JPH1115590A - Personal computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit an operator who is not acquainted with the operation of a personal computer and an operating system(OS) to easily and securely operate it by changing a picture signal outputted from a personal computer main body into a signal corresponding to the idle channel of a television receiver and outputting it. SOLUTION: A remote control operation decoding part 2 decodes the operation content of a remote controller 1 based on a code which is radio-received and inputs a command corresponding to a decoding result to a personal computer main body 3. The personal computer main body 3 receives the command from the remote control operation decoding part 2 and executes a processing corresponding to the command. A television output part 4 modulates picture information, sound information or menu information transmitted from the personal computer main body 3 into an RF signal with a frequency corresponding to one of the idle channels of the television receiver 5 and transmits it to the antenna input terminal of the television receiver 5. The television receiver 5 is tuned to the frequency corresponding to the channel selected by the remote controller 1 and it projects picture information of a broadcasting station and AP.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a personal computer system having operability similar to a home appliance, and more particularly to a personal computer system capable of starting and operating application software of a personal computer as if operating a television receiver with a remote controller. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional personal computer system, when operating a personal computer, characters are input from an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse to execute necessary processing. For example, when starting and operating application software (hereinafter referred to as an AP), a desired AP is input by inputting characters from an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse or selecting an icon.
Was started, and the operation of the AP started by the input device was performed.

[0003]

Since the conventional personal computer system is configured as described above, an operator other than a person who is familiar with or is familiar with the operation of the personal computer and the OS (operating system) is, for example, an AP. It is troublesome and troublesome to operate a personal computer, such as by starting up and operating the started AP.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems in the conventional personal computer system.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a personal computer system that allows an operator who is not used to operating a personal computer or an OS to easily and reliably operate the computer.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a personal computer main body and a television receiver with a cordless remote control, and a code transmitted from the remote control is provided on the personal computer main body side. And a command execution unit that executes a process corresponding to the command output from the remote control operation decoding unit, the remote control operation decoding unit inputting a command corresponding to the decoding result to the personal computer body, and the personal computer. And a television output section for modulating an image signal and an audio signal output from the main body into a signal corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver and outputting the signal.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the code transmitted from the remote controller is decoded and the command corresponding to the decoded result is executed. You can easily and reliably operate your PC as if you were operating a TV receiver with a remote control.

According to the invention described in claim 2 of the present application, the code transmitted from the remote controller is a code for instructing power on or power off, and the television receiver receiving the code turns on or off the power. 2. The personal computer system according to claim 1, wherein the command execution unit executes a process of turning on or off a power supply of the personal computer body based on the code.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the power of the television receiver and the personal computer is turned on or off by the code for instructing power on or off transmitted from the remote controller. You can easily turn on or off the power of the TV receiver and the PC with the operation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the code transmitted from the remote controller is a code for instructing selection of a channel corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver. While executing the process of activating the application software associated with the channel based on the code, the television output unit modulates the image signal and the audio signal of the activated application software into a signal corresponding to the channel. The personal computer system according to claim 1, wherein the personal computer system outputs.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by instructing the remote controller to select a channel corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver, the application software associated with that channel is activated. Even operators who are not used to operating a PC or operating system can easily operate a TV receiver with a remote control.
A desired AP can be reliably started.

[0011] In the invention according to claim 4 of the present application, the code transmitted from the remote controller is a code for instructing selection of a channel corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver, and the command execution means includes: While executing a process of reading an application menu image associated with the channel based on the code, the television output unit modulates the read image signal of the application menu into a signal corresponding to the channel and outputs the signal. 2. The personal computer system according to claim 1, wherein:

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by instructing the remote controller to select a channel corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver, an application menu associated with that channel is read, Since the menu image is displayed on the TV receiver, even operators who are not familiar with PC operation or OS,
A desired AP can be easily and reliably selected from a menu image as if the user were operating a television receiver with a remote control.

[0013] In the invention described in claim 5 of the present application, the personal computer body executes an allocation process of automatically allocating to one of the channels corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver when the application software is installed. 2. The personal computer system according to claim 1, wherein:

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the application software is installed, the application software is automatically assigned to a channel corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver, so that the operator can assign a channel to a non-empty channel. Failures such as linking the installed application software can be prevented.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a personal computer system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a remote controller 1 is attached to, for example, a television receiver, and transmits a code corresponding to a selected channel or power on or power off by wireless (cordless) such as infrared rays.
To wirelessly transmit to the remote control operation decoding unit 2 and the television receiver 5.

The remote control operation decoding section 2 decodes the operation contents of the remote control 1 based on the code received wirelessly, and inputs a command corresponding to the decoding result to the personal computer 3.

The personal computer 3 includes a remote control operation decoding unit 2
And executes a process corresponding to the command.

The television output unit 4 converts image information, audio information, or menu information sent from the personal computer 3 into an R signal at a frequency corresponding to one of the empty channels of the television receiver 5.
The signal is modulated into an F signal and transmitted to an antenna input terminal (not shown) of the television receiver 5.

The television receiver 5 is an ordinary commercially available home television receiver. The television receiver 5 is tuned to a frequency corresponding to the channel selected by the remote controller 1 and, as described later, transmits image information of a broadcasting station or an AP. It is to be projected.

The operation of the personal computer system configured as described above will be described with reference to flowcharts.

FIG. 2 shows a personal computer system according to the present invention.
9 shows a flowchart for executing the installation process of FIG. In step 201 of FIG.
A process of installing an AP recorded on a recording medium such as a M or a floppy disk in the personal computer body 3 is executed. In step 202, it is determined whether or not the installation has been completed, and the installation process is executed until the completion of the installation is determined.

When the installation of the AP is completed, the process proceeds to step 203, and an empty channel of the television receiver 5 is searched. The empty channel of the television receiver 5 is set in advance in the personal computer body 1 in the same manner as that of, for example, associating the code corresponding to the channel of the remote control 1 with the channel of the broadcasting station that the television receiver 5 can receive. It is possible to search by presetting or presetting a TV channel in advance according to the sales area of each personal computer. Alternatively, an empty channel can be searched for by installing channel teaching software in the personal computer body 1 in advance, activating it, and setting channels in advance.

As a result of the search for an empty channel, if there is an empty channel, at step 204, the empty channel C
The AP installed corresponding to H is assigned. Thereby, the channel (C) shown in FIG.
A table is created in which H) is associated with the application software (AP).

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the remote control operation decoding unit 2 for decoding the code transmitted from the remote control 1. The remote control operation decoding unit 2 performs step 40
In step 1, whether or not a code is transmitted from the remote controller 1 is constantly monitored, and when a code signal is detected, the process proceeds to step 402 to decode what operation the received code commands.

As a result of decoding the code, if it is determined that the code is a code for instructing the power of the television receiver 5 to be turned on or off, the process proceeds to step 403 to perform a power operation process.

FIG. 5 shows a specific processing method of the power supply operation processing. In FIG. 5, in step 501, the operation type of the received code is confirmed, and if the code is a code for instructing power off, the process proceeds to step 503, where the remote control operation decoding unit 2 executes the personal computer 3 (PC). To the power off command. As a result of the confirmation of the operation type, if the code is a code for instructing power on, step 50
2 and the remote control operation decoding unit 2
(PC) sends a power-on command.

On the other hand, since the code for instructing power on or off transmitted from remote controller 1 is also received by television receiver 5, television receiver 5 turns on or off the power.

In step 402 of FIG. 4, if the remote control operation decoding unit 2 determines that the code transmitted from the remote control 1 is a command to select one of a plurality of channels, the process proceeds to step 404 to change to the corresponding channel. Perform processing.

FIG. 6 shows a specific processing method of the channel correspondence processing. In FIG. 6, when the process is started, first,
It is determined whether or not the request is for the normal TV channel processing (step 600). Only when it is determined that the request is for the normal TV channel processing (step 600YES), the steps 601 and thereafter are performed. Processing is started. In step 601, it is determined whether or not the received code is an AP channel. If the code is a code for instructing the selection of an AP channel for activating the AP (YES in step 601), the process proceeds to step 602 to decode the remote control operation. The section 2 inputs a start command to start the AP corresponding to the channel CH selected with reference to the table shown in FIG.

In step 601, the code is A
If it is determined that the channel is not the P channel (step 601)
NO), proceeding to step 603, where it is determined whether the code is a menu channel for displaying a menu. In this example, this determination is realized by an algorithm for determining that the channel is not set to any of the TV and the AP. If the code is a menu channel (step 603YE)
S), the remote control operation decoding unit 2 is connected to the personal computer 3 (P
Send a menu read command to C). If the code is not a menu channel, the channel handling process ends.

On the other hand, since the code for instructing the selection of the channel transmitted from the remote controller 1 is also received by the television receiver 5, the television receiver 5 tunes to the frequency of this channel. Therefore, for example, if the code instructing the channel selection is neither the AP channel nor the menu channel, that is, if the channel is a channel corresponding to a certain broadcast station, the code is tuned to the frequency of the broadcast station corresponding to the channel, The television receiver 5 can enjoy a television broadcast.

In step 402 of FIG. 4, if the remote control operation decoding unit 2 determines that the code transmitted from the remote control 1 is a code for instructing another operation, the process proceeds to step 405 to perform an application operation process.

FIG. 8 shows a specific processing method of the application operation processing. In FIG. 8, step 801 determines whether the received code is a command for operating the AP,
When this code is a code for instructing the operation of the AP,
Proceeding to step 802, the remote control operation decoding unit 2
An operation command of the AP corresponding to the code is input to the personal computer 3.

At step 801, the code is A
If it is determined that the code is not a code for instructing the operation of P, the other processing ends.

On the other hand, since the code for instructing channel selection transmitted from remote controller 1 is also received by television receiver 5, the code for instructing other operations is not the code for operating AP in step 801. If it is determined that the code is a code for instructing an operation specific to the television receiver 5, for example, raising or lowering the volume, the television receiver 5 is controlled according to this code.

As described above, the remote control operation decoding unit 2 decodes the code transmitted from the remote control 1 and transmits a power on or off command, a start command or a menu read command to the personal computer 3 in accordance with the result of the decoding. . In addition, since the television receiver 5 is configured independently of the personal computer, necessary processing is executed in the television receiver 5 in accordance with the code transmitted from the remote controller 1.

Next, a specific processing method of the personal computer 3 in response to the above-mentioned various commands transmitted from the remote control operation decoding unit 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

The main body 3 of the personal computer executes step 901 in FIG.
When it is confirmed that the command is received, the process proceeds to step 902 for decoding what the command is to command, and decodes the command.

If the command is a power-on command, the personal computer 3 executes step 903 to turn on the power of the personal computer 3, and if the command is a power-off command, the personal computer 3 executes step 904 to execute 3. Turn off the power of 3.

As described above, since the television receiver 5 has already received the power on or off signal from the remote controller 1 at this time, the television receiver 5 is also powered on or off.

In step 902, if the received command is an AP start command for starting the AP selected in the table of FIG. 3, the selected AP is started.

When the AP is started, the program of the AP is executed, and the execution generates image information. The image information is subjected to television output processing in step 908.
By the TV output processing, the image information and the audio information are added with modulation information for RF modulation at a predetermined frequency,
The data is transmitted from the personal computer 3 to the television output unit. The television output unit 4 performs RF modulation of the received image information and audio information based on the modulation information, and supplies the resultant to the television receiver 5 via the antenna input terminal of the television receiver 5. Here, it is needless to say that the predetermined frequency is a frequency at which the television receiver 5 can perform RF demodulation.

In step 902, the personal computer 3
If the received command is a menu read command, a menu read process in step 906 is executed.
In the menu reading process, as shown in FIG. 7, a menu screen in which a channel is associated with a preset broadcast station name or application name is read.

The read image information of the menu screen is subjected to television output processing in the same manner as described above in step 906, and is supplied to the television receiver 5 via the television output unit 4 so that the menu screen is displayed by the television receiver 5. Is done.

The operator can operate the remote controller 1 to select a desired channel from a menu screen displayed as an image.
The menu screen of FIG. 7 is displayed in a list format in which preset broadcast station names and application names associated with each of a plurality of channels are mixed. The operator operates the C button and the D button of the remote controller 1 while looking at the operation column 12 to move the cursor 11 appearing on the menu screen up and down, select a channel corresponding to a desired broadcast station or application name, and Operate the button to select the channel. At this time, the remote controller 1 outputs a code corresponding to the selected channel. The B button is used, for example, when canceling the activation of the selected AP or switching to the menu display.

In step 902, the personal computer 3
If the received command is an AP operation command,
The AP operation processing of Step 907 is executed. In the AP operation process, the activated AP is operated according to various AP commands received. The image information and audio information generated by this operation are subjected to the television output processing in step 908 as described above, and then the television receiver 5 Is displayed.

[0047]

As described above, the personal computer system according to the present invention includes the personal computer main body and the television receiver with the cordless remote control. The personal computer main body decodes the code transmitted from the remote control, and A remote control operation decoding unit for inputting a command corresponding to the decoding result to the personal computer body, a command execution unit for executing a process corresponding to the command output from the remote control operation decoding unit, and a command output from the personal computer body. And a television output unit that modulates an image signal and an audio signal into a signal corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver and outputs the modulated signal. Commands that can be executed by an operator who is not accustomed to operating a PC or operating system.
It is possible to operate a personal computer simply and reliably as if operating a television receiver with a remote controller.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a personal computer system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a personal computer main body A of the personal computer system of the present invention.
It is a flowchart which shows the algorithm of P installation processing.

FIG. 3 is a table in which channels CH and APs of the personal computer system of the present invention are associated with each other.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of a processing operation of a remote control operation decoding unit of the personal computer system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of a power operation processing operation of a remote control operation decoding unit of the personal computer system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of a channel corresponding processing operation of a remote control operation decoding unit of the personal computer system of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a list showing menu information displayed on a television receiver of the personal computer system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of another processing operation of the remote control operation decoding unit of the personal computer system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of a processing operation of the personal computer body of the personal computer system of the present invention.

[Explanation of Signs of Main Parts] 1 ... Remote control 2 ... Remote control operation decoding unit 3 PC body 4 TV output unit 5 TV receiver 11 ...・ Cursor 12 ・ ・ ・ ・ Operation field

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A personal computer and a television receiver with a cordless remote controller, wherein the personal computer side decodes a code transmitted from the remote controller and sends a command corresponding to the decoding result to the personal computer main body. And a command execution unit that executes a process corresponding to the command output from the remote control operation decoding unit. An image signal output from the personal computer body is output to an empty channel of the television receiver. And a television output section for modulating a signal corresponding to the above and outputting the signal. 2. The code transmitted from the remote controller,
A code for instructing power on or power off, wherein the television receiver receiving the code turns on or off the power, and the command execution means turns on or off the personal computer based on the code. 2. The personal computer system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The code transmitted from the remote controller,
A code for instructing selection of a channel corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver, wherein the command execution means executes a process of activating application software associated with the channel based on the code; 2. The personal computer system according to claim 1, wherein the output unit modulates the image signal and the audio signal of the activated application software into a signal corresponding to the channel and outputs the signal. 4. The code transmitted from the remote controller,
A code for instructing selection of a channel corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver, wherein the command execution means executes a process of reading an application menu image associated with the channel based on the code, and 2. The personal computer system according to claim 1, wherein the output unit modulates the read image signal of the application menu into a signal corresponding to the channel and outputs the signal. 5. The personal computer according to claim 1, wherein, when the application software is installed, the personal computer performs an allocation process for automatically allocating one of the channels corresponding to an empty channel of the television receiver. Personal computer system.