JP6545875B2 - Broadcast receiver, receiving method, transmission method - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to a broadcast receiving apparatus, a receiving method, and a transmission method.

In recent years, development of a system aiming at integration of broadcasting by radio waves (broadcasting signals) and communication using the Internet etc. is in progress, and attempts are being made to provide more advanced broadcast communication services. One such system is, for example, Hybridcast (registered trademark).
And if this system is used, it is possible to utilize and implement both the nature of broadcasting such as broadcast and the nature of individual correspondence etc. of communication on one content. For example, instead of the conventional data broadcasting intended to transmit digital data, program related additional information linked to broadcast program contents and application information are transmitted via the Internet and synthesized on the broadcast screen, A new form of broadcasting is being realized in which services on the Internet such as Social Networking Service are linked.

  By the way, in data distribution using broadcast signals, even if the number of broadcast receiving devices increases, there is no effect on the data transmission side, but in data distribution using communications such as the Internet, data increases as the number of broadcast receiving devices increases. There is a need to increase the delivery server's capabilities. In particular, when providing information in conjunction with a broadcast, there is a problem that access to the data distribution server is concentrated from the broadcast receiving apparatus receiving the same program at the same time as the start of the program and congestion occurs in the network. In such a system, measures to avoid access concentration are important.

  Therefore, in order to avoid the problem of access concentration as described above, information of a plurality of servers to be connected is transmitted by a broadcast signal, and the broadcast receiving apparatus side selects one server to be connected, There is disclosed a technology which makes it possible to distribute servers to be connected.

JP, 2006-148563, A

  However, in the prior art, although concentration of access on one server can be avoided, the load on the network is not reduced so much because congestion does not change for the entire network at a specific time, causing congestion. Probability is high. In the prior art, it is necessary to prepare a number of servers capable of coping with the number of accesses that occur simultaneously at the same time when data acquisition requests occur simultaneously, such as at the time of program switching.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is possible to significantly reduce the number of data acquisition requests to be processed at the same time, and it is possible to reduce the processing capability of the server and the reception It aims at providing a method and a transmission method.

The broadcast receiving apparatus according to the embodiment includes a tuner unit that receives a broadcast signal, a network interface, and a display unit. Here, an application can be acquired from a server on a network via the network interface, and the application is displayed on the display unit in conjunction with a broadcast program.
The application is described in HTML, and the application information indicating an acquisition destination URI of the application is included in the broadcast signal. When the application is automatically started, the application information of the application to be executed next is transmitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a signal processing system of a digital television broadcast receiver according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic view exemplarily showing the processing operation in the application downloader. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing operation in the application downloader. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a notebook PC according to a modification.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a signal processing system of a digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 11 according to the embodiment. The digital television broadcast receiver 11 (referred to as a digital television 11) not only performs video display based on a video signal for normal planar (two-dimensional) display, but also stereoscopic (three-dimensional) display It is also possible to perform video display based on the video signal for video.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the digital television 11, which is a broadcast receiving apparatus, supplies the digital television broadcast signal received by the antenna 12 to the tuner unit 14 through the input terminal 13 to broadcast the desired channel. It is possible to tune to a signal.

  The digital television 11 supplies the broadcast signal selected by the tuner unit 14 to the demodulation unit 15 to demodulate it, and the descrambler unit 16 decodes the signal as necessary, and then the demultiplexing unit 17 receives the signal. Output. The separation (Demux) unit 17 separates the broadcast signal output from the descrambler unit 16 for each type, and outputs the separated video signal and audio signal to the video / audio decoder 18.

  The video / audio decoder 18 decodes the separated video signal and audio signal, outputs the video signal to the synthesis processing unit 19, and outputs the audio signal to the audio processing unit 20.

  Among these components, the combining processing unit 19 superimposes video data or image data input via the browser 21 described later on a video signal supplied from the video / audio decoder 18 and outputs the resultant signal.

  The digital television 11 supplies the video signal output from the combining processor 19 to the video processor 22. The video processing unit 22 converts the input video signal into an analog video signal of a format that can be displayed by a flat-type video display unit 23 having, for example, a liquid crystal display panel at a later stage. The digital television 11 supplies the analog video signal output from the video processing unit 22 to the video display unit 23 and provides it for video display.

  The audio processing unit 20 converts the input audio signal into an analog audio signal of a format that can be reproduced by the speaker 24 at the subsequent stage. Then, the analog audio signal output from the audio processing unit 20 is supplied to the speaker 24 to be provided for audio reproduction.

  Further, in addition to the video signal and the audio signal, the broadcast signal includes program related information (SI / PSI) such as media information and program information. The program related information (SI / PSI) is separated by the separation (Demux) unit 17, interpreted by the SI / PSI acquisition unit 25, and stored in a RAM (Random Access Memory) 26.

  Furthermore, application information related to an application executed by the digital television 11 is superimposed on the broadcast signal. The application information is separated by the demux unit 17 and output to the application downloader 27. That is, the demodulation unit 15 and the separation (Demux) unit 17 function as information receiving means.

  The application downloader 27 functions as a download execution means, and downloads an application from the server 30 on the network 29 via the network interface 28 in accordance with the application information separated by the separation (Demux) unit 17. Record to Flash Memory 31.

  The application is described in, for example, HTML. As the application, for example, an application for displaying an L-shaped screen or an inverted U-shaped screen for displaying subtitle information on a broadcast screen at the time of a national election or a natural disaster (such as a typhoon, an earthquake, or a flood) Be In addition, as an application, not only information created by a broadcast station as in the previous example, but also an application that displays a list of information posted by general viewers on SNS (Social Networking Service) etc. related to a broadcast screen, for example It can be mentioned.

  The application recorded in the RAM 26 or the Flash Memory 31 is executed on the browser 21 according to the user's instruction or the activation condition described in the application information and superimposed on the video signal supplied from the video / audio decoder 18 as video data or image data. Ru.

  Here, the digital television 11 is provided with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 32 that centrally controls all the operations including the various reception operations described above. The CPU 32 configures the control unit 33 together with the Flash Memory 31 storing the control program executed by the RAM 26 and the CPU 32 described above.

  Further, the network interface 28 described above is connected to the control unit 33. The network interface 28 is connected to an external network 29 via an input / output terminal (not shown). A server 30 for providing various applications using the communication function via the network 29 is connected to the network 29. Therefore, the control unit 33 can access the server 30 via the network interface 28 and the network 29 to perform information communication, and can use the application provided there.

Next, a transmission method of application information by a broadcast signal will be described. The application information includes the following information. The present invention is not limited to this, and other information may be included.
-Application name: Name for identifying application-Icon: Image of icon representing application-Application acquisition means: Application acquisition destination (example: Internet etc.)
-Application location: Location of file to be acquired by URI-Application execution time: Scheduled time to execute application-Application end time: Scheduled time to terminate application-Application start condition: Automatic start or manual start

  The application execution time and the application end time may be expressed as the execution time and the duration because they can be mutually converted.

  Furthermore, although a flag indicating whether the application indicated by the application information can be currently executed can be provided to simplify the process, it is possible to use the above application execution time / application end time and the current time, It is not used in this embodiment.

  As a transmission method by the broadcast signal of the above application information, a method using an AIT table in a TS stream, AIT information is expressed using XML format (XML-AIT), and a carousel during broadcasting (DSM-CC: Digital Storage) There are a method of transmitting an XML-AIT file using Media-Command and Control (server-terminal control protocol) and a method of acquiring an XML-AIT file from the server 30 on the network 29. When expressing in the AIT table, the above information is expressed in the form of a descriptor.

  In the present embodiment, regardless of the above transmission method, transmission of application information is defined as follows. If there is an application to be executed at the current time, the application information is superimposed and transmitted on the broadcast signal, and if there is an application to be executed next, the application information is also continuously superimposed on the broadcast signal Transmit In the case where the possibility of simultaneous access to the server is high, the application is automatically started. Therefore, only when the application execution condition is the automatic start, the application information of the application to be executed next may be transmitted. . Transmission of application information by a broadcast signal is repeated at regular intervals.

  Next, an algorithm for the application downloader 27 to execute application download will be described. When the application downloader 27 receives the application information separated by the separation (Demux) unit 17, the application downloader 27 attempts to download the application from the server 30 on the network 29 via the network interface 28.

  Here, the application downloader 27 gives priority to the download of the application based on the application information corresponding to the application to be executed at the current time among the plurality of received application information, or the application information corresponding to the application to be executed next In accordance with the policy shown below, it is decided whether to prioritize downloading of applications based on.

(1) Immediately after power-on or after channel change Here, FIG. 2 is a schematic view exemplarily showing the processing operation in the application downloader 27. As shown in FIG. 2, the application information (AIT) separated by the separation (Demux) unit 17 includes application information corresponding to the application to be executed at the current time and application information corresponding to the application to be executed next. And are included. According to the example shown in FIG. 2, during execution of application A, application information a corresponding to application A to be executed at the current time and application information b corresponding to application B to be executed next are included. ing. Here, the application B to be executed next is an application related to a program that is the same channel as the program related to the application A and is broadcast following the program.

  As shown in FIG. 2, after the start of the digital television 11 or after the channel change, the application downloader 27 uses the application information (AIT) separated by the separation (Demux) unit 17 to the application information b and the application corresponding to the application B. Application information c corresponding to C is acquired.

  Next, the application downloader 27 extracts an application end time (t) from the application information b corresponding to the application B that is to be executed first in time. Then, the application downloader 27 obtains the remaining time t-n from the current time (n) to the application end time (t).

  When the remaining time t-n is longer than a predetermined download judgment reference time T (t-n> T) as shown in the example 1 of FIG. Download from the server 30.

  On the other hand, when the remaining time t-n is shorter than the predetermined download determination reference time T (t-n <T) as shown in the example 2 of FIG. Download from server 30 above.

  By this, even if the application is downloaded, if the application execution time is short and it is necessary to immediately start the download of the next application, cancel the download of the previous application and keep the number of downloads once. The load on the server 30 can be reduced.

(2) When the application reaches the application end time during viewing The application downloader 27 acquires the application start time of the application to be executed next to the application being executed at the current time from the application information, and predetermined from the application start time. Set a schedule to start downloading the next application earlier by the hour. Here, the predetermined time is determined in accordance with the uniform random number in the time from the predetermined maximum preparation time to the application end time.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent concentration of access from the digital television 11 to the server 30 simultaneously at the time when the application changes, such as the end of the viewing program.

  Subsequently, the processing operation of the application downloader 27 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the application downloader 27 determines whether the application information (AIT) separated by the separation (Demux) unit 17 has been acquired from the broadcast signal (step S1). In the case of the method of acquiring the XML-AIT file from the server 30 on the network 29, the application information is acquired from the server 30 at regular intervals.

  Hereinafter, the application to be executed earlier in time is referred to as application A, and the application to be executed thereafter is referred to as application B. In the present embodiment, as described above, the application information of the application to be currently executed and the application information of the application to be subsequently executed are continuously transmitted. In this case, the application to be currently executed is the application A. The application to be executed next is the application B. When there is no application to be executed currently, the application to be executed next is the application A.

  When the application downloader 27 determines that the application information (AIT) has been acquired (Yes in step S1), it determines whether the application information is newly acquired (step S2). For example, a flag may be set in association with each application information acquired at the time of stream reception, and the determination unit may be realized by clearing the flag for application information determined to be newly acquired in step S2. It is possible.

  If the application downloader 27 determines that the application information is newly acquired (Yes in step S2), it determines that the digital television 11 has just been turned on or has just changed the channel, and proceeds to step S3 and the application information When it is determined that is not newly acquired (No in step S2), the process proceeds to step S9.

  In step S3, the application downloader 27 acquires an application end time t from the application information a corresponding to the application A. After that, the application downloader 27 reduces the time (t−n) of the difference between the application end time t and the current time n from the predetermined download determination reference time T (for example, 60 seconds) (Yes in step S4). If the next application, ie, application B has not been downloaded or has not been reserved for downloading (No in step S5), application B is downloaded (step S6).

  Although the download method of the application downloads the page (including the image) pointed to by the URL designated in the application information, the cyclic download may be performed following the downloaded page. Although the download destination of the application is downloaded to the RAM 26, Flash Memory 31 or the like, the present invention is not limited to this. A method is also possible in which the URL is read directly by the browser 21 to hide until the execution time.

  In addition, the application downloader 27 determines whether the time (t−n) between the application end time t and the current time n is smaller than the predetermined download determination reference time (T: 60 seconds, for example) (step S4). If the download of the next application, that is, the application B is completed (Yes in step S5), the process ends.

  On the other hand, when the time (t−n) of the difference between the application end time t and the current time n is larger than the predetermined download determination reference time (T: 60 seconds, for example), the application downloader 27 (step If the current application, that is, the application A has not been downloaded or if the download is not reserved (No in step S7), the application A is downloaded (step S8).

  In addition, the application downloader 27 determines that the time (t−n) between the application end time t and the current time n is longer than the predetermined download determination reference time (T: 60 seconds, for example) (step S4). If the download of the current application, that is, the application A is completed (Yes in step S7), the process ends.

  On the other hand, when the application downloader 27 determines that the application information is not newly acquired (No in step S2), the application corresponding to the application information, that is, the application A executed earlier in time is the execution time at the current time It is determined whether or not there is (step S9).

  Specifically, the application downloader 27 determines that execution is possible if the current time is between the application execution time and the application end time included in the application information a corresponding to the application A.

  If the application downloader 27 determines that the application A is in the execution time at the current time (Yes in step S9) and the application A has not been downloaded (No in step S10), the application A is downloaded (No in step S10) Step S11) The application A is executed (step S12). Although omitted in the flowchart, when the application A is already being executed, it is not executed in duplicate.

  The application downloader 27 determines that the application A is in the execution time at the current time (Yes in step S9), and the application A has already been downloaded (Yes in step S10). Is executed (step S12).

  On the other hand, when the application downloader 27 determines that the application A is not in the execution time at the current time (No in step S9), and the application A has been downloaded (Yes in step S13) Finish.

  Further, the application downloader 27 determines that the application A is not in the execution time at the current time (No in step S9), and the application A has not been downloaded or has not been reserved for downloading ( In step S13, when the application reaches a scheduled application end time during viewing, downloading is performed early so that access is not concentrated on the server 30.

  That is, when the application A has not been downloaded (No in step S13), the application downloader 27 generates uniform random numbers in the [0, M] section, where M is a predetermined maximum preparation time. The application start time of the next application B is set to T '(step S15). Then, a schedule is reserved so as to start downloading at time T'-t '(step S16).

  If the transmission interval of the application information is sufficiently long, it is also possible to determine the download timing by further taking into account the delay time (but shorter than the application transmission interval) with uniform random numbers.

  In the present embodiment, it is determined whether the application information separated from the broadcast signal by the separation (Demux) unit 17 is newly acquired or not when the power is turned on or when the viewer changes the channel (Step S2), when the broadcast screen is not displayed, or when the digital television 11 has a plurality of tuner units 14, using an unused tuner unit 14 to set a preset channel (viewable channel etc.) Perform tuning and download the application according to the algorithm of FIG.

  As a result, there is no need to download the application at the time of power on or channel change, so that the application can be launched quickly. Also, instead of tuning to a channel (viewable channel etc.) set in advance for the purpose of downloading the application, in the case of terrestrial digital broadcasting, it is cyclically performed to obtain program information described in EIT (Event Information Table). Since the tuning is performed, the application may be downloaded simultaneously with the acquisition of program information from such an EIT.

  As described above, according to the broadcast receiving apparatus of the embodiment, before the broadcast of the program that is not broadcast at the current time, the broadcast is performed from the server 30 according to the start time included in the application information related to the application corresponding to the program before the broadcast. Since the download of the application corresponding to the previous program is executed, the application of the program before broadcasting can be obtained in advance, so the access times from the broadcast receiving apparatus to the server 30 are shifted and distributed. Since it becomes possible, the number of requests to be processed simultaneously can be significantly reduced compared to the prior art, and the processing capacity of the server 30 can be reduced.

  Further, according to the broadcast receiving apparatus of the embodiment, since the access to the server 30 is performed using the timing at which the viewer switches the channel, the acquisition time can be randomized.

  Further, according to the broadcast receiving apparatus of the embodiment, even when the same channel is viewed continuously, the acquisition time can be dispersed by randomly acquiring within a certain range of time before the end of the program.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 11 as the broadcast receiving apparatus has been described. However, for example, the broadcast receiving apparatus may be applied to an HDD recorder, a tuner, a set top box, etc. it can.

  Also, a notebook type portable computer (hereinafter referred to as a notebook PC) can be applied as the broadcast receiving apparatus.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the notebook PC 100. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the notebook PC 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101 that performs information processing, a read only memory (ROM) 102 that is a read only memory that stores BIOS and the like, and a RAM that rewritably stores various data. (Random Access Memory) 103, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 104 that functions as various databases and stores various programs, stores information using the storage medium 110, distributes information to the outside, and obtains information from the outside Media drive device 105 such as a DVD drive, a communication control device 106 for transmitting information by communication with another external computer via the network 29, an LCD (Liquid Crystal for displaying processing progress, results, etc. to the user) Display, etc., and the user inputs instructions, information, etc. to the CPU 101. An input device 108 such as a keyboard or pointing device for receiving information, a broadcast receiving unit 111 for receiving video content (TV program) broadcasted from a selected broadcasting station via an antenna or cable (not shown), an IPTV server ( (Not shown), which is an interface for connecting the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) connection unit 112 and the audio output unit 113 which are broadcast receiving means, and the bus controller 109 transmits and receives data transmitted between these units. Act to arbitrate.

  In such a notebook PC 100, when the user turns on the power, the CPU 101 starts a program called a loader in the ROM 102, and loads a program for managing computer hardware and software called OS (Operating System) from the HDD 104 into the RAM 103. Start the OS. Such an OS activates a program, reads information, or saves information according to a user operation. Windows (registered trademark) or the like is known as a representative of the OS. An operation program running on these OSs is called application software. The application software is not limited to one that operates on a predetermined OS, but may be one that causes the OS to take over execution of some of the various processes described later, and constitutes predetermined application software, an OS, etc. It may be included as part of a group of program files.

  Here, the notebook PC 100 stores a broadcast receiving program in the HDD 104 as application software. In this sense, the HDD 104 functions as a storage medium for storing the broadcast reception program.

  In general, application software installed in the HDD 104 of the notebook PC 100 stores various optical disks such as DVD, various magneto-optical disks, various magnetic disks such as flexible disks, media of various methods such as semiconductor memory, etc. The operation program recorded on the medium 110 and recorded on the storage medium 110 is installed on the HDD 104. Therefore, a portable storage medium 110 such as an optical information recording medium such as a DVD or a magnetic medium such as an FD can also be a storage medium for storing application software. Furthermore, the application software may be fetched from the external network 29 via, for example, the communication control device 106 and installed in the HDD 104.

  The broadcast receiving program to be executed by the notebook PC 100 includes the above-described units (the demodulator 15, the descrambler 16, the demultiplexer (Demux) 17, the video / audio decoder 18, the synthesizer 19, the audio processor 20, the browser 21, and the like). It has a module configuration including a video processing unit 22, an SI / PSI acquisition unit 25, and an application downloader 27). As actual hardware, the CPU 101 reads out a program from the storage medium and executes the program on the RAM 103. , And the demodulator 15, the descrambler 16, the demultiplexer (Demux) 17, the video / audio decoder 18, the synthesis processor 19, the audio processor 20, the browser 21, the video processor 22, the SI / PSI acquisition unit 25. The application downloader 27 is configured to be generated on the RAM 103.

  While certain embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and the gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

11, 100 broadcast receiver 15, 17 information reception means 27 download execution means 29 network 30 server

Claims (3)

In a broadcast receiving apparatus capable of receiving a broadcast signal,
The broadcast receiving apparatus includes a tuner unit, a network interface, and a display unit.
The broadcast signal is supplied to the tuner unit,
It is possible to obtain an application from a server on a network via the network interface,
The application is displayed on the display unit in conjunction with a broadcast program,
Application information specifying the application is included in the broadcast signal,
The application is written in HTML,
The application destination URI is included in the application information,
A broadcast receiving apparatus to which the application information of an application to be executed next is transmitted when the application is automatically activated. In a receiving method for receiving and displaying a broadcast signal,
Application information is included in the broadcast signal,
The application specified by the application information is displayed in conjunction with the broadcast program,
The application is obtained from a server on the network,
The application is written in HTML,
The application destination URI is included in the application information,
A receiving method by which the application information of an application to be executed next is transmitted when the application is automatically started. In a method of transmitting a broadcast signal including application information,
The application specified by the application information is displayed in conjunction with the broadcast program,
The application is obtained from a server on the network,
The application is written in HTML,
The application destination URI is included in the application information,
When the application is an automatic start, the transmission method by which the application information of the application to be executed next is transmitted.

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