JPH11196390A - Storage type information broadcast system and reception terminal equipment of the system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new data broadcast system where information in matching with preference of viewers is automatically stored and each viewer can view the information at a preferred time. SOLUTION: A broadcast station 330 multiplexes a digest program including tag information and contents of main body information onto main program information and broadcasts the resulting information. A receiver side terminal equipment 304 is provided with a scheduling means 319 that receives an electronic program guide EPG digest whose contents are tag information of each digest to plan a reception schedule of each digest, a storage means 309 that stores the received digests, a cache means 308 that stores temporarily every received digest without missing and stores again the selected digests among them, and a display means 313. The received digests are stored in the storage means without missing, and the viewer enjoys viewing the digest by displaying it on the display means at a preferred time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a broadcasting system,
Regarding the receiving terminal device used in this system, in particular, it realizes a broadcasting system that allows a user to watch a program at his own pace and check various information at his / her own pace without being restricted by the broadcasting time. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the era of digitization, in the broadcasting field of Japan, the VB
I (Vertical Blanking Interval)
Multiplexed digital information into digital multiplexed broadcasts, BS satellite broadcasts multiplexed audio signals and data information into video signals transmitted in an analog format, or digital satellite broadcasts digitally transmitted video, audio and data. Channel broadcasting has been put to practical use, and in around 2000, digital HDTV broadcasting using broadcasting satellites,
Terrestrial digital broadcasting is planned.

In Europe, the standardization organization DVB has set standards for digital television broadcasting for satellite broadcasting, CATV, and terrestrial television broadcasting, and any standard can encode and multiplex video and audio. Adopts MPEG2. Digital satellite broadcasting conforming to this standard is 199
It has been starting for five years.

In such a broadcasting system, video information, audio information and data information are multiplexed and sent to a viewer. Among these, an area that can be used for data transmission is called a data channel, and a broadcast service using the data channel is called a data broadcast.

[0005] Data broadcasting is used to supplement television programs, such as by transmitting recipes in cooking programs, or by transmitting facsimile information of specialized news or still images of catalogs independently of television programs, and software. It can be used to transfer data. In a two-way system using a telephone line for an up line to a broadcasting station,
Viewers can also participate in questionnaires on programs sent by data broadcasting and receive online shopping services.

In digital satellite multi-channel broadcasting,
EPG (Electronic equivalent to an electronic TV program guide)
Program Guide) is transmitted by data broadcasting, and the viewer can display the EPG on the screen of the receiver and search for a favorite program.

As described above, there is no standard for the data format in data broadcasting at present.

[0008]

In the conventional broadcasting system, the viewer cannot watch the program he wants to watch at his own pace without being restricted by the broadcasting time. In such a case, if you use a video device to record a broadcast program on a timer, you will be able to watch it when you want to watch it. Searching from the TV section itself is difficult. Since the information in the EPG is almost the same as that in the TV section, it takes a lot of time to find a program that suits the user's preference.

[0009] If the viewer does not set the timer recording of a desired program before the program is broadcast, the viewer will miss the program. Therefore, in order to avoid overlooking a favorite program, it is necessary for the viewer to pay attention to the TV section in advance and perform the necessary recording operation early, so watch the program at your own pace when you like, It is far from the state of saying.

If the broadcast time of a program is changed after the timer recording is set, the target program cannot be recorded.

[0011] In order to solve such a conventional problem, in a group including the present inventors, information that matches the taste of the viewer is automatically accumulated, and the viewer can watch it when he or she likes. We are proposing a new data broadcasting system. In this system, the receiver preliminarily acquires and accumulates information that is considered to be close to the taste of the viewer, but information that is not known whether or not the viewer is watching. If there is a mistake in capturing this information, unlike broadcasting,
I can't get it resent immediately. Therefore, an important issue is how to receive the received information at the receiving terminal without error.

The present invention addresses such a problem. In this data broadcasting system, there is provided a system capable of receiving necessary information in broadcasted information without error on a receiving side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a receiving terminal device that realizes the above.

[0013]

According to the broadcasting system of the present invention, a broadcasting station multiplexes video and audio main program information,
A digest including tag information as control information and content as body information is broadcast. The receiving terminal device receives the EPG digest having the tag information of each digest as the content, sets a reception schedule for each digest, temporarily stores the received digests in accordance with the reception schedule without omission, and stores the digest selected from the digests. Re-accumulate. Then, when there is a request from the user, the re-stored digest content is displayed.

[0014] Further, the receiving terminal device of the present invention receives an EPG digest having the tag information of each digest as a content and sets a reception schedule of each digest; a storage unit for storing the received digest; Cache control means for controlling temporary storage of the digest in the cache area of the means and re-storage of the selected digest in the storage means, and display means for displaying the content of the re-stored digest based on the user's request. It has.

Therefore, the receiving terminal device having the intelligent function smoothly obtains the digest to be broadcast before the viewer selects it. At this time, the received digest is taken into the storage means of the receiving terminal device without mistake. The viewer can enjoy the accumulated digest content on the display means when he / she likes.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 of the present invention relates to an information broadcasting system for multiplexing data on video / audio main program information and broadcasting the data, wherein a broadcasting station transmits data as control data as control information. An EP that broadcasts a digest including the tag information and the content that is the main body information, and the receiving terminal device uses the tag information of each digest as the content.
Receiving the G digest, setting a reception schedule for each digest, temporarily storing the digests received according to the reception schedule without omission, re-accumulating the digest selected from the digest, and requesting the user for the content of the re-accumulated digest. The broadcasted digest is automatically selected and stored in the receiving terminal device, and the viewer can watch the digest when he wants to view the content of the digest.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the contents are:
It consists of multimedia information introducing the main program, program main body composed of video and audio, CM, application program, questionnaire, mail or data, and tag information is content index information, content update information, digest broadcasting Information on the date and time and information on the next broadcast, information on controlling access to the content, security information to prevent falsification of the content, information indicating the digest and the access path to the information introduced by the digest, and the digest set by the digest creator It includes at least one or more pieces of information indicating the audience group. Based on this tag information,
The receiving terminal device receives the digest, selects storage, accesses the original data, and the like.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the receiving terminal device estimates the size of the storage area necessary for temporarily storing the digest to be received from the tag information of the EPG digest,
Before receiving the digest, the digest that has been re-stored is erased to secure a storage area necessary for temporary storage, and the received digest can be captured without error.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the receiving terminal device deletes only the content while leaving the tag information of the digest to be deleted, and obtains the content of the deleted digest based on the tag information. It is possible to do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving terminal device for an information broadcasting system for multiplexing and digesting a digest including tag information of control information and content of main body information on main program information of video and audio, Scheduling means for receiving an EPG digest having the tag information of each digest as content and setting a reception schedule for each digest; storage means for storing the received digest; temporary storage of the digest in a cache area of the storage means; Control means for controlling the re-accumulation of the digest to the accumulating means, and display means for displaying the re-accumulated digest content based on the user's request. The device allows the viewer to select the digest to be broadcast Smoothly preceding acquired, in response to a display request of the viewer, to display the digest obtained.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the cache control unit estimates the size of the cache area necessary for temporarily storing the digest to be received from the tag information of the EPG digest, and re-stores it before receiving the digest. In this case, the digest is deleted to secure a cache area of a required size, and the received digest can be taken in without mistake.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the cache control means secures an update data cache area as a cache area for temporary storage of frequently updated digests, and temporarily stores the update data in the update data cache area. The re-stored digest data before updating is rewritten with the re-stored data, and the operation of replacing the re-stored digest can be simplified.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the cache control means sets an update data storage area for storing frequently updated digests in the cache area, and sets the update data storage area in the update data storage area. Since the data is rewritten with the newly received digest data to be updated, it is not necessary to re-store the data or replace the data after the re-storage.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the cache control means deletes only the content while leaving the tag information of the digest to be deleted, and obtains the content of the deleted digest based on the tag information. It is possible to do.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, a new data broadcasting system to which the present invention is applied will be described. In this broadcasting system,
As a data broadcast, a data object called a digest is broadcast. That is, the broadcast station multiplexes the digest and broadcasts the digest at the same time as a broadcast program (main program) using a normal video and audio.

This digest is, as shown in FIG.
The contents 205 of the information include multimedia information of the program introduction, the trailer of the program, the main part of the program, the CM, the questionnaire, the mail, the application program, or the data, and the format uniquely determines the digest. It comprises a name 201, management information 202 for managing digest distribution, attribute information 203 indicating the attribute of the digest, additional information in the terminal 204 added by the receiving terminal, and the content 205. The name 201, the management information 202, the attribute information 203, and the additional information in terminal 204 are called tag information.

The management information 202 includes index information indicating what the content is, update information indicating the next update date and time of the digest, the current version number, information for controlling access to the digest, and information for security. The information sender considers the broadcast date and time of the digest, the next broadcast schedule, the address information of the database that stores the digest and the program introduced in the digest, the telephone number of the information provider that manages the database, and the content as targets Recommendation level information indicating the audience segment that is present is described.

The attribute information 203 includes data amount information indicating the respective data amounts of moving images, still images, texts, and the like included in the contents, keyword information attached to the contents, method information relating the contents, digests Reference information for associating the information, sponsor information indicating a sponsor name when the content is a CM, and the like are described.

The additional information 204 in the terminal is information added by the user terminal for various processes at the user terminal, and includes a digest reception status, a storage status, and a user. , User management information indicating how much access to the database, relevance information indicating the relevance of the user to the digest keyword (how much the user views the digest having the keyword), and the digest , And freshness information indicating the next broadcast date and time are described.

As described above, the digest includes various multimedia contents such as program-related information, CM product information, and EPG information related to the digest, and a script for controlling simple dialogue management with the user, The information includes information introduced in the digest or information on an access path to the digest itself.

This digest is broadcast from a broadcasting station,
A large number of digests that match the viewer's preferences are automatically stored in the receiving terminal. The viewer can enjoy the accumulated digest by displaying it on the receiving terminal at a convenient time. In addition, the viewer can use the stored digest as a means for searching for a main program to be watched or detailed information, as if the user searched a telephone directory.
When the main program or detailed information to be watched is found, the receiving terminal obtains the information from the information provider through communication means,
Display on the receiving terminal.

This broadcasting system, as shown in FIG.
A broadcasting station 330 for performing data broadcasting, a user terminal 304 for receiving the broadcasting station, and an information provider 3 having a database
40 and a broadcast line 305 from the broadcast station 330 to the user terminal 304
And a communication line 320 connecting the user terminal 304 and the information provider 340. The broadcasting station 330 includes an information generating means 300 for generating digest information, and a multiplex for multiplexing the generated digest with information of the main program. And a scrambler 302 for scrambling data to be concealed in the generated transport stream, and a transmitting means 303 for transmitting the stream.

The user terminal 304 includes a receiving unit 306 for receiving information from the broadcasting station 330 and the information provider 340, a scheduling unit 319 for formulating a tuning plan for selecting a receiving channel, and Demultiplex routing means for decomposing the video and audio information of the main program and the digest and switching the output destination
307, descrambling means 310 for descrambling the video and audio information to be viewed, and access control means 311 for charging in exchange for the descrambling of the video and audio information.
Charging means 312 for executing a charging process; display means 313 for displaying video / audio information of the main program and the contents of the digest; storage means 309 for storing the digest; and controlling the storage of the digest to store the digest in the directory. Cache and directory control means 308 to be registered
And a preference storage unit 315 for storing a user's viewing history and the like.
Filtering means 314 for evaluating accumulated digests and assigning priority to accumulation; input means 316 such as a remote controller operated by a viewer; and searching for accumulated digests based on instructions from input means 316. Human interface / search means 317 and information provider 3
And communication means 318 for accessing the.

The information provider 340 includes a large-capacity database function 323 for storing digests and main programs, a search means 322 for searching a database, and a communication means for communicating data with the user terminal 304. 321.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal 304 demultiplexes the received data with the antenna 100 and the tuner 102 constituting the receiving means 306 as hardware for realizing the functional blocks of FIG. Multiplexing and routing router 103, scheduling means 319 and cache and directory control means 308
O processor & work memory 109, storage device interface 116 and built-in disk 119 constituting storage means 309,
An external storage device interface 117 and an external storage device / medium 118; a descrambler 105; an MPU & local memory 106 and a flash memory 107;
An access control module card 104 in which the local memory 106 and the flash memory 107 perform accounting processing, a decoder 113 for decoding descrambled audio,
A decoder 112 for decoding the descrambled video information, a D / A conversion rate converter 115 for converting the decoded audio signal into an analog signal, and a graphic display control unit for controlling the display of the decoded video signal
114, a display device 121 such as a TV, and a remote control 11 of the user.
Remote control interface 110 that accepts requests from 1
And a modem 120 constituting a communication means 318 with the information provider 340, and controls the modem 120 and the graphic display control unit 114 to function as a human i / f / search means 317, a filtering means 314, or a preference storage means 315. C
A PU & main storage unit.

The operation of the broadcasting system will be described. In this system, the transmission medium for broadcasting the digest is not particularly limited, but here,
The following describes an example of a practical digital satellite broadcast. The basic format of satellite digital broadcasting conforms to the DVB standard, and a transport stream of the MPEG-2 standard is loaded on a transponder. Therefore, by multiplexing the digest object data with a normal video / audio broadcast program to generate MPEG-2 data, digest broadcast in satellite digital broadcast becomes possible.

The digest information is generated by the information generating means 300 using an authoring device. The detailed information such as the generated digest and the main program information introduced by the digest is stored in the large capacity database 322 of the information provider 340, and information on the access path to the large capacity database 322 (the telephone number of the information provider and The database address information is also written in the digest tag information.

The generated digest is sent to the multiplexing means 301.
Multiplexed with the main program information as MPEG-2 data, the data to be concealed in the transport stream is scrambled by the scrambler 302, and broadcast via the transmission means 303 via the satellite line 305.

This transport stream is received by the receiving means 306 of the receiver 304 of the user. At this time, the scheduling means 319 controls a tuning operation for selecting a reception channel, as described later. The received data is decomposed into video / audio information and a digest of the program by the demultiplexer / routing means 307,
Digest is cache and directory control means
Via 308, the data is temporarily stored in the cache area of the storage unit 309.

On the other hand, the video / audio information to be viewed in real time is sent to the descrambling means 310 as it is, and a charging process is performed by the charging means 312 under the control of the access control means 311. The access control unit 311 passes the scramble key for descrambling the billed program to the descramble unit 310, and the descramble unit 310 descrambles the program. The program that can be viewed is displayed on the display unit 313, and the user can see it.

The digest stored in the cache area of the storage unit 309 is evaluated by the filtering unit 314 after a lapse of a predetermined time, and based on the viewing history of the user stored in the preference storage unit 315, the storage priority Is set. The cache and directory control unit 308 stores the digest with the priority in a file of the storage unit 309 and registers it in the directory. Also,
The cache and directory control means 308
In order not to exceed the storage capacity of 09, the digest is discarded or the digest is replaced from the file according to the priority.

As the cache area of the storage means 309, a part of the internal disk 119 is used.
And the external storage device / medium 118 are stored in storage means 309.
Used as a file.

When the user gives an instruction to access the stored digest using the input means 316 such as a remote controller, the human i / f / search means 317 executes the directory browser and executes the directory browser. The digests stored in the file are organized and displayed on the display unit 313 so that the entire image can be grasped. When the user selects one of the digests, the human i /
f. The search means 317 searches the selected digest and displays it on the display means 313. The directory browser is executed as an application program of the CPU 108, and is displayed on the display device 1 through the graphic display control unit 114.
Displayed on the 21 screen. That is, the digest is interpreted and controlled by the directory browser in the user terminal 304.

As described above, the user uses the directory browser of the user terminal 304 to watch the preview of the main part included in the digest content, or to view the product introduction (CM) by the interactive content, etc. Digest broadcast).

The user looks at the digest and, if more detailed information is required, gives an instruction to that effect from the input means 316. Based on this instruction, the CPU 10
Reference numeral 8 issues an access request from the communication means 318 to the database (information provider 340) via the communication line 320 based on the access path information recorded in the digest.

In the information provider system, the request is received by the communication means 320, the search means 320 is activated, the corresponding information set by the information creator is searched from the large-capacity database 322, and transmitted to the user terminal 304 through the communication means 320. Send out. The user terminal 304 receives the data via the communication means 318 and sends it to the receiving means 306. The data thus obtained follows the same route as the data received from the broadcast line 305 and is displayed on the display unit 313, so that the user can view it.

In the digest broadcast, an updated digest for updating a previously broadcasted one is repeatedly spot-likely broadcast at any time together with a new digest broadcasted for the first time (this is called a directory broadcast). In some cases, subtitle information, additional information, and the like related to the main program by video and audio are broadcast only in the broadcast time zone of the main program (this is called program additional information broadcasting).

In the receiver, a database of digests to be broadcast can be constructed by accumulating records of directory broadcasts. Further, since the update information is streamed in the directory broadcast, the information can be automatically managed only by performing the update according to the update information.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the form of the digest broadcast. In FIG. 4, three broadcasters (SportTV, Liv
eTY, PanaTV) indicates program information to be broadcast in a certain time zone and digest broadcasting being broadcast at the same time. Each broadcaster performs program broadcasting and digest broadcasting in parallel.

Of the three broadcasters, SportsTV specializes in digest broadcasts that are closely related to the main program and performs directory broadcasts. In such a case, there is an advantage that the user can intensively store digests having related themes while watching the main program.

In LiveTV, a directory broadcast and a program additional information broadcast are multiplexed and broadcast. In such an example, when the program additional information is relatively small, a general directory broadcast can be slowly performed over a long period of time while using the vacant band. In the case of providing information centered on the main program (which does not require additional information), such a form can be adopted.

In PanaTV, a directory broadcast centered on a product guide CM and a program additional information broadcast are always multiplexed and broadcast. This is an advantageous method for sending a digest that is frequently repeated or updated.

By viewing the information obtained by such a digest broadcast using the directory browser of the receiver, the user can enjoy a preview of the main part included in the digest, a product introduction (CM), and the like.

The digest can be an entry of general information in the world through a television program, and the detailed information can be easily extracted through an access path to a database in which the detailed information is accumulated. Can act as a directory. Such an access method can be compared to a telephone directory. Since the digest contains the essence of the entire information, it can be determined by browsing the telephone directory as to whether the information itself is really necessary for the user.

In this broadcasting system, it is necessary to store digests in a receiver prior to a user request. Therefore, in this system, the scheduling means 319 of the user terminal 304 in FIG. 1 makes a plan for recording the digest based on the EPG information of the digest broadcast when acquiring the digest.

The scheduling means 319 acquires an EPG digest having a digest broadcast schedule as content while taking the form of the digest, and
A tuning plan is created based on the digest tag information included in the G information so that a digest close to the user's preference can be obtained. The digest EPG information is a set of data corresponding to the digest tag information shown in FIG.

The scheduling means 319 obtains a digest that is close to the user's preference, so that the recommendation information of the management information included in the tag information and the user personality information, that is, the age of the user set in advance by the user And information including gender, basic preference information, and the like, are quantitatively determined. Then, at the broadcast time of the digest having a large value, a tuning plan is created so as to receive the corresponding channel, and the receiving means 306
Control.

As described above, by making the tuning plan by the scheduling means 319, it is possible to automatically obtain a digest that meets the user's preference from the digest broadcasts of a plurality of channels.

However, when the user selects and operates a channel in order to view or record a main program, tuning may not be performed as planned, and a desired digest may not be obtained. In this case, the digest is stored from the digest broadcast of the channel selected by the user, from which the digest can be obtained, and the digest is stored in accordance with the previous tuning plan when the channel selection by the user is completed. Resume.

In FIG. 4, the tuner has one user terminal 30.
FIG. 4 shows a situation in which information is obtained from a digest broadcast. In this figure, a portion surrounded by a thick line indicates information to be stored.

In the time period from 9:00 to 9:30, in which the main program is not recorded, according to the tuning plan of the scheduling means 319, a digest broadcast of LiveTV is selected and directory information is stored. SportTV
In the time zone from 9:30 to 10:00 when the main program is recorded, the digest information of SportTV is stored,
In addition, 10:00 from 10:00 when the main program of PanaTV is recorded
In the time zone of 1:30, the information of the digest broadcast of PanaTV is stored. In the time zone starting at 11:30 when the main program is not recorded, a digest broadcast of SportTV is selected according to the plan and directory information is stored.

If the user terminal 304 has two tuners, the degree of freedom in selecting a digest broadcast is increased, and a desired digest can be stored more efficiently.

FIG. 5 shows that there are four channels broadcasting the main program broadcast and the digest broadcast in parallel,
A case where recording is performed by a user terminal having two tuners is illustrated. In the figure, a solid line indicates a time zone in which the user is watching the main program in real time, and a broken line indicates a recording time zone of the main program and a digest acquisition time zone of the digest broadcast. Here, even if the viewing or recording of the main program is performed on one channel, the information can be obtained from the target digest broadcast without any trouble.
However, even in this case, when the back recording of the main program of another channel is performed in parallel with the viewing of the main program of one channel, information acquisition from the target digest broadcast cannot be performed. That is, it is desired to continuously acquire the information of the digest broadcast of the B channel, but between the timing 3 and the timing 4, it is not possible.

In the period from the timing 1 to the timing 2, even if the user views the main program D of the D channel in real time, the information of the digest broadcast of the B channel is accumulated without any trouble. At timing 2, the user switches the channel and watches the main program A of the A channel, but the information accumulation from the digest broadcast of the B channel is as follows.
It is performed without any trouble. From timing 3, A
When the recording of the back program of the C channel starts in parallel with the viewing of the main program A of the channel, the accumulation of information from the digest broadcast of the B channel is interrupted. In this case, the selection of the digest broadcast can be performed only for the digest broadcast of the A channel and the C channel where the main program is viewed or recorded. After the timing 4 at which the viewing of the main program A on the A channel ends, the digest can be obtained again from the digest broadcast on the B channel.

As described above, in some cases, it is not possible to acquire a scheduled digest because of recording designation or real-time viewing, but automatic acquisition of a digest in accordance with a tuning plan proceeds during such channel selection.

If the scheduled digest cannot be obtained by the user's channel selection operation, the next broadcast schedule is referred to from the broadcast date and time information in the digest tag information, and the next digest broadcast is waited for storage. I do. Alternatively, the user is notified that reception was not possible, and the database (information provider 340) is accessed under the instruction of the user to obtain a desired digest.

(First Embodiment) As described above, the receiving means 306 of the user terminal 304 is provided with the scheduling means 319.
Select a channel according to the tuning plan formulated by and receive a digest broadcast. The received digest is separated from the video / audio information of the main program by the demultiplexer / routing means 307, and is temporarily stored in the cache area of the storage means 309 via the cache and directory control means 308.

In the normal state, the digests stored in the cache area are kept in the cache area for a certain period of time, and the storage priority is set by the filtering means 314, and only the digests having high availability are subjected to the filing process. Then, it is stored in the file of the storage means 309.

It is difficult to perform the filtering process in real time and replace the digest of the file stored in the storage means 309 in real time with limited CPU resources. Therefore, the received digest must be placed in the cache area for a certain period. Therefore, when the digest acquisition from the digest broadcast is concentrated, there is a risk that the digest may be missed due to insufficient capacity of the cache area.

If a large area is prepared in advance as a cache area, such a fear can be avoided.
The cache area of the storage means 309 is an area to be allocated to the cache of the internal disk 119 in FIG. 2, so if this area is too large, the area of the internal disk 119 used for normal storage will be squeezed. Become.

In this broadcasting system, the cache and directory control means 308 of the user terminal 304 controls the storage area of the storage means 309 in consideration of such points.

First, the cache and directory control means 308 performs control for changing the size of the cache area in accordance with the digest acquisition plan. When the scheduling unit 319 plans to acquire a digest based on the information of the EPG digest, the cache and directory control unit 308 uses the data amount of the content described in the tag information imported from the EPG digest to acquire the digest to be acquired. Estimate the total space required for the cache. Before the digest is obtained, the digest stored in the storage unit 309 is discarded so that the cache area is expanded, and the empty area is allocated to the cache.

As described above, by changing the cache area in advance in accordance with the digest acquisition plan, it is possible to eliminate digest capture errors and acquire the digest as planned.

The total capacity required for the cache can be converted based on the number of still image information described in the tag information, the number of seconds of MPEG moving image, the number of pages of text data, and the like.
Alternatively, inference can be made based on “past examples” (for example, 300 KB in a TV commercial).

For a digest, such as news, whose data amount is substantially constant and which is updated at certain time intervals, a constant buffer is always secured in the storage means 309 as a cache area, and is temporarily stored therein. The digests stored in the cache area are stored in a predetermined file (a physical storage medium) of the storage unit 309 without performing filtering.
Overwrite the previous digest stored in.
By doing so, it is possible to simplify processing such as replacing or erasing the digest in the file of the storage means 309.

The cache area for temporarily storing the updated digest is used not only for temporarily storing one type of digest but also for temporarily storing a plurality of types of digests, such as news and weather forecasts. It is also possible to use a loop shape.

Also, digests that have been found to be updated frequently based on performance evaluation based on the user's viewing performance can be separately secured in a fixed cache area and fixed (re-accumulated). No) accumulate. Then, when the update digest is received, the digest is updated by overwriting the fixed cache area. This makes it possible to omit processes such as exchanging and erasing digests.

(Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment,
A method of deleting a digest from the storage unit 309 to secure a cache area will be described.

When the digest is deleted from the storage means 309, the tag information is left and only the content which is the information body is deleted. Most of the data amount of the digest is that of the content, and the data amount of the tag information is very small. Therefore, by erasing the content, the free space required for the storage unit 309 can be secured.

Further, the status of the additional information in the terminal in the tag information of the digest from which the content has been deleted is set to “delete”.

When there is an access request from the user for this digest, the remaining tag information indicates that the content has been erased and is out of hand, and the user must wait for the next digest broadcast or access the database to obtain it. Ask the user to make a choice. If the user selects the latter, the cache and directory control means 308
Accesses the database 323 using the communication means 318 based on the access path written in the tag information, obtains the corresponding digest, and displays it on the display means 313.

When the content has a data structure hierarchically including items such as moving images, still images, and texts, the status of the additional information in the terminal of the tag information is set to “delete moving image” and only the moving image of the content is deleted. Alternatively, it is also possible to delete only the image of the content as “image deletion”. In any case, the deleted item can be reproduced by waiting for the rebroadcast of the digest broadcast or by obtaining it from the database.

When the user actually watches or records the main program, the association with the main program can be recorded and saved in the tag information of the digest related to the main program included in the EPG digest. For example, even if the digest is completely deleted, the user can search for the digest based on the memory by processing the past program table (EPG data). For example, it is possible to search for a digest related to a gourmet program watched in the past, find a digest that introduces a restaurant, and obtain that information from a database.

[0085]

As apparent from the above description, the broadcasting system of the present invention can create a broadcasting environment in which the viewer can enjoy the broadcasting at his own pace and utilize the information when he likes. In particular, in the broadcasting system of the present invention, it becomes possible for the receiving terminal to take in the necessary information from the information broadcast from the broadcasting station without error.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a broadcast system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user terminal in the broadcast system of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a digest format;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a digest broadcast program table;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a tuning plan in the broadcast system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 antenna 102 tuner 103 router 104 access control module card 105 descrambler 106 MPU & local memory 107 flash memory 108 CPU & main memory 109 IO processor & work memory 110 remote control interface 111 remote control 112 digital video decoder 113 digital audio decoder 114 graphic display control 115 D / A conversion rate converter 116 Storage device interface 117 External storage device interface 118 External storage device / medium 119 Internal disk 120 Modem 121 Display device 122 Telephone line 200 Digest 201 Name 202,206 Management information 203,207 Attribute information 204,208 Terminal Additional information 205, 209 Content 300 Information generating means 301 Multiplexing means 302 Scrambler 303 Transmitting means 304 User terminal 305 Broadcasting line 306 Receiving means 307 Demultiplex routing means 3 08 cache and directory control means 309 storage means 310 descramble means 311 access control means 312 billing means 313 display means 314 filtering means 315 preference storage means 316 input means 317 human i / f / search means 318 communication means 319 scheduling means 320 communication line 321 Communication means 322 Search means 323 Large capacity database function 330 Broadcasting station 340 Information provider

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI H04N 5/781 (72) Inventor Isao Masuda 1006 Odakadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Machida Kadoma, Osaka 1006 Kadoma, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information broadcasting system for multiplexing data on video / audio main program information and broadcasting the data, wherein a broadcast station includes, as the data, a digest including tag information as control information and content as main body information. After receiving the EPG digest having the content of the tag information of each digest as a content, setting a reception schedule for each digest, and temporarily storing the digests received according to the reception schedule without omission,
A storage-type information broadcast system, wherein a digest selected from the digest is re-stored, and the re-stored digest content is displayed based on a user request. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the contents are multimedia information for introducing a main program, a program main body composed of video and audio,
M, application program, questionnaire, mail or data, and the tag information is content index information, content update information, digest broadcast date and time, next broadcast schedule information, and information for controlling access to the content. , Including at least one of security information to prevent falsification of the content, information indicating the digest and the access path to the information introduced by the digest, and target information indicating the audience group of the digest set by the digest creator. The storage type information broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A receiving terminal device estimates a size of a storage area required for temporarily storing a digest to be received from tag information of the EPG digest, and deletes a re-stored digest before receiving the digest. 2. The storage-type information broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the storage area required for temporary storage is secured. 4. The storage type information broadcasting system according to claim 3, wherein the receiving terminal device deletes only the content while leaving the digest tag information to be deleted. 5. A receiving terminal device of an information broadcasting system for multiplexing and broadcasting a digest including tag information of control information and content of main body information on main program information of video and audio, wherein the tag information of each digest is stored in a content. Scheduling means for receiving an EPG digest and setting a reception schedule for each digest; accumulating means for accumulating the received digest; temporarily accumulating the digest in a cache area of the accumulating means; and accumulating the selected digest. A receiving terminal device comprising: a cache control unit for controlling re-accumulation of the digest; and a display unit for displaying the re-accumulated content of the digest based on a user request. 6. The cache control unit estimates a size of the cache area necessary for temporarily storing a digest to be received from tag information of the EPG digest,
6. The receiving terminal device according to claim 5, wherein before receiving the digest, the digest stored again is erased to secure the cache area of a required size. 7. The cache control means secures an update data cache area as the cache area for temporarily storing digests that are frequently updated, and the data temporarily stored in the update data cache area includes: 7. The receiving terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the re-stored digest data before update is rewritten. 8. The cache control unit sets an update data storage area for storing frequently updated digests in the cache area, and newly stores the digest data stored in the update data storage area. 7. The receiving terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the receiving terminal device is rewritten with the digest data to be updated received. 9. The receiving terminal device according to claim 6, wherein the cache control unit deletes only the content while leaving tag information of the digest to be deleted.