JP2016136329A - Information processing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate a link between broadcast programs by calculating the degree of association between the broadcast programs.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes a read part for reading a tag representing features of a first broadcast program and a tag representing features of a second broadcast program from a program data storage part for storing a tag representing features of a broadcast pogram in each broadcast program, and a degree of association calculation part for performing a calculation such that the degree of association between the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program becomes larger as the number of common tags becomes larger between the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program among tags read by the read part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a program.

  In recent years, with the increase in storage capacity of recording devices and the widening of networks, the viewing environment in which programs broadcast in the past can be viewed at a time convenient for the user, that is, retroactively (time-shifted). The viewing environment in which the program can be viewed (hereinafter referred to as “time shift viewing environment”) has begun to be established. In the time-shifted viewing environment, for example, all channels of broadcast programs can be recorded for 24 hours a day, and so-called all-recorders and content providers such as broadcast stations use broadcast facilities such as the Internet. It is realized by a video-on-demand (VOD) service or the like that is provided and used. In such a time-shift viewing environment, it is expected that the period during which time shift can be performed will be longer in the future.

  In addition, as an advanced form of the current VOD service that provides past broadcast programs in units of programs, development of a system that allows time-shift viewing of broadcast programs as they are being broadcast is being promoted (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). . In this system, the broadcast time when the broadcast program is actually broadcast is used as broadcast program identification information (ID, Identifier), so that the broadcast program can be viewed from the middle instead of from the beginning of the broadcast program. it can.

  Further, it is considered that a tag representing the characteristics of a broadcast program such as a program name, performer name, or place name is assigned to the broadcast program, and the broadcast program to be displayed is switched using this tag. Specifically, the broadcast program display device, for example, displays a list of tags simultaneously with the broadcast program, and accepts a tag selection by the user. When the tag is selected, the display device displays another program with the same tag as the selected tag. In this way, the user can arbitrarily switch the broadcast program linked by the tag and associated with the so-called hyperlink type.

JP 2014-1778749 A

Kaneko et al., "Prototype of Broadcast Content Archive System Accessible at Broadcast Time", IPSJ 75th National Convention, 2E-2, 2013

  In such a time-shifted viewing environment, a viewer may want to view a program that has been viewed in the past again. In this case, the viewing history that records the information of the program viewed by the viewer, the viewing date and time, etc. is stored (recorded), and the stored viewing history can be searched by a keyword, etc. The target program can be found from the list. However, in such a search method, a keyword for searching needs to be clear. For example, if the target program is a broadcast program that was viewed several years ago, ten years ago, etc., because the keyword for searching is unknown, the target broadcast from a large number of broadcast programs Sometimes it was difficult to find a program. Also, when referring to another broadcast program based on individual tags, it may be difficult to find a target broadcast program from a large number of broadcast programs.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides an information processing apparatus and program capable of calculating the degree of association between broadcast programs and generating a link between broadcast programs.

(1) According to one aspect of the present invention, from a program data storage unit that stores a tag representing a feature of a broadcast program for each broadcast program, a tag representing a feature of the first broadcast program and a tag representing a feature of the second broadcast program And the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program as the number of tags common to the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program among the tags read by the read unit increases. A degree-of-association calculation unit that calculates the degree of association with the information processing apparatus.

(2) One aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to (1) described above, in which the relevance calculation unit further views one of the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program. The relevance degree is calculated so as to increase as the length of the period from when the other is viewed until the other is viewed is shorter.

(3) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the information processing device according to (1) or (2) described above, when the relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit is greater than a predetermined threshold, A link generation unit that generates a link for associating one broadcast program with the second broadcast program is provided.

(4) One aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to (3) described above, in which the relevance calculation unit is between the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program. The calculation is performed such that the degree of association increases as the number of links generated by different information processing apparatuses increases.

(5) According to one aspect of the present invention, a tag representing the characteristics of the first broadcast program and a feature of the second broadcast program are stored in the computer from a program data storage unit that stores a tag representing the characteristics of the broadcast program for each broadcast program. A reading step for reading out a tag representing the first broadcasting program and the second broadcasting program as the number of tags common to the first broadcasting program and the second broadcasting program among the tags read out in the reading step increases. It is a program for executing a relevance level calculating step for calculating so as to increase the relevance level with a broadcast program.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, the degree of association between broadcast programs can be calculated. Thereby, since the user can confirm a broadcast program with a high degree of relevance, a plurality of broadcast programs can be easily associated.

1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram showing the link structure of the broadcast program which concerns on the embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of program data concerning the embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of viewing history data concerning the embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the calculation method of the number of common tags concerning the embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the calculation method of the distance between programs which concerns on the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process by the information processing apparatus which concerns on the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the relevance degree calculation process by the information processing apparatus which concerns on the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the information processing system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing an example of program data concerning the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows schematic function structure of the program data management apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
[Outline of information processing system]
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment.
The information processing system 1 includes an information processing device 10 and a program data management device 20. The information processing apparatus 10 and the program data management apparatus 20 are connected to the network NW and can transmit / receive information to / from each other.

The information processing apparatus 10 is an apparatus including a viewing history storage unit 101 that stores viewing history data. The viewing history storage unit 101 is implemented as a database for managing viewing history data, for example.
Here, the viewing history data is data representing the recording (viewing history, viewing log) of the broadcast program by the user of the information processing apparatus 10, and includes the date and time when the broadcast program was viewed. Details of the viewing history data will be described later.

  In addition, the information processing apparatus 10 calculates a degree of association indicating the degree of association between contents, and generates a link that associates a plurality of contents having a high degree of association. Here, the content is data composed of characters, still images, video, audio, and the like. Below, the case where a content is a broadcast program is demonstrated as an example. In addition, the relationship is a temporal and content relationship. In the present embodiment, as an example of associating a plurality of broadcast programs, a case where a plurality of viewing history data is associated will be described. That is, the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment calculates the degree of association between viewing history data as the degree of association between broadcast programs, and generates a link that associates a plurality of pieces of viewing history data with a high degree of association. Since the viewing history data represents the viewing history for each user, a plurality of broadcast programs can be associated with each user.

The program data management device 20 is an electronic device such as a server device that includes a program data storage unit 201 that stores program data. The program data management device 20 is managed by, for example, a broadcasting station or a content provider. The program data management apparatus 20 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) and a storage unit.
The program data storage unit 201 is implemented as a database for managing program data, for example. The program data management device 20 provides program data stored in the program data storage unit 201 in advance to the information processing device 10 in response to a request from the information processing device 10.
Here, the program data is data including broadcast program identification information for identifying a broadcast program such as the broadcast time and channel of the broadcast program, and a tag representing the characteristics of the broadcast program. Details of the program data will be described later.

  The network NW is an information communication network configured by a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), and the like. The WAN includes, for example, an Internet network, a mobile phone network, a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) network, a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), a dedicated communication network, and a VPN (Virtual Private Network) configuration. Is done.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the calculation of the degree of association by the information processing apparatus 10 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a link structure of a broadcast program according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 2, five viewing history data of 1st viewing history data to 5th viewing history data are shown. In FIG. 2, a bidirectional arrow represents a link between viewing history data. Each viewing history data has corresponding program data.

  In generating such a link, the information processing apparatus 10 calculates the degree of association between the two viewing history data. Specifically, first, the information processing apparatus 10 acquires program data corresponding to two viewing history data to be calculated from the program data management apparatus 20. Next, the information processing apparatus 10 reads out tags included in the acquired program data, and counts the number of common tags (the number of common tags) in each program data. That is, the information processing apparatus 10 calculates the amount of common features in two broadcast programs corresponding to two program data. Further, the information processing apparatus 10 calculates the time difference between the viewing dates and times included in the two viewing history data to be calculated. That is, the information processing apparatus 10 calculates the temporal proximity of viewing behavior corresponding to two viewing history data. The information processing apparatus 10 calculates the degree of association between the two viewing history data based on the number of common tags, the time difference between viewing dates and times, and the like. The information processing apparatus 10 presents viewing history data having a large calculated relevance level to the user as a candidate for association. Then, the information processing apparatus 10 associates viewing history data selected by the user among the presented candidates (also referred to as “link establishment”). In this association, the information processing apparatus 10 includes information for identifying each other in each of the two viewing history data to be linked. Thereby, the user can refer to the other viewing history data from one viewing history data.

[Example of program data]
Next, program data according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of program data according to the present embodiment.
The program data according to the present embodiment includes broadcast media name information (broadcast media name), broadcast date and time information (broadcast date and time), program title information (program title), and tag name list information (tag name list). . The program data is configured by associating broadcast media name information, broadcast date and time information, program title information, and tag name list information. One program data represents information related to one broadcast program. The program data includes broadcast program identification information for identifying the broadcast program. In this embodiment, a broadcast program is identified by broadcast media name information and broadcast date / time information. That is, in the present embodiment, the broadcast media name information and the broadcast date / time information are broadcast program identification information.

Broadcast media name information is information indicating the name of the broadcast media of a broadcast program.
Broadcast date / time information is information representing the broadcast date / time of a broadcast program.
The program title information is information representing the title (title) of the broadcast program.
The tag name list information is information representing a list of tag identification information for identifying tags. In the present embodiment, the tag identification information is tag name information that represents a name unique to the tag. Further, in the present embodiment, a case where the tag is configured only by tag name information will be described, but the tag may include arbitrary information in addition to the tag name information. Specifically, when a tag represents a performer of a broadcast program, the tag may include attribute information such as the name, birthplace, age, date of birth, etc. of the performer. Further, the tag may include information indicating the type of the tag (for example, performer, producer, location, etc.). As described above, the tag may include information representing details of the characteristics of the broadcast program represented by the tag.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the program data registered in the second row includes broadcast media name information “general television” and broadcast date / time information “2014/10/09 20: 00-20: 00: 00 ”, program title information“ Furusato Exploration ”, and tag name list information“ Akiko Akino, Yukio Fuyuyama, Mt. Momiji ”are associated with each other. Therefore, this program data is broadcasted on the “general television” at the time “October 09, 2014, 20: 00-20: 00” on the “comprehensive television”. And "Yukio Fuyuyama" appear, indicating that the program is related to the place name "Mt. Momiji".
The program data may be data representing attribute information for each corner or scene (scene) in the program, not for each program. Even in this case, corners and scenes can be identified by broadcast media name information and broadcast date information.

[Example of viewing history data]
Next, viewing history data will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of viewing history data according to the present embodiment.
Viewing history data according to the present embodiment includes viewing date / time information (viewing date / time), broadcast media name information (broadcast media name), broadcast date / time information (broadcast date / time), program title information (program title), and link destination. List information (link destination list). The viewing history data is configured by associating viewing date / time information, broadcast media name information, broadcast date / time information, program title information, and link destination information. One viewing history data represents information regarding viewing of one broadcast program.

The viewing date / time information is information representing the date and time when the broadcast program was viewed. In the present embodiment, the viewing date / time information is also an example of viewing history identification information for identifying viewing history data. The date and time when the broadcast program was viewed is, for example, the date and time when the user started viewing, the date and time when the user ended viewing, and the date and time when registration of viewing history was instructed. In the following, as an example, a case will be described in which the viewing date / time is the date / time when the user instructs registration of viewing history.
Broadcast media name information, broadcast date information, and program title information included in the viewing history data are the same as broadcast media name information, broadcast date information, and program title information included in the program data, respectively. Represents information.

  The link destination list information is information that represents the viewing date and time information of the link destination viewing history data in a list format. Specifically, in the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the link destination list information of the viewing history data registered in the second row is “2013/04/20 13:10:00” and “2011/12”. / 10 2: 30: 33: 00 ”and two viewing date / time information. In other words, the viewing history data includes viewing history data whose viewing date information is “2013/04/20 13:10:00” and viewing date information is “2011/12/10 20:33:00”. The viewing history data is linked to each other.

[Configuration of information processing device]
Next, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.
The information processing apparatus 10 is an apparatus capable of storing a broadcast program broadcast in the past and displaying the stored broadcast program. Specifically, the information processing apparatus 10 is, for example, an electronic device such as a television, a personal computer, a mobile phone, a tablet, a smartphone, a PHS terminal device, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). Here, as an example, a case will be described in which the information processing apparatus 10 is a television set installed in a home or business office.

  In addition, the information processing apparatus 10 includes, for example, a CPU (not shown) and a storage unit. The storage unit includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. Further, the storage unit may include an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a flash memory, and the like. The storage unit stores data such as various programs to be executed by the CPU included in the information processing apparatus 10, results of processing executed by the CPU, and the like. Specifically, for example, operation start date / time information indicating the date / time when the information processing apparatus 10 started the operation for the first time is stored in the storage unit.

  Further, as described above, the information processing apparatus 10 is a device that calculates the degree of association between viewing history data and associates the viewing history data with a link based on the calculated degree of association. When the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment receives an operation for recording (registering) a viewing history of a currently displayed broadcast program from the user, the information processing device 10 generates a list of link destination viewing history data candidates to generate a user list. To present. Here, the link destination viewing history data is viewing history data to be newly registered (hereinafter referred to as “new registration viewing history data”) and viewing history data associated with the link. The information processing apparatus 10 associates the viewing history data selected by the user in the presented candidate list with the newly registered viewing history data.

  The information processing apparatus 10 includes a viewing history storage unit 101, an operation receiving unit 102, a program storage unit 103, a display control unit 104, a display unit 105, a viewing history registration unit 106, a viewing history acquisition unit 107, A candidate list creation unit 108, a program data acquisition unit (reading unit) 109, an association degree calculation unit 110, an inter-program distance calculation unit 111, and a link generation unit 112 are provided. These functional units are realized, for example, when a CPU included in the information processing apparatus 10 executes a program stored in the storage unit of the information processing apparatus 10. Specifically, for example, a viewing history registration unit 106, a viewing history acquisition unit 107, a candidate list creation unit 108, a program data acquisition unit 109, a relevance calculation unit 110, an inter-program distance calculation unit 111, Each of the link generation units 112 is implemented as a function of a so-called web browser program.

  The operation receiving unit 102 includes an input device (interface) that receives an operation from a user. Specifically, the input device is an infrared remote controller, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or the like. Here, as an example, a case where the input device included in the operation receiving unit 102 is a television remote controller will be described. The operation reception unit 102 outputs operation information indicating the operation received from the user to each functional unit included in the information processing apparatus 10.

The user operation according to the present embodiment has three distinctions from the first operation to the third operation.
The first operation is an operation for selecting a broadcast program to be displayed on the display unit 105.
The second operation is an operation for registering the viewing history of the broadcast program being displayed on the display unit 105. The second operation is, for example, an operation executed by selecting a button for instructing history storage provided on a GUI (graphical user interface) screen displayed on the display unit 105.
The third operation is an operation for selecting linked viewing history data.

  The operation receiving unit 102 outputs operation information to the display control unit 104 when receiving the first operation. Further, when the operation accepting unit 102 accepts the second operation, the operation accepting unit 102 outputs the viewing date and time information indicating the date and time when the second operation is accepted and the operation information to the viewing history registering unit 106 and the candidate list creating unit 108. At this time, the operation accepting unit 102 displays broadcast program identification information and program title information for identifying the broadcast program registered in the viewing history data, that is, the broadcast program being displayed on the display unit 105, together with viewing date information and operation information. The data is output to the viewing history registration unit 106 and the candidate list creation unit 108. In addition, when the operation accepting unit 102 accepts the third operation, the operation accepting unit 102 outputs operation information to the link generating unit 112. At this time, the operation reception unit 102 outputs the viewing date / time information of the selected link destination viewing history data to the link generation unit 112 together with the operation information.

The program storage unit 103 is a storage unit that stores recording information representing video and audio of a broadcast program. In the present embodiment, the program storage unit 103 stores broadcast programs broadcast in the past in time series. The video and audio of the broadcast program stored in the program storage unit 103 can be read by designating broadcast program identification information such as a broadcast media name (channel) and broadcast date and time.
In the present embodiment, the program storage unit 103 is assumed to be a storage unit that is owned by the user of the information processing apparatus 10 and is provided inside or outside the information processing apparatus 10 like a hard disk recorder. This is not a limitation. Specifically, the program storage unit 103 may be, for example, a storage unit provided in a server device owned by a VOD service provider.

  When the display control unit 104 acquires the operation information representing the first operation, the display control unit 104 reads information representing the broadcast program selected by the user from the program storage unit 103 and outputs the information to the display unit 105. Further, the display control unit 104 outputs information representing a list of link destination viewing history data candidates created by a candidate list creation unit 108 described later to the display unit 105.

  The display unit 105 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The display unit 105 displays a list of broadcast program, GUI screen, and link destination viewing history data candidates selected by the user based on the information output from the display control unit 104. Each candidate of link destination viewing history data is displayed in descending order according to the degree of association with the newly registered viewing history data. At this time, the display control unit 104 may display a predetermined number of link destination viewing history data candidates in descending order of the degree of relevance, or link destination viewing history data having a degree of relevance greater than a predetermined threshold. Only the candidates may be displayed. In this way, the link destination viewing history data candidates may be displayed in an arbitrary manner. For example, the display may be switched by a user operation.

  The viewing history registration unit 106 performs new registration, correction, and deletion of viewing history data in the viewing history storage unit 101. Here, new registration of viewing history data will be described. Specifically, the viewing history registration unit 106 acquires operation information representing the second operation, viewing date / time information, broadcast program identification information, and program title information from the operation reception unit 102. Next, the viewing history registration unit 106 outputs the acquired broadcast program identification information to the program data acquisition unit 109 and acquires program data from the program data management device 20. Next, the viewing history registration unit 106 generates viewing history data in which the broadcast media name information, the broadcast date / time information, and the program title information of the acquired program data are associated with the viewing date / time information. The viewing history registration unit 106 stores the generated viewing history data in the viewing history storage unit 101. When the viewing history registration unit 106 newly registers viewing history data, the viewing history registration unit 106 outputs the newly registered viewing history data to the candidate list creation unit 108.

  Also, when the viewing history registration unit 106 acquires link update information from the link generation unit 112 described later, the link list information of the viewing history data stored in the viewing history storage unit 101 based on the acquired link update information. Update. Here, the link update information is information representing the update of the link relationship between the viewing history data. Specifically, the link update information includes viewing date / time information for identifying two viewing history data associated with a link to be added or deleted.

  The update of linked list information will be described. First, the viewing history registration unit 106 searches the viewing history management device 30 for two viewing history data based on the two viewing date and time information included in the link update information. Next, the viewing history registration unit 106 adds each other's viewing date and time information to the link destination list information of the two searched viewing history data. As a result, the viewing history registration unit 106 can refer to the two viewing history data and link them.

  The viewing history acquisition unit 107 extracts viewing history data stored in the viewing history storage unit 101 based on viewing date information. Then, the viewing history acquisition unit 107 outputs the acquired viewing history data to each functional unit included in the information processing apparatus 10 such as the candidate list creation unit 108.

  The candidate list creation unit 108 creates a list of candidates for link destination viewing history data linked to newly registered viewing history data among the viewing history data stored so far. Specifically, first, the candidate list creation unit 108 requests the viewing history acquisition unit 107 to acquire newly registered viewing history data based on the viewing date / time information acquired from the operation receiving unit 102 together with the operation information. Next, the candidate list creation unit 108 sequentially requests the viewing history acquisition unit 107 for all viewing history data stored in the viewing history storage unit 101. Next, the candidate list creation unit 108 sequentially outputs two pieces of viewing history data, which are newly registered viewing history data and viewing history data sequentially acquired by the viewing history acquisition unit 107, to the relevance calculation unit 110. Next, the candidate list creation unit 108 acquires relevance level information indicating the relevance level between the two output viewing history data from the relevance level calculation unit 110. Then, when the candidate list creation unit 108 acquires the relevance information for all the combinations of the viewing history data output to the relevance calculation unit 110, the candidate list creation unit 108 sorts the viewing history data in descending order according to the relevance level. A list of link destination viewing history data candidates is created. The candidate list creation unit 108 outputs information representing the created list to the display control unit 104, and presents a list of link destination viewing history data candidates to the user via the display by the display unit 105.

  The program data acquisition unit 109 includes, for example, a communication IC (Integrated Circuit) and communicates with the program data management device 20. The program data acquisition unit 109 acquires program data from the program data management device 20 in response to a request from the relevance degree calculation unit 110. Specifically, first, the program data acquisition unit 109 acquires viewing history data from the association degree calculation unit 110. Next, the program data acquisition unit 109 searches the program data stored in the program data storage unit 201 of the program data management device 20 for program data that matches the broadcast date / time information and the broadcast media name information of the viewing history data. . Then, the retrieved program data is acquired from the program data management device 20, and the acquired program data is output to the relevance calculation unit 110.

The relevance calculating unit 110 calculates the relevance between the two viewing history data acquired from the candidate list creating unit 108. At this time, the degree-of-association calculating unit 110 outputs the obtained two viewing history data to the program data obtaining unit 109, thereby obtaining two program data respectively corresponding to the two viewing history data. Next, the relevance calculation unit 110 calculates the relevance based on the acquired two viewing history data and the program data. Specifically, in the calculation of the relevance level, the relevance level calculation unit 110 refers to the number of tags commonly included in the two program data corresponding to the two viewing history data (hereinafter referred to as “common tag number”). .) Is calculated. Further, the relevance calculation unit 110 outputs two viewing history data to the inter-program distance calculation unit 111 and acquires the inter-program distance from the inter-program distance calculation unit 111. Next, the relevance calculation unit 110 calculates the relevance based on the number of common tags and the inter-program distance. Then, the relevance calculation unit 110 outputs relevance information indicating the relevance of the calculation result to the candidate list creation unit 108.
Here, the number of common tags and the inter-program distance are examples of indices representing the relevance between broadcast programs, respectively. Since the tag represents the feature of the broadcast program, it represents the relationship between the contents of the broadcast programs. Moreover, the distance between programs which concerns on this embodiment represents the temporal relationship between broadcast programs.

Here, the calculation of the relevance will be described.
First, a method for calculating the number of common tags will be described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method for calculating the number of common tags according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 6 illustrates the first program data D11 and the second program data D12 respectively corresponding to the two viewing history data D21 and D22 that are the calculation target of the degree of association. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the tag name list information of the first program data D11 includes N tag name information of “tag A”, “tag B”,..., “Tag C”. In addition, the tag name list information of the second program data D12 includes M tag name information of “tag A”, “tag C”, “tag X”,..., “Tag Y”. Among these tag name information, two tag name information of “tag A” and “tag C” are common to the first program data D11 and the second program data D12. Therefore, the number of common tags in this case is 2.

Next, a method for calculating the distance between programs will be described.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method for calculating the distance between programs according to the present embodiment.
In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the distance between programs between viewing history data is closer as the date and time when the broadcast ancestor is viewed is closer. Specifically, the inter-program distance is calculated by the following equation (1).
L = 1−t / T (1)
Here, the distance L represents the distance between programs. Time t is the difference between the viewing dates of the two views. That is, time t represents the length of a period from when one of the two broadcast programs is viewed until the other is viewed. The time T represents the time that has elapsed since the date and time when the information processing apparatus 10 started operating for the first time.

  FIG. 7 illustrates the first viewing history data D21 and the second viewing history data D22, which are calculation targets of the relevance level. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the value of the viewing date / time information of the first viewing history data D <b> 21 is “2014/10/10 10:00:00”. The value of the viewing date / time information of the second viewing history data D22 is “2014/10/08 08:00:00”. Therefore, the time t is 38 [h]. Time T is the difference between the date and time indicated by the operation start date and time information stored in the storage unit and the current date and time.

Next, calculation of the degree of association based on the number of common tags and the inter-program distance L will be described.
The relevance calculating unit 110 calculates the relevance by the following equation (2).
R = {α · n / N + (1−α) · n / M} · L (2)
Here, the positive number R represents the degree of association. The coefficient α is a weighting coefficient that represents the weight between broadcast programs corresponding to two viewing history data. The value of the weighting factor α is a value between 0 and 1 (0 ≦ α ≦ 1). Here, a case where the value of the weighting factor α is “0.5” will be described. In this case, two broadcast programs are treated equally in calculating the degree of association.

  The positive integer n represents the number of common tags for the first program data D11 and the second program data D12. The positive integer N represents the number of tag name information registered in the first program data D11. A positive integer M represents the number of tag name information registered in the second program data D12. The degree of association calculated by this equation (2) becomes larger as the value of the common tag number n is larger and the inter-program distance value is larger. That is, the more the number of matches of the broadcast program tags corresponding to the two viewing history data is, and the closer the viewing date is, the higher the degree of association between the two viewing history data is, and it is determined that the association between the two broadcast programs is strong. Is done.

  The inter-program distance calculation unit 111 calculates the inter-program distance between the two viewing history data based on the above-described equation (1) in response to a request from the relevance degree calculation unit 110. The inter-program distance calculation unit 111 outputs inter-program distance information representing the inter-program distance of the calculation result to the relevance degree calculation unit 110.

  When the operation reception unit 102 receives the third operation, the link generation unit 112 generates link update information including the link destination viewing history data selected by the user and the newly registered viewing history data. The link generation unit 112 outputs the generated link update information to the viewing history registration unit 106.

[Operation of information processing device]
Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 10 will be described.
First, the overall processing flow by the information processing apparatus 10 will be described.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing by the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.
The series of processing illustrated in FIG. 8 is started from a state in which a GUI screen for storing a viewing history and a broadcast program are displayed on the display unit 105, for example. Hereinafter, a case where X viewing history data are stored in the viewing history storage unit 101 will be described.

(Step S100) The operation accepting unit 102 accepts a second operation from the user, that is, an instruction to newly register a viewing history. The operation receiving unit 102 includes operation information indicating the received second operation, viewing date / time information indicating the date and time when the second operation is received, broadcast program identification information indicating a broadcast program to be registered, and program title information. The data is output to the viewing history registration unit 106 and the candidate list creation unit 108. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the process to step S101.
(Step S101) The viewing history registration unit 106 generates viewing history data by associating the operation information acquired from the operation receiving unit 102, the broadcast program identification information, and the program title information with the viewing date information. The viewing history registration unit 106 stores the generated viewing history data in the viewing history storage unit 101. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the processing to step S103.

(Step S <b> 102) The candidate list creation unit 108 acquires newly registered viewing history data from the viewing history storage unit 101 based on the viewing date / time information acquired from the operation reception unit 102. Then, the candidate list creation unit 108 initializes the counter value a to 0, and repeatedly executes the processing of steps S103 to S105 while the counter value a is less than the positive integer X (a <X). When the counter value a is greater than or equal to the positive integer X (a ≧ X), the information processing apparatus 10 advances the process to step S106.

(Step S103) The candidate list creation unit 108 acquires a-th viewing history data among X viewing history data stored in advance in the viewing history storage unit 101. Here, specifically, the “a” means, for example, that the value of the viewing date / time information of the viewing history data is the a-th counted from the oldest. The a-th viewing history data is a candidate for linked viewing history data. The candidate list creation unit 108 outputs the newly registered viewing history data and the a-th viewing history data to the relevance calculation unit 110. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the processing to step S104.

(Step S104) When the relevance calculation unit 110 acquires the newly registered viewing history data and the a-th viewing history data from the candidate list creation unit 108, the relevance level calculation unit 110 calculates the relevance between the two acquired viewing history data. The relevance calculation unit 110 outputs relevance information indicating the relevance of the calculation result to the candidate list creation unit 108. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the processing to step S105.

(Step S105) The candidate list creation unit 108 adds 1 to the counter value a (a ← a + 1). Thereafter, when the counter value a is less than the positive integer X (a <X), the information processing apparatus 10 returns the process to step S103. When the counter value a is greater than or equal to a positive integer X (a ≧ X), that is, the degree of association between all the viewing history data stored in advance in the viewing history storage unit 101 and the newly registered viewing history data. When the calculation is performed, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the processing to step S106.

(Step S106) The candidate list creation unit 108 sorts the link destination viewing history data in descending order according to the degree of association, for example, based on the degree of association information acquired from the degree of association calculation unit 110. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the processing to step S107.
(Step S107) The candidate list creation unit 108 creates information representing a list of a predetermined number of viewing history data with high relevance, that is, a list of candidates for linked viewing history data, from the sorted viewing history data. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the process to step S108.

(Step S108) The display control unit 104 causes the display unit 105 to display a list of link destination viewing history data candidates of the newly registered viewing history data based on the information acquired from the candidate list creation unit. Thereby, the information processing apparatus 10 can display a list of programs having a high degree of relevance among broadcast programs viewed by the user. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the processing to step S109.
(Step S <b> 109) The operation receiving unit 102 receives an operation (third operation) for selecting any one of the linked destination viewing history data candidates displayed on the display unit 105 from the user. The operation reception unit 102 outputs the operation information indicating the received third operation and the viewing date / time information of the link destination viewing history data selected by the user to the link generation unit 112. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the processing to step S110.

(Step S <b> 110) Upon acquiring the operation information representing the third operation and the viewing date / time information from the operation receiving unit 102, the link generation unit 112 acquires the viewing date / time information of the newly registered viewing history data and the operation receiving unit 102. Link update information including the viewing date / time information of the link destination viewing history data is generated. The link generation unit 112 outputs the generated link update information to the viewing history registration unit 106. The viewing history storage unit 101 specifies the viewing history data stored in the viewing history storage unit 101 based on the two viewing date / time information included in the link update information acquired from the link generation unit 112. Then, the viewing history registration unit 106 adds the viewing date / time information of the linked viewing history data to the linked list information of the specified new viewing history data. Also, the viewing history registration unit 106 appends the viewing date and time information of the newly registered viewing history data to the link destination list information of the specified linked viewing history data. As a result, the user can easily store viewing history data having a link structure by selecting a broadcast program to be stored in association from the list of broadcast programs displayed on the display unit 105. . Then, the information processing apparatus 10 ends the process shown in FIG.

Next, the flow of relevance level calculation processing by the information processing apparatus 10 will be described.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the degree of association calculation process by the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.
The process of S200 to S203 illustrated in FIG. 9 corresponds to the process of step S104 of FIG.
(Step S200) The program data acquisition unit 109 acquires program data corresponding to two pieces of viewing history data, that is, newly registered viewing history data and link destination viewing history data candidates, from the program data management device 20. The program data acquisition unit 109 outputs the two acquired program data to the relevance degree calculation unit 110. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the process to step S201.

(Step S201) The relevance calculating unit 110 refers to the tag name list information of the two program data acquired from the program data acquiring unit 109. Next, the degree-of-association calculation unit 110 calculates the number of common tags n by counting the number of tag name information common to each program data. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the processing to step S202.

(Step S202) The relevance calculation unit 110 outputs the newly registered viewing history data and the link destination viewing history data candidates (a-th viewing history data) to the inter-program distance calculation unit 111. The inter-program distance calculation unit 111 refers to the viewing date / time information of the two viewing history data acquired from the relevance calculation unit 110 and calculates a time difference t between the viewing dates / times. Further, the inter-program distance calculation unit 111 refers to the operation start date / time information stored in the storage unit and the current date / time, and calculates an elapsed time length T from the operation start of the information processing apparatus 10. Next, the inter-program distance calculation unit 111 calculates the inter-program distance L using Equation (1) based on the calculated time difference t between viewing dates and time and the elapsed time length T from the start of the operation of the information processing apparatus 10. . The inter-program distance calculation unit 111 outputs inter-program distance information representing the calculated inter-program distance L to the relevance calculation unit 110. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus 10 advances the process to step S203.

(Step S203) The degree-of-relevance calculation unit 110 calculates the degree of relevance R according to Equation (2) based on the number n of common tags calculated by the process of Step S201 and the inter-program distance L calculated by the process of Step S202. Is calculated. The relevance calculating unit 110 outputs information representing the calculated relevance R to the candidate list creating unit 108. Then, the information processing apparatus 10 ends the process illustrated in FIG.

[Summary of First Embodiment]
As described above, the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a tag that represents the feature of the first broadcast program from the program data storage unit 201 that stores a tag that represents the feature of the broadcast program for each broadcast program, Among the tags read by the program data acquisition unit (reading unit) 109 that reads the two broadcast program characteristics and the tags read by the program data acquisition unit 109, the number of tags common to the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program A degree-of-association calculation unit 110 for calculating so as to increase the degree of association between the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program as the number of common tags (n) increases, for example.
Thereby, the information processing apparatus 10 calculates the degree of association between broadcast programs based on the commonality of the characteristics of the broadcast programs. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 10 can calculate the relevance of the broadcast program with high accuracy.

In addition, the information processing apparatus 10 includes a link generation unit 112 that generates a link that associates the first broadcast program with the second broadcast program based on the relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit 110. In addition, the link generation unit 112 may associate the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program when the relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit 110 is greater than a predetermined threshold.
Thereby, the information processing apparatus 10 associates, for example, between broadcast programs having a high degree of association by a link. Therefore, since the information processing apparatus 10 can refer to broadcast programs having a high degree of association with each other, for example, the user follows a link from a broadcast program similar to the broadcast program desired to be viewed. Can be searched for.

Further, the relevance calculating unit 110 further decreases the length of time (for example, time t) from when one of the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program is viewed until the other is viewed. The calculation is performed so as to increase the degree of relevance.
Thereby, for example, the information processing apparatus 10 calculates a higher degree of association as the date and time when two broadcast programs are viewed is closer. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 10 can calculate the relevance of the broadcast program with high accuracy.

Further, the link generation unit 112 associates the viewing history data selected by the user with the newly registered viewing history data among the link destination viewing history data candidates created by the candidate list creation unit 108.
Thereby, for example, the information processing apparatus 10 can associate the viewing history data selected by the user among the viewing history data displayed according to the degree of relevance with the newly registered viewing history data. Therefore, the user can associate broadcast programs that have been confirmed to be relevant.

[Second Embodiment]
[Outline of information processing system]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, about the same structure as embodiment mentioned above, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is used.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the information processing system 1A according to the present embodiment.
An information processing system 1A according to the present embodiment replaces the information processing apparatus 10 (FIG. 1) included in the information processing system 1 (FIG. 1) according to the first embodiment with a plurality of information processing apparatuses 10A-1 and 10A. -2,. Hereinafter, the plurality of information processing apparatuses 10A-1, 10A-2,... Are collectively referred to as the information processing apparatus 10A. Further, the information processing system 1A includes a program data management device 20A instead of the program data management device 20 (FIG. 1) included in the information processing system 1.

As in the information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment, the information processing system 1A according to the present embodiment is a system that calculates the degree of association between broadcast programs and generates a link between broadcast programs. However, the information processing system 1A is different from the information processing system 1 in the calculation method of the relevance of the broadcast program. Specifically, the distance between programs used for calculating the degree of association is calculated based on the difference between two viewing dates and times in the information processing system 1, whereas in the information processing system 1A, a plurality of information processing is performed. This is calculated based on the number of links established between two broadcast programs by the apparatus 10A. Thereby, the information processing system 1A calculates a high degree of association between broadcast programs determined to be related by many information processing apparatuses 10A. That is, since the information processing apparatus 10A can reflect the calculation result of the degree of association by the other information processing apparatus 10A and the result of determination of the relation by another user in the calculation of the degree of association of the own apparatus, the information processing apparatus 10A has high accuracy. Can calculate the degree of association between broadcast programs.
In the information processing system 1A, not the information processing apparatus 10A but the program data management apparatus 20A calculates the inter-program distance.

[Example of program data]
Next, program data according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of program data according to the present embodiment.
The program data according to the present embodiment includes broadcast media name information, broadcast date / time information, program title information, and tag name list information, similarly to the program data according to the first embodiment. However, the program data according to the present embodiment is different from the program data according to the first embodiment in that it further includes link information (link).

The link information is information representing a link state between a broadcast program related to program data and another broadcast program. The link information includes broadcast media name information (broadcast media name) and broadcast date information (broadcast date) as broadcast program identification information, and link number information (link number).
The broadcast program identification information included in the link information is information for identifying a broadcast program associated with the broadcast program related to the program data. Hereinafter, broadcast program identification information included in the link information is referred to as link destination broadcast program identification information. The broadcast program identification information of the broadcast program related to the program data is referred to as link source broadcast program identification information.
The link number information is information indicating the number of links generated between the broadcast program related to the program data and the broadcast program indicated by the broadcast program identification information of the link information. The information processing system 1A according to the present embodiment includes the plurality of information processing apparatuses 10A as described above. The link information is information representing the total number of links generated by the plurality of information processing apparatuses 10A between the broadcast programs.

[Configuration of Program Data Management Device]
Next, the configuration of the program data management apparatus 20A according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The program data management apparatus 20A according to the present embodiment includes a program data storage unit 201, a link number update unit 202, an inter-program distance calculation request reception unit 203, a link number acquisition unit 204, and a registered device number storage unit 205. The inter-program distance calculation unit 206 and the inter-program distance transmission unit 207 are provided. These functional units are realized, for example, when a CPU included in the program data management device 20A executes a program stored in the storage unit of the program data management device 20A.

  The link number update unit 202 includes, for example, a communication IC and communicates with the information processing apparatus 10A. The link number update unit 202 performs update such as addition, correction, and deletion of link information of program data stored in the program data storage unit 201. Here, a case where a link between viewing history data is newly generated in the information processing apparatus 10A will be described.

Specifically, first, the link number update unit 202 receives link update information from the information processing apparatus 10A. This link update information includes broadcast program identification information of two broadcast programs newly associated by the information processing apparatus 10A. Next, the link number update unit 202 includes one of the two broadcast program identification information whose link source broadcast program identification information is included in the link update information among the program data stored in the program data storage unit 201. Two pieces of program data that match are extracted. In this embodiment, since the link associates the broadcast program bidirectionally, the link source broadcast program identification information and the link destination broadcast program identification information are interchanged in the two program data extracted by this processing. . Next, the link number update unit 202 identifies link information in which the other broadcast program identification information that is not used for extraction of the program data is link destination broadcast program identification information in the extracted program data. Then, the link number update unit 202 adds 1 to the value of the link number information of the specified link information.
In the information processing apparatus 10A, when the link is deleted, 1 is subtracted from the value of the link number information. If there is no relevant link destination broadcast program identification information, link information is newly added, and the value of the link number information is set to 1.

  The inter-program distance calculation request accepting unit 203 includes, for example, a communication IC and communicates with the information processing apparatus 10A. The inter-program distance calculation request receiving unit 203 receives an inter-program distance calculation request from the information processing apparatus 10A. This inter-program distance calculation request includes broadcast program identification information of two broadcast programs whose inter-program distance is to be calculated. Next, the inter-program distance calculation request accepting unit 203 outputs the two broadcast program identification information included in the received inter-program distance calculation request to the inter-program distance calculation unit 206.

  In response to the link number acquisition request from the inter-program distance calculation unit 206, the link number acquisition unit 204 acquires program data link number information from the program data storage unit 201. This link number acquisition request includes two broadcast program identification information. That is, the link number acquisition unit 204 acquires the total number of links established between two broadcast programs indicated by the two broadcast program identification information. The link number acquisition unit 204 outputs the acquired link number information to the inter-program distance calculation unit 206.

Here, acquisition of the link number information by the link number acquisition unit 204 will be described.
First, the link number acquisition unit 204 acquires a link number acquisition request from the inter-program distance calculation unit 206. Next, the link number acquisition unit 204 includes two pieces of broadcast program identification information whose link source broadcast program identification information is included in the link number acquisition request among the program data stored in the program data storage unit 201. Program data matching one of them is extracted. Next, the link number acquisition unit 204 specifies link information whose link destination broadcast program identification information matches the other of the two broadcast program identification information included in the link number acquisition request in the extracted program data. To do. Then, the link number acquisition unit 204 acquires link number information of the specified link information.
In the present embodiment, the minimum value of the number of links is 1 as an example. That is, when there is no link between designated broadcast programs, the link number acquisition unit 204 outputs link number information indicating 1 as the link number to the inter-program distance calculation unit 206.

The registered device number storage unit 205 is a storage unit that stores registered device number information indicating the total number of information processing devices 10A communicating with the own device.
When the inter-program distance calculation unit 206 acquires two broadcast program identification information from the inter-program distance calculation request reception unit 203, the inter-program distance calculation unit 206 outputs a link number acquisition request including the two acquired broadcast program identification information to the link number acquisition unit 204. Get link number information. The inter-program distance calculation unit 206 reads the registered device number information from the registered device number storage unit 205. The inter-program distance calculation unit 206 calculates the inter-program distance by the following equation (3) based on the acquired link number information and registered device number information.
L = u / U (3)

  Here, the positive integer u represents the number of links. The positive integer U represents the total number of information processing apparatuses 10A that communicate with the program data management apparatus 20A. According to Equation (3), the inter-program distance L is a large value when two broadcast programs are linked in common in the plurality of information processing apparatuses 10A. That is, the degree of association between broadcast programs linked in common in the plurality of information processing apparatuses 10A is calculated to be high. The inter-program distance calculation unit 206 outputs inter-program distance information representing the calculated inter-program distance L to the inter-program distance transmission unit 207.

  The inter-program distance transmission unit 207 includes, for example, a communication IC and communicates with the information processing apparatus 10A. The inter-program distance transmission unit 207 transmits the inter-program distance information acquired from the inter-program distance calculation unit 206 to the information processing apparatus 10A that has transmitted the inter-program distance calculation request.

[Configuration of information processing device]
Next, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 10A according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a schematic functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 10A according to the present embodiment.
The information processing apparatus 10 includes a relevance calculation unit 110A instead of the relevance calculation unit 110 (FIG. 5) according to the first embodiment. The information processing apparatus 10 </ b> A includes an inter-program distance acquisition unit 113 instead of the inter-program distance calculation unit 111 (FIG. 5) included in the information processing apparatus 10. The information processing apparatus 10A includes a link generation unit 112A instead of the link generation unit 112 (FIG. 5) included in the information processing apparatus 10. The information processing apparatus 10 </ b> A includes a link update information transmission unit 114 in addition to the various configurations (FIG. 5) included in the information processing apparatus 10.

  The degree-of-association calculation unit 110A calculates the degree of association based on the number of common tags and the distance between programs, similarly to the degree-of-association calculation unit 110 according to the first embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, as described above, the method for calculating the distance between programs is different from that in the first embodiment. Therefore, the degree-of-association calculating unit 110A obtains the broadcast program identification information included in each of the two viewing history data, that is, the broadcast program identification information indicating the two broadcast programs whose degree of association is to be calculated in order to acquire the distance between the programs. Is output to the inter-program distance acquisition unit 113 to acquire the inter-program distance.

  The inter-program distance acquisition unit 113 includes, for example, a communication IC and communicates with the program data management apparatus 20A. When the inter-program distance acquisition unit 113 acquires the two broadcast program identification information from the association degree calculation unit 110, the inter-program distance acquisition unit 113 transmits an inter-program distance calculation request including the two acquired broadcast program identification information to the program data management device 20A. When the inter-program distance acquisition unit 113 receives the inter-program distance information transmitted from the program data management device 20A in response to the request, the inter-program distance acquisition unit 113 outputs the inter-program distance information to the relevance calculation unit 110A.

The link generation unit 112A generates link update information and outputs the link update information to the viewing history registration unit 106, similarly to the link generation unit 112 according to the first embodiment. Also, the link generation unit 112A outputs the generated link update information to the link update information transmission unit 114.
The link update information transmission unit 114 includes, for example, a communication IC and communicates with the program data management device 20A. The link update information transmission unit 114 transmits the link update information acquired from the link generation unit 112A to the program data management device 20A. Thereby, in the program data management device 20A, the link number information of the links corresponding to the two broadcast program identification information included in the link update information is updated. As described above, the program data management device 20A does not manage the link state of the broadcast program for each information processing device 10A, and only knows the number of links, and therefore can calculate the inter-program distance with a small load. .

[Summary of Second Embodiment]
As described above, the information processing system 1A according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of information processing apparatuses 10A. Then, the relevance calculating unit 110A of the information processing apparatus 10A increases the relevance as the number of links generated by the information processing apparatus 10A different from the own apparatus increases between the two broadcast programs. Calculate.
Accordingly, the information processing apparatus 10A can reflect the determination result of the association between broadcast programs by the other information processing apparatus 10A in the calculation of the degree of association. Therefore, the information processing system 1A can calculate the relevance of the broadcast program with high accuracy.

[Modification]
[Outline of information processing system]
Next, a modified example of the present invention will be described. Here, about the same structure as embodiment mentioned above, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is used.
An information processing system 1B (not shown) according to the modification is replaced with a program data management device 20B (FIG. 10) instead of the program data management device 20A (FIG. 10) included in the information processing system 1A (FIG. 10) according to the second embodiment. (Not shown).
Further, the program data management device 20B according to the present embodiment replaces the inter-program distance calculation unit 206B (FIG. 12) provided in the program data management device 20A according to the second embodiment with an inter-program distance calculation unit 206B (non- As shown).

Similar to the information processing system 1A according to the second embodiment, the information processing system 1B according to the modification is a system that calculates the degree of association between broadcast programs and generates a link between the broadcast programs. However, in the information processing system 1B, the calculation method of the relevance level of the broadcast program is different from the information processing system 1A. Specifically, the inter-program distance calculation unit 206B of the program data management device 20B calculates the inter-program distance based on the following equation (4).
L = β (1-t / T) + (1-β) u / U (4)
Here, the coefficient β is a weighting coefficient representing a weight between broadcast programs corresponding to two broadcast programs. The value of the weighting coefficient β is a value between 0 and 1 (0 ≦ α ≦ 1).
Thus, in each embodiment mentioned above, the formula for calculating the relevance may be arbitrarily selected, and may be constituted by combining arbitrary parameters.

  In each embodiment mentioned above, each function with which information processor 10, 10A and program data management devices 20, 20A, and 20B are provided may be separated arbitrarily, and may be combined. Specifically, the information processing apparatus 10 is realized by two apparatuses, for example, a program viewing apparatus having a function of viewing a broadcast program and a viewing history management apparatus having a function of calculating a degree of association and generating a link. May be. In this case, for example, the program viewing apparatus includes an operation reception unit 102, a program storage unit 103, a display control unit 104, and a display unit 105. The viewing history management apparatus includes a viewing history storage unit 101, a viewing history registration unit 106, a viewing history acquisition unit 107, a candidate list creation unit 108, a program data acquisition unit (reading unit) 109, a relevance calculation unit 110, and an inter-program A distance calculation unit 111 and a link generation unit 112 are provided. The program viewing device and the viewing history management device each include an external interface to transmit and receive various types of information to each other and execute processing of the information processing device 10. As described above, the functional units included in the information processing apparatuses 10, 10A and the program data management apparatuses 20, 20A, 20B may be included in an integrated apparatus or may be included in a separate apparatus. .

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the information processing apparatuses 10 and 10A generate a link in response to a user operation is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the calculated degree of relevance is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the information processing apparatuses 10 and 10A may generate a link between the broadcast programs regardless of whether or not the user performs an operation. In this case, for example, the information processing apparatus 10 may calculate the degree of association for an unprocessed combination in the viewing history data periodically stored in the viewing history storage unit 101 and generate a link.

  In the above-described embodiments, the inter-program distance calculation units 206 and 206B may calculate the inter-program distance based on the difference between the broadcast dates and times instead of the difference between the viewing dates and times of the two broadcast programs. In this case, the time t represents the length of a period from one of the two broadcast programs until the other is broadcast. However, since the viewing date and time is different information for each user, the relevance level of the broadcast program in accordance with the user can be calculated by using the difference in viewing date and time. The time T may be, for example, the date and time that has passed since the broadcast date and time of the oldest broadcast program among all the broadcast programs stored in the program storage unit 103.

  Note that a part of the information processing apparatuses 10 and 10A and the program data management apparatuses 20, 20A, and 20B in each of the above-described embodiments, for example, the viewing history storage unit 101, the operation reception unit 102, the program storage unit 103, and the display control unit 104. , Display unit 105, viewing history registration unit 106, viewing history acquisition unit 107, candidate list creation unit 108, program data acquisition unit (reading unit) 109, relevance calculation units 110 and 110A, inter-program distance calculation unit 111, link generation 112, 112A, inter-program distance acquisition unit 113, link update information transmission unit 114, program data storage unit 201, link number update unit 202, inter-program distance calculation request reception unit 203, link number acquisition unit 204, registered device number storage The unit 205, the inter-program distance calculation units 206 and 206B, the inter-program distance transmission unit 207, and the like may be realized by a computer. In that case, a program for realizing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed. The “computer system” here is a computer system built in the information processing apparatus 10, 10A and the program data management apparatus 20, 20A, 20B, and includes hardware such as an OS (Operating System) and peripheral devices. Shall be included.

  The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” is a medium that dynamically holds a program for a short time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, In this case, a volatile memory inside a computer system that serves as a server or a client may be included that holds a program for a certain period of time. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  In addition, a part or all of the information processing apparatuses 10 and 10A and the program data management apparatuses 20, 20A, and 20B in the above-described embodiments may be realized as an integrated circuit such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration). The functional units of the information processing apparatuses 10 and 10A and the program data management apparatuses 20, 20A and 20B may be individually made into processors, or some or all may be integrated into a processor. Further, the method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. In addition, when an integrated circuit technology that replaces LSI appears due to the advancement of semiconductor technology, an integrated circuit based on the technology may be used.

  As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the above, and various design changes and the like can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is possible to

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A, 1B ... Information processing system 10, 10A ... Information processing apparatus 20, 20A, 20B ... Program data management apparatus 101 ... Viewing history storage part 102 ... Operation reception part 103 ... Program storage part 104 ... Display control unit 105 ... Display unit 106 ... Viewing history registration unit 107 ... Viewing history acquisition unit 108 ... Candidate list creation unit 109 ... Program data acquisition unit (reading unit) 110, 110A ... Relevance calculation unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 111 ... Inter-program distance calculation part, 112, 112A ... Link production | generation part, 113 ... Inter-program distance acquisition part, 114 ... Link update information transmission part, 201 ... Program data storage part, 202 ... Link number update part, 203 ... Inter program Distance calculation request receiving unit, 204 ... Link number acquisition unit, 205 ... Registered device number storage unit, 206, 206B ... Inter-program distance calculation unit, 207 ... Inter-program distance transmission unit

Claims (5)

A reading unit that reads a tag that represents the feature of the first broadcast program and a tag that represents the feature of the second broadcast program from a program data storage unit that stores a tag representing the feature of the broadcast program for each broadcast program;
Of the tags read by the reading unit, the degree of association between the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program is increased as the number of tags common to the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program is increased. Relevance calculation unit for calculating
An information processing apparatus comprising: The relevance calculating unit further increases the relevance as the length of time from when one of the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program is viewed until the other is viewed is shorter. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus performs the calculation so as to perform. A link generation unit that generates a link that associates the first broadcast program with the second broadcast program when the relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit is greater than a predetermined threshold. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The degree-of-association calculating unit increases the degree of association as the number of links generated by the information processing apparatus different from the own apparatus increases between the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information processing apparatus performs the following operation. On the computer,
A reading step of reading out a tag representing the feature of the first broadcast program and a tag representing the feature of the second broadcast program from a program data storage unit storing a tag representing the feature of the broadcast program for each broadcast program;
Of the tags read in the reading step, the greater the number of tags common to the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program, the greater the degree of association between the first broadcast program and the second broadcast program. Relevance degree calculation step to calculate,
A program for running

Images