JP3764197B2 - Information transmission transmitter and information transmission receiver - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is suitable for broadcasting in a form that provides image data such as facsimile broadcasting that transmits binary images by compression encoding and still image broadcasting that compresses and transmits natural images of NTSC size and high-definition size. NaTransmitter for information transmissionAnd an information transmission receiver.
[0002]
[Summary of Invention]
The present invention provides a satellite broadcast data channel for facsimile images (including uncompressed images) obtained by compressing binary images and still images (including uncompressed images) obtained by compressing and encoding natural images of NTSC size and high-definition size. In a broadcasting system that transmits a digital transmission path such as a digital image and displays it as an image on the receiving side, or a broadcasting system that transmits a newspaper or magazine as an image signal according to the NTSC system or the MUSE system, In order to identify areas having different contents, the location data indicating the position and size of the areas and the index data in which the contents information indicating the information contents in the areas are associated with each other. In addition to the normal display processing that displays in page units, only necessary areas are selected and displayed or held. The information transmission system a high degree of reception processing such as is possible.
[0003]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in a facsimile broadcast that transmits a facsimile image in which a binary image is compression-encoded or a still image broadcast that transmits a still image in which a natural image is compression-encoded, the transmission side assigns a program number or page number to each image. The receiving side selects necessary information from these program numbers and page numbers.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the broadcast of the form which provides image data such as the conventional facsimile broadcast and still image broadcast described above, the necessary information is selected based on the program number and page number added to each image. However, it was not possible to select and display or save only the necessary area of the page image data.
[0005]
That is, in a facsimile broadcast in which binary images are compressed and transmitted, for example, an A4 size image, and in a still image broadcast in which natural images are compressed and transmitted, an NTSC size or high-definition image, one page image, respectively. Data is compressed and encoded and transmitted. For example, it is assumed that newspaper pages are input by a scanner or camera and are encoded into high-definition still image data. In this case, the high-definition still image is composed of various information contents, but is processed as one page of image data in the receiver, and only specific information contents cannot be selected and displayed or stored. In addition, in order for the receiver to select the information, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to look at the image.
[0006]
Index data (for example, character / image identification information, title indicating information content, genre information to which the information content belongs, keyword for searching the information content, etc.) indicating the information content for each region of specific information content on the still image Are sent at the same time, they are not only processed as one page of image data, but only necessary areas are extracted and stored, or only areas with the same genre or keyword scattered across multiple pages are selected. Compared with the case where only image data is transmitted, such as editing and composition on the same page, it is possible to perform advanced display processing on the receiver side. The same applies to facsimile broadcasting.
[0007]
  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to select and display only a necessary area of image data of a page or to store it.Transmitter for information transmissionAnd providing an information transmission receiver.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  To achieve the above object, according to the invention of claim 1The transmission apparatus for information transmission divides image data output means for outputting image data in units of one page and image data output from the image data output means into areas having different information contents, and positions of the divided areas And index data generating means for generating index data in which the location information indicating the size and the content information indicating the information content in the area are associated, and the index data for the image data output from the image data output means By associating the program data creation means for creating the program data by adding the index data generated by the creation means, the index data for each image data and the program number enabling the program identification on the receiving side. Program guide data creation means for creating program guide data, and the program guide data creation means Data sending means for sending to the receiving side the group table data and the program data created by the program data creating means, wherein the index data generating means includes a title representing the information contents and a genre to which the information contents belong Or generate index data using keywords that can search information content as content informationIt is characterized by that.
[0009]
  thisAccording to the configuration, for each area of specific information content in the image data, index data indicating the information content is added and transmitted to the receiving side. Therefore, it is possible to realize an information service that enables the receiver to accurately select the necessary information of the receiver by selecting and displaying only the necessary area of the image data based on the index data. . In addition, since the title indicating the information content, the information of the genre to which the information content belongs or the keyword that can search the information content is the content information indicating the information content in each area, the receiver can easily select the desired informationcan do.
[0010]
  According to the invention of claim 2The information transmission receiving device receives the program data of the program number designated by the user and separates the image data and the index data from the data separating means, and stores the image data separated by the data separating means. Storage means, second storage means for storing a selected one of the areas of the image data stored in the first storage means, and each area of the image data separated by the data separation means Is determined based on the content information of the index data separated by the data separation means, and if it is determined to be applicable, the region is determined to be the second region. Control means for writing and displaying to the storage means, the control means within the same information scattered in a plurality of pages of image data It was selected only regions having and displaying editing synthesized in the same page.
[0011]
  thisAccording to the configuration, after the image data and the index data are separated from the program data transmitted from the transmission side, each area of the image data corresponds to the content information designated by the user based on the content information of the index data. It is determined whether or not it is a region to be used, and if it is a corresponding region, it is displayed. Therefore, it is possible to realize an information service that can accurately select necessary information of the receiver. Also,Identical across multiple pagesContent information (title, genre or keyword)Since it is possible to perform advanced reception processing such as selecting only areas that have, editing and combining on the same page, and displaying or saving, it is possible to accurately select the information required by the recipient Information services can be realized.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0021]
<Transmission device 100 for information transmission>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an information transmission transmitting apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a case where the image data is a high-definition still image will be described as an example.
[0022]
In this figure, an information transmission transmitting apparatus 100 includes a screen production unit 1, an image data compression encoding unit 2, an index generation unit 3, an index encoding unit 4, an image data / index data combining unit 5, and an index data combining unit 6. And a data transmission unit 7.
[0023]
The screen production unit 1 produces a high-definition size still image (hereinafter referred to as a high-definition size still image) by using functions such as text input / editing and still image input / editing. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a high-definition size still image, which is composed of characters, photographs, diagrams, and graphs. The high-definition still image is compressed and encoded as image data of one page in the image data compression encoding unit 2 based on, for example, the JPEG baseline standard.
[0024]
The index generation unit 3 divides the high-definition size still image created by the screen production unit 1 into a rectangular shape for each region having different information contents by the region separation method. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which area designation has been performed.
[0025]
The position of each divided area on the image is determined by using the horizontal (X) / vertical (Y) two-dimensional coordinate system with the upper left corner of the screen as the origin (0, 0), the start point coordinates (X, Y) of the upper left corner of the area, The size of the area in the horizontal and vertical directions is specified by (Δx, Δy). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where the area designated as shown in FIG. 3 is divided. In this case, on the screen layout, even if the information content is the same due to, for example, columns, etc., it is divided into a plurality of areas such as area 2 and area 3 and area 4 and area 5 as shown in FIG. There is.
[0026]
An index for identifying the information content for each of the divided areas as shown in FIG. 5 is as shown below, for example, on the first page.
[0027]
Region 1: The starting point coordinates of the region are (X₁, Y₁), The size of the region is (x₁, Y₁), No connection area, title is political reform, genre is politics, keyword is political reform, Diet ...
Region 2: The starting point coordinates of the region are (X₂, Y₂), The size of the region is (x₂, Y₂), Connection area is area 3, title is UNTAC, genre is international, keyword is UNTAC, Akashi representative ...
Region 3: The starting point coordinates of the region are (X_Three, Y_Three), The size of the region is (x_Three, Y_Three), No connection area
Region 4: The starting point coordinate of the region is (X_Four, Y_Four), The size of the region is (x_Four, Y_Four), Connection area is area 5, title is economic recovery, genre is economic, keyword is economic recovery, deregulation ...
Region 5: The starting point coordinates of the region are (X_Five, Y_Five), The size of the region is (x_Five, Y_Five), No connection area
Region 6: The start point coordinates of the region are (X₆, Y₆), The size of the region is (x₆, Y₆), No connection area, title is PKO, genre is international, keyword is PKO, UN ...
The title, genre, and keyword for each area in the screen are assigned text data by character recognition and automatic indexing from the text data. The connection area is an attribute for designating an area having the same information content when the information having the same content is divided into a plurality of areas as described above.
[0028]
The index created in this way is supplied to the index encoding unit 4, encoded to generate index data, and output to the image data / index data combining unit 5 and the index data combining unit 6.
[0029]
The image data / index data combining unit 5 adds management data (for example, a program number) to the image data compressed and encoded by the image data compression / encoding unit 2 so that the program can be identified on the receiving side. The index data encoded by the index encoding unit 4 is added to create program data. Such program data is created for each program to be broadcast.
[0030]
The index data synthesizing unit 6 creates program guide data by collecting index data for each image data in association with program numbers.
[0031]
The data transmission unit 7 transmits all the program data from the image data / index data synthesis unit 5 and the program guide data from the index data synthesis unit 6 to, for example, a broadcasting satellite (not shown), for satellite broadcasting. Broadcast through the data channel. In this case, transmission is performed with packets having different IDs so that the receiver side can identify the program data and the program guide data.
[0032]
<Operation of Transmission Device 100 for Information Transmission>
In such a configuration, a high-definition still image created by functions such as text input / editing and still image input / editing of the screen production unit 1 is compressed and encoded by the image data compression encoding unit 2, The index generation unit 3 divides each information area with different information contents, and generates an index for identifying the information contents of each divided area. The index generated by the index generation unit 3 is encoded by the index encoding unit 4 to generate index data. On the other hand, the image data from the image data compression / encoding unit 2 is supplied to the image data / index data synthesizing unit 5 so that the index data from the index encoding unit 4 is added and management data (for example, program number) is added. Is added to create program data. This program data is created for each broadcast program. An index from the index encoding unit 4 is supplied to the index data synthesizing unit 6 to create program guide data. The program guide data and all program data from the image data / index data combining unit 5 are broadcast from the data sending unit 7 through a data channel of satellite broadcasting.
[0033]
<Information Transmission Receiver 200>
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the display unit of the embodiment of the information transmission receiving apparatus according to the present invention. In addition to the display unit shown in this figure, there are a tuner for receiving radio waves, a demodulation unit for video signal processing, a display unit for displaying display memory data, a remote control for specifying program numbers and genres, etc. A user interface unit and the like are provided, but those portions are omitted.
[0034]
In this figure, the information transmission receiving apparatus 200 includes a data separation unit 10, an image data decoding unit 11, an image memory 12, a display memory 13, a memory control unit 14, an index data decoding unit 15, and an index data management unit 16. Configured.
[0035]
The data separation unit 10 separates the program data of the program designated by the remote controller out of all program data received by the demodulation unit into image data and index data.
[0036]
The image data decoding unit 11 decodes the image data separated by the data separation unit 10 and writes it into the image memory 12. In this case, the still image written in the image memory 12 corresponds to the still image shown in FIG.
[0037]
The index data decoding unit 15 decodes the index data separated by the data separation unit 10. The index data management unit 16 manages index data for each area of the image written in the image memory 12. The management of the index data for each area is performed for the start point coordinates and size of the area as shown in FIG. The starting point coordinates and size of each area in this figure are as follows.
[0038]
Region 1: Start point coordinates are (X₁, Y₁), The size is (x₁, Y₁)
Region 2: Start point coordinates are (X₂, Y₂), The size is (x₂, Y₂)
Region 3: Start point coordinates are (X_Three, Y_Three), The size is (x_Three, Y_Three)
Region 4: Start point coordinates are (X_Four, Y_Four), The size is (x_Four, Y_Four)
Region 5: Start point coordinates are (X_Five, Y_Five), The size is (x_Five, Y_Five)
Region 6: Start point coordinates are (X₆, Y₆), The size is (x₆, Y₆)
The display memory 13 is used for storage for editing and synthesizing an area required by the recipient in the still image written in the image memory 12. The memory control unit 14 copies an area specified by the index data management unit 16 in the still image written in the image memory 12 to the display memory 13. Based on the index data from the index data decoding unit 15, the index data management unit 16 performs control to copy the genre area designated by the receiver from the image memory 12 to the display memory 13. For example, if the recipient designates the genre of “international”, the index data management unit 16 stores information for copying only the “international” area of the still image written in the image memory 12 to the display memory 13. This is supplied to the control unit 14. In this case, the index data management unit 16 supplies the memory control unit 14 with the copy source address of the “international” area and the size of the copy area, and also supplies a copy start signal.
[0039]
When the memory control unit 14 inputs the copy source address and the size of the copy area, and subsequently inputs the copy start signal, it reads the “international” area designated by the index data management unit 16 from the image memory 12 and copies it. The address of the previous display memory 13 is designated and written. In this case, the copy source address corresponds to the start point coordinates (X, Y) of the area, and the size of the copy area corresponds to (x, y). The initial value of the copy destination address is (DX₁, DY₁). After writing the area, a copy end signal is output.
[0040]
When the index data management unit 16 controls to copy the “international” area from the image memory 12 to the display memory 13 and then inputs a copy end signal from the memory control unit 14, the area connected to the currently written area It is determined whether or not there is. In this case, if it is determined that there is an area to be connected, the Y-axis address of the next copy destination and the size y in the Y-axis direction of the area connected to the area where data has been written are added. It is determined whether or not the upper limit value in the axial direction (“1920” for the high-definition size) is exceeded. In this determination, if it is determined that the added value does not exceed the upper limit value, the area connected to the area where data has been written is copied to the address following the current address.
[0041]
On the other hand, if it is determined that the added value exceeds the upper limit value, the copy destination address is set to the head address of the next stage, and the area connected to the area where data has been written is written at that address. Here, for example, the area 3 is connected to the area 2, but the value obtained by adding the size y of the area 3 in the Y-axis direction and the Y-axis address of the next copy destination is equal to or less than the upper limit value. The state is as shown in FIG. The above operation is repeatedly performed on the images of all pages of the program designated by the remote controller, and all the information related to “international” is copied as shown in FIG.
[0042]
<Operation of Information Transmission Receiver 200>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information transmission receiving apparatus 200. This flowchart shows the operation when the memory control unit 14 and the index data management unit 16 are one control unit.
[0043]
First, it is determined whether or not a genre is designated in step S10. In this determination, if it is determined that genre designation is not performed, this step is repeated, and if it is determined that genre designation is performed, the process proceeds to step S12. In this case, it is assumed that “international” is designated as the genre.
[0044]
When the genre is specified and the process proceeds to step S12, the registers n, m, and p are initialized. After each register is initialized, it is determined whether or not it is the last page in step S14. In this determination, if it is determined that it is the last page, the process returns to step S10, and if it is determined that it is not the last page, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, it is determined whether or not the area n is a genre designated area. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, since the genre of the first page area 1 is “politics”, it is not a genre-designated area. The process returns to step S16.
[0045]
After the value of the n register is increased by “1” to make the area 2, it is determined whether or not the area 2 is a genre designated area. In this case, since the genre is “international” in the area 2 on the first page, the genre is designated, so that the process proceeds to step S20 and the start point coordinates and the size of the area 2 are written in the display memory 13. That is, the copy source address (X₂, Y₂) And the size of the copy area (x₂, Y₂) To the copy destination address (DX₁, DY₁).
[0046]
Next, in step S24, it is determined whether or not it is the last region. In this case, since the area 2 is not the last area, the process proceeds to step S26, and the values of the n register and the m register are respectively increased by “1”. In this case, the value of the n register is “3”, and the value of the m register is “2”. After increasing the values of the n and m registers by “1”, the process proceeds to step S28 to determine whether there is an area connected to the current area. In this determination, if it is determined that there is an area to be connected to the current area, the process proceeds to step S30, and if it is determined that there is no area to be connected, the process returns to step S16. In this case, since the area 3 is an area connected to the area 2, the process proceeds to step S30, and the copy destination Y-axis address DY₂And the size y of the region 3 in the Y-axis direction are added.
[0047]
Copy destination Y-axis address DY₂And the size y of the area 3 in the Y-axis direction are added, and it is determined in step S32 whether or not the added value exceeds the upper limit value in the Y-axis direction (“1920” for the high vision size). In this determination, if it is determined that the added value does not exceed the upper limit value, the process returns to step S20, and the start point coordinates and size of the area 3 are set to the copy source address (X_Three, Y_Three) And the size of the copy area (x_Three, Y_Three) As the copy destination address (DX₂, DY₂).
[0048]
In contrast, the copy destination Y-axis address DY₂If it is determined that the added value of the size y in the Y-axis direction of the region 3 exceeds the upper limit value in the Y-axis direction, the process proceeds to step S34, the value of the m register is increased by “1”, and the process returns to step S20. Returning to step S20, the coordinates and size of the start point of area 3 are set to the copy source address (X_Three, Y_Three) And the size of the copy area (x_Three, Y_Three) As the copy destination address (DX_Three, DY_Three). Similar processing is performed up to the last area 6 of one page. When the processing of the area 6 is performed, the process proceeds from step S24 to step S36, the value of the p register is increased by “1”, and the page returns to step S14 as 2 pages. Thereafter, the same processing is repeatedly performed on all pages of the image, and all the information related to “international” is copied.
[0049]
As described above, in this embodiment, the transmission apparatus for information transmission 100 is a place that indicates the position and size of one page of image data for each specific information content area in the image data of the page. Information is transmitted with index data composed of titles, genres, and keywords indicating the information contents, and the information transmission receiver 200 refers to the index data sent from the information transmission transmitter 100. Only the necessary area of the image data of the page is selected and displayed. In this case, the transmission apparatus for information transmission 100 transmits a plurality of pages of image data to which index data has been added, and the reception apparatus for information transmission 200 selects only areas having the same genre or keywords scattered across a plurality of pages. Edit and compose on the page.
[0050]
Therefore, since it is possible to select and display only the necessary area of the image data of the page, it is possible to provide an information service capable of accurately selecting necessary information of the receiver. be able to.
[0051]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various embodiments are possible within the scope of the object of the present invention. Specifically, the following may be performed.
[0052]
(A) In the embodiment, the processing is performed on a still image obtained by compressing and encoding a high-definition natural image. However, an uncompressed natural image may be used.
[0053]
Further, the processing may be performed on a NTSC size still image or a facsimile image (including an uncompressed image) obtained by compression encoding a binary image.
[0054]
(B) In the embodiment, the present invention is applied to a broadcast system that displays as a screen on the receiving side using a digital transmission line such as a satellite broadcast data channel. However, newspapers, magazines, and the like are based on the NTSC system or the MUSE system. You may apply to the broadcast system transmitted as an image signal.
[0055]
(C) In the embodiment, in the information transmission transmitting apparatus 100, the index generation unit 3 automatically divides the area of the still image of one page, but a human uses a pointing device such as a mouse. May be. A combination of these may also be used. Further, the shape of the region is not limited to a rectangular shape, and may be a polygon or a circle.
[0056]
(D) In the embodiment, the information transmission transmitting apparatus 100 obtains text data by character recognition and assigns it by automatic indexing from the text data for inputting the title, genre and keyword for each area in the screen. Although used, a method using a keyboard may be used.
[0057]
(E) In the embodiment, the processing in the information transmission receiving apparatus 200 is performed by software, but may be performed by hardware.
[0058]
(F) In the embodiment, the information transmission receiving apparatus 200 copies and displays only a specific genre (“international”), but only information having a specific title or keyword is copied. Of course, it can also be displayed.
[0059]
(G) In the embodiment, the information transmission receiving apparatus 200 only copies and displays a specific genre, but it may be stored in a storage device such as a floppy disk or a hard disk.
[0060]
【The invention's effect】
  As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,For each area of specific information content in the image data, index data indicating the information content is added and transmitted to the receiving side. Therefore, the receiving side only extracts necessary areas of the image data based on the index data. By selecting and displaying the information, it is possible to realize an information service that can accurately select and save the information necessary for the recipient. In addition, since the title indicating the information content, the information of the genre to which the information content belongs, or the keyword capable of searching the information content is the content information indicating the information content in each area, the receiver can easily select desired information. Can be saved.
[0061]
  According to the invention of claim 2,After separating the image data and the index data from the program data transmitted from the transmission side, whether each area of the image data corresponds to the content information designated by the user based on the content information of the index data Since the corresponding area is displayed, it is possible to realize an information service capable of accurately selecting and storing necessary information of the receiver. In addition, only areas with the same information content scattered across multiple pages are selected, edited, combined, and displayed on the same page, so only areas with the same content information scattered across multiple pages are sorted into the same page. Since advanced reception processing such as editing and combining and displaying or saving is possible,It is possible to realize an information service capable of accurately selecting and storing necessary information of the receiver.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an information transmission transmitting apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a high-definition size still image.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of specifying a region of a high-definition size still image.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of region division of a high-definition size still screen.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of indexes for areas having different information contents;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an information transmission receiving apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a management example of the start point coordinates and size of an area in the index data for each area.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state where regions 2 and 3 belonging to the genre of “international” are copied to the image memory 2;
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state where all areas belonging to the genre of “international” are copied to the display memory.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of the information transmission receiving apparatus according to the embodiment;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Screen production department
2 Image data compression and coding unit
3 Index generator
4 Index encoder
5 Image data / index data composition unit
6 Index data composition part
7 Data sending part
10 Data separator
11 Image data decoder
12 Image memory
13 Display memory
14 Memory controller
15 Index data decoder
16 Index Data Management Department

Claims (2)

Image data output means for outputting image data in units of one page;
The information content of the image data output from the image data output means is divided into different areas, location information indicating the position and size of each divided region is a contents information indicating the information content in the area in correspondence Index data generating means for generating index data;
Program data creation means for creating program data by adding the index data generated by the index data generation means to the image data output from the image data output means;
Program guide data creating means for creating program guide data by associating index data for each image data with a program number that enables program identification on the receiving side,
Data sending means for sending the program guide data created by the program guide data creating means and the program data created by the program data creating means to the receiving side;
With
The index data generation means generates index data using content information as a title representing information content, a genre to which the information content belongs, or a keyword capable of searching for information content . Data separation means for inputting program data of a program number designated by the user and separating image data and index data;
First storage means for storing image data separated by the data separation means;
Second storage means for storing selected ones of the areas of the image data stored in the first storage means;
Determining whether each area of the image data separated by the data separation means is an area corresponding to the content information designated by the user based on the content information of the index data separated by the data separation means; If it is determined that it corresponds, the control means for writing and displaying the area in the second storage means,
With
The information transmission receiving apparatus characterized in that the control means selects only regions having the same information content scattered in a plurality of pages of image data, edits and synthesizes them on the same page, and displays them .

Images