JP2008244556A - Content provision system and provision method for digital television - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily settle charges and to cope with viewing using a plurality of televisions. <P>SOLUTION: When a registration preparation request S11 is generated from the television 20, a code S12 for registration is displayed on a screen as a QR code. When the code is photographed with a cellular phone 10 and a registration operation part 110 is accessed, the cellular phone 10 and the television 20 are linked by an identification code and registered. A content list S22 and a cellular phone list S24 are displayed on the television 20, and when a request S25 to purchase specified contents are generated by a specified cellular phone, the cellular phone and the contents are linked by the identification code and registered inside a purchase history registration part 220 and a charge is charged as the utilization charge of the cellular phone. When a viewing request S33 of the specified contents is generated from the television 20, after it is confirmed that the contents and the television are linked through the specified cellular phone, the contents are distributed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content providing system and a providing method for a digital television, and more particularly, to a technology for performing paid distribution of content to a digital television using a communication function via a network.

  A general digital television currently on the market has not only a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast broadcast using radio waves as a medium, but also a communication function via a network such as the Internet. By using this network communication function, it becomes possible to access various contents on the Internet through TCP / IP connection. In particular, a user who uses a broadband line can receive moving image content via a network and view it on the screen of a digital television.

  The display of digital broadcasting is divided into a so-called “main line” moving image area and data broadcasting area. Among these, in the data broadcasting area, content described in a broadcast page description language called BML (Broadcast Markup Language) established by the Japan Radio Industry Association is displayed. BML is transmitted in broadcast waves together with moving images, but it is also possible to display BML content arranged on a server on the network via communication triggered by a viewer's operation. By using the communication function, viewers can use various interactive services linked with broadcast programs.

For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a technique for viewing various programs via a network using a digital television provided with a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast and a communication function via a network. Patent Document 2 below discloses a system for efficiently purchasing digital TV content via a network in a facility equipped with a large number of digital TVs.
JP 2005-94141 A JP 2006-74685 A

  Services that provide content to a personal computer via a network have already been put into practical use using various systems. In such a service, it is common to make a payment for the provided content electronically using a credit card. Normally, when a user enters his / her name, credit card number, expiration date, etc. on the payment screen displayed on a personal computer, and displays an intention to pay with a credit card for a specific content, The company will carry out the payment procedure.

  However, in a digital TV content providing system, it is inappropriate to perform the same electronic payment as a personal computer content providing system. Since a general digital television is not provided with a keyboard for inputting characters, the user performs a settlement operation using a remote control for viewing a television program. Of course, it is possible to input a name, a credit card number, and the like by using such a remote controller, but the operability is remarkably lowered as compared with an input operation using a keyboard. In addition, users who watch digital TV include those who do not own a credit card, such as young people, so when providing content for such users, electronic payment using a credit card is required. It cannot be used.

  Furthermore, a plurality of digital televisions are usually installed in a home which is a main viewing place for digital televisions. In such a viewing environment, there is a demand for a flexible response such that content purchased on a living room television can be viewed on a study television.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to realize a content providing system for a digital television that can easily perform payment and can flexibly cope with viewing using a plurality of televisions.

(1) A first aspect of the present invention is a content providing system for providing content to a digital television having a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast and a communication function via a network.
User information registration means for registering a mobile phone identification code indicating a specific mobile phone used by the user and a TV identification code indicating a specific digital television used by the user in association with each other based on a registration instruction from the user When,
Based on the purchase instruction from the user, the mobile phone identification code of the mobile phone to be charged and the content identification code of the content to be purchased are registered in association with each other, and the usage fee of the mobile phone to be charged Purchase processing means for charging the price of the content to be purchased,
When there is a viewing request for viewing a specific content to be viewed using a specific viewing digital TV, based on the registration information in the user information registration means and the registration information in the purchase processing means It is checked whether the TV identification code of the digital television is associated with the content identification code of the content to be viewed, and if both are associated, the content to be viewed is distributed to the viewing digital television via the network. Viewing processing means,
Is provided.

(2) According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the first aspect described above,
The user information registration means generates a unique registration ID corresponding to the mobile phone identification code on a one-to-one basis, registers the mobile phone identification code and the TV identification code in association with the registration ID,
The purchase processing means uses a registration ID corresponding to the one-to-one instead of the mobile phone identification code, registers the registration ID and the content identification code in association with each other,
When the viewing processing means checks whether or not the specific TV identification code is associated with the specific content identification code, the viewing processing means refers to the registration information in the user information registration means and corresponds to the specific TV identification code. When a specific content identification code is associated with the recognized registration ID by referring to the registration information in the purchase processing means, the specific TV identification code and the specific content are identified. It is determined that the identification code is associated with the identification code.

(3) According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the first or second aspect described above,
The user information registration means has a registration preparation unit capable of communicating with a digital television via a network, and a registration working unit capable of communicating with a mobile phone via a network,
The registration preparation unit receives a registration work address and a TV identification code for accessing the registration work unit when there is a registration preparation request accompanied by transmission of the TV identification code of the registration target digital TV from the registration target digital TV. And a process for returning data for displaying a registration preparation screen including the registration code in the form of a two-dimensional code to the registration target digital television.
The registration work unit receives an access using a registration code from the registration target mobile phone, and is sent when there is a registration work request accompanied by transmission of the mobile phone identification code of the registration target mobile phone. The mobile phone identification code and the TV identification code included in the registration code are registered in association with each other.

(4) According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the third aspect described above,
The registration unit generates a unique registration ID each time a new mobile phone is registered, and registers the mobile phone identification code and the TV identification code in association with the registration ID.

(5) According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the fourth aspect described above,
The registration unit has a function of registering one mobile phone identification code and a plurality of TV identification codes in association with one registration ID, and a specific mobile phone identification code, a specific TV identification code, When a new pair is registered, it is checked whether or not a specific mobile phone identification code has already been registered. If a specific mobile phone identification code has already been registered, a specific TV for the registered ID is registered. An identification code is additionally registered, and if it has not been registered, a specific mobile phone identification code and a specific TV identification code are newly registered for the newly generated registration ID. .

(6) According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the fifth aspect described above,
The registration work unit sets an upper limit on the number of TV identification codes that can be registered for one registration ID, and performs a process of rejecting a registration work request that causes additional registration exceeding the upper limit. It is a thing.

(7) According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the fifth or sixth aspect described above,
The registration unit has a function of registering each TV identification code in association with the nickname of the digital TV indicated by the TV identification code based on a registration instruction from the user. Accordingly, the nickname of the TV identification code registered in association with the mobile phone identification code of the mobile phone is answered.

(8) According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the third to seventh aspects described above,
The registration work unit presents a registration work web page to the registration target mobile phone, and performs a registration process based on a user operation input on the registration work web page.

(9) According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the first to eighth aspects described above,
Purchase processing means
A content list presentation unit that returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided when a content list request is received from the purchase processing digital TV via the network;
When the purchase processing digital TV makes a mobile phone list request via the network, it is associated with the TV identification code of the purchase processing digital TV by referring to the registration information in the user information registration means. A mobile phone list presentation unit for returning a mobile phone list indicating a mobile phone having a mobile phone identification code;
When a purchase request is made from a digital TV for purchase processing that specifies a specific purchase target content in the content list and a specific chargeable mobile phone in the mobile phone list via the network, A purchase history registration unit that associates a mobile phone identification code of a telephone with a content identification code of a content to be purchased, and registers this as one purchase history;
A billing processing unit that performs processing for charging the price of the purchase target content to the charge for the chargeable mobile phone when the purchase history is registered;
It is made to have.

(10) According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the ninth aspect described above,
The user information registration means has a function of registering each mobile phone identification code in association with the mobile phone nickname indicated by the mobile phone identification code based on a registration instruction from the user,
The mobile phone list presentation unit returns a mobile phone list in which the nickname of each mobile phone is written.

(11) An eleventh aspect of the present invention is the content providing system for the digital television according to the ninth or tenth aspect described above,
The billing processing unit performs processing to transmit the billing server mobile phone identification code and data indicating the price of the purchase target content to the billing server that charges the billing target mobile phone. Is.

(12) According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the ninth or tenth aspect described above,
A function in which the user information registration means registers a mobile phone identification code indicating a specific mobile phone used by the user in association with an e-mail address that can be received by the mobile phone, based on a registration instruction from the user. Have
When the billing processing unit registers one purchase history, “the billing work address for accessing the billing server for billing the mobile phone to be billed” and “this one purchase history To generate a billing code including “purchase history identifying information” for identifying and sending an email including the billing code to an email address registered for the mobile phone to be billed. It is a thing.

(13) According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the twelfth aspect described above,
When the purchase history registration unit adds an invalid flag when registering individual purchase histories and receives a report on the completion of billing for a particular purchase history from the billing server, The flag is changed from invalid to valid.

(14) According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the thirteenth aspect described above,
Each time the purchase history registration unit registers one purchase history, a unique history ID is generated, and “mobile phone identification code or one-to-one registration ID corresponding to this” and “content identification code” are recorded as a history. Correspond to ID, register this as one purchase history,
The billing processing unit uses a history ID as purchase history specifying information.

(15) According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the thirteenth or fourteenth aspect described above,
When the purchase history registration unit registers one purchase history, it also registers information indicating the date and time of registration, and invalidates the flag of the purchase history when a predetermined expiration date has passed from the date and time of registration. It has been changed to.

(16) According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the twelfth to fifteenth aspects,
When the purchase history registration unit receives a billing completion report for a specific purchase history from the billing server, an e-mail notifying that the purchase procedure for the purchase target content related to the specific purchase history has been completed The billing target mobile phone related to the purchase history is sent to the registered e-mail address.

(17) According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the first to sixteenth aspects described above,
The viewing processing means
A content storage unit for storing content to be provided;
A content list presentation unit that returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided when a content list request is received from the digital TV for viewing via the network;
When a viewing request for viewing a specific viewing target content in the content list is received from the viewing digital TV, the viewing is performed based on the registration information in the user information registration means and the registration information in the purchase processing means. A viewing permission / non-permission determining unit that determines whether or not the digital TV for viewing is associated with the content to be viewed, and determines that “viewing is possible” when both are associated with each other;
A content distribution unit that distributes content to be viewed in the content storage unit to a digital TV for viewing via a network when it is determined that “viewing is possible”;
It is made to have.

(18) According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the seventeenth aspect described above,
In response to an inquiry from the content list presentation unit, the viewability determination unit checks whether or not the specific digital television and the specific content are associated with each other. It has a function to reply the result,
The content list presenting unit makes an inquiry to the viewability determination unit as to whether or not each content stored in the content storage unit is “viewable” based on the association with the viewing digital TV. A content list composed only of the content to which the determination result “viewable” is returned is returned.

(19) According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the seventeenth or eighteenth aspect described above,
The viewing permission / non-permission determining unit determines that “viewing is impossible” for a viewing request in which the same content is simultaneously distributed to a plurality of digital TVs associated with the same mobile phone. It is a thing.

(20) According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the above first to nineteenth aspects,
As the mobile phone identification code, the serial number assigned to each mobile phone body or the user ID of the UIM attached to each mobile phone is used.

(21) According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the first to twentieth aspects described above,
As the TV identification code, a unique ID number recorded on a B-CAS card attached to each digital television is used.

(22) A twenty-second aspect of the present invention is a content providing method for providing content to a digital television having a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast and a communication function via a network.
A registration operation unit that registers a mobile phone identification code indicating a specific mobile phone used by the user and a TV identification code indicating a specific digital television used by the user in association with each other based on a registration instruction from the user. Preparing a user information registration means comprising:
Based on the purchase instruction from the user, the mobile phone identification code of the mobile phone to be charged and the content identification code of the content to be purchased are registered in association with each other, and the usage fee of the mobile phone to be charged To prepare a purchase processing means to charge for the content to be purchased,
When there is a viewing request for viewing a specific content to be viewed using a specific viewing digital TV, based on the registration information in the user information registration means and the registration information in the purchase processing means It is checked whether the TV identification code of the digital television is associated with the content identification code of the content to be viewed, and if both are associated, the content to be viewed is distributed to the viewing digital television via the network. Preparing a viewing processing means to perform,
The registration target digital television transmits a user's TV identification code to the user information registration means to make a registration preparation request;
In response to the registration preparation request, the user information registration unit includes a “registration work address for accessing the registration unit in the user information registration unit” and a “TV identification code transmitted by the registration preparation request”. A step of generating a registration code and returning data for displaying a registration preparation screen including the registration code in the form of a two-dimensional code to the registration target digital television;
The registration target mobile phone reads the registration code from the registration preparation screen displayed on the registration target digital TV;
The registration target mobile phone uses the registration code to access the registration work section, and sends the TV identification code and the mobile phone identification code included in the registration code to the registration work section. Requesting registration work, and
A step of registering a mobile phone identification code and a TV identification code associated with each other in response to a registration work request;
The purchase processing digital TV makes a content list request to the purchase processing means;
In response to the content list request, the purchase processing means returns a content list indicating a list of content to be provided;
The purchase processing digital television makes a request for a list of mobile phones to the purchase processing means;
The purchase processing means refers to the registration information in the user information registration means in response to the mobile phone list request, thereby having a mobile phone identification code associated with the TV identification code of the purchase processing digital television. Replying with a mobile phone list showing mobile phones,
The purchase processing digital television makes a purchase request specifying a specific purchase target content in the content list and a specific chargeable mobile phone in the mobile phone list to the purchase processing means;
A step in which the purchase processing means associates the mobile phone identification code of the chargeable mobile phone with the content identification code of the purchase target content according to the purchase request, and registers this as one purchase history;
A stage in which the purchase processing means performs a billing process of charging the charge for the chargeable mobile phone to the charge for the chargeable mobile phone when the purchase history is registered;
The viewing digital TV makes a content list request to the viewing processing means;
In response to the content list request, the viewing processing means returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided;
A stage in which the viewing digital TV makes a viewing request to the viewing processing means to view a specific viewing target content in the content list;
In response to the viewing request, the viewing processing means checks whether or not the viewing digital TV is associated with the content to be viewed based on the registration information in the user information registration means and the registration information in the purchase processing means. , When both are associated with each other, performing a viewability determination as “viewable”,
When the viewing processing means determines that “viewing is possible” in the viewing permission determination, the viewing processing means distributes the viewing target content to the viewing digital television via the network;
Is to do.

(23) According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the twenty-second aspect,
Billing processing is performed by sending a mobile phone identification code of the billing target mobile phone and data indicating the price of the purchase target content to the billing server that bills the billing target mobile phone. It is.

(24) According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the content providing system for the digital television according to the twenty-second aspect,
A billing code including “a billing work address for accessing a billing server for billing a mobile phone to be billed” and “purchase history specifying information for specifying one purchase history” is generated. The billing process is performed by sending an email containing this billing code to the email address registered for the mobile phone to be billed.

  In the content providing system according to the present invention, a specific digital television and a specific content are registered in association with each other via a specific mobile phone, and the content is distributed based on such registration. Moreover, the content usage fee is charged to the usage fee of the mobile phone acting as an intermediary. For this reason, it is possible to easily perform payment. In addition, since multiple TVs can be associated with a single mobile phone, and a single TV can be associated with multiple mobile phones, the viewing environment using multiple TVs can be flexibly handled. It can flexibly handle payments using multiple mobile phones.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments.

<<< §1. Basic Embodiment >>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a content providing system according to a basic embodiment of the present invention. An important feature of this system is that the content usage fee is settled using a mobile phone. When a user uses content on a digital television, the usage fee is charged as a usage fee for a mobile phone designated by the user. The penetration rate of mobile phones in recent years is remarkable, and even those who do not have a credit card often have a mobile phone. For this reason, in the system according to the present invention, the door is opened to a larger number of users as compared to the conventional system in which payment using a credit card is performed.

  The mobile phone 10 shown in the upper left of FIG. 1 is a mobile phone used for settlement. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that a mobile phone identification code “111111” is given to this mobile phone. The mobile phone identification code may be any code as long as it functions to distinguish individual mobile phones from each other.

  For example, since a manufacturing number is assigned to each mobile phone body at the time of factory shipment, this manufacturing number can be used as a mobile phone identification code. Recently, in order to receive provision of various services, a UIM card with a built-in IC is often attached to a mobile phone. In this UIM card, a user ID unique to each card is recorded. Therefore, in the embodiment described here, an example in which the user ID of the UIM attached to each individual mobile phone is used as the mobile phone identification code will be described. Therefore, the mobile phone identification code “111111” described in the following embodiment is the user ID of the UIM attached to the mobile phone 10.

  On the other hand, the digital television 20 shown in FIG. 1 is a television for a user to view content, and has a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast and a communication function via a network. Whereas digital broadcasting is a service provided by radio broadcasting from the broadcasting station 30, content provision by the system according to the present invention is a service provided using communication via a network such as the Internet. It is. Here, it is assumed that a TV identification code “aaa6666” is assigned to the digital television 20. The term “digital television” as used in the present application broadly means an apparatus having a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast and a communication function via a network, such as a personal computer with a digital tuner. This corresponds to “digital television” in the present application.

  The TV identification code assigned to the digital television may be any code as long as it functions to distinguish individual digital televisions from each other. In the embodiment described here, a unique ID number recorded on a B-CAS card attached to each digital television is used as the TV identification code. The digital TV is presumed to be used with a B-CAS card attached, and since a unique ID number is recorded on the B-CAS card, the TV of the system according to the present invention is used. Ideal for use as an identification code.

  In FIG. 1, digital broadcasting using radio waves from the broadcasting station 30 is indicated by “zigzag lines”. The flow is shown. The broken line from the digital TV 20 to the mobile phone 10 indicates the flow of information by a method called image capture using an optical system, as will be described later.

  The billing server 40 is a server managed by the provider of the mobile phone 10 and has a function of paying the usage fee of the mobile phone 10. Such a server is an existing facility, and its basic configuration and functions are well-known matters, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here. In the figure, it is assumed that “add40.co.jp” written in the block of the accounting server 40 is a URL for accessing the accounting server 40.

  The content providing system according to the present invention includes user information registration means 100, purchase processing means 200, and viewing processing means 300 shown in the right half of FIG. Here, for convenience of explanation, these three means are shown as separate blocks, but in reality, the content providing system according to the present invention is constituted by one or a plurality of server computers. The physical configuration of these server computers and the illustrated block configuration do not necessarily correspond one-to-one. In addition, the communication path between the mobile phone 10 and the digital television 20 and each means 100, 200, 300 is shown by a simple solid line in the figure, but the substance of the communication path is a dedicated line, the Internet, VPN, etc. Any communication path may be used.

  In order to view content using this system, the user needs to have at least one digital TV 20 and one mobile phone 10. In order for a user to view desired contents using this system, the following three stages are roughly required.

  The first stage is a registration stage in which the mobile phone 10 and the digital television 20 are registered in association with each other, and is performed in the user information registration means 100. In the case of the above-described example, the mobile phone identification code “111111” of the mobile phone 10 and the TV identification code “aaa6666” of the digital television 20 are registered in association with each other. Thus, the usage fee for the content viewed on the digital television 20 is added to the usage fee for the mobile phone 10 and preparations for settlement are made. The mobile phone 10 is basically required only when this registration stage is performed, and is not necessary in each subsequent stage.

  The second stage is a purchase stage in which a desired content is purchased using the digital television 20 and is performed by the purchase processing means 200. In the embodiment described here, the provision of content is performed by streaming distribution of content data to a digital television for viewing. Therefore, the content purchase is an act of acquiring the right to use the content and paying the price. In this purchase stage, desired content to be purchased is registered in association with a specific mobile phone, and settlement using the mobile phone is performed. For example, in the case of the above-described example, when the content with the content identification code “XYZ0101” is purchased, the mobile phone identification code “111111” of the mobile phone 10 and the content identification code “XYZ0101” are registered in association with each other, The price of the content is charged as a usage fee for the mobile phone 10 (billing processing is executed in the billing server 40). As a result, the purchased content is linked to the mobile phone 10 and ready for viewing.

  The third stage is a viewing stage in which purchased content is viewed using the digital television 20 and is performed by the viewing processing means 300. Based on the registration information in the user information registration unit 100 and the registration information in the purchase processing unit 200, the viewing processing unit 300 determines whether or not the digital TV requested to be viewed and the content to be viewed are associated with each other. If the two are matched, the content to be viewed is streamed to the digital television. In the case of the above-described example, the content identification code “XYZ0101” and the mobile phone identification code “111111” are linked, and the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the TV identification code “aaa6666” are linked. As a result, the content identification code “XYZ0101” and the TV identification code “aaa6666” are associated with each other, and the data of the content specified by the content identification code “XYZ0101” is the TV identification code “aaa6666”. Is distributed to the digital television 20 specified in the above.

  The above is the basic stage that should be taken before content viewing in the system according to the present invention. As described above, in the content providing system according to the present invention, the digital television 20 and the purchased content are registered in association with each other via the mobile phone 10, and the content is distributed based on such registration. Moreover, the content usage fee is charged by the charging server 40 to the usage fee of the mobile phone 10. For this reason, it is possible to easily perform payment. In addition, as in the example described later, a plurality of TVs can be associated with one mobile phone, or a single TV can be associated with a plurality of mobile phones. It is possible to flexibly cope with the viewing environment, and to deal with settlement using a plurality of mobile phones.

  In the following description, the digital TV used in the first stage (registration stage) is referred to as “registered digital TV”, and the digital TV used in the second stage (purchase stage) is “purchased”. The digital TV for use in the third stage (viewing stage) will be referred to as the “digital TV for viewing”, which is referred to simply as “digital TV for processing”. It is a term that focuses on processing, and does not mean a different digital television. For example, only one digital television 20 is shown in FIG. 1, but when the digital television 20 is used to execute the process of the first stage (registration stage), this is referred to as “registered digital television. When the second stage (purchase stage) processing is executed using the digital television 20, this is called “purchase processing digital television” and the digital television 20 is used for the third stage. In the case of executing the process in the stage (viewing stage), this is referred to as “digital TV for viewing”.

<<< §2. Specific registration stage procedure >>>
In §1, the basic operation of the content providing system according to the present invention has been described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1. Here, a more detailed configuration of this system will be described, and the upper part of the flowchart shown in FIG. A specific registration procedure using this system will be described with reference to the section.

  As described above, the user information registration unit 100 stores the mobile phone identification code “111111” indicating the specific mobile phone 10 used by the user and the specific digital television 20 used by the user based on the registration instruction from the user. It has a function of registering the TV identification code “aaa6666” shown in association with each other. In order to perform such registration, it is necessary to input the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the TV identification code “aaa6666” to the user information registration means 100. It is not preferable to leave it to manual work. Therefore, in the case of the embodiment described here, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, in the user information registration means 100, a registration work unit 110 capable of communicating with the mobile phone 10 via a network, and a network via the network. In addition, a registration preparation unit 120 that can communicate with the digital television 20 is provided, and consideration is given to smooth code input. In the figure, “add110.co.jp” written in the block of the registration work unit 110 is a URL for accessing the registration work unit 110.

  The registration preparation unit 120 receives a registration work address for accessing the registration work unit 110 when there is a registration preparation request from the registration target digital TV with transmission of the TV identification code of the registration target digital TV. A registration code including a TV identification code is generated, and data for displaying a registration preparation screen including the registration code in the form of a two-dimensional code is returned to the registration target digital television. On the other hand, when the registration working unit 110 receives an access using the registration code from the registration target mobile phone, and there is a registration work request accompanied by transmission of the mobile phone identification code of the registration target mobile phone in this access In addition, a process of registering the transmitted mobile phone identification code and the TV identification code included in the registration code in association with each other is performed. The registration information 111 in the registration work unit 110 is registered in this way.

  Step S10 “user information registration processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is a procedure for performing the registration stage processing described in § 1 for the user information registration means 100, and includes steps S11 to S15. Is done. Hereinafter, a specific procedure performed in each step will be described in order for the specific configuration example shown in FIG. In the block diagram of FIG. 1, the reference numerals S11 to S35 attached to the solid-line arrows indicating the information flow are reference numerals corresponding to the steps in the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S11, a registration preparation request is made by transmitting the own TV identification code “aaa6666” from the digital TV 20 to be registered to the registration preparation unit 120 in the user information registration means 100. . As described above, the digital television 20 has a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast from the broadcasting station 30 and a communication function via a network. The registration preparation request made here is a communication via the network. It is done using the function. Specifically, an address for accessing the registration preparation unit 120 is stored in advance in the digital television 20, or the address is included in BML data distributed by digital broadcasting and broadcast from the broadcasting station 30. Thus, the registration preparation unit 120 can be accessed from the digital television 20, and a registration preparation request to the registration preparation unit 120 may be made based on an instruction from the user. At this time, the TV identification code “aaa6666” of the digital television 20 is transmitted to the registration preparation unit 120 together with the registration preparation request.

  In step S12, on the registration preparation unit 120 side, in response to the registration preparation request given in step S11, “registration work address for accessing the registration work unit 110 in the user information registration unit 100” and “ A registration code including a TV identification code transmitted in response to a given registration preparation request ”is generated, and data for displaying a registration preparation screen including the registration code in the form of a two-dimensional code is registered. Processing to reply to the digital television is performed. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, the registration work address for accessing the registration work unit 110 is “add110.co.jp”, and the TV identification code transmitted by the registration preparation request is “aaa6666”. The registration code generated by the registration preparation unit 120 is a code including “add110.co.jp” and “aaa6666”, and the registration preparation including this code in the form of a two-dimensional code (for example, QR code). Data for displaying the screen (specifically, data in BML format) is generated by the registration preparation unit 120 and sent to the digital television 20. A registration preparation screen including the registration code is displayed on the screen of the digital television 20.

  Next, the registration code reading process in step S13 is executed. This process is a process in which the mobile phone 10 to be registered reads the registration code as digital data from the registration preparation screen displayed on the digital television 20 to be registered. For example, if the registration code is displayed in the form of a QR code on the registration preparation screen, the user can display it on the screen of the digital TV 20 using the mobile phone 10 that the user has. The registration code can be read into the mobile phone 10 by photographing the QR code. The arrows indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1 indicate the flow of information in which the registration code displayed on the screen of the digital television 20 is taken into the mobile phone 10 by such a shooting action.

  Subsequently, in step S14, the mobile phone 10 to be registered accesses the registration work unit 110 using the registration code read in step S13, and the registration work unit 110 is made a registration code. The registration work request is made by transmitting the contained TV identification code and own mobile phone identification code. As described above, since the registration code includes “add110.co.jp” which is the URL of the registration work unit 110, the mobile phone 10 uses the URL for the registration work request from the user. It is possible to access the registration work unit 110. At this time, since the registration code includes the TV identification code “aaa6666” of the digital television 20, the code can be transmitted to the registration work unit 110 side. Further, since the mobile phone 10 transmits its own mobile phone identification code “111111” to make a registration work request, the code can also be transmitted to the registration work unit 110 side.

  In step S15, the registration work unit 110 performs a registration work in which the transmitted mobile phone identification code and TV identification code are registered in association with each other in response to the registration work request. In the case of the above-described example, a registration work request with the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the TV identification code “aaa6666” is made in the registration work unit 110. Done. The table shown as registration information 111 in the registration work unit 110 shown in FIG. 1 shows information registered in this way. The first line of this table shows the correspondence between the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the TV identification code “aaa6666” registered by the above registration work. In the illustrated table, the correspondence relationship between the mobile phone identification code “222222” and the TV identification code “bbb7777” (second line) and the correspondence relationship between the mobile phone identification code “333333” and the TV identification code “ccc8888” ( (The third line) is also shown, but the registration of these correspondences is also made by the procedure of steps S11 to S15 described above.

<<< §3. Specific purchase steps >>>
Here, a specific purchase step procedure using this system will be described with reference to the middle part of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  As described above, the purchase processing means 200, based on the purchase instruction from the user, the mobile phone identification code “111111” of the mobile phone 10 to be charged (used for settlement) and the content identification code of the content to be purchased. “XYZ0101” is registered in association with each other, and the usage fee of the mobile phone 10 to be charged is charged for the price of the content to be purchased. In order to smoothly execute such purchase processing, the purchase processing means 200 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a mobile phone list presentation unit 210, a purchase history registration unit 220, a billing processing unit 230, and a content list presentation unit 240. ing.

  The mobile phone list presentation unit 210 refers to the registration information 111 in the user information registration unit 100 when a mobile phone list request is received from the purchase processing digital TV via the network. It has a function of returning a mobile phone list indicating a mobile phone having a mobile phone identification code associated with the TV identification code of the digital TV. On the other hand, the content list presentation unit 240 has a function of returning a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided when a content list request is received from the purchase processing digital television via the network.

  Therefore, when the purchase process is performed using the digital TV 20, a content list to be provided and a list of mobile phones registered corresponding to the digital TV are displayed on the screen of the digital TV 20. The user can select a content to be purchased from these lists, select a mobile phone to be charged (a mobile phone used for payment), and send it to the purchase history registration unit 220. You can make a purchase request.

  The purchase history registration unit 220 receives a purchase request specifying a specific purchase target content in the content list and a specific chargeable mobile phone in the mobile phone list from the purchase processing digital television 20 via the network. If there is, the mobile phone identification code of the chargeable mobile phone and the content identification code of the purchase target content are associated with each other and registered as one purchase history. The registration information 222 in the purchase history registration unit 220 is information registered in this way. In the example shown in the figure, one row of the table constituting the registration information 222 corresponds to one purchase history.

  On the other hand, when the purchase history registration is performed by the purchase history registration unit 220, the charging processing unit 230 performs a process of charging the price of the purchase target content to the usage fee of the charge target mobile phone 10. Specifically, in the case of the illustrated embodiment, the charging processing unit 230 sends the mobile phone identification code of the charging target mobile phone 10 and the purchase target to the charging server 40 that performs charging for the mobile phone 10 to be charged. A process of transmitting data indicating the price of the content is performed.

  Step S20 “content purchase processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is a procedure for performing the purchase stage processing described in §1 on the purchase processing means 200, and includes steps S21 to S27. The Hereinafter, a specific procedure performed in each step will be described in order for the specific configuration example shown in FIG.

  First, in step S <b> 21, the purchase processing digital television 20 makes a content list request to the content list presentation unit 240. This list request is also made using a communication function via a network provided in the digital television 20. Specifically, an address for accessing the content list presentation unit 240 is stored in the digital television 20 in advance, or the address is included in the BML data distributed by digital broadcasting from the broadcasting station 30. By broadcasting, it is possible to access the content list presentation unit 240 from the digital television 20, and a list request to the content list presentation unit 240 is made based on an instruction from the user. Good.

  Step S22 is processing in which the content list presentation unit 240 returns a content list indicating a list of content to be provided to the digital television 20 in response to the content list request. The content list is a list of contents stored in the viewing processing means 300, and each time a list request is received, the viewing processing means 300 may be searched to create a list. A content list may be prepared in the list presentation unit 240, and this may be returned as it is. In practice, the content of the content to be provided is updated, so that a new content list is created each time the content is updated and stored in the content list presentation unit 240, so that the latest list is always the content. It is preferable to be prepared in the list presentation unit 240.

  On the other hand, in step S <b> 23, the digital TV 20 for purchase processing makes a mobile phone list request to the mobile phone list presentation unit 210. This list request is also made using a communication function via a network provided in the digital television 20. Specifically, an address for accessing the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 is stored in the digital television 20 in advance, or the address is included in BML data distributed by digital broadcasting, and the broadcasting station 30. The mobile phone list presenting unit 210 can be accessed from the digital TV 20 by broadcasting from the mobile station, and a list request is made to the mobile phone list presenting unit 210 based on an instruction from the user. You can do it. In this mobile phone list request, own TV identification code “aaa6666” is transmitted from the digital television 20 side to the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 side.

  In step S24, the mobile phone list presenting unit 210 refers to the registration information 111 in the user information registration means 100 in response to the mobile phone list request, so that the TV identification code “aaa6666 of the purchase processing digital television 20 is obtained. The mobile phone list indicating the mobile phone having the mobile phone identification code associated with “” is returned to the digital television 20. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, in the registration information 111, only the mobile phone identification code “111111” is associated with the TV identification code “aaa6666”. The mobile phone list shown is returned to the digital television 20. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, a list in which only the mobile phone 10 is posted is returned, but there are a plurality of mobile phones having mobile phone identification codes associated with the TV identification code “aaa6666”. In this case, a list of the plurality of mobile phones is returned. These plural mobile phones are mobile phones that are registered in association with the TV identification code “aaa6666” and can be selected as billing targets.

  In step S <b> 25, a purchase request from the user is transmitted to the purchase history registration unit 220. The user selects the content to be purchased from the content list returned in step S22, and the mobile phone to be charged from the mobile phone list returned in step S24 (mobile phone used for payment). On the screen of the digital television 20 and gives an instruction to transmit a purchase request together with the selection results. In response to this instruction, the purchase processing digital TV 20 sends the purchase history registration unit 220 a specific purchase target content selected from the content list and a specific billing target mobile selected from the mobile phone list. A purchase request specifying a telephone is made.

  For example, a purchase request with the mobile phone identification code “111111” of the chargeable mobile phone and the content identification code “XYZ0101” of the purchase target content is transmitted from the purchase processing digital television 20 to the purchase history registration unit 220. Will be.

  In this case, the user does not need to manually input the code “111111” or the code “XYZ0101”. The user performs an operation of selecting a content to be purchased from a content list displayed on the digital television 20 (for example, an operation of clicking display of specific content) and a mobile phone list. Only an operation of selecting a mobile phone to be charged (for example, an operation of clicking display of a specific mobile phone).

  For example, the content identification code of each content is embedded in the content list, and the mobile phone identification code of each mobile phone is embedded in the mobile phone list. When the selection is made, if the identification code of the selected content or the identification code of the selected mobile phone is transmitted from the digital TV 20 to the purchase history registration unit 220 together with the purchase request, the user can select the content on the list. The necessary code is transmitted simply by performing a desired selection operation.

  Of course, the content list presentation unit 240 and the purchase history registration unit 220 can share information on the position of each content on the content list, and the content identification code is sent from the digital TV 20 to the purchase history registration unit 220. Instead of transmitting the information, information indicating the position of the selected content on the list may be transmitted. For example, by transmitting information such as “the eighth content from the top of the list” from the digital television 20 to the purchase history registration unit 220, information specifying the selected purchase target content is transmitted to the purchase history registration unit 220. Is possible.

  Similarly, information regarding the position of each mobile phone on the mobile phone list can be shared between the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 and the purchase history registration unit 220, and the purchase history registration unit 220 can be accessed from the digital TV 20. Instead of transmitting the mobile phone identification code, information indicating the position of the selected mobile phone on the list may be transmitted. For example, by transmitting information such as “second mobile phone from the top of the list” to the purchase history registration unit 220 from the digital TV 20, information specifying the selected chargeable mobile phone is obtained as the purchase history registration unit 220. Can be communicated to.

  In step S26, the purchase history registration unit 220 associates the mobile phone identification code of the chargeable mobile phone with the content identification code of the purchase target content in response to the purchase request, and registers this as one purchase history. It is processing. For example, when there is a purchase request from the purchase processing digital television 20 specifying the mobile phone identification code “111111” of the chargeable mobile phone and the content identification code “XYZ0101” of the purchase target content, the purchase history registration unit 220 Performs the process of associating the mobile phone identification code “111111” with the content identification code “XYZ0101” and registering it as one purchase history.

  The table shown as registration information 222 in the purchase history registration unit 220 shown in FIG. 1 shows information registered in this way. The first line of this table is a purchase history showing the correspondence between the mobile phone identification code “111111” registered by the above registration work and the content identification code “XYZ0101”. In the illustrated table, the correspondence relationship between the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the content identification code “XYZ0303” (second line) and the correspondence relationship between the mobile phone identification code “222222” and the content identification code “XYZ0505” ( The third line) is also shown, but the registration of these correspondences is also made by the above-described steps S21 to S26.

  Step S27 is a step of performing a billing process of charging the charge of the purchase target content to the charge of the charge target mobile phone related to the purchase history when the purchase history registration unit 220 registers the purchase history. . Specifically, as described above, the billing processing unit 230 charges the billing server 40 that bills the billing target mobile phone 10 with the mobile phone identification code of the billing target mobile phone 10 and the price of the purchase target content. Is transmitted.

  For example, when a purchase history indicating the correspondence between the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” is registered, the billing processing unit 230 stores the mobile phone identified by the mobile phone identification code “111111”. Recognizing that the URL of the accounting server 40 that performs accounting management is “add40.co.jp” (a correspondence table between each mobile phone identification code and the URL of the accounting server may be prepared), and the content Recognizing that the usage fee of the content specified by the identification code “XYZ0101” is “200 yen” (a correspondence table indicating the usage fee of each content may be prepared), and the URL “add40.co.jp The mobile phone identification code “111111” and the price “200 yen” may be transmitted. Upon receiving the data transmission, the billing server can perform a process of adding the price “200 yen” to the mobile phone usage fee specified by the mobile phone identification code “111111”.

<<< §4. Specific steps for watching >>
Here, a specific viewing stage procedure using this system will be described with reference to the lower part of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  As described above, when there is a viewing request for viewing a specific viewing target content using a specific viewing digital TV, the viewing processing unit 300 and the registration information 111 in the user information registration unit 100 and the purchase processing Based on the registration information 222 in the means 200, it is checked whether or not the TV identification code of the viewing digital television is associated with the content identification code of the content to be viewed. It has a function of distributing viewing target content to a viewing digital TV via a network. In order to smoothly execute such viewing processing, the viewing processing means 300 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a content list presentation unit 310, a viewing availability determination unit 320, a content distribution unit 330, and a content storage unit 340. .

  The content storage unit 340 is a component that stores content to be provided as digital data, and is actually configured by a number of storage devices such as hard disk drive devices. Each content stored here has a unique content identification code (for example, “XYZ0101”).

  The content list presentation unit 310 returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided when a content list request is received from the viewing digital TV 20 via the network. The content list is a list of contents stored in the content storage unit 340. The content list presentation unit 310 may search the content storage unit 340 to create a list each time a list request is received, or prepare a content list in the content list presentation unit 310 in advance. You may make it reply this as it is. In practice, the content of the content to be provided is updated. Therefore, a new content list is created each time the content is updated and stored in the content list presenting unit 310. The latest list is always the content. It is preferable to be prepared in the list presentation unit 310.

  Note that the content list presentation unit 310 in the viewing processing unit 300 and the content list presentation unit 240 in the purchase processing unit 200 both substantially present a content list in response to a list request from the digital television 20. Since they are constituent elements having the same function, it is preferable that they are practically the same identical constituent elements. As described above, the content providing system shown in FIG. 1 is actually constituted by one or a plurality of server computers. Here, for convenience, this system is divided into three means 100, 200, It is described as an aggregate of 300. Therefore, the content list presenting unit 240 and the content list presenting unit 310 are shown as separate components in the block diagram. However, in actuality, both are single units having a function of presenting the content list. It can be realized as a component of

  The viewing permission / inhibition determination unit 320 purchases the registration information 111 in the user information registration unit 100 and purchase when there is a viewing request from the digital television 20 to be viewed to view a specific viewing target content in the content list. A configuration for checking whether or not the viewing digital television 20 and the content to be viewed are associated with each other based on the registration information 222 in the processing unit 200, and determining that “viewing is possible” when both are associated. Is an element.

  For example, if there is a viewing request from the digital television 20 with its own TV identification code “aaa6666” and the identification code “XYZ0101” of the content to be viewed based on the viewing instruction from the user, the viewing availability determination unit 320 determines whether to allow viewing based on the registration information 111 and the registration information 222. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the TV identification code “aaa6666” and the mobile phone identification code “111111” are associated with each other in the first line of the registration information 111 table, and the first line of the registration information 222 table. Mobile phone identification code “111111” and content identification code “XYZ0101” are associated with each other, TV identification code “aaa6666” and content identification code “XYZ0101” are transmitted via mobile phone identification code “111111”. Therefore, it is determined that “viewing is possible”.

  When the content distribution unit 330 determines that “viewing is possible” in the viewability determination unit 320 in this manner, the content to be viewed (content specified by the content identification code “XYZ0101”) in the content storage unit 340 is obtained. Distribution by streaming is executed via the network to the viewing digital television (the digital television 20 having the TV identification code “aaa6666” serving as the viewing request source).

  Step S30 “content viewing processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is a procedure for performing the viewing stage processing described in §1 for the viewing processing means 300, and includes steps S31 to S35. The Hereinafter, a specific procedure performed in each step will be described in order for the specific configuration example shown in FIG.

  First, in step S31, the viewing digital television 20 makes a content list request to the content list presentation unit 310. This list request is made using a communication function via a network provided in the digital television 20. Specifically, an address for accessing the content list presentation unit 310 is stored in the digital television 20 in advance, or is transmitted by digital broadcasting from the broadcasting station 30, so that the content is received from the digital television 20. The list presentation unit 310 can be accessed, and a list request to the content list presentation unit 310 may be made based on an instruction from the user.

  The subsequent step S32 is a process in which the content list presentation unit 310 returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided to the digital television 20 in response to the content list request. As described above, the process in step S32 is substantially equivalent to the process in step S22.

  In step S <b> 33, a viewing request from the user is transmitted to viewing permission determination unit 320. The user selects a content to be viewed from the content list returned in step S32, and gives an instruction to transmit a viewing request along with the selection result on the screen of the digital television 20. In response to this instruction, the viewing digital television set 20 designates its own TV identification code and the specific viewing target content selected from the content list to the viewing permission determination unit 320, and the specific viewing A viewing request for viewing the target content is made.

  For example, a viewing request with its own TV identification code “aaa6666” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” of the viewing target content is transmitted from the viewing digital television 20 to the viewing permission determination unit 320. In this case, the user does not need to manually input the code “aaa6666” or the code “XYZ0101”. The user performs only the operation of selecting the content to be viewed from the content list displayed on the digital television 20 (for example, the operation of clicking the display of specific content). Since the code “aaa6666” is the TV identification code of the digital television 20 itself, the digital television 20 can automatically transmit the code when transmitting the viewing request. On the other hand, the code “XYZ0101” can be automatically acquired and transmitted by the user's selection operation.

  For example, when the content identification code of each content is embedded in the content list and the user selects the content by a click operation or the like, the identification code of the selected content is received from the digital television 20 as a viewability determination unit. If it is transmitted to 320 together with the viewing request, the necessary code is transmitted only by the user performing a desired selection operation on the list.

  Of course, information regarding the position of each content on the content list can be shared between the content list presentation unit 310 and the viewability determination unit 320, and the content identification code is sent from the digital television 20 to the viewability determination unit 320. Instead of transmitting the information, information indicating the position of the selected content on the list may be transmitted. For example, by transmitting information such as “the eighth content from the top of the list” from the digital television 20 to the viewing permission determination unit 320, information specifying the selected viewing target content is transmitted to the viewing permission determination unit 320. Is possible.

  Step S34 is a viewing permission / non-permission determination step performed by the viewing permission / non-permission determination unit 320. That is, the viewing permission / inhibition determination unit 320 responds to a viewing request from the viewing digital television 20 based on the registration information 111 in the user information registration unit 100 and the registration information 222 in the purchase processing unit 200. It is checked whether or not the television 20 and the content to be viewed are associated with each other. When both are associated with each other, it is determined whether or not viewing is possible. In the example shown in FIG. 1, as described above, in the registration information 111, the TV identification code “aaa6666” and the mobile phone identification code “111111” are associated, and in the registration information 222, the mobile phone identification code “111111”. ”And the content identification code“ XYZ0101 ”are associated with each other, the TV identification code“ aaa6666 ”and the content identification code“ XYZ0101 ”are indirectly associated with each other via the mobile phone identification code“ 111111 ”. Therefore, it is determined that “viewing is possible”.

  The final step S35 is a step of distributing the viewing target content to the viewing digital television via the network when it is determined that “viewing is possible” in the viewing permission determination in step S34. In the case of the above example, the content to be viewed in the content storage unit 340 (the content specified by the content identification code “XYZ0101”) is distributed to the viewing digital television 20. Of course, when it is determined that viewing is not possible in the viewing / non-viewing determination in step S34, the content is not distributed (practically, a message indicating some error is displayed on the screen of the digital television 20). Preferably).

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, for convenience of explanation, the user information registration process in step S10 (detailed steps are steps S11 to S15) and the content purchase process in step S20 (detailed steps are steps S21 to S27). In this example, the content viewing process in step S30 (detailed steps are steps S31 to S35) is performed in this order. This process is not necessarily performed continuously in this order. For example, when registering a plurality of mobile phones or digital televisions, the process of step S10 is repeatedly executed. When such a registration process is completed, a plurality of contents are purchased. The process of step S20 is repeatedly executed. Of course, if new content purchase is performed after the viewing process of step S30, the process of step S20 is performed again. If new registration is performed, the process of step S10 is performed again. It will be.

<<< §5. A specific form of registration in a family >>>
So far, the configuration and basic operation of the content providing system according to the basic embodiment of the present invention have been described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In the basic embodiment shown in FIG. 1, only the example in which one digital TV is associated with one mobile phone is shown as the registration information 111 in the registration work unit 110. However, in the system according to the present invention. A plurality of digital televisions can be associated with one mobile phone, and a single digital television can be associated with a plurality of mobile phones. Of course, as the registration information 222 in the purchase history registration unit 220, it is possible to associate a plurality of contents with one mobile phone. By allowing such a flexible registration form, it is possible to flexibly cope with a viewing environment using a plurality of televisions, and to flexibly deal with settlement using a plurality of mobile phones.

  Here, an example of a specific registration form when a certain family uses the system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a home having a plurality of digital televisions and a plurality of mobile phones. The room layout of this home is shown in the upper half of the figure. That is, in this home, a living room, a kitchen, a study, a bedroom, and a children's room are provided. In the living room, a digital TV 26 called “living TV” is installed. It is assumed that a digital TV 27 called “Taro's TV” is installed in the children's room. In addition, the TV identification code of each digital television (unique ID number recorded on the B-CAS card attached to each digital television) is “aaa6666”, “bbb7777”, and “ccc8888” as shown in the figure. It shall be. Of course, these three digital TVs are all connected to a network (Internet) and have a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast and a communication function via the network.

  On the other hand, in the lower half of the figure, the family structure of this family and the mobile phones that each possesses are depicted. That is, the mobile phone 11 possessed by “papa” is given a mobile phone identification code “111111” (user ID of UIM attached to the mobile phone), and an e-mail address “papa @ mail” is assigned. Is given. Similarly, the mobile phone 12 possessed by “Mama” is given a mobile phone identification code “222222”, is given an e-mail address “mama @ mail”, and is possessed by “Taro”. The mobile phone 13 is given a mobile phone identification code “333333” and an e-mail address “taro @ mail”.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a broadcast reception screen on a general digital television. Digital broadcasts provided by radio waves from the broadcast station 30 include main line broadcasts that provide moving image images and data broadcasts that provide additional information. It is possible to shift to a mode in which the area is divided and both the main broadcast and the data broadcast are displayed. FIG. 4 shows a screen in a state where the mode has been changed to such a mode, in which two areas of a moving image area 21 and a data broadcast area 22 are divided and displayed.

  While the moving image is displayed in the moving image area 21, various additional information is displayed in the data broadcast area 22. The display contents of the data broadcast area 22 vary depending on the broadcast contents from the broadcast station 30, but in addition to information related to the moving picture displayed in the moving picture area 21, information such as weather forecasts and news is displayed. Presentations are also often made. Further, the information displayed in the video image area 21 and the data broadcast area 22 shown in FIG. 4 is information provided as radio waves from the broadcast station 30 to the last, but various transitions to the data broadcast area 22 are possible. It is also possible to shift to a data communication state via a network by displaying the buttons and clicking these transition buttons.

  In the case of the example shown in FIG. 4, four operation buttons B <b> 1 to B <b> 4 are displayed in the data broadcast area 22. When the user clicks one of the operation buttons using a remote controller or the like, the state shifts to a data communication state via the network, and information corresponding to the clicked operation button is distributed via the network. For example, when the operation button B1 is clicked, a weather forecast information page is transmitted via the network and displayed on the screen, and when the operation button B2 is clicked, a news information page is transmitted via the network and displayed on the screen. When the operation button B3 is clicked, a program notification page is transmitted via the network and displayed on the screen. Such information pages are normally distributed as BML format data. Note that a general digital television has a Web browser function. Normally, the Web browser can be activated by pressing the “Internet” button on the remote control. When the Web browser is activated, a Web page on the Internet can be browsed on the screen of the digital television. In this case, the Web page is normally distributed as HTML format data.

  Although there is a difference that BML format data is displayed on the screen using the data communication function of the digital television, and HTML format data is displayed on the screen using the web browser function of the digital television, there is basically a difference. Any data is transmitted using a packet communication network on the network. The system according to the present invention provides a content providing service using the network communication function of a digital television. The operation button B4 shown in FIG. 4 is a button provided for shifting to a data communication state for receiving the service. That is, when the user clicks the operation button B4, a portal page serving as an entrance of the service is transmitted via the network and displayed on the screen.

  The “video distribution menu screen G1” shown in FIG. 5 is an example of such a portal page, and is displayed when the digital television shifts to a data communication state via a network. The block diagram shown in FIG. 1 does not show the components for displaying such a screen G1, but in order to display such a screen G1, it corresponds to the page as requested. A server device or the like that provides BML format data to the digital television via a network may be prepared. As described above, a technique for providing BML format data to a digital TV via a network is already known as a technique for providing weather forecast information and news information, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The screens G1 to G9 described in the following description including the “video distribution menu screen G1” may be provided as BML format data (in this case, using the data communication function of the digital television). It may be provided as HTML format data (displayed on the screen) (in this case, as described above, press the “Internet” button on the remote control to activate the Web browser function of the digital television and access the specified URL) It will be displayed on the screen). In short, the data necessary for displaying these screens is captured by the communication function via the network provided in the digital television, and the user's operation input on these screens is related to the present invention via the network. Information can be exchanged in any format as long as it is transmitted to the system (each unit 100, 200, 300 shown in FIG. 1).

  The “video distribution menu screen G1” shown in FIG. 5 functions as an entrance for executing the three-stage processing described in §1, and the user clicks three operation buttons displayed on the screen G1. By doing so, the process of each step can be started. That is, the operation button B5 is a button for starting the first stage (registration stage), and when the user clicks this button, step S11 of FIG. 2 is executed, and the digital television sets the registration preparation unit 120. Thus, a registration preparation request is transmitted. On the other hand, the operation button B6 is a button for starting the second stage (purchase stage), and when the user clicks this button, step S21 of FIG. On the other hand, a list request is transmitted. The operation button B7 is a button for starting the third stage (viewing stage), and when the user clicks this button, step S31 in FIG. 2 is executed, and the content list presenting unit 310 is executed from the digital television. On the other hand, a list request is transmitted.

  Now, the procedure in the case where the family “daddy” shown in FIG. 3 executes step S10 “user information registration processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 2 will be described. First, let's suppose that the living room TV 26 is used as a registration target digital TV, and registration associated with the mobile phone 11 is performed. First, the television 26 in the living room receives a digital broadcast from the broadcast station 30. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the data broadcast area 22 is displayed together with the moving image area 21, and the operation button B4 is clicked to display the “video distribution menu screen G1” (described in BML data) shown in FIG. (Or a web browser is started by pressing the “Internet” button on the remote controller and accessing a predetermined URL to move to the “video distribution menu screen G1” provided as HTML data). You may do that). When the operation button B5 is clicked on this screen G1, step S11 “Registration preparation request” in FIG. 2 is executed. That is, as described in §2, a registration preparation request with the TV identification code “aaa6666” is transmitted from the living room television 26 to the registration preparation unit 120.

  In response to this registration preparation request, the registration preparation unit 120 performs step S12 “Reply of registration code” in FIG. That is, the registration preparation unit 120 receives a registration code including the registration work address “add110.co.jp” for accessing the registration work unit 110 and the TV identification code “aaa6666” transmitted by the registration preparation request. Data for generating and displaying a registration preparation screen including the registration code in the form of a two-dimensional code is returned to the registration target digital television 26.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the registration code generated in this way. As shown in the figure, this registration code is composed of a character string “http://www.add110.co.jp/touroku.cgi?bcasid=aaa6666”. “Http: // www” at the top is a declaration statement indicating that communication using the HTTP protocol is performed on the Internet, and the subsequent “add110.co.jp” is for accessing the registration work unit 110. This is the registration work address. The former part so far is the part that constitutes the original URL indicating the server device constituting the registration work unit 110, and the latter part “touroku.cgi? Bcasid = aaa6666” functions as data delivered to the server device. Part. At the end of the latter half, the TV identification code “aaa6666” (the code transmitted from the registration target digital television 26) is included.

  The registration code generated in this way is converted into a two-dimensional code (a code of a format displayed as a pattern on a two-dimensional plane). FIG. 6 shows an example in which a two-dimensional code is converted into the most common QR code. The registration preparation unit 120 creates data for displaying a registration preparation screen including such a QR code (page display data described in BML format or HTML format), and returns the data to the television 26 in the living room. . The above is the processing of step S12 “Reply of registration code”.

  FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of a registration preparation screen G2 displayed on the screen of the living room television 26 based on the data thus returned. On the screen G2, a QR code is displayed together with a simple guidance about the procedure of the registration procedure.

  Now, the user “Daddy” prepares the registration target mobile phone 11 according to this guidance, and enters the registration code from the registration preparation screen G2 displayed on the living room TV 26 (registration target digital TV) on the mobile phone 11 side. Do the reading work. Specifically, a QR code image may be taken using a digital camera or the like equipped in the mobile phone 11. The substance of this QR code is a registration code consisting of the character string shown in FIG. The above is the processing of step S13 “reading registration code”.

  Subsequently, the user “Daddy” uses the registration target mobile phone 11 to perform Step S14 “Registration Work Request”. That is, the registration work unit 110 is accessed from the mobile phone 11 using the registration code captured as a QR code, and the TV identification code “aaa6666 included in the registration code is given to the registration work unit 110. "And the mobile phone identification code" 111111 "are transmitted to request registration. However, in performing this step S14, the user actually performs only the operation of accessing the URL indicated by the captured QR code using the Web browser function.

  In this access work, since the URL “http://www.add110.co.jp” is described in the first half of the registration code imported as a QR code, the Web browser of the mobile phone 11 is activated. This is an operation of accessing the URL. The specific operation for performing such work varies depending on the individual mobile phone, but if it is a general mobile phone, access to the URL based on the captured QR code is performed once or twice. This can be done with a click. In addition, at the time of this access, the process of transmitting the mobile phone identification code “111111” to the registration work unit 110 can be automatically performed by a known method. Thus, the registration operation unit 110 that has received access from the mobile phone 11 is accompanied by transmission of the TV identification code “aaa6666” of the registration target digital television 26 and the mobile phone identification code “111111” of the registration target mobile phone 11. A registration work request will be made.

  Step S15 “registration work” is a process in which the registration work unit 110 performs the registration work in response to the registration work request. In the basic embodiment described in Section 2, an example in which the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the TV identification code “aaa6666” are registered in association with each other is shown. That is, the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 1 is simply information indicating the correspondence between the mobile phone identification code and the TV identification code. Of course, it is sufficient to register the correspondence between these two codes in terms of associating the registration target mobile phone with the registration target digital TV. However, in practice, it is preferable to register additional information in addition to these two codes.

  Here, an example in which registration information 111 as shown in FIG. 8 is stored in the user information registration means 100 will be described. In the illustrated example, registration ID “R0001”, mobile phone identification code “111111”, mobile phone nickname “papa”, e-mail address “papa @ mail”, TV1 identification code “aaa6666”, TV1 nickname “living room TV”. Six pieces of information are registered. Among these, the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the TV1 identification code “aaa6666” are the TV identification code of the registration target digital television 26 and the mobile phone identification code of the registration target mobile phone 11 as described above, and the step S14 “Registration”. This is information transmitted from the mobile phone 11 side in response to the “work request”.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, four types of information are registered as additional information. First, the registration ID “R0001” is a unique ID corresponding one-to-one with the mobile phone identification code, and is automatically generated by the registration work unit 110. In the example shown here, a 4-digit serial number prefixed with an English letter R is used as the registration ID. Therefore, for the first registration, a registration ID “R0001” is automatically generated as shown in the figure. In short, the registration unit 110 of the embodiment shown here generates a unique registration ID each time a new mobile phone is registered, and registers the mobile phone identification code and the TV identification code in association with this registration ID. Will be processed. Eventually, a unique registration ID corresponding to one mobile phone identification code is generated, so that the registration ID “R0001” corresponds to the mobile phone identification code “111111” one-to-one. The registration ID “R0001” is equivalent to the mobile phone identification code “111111”. Formally, the cellular phone identification code “111111”, the TV1 identification code “aaa6666”, and other information are registered in association with the registration ID “R0001”.

  The mobile phone nickname “daddy” is a nickname for the mobile phone 11 specified by the mobile phone identification code “111111”, and can be arbitrarily added by the user. Similarly, the TV1 nickname “TV in the living room” is a nickname for the digital TV 26 specified by the TV1 identification code “aaa6666”, and can be arbitrarily added by the user. On the other hand, the e-mail address “papa @ mail” is an e-mail address that can be received by the cellular phone 11 to be registered, and an address designated by the user is registered. In the example shown in FIG. 8, blank portions labeled TV2 and TV3 are provided, but this is because a plurality of mobile telephones (one registered ID) (total in the example shown in the figure). This is because it is possible to associate three (3) digital televisions. If necessary, it is possible to add columns of TV4, TV5,... To associate four or more digital televisions.

  Incidentally, the mobile phone nickname “papa”, the TV 1 nickname “living room TV”, and the e-mail address “papa @ mail” shown in FIG. 8 are all information to be registered based on an instruction from the user. Therefore, in order to register these pieces of information, it is necessary to have the user input these pieces of information in step S15 “registration work”. Therefore, the registration work unit 110 has a function of presenting a registration work Web page to the registration target mobile phone 11 and performing a registration process based on a user operation input on the registration work Web page. ing.

  FIGS. 9A to 9E are plan views showing screen transitions of a registration work Web page displayed on the registration target mobile phone 11. The user uses the mobile phone 11 to perform an operation of inputting a predetermined character string in the input field of these Web pages. FIG. 9A is a screen for inputting a nickname of the registration target digital television 26. In the example shown in the figure, a character string “TV in the living room” is input. FIG. 9B is a screen for inputting the nickname of the cellular phone 11 to be registered. In the illustrated example, the character string “daddy” is input. FIG. 9C is a screen for inputting an e-mail address of the mobile phone. In the example shown in the figure, a character string “papa @ mail” is input. FIG. 9D is a screen for final confirmation of the information input in this way. When the “Register” button is clicked here, the input information is registered in the registration work unit 110 and registered as shown in FIG. Information 111 is secured. FIG. 9E shows a message screen indicating that registration has been completed. If an error is noticed on the confirmation screen shown in FIG. 9D, the user can restart the input from the beginning by clicking the “Cancel” button.

  Through the above procedure, the user “daddy” can register the registration target mobile phone 11 and the living room TV 26 (registration target digital TV) in association with each other, and register additional information. It can also be done. In addition, when performing this registration work, the operation performed on the living room television 26 is only an operation of clicking the operation button B5 on the screen G1 shown in FIG. 5, and all the other operations are performed on the mobile phone 11. Yes. Therefore, at least the operation on the digital television is very simple, and any complicated work is eliminated. On the other hand, the operations performed on the mobile phone 11 are only a QR code photographing operation, an access operation to the registration work unit 110 based on the QR code, and an input operation of each character string shown in FIG. Among these, the character string input operation is an operation that requires a little effort, but the character input operation on the mobile phone is much easier than the character input operation on the digital television.

  Subsequently, it is assumed that the user “Mama” uses the living room TV 26 as a registration target digital TV and performs registration to associate with the mobile phone 12 (of course, “Mama” himself actually performs the work). It is not necessary, and registration work may be performed using the mobile phone 12 whose “dad” is “mama”). The procedure of this registration work is the same as the work procedure performed by “Dad” described above, except that the mobile phone 12 is used instead of the mobile phone 11. FIG. 10 shows registration information 111 when the registration work by “Mama” is completed. The information registered by “Mama” is registered in association with the newly generated registration ID “R0002”. Regarding the mobile phone, although the mobile phone identification code “222222”, the mobile phone nickname “Mama”, and the e-mail address “mama @ mail” are registered, the registration content of the registration ID “R0001” is different. The registration contents relating to the registration ID are exactly the same as the registration contents of the registration ID “R0001”.

  In this system, a plurality of digital televisions can be registered in association with the same mobile phone. FIG. 11 shows an example of registration information when three digital televisions 26, 27, and 28 are registered to the mobile phone 11 of “Daddy”. Comparing the registration information of FIG. 11 with the registration information of FIG. 10, it can be seen that new information is added to the columns of TV2 and TV3. That is, information (identification code “ccc8888”, nickname “ccc8888” and identification code “bbb7777” and nickname “TV of study” is added to the column of TV2 and information “registration information of digital television 27” is added to the column of TV3. The information “Taro's TV” (registered information of the digital TV 28) is added.

  As described above, in order to register a plurality of digital televisions in association with the same mobile phone, the registration unit 110 has one mobile phone identification code and a plurality of TV identification codes for one registration ID. Whether or not the specific mobile phone identification code has already been registered when a new pair of the specific mobile phone identification code and the specific TV identification code is registered. If it has been registered, the specific TV identification code is additionally registered to the registered ID. If it has not been registered, a newly generated registration ID is registered. On the other hand, a process of newly registering the specific mobile phone identification code and the specific TV identification code is performed.

  This process will be described with reference to a specific example illustrated. For example, in the state where the registration as shown in FIG. 10 has already been performed, a new registration work request is given to link the digital television 27 (the study television) to the mobile phone 11 (the “papa” mobile phone). Consider the case. In this case, a registration work request for newly registering a pair of the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the TV identification code “bbb7777” is sent from the mobile phone 11 to the registration work unit 110. Therefore, the registration working unit 110 refers to the current registration information 111 and checks whether or not the mobile phone identification code “111111” has already been registered. As shown in FIG. 10, the mobile phone identification code “111111” has already been registered in association with the registration ID “R0001”. Therefore, the registration working unit 110 performs a process of additionally registering the TV identification code “bbb7777” with respect to the registered registration ID “R0001”. Actually, the TV identification code “bbb7777” and its nickname “study TV” are additionally registered in the TV2 column.

  When performing such additional registration, it is sufficient to register only information related to the digital TV to be registered (information on the mobile phone has already been input), so the nickname of the TV shown in FIG. It is only necessary to input

  The same applies to a case where a registration work request for associating the digital television 28 (Taro's television) with the mobile phone 11 ("Daddy's mobile phone") is given. In this case, a registration work request for registering a new pair of the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the TV identification code “ccc8888” is sent from the mobile phone 11 to the registration work unit 110. Therefore, the registration working unit 110 can confirm that the mobile phone identification code “111111” has already been registered by referring to the current registration information 111 and checking whether the mobile phone identification code “111111” has already been registered. Therefore, the registration work unit 110 performs a process of additionally registering the TV identification code “ccc8888” with respect to the registered registration ID “R0001”. Actually, the TV identification code “ccc8888” and its nickname “Taro's TV” are additionally registered in the TV3 column.

  On the other hand, in the state where the registration as shown in FIG. 11 has already been performed, a new registration work request is given to link the digital TV 28 (the study TV) to the mobile phone 13 (the mobile phone of “Taro”). Consider the case. In this case, a registration work request for newly registering a pair of the mobile phone identification code “333333” and the TV identification code “ccc8888” is sent from the mobile phone 13 to the registration work unit 110. Therefore, the registration work unit 110 refers to the current registration information 111 and checks whether or not the mobile phone identification code “333333” has already been registered. As shown in FIG. 11, the TV identification code “ccc8888” is registered in the registration ID “R0001”, but the mobile phone identification code “333333” has not been registered yet. Therefore, the registration working unit 110 newly generates a registration ID “R0003”, and for this new registration ID “R0003”, the mobile phone identification code “333333”, the TV identification code “ccc8888”, and other information. Process to register new.

  Subsequently, when a registration work request for associating the digital TV 26 (living room TV) with the mobile phone 13 (“Taro” mobile phone) is given, the mobile phone 13 sends the mobile phone to the registration work unit 110. A registration work request for registering a new pair of the telephone identification code “333333” and the TV identification code “aaa6666” is sent. In this case, it can be confirmed that the mobile phone identification code “333333” is already registered in association with the registration ID “R0003”. Therefore, the registration work unit 110 performs a process of additionally registering the TV identification code “aaa6666” and its nickname with respect to the registered registration ID “R0003”. The registration information 111 shown in FIG. 12 indicates the state at this time.

  As mentioned above, although an example of the specific registration form in a certain family was shown, of course, the registration information 111 registered in the registration work unit 110 includes not only information on users of a specific family but also information on many users. Contains. For example, FIG. 13 is an example in which information relating to a user “Jojiro” who is completely different from the family is registered as a registration ID “R0004”.

<<< §6. A specific form of purchase in a family >>>
Next, a procedure in the case where the family member shown in FIG. 3 executes step S20 “content purchase processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 2 will be described. Here, first, a description will be given of an operation in which one of the family (hereinafter simply referred to as a user) purchases movie content “Roman Holiday” using the living room TV 26 as a purchase processing digital TV.

  Also in this case, first, the television 26 in the living room receives the digital broadcast from the broadcasting station 30, and as shown in FIG. Click to move to the “video distribution menu screen G1” shown in FIG. 5 (or you may press the “Internet” button on the remote control to move from the Web browser). When the operation button B6 is clicked on this screen G1, step S21 “content list request” in FIG. 2 is executed. That is, as described in §3, a list request is transmitted from the living room television 26 to the content list presentation unit 240.

  In response to this list request, the content list presentation unit 240 performs step S22 “content list reply” in FIG. That is, the content list presentation unit 240 displays data (page display data described in BML format or HTML format) for displaying a content list indicating a list of content to be provided stored in the content storage unit 340. ) To the digital TV 26 for purchase processing. As a result, on the screen of the digital television 26, for example, a “content purchase screen G3” as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed. On this screen G3, the content list prepared by the content list presentation unit 240 is displayed.

  The user selects content to be purchased on the content list. Specifically, an operation of clicking content to be purchased may be performed. Here, it is assumed that the content “Roman Holiday” is clicked on the content list. Then, a transition is made to a “content purchase screen G4” as shown in FIG. On the left half of this screen G4, an image showing the content “Roman Holiday” selected as a purchase target is displayed in large size. On the right half of the screen G4, a mobile phone list and a “buy” button are displayed. It is displayed.

  Such display is performed by clicking on the content “Roman Holiday” on the screen G3, thereby performing Step S23 “Request for mobile phone list” and Step S24 “Mobile phone list” in FIG. This is because “reply” was made. That is, as described in §3, a list request accompanied by the TV identification code “aaa6666” is transmitted from the living room television 26 to the mobile phone list presentation unit 210, and the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 responds to the request. The mobile phone list is replied to the TV 26 in the living room. The mobile phone list on the right half of the screen G4 in FIG. 15 is a list returned in this way.

  As already described in §3, the mobile phone list presenting unit 210 refers to the registration information 111 in the registration working unit 110 in response to a mobile phone list request, so that the TV identification code of the purchase processing digital television 26 is displayed. A mobile phone list indicating a mobile phone having a mobile phone identification code associated with “aaa6666” is created and a process of returning the mobile phone list is performed. Here, it is assumed that the registration information 111 is in the state shown in FIG. 13 as a result of the registration process described in §5. Then, in the table of FIG. 13, the TV identification code “aaa6666” is registered at three locations of registration IDs “R0001”, “R0002”, and “R0003”, and the three mobile phone identification codes “111111”, “ 222222 ”and“ 333333 ”are associated with each other. Therefore, the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 creates a list in which each mobile phone having these three mobile phone identification codes is posted and returns it to the purchase processing digital television 26.

  By the way, although it is possible to use a mobile phone identification code as information indicating individual mobile phones, such codes are not familiar to general users. Therefore, in the embodiment described here, the mobile phone nickname registered in the registration process is used as information indicating individual mobile phones. For example, according to the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13, nicknames “papa”, “mama”, and “taro” are registered for three mobile phone identification codes “111111”, “222222”, and “333333”, respectively. Therefore, a list of these nicknames may be returned as a mobile phone list. The mobile phone list on the right half of the screen G4 in FIG. 15 is a list returned in this way.

  In the case of the embodiment described in §5, the registration unit 110 registers each mobile phone identification code in association with the mobile phone nickname indicated by the mobile phone identification code based on a registration instruction from the user. This function is convenient for enabling the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 to send back a mobile phone list indicating the nickname of each mobile phone.

  Now, on the screen G4 shown in FIG. 15, the user clicks one of the mobile phone nicknames listed in the mobile phone list, selects a mobile phone to be charged (used for payment), Click the “Yes” button. FIG. 15 shows a state in which “daddy” is selected from the mobile phone list. In this state, when the “Purchase” button is clicked, “Rome Holiday” is selected as the purchase target content, and the mobile phone 11 with the nickname “Daddy” is selected as the chargeable mobile phone. S25 “Purchase request” has been made.

  In step S25 “purchase request”, the purchase processing digital TV 26 sends a purchase history registration unit 220 a specific purchase target content in the content list, a specific chargeable mobile phone in the mobile phone list, Is a process of transmitting a purchase request designating. In the case of the above-described example, the purchase processing digital TV 26 purchases the purchase history registration unit 220 with the mobile phone identification code “111111” of the chargeable mobile phone and the content identification code “XYZ0101” of the purchase target content. A request will be sent.

  As described in §3, the user does not need to manually input the code “111111” or the code “XYZ0101”. The selection operation performed by the user is only an operation of clicking “Roman Holiday” on the screen G3 shown in FIG. 14 and clicking “Daddy” on the screen G4 shown in FIG. In order to transmit a purchase request with the code “111111” and the code “XYZ0101” from the digital television 26 to the purchase history registration unit 220 by such a click operation, for example, the content of each content in the content list The identification code is embedded, and the mobile phone identification code of each mobile phone is embedded in the mobile phone list. When the user selects content or a mobile phone by clicking, etc., the selected content is identified. The code and the identification code of the selected mobile phone may be transmitted from the digital television 20 to the purchase history registration unit 220 together with the purchase request.

  Alternatively, as described in §3, information regarding the position of each content on the content list can be shared between the content list presentation unit 240 and the purchase history registration unit 220, and a purchase history can be obtained from the digital TV 20. Instead of transmitting the content identification code to the registration unit 220, information indicating the position of the selected content on the list may be transmitted. Similarly, information regarding the position of each mobile phone on the mobile phone list can be shared between the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 and the purchase history registration unit 220, and the purchase history registration unit 220 can be accessed from the digital TV 20. Instead of transmitting the mobile phone identification code, information indicating the position of the selected mobile phone on the list may be transmitted.

  Thus, when a purchase request is transmitted to the purchase history registration unit 220, step S26 “history registration” is performed. In the basic embodiment described in §3, an example in which the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” are registered in association with each other is shown. That is, the registration information 222 shown in FIG. 1 is simply information indicating the correspondence between the mobile phone identification code and the content identification code. Of course, it is sufficient to register the correspondence between these two codes in terms of associating the chargeable mobile phone with the purchase target digital TV. However, in practice, it is preferable to register additional information in addition to these two codes.

  Here, an example in which registration information 222 as shown in FIG. 16 is stored in the purchase processing means 200 will be described. In the illustrated example, six pieces of information including a history ID “H0001”, a registration ID “R0001”, a content identification code “XYZ0101”, a purchase date and time “2007/03/24”, an amount “200 yen”, and a flag “valid” are registered. Has been.

  First, the history ID “H0001” shown in the first line is a unique ID given to each purchase history, and is automatically generated by the purchase history registration unit 220. In the example shown here, a 4-digit serial number prefixed with an English letter H is used as the history ID. Therefore, for the first registration, a history ID “H0001” is automatically generated as shown in the figure.

  On the other hand, the registration ID “R0001” shown in the second line is the registration ID used in the registration information 111 shown in FIG. As described above, the registration ID “R0001” has a one-to-one correspondence with a specific mobile phone identification code, and is substantially equivalent to the specific mobile phone identification code. Therefore, in the embodiment described here, a corresponding registration ID is used instead of the mobile phone identification code. That is, the purchase history registration unit 220 uses a registration ID corresponding to one-to-one instead of the mobile phone identification code, and performs a process of registering the registration ID and the content identification code in association with each other. This is because the registration ID is data generated by the system itself and is practically more convenient to handle than the mobile phone identification code. Of course, the corresponding mobile phone identification code may be used as it is instead of the registration ID. In that case, the mobile phone identification code “111111” is recorded in the second line of FIG. 16 instead of the registration ID “R0001”.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the registration ID “R0001” corresponds to the mobile phone identification code “111111”, and indicates the mobile phone 11 of “papa”. Therefore, when the operation using the registration ID is used instead of the mobile phone identification code as in the above-described embodiment, for example, the mobile phone identification code is embedded in the mobile phone list created by the mobile phone list presentation unit 210. Instead, a registration ID may be embedded. In any case, the mobile phone identification code and the registration ID have a one-to-one correspondence, and the correspondence is recorded as the registration information 111 shown in FIG. It can be converted.

  The content identification code “XYZ0101” shown in the third line of FIG. 16 is a code for indicating the purchase target content, and is transmitted from the purchase processing digital television 26. The purchase date and time “2007/03/24” shown in the fourth line is the date and time when the purchase process was executed. For example, the date and time when the purchase request was transmitted from the purchase processing digital television 26 Can be recorded.

  The amount “200 yen” shown in the fifth line indicates the price of the purchase target content. In practice, a price list indicating the amount of usage consideration for each content in the content storage unit 340 is prepared somewhere, and the usage price of each content can be grasped by referring to this price list. That's fine. For example, if the price data indicating the usage consideration is added to the data of each content in the content storage unit 340, the purchase history registration unit 220 uses the content identification code of the content to be purchased. The usage consideration can be recognized by referring to the inside of the storage unit 340.

  Based on this amount “200 yen”, the charging processing by the charging processing unit 230 is executed. Specifically, money data “200 yen” together with the mobile phone identification code “111111” corresponding to the registration ID “R0001” is transmitted from the billing processing unit 230 to the billing server 40, and used as the usage fee for the mobile phone 11. , 200 yen is added.

  The flag “valid” shown in the sixth line of FIG. 16 indicates that the purchase history is “valid”. As will be described later, this flag is used when the operation to make the purchase history “valid” when the billing process is completed without delay or when the operation for imposing restrictions on the usage period of the purchased content is performed. Is done.

  As described above, in the purchase history (six information groups arranged in one vertical column) recorded in FIG. 16, various additional information is practically incorporated. The most important function is to link the purchase target content “Rome holiday” to the mobile phone 11 of “papa” to be charged. In the case of the illustrated example, the association is made by registering the registration ID “R0001” equivalent to the mobile phone identification code “111111” of the mobile phone 11 of “Daddy” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” of “Roman Holiday”. This is done by recording the same purchase history information.

  A plurality of contents can be purchased by repeatedly executing the purchase process according to the above procedure. FIG. 17 shows the registration information 222 in the purchase history registration unit 220 when four contents are purchased by repeating the purchase process a total of four times. That is, the history ID “H0001” links the content (“Rome holiday”) with the content identification code “XYZ0101” and the registration ID “R0001” (“papa” mobile phone 11) according to the above-described procedure. The history ID “H0002” is a purchase history for associating another content with the content identification code “XYZ0303” with the registration ID “R0001” (the mobile phone 11 of “Daddy”). Yes, the history ID “H0003” is a purchase history for associating another content to which the content identification code “XYZ0505” is assigned with the registration ID “R0002” (the mobile phone 12 of “Mama”). The history ID “H0004” is a purchase history made by “Kojiro”, a user different from the family.

  As can be seen from the registration information 222 shown in FIG. 17, no TV identification code is recorded in any purchase history. This means that the purchased content is not directly linked to a specific digital television but directly linked to a specific mobile phone to be charged. In the purchase processing procedure described above, an example in which a user of the family shown in FIG. 3 makes a purchase request using the living room TV 26 as a digital television for purchase processing has been described. However, see the registration information 111 shown in FIG. As you can see, not only the living room TV 26 but also the study TV 27 and Taro TV 28 are registered in the registration ID “R0001”, so the study TV 27 and Taro TV 28 are digitally purchased. Even if a purchase request is issued using the television, the same result as the purchase history indicated as the history ID “H0001” can be obtained. As described above, one of the features of the system according to the present invention is that purchase processing with a very high degree of freedom can be performed even in an environment in which a plurality of digital televisions are installed in a family.

  However, as can be seen from the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13, the associated mobile phones are different depending on each television. For example, the living room TV 26 (TV identification code: “aaa6666”) is registered in three locations with registration IDs “R0001”, “R0002”, and “R0003”. Mobile phone 12 and “Taro” mobile phone 13. For this reason, when step S23 “list request” is performed from the living room television 26, the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 returns a mobile phone list on which the three mobile phones are posted. As shown, on the content purchase screen G4, a mobile phone list on which mobile phone nicknames “Dad”, “Mama”, and “Taro” are displayed is displayed, and the user can select any one of the three units. Can be selected as a mobile phone to be charged.

  However, as can be seen from the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13, the study television 27 (TV identification code: “bbb7777”) is registered only in one location with the registration ID “R0001”, and the mobile phone of “Daddy” Only the telephone 11 is linked. For this reason, when the step S23 “list request” is performed from the study television 27, the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 returns a mobile phone list in which only one mobile phone is posted. As shown in FIG. 4, on the content purchase screen G4, a mobile phone list on which only the mobile phone nickname “Daddy” is displayed is displayed, and the user is forced to select this only mobile phone.

  As can be seen from the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13, Taro's television 28 (TV identification code: “ccc8888”) is registered in two locations with registration IDs “R0001” and “R0003”. "Telephone" and "Taro" mobile phone 13 are linked. Therefore, when step S23 “list request” is performed from Taro's television 28, the mobile phone list presentation unit 210 returns a mobile phone list on which the two mobile phones are posted. As shown, on the content purchase screen G4, a mobile phone list with mobile phone nicknames “Dad” and “Taro” is displayed, and the user is charged for one of the two. It will be selected as a mobile phone.

<<< §7. Specific viewing style in a family >>>
Next, a procedure when the family member shown in FIG. 3 executes Step S30 “content viewing processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 2 will be described. Here, first, a description will be given of an operation in which one of the family (hereinafter simply referred to as a user) uses the living room television 26 as a viewing digital television to view the movie content “Roman Holiday” that has already been purchased. To do.

  Also in this case, first, the television 26 in the living room receives the digital broadcast from the broadcasting station 30, and as shown in FIG. Click to move to the “video distribution menu screen G1” shown in FIG. 5 (or you may press the “Internet” button on the remote control to move from the Web browser). When the operation button B7 is clicked on this screen G1, step S31 “content list request” in FIG. 2 is executed. That is, as described in §4, a list request is transmitted from the living room television 26 to the content list presentation unit 310.

  In response to this list request, the content list presentation unit 310 performs step S32 “Reply of content list” in FIG. That is, the content list presenting unit 310 displays data for displaying a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided stored in the content storage unit 340 (page display data described in BML format or HTML format). ) Is returned to the viewing digital television 26. As a result, on the screen of the digital television 26, for example, a “content viewing screen G5” as shown in FIG. 20 is displayed. On this screen G5, the content list prepared by the content list presentation unit 310 is displayed.

  The user selects content to be viewed on the content list. Specifically, an operation of clicking a content to be viewed may be performed. Here, it is assumed that the content “Roman Holiday” is clicked on the content list. Then, a transition is made to a “content viewing screen G6” as shown in FIG. On the left half of the screen G6, an image showing the content “Roman Holiday” selected as the purchase target is displayed in large size, and on the right half of the screen G6, a “view” button is displayed. In this state, when the user clicks the “view” button, “Rome holiday” is selected as the content to be viewed, and step S33 “view request” is performed. As a result, the TV identification code “aaa6666” of the viewing digital television and the content identification code “XYZ0101” of the viewing target content (the selected “Roman Holiday” code) are sent from the living room TV 26 to the viewing permission / inhibition determining unit 320. A viewing request with is transmitted.

  In this way, when a viewing request is transmitted to the viewing availability determination unit 320, step S34 “viewing availability determination” is performed. That is, when the viewing request is transmitted, the viewing permission / inhibition determining unit 320 receives the viewing digital television and the viewing target content based on the registration information 111 in the user information registration unit 100 and the registration information 222 in the purchase processing unit 200. Is associated with each other, and if they are associated with each other, it is determined whether the viewing is possible.

  In the case of the embodiment described here, the viewability determination unit 320 determines whether the specific TV identification code and the specific content identification code are associated with each other, the registration information 111 in the user information registration unit 100. , The registration ID associated with the specific TV identification code is recognized, the registration information 222 in the purchase processing means 200 is referred to, and the specific content identification code is associated with the registration ID. If it is determined that the specific TV identification code and the specific content identification code are associated with each other. Hereinafter, this determination process will be described based on a specific example.

  Here, as a result of performing the registration process described in §5, registration information 111 as illustrated in FIG. 13 is stored in the registration work unit 110, and as a result of performing the purchase process described in §6, purchase is performed. It is assumed that registration information 222 as shown in FIG. 17 is stored in the history registration unit 220. In the case of the above-described example, since the TV identification code “aaa6666” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” are given together with the viewing request, the viewing permission determination unit 320 determines whether or not the two codes are associated with each other. That's fine.

  First, referring to the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13, the registration ID in which the TV identification code “aaa6666” is registered is recognized. As a result, three registration IDs “R0001”, “R0002”, and “R0003” can be recognized. Therefore, this time, with reference to the registration information 222 shown in FIG. 17, whether or not the content identification code “XYZ0101” is associated with any of these three registration IDs “R0001”, “R0002”, and “R0003”. In the purchase history indicated by the history ID “H0001”, the correspondence between the registration ID “R0001” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” can be confirmed. Thus, since the correspondence between the code “aaa6666” and the code “XYZ0101” has been confirmed, the viewing availability determination unit 320 determines whether or not viewing is possible.

  In this way, if it is determined that “viewing is possible”, step S35 “content distribution” is executed, and the content distribution unit 340 sends “Roman Holiday” to the living room TV 26 (digital TV for viewing). Will be distributed. On the other hand, if it is determined that “viewing is not possible”, some kind of error message is delivered.

  The procedure for viewing using the living room TV 26 as the viewing digital TV has been described above, but the content “Roman Holiday” can be viewed either from the study TV 27 or from the Taro TV 28.

  For example, when viewed from the television 27 in the study, the TV identification code “bbb7777” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” are given to the viewing permission / inhibition determining unit 320, but the registration information 111 shown in FIG. , The registration ID “R0001” can be recognized as the registration ID in which the TV identification code “bbb7777” is registered. Therefore, this time, referring to the registration information 222 shown in FIG. 17, whether or not the content identification code “XYZ0101” is associated with the registration ID “R0001” is indicated by the history ID “H0001”. In the purchase history, the correspondence between the registration ID “R0001” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” can be confirmed. Thus, since the correspondence between the code “bbb7777” and the code “XYZ0101” has been confirmed, the viewing availability determination unit 320 determines whether or not viewing is possible.

  On the other hand, when viewing from Taro's television 28, the TV identification code “ccc8888” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” are given to the viewing permission / inhibition determining unit 320, but the registration information 111 shown in FIG. , Registration IDs “R0001” and “R0003” can be recognized as registration IDs in which the TV identification code “ccc8888” is registered. Therefore, this time, referring to the registration information 222 shown in FIG. 17, whether or not the content identification code “XYZ0101” is associated with any of the registration IDs “R0001” and “R0003” In the purchase history indicated by the ID “H0001”, the correspondence between the registration ID “R0001” and the content identification code “XYZ0101” can be confirmed. Thus, since the correspondence between the code “ccc8888” and the code “XYZ0101” has been confirmed, the viewing availability determination unit 320 determines whether the viewing is possible or not.

  As described above, one of the features of the system according to the present invention is that the viewing can be performed with a very high degree of freedom in an environment in which a plurality of digital televisions are installed in a family. Of course, depending on the content, you may want to restrict viewing to a specific digital TV. For example, in the case of movie content for adults that “Daddy” and “Mama” plan to watch together, a request to prevent viewing on Taro's TV 28 on the assumption that it is viewed on the TV 26 in the living room. Suppose there was. Such content may be purchased as the mobile phone 12 of “Mama” as the mobile phone to be charged. The history ID “H0003” in the registration information 222 shown in FIG. 17 indicates such a purchase history. In the purchase history, since the mobile phone 12 of “Mama” is the mobile phone to be charged, the corresponding registration ID is “R0002”. On the other hand, in the registration information 111 of FIG. 13, since only the living room TV is registered as the digital TV corresponding to the registration ID “R0002”, the content can be viewed only on the living room TV.

<<< §8. Some variations >>>
Finally, some modifications of the present invention will be described.

(1) List presentation of only content that can be viewed A “content viewing screen G5” shown in FIG. 20 displays a content list for selecting content to be viewed. This content list is a list prepared by the content list presenting unit 310 and is a list indicating a list of content stored in the content storage unit 340. However, when viewing content, not all content posted in the content list can be viewed. The content that can actually be viewed is limited to the content that has been purchased through the purchase process.

  Therefore, in the “content viewing screen G5”, it is possible to select and display only viewable content so that content that cannot be viewed is not selected by mistake. Specifically, in response to an inquiry from the content list presentation unit 310, the viewability determination unit 320 checks whether or not a specific digital television and a specific content are associated with each other. A function for returning a determination result of “viewable” is provided. Then, the content list presenting unit 310 determines whether or not each content stored in the content storage unit 340 is “viewable” based on the association with the viewing digital TV, with respect to the viewability determination unit 320. And a content list including only the content to which the determination result “viewing is possible” is returned.

(2) Fusion of Purchase Process and Viewing Process In the flowchart of FIG. 2, Step S20 “Content Purchase Process” and Step S30 “Content View Process” are shown as completely independent procedures. This is common in that there is a process of “selecting specific content”. For this reason, steps S21 and S31 “content list request” are common processes, and steps S22 and S32 “content list reply” are also common processes. Accordingly, the “content purchase screen G3” shown in FIG. 14 and the “content viewing screen G5” shown in FIG. 20 are substantially the same screen. For this reason, the point that the content list presentation unit 240 and the content list presentation unit 310 shown in FIG. 1 can be substantially the same constituent elements is as already described.

  Therefore, in practice, the content list presenting unit 240 and the content list presenting unit 310 are used as a single common component, and step S20 “content purchase processing” and step S30 “content viewing processing” are combined. It is also possible to take. In the “video distribution menu screen G1” shown in FIG. 5, three operation buttons B5, B6, and B7 are provided, and play a role of shifting to steps S10, S20, and S30, respectively. On the other hand, in the case of adopting the fusion mode, a “video distribution menu screen G7” as shown in FIG. 22 may be prepared. This screen G7 is provided with only two operation buttons B8 and B9. The operation button B8 corresponds to the operation button B5 on the screen G1, and is for shifting to step S10 “user information registration processing”. On the other hand, the operation button B9 also serves as the operation buttons B6 and B7 on the screen G1, and is for shifting to “content purchase / view processing” in which step S20 and step S30 are combined.

  When the operation button B9 is clicked on this screen G7, a “content purchase / viewing screen G8” as shown in FIG. 23 is displayed. This screen G8 is substantially the same as the “content purchase screen G3” shown in FIG. 14 or the “content viewing screen G5” shown in FIG. 20, and the “content list request” process in step S21 or S31; This is a screen obtained by performing step S22 or S32 "Reply content list" processing.

  Whether the user purchases content or views content, the user may first select specific content (for example, click operation) on the “content purchase / view screen G8”. When specific content is selected, a transition is made to a “content purchase / viewing screen G9” as shown in FIG. This screen G9 is substantially the same as the screen G4 shown in FIG. 15, but a “view” button is provided in addition to the “purchase” button, and the “content purchase screen G4” shown in FIG. This is a screen obtained by integrating the “content viewing screen G6” shown in FIG.

  In order to purchase the selected content, the user can select the mobile phone to be charged from the list and click the “Purchase” button. To view the selected content, the user simply clicks the “View” button. Just click.

(3) Inquiry of registration contents from mobile phone As shown in the registration information 111 of FIG. 13, a plurality of digital televisions can be registered for one mobile phone in the user information registration means 100. Is possible. In the illustrated example, three digital televisions 26, 27, and 28 are registered in the mobile phone 11 of “daddy” corresponding to the registration ID “R0001”.

  Therefore, if the user can inquire which digital TV is registered for a specific mobile phone at the present time, it is convenient because the user can grasp the current registration state.

  In the case of the embodiment described in §2, the registration working unit 110 registers each TV identification code in association with the nickname of the digital television indicated by the TV identification code based on a registration instruction from the user. have. Also in the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13, nicknames are registered for individual digital televisions. Therefore, if the registration work unit 110 has a function of responding to a registration content inquiry from a mobile phone, a function for answering the nickname of the TV identification code registered in association with the mobile phone identification code of the mobile phone, It can meet the user's request.

  Specifically, when the user accesses the inquiry processing URL of the registration work unit 110 using the Web browser function of the mobile phone 11, the registration content inquiry as shown in FIG. When the screen is displayed and the “registration content inquiry” button is clicked here, the registration work unit 110 may perform a process of displaying the inquiry result on the Web page. FIG. 25B is an example of a Web page showing such a query result.

  When the registration content is inquired from the mobile phone 11, the mobile phone identification code “111111” is transmitted from the mobile phone 11 to the registration work unit 110. Then, the registration work unit 110 refers to the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13, and the nickname “living room” of the three digital TVs registered for the mobile phone 11 (mobile phone identification code “111111”). No. TV ”,“ Study TV ”, and“ Taro TV ”can be acquired, so that a Web page showing the inquiry result as shown in FIG.

(4) Billing process based on user's own operation In the embodiment described so far, the billing processing unit 230 sends the billing server 40 the identification code of the cellular phone to be charged and the content to be purchased. The billing process was performed by transmitting data indicating the price. The billing process performed by the system according to the present invention broadly means a process in which the price of the purchase target content is added to the usage fee of the billing target mobile phone. Specifically, it is sufficient if the “information for identifying the billing target mobile phone” and the “information indicating the price of the purchase target content” are delivered to the billing server 40.

  However, when the present invention is implemented in the real world, various security restrictions and restrictions from the viewpoint of personal information protection are imposed. Therefore, in the system shown in FIG. In many cases, it is difficult to directly hand over “information for identifying a chargeable mobile phone” and “information indicating the price of purchase target content” to 40. In particular, when the business entity that operates the content providing business using the system according to the present invention is different from the business entity that operates the mobile phone service providing business, the charging processing unit 230 directly accesses the charging server 40. There is a possibility that the operation form for transferring the billing information is not allowed.

  At present, many business entities that develop mobile phone services employ an operation in which billing processing is executed only for commercial transactions authenticated by individual users by direct access from the mobile phone to the billing server 40. As long as the user uses the mobile phone of the business entity that employs such an operation, it is not permitted to transfer the charging information directly from the charging processing unit 230 to the charging server 40. Of course, this problem is not a purely technical problem, but a problem of business operation between businesses, and a problem that can be solved by negotiation between businesses. However, even if it cannot be solved by negotiation, the present invention can be implemented by taking the following best measures based on the following modifications.

  In this modification, it is assumed that the accounting process is performed using the user's own operation. For example, in the above-described example, when the content “Roman Holiday” is purchased using the mobile phone 11 of “daddy” as the mobile phone to be charged, the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the price “ It is necessary to make payment by handing over the information “200 yen”. In this modification, the hand-over of the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the price “200 yen” is performed by the user's own hand using the mobile phone 11 of “papa”.

  For this purpose, the user's e-mail address is registered in the user information registration means 100. In the embodiment described in §2, the registration unit 110, based on a registration instruction from the user, a mobile phone identification code indicating a specific mobile phone used by the user, and an e-mail address that can be received by the mobile phone Are registered in association with each other. For example, in the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13, predetermined e-mail addresses are registered in association with individual mobile phones.

  On the other hand, when one purchase history is registered, the billing processing unit 230 “a billing work address for accessing a billing server for billing a mobile phone to be billed” and “ A billing code including “purchase history specifying information for identifying one purchase history” is generated, and an email including the billing code is sent to an email address registered for a mobile phone to be billed. Have a processing function to send.

  For example, in the above-described example, when the content “Roman Holiday” is purchased using the mobile phone 11 of “daddy” as the chargeable mobile phone, the purchase history registration unit 220 registers the purchase history as shown in FIG. Is done. Therefore, the charging processing unit 230 uses, for example, the history ID “H0001” as the purchase history specifying information for specifying the purchase history, and the “charging server 40 that charges the mobile phone 11 to be charged” is used. A charging code may be generated using “add40.co.jp”, which is a charging work address for accessing “,” and the history ID “H0001”.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of the billing code generated in this way. As shown in the figure, this billing code is composed of a character string “http://www.add40.co.jp/kakin.cgi?userid=H0001”. “Http: // www” at the top is a declaration statement indicating that communication using the HTTP protocol is performed on the Internet, and the following “add40.co.jp” is for accessing the accounting server 40. This is a billing work address. The first half so far is the part that constitutes the original URL indicating the charging server 40, and the second half “kakin.cgi? Userid = H0001” is the part that functions as data to be delivered to the charging server 40. At the end of the latter half, a history ID “H0001” is included. In order to increase security, a one-time password may be added to this URL.

  The billing code generated in this way is transmitted to the registered e-mail address together with the e-mail text. In the case of the illustrated example, an e-mail text is created that includes a character string “I will purchase“ Roman Holiday ”for 200 yen from the television.” The purchase history with the history ID “H0001” shown in FIG. 16 includes the content identification code “XYZ0101” and the amount of money “200 yen”. Can be created.

  In addition, since the e-mail address “papa @ mail” is registered in the registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13 in association with the mobile phone 11 of “papa”, the e-mail has the address “papa @ mail”. Is sent to. FIG. 27 (a) shows a state where the user “daddy” receives and browses the email using the email browsing function of the mobile phone 11. Here, when the user clicks the URL “http://www.add40.co.jp/kakin.cgi?userid=H0001”, the Web browser function of the mobile phone 11 is activated, and the accounting server 40 is automatically connected. Access is performed, and the history ID “H0001” is delivered to the accounting server 40.

  The accounting server 40 authenticates the access right for the user in order to ensure security. For example, FIG. 27B shows a display screen of the mobile phone 11 when the billing server 40 requests the user to input a password. When the user inputs a correct password, the screen changes as shown in FIG. When the user makes a final confirmation here and clicks the “Purchase” button, formal charging processing by the charging server 40 is performed. Specifically, the billing server 40 searches the registration information 222 in the purchase history registration unit 220 to obtain the mobile phone identification code “111111” and the amount “200 yen” corresponding to the history ID “H0001”. The charging process may be executed based on these pieces of information. When such billing processing is completed without any problem, it is preferable to display a confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 27 (d) on the screen of the mobile phone 11.

  If the procedure as described above is followed, the billing server 40 can perform billing processing based on the user's own operation using the mobile phone 11, and also executes necessary access right authentication processing at that time. can do. On the other hand, on the purchase processing means 200 side, by receiving a search using the history ID “H0001” from the billing server 40, the purchase processing means 200 recognizes that the billing processing for the purchase history related to the history ID “H0001” has been completed without any trouble. Can do. In other words, the accounting server 40 reports the completion of accounting to the purchase history registration unit 220.

  If such a billing completion report is used, it is possible to operate such that only a purchase history for which a billing completion report has been made is treated as valid. The “flag” shown in the sixth line of the registration information 222 in FIG. 16 is used for such operations. That is, the purchase history registration unit 220 adds an invalid flag when registering individual purchase histories in step S26 “history registration”. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 16, information from the first line to the fifth line is recorded, and the flag on the sixth line is set to “invalid”. Then, at the end of step S27 “billing process”, when a billing completion report is received for the specific purchase history from the billing server 40, the flag of the specific purchase history is changed from “invalid” to “valid”. You can do it. In this case, if any trouble occurs in the billing process on the billing server 40 side, the purchase history flag remains in the “invalid” state.

  It is also possible to transmit such a charge completion report to the user. For example, when the purchase history registration unit 220 receives a report on completion of charging for a specific purchase history from the charging server 40, an e-mail notifying that the purchase procedure for the purchase target content related to the specific purchase history has been completed May be transmitted to the e-mail address registered for the mobile phone to be charged related to the specific purchase history. For example, when a report on the completion of billing for the purchase history shown in FIG. 16 is received, it is notified that the billing of 200 yen has been completed for the content “Roman Holiday” identified by the content identification code “XYZ0101”. Email to be sent to the email address “papa @ mail”.

  In addition, instead of the history ID “H0001” at the end of the billing code shown in FIG. 26, an amount “200 yen” is inserted, and “http://www.add40.co.jp/kakin.cgi?price=200 And the mobile phone 11 transmits the mobile phone identification code “111111” to the billing server 40 when there is an access from the user using the mobile phone 11. Since the charging server 40 can obtain the information of the code “111111” and the price “200 yen”, the charging server 40 executes the charging process without performing the process of searching the registration information 222 in the purchase history registration unit 220. be able to. However, in this case, a charge completion report specifying individual purchase histories cannot be sent to the purchase history registration unit 220.

(5) Setting of viewing expiration date In the embodiments described so far, once purchased content can be viewed at any time thereafter, a viewing expiration date can be set for each purchased content. For example, purchase date information is recorded in the registration information 222 shown in FIG. Therefore, when the purchase history registration unit 220 registers one purchase history, it also registers information indicating the date and time of registration, and when a predetermined expiration date has passed from the date and time of registration. If the process of changing the purchase history flag to invalid is performed, an operation in which a viewing expiration date is set for each content can be performed.

(6) Restriction on Number of Registration Target Televisions The registration information 111 shown in FIG. 13 shows an example in which a maximum of three digital televisions are registered for one mobile phone. In this way, if a plurality of digital TVs can be registered for one mobile phone, even in an environment where a plurality of digital TVs are installed in a family, it is possible to operate with a very high degree of freedom. Become. In this case, technically, it is possible to register digital televisions such as 10, 100, and 1000 for one mobile phone. It is preferable to limit the number of digital TVs that can be registered.

  This is because, in the system according to the present invention, it is possible to operate with a high degree of freedom as described above. On the other hand, any digital TV registered for the same mobile phone can be charged for the mobile phone. This is because the purchased content can be viewed, which may cause an adverse effect of accepting an unauthorized usage form.

  In general, it can be said that an environment in which “the purchased content can be freely viewed from a television set in any room within the same home” is a desirable mode of use. However, if registration of as many as 100 televisions for one mobile phone is permitted, it will be a factor that leaves the usage environment in the home and encourages free viewing by an unspecified number of people. In order to eliminate such an illegal usage pattern, it is preferable to limit the number of digital televisions that can be registered for one mobile phone.

  For this purpose, an upper limit value (for example, three or five) can be set for the number of TV identification codes that can be registered for one registration ID at the time of registration by the registration working unit 11, and an additional value exceeding this upper limit value is set. A registration work request that causes registration may be rejected.

(7) Restricting simultaneous distribution of the same content As another method of eliminating the above-described illegal usage pattern, a method of limiting the simultaneous distribution of the same content is also effective. For example, if you purchase “Roman Holidays” for a specific mobile phone as a billing target, take measures to prevent simultaneous distribution of “Roman Holidays” for multiple digital TVs linked to the billing mobile phone. To take. In general, in the home environment, it is rare that the same content is viewed on different TVs at the same time, so even if such simultaneous distribution restriction is performed, the convenience is not lost so much. . On the other hand, in different homes, the same content can be watched on different TVs at the same time. However, it is not possible to install multiple digital TVs linked to the same billable mobile phone between different homes. In general, since it is an item that should be used as an unauthorized usage pattern, simultaneous distribution restriction is effective in suppressing such an unauthorized usage pattern.

  In order to perform such simultaneous distribution restriction, the viewing permission determination unit 320 determines a viewing request that the same content is simultaneously distributed to a plurality of digital televisions associated with the same mobile phone. May be determined as “unviewable”.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the content provision system which concerns on fundamental embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the provision method of the content using the system shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a structure of the home which has several digital television and several mobile telephones. It is a top view which shows the screen of the broadcast reception state in a general digital television. It is a top view which shows an example of the initial screen of the digital television which changed to the data communication state in order to utilize the content provision system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the code for registration produced by step S12 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which displays the registration preparation screen containing the code for registration shown in FIG. 6 on the screen of a digital television, and performs reading operation of step S13 of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the more practical registration information accumulate | stored in the registration operation | work part. It is a top view which shows the screen transition of the web page for registration work displayed on a registration object mobile phone in order to input the registration information shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the registration information accumulate | stored in the registration operation | work part 111 at the time of registering about two mobile phones which the user of the same family has. It is a figure which shows the registration information accumulate | stored in the registration operation | work part 111 at the time of registering 3 units | sets about one mobile phone. It is a figure which shows the registration information accumulate | stored in the registration operation | work part 111 at the time of registering about three mobile phones which the user of the same family has. It is a figure which shows the registration information accumulate | stored in the registration operation | work part 111 at the time of registering about the mobile phone which the user of a different family has. It is a top view which shows the "content purchase screen" of the digital television which presents the "content list" returned by step S22 of FIG. 2, and prompts selection of the content for purchase. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a “content purchase screen” of a digital television that presents the “mobile phone list” returned in step S24 of FIG. 2 and prompts the user to select a mobile phone for settlement. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing registration information accumulated in a purchase history registration unit 222 when a purchase request in step S25 of FIG. 2 is made. It is a figure which shows the registration information accumulate | stored in the purchase history registration part 222 when four purchase requests are made. It is a top view which shows another example of the "content purchase screen" of the digital television which presents the "mobile phone list" returned by step S24 of FIG. 2, and prompts selection of the mobile phone for payment. It is a top view which shows another example of the "content purchase screen" of the digital television which presents the "mobile phone list" returned in step S24 of FIG. 2, and prompts selection of the mobile phone for payment. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a “content viewing screen” of a digital television that presents the “content list” returned in step S32 of FIG. 2 and prompts selection of content to be viewed. It is a top view which shows the "content viewing screen" of the digital television which inputs the viewing instruction of the selected content. It is a top view which shows the modification of the initial screen of the digital television which changed to the data communication state in order to utilize the content provision system which concerns on this invention. FIG. 23 is a plan view showing a state in which a “content list” for prompting selection of content to be purchased or viewed is presented on the “content purchase / view screen” transferred from the initial screen shown in FIG. 22; FIG. 23 is a plan view showing a state in which a purchase or viewing instruction or a display for prompting selection of a mobile phone for settlement is displayed on the “content purchase / view screen” transferred from the initial screen shown in FIG. 22; It is a top view which shows the screen transition of the mobile telephone in the inquiry work of the digital television registered in association with the mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows the content of the email transmitted to the said user's mobile telephone address in the modification which performs a user's own payment process. It is a top view which shows the screen transition of the mobile telephone in which the user who received the electronic mail shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10: mobile phone 11-13: mobile phone 20: digital television 21: moving image area 22: data broadcast area 26-28: digital television 30: broadcast station 40: billing server 100: user information registration means 110: registration work unit 111 : Registration information in the registration work unit 120: Registration preparation unit 200: Purchase processing means 210: Mobile phone list presentation unit 220: Purchase history registration unit 222: Registration information in the purchase history registration unit 230: Charge processing unit 240: Content list presentation unit 300: Viewing processing means 310: Content list presentation unit 320: Viewing availability determination unit 320
330: Content distribution unit 340: Content storage unit B1-B7: Operation buttons G1-G9: Digital television data communication display screens S10-S35: Steps in the flowchart

Claims (24)

A system for providing content to a digital television having a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast and a communication function via a network,
User information registration means for registering a mobile phone identification code indicating a specific mobile phone used by the user and a TV identification code indicating a specific digital television used by the user in association with each other based on a registration instruction from the user When,
Based on the purchase instruction from the user, the mobile phone identification code of the mobile phone to be charged and the content identification code of the content to be purchased are registered in association with each other and the mobile phone to be charged is used. Purchase processing means for charging the price of the content to be purchased,
Based on the registration information in the user information registration unit and the registration information in the purchase processing unit when there is a viewing request for viewing a specific viewing target content using a specific viewing digital TV, It is checked whether or not the TV identification code of the viewing digital television is associated with the content identification code of the viewing target content, and when both are associated, the viewing target content is converted to the viewing digital television. Viewing processing means for distributing to the network via the network;
A system for providing content to a digital television, comprising: The system of claim 1, wherein
The user information registration means generates a unique registration ID corresponding to the mobile phone identification code on a one-to-one basis, registers the mobile phone identification code and the TV identification code in association with the registration ID,
The purchase processing means uses a registration ID corresponding to the one-to-one instead of the mobile phone identification code, registers the registration ID and the content identification code in association with each other,
When the viewing processing means examines whether or not the specific TV identification code and the specific content identification code are associated with each other, the registration information in the user information registration means is referred to and the specific TV identification code is added to the specific TV identification code. If the specific content identification code is associated with the recognized registration ID by referring to the registration information in the purchase processing means by recognizing the associated registration ID, the specific TV identification code And a content providing system for a digital television, wherein it is determined that the specific content identification code is associated. The system according to claim 1 or 2,
The user information registration means has a registration preparation unit capable of communicating with a digital television via a network, and a registration working unit capable of communicating with a mobile phone via a network,
The registration preparation unit receives a registration work address for accessing the registration work unit when there is a registration preparation request accompanied by transmission of a TV identification code of the registration target digital TV from the registration target digital TV. Generating a registration code including a TV identification code, and performing processing for returning data for displaying a registration preparation screen including the registration code in the form of a two-dimensional code to the registration target digital television,
The registration work unit receives an access using the registration code from a registration target mobile phone, and in this access, when there is a registration work request accompanied by transmission of the mobile phone identification code of the registration target mobile phone, A system for providing content to a digital television, characterized in that a process of registering a transmitted mobile phone identification code and a TV identification code included in the registration code in association with each other is performed. The system of claim 3, wherein
A digital television characterized in that a registration unit generates a unique registration ID each time a new mobile phone is registered, and registers a mobile phone identification code and a TV identification code in association with the registration ID. Content provision system. The system of claim 4, wherein
The registration unit has a function of registering one mobile phone identification code and a plurality of TV identification codes in association with one registration ID, and a specific mobile phone identification code, a specific TV identification code, When a new pair is registered, it is checked whether or not the specific mobile phone identification code has already been registered. If the specific mobile phone identification code has already been registered, the specific ID is registered with respect to the registered ID. If the registered TV identification code is not registered yet, the specific mobile phone identification code and the specific TV identification code are newly registered for the newly generated registration ID. A content providing system for digital TV. The system of claim 5, wherein
The registration work unit sets an upper limit for the number of TV identification codes that can be registered for one registration ID, and performs a process of rejecting a registration work request that causes additional registration exceeding the upper limit. A content providing system for digital television. The system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the registration unit has a function of registering each TV identification code in association with the nickname of the digital television indicated by the TV identification code based on a registration instruction from the user. And providing a content providing system for a digital television, wherein a nickname of a TV identification code registered in association with the mobile phone identification code of the mobile phone is returned in response to a registration content inquiry from the mobile phone. The system according to any one of claims 3 to 7,
A registration work unit presents a registration work web page to a registration target mobile phone, and performs a registration process based on a user operation input on the registration work web page. Content provision system. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
Purchase processing means
A content list presentation unit that returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided when a content list request is received from the purchase processing digital TV via the network;
Corresponding to the TV identification code of the digital TV for purchase processing by referring to the registration information in the user information registration means when a list of mobile phones is requested from the digital TV for purchase processing via the network A mobile phone list presentation unit for returning a mobile phone list indicating a mobile phone having a mobile phone identification code attached;
When there is a purchase request specifying a specific purchase target content in the content list and a specific chargeable mobile phone in the mobile phone list from the purchase processing digital TV via a network, A purchase history registration unit that associates the mobile phone identification code of the chargeable mobile phone with the content identification code of the purchase target content, and registers this as one purchase history;
A billing processing unit for performing a process of charging the purchase target content for the usage fee of the billing target mobile phone when the purchase history is registered;
A content providing system for a digital television, comprising: The system of claim 9, wherein
The user information registration means has a function of registering each mobile phone identification code in association with the mobile phone nickname indicated by the mobile phone identification code based on a registration instruction from the user,
A content providing system for a digital television, wherein a mobile phone list presenting unit returns a mobile phone list in which a nickname of each mobile phone is expressed. The system according to claim 9 or 10,
The charging processing unit performs a process of transmitting a mobile phone identification code of the charging target mobile phone and data indicating the price of the purchase target content to a charging server that charges the mobile phone to be charged. Content provision system for digital TV. The system according to claim 9 or 10,
A function in which the user information registration means registers a mobile phone identification code indicating a specific mobile phone used by the user in association with an e-mail address that can be received by the mobile phone, based on a registration instruction from the user. Have
When the purchase processing unit registers one purchase history, the “billing work address for accessing the billing server for charging the mobile phone to be charged” and “the one purchase history” Generating a billing code including “purchase history identifying information for identifying the billing information” and sending an email including the billing code to the email address registered for the mobile phone to be billed. A system for providing content to digital TVs. The system of claim 12, wherein
When the purchase history registration unit adds an invalid flag when registering individual purchase histories and receives a report on the completion of billing for a particular purchase history from the billing server, A system for providing content to a digital television, wherein the flag is changed from invalid to valid. The system of claim 13, wherein
Each time the purchase history registration unit registers one purchase history, a unique history ID is generated, and the “mobile phone identification code or one-to-one registration ID corresponding to this” and the “content identification code” Correspond to history ID, register this as one purchase history,
A content providing system for a digital television, wherein a billing processing unit uses the history ID as purchase history specifying information. 15. The system according to claim 13 or 14,
When the purchase history registration unit registers one purchase history, it also registers information indicating the date and time of registration. When a predetermined expiration date has passed from the date and time of registration, the purchase history flag is set. A content providing system for digital television, wherein the content is changed to invalid. The system according to any one of claims 12 to 15,
When the purchase history registration unit receives a billing completion report for a specific purchase history from the billing server, an e-mail notifying that the purchase procedure for the purchase target content related to the specific purchase history has been completed A content providing system for a digital television, which transmits to a registered e-mail address for a chargeable mobile phone related to the purchase history of The system according to any one of claims 1 to 16,
The viewing processing means
A content storage unit for storing content to be provided;
A content list presentation unit that returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided when a content list request is received from the digital TV for viewing via the network;
Based on the registration information in the user information registration means and the registration information in the purchase processing means when there is a viewing request from the viewing digital TV to view a specific viewing target content in the content list , Whether or not the viewing digital TV and the viewing target content are associated with each other, and when both are associated with each other, a viewing permission / non-permission determining unit that determines that “viewing is possible”;
A content distribution unit that distributes the viewing target content in the content storage unit to the viewing digital television via a network when it is determined that “viewing is possible”;
A content providing system for a digital television, comprising: The system of claim 17, wherein
In response to an inquiry from the content list presentation unit, the viewability determination unit checks whether or not the specific digital television and the specific content are associated with each other. It has a function to reply the result,
The content list presenting unit makes an inquiry to the viewability determination unit as to whether or not each content stored in the content storage unit is “viewable” based on the association with the viewing digital TV. A content providing system for a digital television, which returns a content list composed only of content to which a determination result of “viewing is possible” is returned. The system according to claim 17 or 18,
The viewing permission / inhibition determining unit determines that “viewing is impossible” for a viewing request in which the same content is simultaneously distributed to a plurality of digital televisions associated with the same mobile phone. A system for providing content to digital TVs. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 19,
A content providing system for a digital television, wherein a serial number assigned to each mobile phone body or a user ID of UIM attached to each mobile phone is used as a mobile phone identification code. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 20,
A content providing system for a digital television, wherein a unique ID number recorded on a B-CAS card attached to each digital television is used as a TV identification code. A method of providing content to a digital television having a broadcast receiving function for receiving a digital broadcast and a communication function via a network,
A registration operation unit that registers a mobile phone identification code indicating a specific mobile phone used by the user and a TV identification code indicating a specific digital television used by the user in association with each other based on a registration instruction from the user. Preparing a user information registration means comprising:
Based on the purchase instruction from the user, the mobile phone identification code of the mobile phone to be charged and the content identification code of the content to be purchased are registered in association with each other and the mobile phone to be charged is used. Preparing a purchase processing means for charging the fee for the content to be purchased,
Based on the registration information in the user information registration unit and the registration information in the purchase processing unit when there is a viewing request for viewing a specific viewing target content using a specific viewing digital TV, It is checked whether or not the TV identification code of the viewing digital television is associated with the content identification code of the viewing target content, and when both are associated, the viewing target content is converted to the viewing digital television. Preparing a viewing processing means for distributing the content via the network;
A registration target digital TV sends a registration preparation request by transmitting its own TV identification code to the user information registration means;
In response to the registration preparation request, the user information registration means "a registration work address for accessing a registration work unit in the user information registration means" and a TV identification code transmitted by the registration preparation request Generating a registration code including ", and returning data for displaying a registration preparation screen including the registration code in the form of a two-dimensional code to the digital TV to be registered;
The registration target mobile phone reads the registration code from the registration preparation screen displayed on the registration target digital television;
The registration target mobile phone uses the registration code to access the registration work unit, and with respect to the registration work unit, the TV identification code included in the registration code and its own mobile phone. Sending a registration code and requesting registration work;
The registration work unit, in response to the registration work request, registering the transmitted mobile phone identification code and TV identification code in association with each other;
The purchase processing digital TV makes a content list request to the purchase processing means;
In response to the content list request, the purchase processing means returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided;
The purchase processing digital television makes a request for a list of mobile phones to the purchase processing means;
The purchase processing means refers to the registration information in the user information registration means in response to the mobile phone list request, thereby identifying the mobile phone identification associated with the TV identification code of the purchase processing digital television. Returning a mobile phone list indicating the mobile phone with the code;
The purchase processing digital television makes a purchase request specifying a specific purchase target content in the content list and a specific chargeable mobile phone in the mobile phone list to the purchase processing means. When,
The purchase processing means associates the mobile phone identification code of the chargeable mobile phone with the content identification code of the purchase target content in response to the purchase request, and registers this as one purchase history;
The purchase processing means, when the purchase history is registered, performing a charging process of charging the purchase target content for the usage fee of the chargeable mobile phone;
The viewing digital television makes a content list request to the viewing processing means;
The viewing processing means returns a content list indicating a list of contents to be provided in response to the content list request;
The viewing digital television makes a viewing request to the viewing processing means to view a specific viewing target content in the content list;
In response to the viewing request, the viewing processing unit associates the viewing digital television with the viewing target content based on registration information in the user information registration unit and registration information in the purchase processing unit. A stage for determining whether or not to view the content, and when both are associated,
When the viewing processing means determines that “viewing is possible” in the viewing permission determination, and distributes the viewing target content to the viewing digital television via a network;
A content providing method for a digital television, comprising: The providing method according to claim 22,
The charging processing is performed by transmitting the mobile phone identification code of the charging target mobile phone and data indicating the price of the purchase target content to the charging server that charges the mobile phone to be charged. To provide content to digital TV. The providing method according to claim 22,
A billing code including “a billing work address for accessing a billing server for billing a mobile phone to be billed” and “purchase history specifying information for specifying one purchase history” is generated. A method for providing content to a digital television, wherein billing processing is performed by transmitting an email including the billing code to an email address registered for the mobile phone to be billed.