JP3851255B2 - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that receives a digital broadcast.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A digital broadcast receiving apparatus that receives a digital broadcast using a satellite or a terrestrial wave selects an arbitrary broadcast wave from a plurality of broadcast waves received through a dedicated antenna or a terrestrial antenna using a tuner, and selects the selected broadcast wave. An arbitrary channel is selected from among a plurality of channels included in the wave by demultiplexing processing, a digital signal of the selected channel is taken out and decoded to output a video / audio signal. In digital broadcasting, program information can be placed on a broadcast wave in addition to video and audio, and the receiving apparatus can perform EPG display based on the received program information. In addition, as a conventional technique related to EPG display based on program information, there is a technique that acquires a scheduled broadcast date of a program to be viewed periodically by an EPG function (see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-290862 A [0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the case of satellite digital broadcasting, program information of other channels is placed on each channel, and program information of other channels can be acquired with the currently received channel, but in terrestrial digital broadcasting, In order to acquire program information other than the channel being received, it is necessary to perform a channel search to acquire the program information. If this acquisition is performed, the program currently being viewed will be interrupted.
[0005]
In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that can acquire program information of other channels without interrupting a currently viewed program.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention is a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that acquires program information provided for each channel by executing a channel search. A communication interface that performs transmission and reception; a program information acquisition control unit that executes channel search in response to a program information acquisition request from another receiving device to acquire program information provided for each channel; and the acquired program information Transmission control means for transmitting to the other receiving device using the communication interface.
[0007]
Since the digital broadcast receiving apparatus as another receiving apparatus can receive the program information acquired by the digital broadcast receiving apparatus having the above configuration, it is not necessary to acquire the program information by its own channel search, Program information of other channels can be presented to the user without interrupting the program being executed.
[0008]
In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus having the above configuration, when it is in a situation where channel search cannot be executed when a program information acquisition request is received from another receiving apparatus, the already acquired program information is transmitted. It may be configured.
[0009]
Further, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention is a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that acquires program information provided for each channel by performing a channel search, a communication interface that transmits and receives information to and from other receiving apparatuses, An acquisition request control means for requesting acquisition of program information to another receiving apparatus, and a reception control means for receiving program information transmitted from the other receiving apparatus using the communication interface. And
[0010]
Since the digital broadcast receiving apparatus having the above configuration can receive the program information obtained by the digital broadcast receiving apparatus as another receiving apparatus, it is not necessary to acquire the program information by its own channel search. It is possible to present program information of other channels to the user without interrupting the current program.
[0011]
In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus having the above-described configuration, when the user makes a setting that does not allow interruption of the received video and audio, the acquisition request control means requests the other receiving apparatus to acquire program information. It may be configured to do.
[0012]
In addition, when a program information acquisition request is made to another receiving apparatus, a target channel may be designated. With this configuration, for example, the first other receiving device is requested to acquire 1ch to 10ch program information, and the second other receiving device is requested to acquire 11ch to 20ch program information. Thus, program information can be shared and acquired by a plurality of devices, and the time required to acquire program information can be shortened.
[0013]
In addition, the program information transmitted from another receiving apparatus is compared with the program information held by itself, and the program information held by itself is newer than the program information transmitted from the other receiving apparatus. In some cases, the new part may be configured to be provided to another receiving device. With this configuration, new program information can be exchanged between apparatuses, and each apparatus can hold newer program information.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0015]
FIG. 3 shows a system in which three digital broadcast receiving apparatuses 30 according to this embodiment are installed in a home and information can be transmitted and received by a communication path (wired or wireless). Here, for example, one digital broadcast receiver A is a set top box, one digital broadcast receiver B is a video tape recorder, and one digital broadcast receiver C is a second video tape recorder. Is assumed. The processing operation relating to the reception unit configuration and the acquisition of EPG data (program information) is the same for each device.
[0016]
In FIG. 1, a terrestrial antenna 1 is arranged outdoors in a predetermined direction, and receives a terrestrial digital broadcast signal. The terrestrial antenna 1 gives the received signal to the terrestrial digital tuner 2.
[0017]
The terrestrial digital tuner 2 extracts a signal having a specific frequency from the high-frequency digital modulation signal including video / audio data. The terrestrial digital tuner 2 includes a demodulation circuit, a deinterleave circuit, an error correction circuit, etc., and demodulates the selected digital modulation signal to output a transport stream.
[0018]
The demultiplexer (DEMUX) 3 separates the transport stream into MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group 2) video stream, audio stream, PSI / SI (Program Specific Information / Service Information), and the like. The demultiplexer 3 supplies the video stream and the audio stream to the AV decoder 4 and supplies program information included in the PSI / SI to the CPU 13. Note that a plurality of channels are multiplexed in the transport stream, and the process for selecting an arbitrary channel from among these is the packet ID of the arbitrary channel in the transport stream from the PSI / SI. It becomes possible by taking out data such as whether or not it is multiplexed. The transport stream can also be selected based on PSI / SI information.
[0019]
The AV decoder 4 includes a video decoder that decodes a video stream and an audio decoder that decodes an audio stream. The video decoder decodes an input encoded signal to obtain a quantization coefficient and a motion vector, and performs inverse DCT transform, motion compensation control based on the motion vector, and the like. The audio decoder decodes the input encoded signal to generate audio data. The video data generated by the decoding is output to the video processing circuit 5, and the audio data is output to the audio processing circuit 6.
[0020]
The video processing circuit 5 receives video data from the AV decoder 4 and performs D / A conversion, for example, to convert it into a composite video signal. The audio processing circuit 6 receives the audio data output from the AV decoder 4 and performs D / A conversion to generate, for example, a right (R) sound analog signal and a left (L) sound analog signal.
[0021]
The video output circuit 7 and the audio output circuit 8 include an output resistor, an amplifier, and the like. The AV output terminal 9 is provided with an output unit (a set of left and right audio output terminals and video output terminals, etc.). This output unit is provided with a video / audio code 17 and is provided with a picture tube 16a and a speaker 16b. 16 is connected.
[0022]
The OSD (On Screen Display) circuit 12 outputs video data based on character information and color information instructed to be output from the CPU 13 to the adder 20. The adder 20 performs processing for incorporating the video data into the received video data output from the AV decoder 4. The OSD circuit 12 can display an EPG screen, a menu screen, various setting screens and the like as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, as one of the setting screens, there is a screen for setting whether or not the video and audio may be interrupted in the program information acquisition process.
[0023]
The remote control transmitter 10 is a transmitter for transmitting a command to the broadcast receiving device 30. When a key (not shown) provided on the remote control transmitter 10 is operated, signal light (remote control signal) indicating a command corresponding to the key is transmitted from a light emitting unit (not shown). The remote control light receiver 11 receives the signal light, converts it into an electric signal, and gives it to the CPU 13.
[0024]
The memory (for example, RAM, flash memory, EEPROM, etc.) 14 stores data that is separated from the broadcast wave and converted so that the receiving apparatus can process it. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, EPG data (channel number, program title, etc.) and channel selection data (channel number, channel frequency, transport stream ID) for displaying an EPG screen are stored. Also, the contents of various settings are stored. In this embodiment, one of the setting contents is whether or not the video and audio may be interrupted in the program information acquisition process.
[0025]
The communication interface (IF) 15 transmits and receives commands and data to and from other receiving apparatuses B and C by wire or wireless.
[0026]
The CPU 13 performs overall control in the receiving device 30, and in particular performs processing related to acquisition of EPG data (program information) as processing according to the present invention. Hereinafter, such processing will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
[0027]
When an unillustrated EPG display button of the remote control transmitter 10 is operated by the user (step S1), the CPU 13 confirms whether or not the video / audio may be interrupted (step S2). In some cases, the terrestrial digital tuner 2 is instructed to perform channel search (frequency tuning of each channel) in order to acquire program information. Then, program information acquired from the broadcast wave of each channel is extracted and stored in the memory 14 (step S3). On the other hand, if the setting is not interruptible, a program information acquisition command is transmitted to the receiving device B using the communication IF 15 (step S4).
[0028]
Next, it is determined whether or not the program information sent from the receiving device B is the latest program information (step S5). This determination can be made based on, for example, the current date and time indicated by the built-in calendar and the acquisition date and time of the transmitted program information. When the latest program information sent is the latest program information, the EPG is displayed on the screen using this (step S8). On the other hand, if the answer is NO in step S5, the acquisition date / time of the program information held by itself is compared with the acquisition date / time of the sent program information, and the own program information is included in the sent program information. If there is a newer part, it is taken in, and if there is a new part in its own program information, that part is transmitted to the receiving apparatus B (step S6). A message indicating that the latest program information could not be obtained is displayed on the screen (step S7), and an EPG screen is displayed based on the program information obtained at the present time (step S8).
[0029]
Next, the processing content on the receiving device B side will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. When receiving the program information acquisition command from the receiving device A (step S11), the receiving device B determines its own operation status such as whether the receiving operation is in progress and whether the reservation receiving process is executed after several minutes, for example (step S11). Step S12). When it is determined that the device is not in a receiving state and is not in a receiving state in the near future (YES in step S12), channel search is performed to obtain program information of each channel (step S13), The state of the receiving device B, the program information, and the acquisition date and time are transmitted to the receiving device A (step S15). On the other hand, when NO is determined in step S12, the state of the receiving device B, the already acquired program information and the acquisition date / time are transmitted to the receiving device A (step S14, step S15).
[0030]
In the above description, the request process of the receiving apparatus A and the response process of the receiving apparatus B have been described. However, the receiving apparatus A may request and receive the response. Further, request and response processing can be performed between the receiving apparatuses A and C, and request and response processing can be performed between the receiving apparatuses B and C.
[0031]
Further, in the request for program information acquisition, the receiving device A requests the receiving device B to acquire 1ch to 10ch program information and requests the receiving device C to acquire 11ch to 20ch program information. Good. According to this, program information can be shared and acquired by a plurality of devices, and the time required to acquire program information can be shortened.
[0032]
Although not shown in FIG. 6, when a new program information part is transmitted from the receiving apparatus A, the receiving apparatus B performs a process of incorporating the part into its own program information.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that program information of other channels can be acquired without interrupting a currently viewed program.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing data contents stored in a memory.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a system formed by connecting three digital broadcast receivers according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an EPG screen.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing contents.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing contents.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Antenna 2 Terrestrial Digital Tuner 3 Demultiplexer (DEMUX)
4 AV decoder 12 OSD circuit 13 CPU
14 memory

Claims (5)

In a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that acquires program information provided for each channel by performing a channel search, a communication interface that transmits / receives information to / from other receiving apparatuses, and acquisition of program information to other receiving apparatuses An acquisition request control means for making a request, and a reception control means for receiving program information transmitted from another receiving device,
When the setting for allowing interruption of the received video / audio is performed by the user, the setting for not allowing interruption of the received video / audio is performed while the program information acquisition process is executed by the channel search. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition request control means makes an acquisition request for program information to another receiving apparatus when it is performed by a user . 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a target channel is designated when an acquisition request for program information is made to another receiving apparatus. . 3. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program information transmitted from another receiving apparatus is compared with the program information held by itself, and the other program information held by itself A digital broadcast receiving apparatus characterized in that when there is a newer part than program information transmitted from the receiving apparatus, the new part is given to another receiving apparatus. 4. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein a channel search is executed in response to a program information acquisition request from another receiver to acquire program information provided for each channel. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: program information acquisition control means; and transmission control means for transmitting the acquired program information to the other receiving apparatus using the communication interface . 5. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 4, wherein in a situation where a channel search cannot be executed upon receiving a program information acquisition request from another receiving apparatus, the already acquired program information is transmitted. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus configured to

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