JP4023839B2 - Receiver - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a receiving apparatus suitable for application to an ISDB broadcast system or the like. More specifically, in addition to the broadcast signal, in addition to the identification code for the broadcast program, a layered identification level for layering the content of the same program itself is simultaneously transmitted as additional information. The program content of the same identification code is stored by specifying the specified identification code, and the same hierarchical identification level among the program contents stored by specifying the hierarchical identification level together with the identification code Only the contents of the program can be selectively monitored so that only the program contents desired by the viewer can be reproduced.
[0002]
[Prior art]
With the development of digital technology, an interactive integrated digital broadcasting system (referred to as an ISDB (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting) system) in which various kinds of information including broadcast signals are digitized is being researched and developed in the broadcasting industry.
[0003]
More specifically, the ISDB system is used for not only current broadcast signals (standard television signals, high-definition signals), but also software and facsimile data, as well as multimedia information such as voice, text, graphics, and images. It is a broadcasting system in which each is digitized (encoded), integrated and multiplexed, and then subjected to modulation processing matching the transmission form to be transmitted and received.
[0004]
When various types of information including broadcast signals are integrated and multiplexed, in addition to these pieces of information, additional information used as control information on the receiving side can also be integrated and multiplexed at the same time. The integrated ISDB broadcast signal (digital signal) is transmitted using ground waves, satellite waves, optical cables, or the like.
[0005]
On the receiving terminal side, it is possible to receive the integrated ISDB broadcast signal, discriminate the target signal, display it on the monitor and enjoy it as a normal television broadcast. (Save) or transfer to another terminal. Further, if the received additional information is used, the received information can be used according to the user's preference, such as monitor control, recording control, and processing control on the monitored image. That is, an interactive broadcasting system can be constructed.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Therefore, if this ISDB system is used, the service content for the user is improved and the more interactive broadcasting system can be constructed as the variety of additional information to be transmitted increases.
[0007]
Now, some of the current broadcast programs are edited such that the program content is hierarchized on the broadcast station side. For example, in the case of a news program, in addition to broadcasting the titles of a plurality of news topics to be broadcast within the broadcast time as shown in FIG. In many cases, news programs are structured so as to move to specific details.
[0008]
Commercial broadcasts are often inserted into commercial programs. Furthermore, continuous broadcast programs are often composed of an intro part such as a title and a performer list, a coarse part up to the previous time, a commercial part, and a program broadcast part.
[0009]
As described above, the number of programs currently being broadcast is more or less, and the program contents are hierarchized to some extent. On the other hand, viewers do not want to see all of the broadcast programs that are hierarchized, but in the case of news programs, some viewers want to watch only the topic part, while others want to see the overview and details. . Furthermore, since the broadcast hours are not at home, it is often impossible to watch live programs.
[0010]
In order to fulfill such a viewer's desire, the desired broadcast program may be recorded and saved, and the recorded program may be viewed at a different time. In this case, since the viewer has to perform an operation such as skipping the program content that is not necessary among the recorded programs, the operation is troublesome, and the program content to be viewed cannot be searched immediately, which is very difficult. Inconvenient. It would be very convenient if it was possible to automatically select and monitor specific hierarchized program contents from recorded broadcast programs.
[0011]
Therefore, the present invention can achieve such a problem, and can selectively save a broadcast program designated by the viewer, and among the stored broadcast programs, the viewer can proposes a only broadcast contents of a specified hierarchical discrimination level was set to be selectively reproduced (monitor) receiving apparatus.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the receiving device according to the present invention described in claim 1, a specific information in which encoded information obtained by encoding program information including video information and audio information and additional information are multiplexed is specified. Channel selection means for selecting a broadcast signal, signal separation means for separating the specific broadcast signal selected by the channel selection means into encoded information and additional information, and decoding the encoded information to a plurality of levels Decoding means for outputting program information including a plurality of hierarchized broadcast contents, additional information includes an identification code for identifying program information, and any one of the plurality of levels for each of the plurality of broadcast contents A discriminating means for discriminating whether the input discriminating code matches the discriminating code in the additional information, and corresponding program information according to the discrimination result by the discriminating unit. , Program information Characterized in that it comprises a recording reproducing unit for recording on a recording medium together with the additional information with a discrimination level to be added to each of a plurality of broadcast contents included in the identification code and the program information for specifying the.
[0013]
3. The receiving device according to claim 2, wherein the input means for inputting the identification code and the identification level from the outside, and the recording / reproducing unit include an identification code and an identification level that match the identification code and the identification level input by the input means. Is retrieved from the recording medium, and program information corresponding to the retrieved identification code and identification level is reproduced.
[0014]
The receiving apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the recording / reproducing unit records program information in a first area of the recording medium and records additional information in a second area of the recording medium.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0016]
FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a main part showing an embodiment of a transmission apparatus 10. In this example, main information transmitted in an integrated manner for convenience of explanation includes standard television signals, high-vision signals, and various data information. It shall be. Then, additional information such as control information is added to each of them and multiplexed. Various kinds of additional information can be considered.
[0017]
Referring to FIG. 1, the video signal SVN of the standard television signal is supplied to the terminal 12a, and the audio signal SAN associated therewith is supplied to the terminal 12b. The encoding unit 14 performs appropriate encoding processing including compression and the like. Is given. In synchronization with this encoding process, the additional information generating means 16 operates to generate additional information such as control information.
[0018]
A general example of the additional information is a time code. In the present invention, in addition to such general additional information, an identification code for identifying a specific broadcast program and the content of the broadcast program are included. When hierarchized, the hierarchized identification level for indicating the level is used as additional information.
[0019]
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when a broadcast program is news and the news is edited as a topic program, the topic section (broadcast department) and its outline are broadcast even if it is a news program as shown in FIG. The broadcast contents are hierarchized into a plurality of layers, like a department that broadcasts the department and its contents in more detail. In addition to news, for example, sports programs are divided into sections that relay sports and other sections (such as commercial sections), so this is also a kind of stratification.
[0020]
Therefore, according to the present invention, for these hierarchized broadcast programs, the identification level Li (i = 1 to 4) for identifying hierarchies is used in addition to the identification code ID for identifying the broadcast programs. Used as additional information for a program. For example, in the case of news topics as shown in FIG. 2, since the broadcast program identification code is IDa, codes IDaL1, IDaL2, IDaL3 and IDaL4 representing the hierarchical identification level corresponding to the contents of the broadcast program are used as additional information. The A G code or the like can be used as the identification code. The encoded standard television signal and the additional information as described above are supplied to the multiplexing unit 20 and multiplexed together with other information.
[0021]
The video signal SVH of the high-definition signal is supplied to the terminal 22a, and the audio signal SAH associated therewith is supplied to the terminal 22b, and an appropriate encoding process including compression is performed by the encoding unit 24. The additional information generating means 26 is activated in synchronization with the encoding process, and an identification code with the hierarchical identification level as described above is generated as additional information as necessary.
[0022]
Various data SD such as computer data and facsimile data is supplied to the terminal 28 a and is encoded by the encoding unit 30. At the same time, the additional information generating means 32 is activated to generate corresponding additional information. As additional information, information such as area designation for enlargement / reduction, telephone number for inquiry, and fax number can be considered.
[0023]
The encoded information and additional information obtained from each are multiplexed in the multiplexing unit 20, respectively. In the multiplexing unit 20, for example, a process is performed in which each piece of encoded information is packetized and multiplexed for error correction is multiplexed in units of transmission frames to form a bit stream. These additional information can be inserted into a part of the header (packet header) of the packetized packet data.
[0024]
The multiplexed data is modulated by the transmission unit 34 into an ISDB broadcast signal having a transmission form suitable for transmission means (for example, a broadcasting satellite), and in this example, the data is multiplexed by an up-converter 36 and a transmission antenna (parabolic antenna) 38. Sent to the broadcasting satellite.
[0025]
The additional information as described above is transmitted together with the encoded program broadcast. FIG. 2 shows an example of a receiving apparatus 40 according to the present invention for receiving such an ISDB broadcast signal.
[0026]
The satellite wave received by the receiving antenna (parabolic antenna) 42 is down-converted to a 1 GHz band by the down converter 44 and then supplied to the ISDB tuner 46 for channel selection processing. Therefore, the ISDB broadcast signal of a specific channel is selected by the channel selection signal SC from the terminal 48.
[0027]
The selected ISDB broadcast signal is supplied to the signal separation means 50 and separated into original main information and additional information. For example, when a specific channel of a standard television signal is selected, the standard television signal and additional information (time code or the like) associated with the specific channel are separated. The video signal SV (SVN) and the audio signal SA (SAN) are respectively decoded by the decoding unit 52 from the separated standard television signal, and these are supplied to a monitor (CRT or the like) 54 to display the video and will be described later. Is supplied to the recording / reproducing unit 68.
[0028]
The additional information separated by the signal separation means 50 is supplied to the decoding unit 56, and all the additional information is decoded. The decoded additional information is supplied to the gate means 64, and an identification code for identifying the broadcast program among the additional information is supplied to the identification code matching determination unit 62. A control unit 60 equipped with a microcomputer is a command from the commander 80, and a control signal corresponding to the content of the command is generated.
[0029]
When a viewer designates a specific broadcast program using an identification code as one of the control signals, the designated identification code ID is supplied to the coincidence determination unit 62 to determine the coincidence with the decoded identification code. Is made. The coincidence discrimination output is supplied to the gate means 64, and only the additional information whose identification code is coincident is gated. After being synthesized by the adder 66 with the main information (standard television signal etc.) decoded by the decoding unit 52, it is recorded. The program content is supplied to the playback unit 68 and stored (recorded). As the recording / reproducing unit 68, a fast access device such as a semiconductor memory (RAM or the like) or a magneto-optical disk can be used.
[0030]
Of the operation modes of the recording / reproducing unit 68, the recording mode is the match determination output obtained by the match determination unit 62, which is also used as the recording start signal R · CTL. As a result, when the identification code ID designated by the control unit 60 matches the decoded identification code, the decoded additional information is gated by the coincidence discrimination output, and the recording / reproducing unit 68 is controlled to the recording mode. As a result, the decoded main information is recorded together with the corresponding additional information. Therefore, only a specific broadcast program designated by the user is selectively recorded together with the additional information in the recording / playback unit 68. When the additional information is recorded, it can be recorded independently in a special area separately from the program broadcast. This is to facilitate the search for additional information.
[0031]
After recording the main information, it waits for a user instruction. As shown in FIG. 2, when the user uses the commander 70 to specify the hierarchical identification level Li together with the identification code IDj for the broadcast program, such as IDaL2 or IDaL3, the control unit 60 uses this designation code IDjLi as the reproduction control signal PB. -It is supplied to the recording / reproducing unit 68 as CTL.
[0032]
In the recording / reproducing unit 68, the recorded identification code ID and the hierarchical identification level are searched from the designated code IDjLi, and when the corresponding code exists, only the corresponding recorded information is selectively reproduced. For example, when a code as shown in FIG. 2 is designated, only the broadcast content indicated by “PB” (symbol indicating the reproduction mode) is selectively reproduced. The selectively reproduced program broadcast is supplied to the monitor 54 via the switch 70 and displayed. As a result, the broadcast content designated by the viewer can be viewed without bothering the viewer.
The switch 70 is controlled by the control unit 60, and any one of the outputs of the decoding units 52 and 56 and the reproduction output, and in some cases, a plurality can be arbitrarily selected.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, additional information indicating an identification code or a hierarchized identification level is added to the ISDB broadcast signal and transmitted, and the receiving side stores a specific broadcast program by specifying the identification code. In the broadcast program recorded by designating, only broadcast programs that match the designated hierarchical identification level can be selectively extracted and monitored.
[0034]
According to this, in addition to being able to automatically save a specific broadcast program only with the identification code, by further specifying the hierarchical identification level, only the broadcast programs that match the designated hierarchical identification level can be recorded. Can be selectively monitored. As a result, it is possible to view only the program contents of the hierarchy desired by the viewer, even in the same broadcast program, so that it is possible to save the trouble of searching for useless information and to reproduce the recorded contents efficiently.
Therefore, the present invention is extremely suitable when applied to an ISDB transmitting apparatus and its receiving apparatus that can simultaneously transmit additional information.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an essential part showing an embodiment of an ISDB transmission device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of hierarchization of a broadcast program.
FIG. 3 is a system diagram of an essential part showing an embodiment of an ISDB receiver according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 ISDB transmission device 13, 26, 32 Additional information generating means 14, 24, 30 Encoding section 20 Multiplexing section 46 ISDB tuner 52, 56 Decoding section 54 Monitor 60 Control section 62 Matching determination section 64 Gate means 68 Recording / reproduction Part

Claims (3)

Channel selection means for selecting a specific broadcast signal in which encoded information obtained by encoding program information including video information and audio information and additional information are multiplexed;
Signal separation means for separating the specific broadcast signal selected by the channel selection means into the encoded information and the additional information;
Decoding means for decoding the encoded information and outputting the program information including a plurality of broadcast contents layered in a plurality of levels;
The additional information has an identification code that identifies the program information and an identification level that identifies which level of the plurality of broadcast contents is one of the plurality of levels. Discrimination means for discriminating a match between the identification code and the identification code in the additional information;
According to the determination result by the determination means, the corresponding program information is recorded together with an identification code for identifying the program information and additional information having an identification level attached to each of a plurality of broadcast contents included in the program information. A receiving apparatus comprising: a recording / reproducing unit for recording on a medium. Input means for inputting the identification code and the identification level from the outside;
The recording / reproducing unit searches the recording medium for the identification code and the identification level that match the identification code and the identification level input by the input unit, and corresponds to the retrieved identification code and the identification level. The receiving apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein program information to be played is reproduced. 2. The reception according to claim 1 , wherein the recording / playback unit records the program information in a first area of the recording medium and records the additional information in a second area of the recording medium. apparatus.

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