KR100715141B1 - Apparatus for accessing web pages in iptv and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an apparatus and method for allocating a web page address to a channel in Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). The apparatus of the present invention is a broadcast server system for providing a television broadcasting service through the Internet, a plurality of web servers connected to the Internet to provide web pages according to a client's request, and connected to the Internet and operated by a user's remote control. In the system consisting of an IPTV set-top box is operated according to the IPTV set-top box to receive the TV broadcast provided by the broadcast server system or to request a web page to the web server and to output through a display device, the IPTV set-top box has channel information A channel list comprising a channel number, a channel type, and a channel reference position; An allocator for registering a web page address requested by a user to the channel list and allocating the web page address to a channel; And a processing unit for searching for a corresponding channel number in the channel list when receiving a channel number from the user and moving to a corresponding web page through a browser if the corresponding channel type is a web page. Enter the channel number to view the web page.

IPTV, Web Page, Channel Assignment, Move, Channel Type, Reference Location

Description

APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING WEB PAGES IN IPTV AND METHOD THEREOF}

1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration for a general Internet television broadcast to which the present invention is applied;

2 is a view showing an example of a general Internet TV broadcast to which the present invention is applied;

3 is a block diagram illustrating an IPTV set-top to which the present invention is applied;

4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a channel allocation concept according to the present invention;

5 is a flowchart illustrating a channel allocation procedure according to the present invention;

6 is a flowchart illustrating a channel movement procedure according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

102: internet 110: web server

120: Internet broadcasting server system 122: Web server

124: streaming server 130: IPTV set-top box

131: network interface unit 132: decoder

133: audio processor 134: video processor

135: remote control receiver 136: processor

137: on-screen display unit 138: memory

139: storage device 140: display device

150: remote controller 10: allocation unit

20: processor 30: channel list

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for setting a channel of an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for allocating a web page address to a channel in an Internet television system.

In general, IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) is a service that combines communication and broadcasting that provides broadcasting, video content, and information to a TV through an IP network, and is a TPS that integrates high-speed Internet, VoIP, and IPTV based on an IP network. It is evolving as (Triple Play Service). To use IPTV, you need a television receiver, an IPTV-STB, and an Internet line. You can add a set-top box or a modem to the television set and turn it on just as you turn on the television. Therefore, even a person who is not familiar with a computer can use the remote control to receive various contents and additional services provided by the Internet such as watching movies, home shopping, home banking, online games, and MP3s. The IPTV is not different from general cable broadcasting or satellite broadcasting in that it provides broadcasting contents including video, but it is characterized by the added interactivity.

As described above, the Internet can only be viewed using a computer. However, with the appearance of IPTV, a web service on the Internet can be used through a TV. Conventional TVs are modeled after the Internet function on an existing computer. However, there are some problems due to the difference between the computer and the TV. Among them, a problem occurs when you want to view a web page on the Internet. That is, in the conventional TV, only the video channel is viewed, so it is easy to control with a numeric remote control. However, since it is necessary to input a web page address in order to move a web page as the Internet function, it is inconvenient to operate the remote control. In order to solve this problem, the existing Internet TV system used a function called "favorites" in the computer. This bookmark function saves a web page in a specific list and then moves the web page stored in the list by selecting it from the list.

By the way, this favorite method has to find the desired web page from the list, so it is troublesome to find it by pressing the remote control key several times.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to assign a web page address (URL) to a channel number and to simply enter the channel number to move to the web page. An apparatus and method for allocating a page to a channel are provided.

In order to achieve the above object, the apparatus of the present invention includes a broadcast server system for providing a television broadcasting service through the Internet, a plurality of web servers connected to the Internet for providing a web page according to a client's request, In the system consisting of an IPTV set-top box connected to the Internet and operated according to a user's remote control operation to receive a TV broadcast provided by the broadcast server system or to request web pages from the web servers and output them through a display device,

A channel list in which the IPTV set-top box has channel information; An allocator for registering a web page address requested by a user to the channel list and allocating the web page address to a channel; And a processing unit for searching for a corresponding channel number of the channel list when receiving a channel number from a user and moving to a corresponding web page through a browser if the corresponding channel type is a web page. By inputting the channel number to the web page characterized in that.

In addition, to achieve the above object, the method of the present invention comprises the steps of: searching for an empty channel when a channel allocation request is made for a current web page; If there is an empty channel as a result of the search, selecting an arbitrary channel number or receiving a channel number from a user and assigning the channel number to a channel list; Setting a channel type of the corresponding channel number to "web page"; Setting a URL of the current web page as a channel reference position of a corresponding channel number; Determining whether a corresponding channel number exists by searching the channel list when a viewer inputs a channel number using a remote controller; If there is a corresponding channel number, determining a channel type of the corresponding channel number; And if the channel type is a web page, requesting a web page according to the HTTP protocol to an address of a channel reference position of the channel number in the channel list after executing a web browser.

The channel list includes a channel number, a channel type indicating whether the channel is an image channel or a web page, and a channel reference position storing an address for accessing the channel.

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

1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration for a general Internet television broadcast to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is an example showing a sequence of a general Internet TV broadcast to which the present invention is applied.

According to the present invention, a system for providing television broadcasting over the Internet is connected to a broadcasting server system 120 for providing a television broadcasting service through the Internet 102, as shown in FIG. And a plurality of web servers 110 for providing a web page according to a client's request, and are connected to the Internet 102 and operated according to a user's operation of the remote controller 150 to be provided by the broadcast server system 120. IPTV set-top box 130 for receiving television broadcasts or requesting web pages from the web servers 110 and outputting them through the display device 140.

Referring to FIG. 1, the web server 110 is a typical website for providing a web page via the Internet 102, and the broadcast server system 120 is a web server 122 and video content for providing a web service. Or a streaming server 124 for providing a TV broadcast program via the Internet 102.

The IPTV set-top box 130 is equipped with a web browser for using a web service and a multimedia player for playing a video through the Internet 102. The IPTV set-top box 130 receives a TV broadcast or a web page according to a user's remote controller 150. Receives and outputs to the display device 140. The display device 140 is a conventional CRT, LCD, or PDP television or monitor.

An example of a procedure of servicing an Internet broadcast in the system of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2, the browser of the IPTV set-top box 130 requests a meta file of a television broadcast to be accessed by accessing the web server 122 of the broadcasting server system (S1). Accordingly, the web server 122 provides the meta file, and the browser of the IPTV set-top box 130 provides the meta file to the media player (S2, S3). The media player of the IPTV set-top box 130 connects to the streaming server 124 using the corresponding metafile, establishes a connection, and requests a play (S4 to S6). Accordingly, the streaming server 124 provides the corresponding audio / video stream to be played by the media player, and terminates the streaming transmission when requesting termination (S7 to S10).

3 is a block diagram illustrating an IPTV set-top box to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a channel allocation concept according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the hardware of the IPTV set-top box 130 to which the present invention is applied includes a network interface unit 131, a decoder 132, an audio processor 133, a video processor 134, and a remote controller receiver ( 135, the processor 136, the on-screen display unit (OSD: 137), the memory 138, and the storage device 139, and the processor 136 controls the overall operation according to a button operation of the remote controller 150. .

Referring to FIG. 3, the network interface unit 131 connects to a high speed network under the control of the processor 136 and transmits and receives data according to a predetermined communication protocol such as TCP / IP, UDP / IP, IGMPv2, and a received data packet. Decomposes and transmits the transport stream TS including the television broadcast signal to the decoder 132. The decoder 132 decomposes the TS packet into PES packets, decodes the video or audio data according to a predetermined standard, and delivers the audio data to the audio processor 133, and delivers the video data to the video processor 134. . The audio processor 133 converts digital audio data into an analog audio signal and outputs it. The video processor 134 converts digital video data into an analog video signal and outputs the analog video signal. The on-screen display unit 137 displays additional information such as menu settings and channel display on the screen under the control of the processor 136, and software and data are stored in the memory 138 and the storage device 139. have. In particular, the storage device 139 may store recorded data during recording. The remote control receiver 135 receives the infrared signal from the remote controller 150, decodes the corresponding scan code, and transmits button information to the processor 136.

The processor 136 performs an operating system and processes various communication protocols for communication with an application such as a web browser, a media player, or the Internet, and controls the entire operation as required by the user according to button information received from the remote controller receiver 135. do. In particular, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, when the channel allocation command is received from the user, the processor 136 performs the allocation unit 10 function to generate the channel list 30, and when the channel number is input. The processor 20 performs a function to find and receive a broadcast or web page corresponding to a channel in the channel list 30.

Referring to FIG. 4, the IPTV set-top box 130 according to the present invention receives and processes a channel list 30 having channel information, an allocator 10 for allocating a web page address to a channel, and a channel number. It includes a processing unit 20, the viewer can assign the channel number to the web page and then enter the channel number with the remote controller 150 to view the web page to facilitate the movement of the web page.

The channel list 30 having the channel information stores all the channels in the system as a list, and can refer to the channel list 30 to know channel information and move to a specific channel. The channel list consists of a set of channel number, channel type, and channel reference position as shown in Table 1 below.

  Channel number     Channel type        Channel reference position     One      video   mms: // Server / A     . .       . .          . .     5      Web page  http://www.yahoo.com

In Table 1, the channel number has a unique value for each channel to facilitate channel selection. The user inputs this value to the remote controller 150 to select a channel. The channel type is a value that determines whether this channel is a video channel or a web page channel. This value determines the channel type and executes different commands with the channel reference position value. The channel reference position varies depending on the channel type. If the channel type is video, the video address is located, and if it is a web page, the address of the web page is located.

Therefore, when the user inputs the channel number 1, it can be seen that the channel number 1 is the video channel by referring to the channel list in Table 1, and therefore, the reference position "mms: // Server / A5 ". In addition, when the user inputs the channel number 5, the channel number 5 is referred to as a web page by referring to the channel list shown in Table 1, and therefore, the web browser is referred to as "http://www.yahoo.com". "Link to the web page.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a channel allocation procedure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, when a user moves a web page on a web browser and wants to allocate a channel to a current web page, the user presses a 'channel allocation request' button of a remote controller that has been previously agreed (S51, S52). The remote control receiver 135 of the IPTV set-top box decodes the scan code of the channel allocation request button and transmits the scan code to the processor 136. Accordingly, the processor 136 selects an empty channel from the channel list 30 stored in the memory 138. Search (S53)

If there is an empty channel in the search result, select a random channel number among the empty channels or input a channel number from the user, assign the channel number to the channel list 30, and then set the channel type of the corresponding channel number to "web page". The URL of the current web page is set to the channel reference position of the corresponding channel number (S54 to S57).

If there is no free channel to allocate, it informs the on-screen display (OSD) that there is no free channel (S58).

As described above, when the user inputs a channel number with the remote controller 150 while the channel list 30 is created, the procedure for moving to the corresponding channel is as follows.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a channel movement procedure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, when a viewer inputs a channel number to the remote controller 150, the remote controller receiver 135 of the IPTV set-top box 130 decodes the scan code of the channel number and delivers the scan code to the processor 136. In step 136, the channel list 30 stored in the memory 138 is searched to determine whether the corresponding channel number exists, and if there is a channel number, the channel type of the corresponding channel number is determined (S61 to S64). If the channel type is a web page, after executing a web browser, a web page is requested according to the HTTP protocol to the address of the channel reference position of the corresponding channel number in the channel list 30 (S65, S66).

If the channel type is a video, the media player is executed and the video data is requested by accessing the address of the channel reference position of the corresponding channel number in the channel list 30 (S67 to S69).

As described above, when the viewer wants to move to the assigned web page by allocating the web page to the channel, the user can easily move to the desired web page by inputting only the channel number with the remote controller.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user can assign the desired web page to the channel number and then simply input the channel number using the remote controller without any inconvenience to input the web page address whenever the user wants to move the web page. You can easily navigate to web pages.

Although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be able to variously modify and change the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. It will be appreciated.

Claims (5)

delete A broadcasting server system for providing a television broadcasting service through the Internet, a plurality of web servers connected to the Internet to provide a web page according to a client's request, and connected to the Internet and operated according to a user's remote control operation. An IPTV set-top box that receives a TV broadcast provided by a broadcasting server system or requests web pages from the web servers and outputs them through a display device. The IPTV set-top box A channel list having channel information; An allocator for registering a web page address requested by a user to the channel list and allocating the web page address to a channel; And When receiving the channel number from the user to search the channel number of the channel list, if the channel type is a web page, including a processing unit for moving to the web page through a browser, In a system that allows a viewer to assign a web page to a channel number, the web page can be viewed by inputting the channel number on the remote control. The channel list is An apparatus for allocating a web page as a channel in an internet television comprising a channel number, a channel type indicating whether the channel is an image channel or a web page, and a channel reference position for storing an address for accessing the channel. Searching for an empty channel when a channel allocation request is made for the current web page; If there is an empty channel as a result of the search, selecting an arbitrary channel number or receiving a channel number from a user and assigning the channel number to a channel list; Setting a channel type of the corresponding channel number to "web page"; Setting a URL of the current web page as a channel reference position of a corresponding channel number; Determining whether a corresponding channel number exists by searching the channel list when a viewer inputs a channel number using a remote controller; If there is a corresponding channel number, determining a channel type of the corresponding channel number; And And if the channel type is a web page, executing a web browser and requesting a web page according to the HTTP protocol from the channel list to the address of the channel reference position of the corresponding channel number. How to assign a page to a channel. The method of claim 3, wherein the channel list is And a channel reference indicating a channel number, a channel type indicating whether the channel is an image channel or a web page, and a channel reference position storing an address for accessing the channel. The method of claim 3, wherein the method is And if the channel type is an image, executing a media player and requesting image data by accessing an address of a channel reference position of the corresponding channel number in the channel list. How to assign to a channel.

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