JP2015103946A - Video recorder, video recorder system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique that enables the effective use of a plurality of receivers and a plurality of recording regions.SOLUTION: A video recorder 100 includes a first tuner 101 that receives television broadcast through an antenna, and thus acquires the information on the television programs of various channels. From a tuner mounted device 200, a first storage device 300, a second storage device 400, and a tuner mounted storage device 500, the video recorder 100 acquires the information on these devices through a network 600. Based on the information on the devices, the video recorder 100 selects the tuner and the recording region to be used for recording the television program from among the tuners and the recording regions included in the devices connected to the network 600.

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, a recording system, and a program.

Conventionally, as a technique for recording a television program, there is a technique for recording a television program using a plurality of devices having a recording function.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a user can efficiently make a recording reservation for a plurality of television programs for a plurality of recording apparatuses without considering overlapping recording reservation times or free space on a recording medium. A recording system is described. The television broadcast receiving apparatus described in Patent Document 1 requests recording reservation information and recording apparatus information from a video recorder and a DVD recorder, receives recording reservation information and recording apparatus information from the video recorder and DVD recorder, and receives these information. Is created and stored. Then, the television broadcast receiving apparatus creates a recording reservation table based on the stored recording reservation information and free space information, and manages the recording setting information for each recording apparatus. Further, the television broadcast receiving device determines a recording device capable of recording the recommended program based on the free space information, and transmits recording setting information including the recommended program to the recording device capable of recording. To make a recording reservation.
Further, for example, in Patent Document 2, a plurality of electronic devices having a recording function and a server device that centrally manages recording information of programs recorded by these electronic devices and viewing information of recorded programs are provided with communication lines. An automatic recording system connected to be able to communicate with each other is described. The electronic device described in Patent Document 2 compares the viewing information recorded in the server management information recording unit with the viewing information recorded in its own device information recording means. Then, it is determined whether there is viewing information of the same program. If there is viewing information of the same program, the electronic device sets a program with other recording information that does not overlap with the recording information recorded in its own device information recording unit as a scheduled recording program, and the user does not set anything. However, the program is newly reserved for recording and automatically recorded.

JP 2009-17048 A JP 2009-94716 A

In the case where there are a plurality of receivers and a plurality of recording areas in the system, it is desirable to effectively use them in order to record more TV programs.
An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for effectively utilizing a plurality of receivers and a plurality of recording areas.

The present invention that achieves the above object obtains information on a program determination means for determining a television broadcast program to be recorded and a plurality of receivers that receive the television broadcast, and the program data is recorded. Information acquisition means for acquiring information on a plurality of recording areas, and recording of the program determined by the program determination means based on information on the receiver and information on the recording area acquired by the information acquisition means And a selection unit for selecting one recording area.
Here, with respect to the receiver mounting apparatus that mounts the receiver selected by the selection means, the recording of the program data determined by the program determination means by the receiver is selected by the selection means. An instruction means for instructing recording in the area is further provided.
Further, the selection means is not reserved for recording other programs within the broadcast time of the program determined by the program determination means based on the information of the receiver acquired by the information acquisition means. It may be characterized by selecting a receiver.
Furthermore, the selection means may preferentially select a recording area that is estimated to have a low probability of failure based on the information of the recording area acquired by the information acquisition means.
Further, the recording for selecting the first recording area that is estimated to have a high probability of failure and the second recording area that is estimated to have a low probability of failure based on the information of the recording area acquired by the information acquisition means. An area selecting means, and a recording means for recording the program data recorded in the first recording area selected by the recording area selecting means in the second recording area selected by the recording area selecting means. It may be characterized by having.
Further, the information acquisition means acquires information on at least one of a receiver and a recording area of the device itself, and the selection means acquires information on the receiver and information on the recording area acquired by the information acquisition means. Based on the above, it is possible to select at least one of the receiver and the recording area of the own apparatus.

From another point of view, the present invention provides a plurality of receivers equipped with a receiver for receiving a television broadcast, a plurality of recording areas in which data of a television broadcast program is recorded, A receiver and a recording means connected to the plurality of recording areas via a communication line, the recording means including a program determining means for determining a program to be recorded, information on the plurality of receivers and a plurality of information Information recording means for acquiring the recording area information, and recording of the program determined by the program determining means based on the receiver information and the recording area information acquired by the information acquiring means. A recording system comprising: one receiver to be used; and a selection unit that selects one recording area.
Further, from another point of view, the present invention acquires a function of determining a television broadcast program to be recorded and information of a plurality of receivers that receive the television broadcast in a computer, One receiver used for recording a program determined based on the function of acquiring information of a plurality of recording areas in which data is recorded, and the acquired information of the receiver and the information of the recording area, and 1 And a function for selecting one recording area.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique for effectively using a plurality of receivers and a plurality of recording areas.

It is a figure which shows an example of schematic structure of the video recording system which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the video recording apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structural example of the video recording apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. (A) is a figure showing an example of apparatus related information about a tuner. (B) is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus relevant information regarding a recording area. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the acquisition procedure of the apparatus relevant information by a video recording apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the video recording processing procedure by a video recording apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the backup processing procedure by a video recording apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the other example of the acquisition procedure of the apparatus relevant information by a video recording apparatus.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a recording system 1 according to the present embodiment. The recording system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a recording device 100, a tuner mounting device 200, a first recording device 300, a second recording device 400, and a tuner mounting recording device 500 connected to a network 600 as an example of a communication line. It has.

  The recording device 100 transmits a broadcast wave such as a television broadcast (hereinafter referred to as a television broadcast), that is, a terrestrial digital broadcast, a BS (Broadcasting Satellite) broadcast, a CS (Communications Satellite) broadcast, or the like via an antenna (not shown). A first tuner 101 for receiving is provided. Then, the recording apparatus 100 uses the first tuner 101 to acquire information related to the television program of each channel that is transmitted by being superimposed on the broadcast signal. The information about the TV program is data of an electronic program guide called EPG (Electronic program guide), a channel on which the TV program is broadcast, an identifier for identifying the TV program (hereinafter referred to as a program ID), the TV program The start time, the broadcast time of the TV program, the TV program name, and the like are included.

  In addition, the recording apparatus 100 includes information about the apparatus (hereinafter referred to as apparatus-related information) from each of the tuner-mounted apparatus 200, the first recording apparatus 300, the second recording apparatus 400, and the tuner-mounted recording apparatus 500 via the network 600. To get. As will be described in detail later, the recording apparatus 100 selects a tuner and a recording area to be used for recording a TV program from the tuners and recording areas included in each apparatus connected to the network 600 based on the apparatus-related information. To record TV programs. Further, the recording apparatus 100 performs a backup process on the TV program data recorded in the recording area so that the data can be recovered even if the data is lost due to a failure of the apparatus. In the present embodiment, the recording apparatus 100 is used as an example of a recording unit.

  The tuner-equipped device 200 is, for example, a television having two screens, and includes a second tuner 201 and a third tuner 202, and the second tuner 201 or the third tuner 202 receives a broadcast wave of a television broadcast. In the present embodiment, the second tuner 201 and the third tuner 202 are used as an example of a receiver. Further, a tuner mounting device 200 is used as an example of a receiver mounting device.

  The first recording device 300 is, for example, a NAS (Network Attached Storage) or an external hard disk, and includes a first recording area 301 and records TV program data in the first recording area 301. NAS is a hard disk that is used by connecting to a network. Similarly to the first recording device 300, the second recording device 400 includes a second recording area 401 and records data of a television program in the second recording area 401.

  The tuner-equipped recording device 500 is, for example, a recorder for recording TV programs, and includes a fourth tuner 501 and a third recording area 502. The fourth tuner 501 receives broadcast waves of TV broadcasts, and Data is recorded in the third recording area 502. In the present embodiment, the fourth tuner 501 is used as an example of a receiver. As an example of the receiver mounting apparatus, a tuner mounting recording apparatus 500 is used.

  The network 600 is a communication means used for information communication among the recording device 100, the tuner mounting device 200, the first recording device 300, the second recording device 400, and the tuner mounting recording device 500. For example, the Internet 600, the public line, A wireless network is a LAN (Local Area Network). In communication between devices, for example, standards such as UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) and DTCP-IP (Digital Transmission Content Protection over Internet Protocol) defined in DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) guidelines are used. . DLNA is an industry group that establishes technical specifications for connecting devices using a home LAN, and using them in cooperation with each other. DLNA guidelines are defined as the technical specifications. UPnP is a standard mainly for devices in the home and allows devices connected to the network to be automatically recognized and communicate with each other. DTCP-IP is a standard for transmitting copyright-protected content.

<Hardware configuration of recording device>
Next, the hardware configuration of the recording apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the recording apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the recording apparatus 100 includes a first tuner 101, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 102 as a calculation means, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103 as a storage means, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 104, and a storage. Unit 105. The ROM 103 stores various programs and the like, and the RAM 104 is used as a work area when the CPU 102 executes various programs. The storage unit 105 is an area for storing, for example, input data and output data in various programs. Furthermore, the recording apparatus 100 includes a communication I / F 106 for performing communication with the outside, a display mechanism 107 including a video memory and a display, and an input device 108 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

<Functional configuration of recording device>
Next, the functional configuration of the recording apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the recording apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.
The recording apparatus 100 includes a program determination unit 111 that determines a TV program to be recorded, and a program information storage unit that stores information about each TV program and information used when determining a TV program to be recorded. 112 and a device information acquisition unit 113 that acquires device-related information from a device that includes at least one of a tuner and a recording area. The recording device 100 also records a television program on a device information storage unit 114 that stores device-related information, a device selection unit 115 that selects a tuner and a recording area used for recording, and a device equipped with the tuner. The process execution part 116 which performs an instruction | indication is provided.

  The program determination unit 111, the device information acquisition unit 113, the device selection unit 115, and the process execution unit 116 are realized by, for example, the CPU 102 illustrated in FIG. More specifically, a program that realizes the functions of the recording apparatus 100 is stored in the ROM 103, and the CPU 102 reads out the program stored in the ROM 103 and executes the program using the RAM 104 as a work area, thereby recording the program. Each function of the apparatus 100 is realized. The program determination unit 111 is further realized by, for example, the first tuner 101 shown in FIG. Further, the program information storage unit 112 and the device information storage unit 114 are realized by, for example, the storage unit 105 that is a storage unit illustrated in FIG.

  A program determining unit 111 as an example of a program determining unit determines a television program to be recorded (hereinafter referred to as a recording target program). Here, the program determination unit 111 first receives the information of the television program of each channel scheduled to be broadcast by the first tuner 101 and stores the received information of the television program in the program information storage unit 112. In addition, the program determination unit 111 receives information on the television program as needed so that the information on the television program stored in the program information storage unit 112 is always the latest.

  And the program determination part 111 determines a recording object program based on the information of the received television program. For example, based on a keyword preset by the user, the program determination unit 111 preferentially determines a program whose keyword is included in the program name as a recording target program as a television program that matches the user's preference. However, the procedure for determining the recording target program is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the program determining unit 111 may set a channel preset by the user as a recording target and a preset time as a recording start time. Based on this information, the program of the set channel may be determined as the recording target program in order from the set start time. The program determining unit 111 transmits information on the determined recording target program to the device selecting unit 115.

  In the backup process, the program determination unit 111 determines a television program to be backed up (hereinafter referred to as a backup target program) in the same manner as the procedure for determining the recording target program. Then, the program determining unit 111 transmits information on the determined backup target program to the device selecting unit 115.

  The program information storage unit 112 stores information on the television program received by the program determination unit 111. The program information storage unit 112 is information used when the program determination unit 111 determines a recording target program or a backup target program, that is, preference information such as a keyword preset by the user, a channel to be recorded, Stores information such as recording start time.

  The device information acquisition unit 113 as an example of an information acquisition unit is connected to another device including at least one of a tuner and a recording area in the recording system 1 via the network 600, that is, the tuner mounting device 200, the first recording. Device-related information is acquired from each of the device 300, the second recording device 400, and the tuner-equipped recording device 500. Here, the device information acquisition unit 113 requests each device to transmit device related information, and acquires the device related information from each device. The device information acquisition unit 113 stores the acquired device related information in the device information storage unit 114. In addition, the device information acquisition unit 113 issues a device-related information transmission request to each device every predetermined period, and periodically updates the device-related information of each device.

  The details of the device-related information will be described later, but the contents differ between the device-related information related to the tuner and the device-related information related to the recording area. The device-related information relating to the tuner includes, for example, the types of television broadcasts that can be received by the tuner, information on television programs that are reserved for recording (hereinafter referred to as reservation information), and the like. The device-related information regarding the recording area includes, for example, information such as the total capacity of data that can be stored in the recording area and the capacity in use.

  The device information storage unit 114 stores the device related information acquired by the device information acquisition unit 113.

  The device selection unit 115 as an example of a selection unit is configured to record a recording target via an antenna based on information about a recording target program determined by the program determination unit 111 and device-related information stored in the device information storage unit 114. One tuner for receiving program data and one recording area for recording data of the recording target program are selected. That is, the device selection unit 115 selects one tuner from the second tuner 201, the third tuner 202, and the fourth tuner 501 for recording the recording target program, and the first recording area 301 and the second recording area 401 are selected. Then, one recording area is selected from the third recording area 502. Then, the device selection unit 115 includes information on the recording target program, and information on a tuner (hereinafter referred to as a recording tuner) and a recording area (hereinafter referred to as a recording recording area) selected for recording the recording target program. To the process execution unit 116.

  Here, first, the device selection unit 115 calculates the amount of data necessary to record the recording target program based on the information of the recording target program. Next, the apparatus selection unit 115 sets a recording area whose remaining capacity is equal to or larger than the data amount necessary for recording the recording target program as candidates for the recording / recording area based on the apparatus-related information. Then, the device selection unit 115 preferentially sets a recording area that is estimated to have a low probability of failure out of the recording areas that are candidates as recording recording areas.

  In order to estimate the probability of failure, as an index for estimation (hereinafter referred to as a failure estimation index), for example, the date and time when the recording area was used for the first time, the accumulated time when the recording area was accessed, MTBF (Mean Time Between) Failure) etc. are used. MTBF is an average interval from the failure of a device to the next failure, and is a value used as an index of device reliability. That is, the device selection unit 115 preferentially selects a recording area that has been used for the first time in the recording area, a recording area that has been accessed for a short time, and a recording area that has a large MTBF as a recording recording area. To do. However, the device selection unit 115 may use any failure estimation index as long as it can estimate the probability of failure. Then, the device selection unit 115 selects a recording / recording area from the recording areas finally remaining as candidates.

  Further, the device selection unit 115 determines whether or not there is a recording reservation for another program within the broadcast time of the recording target program for each tuner based on the device-related information. Then, the device selection unit 115 excludes tuners whose reserved time for other programs overlaps with the broadcast time of the program to be recorded from the candidates for recording tuners, and finally selects recording tuners from the remaining tuners as candidates. . In addition, the device selection unit 115 stores information on the recording target program in the device information storage unit 114 as recording tuner reservation information for the selected recording tuner.

  Furthermore, the apparatus selection unit 115 as an example of the recording area selection unit has a high probability of failure from the first recording area 301, the second recording area 401, and the third recording area 502 based on the failure estimation index in the backup process. Is selected as the backup source recording area. In addition, the device selection unit 115 selects a recording area that is estimated to have a low probability of failure from the first recording area 301, the second recording area 401, and the third recording area 502 based on the failure estimation index as a backup destination recording area. Choose as. Then, the apparatus selection unit 115 transmits information on the backup target program and information on the backup source recording area and the backup destination recording area to the process execution unit 116.

  The processing execution unit 116 as an example of an instruction unit uses a recording tuner for a device equipped with a recording tuner based on the recording target program, the recording tuner, and the recording / recording area information transmitted from the device selection unit 115. An instruction is given to record the data of the recording target program in the recording recording area. Further, for example, since the user may make a reservation for recording a TV program by directly setting the recording tuner, the recording tuner uses the recording tuner to record that the recording target program is used. It is desirable to be able to confirm. Therefore, the process execution unit 116 also transmits information on a recording target program as reservation information to a device equipped with a recording tuner.

  Further, the process execution unit 116 as an example of a recording unit performs backup source information based on the backup target program, the backup source recording area, and the backup destination recording area information transmitted from the device selection unit 115 in the backup process. The backup target program data recorded in the recording area is recorded in the backup destination recording area.

<Device-related information>
Next, apparatus related information will be described. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an example of device-related information stored in the device information storage unit 114. FIG. FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of device-related information regarding a tuner, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an example of device-related information regarding a recording area.

  The device-related information shown in FIG. 4A indicates “device ID”, “type”, “use state”, “reserved number”, “channel”, “program ID”, and “start time”. . “Device ID” indicates an identifier for identifying a device. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4A, “device ID” 201, 202, and 501 represent the second tuner 201, the third tuner 202, and the fourth tuner 501, respectively. “Type” indicates the type of television broadcast that can be received by the tuner. Terrestrial, BS, and CS indicate that terrestrial digital broadcasting, BS broadcasting, and CS broadcasting can be received, respectively.

  “Usage status” indicates the current usage status of the tuner. If it is “not used”, it is not currently used, so that it can be used for recording a TV program. If it is “used”, it is currently used. Indicates that it cannot be used for recording. “Number of reservations” indicates the number of reservation information registered in the tuner. “Channel” indicates a channel of a television program for which recording is reserved. “Program ID” indicates the program ID of a television program that is reserved for recording. “Start time” indicates a time at which a television program reserved for recording starts.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4A, for example, three pieces of reservation information are registered in the second tuner 201, the channel is 1, the program ID is 1001, and the television program starts at 15:00 on October 1, 2013. Is scheduled to be recorded, and two other television programs are scheduled to be recorded. For example, since no reservation information is registered in the fourth tuner 501, there is no data in “channel”, “program ID”, and “start time”.

  Next, in the device related information shown in FIG. 4B, “device ID”, “total capacity”, “in-use capacity”, “first use date / time”, “accumulated access time”, and “MTBF” are shown. ing. “Device ID” indicates an identifier for identifying a device. In the example shown in FIG. 4B, “device ID” 301, 401, and 502 are a first recording area 301 and a second recording area 401, respectively. Represents the third recording area 502. “Total capacity” indicates the total capacity of data that can be recorded in the recording area. “In-use capacity” indicates a used capacity. In the example shown in FIG. 4B, for example, the total capacity of the first recording area 301 is 2 TB (terabyte), and the used capacity is 500 GB (Gigabyte).

  “First use date” indicates the date when the recording area was used for the first time. The “accumulated access time” indicates the accumulated time that the recording area has been accessed so far. “MTBF” indicates the MTBF of the recording area. In the example shown in FIG. 4B, for example, in the first recording area 301, it is used for the first time at 9:00 on June 13, 2009, and then accessed for 12000 hours, and the MTBF is 200,000 hours. In addition, “first use date and time”, “accumulated access time”, and “MTBF” are examples of failure estimation indices, and other indices may exist as failure estimation indices in the device-related information. In addition, when the first recording device 300, the second recording device 400, and the tuner-equipped recording device 500 do not hold the failure estimation index information, the recording device 100 holds the failure estimation index information. For example, the recording apparatus 100 may store the date and time when the first operation is performed on the first recording area 301 as the first use date and time, and use it as a failure estimation index for the first recording area 301.

<Procedure for acquiring device-related information>
Next, a procedure for the recording apparatus 100 to acquire apparatus related information from each apparatus will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for acquiring device-related information by the recording device 100. The series of processing illustrated in FIG. 5 is performed based on, for example, the above-described specifications such as DLNA (UPnP, DTCP-IP). Moreover, a series of processes shown in FIG. 5 are performed for every predetermined period, such as 1 hour and 1 day.

  First, the device information acquisition unit 113 detects the presence / absence of another device having at least one of a tuner and a recording area in the recording system 1 via the network 600 (step 101). For example, in the case of UPnP, the device information acquisition unit 113 transmits a message called M-SEARCH as a multicast packet via the network 600, and the device that has received the multicast packet returns a response to the device information acquisition unit 113. Thus, the device is detected.

Next, the device information acquisition unit 113 requests the detected device to transmit device related information, and acquires device related information from each device (step 102). For example, in the case of UPnP, the device information acquisition unit 113 uses, as device-related information, a device description that is an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file that describes functions that can be provided by the device, and an XML file that describes the functions that are provided. A certain service description is acquired for each device. Then, the device information acquisition unit 113 stores the acquired device related information in the device information storage unit 114 (step 103). The device-related information is stored as device-related information about the tuner or device-related information about the recording area.
In this way, the device information acquisition unit 113 periodically acquires device related information from each device via the network 600.

<Recording process procedure>
Next, a procedure for executing the process of recording the recording target program will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a recording process procedure by the recording apparatus 100. A series of processing shown in FIG. 6 is performed at a timing when the device information acquisition unit 113 acquires device-related information according to the procedure shown in FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the recording apparatus 100 performs a series of processes shown in FIG. 6 every day at midnight and reserves recording of a television program for one day that is broadcast after midnight. Further, in the procedure shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the program determination unit 111 receives information on the TV program of each channel scheduled to be broadcast as an initial state.

  First, the device information acquisition unit 113 acquires device-related information from each device (step 201). Then, the device information acquisition unit 113 stores the device related information in the device information storage unit 114. Next, the program determination unit 111 records the program to be recorded based on the received TV program information, user preference information set in advance, information about channels to be recorded, recording start time, and the like. It is determined whether there is a program to be determined as (step 202). For example, the program determination unit 111 determines that there is no program to be determined as a recording target program if there is no program name including a keyword preset by the user. If there is no program to be determined as a recording target program (No in step 202), this processing flow ends.

  On the other hand, if there is a program to be determined as a recording target program (Yes in Step 202), the program determination unit 111 selects one program to be determined as a recording target program (Step 203). Next, the device selection unit 115 performs the first recording area 301 and the second recording based on the information of the recording target program selected by the program determination unit 111 and the device related information stored in the device information storage unit 114. It is determined whether there is a recording area that can record data of the recording target program among the area 401 and the third recording area 502 (step 204). Here, the apparatus selection unit 115 sets a recording area whose remaining capacity is equal to or larger than a data amount necessary for recording a recording target program as a candidate for a recording / recording area. If there is no recording / recording area candidate, the apparatus selection unit 115 determines that there is no recording area capable of recording the data of the recording target program (No in step 204), and proceeds to step 210 described later.

  On the other hand, if there is a recording / recording area candidate, the apparatus selection unit 115 determines that there is a recording area in which the data of the recording target program can be recorded (Yes in step 204). Is selected (step 205). Here, the device selection unit 115 selects a recording area as a priority recording area based on the first use date and time, the accumulated access time, the MTBF, and the like. Furthermore, the device selection unit 115 records, for example, the first recording area 301, the second recording area 401, and the third recording area 502 in order for each recording target program from the recording areas that finally remain as candidates. The recording / recording area is selected so as to be an area. Further, the device selection unit 115 selects, for example, a recording area having the largest remaining capacity as a recording recording area from the recording areas finally remaining as candidates. However, the procedure for selecting the recording / recording area is not limited to such a configuration, and the apparatus selection unit 115 may select the recording / recording area by any procedure from the recording areas finally remaining as candidates.

  Next, the device selection unit 115 is configured to use the second tuner 201 and the third tuner 202 based on the information on the recording target program selected by the program determination unit 111 and the device related information stored in the device information storage unit 114. In the fourth tuner 501, it is determined whether there is a tuner that can be used for recording the program to be recorded (step 206). Here, the device selection unit 115 determines whether or not there is a recording reservation related to another program within the broadcast time of the recording target program for each tuner based on the device-related information. Then, the device selection unit 115 excludes tuners whose reserved time for other programs overlaps with the broadcast time of the program to be recorded from recording tuner candidates. If there is no recording tuner candidate, the apparatus selection unit 115 determines that there is no tuner that can be used to record the recording target program (No in step 206), and proceeds to step 210 described later.

  On the other hand, if there is a recording tuner candidate, the apparatus selection unit 115 determines that there is a tuner that can be used to record the recording target program (Yes in step 206), and selects a recording tuner from the candidate tuners ( Step 207). Here, the device selection unit 115 selects, for example, the second tuner 201, the third tuner 202, and the fourth tuner 501 from the tuners that finally remain as candidates for the recording target programs in order. Select a recording tuner. However, the procedure for selecting a recording tuner is not limited to such a configuration, and the device selection unit 115 may select a recording tuner from a tuner that finally remains as a candidate by some procedure.

  Next, the device selection unit 115 stores the recording target program information as reservation information of the recording tuner in the device information storage unit 114 and updates the device related information (step 208). In addition, the device selection unit 115 transmits information on the recording target program, the recording tuner, and the recording / recording area to the process execution unit 116. When the process execution unit 116 receives the recording target program and the recording tuner information from the device selection unit 115, the processing execution unit 116 records the data of the recording target program in the recording recording area with the recording tuner for the device equipped with the recording tuner. Then, an instruction to execute recording is transmitted (step 209). In addition, the process execution unit 116 transmits information on the recording target program to the apparatus equipped with the recording tuner as reservation information of the recording tuner.

  Next, the program determining unit 111 determines whether or not all the programs determined as recording target programs have been selected (step 210). If there is a program that has not yet been selected (No in Step 210), the process proceeds to Step 203. On the other hand, if all the programs determined as recording target programs have been selected (Yes in step 210), recording reservations have been made for all the recording target programs as much as possible, and this processing flow ends.

  In this way, the recording apparatus 100 determines a recording target program and selects a combination of a recording tuner and a recording recording area for each recording target program. Then, the process execution unit 116 instructs the apparatus equipped with the recording tuner to record the recording target program data in the recording recording area by the recording tuner and to execute the recording.

  In step 204, the apparatus selection unit 115 sets a recording area whose remaining capacity is equal to or larger than the data amount necessary for recording the recording target program as a recording recording area candidate. It is good also as deciding a candidate after taking into consideration. In this case, for example, in each recording area, the device selection unit 115 is necessary to record a program reserved for recording other programs to be recorded from the remaining capacity. The amount of data obtained by subtracting the amount of data to be used is the usable capacity. In step 204, the apparatus selection unit 115 sets a recording area whose usable capacity is equal to or larger than the amount of data necessary for recording the recording target program as a recording recording area candidate.

  In step 209, when the process execution unit 116 receives the recording target program and the recording tuner information from the device selection unit 115, the processing execution unit 116 gives an instruction for recording to the device equipped with the recording tuner. It is not limited to a simple configuration. For example, the process execution unit 116 may instruct recording to an apparatus equipped with a recording tuner when the recording target program starts.

  In the description of FIG. 6 described above, the recording apparatus 100 performs a series of processing shown in FIG. 6 every day at midnight and reserves recording of a television program for one day that is broadcast after midnight. However, it is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the recording apparatus 100 may perform a series of processes shown in FIG. 6 at short intervals such as one minute, and make a reservation for recording a television program that starts broadcasting by a time point one minute later.

  In this case, in step 201, the device information acquisition unit 113 acquires device-related information from each device every minute. In step 206, the device selection unit 115 determines whether there is a usable tuner. First, the use state of each tuner is checked based on the device-related information. The device selection unit 115 selects an unused tuner as a recording tuner candidate because the tuner that is being used cannot be used for new recording. Next, the device selection unit 115 selects a recording tuner in consideration of the recording reservation status of the candidate tuner. If all the tuners of the second tuner 201, the third tuner 202, and the fourth tuner 501 are in use, there is no tuner that can be used for any recording target program, and the processing flow of FIG. Ends.

<Backup processing procedure>
Next, backup processing will be described. The recording apparatus 100 performs a backup process so that the TV program data recorded in the first recording area 301, the second recording area 401, and the third recording area 502 can be recovered even if it is lost. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a backup processing procedure by the recording apparatus 100. The series of processes shown in FIG. 7 is performed at the timing when the apparatus information acquisition unit 113 acquires the apparatus related information according to the procedure shown in FIG. 5, similarly to the series of processes shown in FIG. Therefore, the series of processes shown in FIG. 7 may be performed before or after the series of processes shown in FIG. 6 or in parallel with the series of processes shown in FIG. It may be performed at different times.

  First, the device information acquisition unit 113 acquires device-related information from each device (step 301). Then, the device information acquisition unit 113 stores the device related information in the device information storage unit 114. When the series of processes shown in FIG. 7 is performed after the series of processes shown in FIG. 6, the apparatus information acquisition unit 113 acquires the apparatus related information in step 101 of FIG. May be.

  Next, the device selection unit 115 fails from the first recording region 301, the second recording region 401, and the third recording region 502 based on the failure estimation index of the device related information stored in the device information storage unit 114. A recording area that is estimated to have a high probability is selected as the recording area of the backup source (step 302). Here, the device selection unit 115 selects, for example, a recording area in which the period elapsed from the first use date and time exceeds a predetermined threshold as the recording area of the backup source. Further, the device selection unit 115 selects, for example, a recording area in which the accumulated access time exceeds a predetermined threshold as a recording area of the backup source. However, the procedure for selecting the backup source recording area is not limited to such a configuration, and the device selection unit 115 may select the backup source recording area using another failure estimation index such as MTBF.

  Next, the program determination unit 111 determines whether there is a program to be determined as a backup target program in the recording area of the backup source (step 303). The process of step 303 is performed in the same manner as the procedure for determining whether there is a program to be determined as a recording target program in step 102 of FIG. For example, the program determination unit 111 sets a program whose keyword is preset in the program name among programs recorded in the recording area of the backup source as the backup target program. If there is no program to be determined as a backup target program (No in step 303), this processing flow ends. On the other hand, if there is a program to be determined as the backup target program, the program determination unit 111 selects one program to be determined as the backup target program (step 304).

  Next, the device selection unit 115 is a recording region in which the probability of failure is estimated to be low from the first recording region 301, the second recording region 401, and the third recording region 502 based on the failure estimation index of the device-related information. Is selected as a backup destination recording area (step 305). Here, the apparatus selection unit 115 first sets a recording area whose remaining capacity is equal to or larger than the amount of data necessary for recording a backup target program as a backup destination recording area candidate.

  Then, the apparatus selection unit 115 selects, for example, a recording area having a short period since the first use date and time as a backup destination recording area from among the candidate recording areas. Further, the device selection unit 115 selects, for example, a recording area with a short accumulated access time as a backup destination recording area. Further, for example, if the user has a recording area set in advance as a backup destination recording area, the device selection unit 115 selects the set recording area as the backup destination recording area. However, the procedure for selecting the backup destination recording area is not limited to such a configuration, and the apparatus selection unit 115 may select the backup destination recording area by some procedure. On the other hand, if there is no recording area exceeding the amount of data necessary for recording the program to be backed up, the process proceeds to step 307 described later.

  Next, the apparatus selection unit 115 transmits information on the backup target program selected by the program determination unit 111, the backup source recording area, and the backup destination recording area to the process execution unit 116. Then, the process execution unit 116 executes the backup process by recording the backup target program data recorded in the backup source recording area in the backup destination recording area (step 306). After executing the backup process, the device selection unit 115 updates the “used capacity” of the recording area in the device related information stored in the device information storage unit 114. Next, the program determination unit 111 determines whether all the backup target programs have been selected (step 307). If there is a backup target program that has not yet been selected (No in Step 307), the process proceeds to Step 304. On the other hand, if all the backup target programs have been selected (Yes in step 307), this processing flow ends.

  In this way, the recording apparatus 100 selects a backup source recording area and determines a backup target program recorded in the backup source recording area. Then, the recording apparatus 100 selects a backup destination recording area, and records the backup target program data recorded in the backup source recording area in the backup destination recording area, so that each backup target program is recorded. Perform backup processing.

In step 306, the process execution unit 116 does not delete the data of the backup target program from the backup source recording area, but after recording the backup target recording data in the backup destination recording area, Data may be deleted.
Further, in step 302, the device selection unit 115 may select a plurality of backup source recording areas. In this case, the processing in steps 303 to 307 is executed for each of the recording areas of the backup source.

  As described above, the recording apparatus 100 includes the tuner and recording area included in each of the tuner-mounted apparatus 200, the first recording apparatus 300, the second recording apparatus 400, and the tuner-mounted recording apparatus 500 connected to the network 600. Are selected, and one recording tuner and one recording / recording area used for recording the program to be recorded are selected. Then, the recording apparatus 100 instructs the apparatus equipped with the recording tuner to record the data of the recording target program in the recording recording area by the recording tuner. For example, in the tuner-mounted recording apparatus 500, even if the fourth tuner 501 is in use, if the second tuner 201 or the third tuner 202 mounted in the tuner mounted apparatus 200 is unused, the unused first The television program is recorded in the third recording area 502 using the two tuner 201 or the like. In this way, a television program is recorded by effectively using a plurality of tuners and a plurality of recording areas in the recording system 1.

Further, for example, in order to add a tuner or a recording area used in the processing of the recording device 100, a tuner-equipped device or a recording device that can communicate with the recording device 100 via the network 600 may be added. Is easily done.
Furthermore, the recording apparatus 100 performs a backup process on the TV program data recorded in the recording area so that it can be recovered even if the data is lost due to a failure of the apparatus. Therefore, by adding a recording device that can communicate with the recording device 100 via the network 600, the influence on the data of the television program due to a defect in the recording area is suppressed.

<Other example of acquisition procedure of device related information>
Further, in the present embodiment, the device information acquisition unit 113 periodically acquires the device related information of each device according to the procedure shown in FIG. 5, but is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the device information acquisition unit 113 performs device-related information on each device according to the procedure shown in FIG. 5 at the timing when some processing by the recording device 100 is completed or when a notification is received from another device such as the tuner-mounted device 200. It is also good to get.

  In addition, for example, the device information acquisition unit 113 detects that a new device is connected to the network 600, requests the connected device to transmit device related information, and for other devices, see FIG. The apparatus related information may be acquired by the procedure shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a procedure for acquiring device-related information by the recording device 100. The series of processing illustrated in FIG. 8 is performed based on the specifications such as the above-described DLNA (UPnP, DTCP-IP), for example, as in the series of processing illustrated in FIG.

  The device information acquisition unit 113 waits for connection of a device having at least one of a tuner and a recording area in the recording system 1 via the network 600 (step 401). For example, in the case of UPnP, a device connected to the network 600 transmits a message called NOTIFY as a multicast packet. And the apparatus information acquisition part 113 detects the connected apparatus by receiving the multicast packet.

  Next, the device information acquisition unit 113 requests the device detected as newly connected to the network 600 to transmit the device related information, and acquires the device related information (step 402). In step 402, the same processing as in step 102 is performed. Then, the device information acquisition unit 113 stores the acquired device related information in the device information storage unit 114 (step 403). In step 403, the same processing as in step 103 is performed.

  In this way, the device information acquisition unit 113 detects a device newly connected to the network 600 and acquires device-related information from the detected device. The device information acquisition unit 113 continues to acquire device-related information of other devices according to the procedure of FIG. 5, and the recording process of FIG. 6 and the backup process of FIG. 7 are performed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the recording apparatus 100 includes the first tuner 101, and the first tuner 101 acquires information regarding the television program of each channel. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the recording apparatus 100 may acquire information related to a TV program from a tuner provided outside the recording apparatus 100, or may acquire information related to a TV program downloaded from the Internet. In the present embodiment, the recording apparatus 100 uses the first tuner 101 for receiving TV program information, but may also be used for recording TV programs.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the recording apparatus 100 is provided as one apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, another device including a tuner such as the tuner mounting device 200 and the tuner mounting recording device 500 may have the function of the recording device 100. In this case, the device information acquisition unit 113 acquires information on a tuner and a recording area that the recording device 100 has.

  In this embodiment, the recording system 1 includes a tuner mounting device 200, a first recording device 300, a second recording device 400, and a tuner mounting recording device 500, that is, one tuner mounting device, a recording device. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The recording system 1 is configured as a system including a plurality of tuners and a plurality of recording areas.

<Description of the program>
The processing performed by the recording apparatus 100 in the present embodiment described above is prepared as a program such as application software, for example.

  Therefore, the processing performed by the recording apparatus 100 acquires, in a computer, a function for determining a television broadcast program to be recorded and information on a plurality of receivers that receive the television broadcast, and the program data is recorded. Select one receiver and one recording area to be used for recording the determined program based on the function of acquiring information on a plurality of recording areas and the acquired information on the receiver and information on the recording area It can also be understood as a program for realizing the functions to be performed.

  The program for realizing the embodiment of the present invention can be provided not only by a communication means but also by storing it in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording system, 100 ... Recording apparatus, 111 ... Program determination part, 112 ... Program information storage part, 113 ... Apparatus information acquisition part, 114 ... Apparatus information storage part, 115 ... Apparatus selection part, 116 ... Process execution part, 200 ... Tuner mounting device, 300 ... first recording device, 400 ... second recording device, 500 ... tuner mounting recording device

Claims (8)

Program determining means for determining a television broadcast program to be recorded;
Information acquisition means for acquiring information of a plurality of receivers that receive the television broadcast, and acquiring information of a plurality of recording areas in which program data is recorded;
Selection for selecting one receiver and one recording area to be used for recording the program determined by the program determining means based on the information of the receiver and the information of the recording area acquired by the information acquiring means And a recording device. For a receiver-mounted device that includes the receiver selected by the selecting means, the receiver records the program data determined by the program determining means in the recording area selected by the selecting means. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising instruction means for instructing to perform the operation.   The selection means is a receiver that is not reserved for recording other programs within the broadcast time of the program determined by the program determination means based on the information of the receiver acquired by the information acquisition means. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is selected.   The selection means preferentially selects a recording area that is estimated to have a low probability of failure based on the information of the recording area acquired by the information acquisition means. The recording device according to any one of claims. Recording area selection for selecting a first recording area that is estimated to have a high probability of failure and a second recording area that is estimated to have a low probability of failure based on the information on the recording area acquired by the information acquisition means Means,
The recording apparatus further comprises recording means for recording the program data recorded in the first recording area selected by the recording area selection means in the second recording area selected by the recording area selection means. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The information acquisition means acquires information of at least one of a receiver or a recording area of the own device,
The selection unit selects at least one of a receiver and a recording area included in the apparatus based on information on the receiver and information on a recording area acquired by the information acquisition unit. Item 6. The recording device according to any one of Items 1 to 5. A plurality of receivers equipped with receivers for receiving television broadcasts;
A plurality of recording areas in which data of television broadcast programs are recorded;
A plurality of receivers and recording means connected to the plurality of recording areas via a communication line;
The recording means includes
Program determining means for determining a program to be recorded;
Information acquisition means for acquiring information of a plurality of receivers and information of a plurality of recording areas;
Selection for selecting one receiver and one recording area to be used for recording the program determined by the program determining means based on the information of the receiver and the information of the recording area acquired by the information acquiring means And a recording system. On the computer,
A function for determining a television broadcast program to be recorded;
A function of acquiring information of a plurality of receivers that receive a television broadcast and acquiring information of a plurality of recording areas in which program data is recorded;
A program for realizing a function of selecting one receiver and one recording area used for recording a determined program based on the acquired information of the receiver and the information of the recording area.

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