JP2020036317A - Receiver and terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a receiver and a terminal device where the terminal device side can grasp the receiver's status of broadcast reception before an application is activated on the receiver side.SOLUTION: A receiver comprises a tuner unit, an application execution unit, a terminal cooperation unit, a tuner control unit, and an application control unit. The application execution unit executes an application for broadcast communication cooperation. The terminal cooperation unit receives from a terminal device an application activation command which includes application identification information for identifying an application and channel selection information for channel selection of broadcast signals. The tuner control unit controls the tuner unit to perform channel selection of a specific broadcast signal on the basis of information on an organization service, a broadcast system, and broadcast media included in the channel selection information. The application control unit activates the application identified with the application identification information so as to be executed by the application execution unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a receiver and a terminal device.

  In terrestrial digital television broadcasting, BS digital broadcasting, and broadband CS digital broadcasting (hereinafter, referred to as “digital broadcasting”), a broadcasting / communication cooperation service by hybrid cast has already been provided. Non-Patent Document 1 states that even in advanced BS digital broadcasting, whose service was started in December 2018, it is possible to operate a multimedia service equivalent to hybrid cast, similarly to the digital broadcasting described above. Has been described. In Non-Patent Document 1, as an apparatus for receiving advanced BS digital broadcasting, in addition to a receiver dedicated to advanced BS digital broadcasting, a receiver compatible with both digital broadcasting (conventional) and advanced BS digital broadcasting (Hereinafter, referred to as "shared receiver"). Non-Patent Document 1 defines a hasCapability method that can be called from a hybrid cast application program (also referred to as an “app”). This hasCapability method is a method for confirming whether the receiver on which the application is operating is a shared receiver and which broadcast media can be used.

  In addition, Patent Document 1 discloses that in addition to launching a hybrid cast application starting from a conventional TV broadcast, a hybrid cast application can be launched and used starting from a terminal device such as a smartphone or tablet. Is described. That is, a cooperative operation between the application of the terminal device and the application of the receiver is possible.

JP 2015-146478 A

"Multimedia Coding Method for Digital Broadcasting (2nd Generation) Standards", ARIB STD-B62, 1.9th edition, 2nd Volume, April 12, 2018, Japan Radio Industry Association "Technical Data for Advanced Broadband Satellite Digital Broadcasting Operational Regulations", ARIB TR-B39, 1.7th Edition, First Volume, April 12, 2018, Japan Radio Industry Association

  Hybridcast applications, particularly broadcast-managed applications, need to be started while the receiver is receiving the specified broadcast media organization service. Therefore, in order to start the hybrid cast application from the terminal device as described in Patent Literature 1, the terminal device must use a broadcasting system, a broadcast medium, and a knitting service that can be received by the associated receiver. Must be grasped in advance.

The “3.3.10 Capabilities object” of Non-Patent Document 1 (page 23) and the “10.7.11 Capabilities object” of Non-Patent Document 2 (pages 3-166 to 167) have the receiver. Describes the Capabilities object and its hasCapability method. The Capabilities object holds information on the functions of the application engine and the receiver platform. The hasCapability method returns whether or not the application engine or the receiver platform has a specific function (designated by an argument of the method) as a function value. By calling this method, the application can know which broadcast media the operating receiver can use.
However, this means shown in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 can be called only after the application is started. Therefore, there has been a problem that the terminal device cannot acquire information on receivable broadcasts before the application is activated.

  Also, in a receiver (shared receiver) corresponding to a plurality of broadcasting systems and broadcasting media, when an activation instruction for an application is received from a terminal device, the activation instruction is information on a knitting service to be activated on the receiver side. However, it was difficult to select the correct broadcasting system and broadcasting media organization service and start the application.

  The present invention has been made based on the above problem recognition, and in a system in which a receiver for receiving a broadcast and an external terminal device cooperate with each other, the terminal device is activated before the application is started on the receiver side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a receiver and a terminal device capable of grasping the state of broadcast reception by the receiver.

  [A1] In order to solve the above problems, a receiver according to one aspect of the present invention includes a tuner unit that selects a broadcast signal, an application execution unit that executes an application program for broadcasting and communication cooperation, and an external terminal device. A terminal coordination unit for receiving an application start command, including application specifying information for specifying an application program, and tuning information for selecting a broadcast signal; and a broadcast medium included in the tuning information. And a tuner control unit that controls the tuner unit to select a specific broadcast signal based on information on a broadcast system and an organization service, and causes the application execution unit to execute the application program specified by the application specification information. And an application control unit for starting Is shall.

  [A2] Also, in one aspect of the present invention, in the above receiver, the terminal cooperation unit specifies the received application activation instruction to the application activation availability determination server device by transmitting the received application activation instruction to the application activation determination server device. The application control unit controls the application control unit to start the application program only when the response from the application start-up / non-execution determination server device is “start-up possible”, and If the response from the propriety determination server device is “start-up impossible”, the application control unit is controlled so as not to start the application program, and information indicating “start-up impossible” is transmitted to the terminal device.

  [A3] Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, in the above receiver, the application execution unit executes the application program activated based on the received application activation instruction, thereby enabling the terminal device to execute the application program. And performing a process of transmitting a second activation command for activating a second application program to the terminal device.

  [A4] Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the above receiver, the application execution unit executes the application program activated based on the received application activation instruction, thereby allowing the terminal device to communicate with the terminal device. It performs a process of transmitting and receiving data bidirectionally between them.

  [A5] Further, in one aspect of the present invention, in the above receiver, the tuner control unit, in response to an inquiry from the terminal device, outputs identification information of a selectable broadcasting service for each broadcast system or Output is performed for each broadcast medium, and the terminal cooperation unit transmits identification information of a selectable knitting service passed from the tuner control unit to the terminal device.

  [A6] Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, in the above receiver, the tuner control unit outputs information for specifying a currently selected broadcasting service in response to an inquiry from the terminal device; The terminal linking unit transmits, to the terminal device, information that specifies the currently selected broadcasting service, which is passed from the tuner control unit.

  [B1] Further, the receiver according to one aspect of the present invention specifies an application program from a tuner unit for selecting a broadcast signal, an application execution unit for executing an application program for broadcast communication cooperation, and an external terminal device. Terminal coordinating unit for receiving an application start instruction, including application specifying information for selecting an application and tuning information for selecting a broadcast signal, and a broadcast medium, a broadcasting method, and a knitting service included in the tuning information. A tuner control unit that controls the tuner unit to select a specific broadcast signal based on the application information, and an application control unit that activates the application execution unit to execute the application program specified by the application specification information. And a receiver comprising: The tuner control unit determines whether or not the broadcast medium specified by the tuning information can be received by the receiver based on the tuning information included in the application start instruction, and If the control unit determines that the broadcast medium is unreceivable by the receiver, the terminal cooperating unit discards the received application start instruction and the broadcast medium specified by the tuning information. Is transmitted to the terminal device indicating that reception is not possible.

  [B2] Further, the receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention specifies an application program from a tuner unit that selects a broadcast signal, an application execution unit that executes an application program for coordinating broadcast and communication, and an external terminal device. Terminal coordinating unit for receiving an application start instruction, including application specifying information for selecting an application and tuning information for selecting a broadcast signal, and a broadcast medium, a broadcasting method, and a knitting service included in the tuning information. A tuner control unit that controls the tuner unit to select a specific broadcast signal based on the application information, and an application control unit that activates the application execution unit to execute the application program specified by the application specification information. And a receiver comprising: The tuner control unit, in response to an inquiry from the terminal device, outputs at least one of identification information of an available broadcast medium or information representing an available broadcast system, the terminal cooperation unit, the tuner At least one of identification information of an available broadcast medium and information indicating an available broadcast system, which is passed from the control unit, is transmitted to the terminal device.

  [B3] One embodiment of the present invention is a terminal device, which provides the receiver of [B2] with application specifying information for specifying an application program and selecting information for selecting a broadcast signal. And an application start command including station information, and the receiver inquires of at least one of identification information of an available broadcast medium or information representing an available broadcast system, and receives a response to the inquiry. A terminal device-side application execution unit that determines at least one of identification information of a broadcast medium usable by the receiver and information indicating a usable broadcast system.

  [B4] Further, in one aspect of the present invention, in the above terminal device, the terminal device side application execution unit communicates with an application program started on the receiver side based on the transmitted application start command. , In which data is transmitted and received in both directions.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when starting the broadcast communication cooperation (hybrid cast) application of a receiver from a terminal device, a receiver can reliably select a corresponding broadcast system and broadcast media, and can perform channel selection control.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a device configuration diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a system (broadcast viewing system) including a receiver and a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic functional configuration of the receiver according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic functional configuration of the terminal device according to the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a process in a terminal device side when starting the hybrid cast application of a receiver starting from the application which runs in the terminal device by the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing exchanges between devices and between functional units until the hybrid cast application is started in the receiver by a start command from the terminal device according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of data that is a response returned from the receiver according to the embodiment to the terminal device and represents a list of available broadcast media. This is a response returned by the shared receiver, and shows an example of data when all broadcast media are available. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of data that is a response returned from the receiver according to the embodiment to the terminal device and represents a list of available broadcast media. This is a response returned by the shared receiver, and shows an example of data when only a part of broadcast media is available. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of data that is a response returned from the receiver according to the embodiment to the terminal device and represents a list of available broadcast media. This is an example of a response returned by the digital broadcast receiver, and shows an example of data when all broadcast media are available. It is an example of an application start command (when a broadcast signal is a TS system) transmitted from the terminal device to the receiver according to the embodiment. It is an example of an application start command (when a broadcast signal is of the MMT system) transmitted from the terminal device to the receiver according to the embodiment.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a device configuration diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a system (broadcast viewing system) including a receiver and a terminal device according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the present system includes a receiver 1, a terminal device 2, an application activation availability determination server device 3, a service server device 4, a broadcast transmission device 7, a broadcast transmission device 8, and the Internet 9. It is comprised including.
In the system, a plurality of devices such as the receiver 1, the terminal device 2, the application activation availability determination server device 3, and the service server device 4 may exist.

The receiver 1 is a device that receives a broadcast signal, decodes video and audio included in the broadcast signal, and presents the decoded video and audio to the outside. In addition, the receiver 1 has a function corresponding to hybrid cast (broadcast communication cooperation). That is, the receiver 1 has a function of performing communication using the Internet Protocol (IP). In addition, the receiver 1 has a function of executing an application program (referred to as an “app”, including a hybrid cast application). Thus, the receiver 1 can present a content in which broadcasting and communication are integrated. The receiver 1 communicates with the terminal device 2. Thus, the application running on the receiver 1 performs a cooperative operation such as exchanging data with the application running on the terminal device 2.
The receiver 1 can perform communication with the application activation availability determination server device 3 and the service server device 4 via the Internet 9.

The terminal device 2 is a device mainly used by an individual user, such as a smartphone (smartphone), a tablet, a watch-type terminal, and a PC (personal computer). The terminal device 2 has a communication function, and can perform, for example, IP communication with the receiver 1 via a network such as a wireless LAN (local area network). The application can be executed on the terminal device 2. The application executed on the terminal device 2 performs a cooperative operation such as exchanging data with the application executed on the receiver 1.
The terminal device 2 can communicate with the service server device 4 via the Internet 9.

  The application activation availability determination server device 3 is a server device having a function of determining whether the hybrid cast application can be activated on the receiver 1. Specifically, in response to the inquiry about the application start instruction transmitted from the receiver 1, the application start possibility determination server device 3 responds to the inquiry about the application start instruction based on the application start instruction (whether the application can be started or not. Judge) and reply. Specifically, the application activation availability determination server device 3 stores in advance a whitelist of a pair of information for specifying an application and information for selecting a broadcast (such as identification information of a broadcasting service). Then, it is determined whether or not the application can be started based on whether or not the pair included in the received application start instruction exists in the whitelist.

  The service server device 4 distributes various data to the receiver 1 and the terminal device 2 via the Internet 9. Specifically, the service server device 4 distributes an AIT (Application Information Table) of the hybrid cast application, a code body of the hybrid cast application, and contents used by the hybrid cast application. The service server device 4 may be configured using a plurality of server computers.

The broadcast transmitting device 7 is a device that transmits a broadcast signal multiplexed by a predetermined multiplexing method.
The broadcast transmitting device 8 is a device that transmits a broadcast signal multiplexed by a multiplexing method different from that of the broadcast transmitting device 7.
The broadcast transmitting device 7 transmits a broadcast signal multiplexed by a digital broadcast TS (Transport Stream) method. Also, the broadcast transmitting device 8 transmits a broadcast signal multiplexed by the MMT (MPEG Media Transport) method of advanced BS digital broadcasting. Each of the broadcast transmitting devices (7, 8) transmits a broadcast signal including at least video and audio. Broadcast signals transmitted from the broadcast transmitting devices 7 and 8 are transmitted as radio waves or electric signals on a cable of a cable television.

  The Internet 9 is a network capable of performing communication by IP.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic functional configuration of the receiver 1. As illustrated, the receiver 1 includes a tuner unit 21, a tuner unit 22, a tuner control unit 23, a separation unit 26, a separation unit 27, a video decoding unit 31, a video synthesis unit 32, a display unit 33, a voice decoding unit 36, a voice synthesizing unit 37, a speaker unit 38, a communication input / output unit 41, a terminal cooperation unit 42, an application control unit 51, and an application execution unit 52. .
The detailed functions of these components are as follows.

The tuner unit 21 is a tuner that receives a broadcast signal according to the TS system.
The tuner unit 22 is a tuner that receives a broadcast signal according to the MMT method.
The tuners 21 and 22 receive the broadcast signals transmitted from the broadcast transmitters 7 and 8, respectively.
The tuner control unit 23 controls a broadcast signal receiving operation of the tuner units 21 and 22. Specifically, the tuner control unit 23 controls the tuner units 21 and 22 to execute the organization service of the designated broadcast media. In addition, the tuner control unit 23 monitors the status of the tuner units 21 and 22 so as to grasp the broadcasting service currently being selected. Further, when the tuner control unit 23 receives the application start command from the terminal device 2, the tuner control unit 23 selects an appropriate tuner (either the tuner unit 21 or 22) based on the knitting service information included in the start command. And control the selected tuner. Further, in response to a request from the terminal device 2, the tuner control unit 23 returns information on a compatible broadcast medium and an organization service and information on a selected broadcast medium and an organization service.
Note that when exchanging data with the terminal device 2, the tuner control unit 23 exchanges data via the communication input / output unit 41 and the terminal cooperation unit 42.

The separation unit 26 separates each medium such as video, audio, and data from the broadcast signal of the TS system received by the tuner unit 21. This data includes an application (or control information relating to the application, or its location information, etc.), SI (service information), an event message, and the like.
The separation unit 27 separates each medium such as video, audio, and data from the MMT broadcast signal received by the tuner unit 22. This data includes an application (or control information relating to the application, or its location information, etc.), SI (service information), an event message, and the like.

The video decoding unit 31 receives the broadcast video separated by the separation unit 26 and the separation unit 27, decodes the broadcast video, and passes the broadcast video to the video synthesis unit 32.
The video combining unit 32 combines the broadcast video passed from the video decoding unit 31 and the display video (image) of the hybrid cast application passed from the application execution unit 52. The video compositing unit 32 may perform video composition by overlaying one video on another video, for example. Alternatively, the video synthesizing unit 32 may synthesize the video such that the video is fitted into the respective partial regions, for example, by appropriately dividing the screen region. The video synthesizing unit 32 passes the synthesized video to the display unit 33.
The display unit 33 outputs the video passed from the video synthesizing unit 32. The display unit 33 may include a display screen made of, for example, liquid crystal or organic electroluminescence (EL). Alternatively, the display unit 33 may output a video signal to an external device.

The audio decoding unit 36 receives the broadcast audio separated by the separation unit 26 and the separation unit 27, decodes the broadcast audio, and passes the broadcast audio to the audio synthesis unit 37.
The audio synthesizing unit 37 synthesizes the broadcast audio passed from the audio decoding unit 36 and the output audio of the hybrid cast application passed from the application execution unit 52. The voice synthesis unit 37 passes the synthesized voice to the speaker unit 38.
The speaker section 38 outputs the sound passed from the sound synthesis section 37. The speaker section 38 may include a speaker, an earphone, or the like. Alternatively, the speaker section may output an audio signal to an external speaker, an earphone, or the like.

The communication input / output unit 41 inputs and outputs data by communication. That is, the communication input / output unit 41 functions as an interface between each unit in the receiver 1 and the communication network. Specifically, the communication input / output unit 41 transmits / receives data to / from the application activation availability determination server device 3 and the service server device 4 via the Internet 9. The communication input / output unit 41 transmits and receives data to and from the terminal device 2 via a wireless LAN or the like.
The communication input / output unit 41 passes data received from the outside to the terminal cooperation unit 42 and the application execution unit 52. In addition, the communication input / output unit 41 transmits data received from the terminal cooperation unit 42 or the application execution unit 52 to the outside.

  The terminal cooperation unit 42 performs a pairing process between the receiver 1 and the terminal device 2. Further, the terminal cooperation unit 42 mediates communication between the application running on the receiver 1 and the application running on the terminal device 2. The terminal cooperation unit 42 operates in cooperation with a terminal cooperation unit 62 of the terminal device 2 shown in FIG.

The application control unit 51 has a function of controlling the hybrid cast application. That is, the application control unit 51 activates the hybrid cast application on the application execution unit 52 or terminates the hybrid cast application being executed on the application execution unit 52.
The application execution unit 52 has a function of executing the hybrid cast application. As a specific example, the hybrid cast application is provided as an HTML5 file including the code of JaScript (registered trademark). That is, as an example of a specific implementation method of the application execution unit 52, a function of a web browser having an execution environment of JavaScript (registered trademark) can be used.
By executing the hybrid cast application, the application execution unit 52 may output video and audio. The application execution unit 52 passes this video to the video synthesis unit 32. In addition, the application execution unit 52 passes the voice to the voice synthesis unit 37.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic functional configuration of the terminal device 2. As illustrated, the terminal device 2 includes an application execution unit 61, a terminal cooperation unit 62, and a communication input / output unit 63.
The detailed functions of these components are as follows.

  The application execution unit 61 executes an application program (application). The application execution environment included in the application execution unit 61 is, for example, a native function that depends on the OS (operating system) of the terminal device 2. When the web application is executed, the execution environment of the application may be a web browser.

  The terminal cooperation unit 62 performs a pairing process between the terminal device 2 and the receiver 1. Further, the terminal cooperation unit 62 mediates communication between the application running on the terminal device 2 and the application running on the receiver 1. The terminal cooperation unit 62 operates in cooperation with the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1 in a pair. When the application execution unit 61 is implemented as the above-described native function, the terminal cooperation unit 62 may be included in the application execution unit 61.

  The communication input / output unit 63 inputs and outputs data for communication. That is, the communication input / output unit 63 functions as an interface when the terminal device 2 exchanges data with the outside via the communication network. Specifically, the communication input / output unit 63 transmits and receives data to and from the service server device 4 via the Internet 9. The communication input / output unit 63 transmits and receives data to and from the receiver 1 via a wireless LAN or the like.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing on the terminal device 2 side when the hybrid cast application of the receiver 1 is started with the application running on the terminal device 2 as a starting point.
Here, the following situation is assumed. That is, the target hybrid cast application is a broadcast managed application. Further, based on an instruction from the terminal device 2, the receiver 1 starts a designated broadcast managed application after selecting a designated organization service.
Hereinafter, processing on both the terminal device 2 side and the receiver 1 side will be described with reference to this flowchart.

In step S11, the terminal cooperation unit 62 of the terminal device 2 determines whether the pairing with the receiver 1 has been completed. If the pairing has been completed (step S11: YES), the process proceeds to step S13. If the pairing has not been performed (step S11: NO), the process proceeds to step S12.
When proceeding to step S12, the terminal cooperation unit 62 finds the receiver 1 in the same network (for example, wireless LAN) and performs a pairing process with the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1. After the end of this step, the process returns to the step S11.

When proceeding to step S13, the application execution unit 61 inquires of the tuner control unit 23 about available broadcast media via the terminal cooperation unit 62 and the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1. As a response to this inquiry, the receiver 1 returns to the terminal device 2 a character string or a number (a number is predetermined) representing an available broadcast medium.
Table 1 below shows the broadcast media and the corresponding character strings and numbers.

In step S14, based on the information returned from the receiver 1 in step S13, the application executing unit 61 determines whether there is a broadcast medium to be activated or not.
If the broadcast media exists (step S14: YES), the process proceeds to the next step S15. If the broadcast media does not exist (step S14: NO), the process jumps to step S21.

When proceeding to step S15, the application executing unit 61 inquires of the tuner control unit 23 via the terminal cooperation unit 62 and the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1 about the organization service that can be selected. As a response to this inquiry, the receiver 1 returns a character string representing a selectable organization service to the terminal device 2.
In the case of broadcasting of the TS system, the receiver 1 returns a combination of values of original_network_id, transport_stream_id, and service_id to the terminal device 2 as a response. In the case of the broadcast of the MMT method, the receiver 1 returns a combination of values of original_network_id, tlv_stream_id, and service_id as a response.
The terminal device 2 receives the information of the organization service returned from the receiver 1.
The application executing unit 61 of the terminal device 2 checks the field value of the response, and determines that the connected receiver is compatible with the MMT system when including the tlv_stream_id and is compatible with the TS system when including the transport_stream_id.

In step S16, the application execution unit 61 determines whether or not there is an organization service to be activated based on the information returned from the receiver 1 in step S15.
If the organization service exists (step S16: YES), the process proceeds to the next step S17. If the knitting service does not exist (step S16: NO), the process jumps to step S21.

When proceeding to step S17, the application executing unit 61 inquires the connected receiver 1 about the currently selected broadcasting service. Specifically, the application execution unit 61 inquires of the tuner control unit 23 about the currently selected broadcasting service via the terminal cooperation unit 62 and the terminal cooperation unit 42 on the receiver 1 side. In response to an inquiry from the application execution unit 61, the tuner control unit 23 returns a character string representing the currently selected broadcasting service to the terminal device 2 side.
In the case of broadcasting of the TS system, the receiver 1 returns a combination of values of original_network_id, transport_stream_id, and service_id to the terminal device 2 as a response. In the case of the broadcast of the MMT method, the receiver 1 returns a combination of values of original_network_id, tlv_stream_id, and service_id to the terminal device 2 as a response. At this time, the receiver 1 may include a character string or a number corresponding to the broadcast media shown in Table 1 as a field value.
The terminal device 2 receives the information of the organization service returned from the receiver 1. The application execution unit 61 of the terminal device 2 checks the field value of the response. When the field value includes tlv_stream_id, the application executing unit 61 determines that the connected receiver 1 is compatible with the MMT method. When the field value includes transport_stream_id, the application execution unit 61 determines that the connected receiver 1 is compatible with the TS system.

  In step S18, the application execution unit 61 transmits an instruction to start the hybrid cast application to the connected receiver 1. The start command includes a pair of a URL (uniform resource locator) indicating the location of the AIT of the hybrid cast application to be started and a character string specifying the organization service. The character string specifying the organization service is a combination of values of original_network_id (original network identification), transport_stream_id (transport stream identification), and service_id (service identification) in the case of the TS method, and original_network_id (in the case of the MMT method). This is a combination of values of original network identification), tlv_stream_id (TLV stream identification), and service_id (service identification).

On the receiver 1 side, the terminal cooperation unit 42 receives the start instruction of the hybrid cast application, and passes this instruction to the tuner control unit 23. The tuner control unit 23 determines whether the field value of the start instruction includes transport_stream_id or tlv_stream_id. When the transport_stream_id is included, the tuner control unit 23 passes the value included in the instruction to the tuner unit 21 for the TS system. If tlv_stream_id is included, the tuner control unit 23 passes the value included in the instruction to the tuner unit 22 for the MMT system. The tuner unit 21 or 22 given a value required for tuning from the tuner control unit 23 performs a tuning operation according to the instruction.
However, the tuner control unit 23 confirms the currently selected broadcast media and the organization service, and if the start command from the terminal device 2 includes a character string specifying the same organization service, anew is performed. The tuning operation by the tuner unit 21 or 22 may not be performed.

  Further, the terminal cooperation unit 42 passes the information of the URL of the hybrid cast AIT to the application control unit 51 after the end of the above-described channel selection operation. The application control unit 51 acquires the AIT from the location specified by the URL, passes the URL of the hybrid cast application described in the AIT to the application execution unit 52, and starts the application. If the hybrid cast application is already running when the application is started, the application is terminated first, and then the specified application is started.

Note that the receiver 1 may inquire of the app activation possibility determination server device 3 about the applicability of the app before the above-described channel selection and app activation. In this case, the terminal cooperation unit 42 makes an inquiry to the application activation availability determination server device 3. Specifically, the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1 transmits the activation instruction received from the terminal device 2 to the application activation possibility determination server device 3. The application activation availability determination server device 3 manages and holds in advance a whitelist indicating the URL of the AIT or domain information of the application permitted to be activated for each organization service. Upon receiving the start instruction from the receiver 1, the application start possibility determination server device 3 compares the pair of the URL of the AIT of the application included in the instruction and the character string specifying the organization service included in the instruction with the whitelist. Refer to and confirm. The application activation possibility determination server device 3 determines that the activation is permitted if the pair is included in the held whitelist, and determines that the activation is not permitted otherwise. The application activation availability determination server device 3 returns the determination result of the activation availability to the receiver 1 of the inquiry source. The receiver 1 executes the application startup processing when the determination result is “startable”, and transmits an error response without performing the application startup processing when the determination result is “startup impossible” (No). Return to the original terminal device 2.
By performing this inquiry, the receiver 1 can confirm the validity of the application. That is, the receiver 1 can prevent activation of an unauthorized application.

  Up to this point, a description has been given of the case where all broadcast media are available. However, not all broadcast media are available. When the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1 receives from the terminal device 2 an instruction to start the hybrid cast application to the unusable broadcast media, the terminal cooperation unit 42 discards the start instruction. That is, the receiver 1 does not select the designated service or activate the hybrid cast application. In this case, the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1 returns an error (broadcast media cannot be used) response to the terminal device 2.

  In step S19, the terminal device 2 determines whether the activation of the hybrid cast application that issued the activation instruction has been permitted. The case where the activation is not permitted is typically, as described above, a case where the broadcast media specified in the activation instruction is not available on the receiver 1 side, or a case where the broadcast medium is received from the application activation possibility determination server device 3. This is a case where a response of “startup impossible” is returned to the device 1. If the activation is permitted (step S19: YES), the process proceeds to step S20. If the activation has not been permitted (step S19: NO), the process proceeds to step S21.

In step S20, after the hybrid cast application is activated on the receiver 1 side, bidirectional transmission and reception of text data between the hybrid cast application on the terminal device 2 side and the hybrid cast application on the receiver 1 side are performed. May be performed.
At this time, a start command for starting the application on the terminal device 2 may be transmitted from the hybrid cast application running on the receiver 1 to the terminal device 2 in some cases. In accordance with this start command, the terminal device 2 starts an application that operates in the application execution unit 61.
After the processing of this step ends, the terminal device 2 ends the processing of the entire flowchart.

When the process proceeds to step S21 (from steps S14, S16, and S19), the terminal device 2 presents to the user that the service cannot be used. Specifically, the terminal device 2 displays, for example, a text message indicating that the service is unavailable on the screen of the terminal device 2 itself.
After the processing of this step ends, the terminal device 2 ends the processing of the entire flowchart.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing exchanges between devices and between functional units until the receiver 1 starts the hybrid cast application in response to a start command from the terminal device 2. The series of processing illustrated here also corresponds to the processing illustrated in FIG. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to this sequence diagram.

Process 0: In step S31, the terminal device 2 discovers the receiver 1 via the wireless LAN. When the terminal device 2 discovers the receiver 1, mutual connection (pairing processing) between the terminal device 2 and the receiver 1 is performed. Specifically, a pairing process is performed between the terminal cooperation unit 62 of the terminal device 2 and the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1.
Note that the pairing process between the two devices corresponds to the process in step S12 in FIG.

  Process 1, Process 2, Process 3: In step S32, the terminal device 2 makes an inquiry to the receiver 1. Process 1, process 2, and process 3 are separate inquiries. In process 1, the terminal device 2 inquires of the receiver 1 about available broadcast media. Process 1 corresponds to the process of step S13 in FIG. In process 2, the terminal device 2 inquires of the receiver 1 about a broadcast media organization service that can be selected. Process 2 corresponds to the process of step S15 in FIG. In process 3, the terminal device 2 inquires of the receiver 1 about the organization service of the selected broadcast media. Process 3 corresponds to the process of step S17 in FIG.

The application execution unit 61 of the terminal device 2 checks a response from the receiver 1 to the inquiry of the process 1. By confirming the value indicating the broadcast media included in the response, the terminal device 2 determines a broadcast system that can be supported by the receiver 1 as the connection partner. In addition, the terminal device 2 determines the type of the receiver 1 (whether it is a digital broadcast receiver, a receiver dedicated to advanced BS digital broadcasting, or a shared receiver having both functions).
An example of a response from the receiver 1 to a broadcast media inquiry will be described later with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8.

  Further, the application executing unit 61 of the terminal device 2 checks a response from the receiver 1 to the inquiry of the process 2. By confirming the response of the process 2, the terminal device 2 can determine which type of broadcast signal the receiver 1 as the connection partner supports. Specifically, when the field value of the response includes tlv_stream_id, the application executing unit 61 determines that the receiver 1 of the connection partner is compatible with the MMT method. When the field value of the response includes transport_stream_id, the application execution unit 61 determines that the receiver 1 of the connection partner is compatible with the TS system.

  In addition, the application execution unit 61 of the terminal device 2 specifies the currently selected broadcasting service by the response from the receiver 1 to the inquiry of the process 3.

Process 4: In step S33, the terminal device 2 transmits an instruction to start the hybrid cast application to the receiver 1. The start instruction of the hybrid cast application includes information indicating the location of the AIT of the hybrid cast application to be started, and a character string specifying the organization service.
The transmission of the application start command in process 4 corresponds to the process in step S18 in FIG.
An example of the start instruction will be described later with reference to FIGS.
The receiver 1 controls the tuner to select a broadcast based on the start command.
The receiver 1 starts the application based on the start command.
In addition, the receiver 1 may inquire of the app start applicability determination server device 3 about the applicability of the hybrid cast app based on the start command. The application start availability determination server device 3 refers to a list held in advance to determine whether the application can be started by a combination of the organization service and the AIT included in the start instruction. In this case, the receiver 1 performs the above-described channel selection and application activation when receiving a response of “activation possible” from the application activation availability determination server device 3. When the receiver 1 receives a “start-up impossible” response from the application start-up / non-startup determination server device 3, the receiver 1 returns an error to the terminal device 2 without starting the application.

That is, if the activation is not possible (NG), in step S34, the terminal cooperation unit 42 of the receiver 1 returns an error to the terminal cooperation unit 62 and the application execution unit 61 of the terminal device 2 side.
If the activation is possible (OK), the terminal cooperation unit 42 passes an application activation instruction to the application control unit 51 in step S35. The application control unit 51 acquires the AIT based on the location information (URL) of the AIT included in the start command. Further, the application control unit 51 refers to the acquired AIT, acquires the location information of the application, and acquires the code of the application. Further, the application control unit 51 causes the application execution unit 52 to execute the application (activation of the application).

  Process 5: When the hybrid cast application is activated on the receiver 1 side in step S35 above, in step S36, the application running on the application execution unit 52 on the receiver 1 side and running on the application execution unit 61 on the terminal device 2 side Communication can be established with the application. When communication is established between the two applications, the receiver 1 and the terminal device 2 can cooperate with each other. In other words, these two applications can transmit and receive data mutually and bidirectionally, and can perform processing based on such data exchange.

Next, the response data returned from the receiver 1 when the terminal device 2 inquires of the receiver 1 about available broadcast media (the process of step S13 in FIG. 4) will be described.
FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are schematic diagrams showing examples of responses returned by the receiver 1 and showing data examples representing lists of available broadcast media. As shown, the receiver 1 returns response data configured as text data having a block structure. However, the format of the data is not limited to the one shown here. The response data only needs to include information indicating whether or not each broadcast medium can be used.

FIG. 6 is an example of a response returned by a shared receiver (a receiver that serves both as a digital broadcast receiver and an advanced BS digital broadcast dedicated receiver), and shows an example of data when all broadcast media are available.
FIG. 2A is an example of data when a character string corresponding to a broadcast medium is used. In this example, in the block represented by the keyword “body”, a character string specifying the broadcast media and the broadcast media are available (“Available”) or unavailable (“NotAvailable”) A set of pairs with data indicating whether or not the data is described. The meanings of the character strings “BS”, “CS”, “CS2”, “TD”, “ABS”, and “ACS” used here are as already shown in Table 1. The data shown in FIG. 3A indicates that all of these six types of broadcast media can be used.
FIG. 3B is an example of data when a number corresponding to a broadcast medium is used. The structure of the data using the keyword “body” and the point indicating whether the broadcast media is available using the data “Available” or “NotAvailable” are the same as FIG. The meanings of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 used here are as already shown in Table 1. The data shown in FIG. 3B also indicates that all of these six types of broadcast media can be used.

FIG. 7 is an example of a response returned by the shared receiver, and shows an example of data when some broadcast media can be used. Descriptions of items already described in another drawing will be omitted.
FIG. 2A is an example of data when a character string corresponding to a broadcast medium is used. The data shown in FIG. 3A indicates that each broadcast medium represented by the character strings “BS”, “CS”, and “TD” is available (Available). Also, it indicates that each broadcast media represented by the character strings “CS2”, “ABS”, and “ACS” is unavailable (NotAvailable).
FIG. 3B is an example of data when a number corresponding to a broadcast medium is used. The data shown in FIG. 3B indicates that each of the broadcast media corresponding to the numbers 1, 2, and 4 is available (Available). Also, it indicates that the broadcast media corresponding to the numbers 3, 6, and 7 are unavailable (NotAvailable).

FIG. 8 shows an example of a response returned by the digital broadcast receiver, and shows an example of data when all broadcast media are available. Descriptions of items already described in another drawing will be omitted.
FIG. 2A is an example of data when a character string corresponding to a broadcast medium is used. This data indicates that all broadcast media of the character strings “BS”, “CS”, and “TD” are available (Available).
FIG. 3B is an example of data when a number corresponding to a broadcast medium is used. This data indicates that the broadcast media corresponding to all of the numbers 1, 2, and 4 are available (Available).

Next, the data configuration of the application start command (step S18 in FIG. 4) sent from the terminal device 2 to the receiver 1 will be described.
FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of data of an application activation command.
FIG. 9 shows an example of an application start command when the broadcast signal is in the TS format. FIG. 10 shows an example of an application start command when the broadcast signal is of the MMT method. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the application start instruction is configured as text data having a block structure. Specifically, the application start instruction is composed of a block represented by a keyword “resource” and a block represented by a keyword “hybridcast”. The block represented by the keyword “resource” includes information for specifying the organization service. The block represented by the keyword “hybridcast” includes information for specifying the AIT of the hybrid cast application.

  In FIG. 9 (in the case of the TS method), the organization service is specified by a combination of values of original_network_id, transport_stream_id, and service_id. In the illustrated example, the value of original_network_id is “10001”, the value of transport_stream_id is “10001”, and the value of service_id is “1001”. The information of the hybrid cast application to be started includes aiturl (URL of AIT), orgid (organization identification), and appid (application identification). In the illustrated example, the value of aiturl is "https://example.com/ait.xml", the value of orgid is "1", and the value of appid is "2".

  In FIG. 10 (in the case of the MMT method), the organization service is specified by a combination of values of original_network_id, tlv_stream_id, and service_id. In the illustrated example, the value of original_network_id is “11111”, the value of tlv_stream_id is “11111”, and the value of service_id is “1111”. The information of the hybrid cast application to be started is the same as that shown in FIG.

  Note that, according to the present embodiment, a method of activating an application running on the receiver 1 from the terminal device 2 is also referred to as “external activation”. External activation coexists with an application activation sequence by another method. The sequence of the external activation is as follows. First, an external device (external launcher, for example, the terminal device 2 in the present embodiment) issues an application activation instruction by external activation. Next, the external device determines whether it can be activated. In determining whether or not the activation is possible, the external device may make an inquiry to the receiver 1 or another server device. Next, the external device transmits an application start command (may be called an application start request, a start request, a start instruction, or the like) to the receiver 1. Upon receiving a start command from an external device, the receiver 1 acquires the AIT from the communication server. Note that the receiver 1 can acquire the location information (for example, AIT_URI) of the AIT by some means (for example, included in the above-described activation command). Then, based on the AIT, the receiver 1 acquires a file of the application (for example, an HTML file) and causes the receiver 1 to execute the file as an HTML application or the like in its own device.

The embodiment does not necessarily have to include all the features of each functional unit of the present embodiment. The feature of each functional unit may be appropriately selected and implemented.
Hereinafter, the features of each functional unit described in the present embodiment will be described again.

The receiver 1 has the following functional features.
Each of the tuner units 21 and 22 selects a broadcast signal.
The application execution unit 52 (application execution unit) executes an application program for broadcast communication cooperation (for hybrid cast).
The terminal cooperation unit 42 receives, from the external terminal device 2, application identification information for identifying an application program (for example, location information of an AIT of an application) and channel selection information for selecting a broadcast signal (broadcast media). , Broadcast system, and identification information of the organization service).
The tuner control unit 23 controls the tuner unit 21 or 22 to select a specific broadcast signal based on the information on the broadcast media, the broadcast system, and the organization service included in the channel selection information.
The application control unit 51 (application control unit) is activated to execute the application program specified by the application specifying information by the application execution unit.

  The terminal cooperation unit 42 transmits the received application start instruction to the application start possibility determination server device to inquire whether the application program specified by the application specification information is executable, and the application start possibility determination server The application control unit is controlled so as to start the application program only when the response from the device is “startable” (allowed), and the response from the application startability determination server device is “not startable” (No) In this case, the application control unit may be controlled so as not to start the application program, and information indicating “startup not possible” may be transmitted to the terminal device.

  The application execution unit 52 executes the application program started based on the received application start instruction, thereby executing a second start instruction for starting a second application program on the terminal device side. A process for transmitting to the terminal device may be performed.

  The application execution unit 52 may execute the application program started based on the received application start instruction to perform a process of bidirectionally transmitting and receiving data to and from the terminal device. .

The tuner control unit 23 may output identification information of a selectable broadcasting service for each broadcast system or each broadcast medium in response to an inquiry from the terminal device 2.
At this time, the terminal cooperation unit 42 transmits to the terminal device 2 the identification information of the selectable broadcasting service passed from the tuner control unit.

The tuner control unit 23 may output information specifying the currently selected broadcasting service in response to an inquiry from the terminal device 2.
At this time, the terminal cooperation unit 42 transmits to the terminal device the information passed from the tuner control unit and specifying the currently selected broadcasting service.

The tuner control unit 23 may determine whether or not the broadcast medium specified by the tuning information is receivable by the receiver based on the tuning information included in the application start instruction. .
As a result, if the tuner control unit 23 determines that the broadcast media cannot be received by the receiver, the terminal coordination unit 42 discards the received application start instruction and transmits the received application start instruction using the tuning information. Information (error information) indicating that the specified broadcast media is unreceivable is transmitted (notified) to the terminal device.

The tuner control unit 23 may output at least one of identification information of an available broadcast medium and information indicating an available broadcast system in response to an inquiry from the terminal device 2.
At this time, the terminal cooperation unit 42 transmits to the terminal device 2 at least one of the identification information of the available broadcast media or the information indicating the available broadcast system, which is passed from the tuner control unit 23.

  The terminal device 2 transmits, to the receiver 1, an application start command including application specifying information for specifying an application program and channel selection information for selecting a broadcast signal, The receiver inquires at least one of identification information of broadcast media available and information indicating an available broadcast system, and receives a response to the inquiry to identify broadcast media available to the receiver. An application executing unit 61 (terminal device-side application executing unit) that determines at least one of the information and the information indicating an available broadcast system.

  The application executing unit 61 (terminal device-side application executing unit) performs a process of bidirectionally transmitting and receiving data to and from an application program started on the receiver side based on the transmitted application start command. is there.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the terminal device 2 activates the hybrid cast application of the receiver 1, a broadcast method (for example, a TS method or an MMT method) or a broadcast method that the receiver can reliably support. Channel selection can be controlled by selecting a medium. Further, when the receiver cannot receive (cannot select a channel), the terminal device 2 can be notified of this as error information. As a result, a user who intends to use the broadcast / communication cooperation service (hybrid cast) from the terminal device is provided with a user interface that is easy to use on the terminal device side. Further, the receiver 1 can also request the app activation possibility determination server device 3 to determine the app activation possibility.

In the above-described embodiment, at least a part of the functions of the devices such as the receiver, the terminal device, the application activation availability determination server device, the service server device, and the broadcast transmission device can 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 and executed by a computer system. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” is a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a USB memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. That means.
Further, a "computer-readable recording medium" is a medium that temporarily and dynamically holds a program, such as a communication line for transmitting a program through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, a program that holds a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client, may be included. Further, the above-mentioned program may be for realizing a part of the above-mentioned functions, or may be for realizing the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments and includes a design and the like within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention.

  The present invention can be used, for example, in a broadcast receiving system. However, the scope of use of the present invention is not limited to those exemplified here.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Receiver 2 Terminal device 3 Application startability determination server device 4 Service server device 7 Broadcasting transmission device (TS)
8 Broadcast transmission device (MMT)
9 Internet 21 Tuner (TS)
22 Tuner section (MMT)
23 Tuner control unit 26 Separation unit (TS)
27 Separation part (MMT)
31 video decoding unit 32 video synthesizing unit 33 display unit 36 audio decoding unit 37 audio synthesizing unit 38 speaker unit 41 communication input / output unit 42 terminal cooperation unit 51 application control unit (application control unit)
52 Application execution unit (Application execution unit)
61 Application execution unit (terminal device side application execution unit)
62 terminal cooperation unit 63 communication input / output unit

Claims (6)

A tuner section for selecting a broadcast signal,
An application execution unit that executes an application program for broadcast communication cooperation;
From an external terminal device, application specifying information for specifying an application program, including tuning information for tuning a broadcast signal, including a terminal cooperation unit that receives an application start command,
A tuner control unit that controls the tuner unit to select a specific broadcast signal based on information on a broadcast medium, a broadcast system, and a composition service included in the channel selection information;
An application control unit that starts the application program specified by the application specifying information to be executed by the application execution unit;
A receiver comprising: The terminal coordination unit transmits the received application start instruction to an application start-up / non-permission determination server device to inquire whether the application program specified by the application specifying information is executable. The application control unit controls the application control unit to start the application program only when the response from the device is “startable”, and when the response from the application startability determination server device is “startup impossible”, Controlling the application control unit so as not to start an application program and transmitting information indicating “startup impossible” to the terminal device,
The receiver according to claim 1. The application execution unit executes the application program started based on the received application start instruction, thereby executing a second start instruction for starting a second application program on the terminal device side. Perform processing to transmit to the terminal device,
The receiver according to claim 1. The application execution unit, by executing the application program started based on the received application start command, performs a process of transmitting and receiving data bidirectionally with the terminal device,
A receiver according to any one of the preceding claims. The tuner control unit, in response to an inquiry from the terminal device, outputs identification information of a selectable organization service, for each broadcast system or for each broadcast medium,
The terminal cooperation unit, passed from the tuner control unit, transmits identification information of a selectable knitting service to the terminal device,
The receiver according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The tuner control unit, in response to an inquiry from the terminal device, outputs information identifying the currently selected broadcasting service,
The terminal cooperation unit, passed from the tuner control unit, transmits information identifying the currently selected broadcasting service, to the terminal device,
The receiver according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

Images