JP4656197B2 - Reservation device, reservation information setting method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a reservation apparatus, and more particularly, to a reservation apparatus that records program reservation information on a portable recording medium, a processing method in the apparatus, and a program that causes a computer to execute the method.

  Conventionally, in order to make a reservation recording of a program such as a television broadcast, a reservation input is performed using a remote controller attached to the recording device. In recent years, a technique related to remote operation using a communication network has been proposed in order to perform reservation input from an outside location. For example, a technique is disclosed in which a recording reservation is executed via a telephone line by connecting to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus via a telephone line and pressing an operation button of the telephone in accordance with voice guidance (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ). Also, a technique is disclosed in which a video recording reservation device that provides program information is provided, and recording reservation is made from the video recording reservation device to the video terminal in response to a request from a portable terminal or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 2). .)

On the other hand, as a medium for recording the contents of a program, not only a magnetic recording medium such as a video tape but also a semiconductor recording medium is used as a portable recording medium (see, for example, Patent Document 3). ).
JP 2000-004434 A (FIG. 2) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-0667488 (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-022275 (FIG. 1)

  In the above-described prior art, a communication means for performing remote control is required in order to perform reservation input on the go. In addition, it takes time and effort to respond to voice guidance and to provide a video recording reservation device in advance. On the other hand, assuming that recording is performed on the portable recording medium itself, it is convenient to hold the reservation information together on the portable recording medium. In particular, in order to be easily edited at each terminal, it is desirable to retain reservation information in a standard file format.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and program reservation information is input in a place where the recording apparatus cannot be used, and then the reservation information input is immediately reflected on the recording apparatus. The purpose is to improve the convenience when making it happen.

  In order to solve the above problems, the reservation apparatus of the present invention includes a capacity means for reading out the total storage capacity and the used capacity from the portable recording medium, and the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium from the total storage capacity and the used capacity. Available from the remaining capacity and the required capacity, the required information calculating means for calculating the required capacity from the reservation information, the reservation information input means for prompting the input of the reservation information and receiving the reservation information A bit rate calculating means for calculating a correct bit rate, a reservation mode presenting means for presenting a reservation mode from the bit rate calculated by the bit rate calculating means, and if there is an input for correcting the reservation mode, Means for adding the reservation mode to the reservation information; and writing means for writing the reservation information to the portable recording medium. As a result, the reservation mode corresponding to the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium is presented as an omitted value.

  In another reservation apparatus of the present invention, the writing means writes the reservation information as a reservation information file in a predetermined format on the portable recording medium. This brings about the effect of facilitating the editing of the reservation information file in each device.

  In another reservation apparatus of the present invention, the reservation information file of the predetermined format is described in XML language. This brings about the effect | action that the information exchange between each apparatus is made easy.

  In another reservation apparatus of the present invention, the reservation mode presenting means presents a reservation mode having the highest bit rate with the bit rate calculated by the bit rate calculating means as an upper limit. As a result, the reservation mode is presented as a default value so that the image quality is as good as possible within the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium.

  In the reservation apparatus of the present invention, the reservation information input means includes priority information in the reservation information. This brings about the effect of displaying that the reservation information should be handled preferentially.

  In the reservation apparatus of the present invention, the reservation information input means includes an immediate instruction in the reservation information. As a result, after the portable recording medium is mounted, an effect that the recording operation should be started promptly is displayed.

  Also, the reservation information setting method of the present invention is a reservation information setting method in a reservation device for writing program reservation information as a predetermined reservation information file on a portable recording medium, from the portable recording medium to the total storage capacity and used capacity. , A procedure for calculating the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium from the total storage capacity and the used capacity, a procedure for prompting input of reservation information and receiving the reservation information, and a procedure based on the reservation information. A procedure for calculating capacity, a procedure for calculating a usable bit rate from the remaining capacity and the required capacity, a procedure for presenting a reservation mode from the bit rate calculated by the bit rate calculation means, and the reservation mode If there is an amendment input, the amendment is made accordingly and the reservation mode is added to the reservation information, and the reservation information is written to the portable recording medium. ; And a non-procedural. As a result, the reservation mode corresponding to the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium is presented as an omitted value.

  In addition, about said method, the program for performing each procedure is also contained in this invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the convenience of inputting reservation information of a program in a place where the recording apparatus cannot be used, and then promptly reflecting the reservation information input to the recording apparatus. An excellent effect of being able to do so can be achieved.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, in the reservation recording system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the reservation information is obtained by mounting a portable recording medium 200 in which reservation information is recorded in advance to the digital broadcast receiver 100 at home 10. Reflected. The digital broadcast receiver 100 is an example of a recording device, and may be a tuner built-in type computer or the like.

  Various devices for inputting reservation information to the portable recording medium 200 can be considered. For example, a desktop computer 300, a notebook computer 400, a personal digital assistant (PDA) 500, and the like are conceivable. These devices may be installed at any location, for example, indoors in the place 40 or outside a moving room. In addition, when the digital broadcast receiver 100 in the home 10 is in use and the reservation input cannot be performed, a mode in which the reservation input is performed by a computer in the home 10 is also conceivable.

  Each device of the digital broadcast receiver 100, the desktop computer 300, the notebook computer 400, and the portable information terminal 500 has card slot units 190, 390, 490, and 590 in which the portable recording medium 200 is mounted, respectively. Have. Each device is loaded with the portable recording medium 200 in these card slot portions, and reads / writes data from / to the portable recording medium 200.

  As a result, the user can make a reservation input for a program regardless of the place at his / her convenience. In the embodiment of the present invention, as described below, the reservation information stored in the portable recording medium 200 is set in a standard file format to facilitate editing in each device. In addition, while updating the reservation information so that the latest reservation information is reflected in the digital broadcast receiver 100, a means for forcibly reflecting the reservation information regardless of the update time is provided.

  This portable recording medium 200 can record not only the reservation information but also the contents of the program. The portable recording medium 200 recorded in the digital broadcast receiver 100 can be played back as it is in the digital broadcast receiver 100, and can also be played back in other digital broadcast receivers. Furthermore, in each device such as the desktop computer 300, the notebook computer 400, and the portable information terminal 500, the content recorded on the portable recording medium 200 can be played back by providing a playback application. it can.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the digital broadcast receiver 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 110, a memory unit 120, a flash unit 129, a tuner 131, an external input unit 132, and a network input / output unit 133. A demodulator 134, a demultiplexer 140, an audio decoder 141, an image decoder 142, a switch unit 150, a digital-analog (D / A) converter 160, an audio output unit 161, and an image output. Unit 162, multiplexer 170, audio encoding unit 171, image encoding unit 172, bus 180, and card slot unit 190. In addition, an antenna 109, a speaker 101, and a display 102 are connected as external devices.

  The control unit 110 controls the overall operation of the digital broadcast receiver 100. This control part 110 is comprised by CPU, for example. The memory unit 120 corresponds to the main memory of the control unit 110, and stores a reservation management table and the like that manage programs operating on the control unit 110 and program reservation information. The flash unit 129 is a nonvolatile recording medium, and is used to hold information that is needed again after the digital broadcast receiver 100 is turned off. Therefore, the contents of the flash unit 129 are transferred to the memory unit 120 when the digital broadcast receiver 100 is turned on.

  The tuner 131 detects a signal of a predetermined channel from the broadcast signal supplied from the antenna 109 under the control of the control unit 110 and supplies the detected signal to the demodulation unit 134. The broadcast signal may be a terrestrial wave, or a satellite signal by a broadcasting satellite (BS) broadcasting or a communication satellite (CS) broadcasting. The demodulator 134 demodulates the broadcast signal from the tuner 131 under the control of the controller 110, extracts the data, and supplies the data to the demultiplexer 140. In the case of digital broadcasting, for example, digital modulation is performed by phase modulation (PSK) or the like, and the demodulator 134 extracts data from the digitally modulated signal.

  The external input unit 132 connects an input from the outside of the digital broadcast receiver 100. The external input signal may be an analog signal or a digital signal. In the case of an analog signal, the external input unit 132 supplies audio data to the audio output unit 161 and image data to the image output unit 162 under the control of the control unit 110. These audio data and image data are simultaneously supplied to the switch unit 150. In the case of a digital signal, the external input unit 132 supplies the digital signal to the demodulation unit 134 under the control of the control unit 110.

  The network input / output unit 133 connects the digital broadcast receiver 100 and an external network, and performs communication processing using a protocol such as TCP / IP under the control of the control unit 110 to extract data. Supply to demultiplexer 140.

  The demultiplexer 140 separates the data from the demodulating unit 134 or the network input / output unit 133 into audio data and image data, and supplies them to the audio decoding unit 141 and the image decoding unit 142, respectively. The demultiplexer 140 functions as a digital data transport decoder, for example, and separates an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 2 transport stream into an audio stream as audio data and an image stream as image data. The demultiplexer 140 can also receive data from the memory unit 120 via the bus 180.

  The audio decoding unit 141 and the image decoding unit 142 decode the audio data and the image data supplied from the demultiplexer 140, respectively, and supply the decoded data to the switch unit 150. For example, an MPEG-encoded audio stream and image stream are MPEG-decoded into audio and image signals. The image decoding unit 142 can further convert the decoded image signal into, for example, the NTSC (National Television System Committee) system. In this case, the image decoding unit 142 is connected to the image output unit 162 via the switch unit 150 and connected to the NTSC system. The signal is displayed on the display 102.

  The switch unit 150 converts the data supplied from the external input unit 132 or the audio decoding unit 141 and the image decoding unit 142 into a D / A conversion unit 160, an audio output unit 161, and an image output unit 162 under the control of the control unit 110, or And output to the audio encoding unit 171 and the image encoding unit 172. For example, when outputting to the speaker 101 and the display 102, the digital signal is directly output to the audio output unit 161 and the image output unit 162 via the D / A conversion unit 160, and is analog signal. On the other hand, when it is necessary to convert to MPEG, the data is output to the audio encoding unit 171 and the image encoding unit 172. In this case, the data encoded by the audio encoding unit 171 and the image encoding unit 172 are multiplexed by the multiplexer 170 to form, for example, an MPEG2 transport stream.

  The card slot unit 190 is loaded with a portable recording medium 200, and reads and writes data from and to the portable recording medium 200 under the control of the control unit 110. For example, the data generated by the multiplexer 170 is recorded on the portable recording medium 200 attached to the card slot 190 via the bus 180. The card slot 190 is provided, for example, on the front side of the digital broadcast receiver 100, and is provided for the convenience of attaching and detaching the portable recording medium 200.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration in the embodiment of the present invention. The reservation information file 201 is a file that holds reservation information recorded on the portable recording medium 200, and is read by the reading unit 191 of the card slot unit 190 in the digital broadcast receiver 100. The reservation management table 121 is a table used for managing reservation information in the digital broadcast receiver 100, and is held in the memory unit 120.

  The update time comparison unit 111 compares the reservation information file 201 and the reservation management table 121 at the time of update, and outputs which content is new. The priority detection unit 112 detects the priority information held in the reservation information file 201, and outputs whether the reservation information has the highest priority or the normal one. The update control unit 113 controls whether to update the reservation management table 121 according to the contents of the reservation information file 201. If the contents of the reservation information file 201 are newer than the reservation management table 121, the reservation management table 121 is controlled to be updated with the contents of the reservation information file 201. Further, if the priority information of the reservation information file 201 indicates the highest priority, the reservation management is performed according to the contents of the reservation information file 201 regardless of whether or not the contents of the reservation information file 201 are newer than the reservation management table 121. Control to update the table 121.

  The immediate detection unit 114 detects the reservation date information stored in the reservation information file 201 and outputs whether the reserved date is “immediate”. As will be described later, this “immediate execution” is reserved to start a recording operation after a predetermined time has elapsed since the portable recording medium 200 was loaded.

  When the priority information of the reservation information file 201 of the portable recording medium 200 attached to the card slot unit 190 indicates the highest priority or the reservation date / time information indicates immediate execution, the removal warning unit 115 When the portable recording medium 200 is about to be removed, a warning is generated. When the portable recording medium 200 is removed, a control signal to that effect is supplied from the card slot 190 to the removal warning unit 115. When the above conditions are satisfied, the removal warning unit 115 is displayed on the display 102 or the like. A warning is shown to the speaker 101 or the like. If the priority information indicates the highest priority or the reservation date / time information indicates immediate execution, it is assumed that the recording is intended to be performed on the portable recording medium 200 itself. A warning is generated to prevent the removal. However, since the user notices that after mounting a different portable recording medium 200 against his / her intention and may try to replace it with another portable recording medium 200, the user may remove it without following the warning. It is also permissible. Note that the content of the warning may be to confirm the intention to remove or to confirm whether or not to cancel the reservation information reflected in the reservation management table 121.

  Note that the processes of the update comparison unit 111, the priority detection unit 112, the update control unit 113, the immediate detection unit 114, and the removal warning unit 115 can be realized by the control unit 110 in the digital broadcast receiver 100. .

  FIG. 4 visually shows reservation information for a certain week as an example of logical contents of the reservation management table 121. The reservation information 1211 holds reservation contents at each date and time. For example, it is shown that a reservation is made from 12:00 to 14:00 on Monday the 13th. The reservation information also holds information other than the reservation date and time, and includes, for example, information such as a reserved channel and recorded image quality. This reservation information is managed for each date and time. When the date and time are overlapped when updated according to the contents of the reservation information file 201, the old reservation information is overwritten with the new reservation information.

  The last update time 1212 is managed separately from the update time accompanying the file. This is because, for example, a situation in which a file update time is rewritten when transferred between the memory unit 120 and the flash unit 129 is taken into consideration.

  The contents of the reservation management table 121 can be browsed by an application in the digital broadcast receiver 100. Although the present invention assumes that reservation information is input by another device, it goes without saying that the reservation information can be changed by an attached remote controller or the like as before.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the logical structure of the portable recording medium 200. In the embodiment of the present invention, various file formats adopted in the general-purpose operating system can be adopted as the file management system so that the reservation information file 201 can be easily edited in various devices. As an example of a general file management system, a file management system provided with a boot record 210, a file allocation table 220, a directory 230, and a data area 240 will be described.

  The boot record 210 describes general information related to a boot program for starting the system and the portable recording medium 200. As one of the information, the total storage capacity 211 that can be recorded on the portable recording medium 200 is included. By referring to the total storage capacity 211, the maximum recordable capacity on the portable recording medium 200 can be known.

  The data area 240 is divided into clusters of a predetermined size, the relationship between the clusters is managed by the file allocation table 220, and the relationship between the file name and the cluster is managed by the directory 230. For example, the file allocation table 220 holds the next cluster number corresponding to each cluster in the data area 240. The directory 230 holds a file name, a leading cluster number, an update date and time, etc. for each file. Further, the directory 230 holds the total capacity of used files as a used capacity 231. By referring to the used capacity 231, the capacity used in the portable recording medium 200 can be known, so that the remaining capacity can be calculated by subtracting this from the total storage capacity 211 described above. .

  In the file management system thus provided, it is desirable that the reservation information file 201 is given a predetermined file name in a predetermined hierarchy (for example, called a directory or a folder). Thereby, the reservation information file 201 can be easily acquired from the portable recording medium 200 in each device.

  As the portable recording medium 200, for example, a semiconductor recording medium such as a Memory Stick (registered trademark) can be used.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the types of reservation information in the embodiment of the present invention. The reservation information includes, for example, a reservation channel, a reservation date and time, a reservation mode, and a reservation information file update time. As a reserved channel designation method, there are a method of explicitly designating a channel number (channel designation) and a method of designating a channel being viewed as a reserved channel (viewing channel). When a viewing channel is designated when a multi-screen is displayed, it is conceivable that the main screen is regarded as a viewing channel and is set as a reserved channel.

  As a method for specifying the reservation date and time, a method for specifying a predetermined time every hour (every hour), a method for specifying a predetermined time every week on a predetermined day (weekly), a method for specifying a predetermined time on a predetermined date every month (monthly), a specific method There are methods for specifying the start time and the end time. Also, a method (immediate execution) of designating relative time from when the portable recording medium 200 is mounted in the card slot unit 190 without designating the reservation date and time absolutely can be considered. If 0 minutes later is specified when this immediate operation is selected, recording can be started immediately after the portable recording medium 200 is mounted.

  The reservation mode designates the bit rate of encoding, and the higher the bit rate, the higher the image quality can be recorded. For example, the encoding bit rate is defined as 4M [bits / second (bps)] in the high image quality mode, 1M [bits / second] in the medium image quality mode, and 600K [bits / second] in the low image quality mode. Can do.

  When the reservation information file is updated, the update time and priority are recorded. The update is an actual update of the reservation information file 201, and information on the system calendar of the device used for input is used. Therefore, it is not information specified by the user at the time of updating. On the other hand, the priority is specified by the user, and it can be specified that the reservation information in the reservation information file 201 should have priority over any reservation information in the reservation management table 121 (highest priority). In the normal case, the update control unit 113 (FIG. 3) reflects the contents of the reservation information file 201 in the reservation management table 121 only when the update time of the reservation information file 201 is newer than when the reservation management table 121 is updated. When the priority indicates that it is the highest priority, the update control unit 113 reflects the contents of the reservation information file 201 in the reservation management table 121 regardless of superiority or inferiority at the time of update.

  In the case where the reservation date and time described here is immediate or the priority is the highest priority, it is assumed that recording is performed on the portable recording medium 200 in which the reservation information is recorded. Therefore, as described above, the removal warning unit 115 generates a warning if the mounted portable recording medium 200 is to be removed when these designations are made.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a screen for the user to input reservation information. For each entry field, clicking on the button on the left opens a pop-up window for selection. For a reserved channel, when “channel designation” is selected in the designation method selection column 610, the channel designation column 611 becomes valid. An arbitrary channel can be designated by this channel designation column 611. Regarding the reservation date and time, when “start time” is selected in the designation method selection field 620, the time designation fields 621 to 625 become valid. Arbitrary start times can be designated by these time designation columns 621 to 625. For the reservation mode, the image quality can be designated in the mode selection field 630. In this example, “medium image quality” is designated. As for the priority, the priority can be specified in the priority selection column 640. In this example, “normal” is designated.

  Here, when selecting the reservation mode, the user may want some standard. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the default value of the reservation mode is presented on the program reservation menu so that the user can correct it, and the default value is adopted when the user confirms the content as it is. . As a default value setting method, it is possible to always recommend any of the harmful properties, but here, a method of recommending a higher image quality within a range allowed by the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium 200 will be described.

When the encoding bit rate is X [bits / second], the scheduled recording time is Y [seconds], and the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium 200 is Z [bits],
Z ≧ X × Y
By selecting and presenting the largest X within the range where the above holds, it is possible to recommend a higher image quality within the range allowed by the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium 200. Here, the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium 200 is obtained by subtracting the used capacity 231 (FIG. 5) in the directory 230 of the portable recording medium 200 from the total storage capacity 211 (FIG. 5) in the boot record 210 of the portable recording medium 200. It is possible to obtain as a value.

For example, if the encoding bit rate X is defined as 4M [bit / second] in the high image quality mode, 1M [bit / second] in the medium image quality mode, and 600K [bit / second] in the low image quality mode, the recording schedule When the time Y is 1 hour (= 3600 seconds), the required capacity in each mode is as follows.
High image quality mode: 4M x 3600 [bits] = 1800M [bytes]
Medium quality mode: 1M x 3600 [bits] = 450M [bytes]
Low image quality mode: 600K x 3600 [bits] ≈ 264M [bytes]

  Therefore, for example, the 512 M [byte] portable recording medium 200 immediately after purchase can be recorded in either the medium image quality mode or the low image quality mode. Therefore, the medium image quality mode is presented as a default value on the program reservation menu.

  Depending on the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium 200, there may be a case where it is not possible to completely record the scheduled recording time in any mode. In this case, after presenting the low image quality mode, a message indicating that recording is not possible can be displayed, and the user may be prompted to cancel the reservation input or to be replaced with a medium with a large remaining capacity. Conceivable.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the reservation information file 201 generated by the reservation input example of FIG. Here, an example using the XML (extensible Markup Language) language is shown as a standard file format, but this is often done by other international standardized languages such as the HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) language and the BML (Broadcast Markup Language) language. Alternatively, a non-standardized language based on rules agreed between specific devices may be used.

  The first line is a declaration statement indicating that the file is in the XML language. The second line is a tag indicating that the part up to the last line is a reservation information file. In the third line, the reserved channel is described by “channel designation”. The fourth line is a tag indicating that the portion up to the sixth line is a description related to the reservation date and time. Regarding this reservation date and time, the start time is described in the fifth line. The seventh line describes that the reservation mode is “medium image quality”. The eighth line describes the update time. The ninth line describes that the priority is “normal”.

  FIG. 9 shows another screen example in which the user inputs reservation information. In this example, for the reserved channel, “viewing channel” is selected in the designation method selection column 610, and the channel designation column 611 is not displayed. For the reservation date and time, “immediate” is selected in the designation method selection column 620, and the time designation column 626 is valid. For the reservation mode, “high quality” is designated in the mode selection field 630. As for the priority, “highest priority” is designated in the priority selection column 640.

  Next, the operation of the timer recording system in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a procedure for inputting reservation information in each device such as the desktop computer 300, the notebook computer 400, and the portable information terminal 500. The user performs input according to the following procedure in accordance with the program reservation menu shown in FIGS. First, as a reserved channel designation method, it is selected whether channel designation is performed or the channel is being viewed (step S801). In the case of channel designation, a more specific channel is designated. Next, which designation method is used as the reservation date and time is selected (step S802). In the program reservation menu, the user is prompted to specify the date and time according to the specification method.

  Next, the remaining capacity of the loaded portable recording medium 200 is calculated (step S803). That is, as described above, the portable recording medium is obtained by subtracting the used capacity 231 (FIG. 5) in the directory 230 of the portable recording medium 200 from the total storage capacity 211 (FIG. 5) in the boot record 210 of the portable recording medium 200. Calculated as the remaining capacity of the medium 200.

  On the other hand, the required capacity corresponding to the reservation date and time is calculated for each reservation mode (step S804). That is, as described above, the required capacity is calculated by the product of the encoding bit rate and the scheduled recording time in each reservation mode.

  Then, the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium 200 calculated in this way is compared with the necessary capacity in each reservation mode, and the encoding bit rate that is the maximum within the range within the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium 200 is selected. (Step S805), the corresponding reservation mode is presented as a default value (Step S806). The user can input the reservation mode by changing the default value (step S808), or can directly adopt the default value as the reservation mode (step S807).

  Further, when the priority is selected (step S809), the setting of reservation information input is completed (step S810). Finally, the set values are reflected in the reservation information file 201 on the portable recording medium 200, and the update time is recorded based on the system calendar (step S811).

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a procedure for updating the reservation management table 121 in the digital broadcast receiver 100. When the portable recording medium 200 is loaded in the card slot 190 (step S901), the reservation information file 201 in the portable recording medium 200 is searched (step S902). If the reservation information file 201 does not exist in the predetermined hierarchy of the portable recording medium 200, the reservation management table 121 is not updated (step S903). If the reservation information file 201 exists in the portable recording medium 200 (step S903), the language used in the reservation information file 201 is searched (step S904). This language can be checked by a file name, a tag at the beginning of the file, or the like. If the retrieved language is not a compatible language, the reservation management table 121 is not updated (step S905).

  If the searched language is a compatible language (step S905), the update time and the priority are searched as information when the reservation information file is updated (step S906). If the priority indicates the highest priority (step S907) or the update time of the reservation information file 201 is newer than the update time of the reservation management table 121 (step S908), a reservation is made according to the reservation information of the reservation information file 201. The management table 121 is updated (step S909). Conversely, if the priority does not indicate the highest priority (step S907) and the update time of the reservation information file 201 is older than the update time of the reservation management table 121 (step S908), the reservation management table 121 is updated. Not done.

  Thereafter, this update procedure is not executed until the portable recording medium 200 is removed (step S910). When the portable recording medium 200 is removed and the portable recording medium 200 is loaded again (step S901), the above update procedure is executed.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the reservation information of the program is input in each device such as the desktop computer 300, the notebook computer 400, and the portable information terminal 500, and the portable information is stored as the reservation information file 201. The reservation management table 121 of the digital broadcast receiver 100 can be updated as appropriate by writing in the recording medium 200 and mounting the portable recording medium 200 in the card slot 190 of the digital broadcast receiver 100.

  Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the latest reservation information is obtained by comparing the update time of the reservation information file 201 of the portable recording medium 200 with the update time of the reservation management table 121 of the digital broadcast receiver 100. In addition to being reflected in the reservation management table 121, the reflection in the reservation management table 121 can be controlled flexibly according to the priority of the reservation information.

  Furthermore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, since immediate execution can be designated as the reservation date and time of the reservation information, when a specific portable recording medium 200 is attached to the digital broadcast receiver 100, recording is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed. Can be started.

  In addition, the embodiment of the present invention is illustrated here, and the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  Further, the processing procedure described here may be regarded as a method having a series of these procedures, or may be regarded as a program for causing a computer to execute the series of procedures or a recording medium storing the program.

1 is a conceptual diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of a reservation recording system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the digital broadcast receiver 100 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structure in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the logical content of the reservation management table 121 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the logical structure of the portable recording medium 200 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the kind of reservation information in embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the screen for a user to input reservation information in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the reservation information file 201 produced | generated by the example of a reservation input of FIG. It is another example of the screen for a user to input reservation information in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the reservation information file 201 produced | generated by the example of a reservation input of FIG. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the reservation information input in each apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the update procedure of the reservation management table 121 by the digital broadcast receiver 100 in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Home 40 Whereabouts 100 Digital broadcast receiver 101 Speaker 102 Display 109 Antenna 110 Control part 111 Update comparison part 112 Priority detection part 113 Update control part 114 Immediate detection part 115 Removal warning part 120 Memory part 121 Reservation management table 129 Flash Unit 131 tuner 132 external input unit 133 network input / output unit 134 demodulating unit 140 demultiplexer 141 audio decoding unit 142 image decoding unit 150 switch unit 160 D / A conversion unit 161 audio output unit 162 image output unit 170 multiplexer 171 audio encoding unit 172 Image encoding unit 180 Bus 190 Card slot unit 200 Portable recording medium 201 Reservation information file 210 Boot record 220 File allocation table 230 Directory 240 data area 300 desktop computer 390 card slot 400 laptop 490 card slot 500 the portable information terminal 590 card slot

Claims (7)

A capacity reading unit for reading out the total storage capacity and the used capacity from the portable recording medium;
A remaining capacity calculating unit for calculating a remaining capacity of the portable recording medium from the total storage capacity and the used capacity;
A reservation information input unit that prompts for reservation information and receives the reservation information;
A required capacity calculating unit that calculates the required capacity from the reservation information;
A bit rate calculation unit that calculates an available bit rate from the remaining capacity and the required capacity;
A reservation mode presenting unit for presenting the bit rate calculated by the bit rate calculation unit most bit rate only high reservation mode as the default value as an upper limit,
A reservation mode addition unit for adding the reservation mode to the reservation information after correcting the reservation mode if there is a correction input of the reservation mode;
A reservation apparatus comprising: a writing unit that writes the reservation information to the portable recording medium. The reservation device according to claim 1, wherein the writing unit writes the reservation information as a reservation information file of a predetermined format in the portable recording medium. The reservation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the reservation information file in the predetermined format is described in an XML language. The reservation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reservation information input unit includes priority information in the reservation information. The reservation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reservation information input unit includes an immediate instruction in the reservation information. A reservation information setting method in a reservation device for writing program reservation information as a predetermined reservation information file on a portable recording medium,
A procedure for reading the total storage capacity and used capacity from a portable recording medium;
Calculating the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium from the total storage capacity and the used capacity;
Prompt for reservation information and receive the reservation information;
A procedure for calculating the required capacity from the reservation information;
Calculating a usable bit rate from the remaining capacity and the required capacity;
And instructions for presenting the calculated bit rate most bit rate only high reservation mode as the default value as an upper limit,
A procedure for adding the reservation mode to the reservation information after correcting the reservation mode if any,
A reservation information setting method comprising: writing the reservation information into the portable recording medium. A program for a reservation device that writes program reservation information into a portable recording medium as a predetermined reservation information file,
A procedure for reading the total storage capacity and used capacity from a portable recording medium;
Calculating the remaining capacity of the portable recording medium from the total storage capacity and the used capacity;
Prompt for reservation information and receive the reservation information;
A procedure for calculating the required capacity from the reservation information;
Calculating a usable bit rate from the remaining capacity and the required capacity;
And instructions for presenting the calculated bit rate most bit rate only high reservation mode as the default value as an upper limit,
A procedure for adding the reservation mode to the reservation information after correcting the reservation mode if any,
A program for causing a computer to execute a procedure for writing the reservation information to the portable recording medium.

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