KR100616103B1 - Method and system for managing electronic program guide - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic program guide system and method thereof, and more particularly, to receiving and displaying an electronic program guide (EPG) on a terminal device receiving a digital signal, and data generated when the user uses the EPG. A demultiplex processing unit (10) capable of storing and managing a demultiplexer for demultiplexing a plurality of desired programs among video and audio data included in an input transport stream; An MPEG decoder 20 for decoding the received transport stream into audio, video and data; A broadcast data processor (30) for processing the decoded data; An EPG data processor 50 for classifying the electronic program for guiding by channel, program objectizing, storing the currently broadcast program object, and generating classification display information according to a user input; On-screen display information for classifying the program object information received from the EPG data processing unit 50 according to a condition and outputting the program object information in a flowable manner in the display unit on a display unit assigned to each channel is configured. An EPG implementation 60; An image output unit 70 for reconstructing the screen configuration information transmitted from the video processing unit 32 and the data processing unit 33 and the screen configuration information transmitted from the EPG implementation unit 60 and outputting them to the screen; Including a user-controlled input interface (90), it is possible to obtain information in the independent channel unit, rather than providing the information of the conventional time-based, and shows a problem of displaying information outside the cell which is a problem of the conventional EPG It is possible to show selected program information at a glance, and to display the program sequence information at the bottom of the existing broadcasting system at the bottom of the screen.

Program, guide, feedback.

Description

Electronic program guide system and method thereof {Method and system for managing electronic program guide}             

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional electronic program guide;

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of the electronic program guide system of the present invention

       Block Diagram,

Figure 3 is a configuration of the feedback for the electronic program guide system of the present invention

       Detailed block diagram,

4 illustrates a method using the electronic program guide system of the present invention.

       Flowchart,

5 is an overall configuration using the electronic program guide system of the present invention.

       A diagram representing an interface,

6 is a detail configured using the electronic program guide system of the present invention

       A diagram representing an interface,

7 is a view of another utilization interface of the electronic program guide system of the present invention.

       Figure showing an example,

8 shows the program utilization by the electronic program guide system of the present invention.

       Flowchart for data collection.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: demultiplex processing unit 20: MPEG decoder

30: broadcasting data processing unit 40: audio output unit

50: EPG data processing unit 60: EPG implementation

70: image output unit 80: memory unit

90: input interface 100: EPG feedback server

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic program guide system and method thereof, and more particularly, to receiving and displaying an electronic program guide (EPG) on a terminal device receiving a digital signal, and data generated when the user uses the EPG. The present invention relates to an electronic program guide system and method for storing and managing the same.

Conventional EPG user interface displays program information in the form of a grid or static list consisting of a static channel axis and a time axis on the screen, and the user uses the EPG information screen displayed on the screen. Obtains desired information, and the user selects a channel item on the EPG information screen to directly control channel selection for the channel.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional electronic program guide, showing a grid user interface.

The grid-type interface forms a channel axis on the vertical axis and a time axis on the horizontal axis to display a list of program information according to each channel according to the development of the time, and each cell displays start time information of each program. The program name will be displayed together.

Thus, when the user presses an appropriate input key after selecting the cell, the detailed information of the program is displayed or the program is displayed on the television.

However, as described above, the conventional EPG user interface expresses the programs that are the contents of the organization information in a cell in a static grid having a constant size and size, so that information about the program is displayed in one cell. When the title of a program and the display contents in a cell are longer than a certain length due to the inherent characteristics of the television medium, which have large fonts and screen elements of letters, the information contained in one cell may be displayed. As a result, more than a certain length is omitted, and additional processing must be performed. Therefore, when the user generates another additional input such as pressing an OK button, there is a problem that the information of the entire program can be viewed.

In addition, when the EPG is implemented as a grid or list of the time axis, the movement of the time axis is inevitable in order to view a program sequence after a predetermined time, thereby causing information change of all channels.

In particular, due to the nature of the media, the contents shown on one screen of the television can be limited, and it has a function of displaying the organization information about time including hundreds of channels and a certain period of time. It is difficult to just follow the instructions, and there is a need for a simple, powerful EPG user interface that is new, more user friendly and user friendly.

The present invention is to solve the above drawbacks, to provide a smooth navigation to the user using the electronic program guide (EPG), it is possible to acquire information in the independent channel unit instead of providing the information on a conventional time basis, Solve the problem of showing information outside the cell, which is the problem of EPG, and configure dynamic EPG to show selected program information at a glance, collect utilization data of viewers who are users of EPG, and process and utilize the data. To provide an electronic program guide system and a method thereof.

The present invention includes a demultiplex processor for demultiplexing a plurality of desired programs among video and audio data included in an input transport stream; An MPEG decoder for decoding the received MPEG transport stream into audio, video and data; An audio processor which receives the decoded audio data and delivers the pre-amplified signal to an audio output unit; A video processor which processes the decoded video data and transmits the decoded video data to an image output unit; A data processor for processing additional data in addition to audio and video; An EPG data processing unit for classifying the electronic program for guiding by channel, objectizing the program, storing the currently broadcast program object, and creating classification display information according to a user input; EPG implementation for configuring on-screen display information for classifying program object information received from the EPG data processing unit according to a condition and outputting the program object information to the display unit assigned to each channel so as to flow in the display unit. Wealth; An image output unit configured to reconstruct and output the screen configuration information transmitted from the video processing unit and the data processing unit and the screen configuration information transmitted from the EPG implementation unit to the screen; This is accomplished by including an input interface controlled by the user.

A method of using the system of the present invention, the present invention comprises: a first step in which a user requests a program guide display through an input interface; A second step of checking whether existing EPG data exists in the memory and receiving corresponding EPG data and decoding the corresponding information when there is no corresponding EPG data; A third step of objectizing program information included in a current channel to output EPG data; A fourth step of outputting a title portion of a program object of a program currently being broadcast in an on-air field; A fifth step of outputting the knitting information in the broadcasting order field after the current time using the program object information of the corresponding channel; A sixth step of receiving and processing new programs according to an EPG update cycle and program-objectifying the updated information; A seventh step of storing a current program object of a past program in a memory unit; And an eighth step of outputting corresponding knitting information using the generated program object.

A system utilization method of the present invention, the present invention comprises: a display step of displaying broadcast program objects; A mobile display step of checking whether a maintenance time of the current channel is constant and automatically displaying program list information of the current channel by moving from one side to the other side if the current channel stays in the currently focused channel for a predetermined time; An input performing step of performing a corresponding operation according to a user input; A collection and storage step of collecting data generated when the user uses the EPG program in an EPG data collection engine and storing the data in a memory unit; At the point of time of transmitting the collected data, the EPG data processing unit transmits the stored EPG utilization data to the EPG feedback server through the transmitter and waits for user input.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the electronic program guide system of the present invention, the system configuration of one embodiment of the present invention is as follows.

The system of the present invention is a user receiving terminal device, for example, a set-top box used in digital broadcasting, VOD, AOD, Internet service, digital home service, a terminal device used in a multimedia PC, PC, etc. Receives broadcast data and displays the received data so that the user can easily use the video data, and receives the RF signal transmitted from the transmission station of the broadcasting station, demodulates the digital signal, and then includes the video included in the input transport stream, A demultiplex processor 10 and an MPEG decoder 20 for demultiplexing a plurality of desired programs among audio data are included. Subsequently, the received broadcast data is processed by the broadcast data processing unit 30 including the audio processing unit 31, the video processing unit 32, the data processing unit 33, and the like. Processing of additional data takes place.

That is, the broadcast data is demultiplexed by the processing unit 10 for processing each service multiplexed according to the channel, and an MPEG decoder for decoding (parsing) the received MPEG transport stream into audio, video and data ( 20) is processed primarily.

The audio data decoded by the MPGE decoder 20 is transferred to the audio processing unit 31, and is then transmitted to the audio output unit 40 of the set-top box through preamplification and used through the corresponding audio output interface. The data is transferred to the image output unit 70 via the video processor 32.

In addition, the data processor 33 processes additional data in addition to audio and video. The additional data includes specific system data for digital broadcasting and digital contents for a plurality of specific applications and users. Event information and service information used in the electronic program guide (EPG) are separately transmitted to the EPG data processing unit 50 for processing.

Thereafter, the information passed through the data processing unit 33 receives the EPG related data received from the EPG data processing unit 50, and the control data input from the input interface 90 including the user's input device is the EPG data processing unit. Process instruction is given to (50).

The EPG data processing unit 50 classifies the electronic program for guiding by channel, program objectizes it, stores the currently broadcast program object, and creates classification display information according to a user input.

Thereafter, the display information is transmitted to the EPG implementation unit 60. If necessary, the data of the memory unit 80 is read to generate display information of the electronic program information, and new data is updated in the memory unit 80.

The memory unit 80 has data on existing information according to a user's use of EPG, such as information on a reserved program, a bookmark, and favorite channel information.

In the EPG implementation unit 60, program object information received from the EPG data processing unit 50 is arranged in order according to a condition, and configures on screen display information for scrolling output of information to be displayed.

The scrolling output is to output the program object information 310 (refer to FIG. 5) to the display unit 300 (refer to FIG. 5) assigned to each channel so as to be displayed in a flowable manner within the display unit.

In addition, the EPG implementation unit 60 displays a predetermined number of objects in the display unit according to the length of the respective objects, so that the number of objects displayed according to the length of each object is increased. It can be adjusted, and therefore, there is no concept of a conventional cell in displaying, and regardless of the size or length of the program object display area .

The screen configuration information transmitted from the video processing unit 32 and the data processing unit 50 and the information transmitted from the EPG implementation unit 60 are transmitted to the image output unit 70.

3 is a detailed block diagram of a configuration for feedback of the electronic program guide system of the present invention, which is an enlarged view of the EPG processing portion of FIG. 2, wherein only the EPG information in the data processing unit 33 is the EPG data processing unit 50. Received) shows the configuration to enable the user to use the EPG and collect the data used to deliver to the EPG feedback server 100.

As shown, the receiving unit 91 receives a user control signal from an input interface 90 such as a remote controller, and the receiving unit 91 transmits a control signal of the user to the EPG data processing unit 50, and the EPG data processing unit. 50 processes the EPG according to the user's input signal.

At this time, the raw data for the user's input signal and processing is collected in a predetermined form in the EPG data collection engine (110).

The raw data for the input signal and processing are data generated when the user uses the EPG, including information about user preferences and behavior patterns such as searching for channels and viewing information of a program, and program search as an additional function of the EPG, It refers to useful data that can be collected and processed as log information generated when using EPG functions such as reservation, recording, bookmarking, and favorite channel.

The EPG data processing unit 50 may store user input data in a memory inside the terminal device or utilize existing data stored in the memory if necessary. In addition, the data collected by the EPG data collection engine 110 may also be stored in the memory, inquired, deleted, and the like.

The data collected by the EPG data collection engine 110 is transmitted by the EPG data processing unit 50 to the EPG feedback server 100 via a return path from the transmission unit 101 by a predetermined event.

The transmission point at which the EPG collection data is transmitted to the EPG feedback server 100 is when the EPG program is terminated, the terminal is terminated, and the accumulated memory by the use of the EPG data collection engine 110 exceeds a certain amount. Previous data is collected and stored in the memory of the terminal device.

4 is a flow chart illustrating a method using the electronic program guide system of the present invention, the method of the present invention comprising: a first step (S1) in which a user requests a program guide display through an input interface; A second step (S2) of checking whether existing EPG data exists in the memory and receiving the corresponding EPG data and decoding the corresponding information when there is no corresponding EPG data; A third step S3 of objectizing program information included in a current channel to output EPG data; A fourth step S4 of outputting a title portion of a program object of a program currently being broadcast in an on-air field; A fifth step (S5) of outputting the knitting information using the program object information of the corresponding channel in the broadcast order field after the current time; A sixth step (S6) of receiving and processing new programs according to the EPG update cycle and program-objectifying the updated information; A seventh step S7 of storing a current program object of a past program in a memory unit; The technical features of the present invention include an eighth step S8 of outputting corresponding knitting information using the generated program object.

In addition, a ninth step S9 of displaying past organization information and additional information using a program object when the user views the past organization information may be further configured.

Thereafter, the user uses the EPG program by the system and the method, and the information generated by the use can be transferred to the EPG feedback server 100 and used as described above.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an entire interface constructed using the electronic program guide system of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a detailed interface constructed using the electronic program guide system of the present invention. The electronic program guide system and the electronic program guide interface formed by the method are shown.

As shown, an electronic program guide (EPG) objectizes program information related to a channel with respect to the channel axis 200 so that these program objects 310 are displayed on the screen, and the program objects 310 are When the user moves to any program object 310 on the EPG information screen by using an external control input device such as a remote controller, the information of the item is automatically scrolled to display additional information on the screen. An electronic program guide (EPG) interface for independently moving program information of a channel selected by a user to view program information after the invisible reference time is shown.

 According to the present invention, when the control pointer is moved to the program object 310 or other display area 400, the display of the functions associated with them is separated, so that the user can conveniently and conveniently operate the function of the electronic program guide (EPG). Make it aware.

Operation in this embodiment of the user interface is as follows.

First, the focus is moved to a desired channel through a control device such as a remote controller. Part A of FIG. 6 shows a state in which the user moves and is focused.

The focus pointer of the focused channel is indicated by a block or color representing the program object. When the user selects an input button in the focused state (for example, the left and right buttons of the remote control), the remote control control focus pointer in the focused state of the channel is “a broadcast sequence field 500 after this time”. Go to. At this time, if such focusing is held for a predetermined time, for example, about 0.5 seconds, or if there is a specific setting of the viewer or selection through the input device, the information of the broadcast sequence cell after this time of the focused channel is left. On the right hand side.

 In this case, when the left and right buttons of the remote controller are pressed, the focus movement of the broadcast sequence cell after this time, which flows from left to right, is performed, and new data reading is performed by the user.

In addition, when the user clicks a button related to viewing the additional information of the remote controller to view the additional information of the focused channel, the additional information of the selected program of the current channel is displayed.

When the remote control control focusing is set to the "broadcast sequence field 500 after this time", pressing the upper button of the remote control moves to the upper channel and focusing to the channel axis 200. Likewise, when the lower button is pressed, the focusing moves to the lower channel and the focusing moves to the channel axis 200.

7 is a diagram showing an example of another utilization interface of the electronic program guide system of the present invention, which is another utilization interface of an EPG program called Ticker, and a specific button when a user watches on a general channel other than the EPG channel. Press to send a signal to easily check the programming information using the ticker program.

That is, the display unit 300 and the program object 310 information located in the display unit 300 are displayed on one side of the general channel, which is not the EPG dedicated channel in which the EPG is performed. By displaying the display of programming information, which is the core technology of EPG, except for the additional functions of the EPG, on a certain part of the screen, it is easy to check the programming information of the broadcasting while watching the broadcast on the general channel and to secure the visible area of the broadcasting being watched can do.

By using the ticker program as described above, channel selection can be performed while the video screen is secured to the maximum, and a list of programs of the corresponding channel can be effectively and visually viewed at the same time. In addition, in the existing broadcasting system, 'broadcast sequence after this time', which passively provides program programming information at the bottom of the screen, can be replaced with a function that actively uses real time when a viewer wants to watch a broadcast in digital broadcasting.

Press the up, down, left and right confirmation button to operate the ticker program to select and move the program, and to display the program guide ticker information screen or related information in a semi-transparent layer on the video screen or a portion of the screen. The present invention provides an electronic program guide interface of a display device that maximizes the visible area of a video by avoiding abnormalities.

The operation of the ticker program consists of the following steps.

First, when the control focus moves to an object 310 of the program guide located in the display unit 300 using a user interface such as a remote controller, the detailed description or menu list of the program represented by the object is automatically scrolled and the corresponding information is displayed. Is displayed on the additional information screen (window), and if the control focus is moved to the channel number or channel name, information on the currently broadcasted program object 310 is displayed.

You can specify the text for the program list and the color for the focus that controls the program object. In addition, this can be used to express the classification of the current date, the next date, the next date, etc. through the addition or subtraction of color.

8 is a flow chart for program utilization and data collection by the electronic program guide system of the present invention, when the EPG program is activated, a display step (S100) for displaying by the channel axis; Checking whether the maintenance time of the current channel is constant, and if the predetermined time (0.5 seconds or less) stays in the currently focused channel, the mobile display step (S200) for automatically displaying the program list information of the current channel by moving from one side to the other side; ; An input performing step (S300) of performing a corresponding operation according to a user input; A collection and storage step of collecting data generated when the user uses the EPG program in the EPG data collection engine and storing the data in the memory unit (S400); When the collected data is transmitted, the EPG data processing unit transmits the stored EPG utilization data through the transmitter to the EPG feedback server and comprises a server transmission step (S500) waiting for a user's input.

The input performing step S300 more specifically includes the following steps performed when a corresponding command is input through a user's input device such as a remote controller.

1. Shanghai East input step (S310): Move the channel axis, the focus of the channel.

2. Left and right shift input (S320): The left input represents the previous program of the focusing program of the selected channel, and the right input represents the movement of the focus program of the selected channel to the next program.

3. Quick sort input (S330): In order to view a user's quick selective program list, the user receives a priority based on the type of program for the user and sorts the list of programs based on the data.

Therefore, the priority is determined based on the content type data input by the user, and the program list is sorted according to the priority. At this time, the program is output to the sort list by the priority axis regardless of the channel axis and time axis.

4. Function input (S340): Receives input with a key mapped to functions related to a favorite channel, reservation, bookmark, additional information, and the like, and performs operations on the corresponding functions.

5. Confirmation input (S350): Shows the current broadcast on the currently focused channel to the audio / video output unit, and outputs the additional information of the focused program in addition to the audio / video on the display.

The above embodiment is an example for explaining the technical idea of the present invention in detail, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above drawings and embodiments.

The present invention as described above provides a smooth navigation to a user using an electronic program guide (EPG), it is possible to acquire information in the independent channel unit, rather than providing the information of the conventional time reference, which is a problem with the conventional EPG Solve the problem of showing information outside the cell, showing the selected program information at a glance.

In addition, EPG utilization data can be collected to statistically analyze and process the information, and the analyzed processing data can be reprocessed and provided to a user later, and can be industrially used in various aspects.

In addition, in the existing broadcasting system, the broadcasting sequence after this time, which provides program programming information at the bottom of the screen, can be replaced with a function of actively using a real time when a viewer wants to watch a broadcast in digital broadcasting. .

This effect provides a more convenient and concise interface for the user's broadcasting program information, thereby strengthening the user's willingness to actively watch new expansion media.

Claims (15)

A demultiplex processor for demultiplexing a plurality of programs selected from video and audio data included in an input transport stream; An MPEG decoder for decoding the MPEG transport stream into audio, video and data; And an audio processor which receives the decoded audio data and transmits the pre-amplified signal to an audio output unit, a video processor that processes the decoded video data, and a data processor that processes additional data in addition to audio and video. A broadcast data processor; An EPG data processing unit for classifying electronic programs for each channel, program objectization, and storing currently broadcast program objects, and selecting at least some of the objects by user input to generate classification display information; The program object information received from the EPG data processing unit is classified according to a condition, and the program object information is arranged on the display unit assigned to each channel in order of time to configure on-screen display information that is displayed to flow within the display unit. An EPG implementation; And an image output unit configured to reconstruct and output the screen configuration information transmitted from the video processing unit and the data processing unit and the screen configuration information transmitted from the EPG implementation unit to the screen. The electronic program guide system of claim 1, further comprising a memory unit connected to the EPG data processor and configured to store data of at least one user among information on a stored reserved program, a bookmark, and favorite channel information. . The EPG feedback server according to claim 1, wherein the data processing unit receives other data information including the EPG from the EPG data processing unit so that the user can utilize the electronic program guide and collects and uses the user data. Electronic program guide system, characterized in that configured. The electronic program guide system of claim 1, wherein the EPG data processing unit stores past program objects before the current time in a memory so that the user can view the past program object information when the user wants the past information. . The electronic program guide system of claim 1, wherein the EPG implementor displays a predetermined number of objects in the display unit according to a length of the respective objects. The electronic program guide system according to claim 1, wherein the MPEG transport stream or EPG information is received by a receiving terminal apparatus through another communication network such as the Internet. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein in displaying the screen display information from the EPG implementation, the vertical axis of the display displays a channel axis, and the horizontal axis displays program object information organized based on a channel, and on one side of the display. An electronic program guide system characterized by displaying an area representing a program being broadcast. In the electronic program guide method, When the user requests a program guide display through an input interface, checking whether existing EPG data exists in the memory, and receiving the corresponding EPG data and decoding the corresponding information when there is no corresponding EPG data; A second step of objectizing program information included in a current channel to output EPG data to a display; A third step of outputting a title portion of a program object of a program currently being broadcast on one side of the display; Outputting knitting information to the other side of the display by using program object information of a corresponding channel; A fifth step of receiving and processing new programs according to an EPG update period and program-objectifying the updated information; A sixth step of storing a current program object of a past program in a memory unit; And a seventh step of outputting corresponding knitting information to a display using the generated program object. The electronic program guide method of claim 8, wherein the program information is implemented by partially displaying the program information as a result of performing the first to seventh steps on one side of the general channel screen instead of the EPG channel. delete delete In the method of utilizing the system of claim 1, A display step of displaying broadcast program objects; A mobile display step of checking whether a maintenance time of the current channel is constant and automatically displaying program list information of the current channel by moving from one side to the other side if the current channel stays in the currently focused channel for a predetermined time; An input performing step of performing a corresponding operation according to a user input; A collection and storage step of collecting data generated when the user uses the EPG program in an EPG data collection engine and storing the data in a memory unit; And transmitting the collected EPG utilization data collected by the EPG data processing unit to the EPG feedback server through the transmission unit and waiting for a user's input. The method of claim 12, wherein in the server transmission step, the time point for transmitting the collected user data to the EPG feedback server is when the EPG program ends or when the terminal ends, or when the accumulated memory due to the use of the EPG data collection engine exceeds a predetermined amount. How to use the electronic program guide system, characterized in that. The method of claim 12, wherein the performing of the input, Moving the channel axis and moving the focus of the channel according to the up and down input of the user; Moving to the previous program of the focusing program of the channel selected according to the left input, and moving left and right to move to the next program of the focusing program of the selected channel according to the right input; A quick sorting step of receiving a priority of a type of a program of a user from the user and sorting the list of programs based on the data for a quick selective program list viewing of the user; A function performing step of receiving input with a key mapped to functions related to a preference channel, a reservation, a bookmark, additional information, etc., and performing operations on corresponding functions; It shows the current broadcast for the currently focused channel to the audio / video output unit, and includes a confirmation input step of outputting the additional information of the focused program in addition to the audio / video on the display How to use the electronic program guide system. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein in the quick sorting step, the priority is determined based on the data of the content type input by the user, and the program list is sorted according to the priority. A method of using an electronic program guide system, characterized by outputting a sorted list.

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