JP2005286898A - Program video recording system and its device, its method and broadcast receiving terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program video recording system in which a broadcast program under viewing and listening at a broadcast receiving terminal can be recorded in a program video recording device with simple operation and besides at short times to thereby improve user-friendliness. <P>SOLUTION: Only channel number information of the program under viewing and listening is transmitted from a portable image receiver 10A to a TV receiver 20A via a network NW. When receiving the channel number information, program information corresponding to the channel number information is obtained from a program providing server PSV upon the network NW by means of the TV receiver 20A. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a program recording system, a program recording apparatus, and a broadcast for recording settings using a communication network from a broadcast receiving terminal such as a portable television receiver for a home television receiver or video tape recorder, for example. The present invention relates to a receiving terminal and a program recording method used in a program recording system.

  In the broadcasting system, broadcast receiving terminals such as portable television receivers and in-vehicle television receivers are widely used. Even in mobile communication systems, mobile phones with television tuners that can receive television broadcasts in addition to voice calls and data communications are becoming popular.

  If such a broadcast receiving terminal is used, the user can view a favorite program even when outdoors or driving a car. However, since the broadcast receiving terminal moves around and the reception environment is not constant, a reception failure may occur in a place where broadcast radio waves are difficult to reach, such as a valley of an urban building. Also, the program may not be viewable depending on the situation of the user.

In view of this, a system has been proposed in which a recording setting can be made from a broadcast receiving terminal to a program recording apparatus such as a television receiver or a video tape recorder in a home using a communication network such as a mobile communication network (for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
JP 2000-67488 A JP2003-283972A.

  However, in the above system, when setting a recording of a broadcast program being viewed on an outdoor broadcast receiving terminal to a home program recording device, the user enters the channel number that the user is viewing and the input of the broadcast start / end time. All of the series of operations must be performed manually, and this requires a complicated operation and a lot of time for recording setting. Also, when the broadcast start / end time is unknown, the broadcast receiving terminal must receive program information from a homepage on the Internet or view newspapers, magazines, etc., increasing the burden on the user.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a program recording system capable of recording a broadcast program being viewed on a broadcast receiving terminal by a simple operation and in a short time in a program recording apparatus, thereby improving user convenience. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program recording method, a broadcast receiving terminal, and a program recording method used in the program recording system.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.
A broadcast receiving terminal that can receive a broadcast signal transmitted by a multi-channel broadcast network and can be connected to a communication network different from the broadcast network, and can be connected to the broadcast receiving terminal via the communication network, and a recording instruction is input. A program recording system comprising a program recording device that receives a broadcast signal of an arbitrary channel and records it on a recording medium in response to the broadcast signal when the broadcast receiving terminal receives the broadcast signal of an arbitrary channel. In response to a recording instruction input to the recording device, a channel identification information indicating the channel is created, and transmission means for transmitting the channel identification information to the program recording device via a communication network is provided. Receiving means for receiving channel identification information, and channels and An acquisition means for acquiring program information corresponding to the channel identification information from a plurality of program information having different transmission start and end times, and a broadcast signal of the corresponding channel is received based on the program information acquired by the acquisition means. Recording control means for recording on the recording medium until the broadcast end time.

  According to this configuration, the information transmitted from the broadcast receiving terminal to the program recording device via the communication network is only the channel identification information indicating the channel to be recorded, and the program information corresponding to the channel identification information is acquired by the program recording device. Will be. Therefore, the user does not need to input or download any program information indicating the broadcast start / end time simply by pressing the recording instruction key of the broadcast receiving terminal while viewing the broadcast program of an arbitrary channel. The burden on the recording setting operation for the apparatus is greatly reduced, and the convenience for the user is greatly improved.

  The broadcast receiving terminal further includes position information acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating the current position of the terminal itself, and the transmission means transmits the position information added to the channel identification information when inputting a recording instruction to the program recording apparatus. In the program recording apparatus, when the position information indicating the position of the broadcast receiving terminal is added to the channel identification information, the acquisition means acquires the program information of the channel corresponding to the broadcast area of the program recording apparatus based on the position information. It is characterized by doing.

  According to this configuration, the position information added to the channel identification information is used even when the program channel number or the program start / end time is different for recording at the current position of the broadcast receiving terminal and the installation location of the program recording apparatus. Thus, the channel number and the program start / end time can be reliably acquired for recording by the program recording apparatus.

  In the program recording apparatus, the acquisition means acquires the program information corresponding to the channel identification information by communicating with the program providing apparatus that provides the program information on the communication network when receiving the channel identification information. And

  According to this configuration, since the program information corresponding to the channel identification information is obtained from the program providing apparatus on the communication network, it is not necessary to store a table for storing and managing the program information for each channel. Accordingly, the storage capacity can be reduced to simplify the program information management, the system configuration can be simplified, and the program information can be easily changed due to a time shift or the like.

  When it is possible to connect to an external storage device that stores a plurality of program information, the acquisition means accesses the external storage device when channel identification information is received and acquires program information corresponding to the channel identification information. And

  According to this configuration, since an external storage device for storing a plurality of program information is prepared, recording can be performed in a simple procedure such as reading program information corresponding to a recording-designated channel from the external storage device in a short time. A setting process can be executed.

  As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a broadcast program being viewed on a broadcast receiving terminal can be recorded in a program recording device in a short time with a simple operation, thereby improving user convenience. It is possible to provide a program recording system, a program recording apparatus and a broadcast receiving terminal thereof, and a program recording method used in the program recording system.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a program recording system according to the present invention.

  This system includes a mobile receiver 10A as a broadcast receiving terminal and a television receiver 20A as a program recording device. Among these, 10 A of portable receivers are mounted in a vehicle, or are used when a viewer himself (user) carries. Note that the portable receiver 10A can be fixedly installed in the house. The television receiver 20A is fixedly installed in the indoor HM. Furthermore, the television receiver 20A is connected to the network NW.

  This system includes a plurality of base stations BS distributed and arranged in a service area. In the figure, only one base station BS is shown for simplicity of explanation. The base station BS forms a wireless area called a cell, and is connected to the portable receiver 10A existing in the wireless area via a wireless line.

  The base station BS is connected to a network NW including a telephone / mobile phone public network and the Internet. On this network NW, a program providing server PSV is connected. The program providing server PSV has a function for transmitting arbitrary program information to the portable receiver 10A or the television receiver 20A in response to a request. This program information includes, for example, broadcast date, channel number, program start time, program end time, program name, and the like.

  By the way, the portable receiver 10A is configured as follows. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration.

  That is, a broadcast signal broadcast on a broadcast channel from a broadcast station (not shown) is received by the receiving unit 12 via the antenna 11 and then input to the video processing unit 13 where predetermined video signal processing is performed and monitored. 14 is displayed.

  Further, the portable receiver 10 </ b> A includes an input unit 15, a control unit 16, and a wireless communication unit 17. Of these, the input unit 15 is used by the user to input various operation instructions to the control unit 16, such as channel designation, and is also used to input a recording setting instruction to the television receiver 20A.

  The control unit 16 is provided with a channel number transmission function 16a as a new function according to the present invention in addition to a normal control function related to a broadcast signal reception display operation in accordance with a user instruction input.

  The channel number transmission function 16a controls the wireless communication unit 17 in accordance with a recording setting instruction for the television receiver 20A from the input unit 15 to access the television receiver 20A, and indicates a broadcast channel number being viewed. Number information is generated, and the channel number information is transmitted to the television receiver 20A via the antenna 18, the base station BS, and the network NW.

  On the other hand, the television receiver 20A is configured as follows. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration.

  That is, a broadcast signal broadcast on a broadcast channel from a broadcast station (not shown) is received by the receiving unit 22 via the antenna 21 and then input to the video processing unit 23 where predetermined video signal processing is performed and monitored. 24.

  Furthermore, the television receiver 20 </ b> A includes a control unit 25, a RAM 26, and a communication unit 27. The control unit 25 includes a program information acquisition function 25a and a recording control function 25b as new functions related to the present invention in addition to the normal control function related to the broadcast signal reception display operation.

  When the channel number information arrives from the mobile receiver 10A via the network NW, the program information acquisition function 25a controls the communication unit 27 to send a program information acquisition request corresponding to the channel number information to the program providing server PSV. At the same time, the program information transmitted by the program providing server PSV is received in response to the acquisition request.

  Based on the received program information, the recording control function 25b causes the receiving unit 22 to receive the broadcast signal of the corresponding broadcast channel, and records the broadcast signal in the RAM 26 until the program end time indicated by the program information.

  Next, the operation of the program recording system configured as described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure and contents of the portable receiver 10A.

  For example, it is assumed that the user is viewing a program of an arbitrary broadcast channel outdoors using the mobile receiver 10A (step ST4a). In this state, when the user presses a “home recording button” provided in the input unit 15 (step ST4b), the control unit 16 of the mobile receiver 10A creates channel number information indicating the channel number being viewed, It is stored and held in a buffer (not shown) (step ST4c). Subsequently, the radio communication unit 17 is controlled to send a calling signal of the television receiver 20A to the network NW. When a communication link is established with the television receiver 20A for this call, the channel number information created through this communication link is transmitted (step ST4d). This channel number information includes identification information of the portable receiver 10A.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure and contents of the television receiver 20A.
The control unit 25 of the television receiver 20A receives the channel number information transmitted from the portable receiver 10A via the network NW (step ST5a) and disconnects the communication link with the portable receiver 10A. A call signal from the program providing server PSV is transmitted to the network NW. When a communication link is established with the program providing server PSV for this call, a program information acquisition request corresponding to the channel number information is transmitted to the program providing server PSV via this communication link ( Step ST5b). This acquisition request includes the channel number of the program desired to be acquired.

  And the control part 25 receives the program information transmitted via the network NW from the program provision server PSV (step ST5c), and makes the receiving part 22 receive the broadcast signal of the broadcast channel corresponding to this program information. Then, a recording process for recording the received signal in the RAM 26 is executed (step ST5d).

  During this execution, the control unit 25 determines whether or not the program end time indicated by the program information is reached (step ST5e), and executes the recording process until the program end time is reached. When the program end time is reached (Yes), the control unit 25 ends the recording process.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, only the channel number information of the program being viewed is transmitted from the portable receiver 10A to the television receiver 20A via the network NW, and the television is received when the channel number information is received. The receiver 20A obtains program information corresponding to the channel number information from the program providing server PSV on the network NW.

  Therefore, the user does not have to perform any input operation or download of program information indicating the program start / end time by simply pressing the “home recording button” while viewing a program of an arbitrary broadcast channel by the portable receiver 10A. Thus, the burden on the recording setting operation for the television receiver 20A installed at home is greatly reduced, and the convenience for the user is greatly improved.

  In the first embodiment, since the television receiver 20A acquires program information corresponding to the channel number information from the program providing server PSV on the network NW, the program information for each channel is stored and managed. The table for storing the data is not required to be stored in the television receiver 20A, so that the storage capacity can be reduced correspondingly, the program information management can be simplified, the system configuration can be simplified, and the program information can be changed by a time shift or the like. Can be easily accommodated.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television receiver 20B according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, the same parts as those in FIG.

  That is, the television receiver 20B is provided with an external interface (external I / F) 28 for connecting the storage device 30. The storage device 30 stores a plurality of program information having different channel numbers, program names, and program start / end times.

  The external interface 28 accesses the storage device 30 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 25, reads arbitrary program information from the storage device 30, and supplies it to the control unit 25.

  The program information acquisition function 25a of the control unit 25 acquires program information corresponding to the channel number information from the storage device 30 by controlling the external interface 28 when channel number information arrives from the portable receiver 10A via the network NW. A request is transmitted, and program information read from the storage device 30 in response to the acquisition request is received.

Next, the operation of the program recording system configured as described above will be described.
The control unit 25 of the television receiver 20B receives the channel number information transmitted from the portable receiver 10A via the network NW, opens the communication link with the portable receiver 10A, and then stores it in the storage device 30. Access is made, and a request for acquiring program information corresponding to the channel number information is transmitted to the storage device 30. This acquisition request includes the channel number of the program desired to be acquired.

  And the control part 25 receives the program information transmitted via the external interface 28 from the memory | storage device 30, makes the receiving part 22 receive the broadcast signal of a broadcast channel based on this program information, and the received signal Is recorded in the RAM 26. Thereafter, the recording process is executed until the program end time is reached.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, since the storage device 30 for storing a plurality of program information is installed in the indoor HM and connected to the television receiver 20B, the television receiver 20B is designated for recording. The recording setting process can be executed in a short time with a simple procedure such as reading program information corresponding to the channel from the storage device 30.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portable receiver 10B according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the same parts as those in FIG.

  That is, the portable receiver 10B is provided with a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 19. The GPS receiver 19 receives a signal from a GPS satellite (not shown), generates position information indicating the current position of the portable receiver 10B from this received signal, and supplies the position information to the controller 16.

  The channel number transmission function 16a of the control unit 16 controls the wireless communication unit 17 according to a recording setting instruction for the television receiver 20A from the input unit 15 to access the television receiver 20A, and the broadcast channel being viewed The channel number information indicating the number is generated, the position information obtained by the GPS receiver 19 is added to the channel number information, and the channel number information to which the position information is added via the antenna 18, the base station BS, and the network NW is added. Transmit to the television receiver 20A.

  Next, the operation of the program recording system configured as described above will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure and contents of the portable receiver 10B.

  For example, it is assumed that the user is watching a program of an arbitrary broadcast channel in Osaka using the mobile receiver 10B (step ST8a). In this state, when the user presses the “home recording button” provided in the input unit 15 (step ST8b), the control unit 16 of the portable receiver 10B creates channel number information indicating the channel number being viewed, The information is stored and held in a buffer (not shown) (step ST8c), and the position information is acquired from the GPS receiver 19 and stored in the buffer (not shown) (step 8d).

  Subsequently, the control unit 16 controls the wireless communication unit 17 to send a call signal of the television receiver 20A installed in the indoor HM of Tokyo to the network NW. When a communication link is established with the television receiver 20A for this call, position information is added to the channel number information created via this communication link and transmitted (step ST8e).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure and contents of the television receiver 20A in the third embodiment.
The control unit 25 of the television receiver 20A receives the channel number information transmitted from the portable receiver 10B via the network NW (step ST9a), and after disconnecting the communication link with the portable receiver 10B, A call signal from the program providing server PSV is transmitted to the network NW. When a communication link is established with the program providing server PSV for this call, an acquisition request for program information corresponding to the channel number information and the position information is sent to the program providing server PSV via the communication link. Transmit (step ST9b). This acquisition request includes the channel number of the program desired to be acquired, the position information of the mobile receiver 10B, and the position information of the television receiver 20A.

  The program providing server PSV manages the program table for each broadcast service area, and when the acquisition request includes the position information of the portable receiver 10B and the position information of the television receiver 20A, these position information Are compared, the program table corresponding to each position information is compared and checked, and the program information of the channel number corresponding to the installation area of the television receiver 20A is transmitted.

  On the other hand, the control unit 25 determines whether or not program information arrives from the program providing server PSV within a predetermined time (step ST9c), and when it arrives (Yes), receives the program information (step ST9d). Based on the program information, the receiving unit 22 receives a broadcast signal of the corresponding broadcast channel, and executes a recording process for recording the received signal in the RAM 26 (step ST9e).

  During this execution, the control unit 25 determines whether or not the program end time indicated by the program information is reached (step ST9f), and executes the recording process until the program end time is reached. When the program end time is reached (Yes), the control unit 25 ends the recording process.

  In step ST9c, if the program information is not sent from the program providing server PSV even after a predetermined time has elapsed (No), the control unit 25 indicates that the program broadcast in the broadcast area of the portable receiver 10B is a television receiver. It is determined that the broadcast is not being performed in the broadcast area of the machine 20A, and a message indicating that the broadcast is not being performed is displayed on the monitor 24 or stored in the RAM 26 (step ST9g).

  As described above, in the third embodiment, in order to transmit from the portable receiver 10B to the television receiver 20A, the position information indicating the current position of the portable receiver 10B is added to the channel number information and transmitted. When receiving the number information, the television receiver 20A obtains the program information of the channel broadcast in the indoor HM broadcast area corresponding to the channel being viewed in the broadcast area of the portable receiver 10B from the program providing server PSV on the network NW. Like to do.

  Therefore, even if the channel number or program start / end time of the program to be recorded differs between the current position of the portable receiver 10B and the installation location of the television receiver 20A, the position of the portable receiver 10B added to the channel number information. By using the information, it is possible to reliably acquire the channel number and the program start / end time to be recorded by the television receiver 20A.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the third embodiment, an example has been described in which the television receiver acquires program information broadcast in the broadcast area of the portable receiver from the program providing server on the network. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and program information broadcast in the broadcast area of the portable receiver may be read from the storage device used in the second embodiment indoors.

  In the third embodiment, the example in which the portable receiver receives a signal from a GPS satellite and acquires the position information has been described. However, when the GPS receiver is not provided in the portable receiver, You may make it acquire the positional information which shows a present position from a base station.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which a network using the Internet is used has been described. However, a communication line such as a wireless local area network (LAN) or Bluetooth may be used. Moreover, although each embodiment demonstrated the example which uses the television receiver with a video recording function, a television receiver and a video recording apparatus may be different.

  In addition, the configuration of the portable receiver, the configuration of the television receiver, the program information acquisition control procedure and its contents, the recording control procedure and its contents, etc. can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention. .

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a program recording system according to the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the portable receiver which is a broadcast receiving terminal in the said 1st Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the television receiver which is a program recording device in the said 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the portable receiver shown in FIG. 2, and its content. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the television receiver shown in FIG. 3, and its content. The block diagram which shows the structure of the television receiver in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the portable receiver in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the portable receiver in the said 3rd Embodiment, and its content. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the television receiver in the said 3rd Embodiment, and its content.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10A, 10B ... Portable receiver, 11 ... Antenna, 12 ... Reception part, 13 ... Image processing part, 14 ... Monitor, 15 ... Input part, 16 ... Control part, 16a ... Channel number transmission function, 17 ... Wireless communication part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... Antenna, 19 ... GPS receiving part, 20A, 20B ... Television receiver, 21 ... Antenna, 22 ... Receiving part, 23 ... Video processing part, 24 ... Monitor, 25 ... Control part, 25a ... Program information acquisition function, 25b ... Recording control function, 26 ... RAM, 27 ... communication unit, 28 ... external interface, 30 ... storage device, HM ... indoor, NW ... network, BS ... base station, PSV ... program providing server.

Claims (9)

A broadcast receiving terminal that receives a broadcast signal transmitted by a multi-channel broadcast network and can be connected to a communication network different from the broadcast network, and can be connected to the broadcast receiving terminal via the communication network, A program recording system comprising a program recording device that receives a broadcast signal of an arbitrary channel in response to an instruction input and records the broadcast signal on a recording medium,
The broadcast receiving terminal is
When a broadcast signal of an arbitrary channel is received, channel identification information indicating the channel is created in response to a recording instruction input to the program recording device, and the channel recording information is transmitted to the program recording device via the communication network. A transmission means for transmitting to
The program recording device comprises:
Receiving means for receiving channel identification information coming by the communication network;
Obtaining means for obtaining program information corresponding to the channel identification information from a plurality of program information having different channels and broadcast start and end times;
A program recording system comprising: a recording control unit that receives a broadcast signal of a corresponding channel based on program information acquired by the acquiring unit and records it on the recording medium until a broadcast end time. A program recording apparatus connectable to a broadcast receiving terminal that receives broadcast signals transmitted by a multi-channel broadcast network via a communication network different from the broadcast network,
Receiving means for receiving channel identification information indicating a channel being transmitted by the broadcast receiving terminal or the communication network and being received by the broadcast receiving terminal;
Obtaining means for obtaining program information corresponding to the channel identification information from a plurality of program information having different channels and broadcast start and end times;
A program recording apparatus comprising: a recording control unit that receives a broadcast signal of a corresponding channel based on the program information acquired by the acquiring unit and records it on a recording medium until a broadcast end time. When position information representing the position of the broadcast receiving terminal is added to the channel identification information,
3. The program recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the acquisition unit acquires program information of a channel corresponding to a broadcast area of the own apparatus based on the position information. The acquisition means acquires program information corresponding to the channel identification information by communicating with a program providing apparatus that provides the program information on the communication network when the channel identification information is received. The program recording apparatus according to claim 2. When connectable to an external storage device that stores the plurality of program information,
3. The program recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the channel identification information is received, the acquisition unit accesses the external storage device and acquires program information corresponding to the channel identification information. In response to a recording instruction input, program information of an arbitrary channel is acquired from a plurality of program information having different channels and broadcast start and end times, and the broadcast signal of the channel transmitted by the broadcast network based on the program information Is a broadcast receiving terminal that can be connected to a program recording device that records the information on a recording medium via a communication network different from the broadcast network,
When a broadcast signal of an arbitrary channel is received, channel identification information indicating the channel is created in response to a recording instruction input to the program recording device, and the channel recording information is transmitted to the program recording device via the communication network. A broadcast receiving terminal comprising a transmitting means for transmitting to a broadcast receiver. It further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating the current position of the own terminal,
7. The broadcast receiving terminal according to claim 6, wherein the transmitting means transmits the position information added to the channel identification information when a recording instruction is input to the program recording apparatus. 8. The broadcast receiving terminal according to claim 7, wherein the position information acquisition means receives a positioning satellite signal transmitted from a positioning satellite and generates the position information. A broadcast receiving terminal that receives a broadcast signal transmitted by a multi-channel broadcast network and can be connected to a communication network different from the broadcast network, and can be connected to the broadcast receiving terminal via the communication network, A program recording method used in a program recording system comprising a program recording device that receives a broadcast signal of an arbitrary channel in response to an instruction input and records it on a recording medium,
In the broadcast receiving terminal, when receiving a broadcast signal of an arbitrary channel, channel identification information indicating the channel is created in response to a recording instruction input to the program recording device, and the channel identification information is transmitted to the communication network. To the program recording device via
In the program recording device, receiving the channel identification information coming by the communication network,
Acquiring program information corresponding to the channel identification information from a plurality of program information different in channel and broadcast start / end time,
A program recording method comprising: receiving a broadcast signal of a corresponding channel based on the obtained program information and recording the received signal on the recording medium until a broadcast end time.

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