JP2005333408A - Channel information sharing system and method, and mobile terminal, terminal program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology of carrying out zapping by using a general television receiver and not using a server through the use of a mobile phone terminal. <P>SOLUTION: A mobile phone terminal 1 generates channel information on the basis of channel designation by a user, attaches the information to mail and transmits the resulting mail. Then another mobile phone terminal outputs a corresponding channel signal on the basis of the attached channel information when browsing the mail to switch the channel of a television receiver. Alternatively, the mobile phone 1 can output the channel signal to the television receiver 2 on the basis of the channel designation by the user, transmit the channel information to the other mobile phone terminal 1, search a group to which the user belongs by referring to group registration information of the grouped user, acquire other grouped user information, and broadcast the channel information of the user to the mobile phone terminal 1 of the other user to make a channel switching instruction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a channel information sharing system and method for sharing channel information among a plurality of users using a mobile phone terminal, and a mobile phone terminal, a terminal program, and a recording medium.

In recent years, in addition to terrestrial television broadcasting, various broadcasting networks such as cable television, BS using satellite, and CS satellite broadcasting have appeared. For this reason, the choice which the viewer wants to watch has increased.
By the way, the channel selection method by zapping is an effective method for creating an encounter between a program and a viewer.

By the way, according to general zapping, even if there is a program or channel that the viewer originally wants to watch, the channel may not be encountered in the zapping process and may be missed. Further, when viewing in a group, even a popular program among groups cannot be grasped objectively by general zubbing, and therefore cannot be an optimum channel selection means.
For this reason, a system that estimates the viewer's preference from the viewing history and recommends or controls the viewer to select a specific channel or program has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-189333 A

According to the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 described above, the television viewer's preference is classified finely, and after grasping which program a viewer group with a specific preference is viewing, another viewing with the same preference. The user can be recommended or controlled so that the same program can be viewed quickly.
However, for this purpose, the television receiver notifies the server of the viewer's past viewing history or the future viewing situation including the present, and the server determines a majority of which programs a particular viewing group will mainly view at present or in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to control the television receiver. For this reason. It has the disadvantages of requiring a dedicated television receiver and a heavy server load.

  The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, by using a mobile phone terminal, using a general television receiver and zapping between mobile phone terminals without using a server, for example, Channel information sharing system and method, and mobile phone terminal and terminal capable of realizing guidance switching to popular programs and channels from the viewpoint of group topic sharing even when viewers belonging to a group are watching other programs The object is to provide a program and a recording medium.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an embodiment of the present invention is a channel information sharing system in which mobile phone terminals are connected to each other via a communication network, and generates the channel information based on user channel designation. A first mobile phone terminal that transmits an e-mail attached to the e-mail, and a channel of the TV receiver that receives the e-mail and outputs a corresponding channel signal based on the attached channel information when the e-mail is viewed And a second mobile phone terminal for switching between.

  One embodiment of the present invention is a channel information sharing system in which mobile phone terminals are connected to each other via a communication network, and outputs a channel signal to a television receiver based on a user's channel designation, The first mobile phone terminal that transmits the channel information to the mobile phone terminal, the channel information is received from the first mobile phone terminal, and the user refers to the group registration information of the grouped users. A second mobile phone terminal that searches for a group to which the user belongs, acquires other grouped user information, broadcasts the user's channel information to the other user's mobile phone terminal, and instructs channel switching; It is characterized by comprising.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, when the second mobile phone terminal broadcasts the channel information, the group registration information is also broadcast.

  In addition, an embodiment of the present invention includes a mail creation / transmission unit that generates channel information based on a user's channel designation, and transmits the channel information as an attachment to another mobile phone terminal connected via a communication network. An application execution unit that receives the mail from the other mobile phone terminal and outputs a corresponding channel signal based on channel information attached when the mail is viewed to switch the channel of the television receiver. The mobile phone terminal is characterized by that.

  In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a channel information control unit that outputs a channel signal to a television receiver based on a user's channel designation and transmits channel information to another mobile phone terminal; The channel information is received from the telephone terminal, the group registration information of the grouped users is referred to, the group to which the user belongs is searched, the other grouped user information is obtained, and the other user's mobile phone A mobile phone terminal comprising: a channel information broadcast transmission unit that broadcasts the channel information of the user to the terminal to instruct channel switching.

  Also, an embodiment of the present invention is a channel information sharing method for sharing channel information among a plurality of users using a mobile phone terminal, and the channel information is generated based on a user's channel designation and attached to an email And transmitting the received mail, and switching the channel of the television receiver by outputting a corresponding channel signal based on the attached channel information when the mail is viewed. Features.

  Also, an embodiment of the present invention is a channel information sharing method for sharing channel information among a plurality of users using a mobile phone terminal, and outputs a channel signal to a television receiver based on user channel designation. Transmitting channel information to two mobile phone terminals; receiving the channel information from the first mobile phone terminal; and searching for a group to which the user belongs by referring to group registration information of the grouped users And acquiring other grouped user information, and broadcasting the user's channel information to the other user's mobile phone terminal to instruct channel switching. To do.

  Also, an embodiment of the present invention is a terminal program used in the mobile phone terminal for sharing channel information among a plurality of users using the mobile phone terminal, and generates the channel information based on user channel designation. , A process of sending an e-mail attached to another mobile phone terminal connected via a communication network, and a channel attached when the e-mail is received from the other mobile phone terminal and viewed A process of switching a channel of a television receiver by outputting a corresponding channel signal based on information is executed by a computer.

  Also, an embodiment of the present invention is a terminal program used in the mobile phone terminal for sharing channel information among a plurality of users using a mobile phone terminal, wherein the channel signal is transmitted to the television receiver based on the user's channel designation. And the process of transmitting channel information to another mobile phone terminal, receiving the channel information from the other mobile phone terminal, and referring to the group registration information of the grouped users, A process of searching for a group to which the user belongs and acquiring other grouped user information, and a process of broadcasting the user's channel information to the mobile phone terminal of the other user and instructing channel switching. The computer is executed.

  In addition, an embodiment of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium that records a terminal program used in the mobile phone terminal that shares channel information among a plurality of users using the mobile phone terminal. Generates the channel information based on the designation, sends it to another mobile phone terminal connected via a communication network and attaches it to an email, receives the email from the other mobile phone terminal, Is a recording medium on which is recorded a terminal program that causes a computer to execute a process of switching a channel of a television receiver by outputting a corresponding channel signal based on channel information attached at the time of browsing.

  In addition, an embodiment of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium that records a terminal program used in the mobile phone terminal that shares channel information among a plurality of users using the mobile phone terminal. A group of users grouped by outputting the channel signal to the television receiver based on the designation and transmitting the channel information to another mobile phone terminal and receiving the channel information from the other mobile phone terminal. A process of retrieving a group to which the user belongs by referring to registration information, acquiring the other grouped user information, and broadcasting the channel information of the user to the mobile phone terminal of the other user Recorded a terminal program that causes a computer to execute a channel switching instruction and It is a recording medium.

  According to the present invention, by using a mobile phone terminal, zapping can be performed without using a general television receiver and without using a server. Even while viewing a program, it is possible to realize a guidance switch to a popular program and a channel from the viewpoint of group topic sharing.

FIG. 1 is a diagram cited for explaining the system configuration of a broadcast program-linked production system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a mobile phone terminal, which has a channel remote control function using infrared rays. The channel remote control function of the cellular phone terminal 1 is well known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-78977.
In addition to sending mail, it also has a function to activate a built-in application when viewing mail. Details will be described later. Reference numeral 2 denotes a TV receiver on which a broadcast program is broadcast.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the mobile phone terminals 1 are connected to each other via peer-to-peer or a mail server (not shown). For this reason, the mobile phone terminals 1 are connected to each other via an IP (Internet Protocol) network 5, a mobile phone network 6, and a base station 7.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a broadcasting system installed in a broadcasting station. The broadcasting system 4 broadcasts a broadcast program on the TV receiver 2 in the home by terrestrial waves or the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of the channel information sharing system of the present invention according to the embodiment. Both (a) and (b) show the relationship between mobile phone terminals, (a) is one-to-one communication using mail, (b) is one-to-many communication when connected peer-to-peer Each embodiment is shown. An outline of the operation will be described below.
In FIG. 2A, it is assumed that one mobile phone terminal 1 (A) performs channel switching using the channel remote control function (S31). At this time, a channel switching instruction is issued by mail to the other mobile phone terminal 1 (B) (S32). The other mobile phone terminal 1 (B) receives the mail, and when the user browses, the application is started, and the channel of the TV receiver 2 currently being viewed is automatically changed accordingly ( S33).

In FIG. 2B, it is assumed that one mobile phone terminal 1 (A) performs channel switching using the channel remote control function (S31). At this time, the changed channel information is transmitted to the other mobile phone terminals 1 (B) and (C) by broadcast (S36, S38), thereby the mobile phone terminals 1 (B) and (C). The channels of the respective TV receivers 2 around are automatically changed (S37, S39).
Note that the mobile phone terminals 1 (B, C) to be broadcasted here are limited to users grouped by the mobile phone terminal 1 (A). The grouped user information is transmitted to other mobile phone terminals 1 (B, C) together when the channel information is broadcast as group registration information. Thus, channel switching can be reflected in the other mobile phone terminals 1 belonging to the same group using the same group registration information in the mobile phone terminals 1 (B, C).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an expanded function of the internal configuration of the mobile phone terminal 1, and is an embodiment corresponding to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile phone terminal 1 includes an application execution unit 10, a channel (CH) designation unit 11, a CH detection unit 12, a CH signal output unit 13, and a mail creation / transmission unit 14. The
The mail creation / transmission unit 14 has a function of generating the CH information based on the user's channel designation and transmitting it to the other mobile phone terminal 1 (B) to be connected by attaching it to the mail. On the other hand, the application execution unit 10 receives a mail from the other mobile phone terminal 1 (B), outputs a corresponding channel signal based on the channel information attached when the mail is viewed, and outputs a television receiver. Has a function to switch between two channels. The application execution unit 10 includes a mail reception unit 15, an application activation unit 16, and a CH information acquisition unit 17.

  The CH specifying unit 11 includes various keys, and receives various instructions from the user to the TV receiver 2, such as instructions for turning on / off the power, changing channels, and the like. Then, CH is detected via the CH detection unit 12, and the CH signal output unit 13 generates an infrared signal corresponding to the detected CH and transmits it to the TV receiver 2.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the cellular phone terminal 1 (B) receives mail.
As described above, the channel information generated when the user A switches the channel is attached to the mail transmitted from the mobile phone terminal 1 (A). When the user of the mobile phone terminal 1 (B) browses the received mail, the application activation unit 16 operates and the application program is automatically activated. Thus, the channel information attached to the mail is acquired by the CH information acquisition unit 17, the CH signal output unit 13 is operated via the CH detection unit 12, and a CH signal corresponding to the channel information is generated and output (S74). . Therefore, the channel that user B is viewing can be switched to the channel that user A is viewing.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an expanded function of the internal configuration of the mobile phone terminal 1, and is an embodiment corresponding to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the mobile phone terminal 1 includes a CH designation unit 11, a CH detection unit 12, a CH signal output unit 13, a CH information broadcast transmission unit 18, a Gr. Information retrieval unit 19; and Gr. Information acquisition unit 20, Gr. It is composed of an information DB 21 and a CH information receiving unit 22.
The CH designation unit 11, the CH detection unit 12, and the CH signal output unit 13 are the same as those in the embodiment shown in FIG. Gr. In the information DB 21, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, an example of the data structure is registered and defined by the mobile phone terminal 1 and Gr. Stores registration information. Here, Gr. 1 consists of members of users AB, C, and D. Registration of users to be grouped is realized by using, for example, a grouping function of a messenger and inputting a telephone directory list or a mail address of a user who designates a group.

Gr. The information search unit 19 uses Gr. A group designated to be used by the user with reference to the information DB 21 is searched, and Gr. Other user information grouped via the information acquisition unit 20 is acquired.
The CH information broadcast transmission unit 18 has a function of broadcasting the channel information of one user to the mobile phone terminals 1 of the other grouped user and instructing channel switching (CH change information).
The CH information receiving unit 22 receives CH information generated at the time of channel switching from the other mobile phone terminals 1 (B, C, D), and Gr. The information search unit 19 is activated to perform a search.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure. FIG. 6 also shows the processing procedure of the terminal program of the present invention.
Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawing will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
Here, when the user starts an application program (hereinafter simply referred to as an application) of the mobile phone terminal 1, the CH change operation becomes possible.
First, after the application is started by the user (S61), the cellular phone terminal 1 detects whether or not there is an action for specifying CH switching by the user (S62). Here, when the user A wants other group members to watch a program he / she watches or is operating, when the mobile phone terminal 1 is operated, the mobile phone terminal 1 outputs the CH signal using the remote control function. And Gr. The information DB 21 is searched and the CH information is broadcast to group members. At this time, the Gr. Also send registration information.
That is, a signal corresponding to the CH information is output to the own TV receiver 2 via the CH signal output unit 13 (S63), and the CH information is transmitted to other mobile phone terminals 1 belonging to the group. The CH information is transmitted via the report transmitter 18 (S65).

At this time, Gr. The information retrieval unit 19 is activated and Gr. The Gr. Search of the information DB 21 is started (S64). Here, first, the group used by user A is searched, and then the group member is searched. When the search is completed, the CH information broadcast transmission unit 18 sends the Gr. Gr. Used this time acquired by the information acquisition unit 20. CH information received from user A for users B, C, and D belonging to G.1 and Gr. The registration information is broadcast (S65).
On the other hand, when the above-described CH information is received from the other mobile phone terminals 1 (B, C, D) (S66), the CH signal output unit 13 outputs an infrared signal corresponding to the CH, thereby The channel of the receiver 2 is switched (S67). In addition, Gr. The registration information is registered for use this time (S68). The above operation is continued until the application is terminated by the user (S69).

  As described above, the present invention uses a mobile phone terminal to perform zapping without using a general television receiver and without using a server. It is possible to forcibly switch to and guide to a certain program even if the user belonging is viewing another program. Therefore, when viewing in a group, viewing of a popular program between groups is not missed, and the effect obtained from the viewpoint of group topic sharing is great.

  In addition, the application execution part 10 (mail receiving part 15, application starting part 16, CH information acquisition part 17), channel (CH) designation | designated part 11, CH detection part 12, and CH signal output part 13 shown in FIG. , The mail creation / transmission unit 14, or the CH designation unit 11, the CH detection unit 12, the CH signal output unit 13, the CH information broadcast transmission unit 18, and the Gr. Information retrieval unit 19; and Gr. A program including a procedure executed by each of the information acquisition unit 20 and the CH information reception unit 22 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a mobile phone terminal including a computer system. By executing, the mobile phone terminal of the present invention can be realized. The computer system here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

  Further, the “computer system” may include a homepage providing environment (or display environment) as long as the WWW system is used. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a volatile memory (RAM) in a computer system serving as a system or a client when a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In addition, those holding programs for a certain period of time are also included.

The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure of the channel information sharing system concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement sequence of the channel information sharing system concerning embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which expanded the function and showed the internal structure of the mobile telephone terminal concerning embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which expanded and showed the function of the internal structure of the mobile telephone terminal concerning other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the group information database used in this invention embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the mobile telephone terminal concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the mobile telephone terminal concerning other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mobile phone terminal, 2 ... TV receiver, 4 ... Broadcast system, 5 ... IP network, 6 ... Mobile phone network, 10 Application execution part, 11 ... CH designation | designated part, 12 ... CH detection part, 13 ... CH signal output , 14 ... mail creation and transmission section, 15 mail reception section, 16 application activation section, 17CH information acquisition section, 18 ... CH information broadcast transmission section, 19 ... Gr. Information search unit, 20... Gr. Information acquisition unit, 21... Gr. Information DB, 22 ... CH information receiving unit 22

Claims (12)

A channel information sharing system in which mobile phone terminals are connected via a communication network,
A first mobile phone terminal that generates channel information based on the user's channel designation, and transmits the channel information attached to an email;
A second mobile phone terminal that receives the mail and outputs a corresponding channel signal based on the attached channel information when the mail is viewed to switch the channel of the television receiver;
A channel information sharing system comprising: A channel information sharing system in which mobile phone terminals are connected via a communication network,
A storage unit that stores group registration information of grouped users, a group information acquisition unit that receives a channel designation of the user and acquires other user information by referring to the group registration information of the grouped user, and the other A first mobile phone terminal comprising a channel information broadcast transmission unit that broadcasts the user's channel information to the user's mobile phone terminal included in the user information and performs a channel switching instruction;
A group information receiving unit for receiving channel information and grouped user group information from the first mobile phone terminal and storing the group information in a storage unit; and a channel signal for outputting a channel signal to a television receiver based on the channel information An output unit, a channel designating unit that receives channel designation from a user, a group information obtaining unit that obtains user information with reference to group information of grouped users, and a user's mobile phone terminal included in the user information A second mobile phone terminal comprising a channel information transmitter for transmitting channel information corresponding to the channel designation;
A channel information sharing system comprising: The second mobile phone terminal is
3. The channel information sharing system according to claim 2, wherein when the channel information is broadcast, the group registration information is also broadcast. An email creation / transmission unit that generates channel information based on a user's channel designation, and transmits the channel information as an attachment to another mobile phone terminal connected via a communication network;
An application execution unit that receives the mail from the other mobile phone terminal and outputs a corresponding channel signal based on channel information attached when the mail is viewed, and switches a channel of the television receiver;
A mobile phone terminal comprising: A storage unit for storing group registration information of grouped users;
A group information acquisition unit that receives a user's channel designation and acquires other user information by referring to group registration information of the grouped users, and the user's mobile phone terminal included in the other user information A channel information broadcast transmission unit that broadcasts the user's channel information and instructs channel switching;
A mobile phone terminal comprising: A group information receiving unit that receives channel information and group information of grouped users from other mobile phone terminals and stores them in a storage unit;
A channel signal output unit for outputting a channel signal to the television receiver based on the channel information;
A channel designating unit that accepts a channel designation from the user;
A group information acquisition unit that acquires user information with reference to group information of grouped users;
A channel information transmission unit for transmitting channel information corresponding to the channel designation to the user's mobile phone terminal included in the user information;
A mobile phone terminal comprising: A channel information sharing method for sharing channel information among a plurality of users using a mobile phone terminal,
Generating the channel information based on the user's channel specification, sending it as an email attachment,
Receiving the mail and switching the channel of the television receiver by outputting a corresponding channel signal based on the attached channel information when the mail is viewed;
A channel information sharing method comprising: A channel information sharing method for sharing channel information among a plurality of users using a mobile phone terminal,
Outputting a channel signal to the television receiver based on the user's channel designation and transmitting the channel information to the second mobile phone terminal;
Receiving the channel information from the first mobile phone terminal, referring to group registration information of the grouped users, searching for a group to which the user belongs, and acquiring other grouped user information;
Broadcasting the user's channel information to the other user's mobile phone terminal to instruct channel switching;
A channel information sharing method comprising: A terminal program used in the mobile phone terminal for sharing channel information using a mobile phone terminal among a plurality of users,
A process of generating the channel information based on the user's channel designation and sending it attached to an e-mail to another mobile phone terminal connected via a communication network;
A process of switching the channel of the television receiver by receiving the mail from the other mobile phone terminal and outputting a corresponding channel signal based on the channel information attached when the mail is viewed;
Terminal program that causes a computer to execute. A terminal program used in the mobile phone terminal for sharing channel information using a mobile phone terminal among a plurality of users,
A process of outputting a channel signal to a television receiver based on a user's channel designation and transmitting channel information to another mobile phone terminal;
Processing for receiving the channel information from the other mobile phone terminal, searching for a group to which the user belongs with reference to group registration information of the grouped user, and obtaining the other grouped user information;
Broadcasting the user's channel information to the other user's mobile phone terminal and performing a channel switching instruction;
Terminal program that causes a computer to execute. A computer-readable recording medium in which a terminal program used in the mobile phone terminal for sharing channel information using a mobile phone terminal among a plurality of users is recorded,
A process of generating the channel information based on the user's channel designation and sending it attached to an e-mail to another mobile phone terminal connected via a communication network;
A process of switching the channel of the television receiver by receiving the mail from the other mobile phone terminal and outputting a corresponding channel signal based on the channel information attached when the mail is viewed;
A recording medium on which a terminal program for causing a computer to execute is recorded. A computer-readable recording medium in which a terminal program used in the mobile phone terminal for sharing channel information using a mobile phone terminal among a plurality of users is recorded,
A process of outputting a channel signal to a television receiver based on a user's channel designation and transmitting channel information to another mobile phone terminal;
Processing for receiving the channel information from the other mobile phone terminal, searching for a group to which the user belongs with reference to group registration information of the grouped user, and obtaining the other grouped user information;
Broadcasting the user's channel information to the other user's mobile phone terminal and performing a channel switching instruction;
A recording medium on which a terminal program for causing a computer to execute is recorded.

Images