KR100243843B1 - Menu selection method of settop box - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a menu selection device and a method for allowing a user to directly access a desired information by directly inputting an address corresponding to the desired information in a set-top box operated by Video On Demand (VOD). This is to eliminate the inconvenience of having to go to the root node in order to access.

The present invention displays a menu transmitted from a service provider in a menu selection screen in a tree structure so that an address of a node of a program to be entered in the initial screen can be directly inputted, and a place having desired information without having to repeat a series of processes is required. You can go directly to

Description

How to choose a menu on your set-top box

The present invention relates to a menu selection method for allowing a user to directly access a desired information by directly inputting an address corresponding to the desired information in a set top box operated by a video on demand (VOD).

In general, a VOD provides information desired by a user by transferring data between a service provider and a user, such as a two-way cable TV. That is, when a user requests information that the user wants, the service provider is configured to provide the corresponding information to the user.

Therefore, the user should go to the place where the desired information, that is, the final purpose information, is located according to the menu provided from the service provider, and the performing process thereof will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1.

In the conventional set-top box, as shown in FIG. 1, the signal converting unit 100 converts a signal transmitted and received through a transmission line connected to a service provider, and performs matching with the signal converting unit 100 and the set-top box. The matching unit 110, an ATM matching unit 120 performing an ATM cell (Asynchronous Transfer Mode Cell) matching with the matching unit 110, and an MPEG processing unit processing the MPEG signal output from the ATM matching unit 120. (130), the graphics system processor (GSP) 140 for graphic processing the signal output from the MPEG processing unit 130 as an input, and the signal output from the GSP (140) is encoded and displayed to display on the monitor It consists of a video encoder 150 for outputting.

The operation of the conventional set top box configured as described above will be described.

First, when power is turned on and initial menu information is transmitted from a service provider, the signal converter 100 converts an initial menu information signal input through a line into an electrical signal.

The initial menu information signal output from the signal converter 100 is matched by the matcher 110 and output to the ATM cell. The ATM cell is matched by the ATM in the ATM matcher 120 and then input to the MPEG processor 130. .

The signal output from the ATM matching unit 120 is MPEG processed by the MPEG processing unit 130 and output as an MPEG stream.

In this case, the GSP 140 generates a signal for displaying the MPEG stream output from the MPEG processing unit 130, a file for screen display of the memory, and control information transmitted through the network as an input, and displays the signals as an input. The video encoder 150 encodes and displays the monitor so that it can be displayed on the screen of the monitor.

At this time, the initial menu displayed on the screen of the monitor is for the most basic selection for accessing the desired information as shown in FIG. At this time, to access the place where the desired information is obtained to obtain the desired information, select the desired one from the menu displayed on the screen.

When the user selects a desired menu from the menu displayed on the screen by using the remote controller, the remote controller signal receiving unit 170 receives it and transmits it to the CPU 160. At this time, the CPU 160 sends a signal to the service provider to transmit the selected menu to the ATM matching unit 120 through the data bus, and the ATM matching unit 120 makes the ATM cell a signal to match the line matching unit 110. Transfer to the track through the conversion unit 100.

Similarly, in order to display the menu on the screen so that the next detailed menu corresponding to the selected menu can be displayed, the service provider sends the corresponding information through the track and displays the information on the monitor as described above.

By repeating the above process, it is possible to go to the end destination information desired by the user. In other words, a tree is used to arrive where the desired end purpose information is hierarchically.

The process of going to the final destination in which hierarchically desired information is described will be described with reference to FIG. 2 as an example.

When the user wants a cartoon movie for children, as shown in Fig. 2 (a), by pressing the button corresponding to the entertainment from the menu displayed on the screen to select the entertainment. When the entertainment is selected in this way, the service provider transmits information on the submenu related to the entertainment, and the set-top box receives and processes the information, and then displays menu information related to the entertainment on the screen of the monitor as shown in FIG. Will be displayed.

That is, as shown in (b) of FIG. 2, when 'movie', 'sport', 'show', and 'game' corresponding to entertainment are displayed, the user selects 'movie' corresponding to a desired menu from among them. Done.

When the user selects the 'movie', as described above, the service provider receives the information and transmits the information so that the submenu after the movie can be displayed on the screen of the monitor.

According to the transmitted information, the screen of the monitor displays' adult ', adolescent', and 'children' and so on, and the user selects a child's use.

Through this process, the user can obtain information about children's cartoons hierarchically desired by the tree structure.

However, the method of navigating the menu by the conventional hierarchical structure makes it difficult to know at what level the user is located in the hierarchical structure because the contents of the screen are constantly changed whenever the user selects the menu. If you go back to the beginning of the time or you have to start again from the initial screen (Root Node), there was an inconvenience in use.

The present invention for improving the problem is to set the address of the set-top box to eliminate the inconvenience of having to go to the root node (Root Node) in order to access the desired information by allowing the user to directly enter the address for the desired information Its purpose is to provide a menu selection method.

1 is a block diagram of a conventional set-top box

2 (a) (b) (c) (d) are views for explaining a menu selection process

3 is a block diagram of a set-top box according to the present invention

4 is a view for explaining a menu selection method according to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a menu selection method according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing>

300: line matching unit 310: signal conversion unit

320: matching unit 400: ATM matching unit

410: MPEG processing unit 420: GSP

500: CPU510: remote control signal receiver

600: menu display 610: RAM DAC

620: memory

In order to achieve the above object, the menu selection method of the set-top box according to the present invention comprises: a first menu selection screen displaying step of receiving menu information transmitted from a service provider and displaying a menu selection screen and a tree structure; A tree address processing step of inputting a tree address of a menu desired by a user and receiving and displaying corresponding information from a service provider; A menu selection step of selecting a desired menu according to a menu displayed on the menu selection screen; And performing a second menu selection screen display step of receiving submenu information corresponding to the selected menu transmitted from a service provider to display a submenu selection screen and proceeding to the tree address processing step.

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

In the menu selection method of the set-top box according to the present invention, as shown in Fig. 5, the first menu selection screen display steps ST1, ST2, ST3, tree address processing steps ST4, ST10, ST11, ST12, ST13, menu The selection steps ST5 and ST6 and the second menu selection screen display steps ST7, ST8 and ST9 are performed.

The first menu selection screen display steps ST1, ST2, and ST3 are steps of receiving menu information transmitted from a service provider and displaying a menu selection screen and a tree structure thereof.

The tree address processing step (ST4, ST10, ST11, ST12, ST13) is a step in which the user inputs the desired tree address and receives and displays corresponding information from the service provider. The user inputs the tree address of the desired menu. In step ST4, if a tree address is input, determining whether a corresponding tree address has been visited (ST10); If the tree address has not been visited, automatically performing tree address input sequentially and transmitting the tree address information to the service provider, and if the tree address has been reached, transmitting the tree address information (ST11 and ST12); And receiving and displaying information corresponding to the transmitted text address information from a service provider (ST13).

The menu selection steps ST5 and ST6 are steps of selecting a desired menu according to the menu displayed on the menu selection screen.

The second menu selection screen display step (ST7, ST8, ST9) receives the submenu information corresponding to the selected menu transmitted from the service provider to display the submenu selection screen and its tree structure and the tree address processing step ( The process proceeds to ST4, ST10, ST11, ST12, ST13).

The menu selection method of the set-top box according to the present invention made as described above will be described in detail as follows.

When the user turns on the power by pressing the power key of the remote control (ST1), the remote control signal receiving unit 510 receives this and notifies the CPU 500, and the CPU 500 recognizes this and requests the service provider to select an initial menu. To transmit a signal.

After that, when a signal related to initial menu selection is input from a service provider through a line, the signal converter 310 converts the signal into an electrical signal, and the matching unit 320 sets the electrical signal output from the signal converter 310 to the set top. Match to fit the box.

As such, the ATM cells output from the matching unit 320 of the line matching unit 300 are processed by the ATM matching unit 400 and the MPEG processing unit 410 and processed by the GSP 420 to the RAM DAC 610. It is input (ST2).

Meanwhile, the memory 620 stores a tree structure corresponding to tree information of an initial menu transmitted from a service provider, and the information of the tree can be displayed with a value of ff or 0, and each node of the tree Is shown with a serial number and a brief description.

The information about the tree structure stored in the memory 620 is input to the RAM DAC 610 and the initial menu and the tree structure thereof are displayed on the monitor as shown in FIG. 4 by the demultiplexing operation of the RAM DAC 610. Is displayed (ST3).

That is, for example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, an initial menu initially transmitted from a service provider, that is, menu information (1. entertainment, 2. preview, 3. learning, 4. other) of the first level of the tree is displayed on the monitor. The memory 620 stores a tree structure thereof.

When the user sees this and selects a menu by pressing a menu selection key of the remote controller to select a menu by a general hierarchical method, the remote control receiver 510 receives the notification and notifies the CPU 500, and the CPU 500 does this. Recognize and transmit the information on the menu to the service provider (ST6).

In this process, if the lowest menu is not selected, that is, the menu selection is not completed, the information on the submenu thereof is received from the service provider and output to the monitor by the RAM DAC 610. The information is stored in the memory 620 in a tree structure, and the stored tree structure is output to the RAM DAC 610 and displayed together on the menu selection screen and the monitor by the multiplexing operation (ST7, ST8, ST9).

Through this process, the hierarchical menu received from the service provider is stored in a tree structure in the memory 620 and displayed together with the menu selection screen on the screen through the RAM DCAC 610.

On the other hand, if the user enters the tree address through the numeric keys of the remote control, for example, press the number 9 to see the monitor screen shown in Figure 4, the CPU 500 will determine whether the address has ever been (ST10) That is, if it has been visited by determining whether it has been visited through the path 1 → 8 → 9, that is, if the tree structure is stored in the memory 620, the address information of the corresponding tree node 9 is immediately serviced. The tree information is transmitted to the provider and received and displayed (ST12, ST13). On the other hand, if the user does not go to the corresponding address, the CPU 500 returns the address of the tree node branched from the current tree note 1 → 8 → 9. The path is automatically input sequentially and its tree address information is transmitted to the service provider (ST11, ST12).

As described above, the apparatus and method for selecting a menu of the set-top box according to the present invention can be conveniently moved to the desired information without having to repeat a series of processes in the initial screen in order to go to the desired information. There is this.

Claims (2)

A first menu selection screen display step of receiving menu information transmitted from a service provider and displaying a menu selection screen and a tree structure; A tree address processing step of inputting a tree address of a menu desired by a user and receiving and displaying corresponding information from a service provider; A menu selection step of selecting a desired menu according to a menu displayed on the menu selection screen; And A menu of a set-top box, which is performed by a second menu selection screen display step of receiving a submenu information corresponding to the selected menu transmitted from a service provider to display a submenu selection screen and proceed to the tree address processing step; How to choose. The method of claim 1, wherein the tree address processing step Inputting a tree address of a menu desired by a user; Determining whether a tree address has been visited when a tree address is input; If the tree address has not been visited, automatically performing tree address input sequentially to transmit the tree address information to the service provider, and if the address has been reached, transmitting the tree address information; And And receiving and displaying information corresponding to the transmitted text address information from a service provider.