JP2004096530A - Channel selection device and television reception system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a channel selection device for efficiently accumulating a program selected based on accumulation conditions and selecting an optimum program from programs being broadcast at present or programs accumulated in the past based on viewing/listening conditions and to provide a television receiving system. <P>SOLUTION: In the system, a program retrieval means 105 retrieves the program from an electronic program guide based on a condition of the program which a viewer intends to accumulate when the condition is set. When it is a program of a special genre and that of a specified title, it is overwritten in an update region 113 of a program recording means 106. When the program is except for said programs, it is accumulated in a rewritable region 114. When the viewer sets the condition of the program to be viewed/listened at present, the program retrieval means 105 gives an instruction for channel selection to a channel selection means 102 if the adapted program is broadcast. When it is not broadcast, the program is selected from the accumulated programs 107. The system can efficiently record the latest program and can select the optimum program from the programs from the past to the present. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a channel selection device and a television receiving system having a program selection function and a program storage function using a digital broadcast electronic program guide (hereinafter, referred to as “EPG”).
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as this channel selection device and the television receiving system, for example, there has been one as disclosed in Patent Document 1. FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a conventional information providing device described in Patent Document 1.
[0003]
In FIG. 18, a conventional information providing apparatus includes a broadcast receiving unit 1810 for receiving a broadcast from an antenna 1811, a broadcast control unit 1809 for controlling a broadcast receiving operation, and storing information in a storage medium such as a hard disk 1804 or a DVD-RAM 1805. Storage means 1806, storage system control means 1807 for controlling storage of information in storage means 1806, communication means 1802 for transmitting and receiving information to and from data communication network 1801, and communication system control for controlling the communication operation of communication means 1802 A means 1803 and an information acquisition control means 1808 for controlling the broadcast control means 1809, the storage control means 1807 and the communication control means 1803. In response to the information request, the information acquisition control unit 1808 determines the location of the information, obtains appropriate information from any of the broadcast, storage, and communication control units and presents it to the information presentation unit 1812. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to consider whether information is obtained from a broadcast system, a storage system, or a communication system.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-296534 (pages 7-9, FIG. 1)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional configuration, since the storage unit 1806 is sequentially stored in the storage medium based on the program information obtained from the EPG data, the value of the information is lost over time, such as a weather forecast, for example. Such programs are stored in the same manner as programs of other genres, and it has been difficult to efficiently use the capacity of the storage medium.
[0006]
The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and efficiently stores a program selected based on storage conditions, and optimizes a program currently being broadcast or stored in the past based on viewing conditions. It is an object to provide a channel selection device and a television reception system having a function of selecting a suitable program.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the channel selection apparatus of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned conventional problems, when a condition of a program that a viewer wants to store (hereinafter referred to as “storage condition”) is set, a program search means sets an electronic program and a program based on the condition. The program is searched from the guide, and if it is a program of a specific genre or a specific title, it is overwritten and recorded in the update area of the program recording means. Then, when the viewer sets the conditions of the program that he / she wants to watch now (hereinafter, referred to as “viewing conditions”), the program search means instructs the channel selection means to tune to the channel selection program if the program is broadcast. If it is not broadcast, select from the stored programs.
[0008]
As a result, the tuning device can efficiently record the latest program without consuming the storage area, and based on the viewing conditions from the viewer, the most suitable program from the past to the present. The user can select a program to be performed.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The channel selection device according to the present invention includes: a channel selection unit for selecting a program; a program recording unit for recording a program received by the channel selection unit; and an electronic program guide and a program stored in the program recording unit. Program search means for searching for a program that meets the conditions specified by the user. The program search means stores the program searched from the electronic program guide on the basis of the storage condition in the program recording means, and the program search means satisfies the viewing condition. If a suitable program is being broadcast, the channel selection means is instructed to tune, and if not, the program is selected from the stored programs.
[0010]
Thus, the channel selection device can select a program that the viewer wants to view from programs from the past to the present based on a predetermined condition regarding a program that he / she wants to view.
[0011]
Further, the tuning apparatus according to the present invention includes an update area in which the program recording means overwrites the latest program with a previous program, and an additional recording area in which additional information is sequentially recorded in an unrecorded area.
[0012]
As a result, the channel selection device overwrites the specific program without being additionally recorded, so that the latest program can be recorded without continuously consuming the storage area.
[0013]
In the update area of the tuning device according to the present invention, only a program of a specific genre and a specific title is recorded.
[0014]
As a result, all programs that are not desired to be updated can be recorded, and only programs that may be updated can be recorded.
[0015]
Further, the channel selection device according to the present invention, when recording the latest program that is not a specific genre and a specific title in the additional recording area, if there is no unrecorded area, the program recorded in the earliest recorded additional recording area Overwrite.
[0016]
As a result, the tuning device can continue to accumulate the latest program even when the entire storage capacity is used.
[0017]
Further, the tuning apparatus according to the present invention further includes a period designating means for designating a storage period, and automatically erases a program that has exceeded the storage period of the additional recording area.
[0018]
As a result, the tuning device can delete the old and no longer valuable program without continuing to store it, so that the storage capacity can be used efficiently.
[0019]
The viewing conditions of the channel selection device according to the present invention include a channel selection unit for the viewer to select a channel other than the channel selection, and a preference for storing preference information indicating whether or not the channel selection unit has selected the channel in association with the program. A storage unit, wherein the priority order to be selected from the programs searched by the program search unit based on the viewing conditions is determined based on the preference information.
[0020]
Thereby, the channel selection device can acquire the viewer's preference without being conscious of the viewer, and can automatically select the program that the viewer wants to view most based on the acquired preference.
[0021]
Further, the tuning apparatus according to the present invention further includes voice recognition means for recognizing voice to specify a speaker, specify viewing conditions, and select a channel, and the preference storage means stores the preference information in the viewer. Each time, and the program search means performs a program search based on viewing conditions based on preference information for each viewer.
[0022]
As a result, the channel selection device can recognize the instruction with the voice of the viewer, and can specify a viewer from the voice to select a program suitable for the preference of each viewer.
[0023]
The viewing conditions of the channel selection device according to the present invention are set by selection buttons provided for each genre on the operation panel.
[0024]
Thereby, the viewer can specify the condition of the program to be viewed by a simple operation.
[0025]
Further, the television receiving system according to the present invention presents the program selected by the above-described channel selecting device according to the present invention.
[0026]
Thus, the viewer can efficiently select the most suitable program that meets the set viewing conditions from the program in the channel selection device that has efficiently recorded the latest program without consuming the storage area and the program currently being broadcast. You can watch.
[0027]
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0028]
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television receiving system including a channel selection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a television receiving system includes an antenna 110, a tuning device 100 for receiving a broadcast signal from the antenna 110, a display device 111 for displaying a video output from the tuning device 100, and a speaker 112 for outputting audio. It is composed of
[0029]
The channel selection apparatus 100 converts the frequency of the broadcast signal received by the antenna 110 and performs FM demodulation, a frequency downconverter 101, a tuner 102 that selects the number of channels specified by the program selection processing unit 105, and a tuner 102. A decoding / separation unit 103 that separates a baseband signal into a video signal SIG3, an audio signal SIG4, and EPG data (electronic program guide) SIG5 after error correction, and a signal extracted by the decoding / separation unit 103. EPG storage device 104 for storing EPG data, program storage device 106 for storing a broadcast signal from tuner 102, designation of a channel desired by a viewer to be viewed, genre of program desired to be stored, and the like. In response to a request from the operation panel 108 and the operation panel 108 A program selection processing unit 105 for storing a set in the program storage device 106 or searching for a program matching the request from the tuner 102 or the program storage device 106, and a storage for storing a list of programs stored in the program storage device 106 And a program database 107. The program storage device 106 includes an update area 113 in which a program can be overwritten and an additional recording area 114 in which only additional recording can be performed. In the present embodiment, 5 GB of the storage capacity of 80 GB of the program storage device 106 is allocated to the update area. Note that the frequency downconverter 101 and the tuner 102 constitute a channel selection unit.
[0030]
As shown in FIG. 2, the decoding / separation unit 103 decodes the output signal SIG1 from the tuner 102 and the video / audio signal SIG2 from the program selection processing unit 105, and further performs decoding / error correction processing. An error correction circuit 201, and a separation circuit 202 for separating a transport stream signal from the decoding / error correction circuit 201 that complies with the MPEG2 (Moving Picture Expert Group 2) method into respective packet signals of video, audio, and EPG data. A video decoder 203 that decodes a video packet signal and converts it into a video signal; a video de-emphasis circuit 204 that removes a power spread signal by restoring a correction made by the broadcast station to enhance the high frequency side; Audio PCM that decodes packet signals and converts them to audio signals A decoder 205, an audio de-emphasis circuit 206 for restoring the correction made by the broadcast station to create a final audio signal, and an EPG data extraction circuit 207 for extracting EPG data from the EPG data packet signal. It is configured. Hereinafter, the same signals and components are denoted by the same names even in different drawings.
[0031]
Next, an example of a hardware configuration of the program selection processing unit 105 is shown in FIG.
[0032]
3, a program selection processing unit 105 includes a first parallel input / output control unit (hereinafter, referred to as a first PIO) 301, a second parallel input / output control unit (hereinafter, referred to as a second PIO) 302, a RAM 304, and a DMA. It has a controller 303, a ROM 305, and a serial conversion unit (SCO) 306, which are connected to a bus and controlled by a CPU 307.
[0033]
Here, the first PIO 301 inputs the television broadcast signal SIG6 from the tuner 102 and the EPG data SIG11 from the EPG storage device 104, inputs / outputs the stored program information SIG10 to / from the stored program database 107, and decodes / The video / audio signal SIG2 is output to the separation unit 103, and these are connected to the bus data line.
[0034]
The second PIO 302 inputs and outputs program contents to and from the program storage device 106 and connects to the bus data line.
[0035]
The RAM 304 temporarily stores the read program contents, and is used as a work area when performing a program search function.
[0036]
The DMA controller 303 performs high-speed data transfer between the first PIO 301 or the second PIO 302 and the RAM 304.
[0037]
The ROM 305 stores a program search function and a processing program for writing and reading a program to and from a storage device in response to a request.
[0038]
The SCO 306 inputs an instruction signal SIG9 from the operation panel 108 to the bus data line and outputs a signal SIG8 for specifying a channel.
[0039]
A functional block as shown in FIG. 4 is configured by the above hardware configuration.
[0040]
In FIG. 4, a program storage control unit 401 performs writing and reading to and from a program storage device 106 in accordance with an instruction from a program search unit 402. The program storage control unit 401 and the program storage device 106 constitute a program recording unit. are doing.
[0041]
The program condition creation unit 403 creates a list of the request SIG9 from the operation panel 108, and the program search unit 402 searches the EPG data or the stored program list for a program that matches the request list. The program search unit 402 corresponds to a program search unit.
[0042]
The timer unit 404 calculates the current time and notifies the program search unit 402.
[0043]
The channel selecting apparatus 100 configured as described above has a function of storing a program that satisfies predetermined conditions, in addition to a function of selecting a channel specified directly by the viewer from the operation panel 108, Has a function of searching the EPG data and the stored program database 107 for a program that the user wants to view and outputting the program to the display device 111 or the like. These operations will be described below.
[0044]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the process of storing this program.
[0045]
First, the program condition creation unit 403 checks whether or not the viewer has requested the storage condition from the operation panel 108 (step S501).
[0046]
If there is no request, the process proceeds to the next step S503. If there is a request, a request list is created and stored in the RAM 304 and the request is transmitted to the program search unit 402 (step S502).
[0047]
Here, a method of creating a request list will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6C and FIG. FIGS. 6A to 6C show storage condition setting screens, and FIG. 10 is an external view of an operation panel.
[0048]
The viewer presses the menu button 1001 on the operation panel in FIG. 10 to display the stored program setting screen in FIG. 6A, and uses the four-way button 1002 and the enter button 1003 to specify the genre 601 or title 602 as setting conditions. To specify.
[0049]
FIG. 6B is a screen when a genre is specified, and genres such as news, movies, and sports specified by EPG data can be selected. When a genre is specified, a keyword for specifying the contents of the genre is displayed. In FIG. 6B, a Japanese movie 604 and a Western movie 605, which are keywords when the movie 603 is selected as the genre, are displayed.
[0050]
These genres and keywords are defined in the EPG data as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 8A, one sport, two movies, three musics, and four news are genres, and 100 baseball, 101 soccer, and the like are keywords for specifying the contents of the genre.
[0051]
When a title is designated in FIG. 6A, a screen shown in FIG. 6C is displayed, and a title name is input from kana characters or alphanumeric characters (not shown) assigned to numeric keys 1005 on the operation panel. Is set using the four-way button 1702 and the enter button 1703. Alternatively, it can be set from the input of the Japanese syllabary or the alphanumeric input screen.
[0052]
In this way, the request list is set as the storage condition in the data structure shown in FIG.
[0053]
Next, the program search unit 402 receives the notification from the program condition creation unit 403, reads the latest EPG data from the EPG storage device 104 (step S503), and searches the EPG data for a program that meets the storage conditions (step S503). Step S504). If there is no program that satisfies the storage condition, the process returns to step S501 (step S505), and if there is a program, it is added to and updated in the recording scheduled program list stored in the RAM 304 as shown in FIG. S506).
[0054]
Next, the program search unit 402 obtains the current time from the timer unit 404 (step S507), and checks whether or not there is a program to be recorded at the current time in the recording schedule program list (step S508).
[0055]
If there is no program to be recorded, the process returns to step S501, and if so, the program storage control unit 401 is instructed to store the program.
[0056]
The program storage control unit 401 stores the program from the tuner 102 in the program storage device 106 according to the instruction (step S509). At this time, the program accumulation control unit 401 determines whether to accumulate in the update area 113 or the additional recording area 114 of the program storage device 106 according to the contents of the program. For example, if the genre of the program is news, the existing program having the same keyword in the update area 113 is overwritten and recorded, and if the genre of the program is another genre, the program is stored in the additional recording area 114. This is because, as in news, the freshness of information deteriorates over time and the value of the information decreases. It is.
[0057]
As a result, it becomes possible to continuously store programs of the news genre without squeezing the storage capacity of the program storage device 106. In addition, when there is a program having the same title in the same genre, it is possible to overwrite and record the program. This also provides the same effect.
[0058]
Further, since the storage area of the additional recording area 114 decreases as the program is stored, when a predetermined remaining storage capacity is reached, a warning display is given to the viewer, or the program with the oldest storage time is automatically deleted sequentially. Is done. In addition, it is also possible to overwrite and record a new program on the most recently recorded program. Further, when storing a program, a storage period is set from the operation panel 108 corresponding to the period designating means and stored as a part of the program information. When the storage period has elapsed, the program storage control unit 401 Can be automatically deleted.
[0059]
Next, the program search unit 402 adds the program information instructed to be stored to the stored program database 107 with the data structure shown in FIG. 8D (step S510). This program information is obtained from EPG data.
[0060]
By the above-described program storage processing, the channel selection device 100 can store a program.
[0061]
Next, a process of selecting a program which the user wants to watch now will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.
[0062]
First, similarly to the program accumulation processing, the program condition creation unit 403 checks whether or not the viewer has requested viewing conditions from the operation panel 108 at the present time (step S701). The viewing conditions are displayed by pressing the menu button 1001 on the viewing program setting screen of FIG. 6D, and the genre and title are set in the same manner as the setting of the storage condition. By this process, the viewing condition having the same data structure as the storage condition (FIG. 8B) is set in the RAM 304.
[0063]
If there is no request, the process returns to step S701. If there is a request, the request is transmitted to the program search unit 402.
[0064]
Upon receiving this request, the program search unit 402 reads the latest EPG data from the EPG storage device 104 (step S702), and searches the EPG data for the viewing conditions received in step S701 (step S703).
[0065]
If the genre is “news” and the keyword is “weather / traffic” as the viewing condition, the program search unit 402 determines that the genre is “news” currently being broadcast from the EPG data and the keyword is “news”. Weather / traffic "programs are extracted. The extracted program information is stored in the RAM 304 in the same data structure as in FIG. When a plurality of programs are extracted, the program search unit 402 selects, for example, a channel with a small channel number. This condition can be set in advance as a channel priority.
[0066]
The program search unit 402 checks whether there is a compatible program (step S704), and when there is a compatible program, instructs the tuner 102 on the channel of the extracted program (step S705). In response to this instruction, the tuner 102 selects a channel and outputs a desired program to the viewer. As the output method, there are a case where a program is displayed on the display device 111 according to a designated genre, and a case where a list of programs meeting a request as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed and a viewer selects from the list. Can be switched to FIG. 9 is an example of a program list screen when the genre is a movie and the keyword is a foreign film. News is preferable as a genre to be displayed on the display 111 immediately. This is because a news program is a genre in which it is difficult for a viewer to have a difference in taste for a broadcast station.
[0067]
When the viewer inputs the next candidate button 1504 shown in FIG. 10 when the program is displayed immediately, the program search unit 402 notifies the tuner of the next highest priority channel, or Is created and output to the display device 111. Also, when a program is displayed suddenly, the program display and the searched high-priority program list are superimposed and displayed, and the viewer is made to select, or the next candidate selection button 1504 has not been input for a certain period of time. May delete the program list assuming that the displayed program is selected.
[0068]
On the other hand, when there is no suitable program, the program search unit 402 reads the program information shown in FIG. 8D stored in the RAM 304 from the stored program database 107 (step S706), and searches for a suitable program (step S706). S707).
[0069]
Next, it is checked whether or not there is a compatible program (step S708), and if so, a suitable program is selected from the program storage device 106 (step S709). In this case as well, if there are a plurality of compatible programs, it is possible to select a predetermined priority order, for example, from the latest stored date and time, or from a channel with a small channel number.
[0070]
On the other hand, if there is no program that matches the stored program, the fact that there is no compatible program is displayed on the screen, and a preset default station is selected (step S710).
[0071]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the program search unit 402 searches the EPG data for a program that satisfies the designated conditions, and the program storage control unit 401 stores the searched program in the program storage device 106. When the viewer instructs the program search unit 402 on the viewing conditions that he / she wants to view at the present time, the channel is selected when a program that meets the viewing condition is being broadcast, and the program is stored when the program is not being broadcast. The user selects from programs recorded in the device 106.
[0072]
Thus, the channel selection device can select a program that the viewer wants to view most from programs from the past to the present based on the viewing conditions input by the viewer.
[0073]
Further, the program storage device 106 according to the present embodiment is configured to include an update area and an additional recording area, and the latest program having a specific genre or a specific title is overwritten with a previous program of the same genre or the same title in the update area. It is carried out.
[0074]
As a result, the channel selection device updates the program having a specific genre or a specific title, so that the storage area of the program storage device 106 can be prevented from being continuously consumed, and the program can be efficiently stored. Becomes possible.
[0075]
When the unrecorded area in the program storage device 106 according to the present embodiment runs out, the latest program is overwritten on the program recorded earlier in the additional recording area.
[0076]
Thus, the channel selection device can always keep storing the latest program.
[0077]
The present channel selection apparatus has been described as applied to a television receiving system, but is applicable to an HDD video recorder, a DVD video recorder, an STB, and the like.
[0078]
(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television receiving system including a channel selection device 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
[0079]
The difference from the block diagram of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that a preference information database 1101 storing preference information of viewers is added.
[0080]
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the program selection processing unit 105 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
[0081]
The difference from the block diagram of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is that a preference information storage unit 1201 and a program confirmation timer unit 1202 are added. The preference information storage unit 1201 stores information from the operation panel 108 and the program search unit 402 in the preference information database 1101, and the preference storage unit includes the preference information storage unit 1201 and the preference information database 1101. I have.
[0082]
The program determination timer unit 1202 counts the time required for the viewer to determine that he / she wants to view the program, and notifies the preference information storage unit 1201 when the predetermined time has elapsed.
[0083]
The operation and operation of the tuning apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described below.
[0084]
As in the first embodiment, the channel selection device 100 of the present embodiment has a function of selecting a channel specified directly by the viewer from the operation panel 108, a function of storing a program, and It has a function of searching for a desired program from the EPG data and the stored program database 107 and outputting the program to the display device 111 or the like.
[0085]
Among them, the function of accumulating programs is the same as in the first embodiment.
[0086]
On the other hand, with respect to the function of selecting a program based on the viewing condition, the channel selection device 100 specifies a channel from the operation panel 108 by the viewer, or the operation panel by the viewer after outputting the program searched based on the viewing condition. The instruction from the server 108 is stored in the preference information database 1101 as viewer preference information. Then, the program search unit 402 determines a priority for selecting a program to be output first from a plurality of programs searched based on the viewing condition based on the program search unit 402. The selection device 100 of the present embodiment further has this function.
[0087]
A method of storing preference information and determining a priority of program selection based on the accumulation will be described with reference to FIG.
[0088]
First, the program condition creation unit 403 checks whether there is a channel input from the operation panel 108 (step S1301).
[0089]
When there is a channel input, the program condition creation unit 403 notifies the program search unit 402 of the input channel and instructs the program determination timer unit 1202 to start counting.
[0090]
The program search unit 402 notifies the tuner 102 of the notified channel as it is, and outputs the program to the display device 111 via the decoding / separation unit 103 (step S1302).
[0091]
The program determination timer unit 1202 starts counting upon receiving an instruction from the program condition creation unit 403 (step S1303). Thereafter, the process returns to step S1301.
[0092]
On the other hand, if there is no channel input, it is checked whether or not the news button 1006 to the information wide button 1011 (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as a genre button 1012) have been input (step S1304). The genre button 1012 is for setting a news or information wide genre as a viewing condition, and corresponds to a selection button.
[0093]
When the genre button 1012 is input, the program condition creation unit 403 notifies the program search unit 402 and instructs the program determination timer unit 1202 to start counting.
[0094]
Upon receiving the notification, the program search unit 402 searches for a suitable program by the same processing as in FIG. 7 shown in the first embodiment. When there are a plurality of programs that match the viewing conditions, the program search unit 402 assigns priorities to the programs in the order of the keyword with the highest number of times of viewing from the genre that is the viewing condition from the preference information database 1101 described later. Then, the program having the highest priority is output (step S1305). FIG. 14 is an example of a preference information database 1101 described below. In FIG. 14, when the news button 1505 is input, the program search unit 402 searches for the keyword because the number of viewings is high in the order of “nationwide”, “weather / traffic”, “overseas”, and “local”. Priorities are assigned to programs in the order of the keywords.
[0095]
The program determination timer unit 1202 receives the instruction and starts counting the timer (step S1303).
[0096]
On the other hand, if the genre button 1012 has not been input, the program condition creation unit 403 checks whether or not the next candidate button 1004 has been input (step S1306).
[0097]
When the next candidate button 1004 is input, the program condition creation unit 403 notifies the program search unit 402 and instructs the program determination timer unit 1202 to start counting.
[0098]
Upon receiving the notification, the program search unit 402 selects and outputs the program with the highest priority next to the currently output program (step S1307).
[0099]
The program determination timer unit 1202 receives the instruction and starts counting the timer (step S1303).
[0100]
If the next candidate button 1004 has not been input, the program confirmation timer unit 1202 checks whether or not viewing of the same program has continued for a predetermined time, for example, 5 minutes (step S1308), and if the predetermined time has not elapsed. If it is, the process returns to step S1301. If the time has elapsed, the program determination timer unit 1202 notifies the preference information storage unit 1201 of the determination of the program.
[0101]
In response to this, the preference information storage unit 1201 receives a program of the same genre and the same keyword as the genre and the same keyword in the preference information database 1101 which is a database of the number of views managed for each genre and keyword as shown in FIG. The number of times is counted up (step S1309). For example, when the viewing of the baseball program is confirmed, the program determination timer unit 1201 counts up the number of times 1401 of viewing the baseball as a genre and sports as a keyword. Thereafter, the process returns to step S1301.
[0102]
In the present embodiment, the genre button 1012 of the operation panel 108 is used to set the viewing condition. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the stored program shown in FIG. Similarly to the setting screen, it is possible to set a genre, a keyword, or a program title as a viewing condition.
[0103]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the operation panel 108 on which the viewer tunes to a channel other than the channel selection, and the preference information indicating whether or not the channel has been selected by the operation panel 108 are associated with the program and the preference information database 1101 And a preference information accumulating unit 1201 that accumulates information in the program, and determines the priority of channel selection based on the preference information accumulated by the program search unit 402.
[0104]
As a result, the channel selection device 100 can acquire the preference information of the viewer without being conscious of the viewer, and can automatically select the program that the viewer wants to view most based on the acquired preference information. Since the accumulation of the preference information is continuously performed, the accuracy with which the viewer selects a program to be viewed increases with time.
[0105]
In addition, since the setting of the viewing condition is set by a genre button provided for each genre, the viewer can specify the condition of the program to be viewed by a simple operation.
[0106]
(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a television receiving system including the channel selection device 100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 11 includes a microphone 1501 for inputting a voice of a viewer, a standard model dictionary 1502 in which voice features are recorded in advance for each viewer, and a voice recognition process. A different point is that a unit 1503 is added.
[0107]
FIG. 16 shows an example of a hardware configuration for forming the program selection processing unit 105 and the speech recognition processing unit 1503 according to the present embodiment. The difference from the hardware configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is that an A / D converter 1601 is added. The A / D converter 1601 converts an analog audio signal from the microphone 1501 into a digital signal.
[0108]
FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the program selection processing unit 105 and the voice recognition processing unit 1503. The block diagram of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 12 is different from the block diagram of FIG. 12 in that a feature amount extraction unit 1701, a similarity calculation unit 1702, and a determination processing unit 1703 constituting a speech recognition processing unit 1503 are added. Are different.
[0109]
In the channel selection apparatus 100 configured as described above, the viewer not only selects a channel from the operation panel 108 or instructs viewing conditions, but also issues an instruction from the microphone 1501 as in the second embodiment. input. The operation and operation will be described below.
[0110]
First, the voice captured from the microphone 1501 is input to the feature amount extraction unit 1701. Here, frame analysis is performed at a period of about 10 ms, and a feature amount used in speech recognition, for example, a cepstrum coefficient is extracted. This extraction can be calculated by obtaining a logarithmic spectrum by logarithmic conversion processing and then performing an inverse Fourier transform or an inverse cosine transform. Then, the degree of similarity with the feature amounts of a plurality of words registered in advance in the standard model dictionary 1502 is calculated by the determination processing unit 1703. The determination processing unit 1703 determines whether or not the similarity is larger than a predetermined threshold. If the similarity is larger, the word is output to the program condition creation unit 403 as a recognition result. By registering the feature amounts of the words in the standard model dictionary for each viewer in advance, it is possible to recognize the word from the similarity and at the same time specify the viewer.
[0111]
As a standard model, there is a hidden Markov model (HMM) that expresses a time series of feature amounts for each of a plurality of recognition target words as stochastic transitions.
[0112]
The process of storing the preference information obtained from the instruction SIG14 input to the program condition creation unit 403 is the same as that shown in FIG. 13, but in the present embodiment, the obtained preference information is stored for each viewer, and The difference is that the search unit 402 determines the priority from the preference information database 1101 stored for each viewer even when searching for a program according to viewing conditions.
[0113]
As described above, in the present embodiment, speech recognition processing section 1503 recognizes speech, designates viewing conditions and selects a channel, and preference information storage section 1201 stores preference information of preference information for each specified viewer. The accumulation is accumulated in the preference information database 1101. Further, the program search unit 402 performs a program search based on the preference information for each viewer.
[0114]
As a result, the tuning device 100 can recognize the instruction by voice and can select a program suitable for the preference of each viewer.
[0115]
Note that the channel selection device 100 has a function of allowing a viewer to register a feature amount of audio in the standard model dictionary 1502. That is, predetermined words, for example, “genre” and “selection” are determined in advance, and the registration is performed by uttering those words for each viewer. With this, the viewer can be specified when the user utters "genre" when setting the viewing conditions, and thereafter, the voice recognition is performed until the setting is completed using the standard model dictionary of the viewer.
[0116]
Thereby, voice recognition of an unspecified viewer becomes possible.
[0117]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the channel selection device efficiently accumulates the program selected based on the accumulation condition, and selects the optimum program from the programs currently being broadcast or accumulated in the past based on the viewing condition. You can choose. Also, the television receiving system can present the selected optimum program.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television receiving system including a channel selection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a decoding / separating unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a program selection processing unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a program selection processing unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of accumulating programs by the channel selection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a stored program setting screen of the channel selection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
(B) A genre and keyword setting screen diagram of the channel selection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention
(C) Title setting screen of tuning device in first embodiment of the present invention
(D) Viewing program setting screen of the channel selection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of selecting a viewing program by the channel selection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8A is a list of rules indicating genre and keyword information of EPG data.
(B) A data structure diagram showing a request list in the first embodiment of the present invention
(C) A data structure diagram showing a recording scheduled program list according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
(D) Data structure diagram showing program information instructed to store according to the first embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a program list screen of the tuning device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is an external view showing an operation panel of the channel selection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television receiving system including a channel selection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a program selection processing unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing for accumulating preference information and determining the priority of program selection according to the second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a preference information database indicating a degree of preference according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television receiving system including a channel selection device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a program selection processing unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a program selection processing unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a conventional information providing apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 channel selection device
101 frequency down converter
102 Tuner
103 Decoding / separation unit
104 EPG storage device
105 Program accumulation control unit
106 program storage device
107 Stored program database
108 Operation panel
110 antenna
111 Display device
112 speakers
113 Update area
114 Additional recording area
201 Decoding / error correction circuit
202 Separation circuit
203 video decoder
204 Video Deemphasis Circuit
205 Audio PCM Decoder
206 Audio Deemphasis Circuit
207 EPG data extraction circuit
301 1st PIO
302 Second PIO
303 DMA controller
304 RAM
305 ROM
306 SCO
307 CPU
401 program accumulation control unit
402 Program Search Unit
403 Program condition creation unit
404 Timer section
1101 Preference information database
1201 Preference information storage
1202 Program confirmation timer section
1501 microphone
1502 Standard model dictionary
1503 Voice recognition processing unit
1601 A / D converter
1701 Feature extraction unit
1702 Similarity calculating section
1703 Judgment processing unit
1801 Data communication network
1802 Communication means
1803 Communication system control means
1804 Hard disk
1805 DVD-RAM
1806 Storage means
1807 Storage system control means
1808 Information acquisition control means
1809 Broadcasting system control means
1810 Broadcast receiving means
1811 antenna
1812 Information presentation means

Claims (9)

Channel selection means for selecting a program,
Program recording means for recording a program received by the tuning means,
Program search means for searching for a program that meets specified conditions from any of an electronic program guide and a program stored in the program recording means,
The program search means stores the program searched from the electronic program guide based on the storage condition in the program recording means,
And a channel selecting device for instructing the channel selecting unit to select a channel when the program that matches the viewing condition is broadcast by the program searching unit, and selecting from the stored programs when the program is not being broadcast. 2. The channel selection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program recording means includes an update area in which a latest program is overwritten with a previous program, and an additional recording area in which an unrecorded area is sequentially recorded. 3. The tuning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein only a program of a specific genre and a specific title is recorded in the update area. 4. The program according to claim 3, wherein when the latest program that is not the specific genre and the specific title is recorded in the additional recording area, if the unrecorded area does not exist, the program that has been previously recorded in the additional recording area is overwritten. Tuning device. 5. The channel selection device according to claim 3, further comprising a period designation unit for designating a storage period, wherein a program exceeding the storage period in the additional recording area is automatically deleted. Channel selection means for the viewer to select a channel other than the channel selection,
And a preference accumulating means for accumulating preference information on whether or not the channel is selected by the channel selecting means in association with a program,
6. The channel selection device according to claim 1, wherein a priority order to be selected from programs searched by the program search means based on viewing conditions is determined based on the preference information. The apparatus further includes voice recognition means for recognizing voice, specifying a speaker, instructing the viewing condition, and selecting the channel,
7. The channel selection apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the preference storage unit stores the preference information for each viewer, and the program search unit performs a program search based on viewing conditions based on the preference information for each viewer. 7. The channel selection device according to claim 1, wherein the viewing condition is set by a selection button provided for each genre on an operation panel. A television receiving system for presenting a program selected by the channel selecting device according to claim 1.

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