JP4556083B2 - Additional information transfer method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention receives a broadcast in which additional information is multiplexed with main information that is audio information (acoustic information) or video information, such as digital radio broadcast, and transfers the additional information to a place away from the receiver. About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In Europe, broadcasting has already started in Europe as Eureka 147 type DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), and broadcasting in Japan and the United States is also considered.
[0003]
In digital radio broadcasting, not only music and other audio information can be transmitted with high quality, but additional information such as text data and image files related to the program is multiplexed and broadcast on the main audio information. Can do.
[0004]
Additional information includes (1) information such as a broadcast service (program) number (ID), title, category, etc., and (2) information related to program contents, such as artist name and song name for a music program, (3 ) Time stamp (time information), (4) Other accompanying information (additional information) are considered.
[0005]
For example, in the case of a music program, the accompanying information is text data indicating the lyrics of a song broadcast on the program or matters relating to a concert of an artist appearing on the program. JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) compression is performed on the image of the jacket of the CD, and the actual data of the JPEG file and header information indicating that it is a JPEG file are broadcast as part of the additional information. It is also possible.
[0006]
In a receiver that can receive such digital radio broadcasts, additional information received together with audio information is stored in a memory and displayed on a display such as an LCD (liquid crystal display).
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the memory of the receiver uses a relatively small capacity, a large amount of additional information cannot be stored in the memory, and the display also uses a relatively small screen, so the display is poor. It becomes. In addition, the additional information cannot be used secondary, and the additional information cannot be used particularly at a location away from the receiver.
[0008]
Therefore, the additional information received by the receiver is transferred from the receiver to an information processing terminal such as a PC (personal computer), displayed on the display of the information processing terminal, recorded in the storage device, and from the information processing terminal. It can be considered that the data is transmitted on a communication network and transferred to another information processing terminal connected on the communication network. According to this, the secondary information can be used secondarily, and the additional information can be used particularly in a place away from the receiver.
[0009]
As a method for transferring additional information in this case, (1) all additional information received by the receiver is transferred as it is, and (2) additional information displayed on the display at that time is selected by the user. (3) The additional information of the program reserved by the timer can be transferred.
[0010]
However, in the method (1), additional information unnecessary for the user is also transferred, which is inefficient in terms of the storage capacity of the information processing terminal, and the user retrieves and browses the additional information necessary later. There is a problem that it takes a lot of labor to do.
[0011]
Also, the method (2) has a problem that additional information cannot be transferred if the user is not at the receiver location during reception by the receiver. When the user does not know the program in advance, there is a problem that additional information cannot be transferred.
[0012]
Regarding the method (3), EPG (Electronic Program Guide) may not be sent in digital radio broadcasting, and even when it is sent, even when the user does not see it or sees it. When only the title and category of a program are present, it is not known which artist or which song it is.
[0013]
Therefore, the present invention ensures that only the additional information required by the user is received even when the user is not at the receiver location during reception by the receiver or when the user does not know the program in advance. , It can be transferred to a place away from the receiver and received at a place away from the receiver.
[0015]
  This inventionWithThe additional information transfer method can receive a broadcast in which additional information is multiplexed with main information that is audio information or video information., Configured to output the received main information and additional information to the output unitReceiving machineBut,Receive additional informationWhen it is full, the received additional information is stored in a memory in which old additional information is discarded and new additional information is stored. When the receiver is connected to the information processing terminal of the transmission source, it is stored in the memory. didIn the additional information,Key information set in advance on the information processing terminal of the transmission source by an input operation on the operation unit of the user, and when the receiver and the information processing terminal of the transmission source are connected for communicationSent from the source information processing terminal to the receiver.Taki-Determine whether information is included,ConcernedWhen key information is included,ConcernedThe additional information and the main information of the program related to the additional information are transmitted to the information processing terminal of the transmission source, and the information processing terminal of the transmission source is transmitted.Together with the additional information transmitted from the receiver and the main information of the program to which it relates,It transmits to the information processing terminal of a transmission destination via a communication network.
[0016]
  In the additional information transfer method of the present invention as described above, among the additional information received by the receiver, the user has previously processed the information processing terminal of the transmission source.The end of theOnly additional information including key information such as the category of the favorite program and the name of the favorite artist set for the information is transmitted from the information processing terminal of the transmission source to the information processing terminal of the transmission destination via the communication network. , If only the additional information required by the user is received at the receiver, even if the user is not at the receiver's location or if the user does not know the program in advance, the user can be sure to leave the receiver. Can be transferred to a remote location and received at a location remote from the receiver. At the same time, in the additional information transfer method of the present invention, the main information of the program associated with the additional information including the key information is transmitted from the transmission source information processing terminal to the transmission destination information processing terminal via the communication network. Therefore, the main information of the program related to the additional information required by the user can be received at a place away from the receiver.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[System Embodiment]
FIG. 1 shows an example of a system for performing the additional information transfer method of the present invention. In the system of this example, the receiver 100 is connected to the PC 200 as an example of the information processing terminal as the transmission source by the communication unit 300, and the PC 200 is connected to the communication network 400. PCs 510 and 520 as examples of destination information processing terminals are connected to communication network 400, and mobile phone 530 and pager 540 as examples of destination information processing terminals are connected by wireless communication means 630 and 640. Is connected.
[0018]
The receiver 100 can receive a digital radio broadcast in which additional information is multiplexed with audio information. The receiver 111 is connected to an operation unit 140 including various buttons and keys, an LCD 160 as a display unit, and a later-described unit. A data communication unit is provided.
[0019]
The PC 200 includes a main unit 210 having a CPU and a storage device, an operation unit 240 including a keyboard 241 and a mouse 242, a display unit 260 such as a CRT display or LCD, a data communication unit described later, and a network communication unit described later. It is said.
[0020]
The communication means 300 can perform mutual communication between the receiver 100 and the PC 200 by wire or wireless, such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) or Bluetooth (one of the specifications for short-range wireless communication). It is assumed that the transmission rate is sufficient to transfer information.
[0021]
The communication network 400 is the Internet, LAN (Local Area Network), etc., and an IP (Internet Protocol) address or the like is used for an information processing terminal connected on the communication network 400 such as PC 200, PC 510, 520, mobile phone 530, pager 540, etc. The ID that can uniquely determine each terminal is set.
[0022]
FIG. 2 shows an example of the receiver 100. In digital radio broadcasting, audio information digitized by PCM (pulse code modulation) is compressed and encoded by a compression method such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) -1 Audio Layer-II, and further, transmission path encoding (error correction) is performed. (Addition of a function), additional information is transmission-line encoded, audio information and additional information are multiplexed, and the multiplexed signal is modulated by a modulation scheme such as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) to generate an RF signal. Convert to and send.
[0023]
In the receiver 100, the broadcast signal received by the antenna 111 is selected by the tuner unit 112, subjected to frequency conversion and demodulated, and then subjected to transmission path decoding by the transmission path decoding unit 113 and further to audio information. Is decompressed and decoded by the audio decoding unit 114, converted to an analog audio signal by the D / A conversion unit 115, and the analog audio signal is amplified by the audio amplifiers 116 and 117, and is output to the speakers 118 and 119. Supplied.
[0024]
The receiver 100 can be configured for in-vehicle use or portable use. When the in-vehicle device is configured, the speakers 118 and 119 are used as the speakers 118 and 119, and the receiver 100 is configured as a portable device. For example, headphones or earphones are connected instead of the speakers 118 and 119.
[0025]
The additional information is subjected to transmission path decoding by the transmission path decoding unit 113 and then taken into the system controller 120 of the receiver 100.
[0026]
The system controller 120 includes a CPU 121, and the bus 122 includes a ROM 123 storing a program including a transmission processing routine described later, fixed data such as a character font for displaying additional information, and a work area of the CPU 121. A functioning RAM 124 is connected.
[0027]
In addition, a memory 130 for storing additional information is connected to the bus 122. However, a partial area of the RAM 124 can be used as the memory 130. A relatively small capacity is used as the memory 130. Therefore, when the memory 130 becomes full, the old additional information is discarded and new additional information is stored.
[0028]
Further, the operation unit 140, the LCD driving unit 150, and the data communication unit 170 are connected to the bus 122, and the LCD 160 is connected to the LCD driving unit 150. The data communication unit 170 constitutes a part of the communication unit 300 described above.
[0029]
FIG. 3 shows an example of the PC 200. The PC 200 includes a CPU 211, and a cache memory 213, a main memory 214, and a storage device 215 are connected to the bus 212. The storage device 215 is, for example, a hard disk device, in which an application program including an OS (Operating System) and a transmission processing routine described later is stored, and additional information is recorded as described later.
[0030]
Furthermore, an operation unit 240, a display control unit 250, a data communication unit 270, and a network communication unit 280 are connected to the bus 212, and a display unit 260 is connected to the display control unit 250. The data communication unit 270 constitutes a part of the communication unit 300 described above, and the network communication unit 280 transmits data on the communication network 400 and receives data from the communication network 400.
[0031]
[Embodiment of Additional Information Transfer Method]
(First example)
In the system described above, as a first example, the received additional information is transmitted from the receiver 100 to the PC 200 as it is, and is set in advance in the additional information received from the receiver 100 on the PC 200. It is determined whether or not key information is included. When key information is included, the additional information is transmitted on the communication network 400 and transferred to an information processing terminal that is designated in advance.
[0032]
The key information is set in advance in the PC 200 by the user through an input operation on the operation unit 240. The key information is information described in the additional information as part of the additional information such as the category of the user's favorite program and the name of the favorite artist. If the additional information is text data, A character string with
[0033]
The key information is not limited to one keyword, and a plurality of keywords can be set in the form of logical sum or logical product of them.
[0034]
Also, for example, when the name of an artist is “Taro Yamada”, the artist name in the additional information that is multiplexed with the audio information and broadcasted is not always described as “Taro Yamada”. Katakana may be described as “Yamada Taro”, or may be described in Roman as “Yamada Taro”, “YAMADA Taro”, “Taro Yamada”, “Taro YAMADA”, or the like. It is conceivable that US artist names may be described in several ways, such as omitting middle names or not omitting them.
[0035]
Therefore, it is troublesome for the user if the user inputs some keywords as key information. It is also conceivable that the user himself inputs “Yamada Taro”, “Yamada Taro”, etc. without inputting “Taro Yamada”.
[0036]
Therefore, when the CPU 211 of the PC 200 determines whether or not the key information is included in the additional information, if the additional information and the key information differ only between the above-mentioned descriptions, the additional information The software of the transmission processing routine performed by the CPU 211 is configured so as to determine that the key information is included in the information.
[0037]
The destination information processing terminal is designated in advance by the user by inputting the ID of the information processing terminal to the PC 200.
[0038]
4 and 5 show transmission processing routines performed by the CPU 121 of the receiver 100 and the CPU 211 of the PC 200 when the additional information is selected on the PC 200 as described above.
[0039]
In the transmission processing routine 10 on the receiver 100 side in FIG. 4, the CPU 121 of the receiver 100 starts transmission processing by receiving a broadcast in step 11, and first, in step 12, additional information of the received program. Then, the process proceeds to step 13 to store the additional information in the memory 130, and then proceeds to step 14 to transmit the additional information to the PC 200 by the data communication unit 170.
[0040]
In the transmission processing routine 20 on the PC 200 side in FIG. 5, the CPU 211 of the PC 200 starts transmission processing by receiving additional information from the receiver 100 by the data communication unit 270 in step 21. The received additional information is temporarily stored in the main memory 214, and then the process proceeds to step 23 to determine whether or not the additional information includes the key information set in the PC 200 as described above. In step 23, the process proceeds from step 23 to step 24, and the additional information is recorded in the storage device 215 as an additional information file. Then, the process proceeds to step 25, and the additional information file is transmitted to the communication network 400 by the network communication unit 280. Send on.
[0041]
The additional information file is converted into a format according to the protocol on the communication network 400 such as the Internet protocol, and the ID of the PC 200 as the transmission source and the ID of the information processing terminal as the transmission destination designated in advance by the user are added. And transmitted over the communication network 400. Therefore, the additional information including the key information can be received by the information processing terminal of the designated transmission destination.
[0042]
When the key information is not included in the additional information temporarily stored in the main memory 214, the process proceeds from step 23 to step 26 without discarding the additional information from the main memory 214 and transmitting it on the communication network 400. The transmission process is terminated.
[0043]
According to the above-described example, when only the additional information required by the user is received by the receiver 100, the user is not at the location of the receiver 100, or the user does not know the program in advance. However, it is possible to reliably transfer to a location away from the receiver 100 and receive at a location away from the receiver 100.
[0044]
Specifically, for example, if the user can receive a program broadcast in Tokyo by the receiver 100 and the PC 200 installed in his home in Tokyo and can transmit additional information on the communication network 400, the user can The additional information including the key information set by the user in advance in the program broadcasted by the user at a business trip destination or travel destination where the program is not broadcasted by the PC 510, 520, mobile phone 530, pager 540, etc. Can receive. Further, for example, additional information including key information can be transferred from a user using the receiver 100 and the PC 200 to another user using the PC 510 or the like.
[0045]
Some additional information includes a header portion and a data portion. The header part in this case is information indicating the format or data length of the actual data in the data part. For example, as described above, when the actual data in the data part is a JPEG file, information indicating that it is a JPEG file is arranged in the header part.
[0046]
In this case, as the additional information, not only the data part but also the header part is configured to be transmitted from the receiver 100 to the PC 200, so that the user can use the information included in the header part of the additional information as key information, for example, Information indicating the format of actual data in the data part can be set, only the actual data in the data part is recorded in the storage device 215 of the PC 200, and only the actual data in the data part is transmitted on the communication network 400. Can do.
[0047]
In the example described above, only the additional information including the key information is transmitted over the communication network 400, but the audio information of the program associated with the additional information is also transmitted from the receiver 100 to the PC 200. In addition to the additional information including the key information, the audio information of the related program can be transmitted from the PC 200 to the communication network 400. According to this, the user can not only display the additional information at a place away from the receiver 100 but also can listen to the audio information.
[0048]
Also, on the PC 200, information obtained by the PC 200 such as a time stamp and user information such as a tag or a headline input in advance by the user is added as additional information to the additional information file and transmitted to the communication network 400. According to this, it is helpful to search and browse the file on the information processing terminal of the transmission destination.
[0049]
Some digital radio broadcasts can receive not only the additional information of the program being received but also the additional information of all the programs being broadcast. In this case, the receiver 100 receives additional information of all broadcast programs and transmits the additional information to the PC 200, and the PC 200 transmits additional information including the key information to the communication network 400. According to this, additional information of a program that is not received by the receiver 100 can be obtained at the information processing terminal of the transmission destination.
[0050]
(Second example)
In the system described above, as a second example, the receiver 100 determines whether or not key information is included in the received additional information, and receives the additional information when the key information is included. The data is transmitted from the machine 100 to the PC 200, and further transmitted from the PC 200 to the communication network 400, and transferred to the information processing terminal that is designated in advance.
[0051]
As one method, the key information is transmitted from the PC 200 to the receiver 100 when the user sets the PC 200 in advance by an input operation on the operation unit 240 and the receiver 100 and the PC 200 are connected by the communication unit 300. Alternatively, as another method, the user sets in advance in the receiver 100 by an input operation on the operation unit 140.
[0052]
Also in this case, when the CPU 121 of the receiver 100 determines whether or not the key information is included in the additional information, only the additional information and the key information differ between the above-described descriptions. In this case, software of a transmission processing routine performed by the CPU 121 is configured so as to determine that the key information is included in the additional information.
[0053]
6 and 7 show a transmission processing routine performed by the CPU 121 of the receiver 100 and the CPU 211 of the PC 200 when the additional information is selected on the receiver 100 as described above.
[0054]
In the transmission processing routine 30 on the receiver 100 side in FIG. 6, the CPU 121 of the receiver 100 starts the transfer process by receiving the broadcast at step 31, and first, at step 32, the additional information of the received program is received. Then, the process proceeds to step 33, where the additional information is stored in the memory 130. Next, the process proceeds to step 34, where the additional information is transmitted from the PC 200 to the receiver 100 as described above. Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the key information set in the receiver 100 is included, and if included, the process proceeds from step 34 to step 35, and the additional information is transmitted to the PC 200 by the data communication unit 170.
[0055]
When the key information is not included in the additional information stored in the memory 130, the transmission process is terminated without transmitting the additional information to the PC 200.
[0056]
In the transmission processing routine 40 on the PC 200 side in FIG. 7, the CPU 211 of the PC 200 starts transmission processing by receiving additional information from the receiver 100 by the data communication unit 270 in step 41. The received additional information is recorded in the storage device 215 as an additional information file as it is, and the process proceeds to step 43, and the additional information file is transmitted to the communication network 400 by the network communication unit 280.
[0057]
In this case as well, the additional information file is converted into a format according to the protocol on the communication network 400, and the ID of the PC 200 that is the transmission source and the ID of the information processing terminal that is the transmission destination designated in advance by the user are added. And transmitted on the communication network 400. Therefore, the additional information including the key information can be received by the information processing terminal of the designated transmission destination.
[0058]
According to the above-described example, as in the first example, when only the additional information required by the user is received by the receiver 100 when the user is not at the receiver 100 location, Even if the program is not known in advance, it can be reliably transferred to a place away from the receiver 100 and received at a place away from the receiver 100.
[0059]
Also in this example, when a header part and a data part exist in additional information, the user can set information included in the header part of the additional information as key information. In addition to the additional information including the key information, the audio information of the related program is transmitted from the receiver 100 to the PC 200, and further transmitted from the PC 200 to the communication network 400 to the destination information processing terminal. Can be transferred. Furthermore, on the PC 200, information obtained by the PC 200 can be added as additional information to the additional information file and transmitted onto the communication network 400.
[0060]
Further, the receiver 100 receives additional information of all broadcast programs, transmits additional information including key information from the receiver 100 to the PC 200, and further transmits the additional information from the PC 200 to the communication network 400. To the destination information processing terminal.
[0061]
[Other Embodiments]
The embodiment described above is a case in which digital radio broadcast in which additional information is multiplexed with audio information is received, and the additional information is transferred from the information processing terminal of the transmission source to the information processing terminal of the transmission destination via the communication network. However, the present invention is not limited to digital radio broadcasting, and generally receives broadcasts in which additional information is multiplexed with audio information or video information, such as digital television broadcasting in which additional information is multiplexed with video information (and audio information). Thus, the present invention can be applied when the additional information is transferred from the information processing terminal of the transmission source to the information processing terminal of the transmission destination via the communication network.
[0062]
The present invention can also be applied when a receiver is incorporated in an information processing terminal as a transmission source and integrated with the information processing terminal.
[0063]
【The invention's effect】
  As described above, according to the present invention, only the additional information required by the user can be obtained when the user is not at the receiver during reception by the receiver, or the user knows the program in advance. Even if not, it can be reliably transferred to a place away from the receiver and received at a place away from the receiver.In addition, according to the present invention, the main information of the program related to the additional information required by the user can be received at a place away from the receiver.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system for performing an additional information transfer method according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a receiver.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information processing terminal that is a transmission source;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a transmission processing routine performed by the CPU of the receiver in the first example of the additional information transfer method of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a transmission processing routine performed by the CPU of the transmission source information processing terminal in the first example of the additional information transfer method of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a transmission processing routine performed by the CPU of the receiver in the second example of the additional information transfer method of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a transmission processing routine performed by the CPU of the information processing terminal as the transmission source in the second example of the additional information transfer method of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
Since all the main parts are described in the figure, they are omitted here.

Claims (3)

A receiver configured to be able to receive broadcast in which additional information is multiplexed with main information that is audio information or video information, and configured to output the received main information and additional information to the output unit, receives the additional information, When it is full, the received additional information is stored in a memory in which old additional information is discarded and new additional information is stored,
When the receiver is connected to the information processing terminal of the transmission source, the additional information stored in the memory is set in advance to the information processing terminal of the transmission source by an input operation on the operation unit of the user. a key information whether the information processing terminal of the receiver and the sender are contained key information transmitted from the transmission source of the information processing terminal when it is communicatively connected to the receiver It determines, when the key information is included, and transmits the main information of the program which the relevant additional information related to both to the source of the information processing terminal,
The additional information transfer method in which the information processing terminal of the transmission source transmits both the additional information transmitted from the receiver and the main information of the program associated with the additional information to the information processing terminal of the transmission destination via the communication network. In the additional information transfer method according to claim 1 ,
When the header part and the data part is present in the additional information, as the key information, the information contained in the header portion of the additional information, and set the end information processing terminal of said source, before Symbol sender information processing terminal The additional information transfer method of transmitting additional information including a header part from the receiver to the information processing terminal of the transmission source. In the additional information transfer method according to claim 1 ,
The additional information transfer method in which the receiver also receives additional information of a program other than the program being received and transmits the additional information to the information processing terminal of the transmission source.

Images