JPH1013798A - Data broadcast method in television broadcast and data receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To acquire a data broadcast method in television broadcast in which a data user retrieves efficiently data and the data are acquired even when a data program itself is sent over a plurality of channels for a long unstable period. SOLUTION: Common high-order items are provided to a plurality of data programs to generate a hierarchical structure. Arrangement information to designate a broadcast channel and a broadcast time for broadcasting a data program relating to a program identifier to identify each data program, a program description including information denoting a hierarchical relation between the data program and the high-order items, and a node description including information denoting a hierarchical relation between the high-order items and the data program related to the identifier identifying the high-order items are multiplexed as additional information onto a data program and the resulting data are broadcast.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data broadcasting method in television broadcasting for multiplexing a normal television program and broadcasting a data program, and a data receiving apparatus for receiving a data broadcast broadcast by the data broadcasting method. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Broadcast contents of television and radio are regarded as programs, and are arranged by channel and in chronological order. For additional information describing the content and structure of the program,
Although there are some measures such as assigning genre codes and grouping programs of the same category, the principle is to use a table for each channel and in chronological order.
Textbook, supervised by Hiroshi Fujiwara, ASCII Corporation).

[0003] On the other hand, in a data broadcast in which a data program is broadcast by multiplexing the data program with a normal television program, the data to be broadcast is systematically organized, and a common heading is assigned to a plurality of related data. In some cases, a hierarchical structure is created such that a common upper heading is added to a plurality of headings, and information of this hierarchical structure is broadcast together with data. In conventional text multiplex broadcasting, information of a hierarchical structure is broadcast by a method in which each data is indexed and a plurality of indexes are indexed in common. Further, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent No. 2471 discloses a method of assigning an index to image data and assigning a common index to a plurality of indices to create a hierarchical structure for the final data being an image, We are trying to broadcast structure information. like this,
According to the data broadcasting method of transmitting information having a hierarchical structure, a data user can easily obtain necessary information by following a hierarchical structure by relying on a heading.

[0004]

In the conventional broadcasting method of multiplexing additional information related to a program into a program and transmitting the multiplexed information, the additional information mainly including the temporal arrangement of each program is transmitted as described above. Such information is effective for selecting a normal television program to be viewed, but when the program to be acquired is a data program, since the reference relation and hierarchical relation between the programs are unknown, data use is not possible. However, there is a problem that a user cannot efficiently search or selectively obtain a data program.

Further, the conventional data broadcasting method for transmitting information having a hierarchical structure is based on the premise that the same information is repeatedly transmitted on a fixed channel at a fixed short cycle, and the data itself is indexed, and the data is indexed. Since the hierarchical structure is expressed by using the index, in order for the receiving device to recognize the entire hierarchical structure, it is necessary to receive all of the final data. There is a problem that it cannot be enlarged, and there is a problem that it cannot be applied to data broadcasting in which final data is transmitted over a plurality of channels at a long irregular period.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. Even when a data program itself is transmitted over a plurality of channels at a long irregular period, a data user can obtain a data program. To provide a data broadcasting method in television broadcasting capable of efficiently searching for and acquiring data, and a data receiving apparatus capable of receiving data broadcasting broadcast by the data broadcasting method and easily performing data search and data acquisition. With the goal.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a data broadcasting method for television broadcasting according to the present invention (claim 1) is a television broadcasting method for multiplexing an ordinary television program and broadcasting the data program. In the data broadcasting method in the John Broadcasting, a hierarchical structure is created by providing a common upper item for a plurality of data programs, and a broadcast channel on which the data program is broadcast is associated with a program identifier for identifying each data program. A program description that includes arrangement information for specifying the broadcast time, and information indicating the hierarchical relationship between the data program and the upper item, and between the upper item and the data program associated with an identifier for identifying the upper item The node description including the information indicating the hierarchical relationship is multiplexed with the data program as additional information and broadcast.

Further, in the data broadcasting method for television broadcasting according to the present invention (claim 2), in the invention according to claim 1, a plurality of program descriptions and node descriptions are provided according to a distance in the hierarchical structure. And information indicating which group the program description and the node description belong to is multiplexed with a data program and broadcast.

Further, the data receiving apparatus according to the present invention (claim 3) creates a hierarchical structure by providing a common upper item for a plurality of data programs and associates the hierarchical structure with a program identifier for identifying each data program. And a program description including information indicating a broadcast channel on which the data program is to be broadcast and a broadcast time, and information indicating a hierarchical relationship between the data program and the upper item, and an identifier for identifying the upper item. Receiving a data broadcast broadcast by a data broadcasting method in television broadcasting in which a node description including information indicating a hierarchical relationship between the higher-order item and the data program is multiplexed as additional information into a data program and broadcast. In the data receiving device, based on the node description and the program description, an item selection menu for selecting one of a plurality of higher-level items is provided. A selection menu creation / display means for creating a screen or a program selection menu screen from which one of a plurality of data programs can be selected, and displaying the selection menu on the display screen; and a data program selected on the program selection menu screen And a data program receiving / displaying means for receiving from a broadcast based on the arrangement information associated with the data program and displaying the data program on a display screen.

[0010] In the data receiving apparatus according to the present invention (claim 4), in the invention according to claim 3, the selection menu creating / display means includes a plurality of program descriptions and node descriptions in the hierarchical structure. The menu is divided into a plurality of groups according to the distance, and a selection menu is created for each group.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining additional information on data (program) multiplexed with broadcast data (program) and broadcast in the data broadcast method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment, the data to be provided is arranged hierarchically based on the contents thereof, and information indicating the hierarchical structure and mutual relation is multiplexed and broadcast as additional information of the data program. FIG. 1 (a) shows this additional information, which is the contents of the position (node) in the middle of the hierarchical structure, the node description indicating the relationship between this node and other nodes, and the lowest node in the hierarchical structure. Of the actual data (programs) placed in the
And a program description indicating arrangement information of the data (program) on the broadcast. FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the node description. As shown in the figure, the node description includes a node Id for identifying the node, a node name, a node description,
A node description field describing keywords, reference destination information, etc., a parent node Id indicating the next higher node of the node, the number of child nodes Id indicating the number of nodes immediately below the node, and the number of child nodes Id. Contains a list. FIG. 1C is a diagram showing a specific structure of the program description. As shown in the figure, the program description includes a program Id for specifying data (program), a program name, a program description, a keyword, and a data type. , A program description column describing the data size, etc., a parent node Id indicating the next higher node of the program, and a broadcast program of data (program), and data program arrangement information indicating time information. As the time information, when the data program is to be broadcast at a fixed cycle, the starting point of the cycle, the cycle, and the offset time indicating how much the actual broadcast time is shifted from the starting point are described. Therefore, the receiving apparatus can know the expected value of how long the desired data can be obtained from the broadcast from the information of the “cycle” of the time information, even if the desired data is long. , The information on the "start point of the cycle", and the information on the "offset time", it is possible to accurately know the time at which the desired data can be obtained next from the broadcast.

When the receiving apparatus receives a data broadcast by the data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment for broadcasting the additional information shown in FIG. 1, the receiving apparatus uses the designated channel based on the arrangement information of the program description. By receiving a signal having a program identifier described in the program description at a time designated from, data can be acquired.

In general, this additional information has a smaller data amount than the program itself, so that the transmission cycle can be shortened. Therefore, the time required for acquisition is short. Also, even if the entire additional information is stored, its storage cost is small compared to the entire program.

As described above, in the data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment, the information on the hierarchical structure of the data program to be broadcast and the arrangement information are broadcast as additional information. By receiving only the additional information without receiving, the hierarchical structure can be recognized, and only the desired data program can be selected and acquired. Therefore, even when the data program itself is transmitted over a plurality of channels at a long irregular period, it is possible to realize a data broadcast in a television broadcast in which a data user can efficiently search and acquire data. it can. In addition, since the data program itself is broadcast separately from the additional information, the type and size of the data program are not limited, and it is possible to provide more various data.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of data provided by broadcasting in the data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 2A, n
1 is a root node (uppermost node), n2, n
3 and n4 are child nodes of the node n1. Node n2 has child nodes n5, n6 and n7, and node n4 has child nodes n
11, n12, and n13, these child nodes are the lowest-order nodes, and data (programs) are arranged therein. Node n3 has child nodes n8, n9, n10,
Each of these child nodes n8, n9, n10 has three child nodes. Child nodes n14 and n1 of node n8
5, n16, child nodes n17, n18, n of node n9
19, and child nodes n20, n21,
Each of n22 is the lowest node, in which data (program) is arranged. Description of additional information transmitted when data is provided in a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 2A will be described. For example, as the node description of the node n3, Id for identifying the node n3 is described in the column of the node Id, and the node name and the like of the node n3 are described in the column of the node description. In the column of the node description, in addition to the node name of the node n3, as reference destination information, for example, the node n
In some cases, a node Id of a node other than the parent node and the child node and related to the node n3, such as 2, n4, is described. In the column of parent node Id, Id for identifying node n1 which is the parent node of node n3 is set.
Is described. In the column of the number of child nodes Id, three child nodes of the node n3 are the nodes n8, n9, and n10.
This number is described. Then, Id for identifying the nodes n8, n9, and n10 is listed in the column of the child node Id list. Nodes n5 to n where data (programs) are arranged
7, n11 to n13 and n14 to n22 are given the program description shown in FIG. 1C instead of the node description. Each node is divided into segments according to the distance in the hierarchical structure, and the receiving device acquires additional information in units of the segments, and creates and displays a menu for a data user to perform a selection operation. The hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 2A is divided into each segment surrounded by a broken line in the figure, and each segment is provided with a segment Id for identifying the segment. A tag indicating which segment the node or program is included in is attached. The additional information is collected for each segment, and as shown in FIG.
Is transmitted in a form in which node descriptions and program descriptions belonging to the segment are collected. On the receiving side, the required information can be obtained by acquiring only the necessary segments without receiving and analyzing the entire additional information. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen displayed on the screen of the receiving device. In a search using a menu, the hierarchical structure is followed by a parent-child relationship and a cross-reference relationship. The segment division according to the distance has the effect of reducing the chance of reacquiring additional information across segments. If the destination of the search is within the same segment, reacquisition of additional information is unnecessary, and only when the segment has moved, the segment to which the destination node belongs is reacquired.

In FIG. 2A, a segment formed by combining one node apart in the hierarchical structure into one is formed, but the segment is divided so as to include a node separated by two or more nodes in the segment. May be.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration (FIG. 3A) of a broadcasting station that realizes the data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment, and receives data broadcasting broadcast by the data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data receiving device (FIG. 3B). In FIG. 3A, reference numeral 11 denotes a database for storing various data, and reference numeral 12 denotes customer information relating to what data the user wants. An editing unit 13 determines the importance of the data stored in the database 11 based on the customer information 12, selects data to be provided and data not to be provided, and organizes the data to be provided based on the contents. It is. This editorial department 1
In FIG. 3, for example, a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. An information processing unit 14 creates a node description and a program description based on the hierarchical structure constructed in the editing unit 13 and processes data to be provided into a program. Fifteen
Is A for generating A / V data of a normal television program.
/ V data generation unit and another information processing unit that processes and generates information other than information for data broadcasting. Here, the other information includes program table information of a normal television program. Reference numeral 16 denotes a data program from the information processing unit 14, data additional information, an A / V data generation unit, and another information processing unit 1.
5 is a multiplexing unit that multiplexes the program from 5 and additional information to generate a multiplexed signal. A transmission unit 17 transmits the multiplexed signal output from the multiplexing unit 16 as a television broadcast signal.

In FIG. 3B, reference numeral 21 denotes a broadcast receiving unit for receiving the digital television broadcast signal transmitted from the transmitting unit 17, and 22 denotes a multiplexed signal received by the receiving unit 21 for converting the multiplexed signal into a normal program signal, a data program, and the like. This is a non-multiplexing unit that separates the signal and the additional information signal. Reference numeral 24 denotes a storage unit for storing the additional information signal output from the non-multiplexing unit 22, 25 denotes a program based on a normal program signal output from the non-multiplexing unit 22, and outputs the program from the non-multiplexing unit 22. This is a presentation unit that displays data based on the data program signal to be displayed and displays a menu of data created based on the storage contents of the storage unit 24. Reference numeral 23 denotes control means for controlling the demultiplexing unit 22 and the storage unit 24. The control unit 24 stores the additional information signal output from the demultiplexing unit 22 in the storage unit 24, creates a menu of data displayed by the presentation unit 25 based on the stored additional information signal, In response to an input from the input means 26 by the user, an operation such as switching the contents of the displayed menu is performed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the data receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment. Less than,
The operation of the data receiving device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, initial setting is performed by designating the root node (top node) or the Id of a specific node by input from the input means 26 or the like (Step S).
1) is performed, and in step S2, a channel specified by the initial setting is received and additional information is obtained. It is determined whether the additional information obtained in step S3 is a data (program) description or a node description. If it is determined that the additional information is a data (program) description, the placement information is obtained (step S16). A channel is set based on the arrangement information (step S17), data is acquired from the broadcast (step S18), and the operation is ended (step S17).
19). If it is determined in step S3 that the additional information is a node description, the process proceeds to a next node selection process. In the next node selection process, a menu showing a list of child nodes Id or a menu showing a list of information Id data (data program list) as shown in FIG. (Step S4), the selection input of the data user is accepted (Step S5). Selection operation by data user (step S
When 6) is a page change, another menu including the list not displayed is displayed on the presenting means 25 (step S7), and the process returns to step S4. If the selection operation by the data user in step S6 is a request for related information, the reference destination information described in the node description field is obtained (step S8), and the reference destination information is displayed on the presentation means 25 (step S8). S9), accept the selection input of the data user (step S10). The data user looks at the reference destination information displayed on the presentation means 25, and selects one of the displayed reference destination information items when wishing to shift to the reference destination node. If it is not desired to shift, the user selects to cancel the display of the reference destination information (step S
11). If the selection in step S11 is to cancel the display, the process returns to step S4 and the original menu is displayed. When an item is selected in step S11, the node Id of the reference destination is selected and set (step S11).
12), returning to step S4, the menu created based on the node description corresponding to the reference destination node Id is displayed on the presentation means 25. When the selection operation by the data user in step S6 is selection of a node, that is, migration to a higher node, or selection of an item in a list,
When the selected node is a parent node, that is, when the selected node is a transition to an upper node, the parent node is set (step S14), and the process returns to step S2. When the selected node is a child node, the process proceeds to step S13. That is, when the item is selected in the list, the selected child node is set (step S15), and the process returns to step S2. By repeating the above steps, the data user can obtain desired data through broadcasting by following the hierarchical structure.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention (claim 1), in a data broadcasting method for television broadcasting in which a data program is broadcast by multiplexing the data program with a normal television program, A hierarchical structure is created by providing a common higher-order item, and allocation information for specifying a broadcast channel and a broadcast time in which the data program is broadcast is associated with a program identifier for identifying each data program; Additional information including a program description including information indicating a hierarchical relationship between items and a node description including information indicating a hierarchical relationship between the higher-order item and a data program associated with an identifier for identifying the higher-order item Since it is multiplexed with a data program and broadcasted, even when transmitting the data program itself over a plurality of channels at a long irregular period, Over data the user can easily retrieve the data of interest from the large amounts of data efficiently search the data, there is an effect capable of realizing a data broadcasting in television broadcasting.

According to the present invention (claim 2), in the invention of claim 1, the plurality of program descriptions and node descriptions are divided into a plurality of groups according to distances in the hierarchical structure. Information indicating which group the program description and the node description belong to is multiplexed into a data program and broadcasted. By treating a short distance in the hierarchical structure as one group, the data There is an effect that data broadcasting in television broadcasting can be realized in which a user can search and acquire data more efficiently.

According to the present invention (claim 3), a hierarchical structure is created by providing a common upper item for a plurality of data programs, and each data program is associated with a program identifier for identifying the data program. A program description including information indicating the broadcast channel on which the program is to be broadcast and the broadcast time, and information indicating a hierarchical relationship between the data program and the upper item, and a program description associated with an identifier for identifying the upper item. A data receiving apparatus for receiving a data broadcast broadcast by a data broadcasting method in television broadcasting in which a node description including information indicating a hierarchical relationship between an upper item and a data program is multiplexed as additional information to a data program and broadcasted An item selection menu screen on which one of a plurality of higher-level items can be selected based on the node description and the program description; A selection menu creation / display means for creating a program selection menu screen from which one of a plurality of data programs can be selected, and displaying the selected data program on the display screen; And a data program receiving / displaying means for receiving from a broadcast based on the arrangement information associated with the data program and displaying the program on a display screen. By selecting (program), there is an effect that desired data can be easily searched and obtained from a large amount of data by following the hierarchical structure.

Further, according to the present invention (claim 4), in the invention according to claim 3, the selection menu creating / display means converts the plurality of program descriptions and node descriptions according to the distance in the hierarchical structure. Into multiple groups,
Since the selection menu is created in this group unit, a large amount of data can be selected by selecting items and data (programs) while viewing the selection menu screen in which one having a short distance in the hierarchical structure is regarded as one group. There is an effect that the target data can be easily searched and obtained from the data by following the hierarchical structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining additional information on data (program) multiplexed with broadcast data (program) and broadcast in the data broadcast method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of data provided by broadcasting in the data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration (FIG. 3 (a)) of a broadcasting station that implements a data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and receives a data broadcast broadcast by the data broadcasting method according to the first embodiment; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data receiving device (FIG. 3B).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a selection menu screen displayed on a display screen by a receiving device that has received a data broadcast broadcast by the data broadcast method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the data receiving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 database 12 customer information 13 editing unit 14 information processing unit 15 A / V data generation unit, other information processing unit 16 multiplexing unit 17 transmitting unit 21 broadcast receiving unit 22 non-multiplexing unit 23 control unit 24 storage unit 25 display unit 26 Input section

Claims (4)

[Claims] In a data broadcasting method in television broadcasting for multiplexing a data program with a normal television program, a hierarchical structure is created by providing a common upper item for a plurality of data programs. A program description including, in association with a program identifier for identifying the program, arrangement information for specifying a broadcast channel on which the data program is broadcast and a broadcast time, and information indicating a hierarchical relationship between the data program and a higher-order item; And multiplexing a node description including information indicating a hierarchical relationship between the higher-order item and the data program associated with an identifier for identifying the higher-order item with the data program as additional information, and broadcasting the multiplexed data program. Data broadcasting method in broadcasting. 2. The data broadcasting method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of program descriptions and node descriptions are divided into a plurality of groups according to distances in said hierarchical structure. A data broadcasting method in television broadcasting, wherein information indicating which group a node description belongs to is multiplexed with a data program and broadcast. 3. A hierarchical structure is created by providing a common upper item for a plurality of data programs, and a broadcast channel and a broadcast time of the data program are associated with a program identifier for identifying each data program. A program description that includes arrangement information to be specified and information indicating a hierarchical relationship between the data program and the higher-order item, and a hierarchical description between the higher-order item and the data program associated with an identifier that identifies the higher-order item. A data receiving apparatus for receiving a data broadcast broadcast by a data broadcasting method in a television broadcast in which a node description including information indicating a relationship is multiplexed into a data program as additional information and broadcasted, based on the node description and the program description To select one of a plurality of higher-level items, or to select one of a plurality of data programs. A selection menu creation / display means for creating a selectable program selection menu screen and displaying it on a display screen; and a data program selected on the program selection menu screen based on the arrangement information associated with the data program. A data receiving apparatus comprising: a data program receiving / displaying means for receiving from a broadcast and displaying on a display screen. 4. The data receiving device according to claim 3, wherein the selection menu creating / displaying means divides the plurality of program descriptions and node descriptions into a plurality of groups according to distances in the hierarchical structure. A data receiving apparatus for creating a selection menu in group units.