0086]
In step S33, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned on, the received data signal is demodulated, and MPEG data is output.
[0087]
In step S34, the CPU load factor acquisition unit 541 of the CPU load factor monitor unit 54 is compared with the load factor reference value table 542 to determine whether the CPU load factor is equal to or greater than the reference value. If the CPU load factor is equal to or less than the reference value, continuous viewing can be performed without changing the reception state. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S36. If the CPU load factor is equal to or more than the reference value, the process proceeds to the next step S35.
[0088]
In step S35, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned off and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned on by the reception operation changing unit 53.
[0089]
In step S36, the MPEG data is decoded and output via the display unit 60 and the speaker unit 70.
[0090]
In the step S37, it is determined whether or not termination processing of the television receiving software is instructed. If termination processing of the television receiving software has been instructed, the process proceeds to step S38, and if termination processing of the television receiving software has not been instructed, the process proceeds to step S34.
[0091]
In step S38, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 are turned off.
[0092]
With the above configuration, it is possible to use the CPU load ratio so as not to exceed the reference value. If the CPU load ratio of the personal computer is equal to or less than the reference value, the user can continue digital broadcasting until the TV reception software is terminated. Can be watched. In particular, when watching a high-quality program such as an HDTV, the load factor of the CPU may exceed 100% depending on the processing capability of the personal computer, and the processing may not catch up, causing a problem such as image skipping. By doing so, the problem can be solved. Although the above is an example of actually measuring the CPU load factor, it is also possible to predict whether processing is possible without measurement by acquiring system information (CPU type, clock frequency, etc.) of a personal computer.
[0093]
[Third embodiment]
FIG. 6 shows a control block diagram of a portable information processing apparatus to which the third embodiment of the present invention is applied. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description is omitted.
[0094]
The signal processing unit 50 includes an MPEG decoding unit 51, a reception operation changing unit 53, and an operation mode monitoring unit 55. Since each of the signal processing units 50 is configured by software, it is operated by a CPU and a memory.
[0095]
The operation mode monitoring unit 55 includes an operation mode acquisition unit 551 indicating whether the operation state of the TV reception software is watching or recording, and a determination unit 552. The determination unit 552 refers to the information of the operation mode acquisition unit 551, and when watching an HDTV digital broadcast, the processing load of the CPU is extremely large. In order to prevent the image quality from deteriorating, it is determined that analog broadcasting should be received. In the case of a recording mode in which decoding processing is not required and the processing load of the CPU is low, the recording apparatus is resistant to noise and signal changes such as moving. Decide to receive digital broadcasts.
[0096]
The operation of the portable information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment thus configured will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0097]
Step S41 is an initial state in which the power of the notebook computer 10 is turned on, and the power of both the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned off.
[0098]
In step S42, it is determined whether or not software for television reception has been activated from an application on the notebook computer 10. If it is determined that the television receiving software has been activated, the process proceeds to step S43.
[0099]
In step S43, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned on, the received data signal is demodulated, and MPEG data is output.
[0100]
In step S44, it is determined whether the operation mode is viewing or recording. If the operation mode is the recording mode, the process proceeds to step S47 without changing the reception state. If the operation mode is viewing, the process proceeds to the next step S45. Transition.
[0101]
In step S45, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned off and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned on by the reception operation changing unit 53.
[0102]
In step S46, the operation is performed only when the operation mode is viewing, the MPEG data is decoded, and output is performed via the display unit 60 and the speaker unit 70.
[0103]
In step S47, it is determined whether or not termination processing of the television receiving software has been instructed. If termination processing of the television receiving software is instructed, the process proceeds to step S48, and if termination processing of the television receiving software is not instructed, the process proceeds to step S44.
[0104]
In step S48, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 are turned off.
[0105]
[Fourth embodiment]
All of the above examples are for use in areas where both digital and analog services have been started.However, when using while moving in areas where digital broadcasting has not started and areas where both broadcasting services are in service In order to make the switching smooth, a method of using the position information of the personal computer for the operation status monitoring means can be considered. Obtain and monitor location information using GPS, etc., automatically turn on digital broadcast receivers and turn off analog broadcast receivers in areas where digital broadcasting services are currently started, and automatically turn digital off in areas where digital broadcasting services are not started. Turn off the broadcast receiver and turn on the analog broadcast receiver. It is also conceivable to keep the state once set as long as the location does not change so that the switching is not performed every time the power is turned on.
[0106]
FIG. 8 shows a control block diagram of a portable information processing apparatus to which the fourth embodiment of the present invention is applied. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description is omitted.
[0107]
The signal processing unit 50 includes an MPEG decoding unit 51, a reception operation changing unit 53, and a position information monitoring unit 58. Since the signal processing unit 50 is configured by software except for a part of the position information monitoring unit 58, the CPU and the memory Work by.
[0108]
The position information monitor 58 is a GPS antenna 580, a GPS receiver 581 that calculates a current position from a GPS signal, information for determining a broadcast area from position information, and determines whether digital broadcasting has started in the broadcast area. In order to perform analog broadcast reception or digital broadcast by referring to the broadcast district table 582 based on the broadcast district table 582 storing the broadcast channel information of the digital broadcast and the analog broadcast and the position information obtained from the GPS receiver 581, It has a determination unit 583 for determining whether to receive a broadcast, and the determination unit 583 has a memory 584 for storing previous location information or previous district information.
[0109]
[Fifth Embodiment]
Other examples of the monitoring information include a method of monitoring the reception strength of the receiver and a method of monitoring the bit error rate (BER) of the receiver.
[0110]
FIG. 9 shows a control block diagram of a portable information processing apparatus to which the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description is omitted.
[0111]
The signal processing unit 50 includes an MPEG decoding unit 51, a reception operation changing unit 53, and a bit error rate monitoring unit 56. Since each of the signal processing units 50 is configured by software, the signal processing unit 50 is operated by a CPU and a memory.
[0112]
The bit error rate monitoring unit 56 includes a bit error rate acquisition unit 561 that acquires a bit error rate output from the digital broadcast receiver 30, a bit error rate reference value table 562 that holds a reference value of the bit error rate, a bit error rate It has a determination unit 563 for determining whether the rate has fallen below the reference value.
[0113]
In the figure, 1e-7 representing the bit error rate means 10-7, which means that only 1 bit has an error in 10000000 bits. Similarly, 1e-3 means 10-3, which represents a state in which a 1-bit error has occurred in 1000 bits and the error frequently occurs.
[0114]
The operation of the portable information processing apparatus of the fifth embodiment thus configured will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0115]
Step S51 is an initial state in which the power of the notebook computer 10 is turned on, and the power of both the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned off.
[0116]
In step S52, it is determined whether or not software for television reception has been activated from an application on the notebook computer 10. If it is determined that the television receiving software has been activated, the process proceeds to step S53.
[0117]
In step S53, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned on, and the received data signal is demodulated to output MPEG data.
[0118]
In step S54, it is determined whether the bit error rate is equal to or higher than the reference value. If the bit error rate is equal to or lower than the reference value, the process proceeds to step S56 without changing the reception state. I do.
[0119]
In step S55, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned off and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned on by the reception operation changing unit 53.
[0120]
In step S56, the MPEG data is decoded and output via the display unit 60 and the speaker unit 70.
[0121]
In step S57, it is determined whether or not termination processing of the television receiving software has been instructed. If termination processing of the television receiving software has been instructed, the process proceeds to step S58, and if termination processing of the television receiving software has not been instructed, the process proceeds to step S54.
[0122]
In step S58, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 are turned off.
[0123]
[Sixth embodiment]
FIG. 11 shows a control block diagram of a portable information processing apparatus employing the sixth embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description is omitted.
[0124]
The signal processing unit 50 includes an MPEG decoding unit 51, a reception operation changing unit 53, and a reception intensity monitoring unit 57. Since each of the signal processing units 50 is configured by software, it is operated by a CPU and a memory.
[0125]
The reception intensity monitoring unit 57 includes a reception intensity acquisition unit 571 that acquires the reception intensity output from the digital broadcast receiver 30, a reception intensity reference value table 572 that holds a reference value of the reception intensity, and a reception intensity lower than the reference value. And a determining unit 573 for determining whether or not the data has been transmitted.
[0126]
The operation of the portable information processing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment thus configured will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0127]
Step S61 is an initial state in which the power of the notebook computer 10 is turned on, and the power of both the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned off.
[0128]
In step S62, it is determined whether or not software for television reception has been activated from an application on the notebook computer 10. If it is determined that the television receiving software has been activated, the process proceeds to step S63.
[0129]
In step S63, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned on, the received data signal is demodulated, and MPEG data is output.
[0130]
In step S64, it is determined whether the reception intensity is equal to or lower than the reference value. If the reception intensity is equal to or higher than the reference value, the process proceeds to step S66 without changing the reception state. If the reception intensity is equal to or lower than the reference value, the process proceeds to the next step S65. .
[0131]
In step S65, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned off by the reception operation changing unit 53, and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned on.
[0132]
In step S66, the MPEG data is decoded and output via the display unit 60 and the speaker unit 70.
[0133]
In the step S67, it is determined whether or not termination processing of the television receiving software is instructed. If termination processing of the television receiving software has been instructed, the process proceeds to step S68. If termination processing of the television receiving software has not been instructed, the process proceeds to step S64.
[0134]
In step S68, the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 are turned off.
[0135]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of notifying the user of these parameters, and FIG. 14 shows a screen. The user can switch to either broadcast after confirming the monitoring information.
[0136]
Step S71 is an initial state in which the power of the notebook computer 10 is turned on, and the power of both the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned off.
[0137]
In step S72, it is determined whether or not software for television reception has been activated from an application on the notebook computer 10. If it is determined that the television receiving software has been activated, the process proceeds to step S73.
[0138]
In step S73, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned on, the received data signal is demodulated, and MPEG data is output.
[0139]
In step S74, it is determined whether the reception intensity is equal to or lower than the reference value. If the reception intensity is equal to or higher than the reference value, the process proceeds to step S78 without changing the reception state. If the reception intensity is equal to or lower than the reference value, the process proceeds to the next step S75. .
[0140]
In step S75, as shown in FIG. 14, information on the current reception state and a selection button for selecting whether to receive a digital broadcast or an analog broadcast that can be selected by the user are provided. As the information on the reception state, a bit error rate, a reception intensity, and a CPU load factor are displayed. For each of these items, the reception state by the analog broadcast receiver and the reception state by the digital broadcast receiver are respectively measured, and the reference value and the current value are displayed. In addition, if the current value is sufficiently good with respect to the reference value, mark ◎, if the current value is better than the reference value, mark ○, if the reference value is close to the current value, There is a judgment column for displaying a mark when the current value is worse than the reference value, and when the current value is worse than the reference value.
[0141]
In step S76, it is determined whether the analog button or the digital button in FIG. 14 selected by the user has been selected based on the result displayed in step 75, and if digital broadcasting has been selected, the process proceeds to step S78. If an analog broadcast has been selected, the process moves to step S77.
[0142]
In step S77, the power of the digital broadcast receiver 30 is turned off and the power of the analog broadcast receiver 40 is turned on by the reception operation changing unit 53.
[0143]
In step S78, the MPEG data is decoded and output via the display unit 60 and the speaker unit 70.
[0144]
In the step S79, it is determined whether or not an end process of the television receiving software is instructed. When the termination processing of the television receiving software is instructed, the process proceeds to step S80, and when the termination process of the television receiving software is not instructed, the process proceeds to step S74.
[0145]
In step S80, the digital broadcast receiver 30 and the analog broadcast receiver 40 are turned off.
[0146]
Although the above embodiments have been described on the assumption that the power of the digital broadcast receiver and the power of the analog broadcast receiver are controlled, a method of reducing the bit rate of the MPEG-2 encoder in order to reduce the power consumption at the time of receiving the analog broadcast may be used. is there. For example, even if the digital broadcast is changed to an analog broadcast, if the CPU load is still high and the image quality is not improved or the power consumption is large, the amount of information is reduced due to the decrease in the MPEG bit rate, and the processing by the CPU is performed. In some cases, the load of software decoding for performing the decoding is reduced, and the reception situation can be further improved.
[0147]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, especially in a battery-driven information processing apparatus, it becomes possible to greatly extend viewing time. Also, there is no need to be aware of analog and digital channel changes, which saves the trouble of changing channels.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a control block diagram according to a second embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a control block diagram according to a third embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the third embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a control block diagram according to a fourth embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a control block diagram according to a fifth embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the fifth embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a control block diagram according to a sixth embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the sixth embodiment.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the sixth embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of notifying monitoring information to a user.
FIG. 15 is a control block diagram of a conventional technique.
FIG. 16 is a control block diagram of another related art.

Claims (6)

Digital broadcast receiving means for receiving digital television broadcasts;
Analog broadcast receiving means for receiving analog television broadcasts;
An information processing apparatus having
Broadcast information received by the digital broadcast receiving means, and signal processing means for enabling viewing of the broadcast information received by the analog broadcast receiving means;
The digital broadcast receiving means, and a receiver operation changing means for changing the operation state of the analog broadcast receiving means,
An operation status monitoring unit that monitors an operation status of the information processing apparatus and sends a determination result to change an operation status of the receiver to the receiver operation change unit in accordance with the monitoring result. Information processing device. The operation status of the information processing device includes power consumption of the information processing device, remaining battery power of the information processing device, CPU load factor of the information processing device, CPU type of the information processing device, and position information of the information processing device. , The system configuration of the information processing device, the operation mode of reception in the information processing device, the bit error rate of the digital broadcast receiving unit, or the reception intensity of the digital broadcast receiving unit or the analog broadcast receiving unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the operation states changed by the receiver operation change unit is a reception state, and the other is a state in which power consumption is lower than the reception state. The analog broadcast receiving means has an MPEG-2 encoder, and the MPEG-2 encoder is capable of changing an encodeable bit rate, and changing the bit rate according to an output of the receiver operation changing means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The operation status monitoring means enables position information to be acquired as the operation status of the information processing apparatus, specifies a reception area based on the position information, and sets the receiver operation change means in accordance with a change in the reception area. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information processing apparatus performs control. The operation status monitoring unit has a function of displaying an operation status of the information processing apparatus, acquires input information from a user, and controls the receiver operation change unit based on the input information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

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