KR20080077526A - Cable broadcasting system and method for providing a broadcasting channel history list using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A cable broadcast system and a method for offering a broadcast channel history list thereof are provided to display a history list of broadcast channels previously viewed by a user, thereby allowing the user to view a previous broadcast channel conveniently. A receiver(12) receives a broadcast channel and channel information thereof. A cable card(24) decodes the received broadcast channel and channel information. A signal process unit(23) processes the decoded broadcast channel and channel information. A history list window generation unit(30) generates a window for a history list of broadcast channels. A display unit(31) displays the window and the processed broadcast channel. A memory unit(29) stores information about the broadcast channel displayed during a predetermined period. An extractor(28) extracts a list of previous broadcast channels from the stored broadcast channel information. A timer(27) measures the time amount while the broadcast channel is displayed. A controller(26) controls the timer, the extractor, the memory, the history list window generation unit, and the cable card.

Description

Cable broadcasting system and method for providing a broadcasting channel history list using the same}

1 is a diagram illustrating a cable broadcasting system for providing a broadcast channel history list according to the present invention.

2 and 3 are diagrams showing a history list window for a previous broadcast channel according to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a broadcast channel history list in a cable broadcasting system according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

11: cable broadcast transmitter 12: cable broadcast receiver

21: A / V receiver 22: data transmitter / receiver

23: signal processor 24: cable card

25: key input unit 26: control unit

27: timer 28: extraction unit

29: memory unit 30: history list window generation unit

31: display unit

The present invention relates to a cable broadcast system, and more particularly, to a cable broadcast system capable of showing a history list of a broadcast channel viewed by a viewer and a method of providing a broadcast channel history list thereof.

Since the broadcast of television broadcasts officially started, the receivers receiving the television waves have spread faster than any conventional media, and a lot of broadcast contents have begun to be produced accordingly.

In addition, television broadcasting has contributed a lot in terms of knowledge transfer and information sharing.

However, in order to produce and broadcast a broadcast program, a certain amount of investment in facilities and capital must be combined, and these limitations have been insufficient to catch up with the demands of various consumers.

In response to these demands, cable stations have emerged that offer specialized programs with less investment than existing airwave stations.

In order to receive a cable broadcast, a separate device such as a set-top box was required in addition to an antenna for receiving a conventional television broadcast.

The set-top box refers to a control box capable of receiving a broadcast and implementing various additional functions. Until the digital broadcasting became full-scale, receiving a broadcast data from a specific broadcaster was a main function.

However, as the digital conversion of the set-top box accelerates, it is evolving into a form of implementing various additional functions such as a broadcast reception, a communication function, a personal video storage function, and an electronic program guide function.

In general, a cable broadcasting system is a transmission system called a head end, a cable broadcasting receiver called an OpenCable device such as a set-top box, and a cable card called a Point of Depolyment (POD) device. It is largely composed.

The transmission system plays a role of transmitting a cable broadcast signal, the cable broadcast receiver plays a role of receiving a cable broadcast signal transmitted from the transmission system, and the cable card performs security and reception restriction functions.

In the cable broadcasting system configured as described above, the transmission system compresses various cable broadcasting programs and transmits them into a channel called InBand, and transmits information related to the corresponding broadcasting program and the like out of band. When transmitting to an external channel, viewers could enjoy various programs through a cable broadcast receiver.

Such a cable broadcasting system has an advantage of providing viewers with many broadcast channels having various contents, but also has a disadvantage of adding confusion to viewers due to many broadcast channels.

In general, a viewer searches through a number of broadcast channels using a channel up / down key on an external input device such as a remote controller to view a broadcast channel to be watched, and when the broadcast channel to be watched is displayed on the screen, the broadcast channel is displayed. To watch.

When the viewer wants to watch another broadcast channel again, the broadcast channel is searched using the channel up / down key of the external input device in the same manner as described above, and the desired broadcast channel is displayed on the screen. Watch.

However, if the viewer wants to watch the previously watched broadcast channel again, the viewer should search for the broadcast channels again using the channel up / down key of the external input device and watch only when the previously watched broadcast channel is displayed on the screen. There was an inconvenience.

As described above, in the conventional cable broadcasting system, in order to search for the broadcasting channel previously viewed by the viewer, it is inconvenient to take too much time to search for the corresponding broadcasting channel.

In addition, even if the broadcast channel that the viewer has previously watched is displayed on the screen, the viewer may not remember the contents of the broadcast channel, so that the viewer may lose his desire to watch by passing the broadcast channel.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art, by showing a history list of broadcast channels that the viewer has already watched, the cable broadcasting system and its broadcast channel history that allows the viewer to easily and conveniently watch the previous broadcast channel It is to provide a method of providing a list.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cable broadcasting system and a method for providing a history list of a broadcast channel, by which a viewer can easily remember a previous broadcast channel by providing brief information of a broadcast channel that the viewer has already watched.

According to the present invention, a method for providing a broadcast channel history list of a cable broadcasting system includes receiving and displaying a requested broadcast channel, determining whether a display time of a broadcast channel has elapsed a predetermined time, and broadcasting if a predetermined time has elapsed. Extracting and storing channel information, determining whether there is a history list request of a broadcast channel, and generating a history list window if there is a history list request, and generating a history list of previous broadcast channels extracted from information of stored broadcast channels. Including the display in the list window, determining whether there is a broadcast channel request selected from the previous broadcast channel list in the history list window, determining whether there is a request to remove the history list window if there is no broadcast channel request, and the history list If there is a window removal request And not displaying the history list window.

Here, the previous broadcast channel list in the history list window may include a previous broadcast channel number, summary information on the previous broadcast channel, program information viewed on the previous broadcast channel, and a still image thereof.

A cable broadcasting system according to the present invention includes a receiver for receiving a requested broadcast channel and channel information thereof, a cable card for decoding the received broadcast channel and channel information, a signal processor for signal processing the decoded broadcast channel and channel information; A history list window generation unit for generating a history list window for a broadcast channel, a display unit for displaying a history list window and a signal processed broadcast channel, a memory unit for storing information on the displayed broadcast channel for a predetermined time; And a extractor for extracting a list of previous broadcast channels from stored broadcast channel information, a timer for measuring a display time of the broadcast channel, a timer, an extractor, a memory, a history list window generator, and a controller for controlling a cable card. It may be configured.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, a configuration and an operation according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a cable broadcasting system for providing a broadcast channel history list according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cable broadcasting system of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1, and the cable broadcasting system of the present invention may include a cable broadcasting transmitter 11 and a cable broadcast receiver 12.

Here, the cable broadcast receiver 12 includes an audio / video receiver 21, a data transmitter / receiver 22, a signal processor 23, a cable card 24, a key input unit 25, a controller 26, and a timer ( 27, the extraction unit 28, the memory unit 29, the history list window generating unit 30, and the display unit 31 may be further configured.

The audio / video receiver 21 may receive audio and video signals of the corresponding broadcast channel requested by the viewer through the key input unit 25 from the cable broadcast transmitter 11, and the data transmitter / receiver 22 may be configured by the viewer. Receive data information related to the requested broadcast channel.

In some cases, the audio / video receiver 21 and the data transmitter / receiver 22 may be configured as one tuner.

In addition, the cable card 24 decodes data information on the broadcast channel received from the cable broadcast transmitter 11, and the signal processor 23 signals the decoded data information or the audio / video receiver 21 Signal processing of the audio / video signal of the broadcast channel received through.

In addition, the display unit 31 displays the audio / video signal of the processed broadcast channel.

The timer 27 measures the time of the broadcast channel to be displayed, and the controller 26 transmits data information of the currently displayed broadcast channel to the memory 29 when the time measured by the timer 27 is equal to or greater than the reference time. On the other hand, when the time measured by the timer 27 is less than or equal to the reference time, the controller 27 determines whether there is a broadcast channel change request from the key input unit 25 without storing data information of the broadcast channel.

As described above, the reason for measuring the broadcast channel time displayed by arranging a timer in the present invention is as follows.

In general, the viewer keeps displaying the broadcast channel they want to watch for a predetermined time, but the broadcast channel they do not want to watch for a short time and skips immediately.

Accordingly, the present invention allows the viewer to conveniently select the previous broadcast channel by displaying only the broadcast channels that the viewer wants to watch when making a history list of the previous broadcast channel.

In general, viewers often look for broadcast channels that have been displayed for a long time rather than broadcast channels that have been displayed for a short time and skipped.

In some cases, however, all previously displayed broadcast channels may be included in the history list of the previous broadcast channel, and in this case, the timer may be omitted.

In addition, when the viewer requests the history list window of the previous broadcasting channel through the key input unit 25, the controller 26 controls the history list window generator 30 to display the history list window on the display unit 31. At the same time, the extractor 28 is controlled to extract the previous broadcast channel list from the data information of the previous broadcast channel stored in the memory 29 and to display it in the history list window.

Here, the history list window may be displayed in various forms such as a pop-up form.

2 and 3 are diagrams showing a history list window for a previous broadcast channel according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a window showing details of the history list, and FIG. 3 is a window showing brief contents of the history list. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the history list window of the present invention may be displayed on one side of the entire display screen.

Here, various previous broadcast channel lists are displayed in the history list window for the previous broadcast channel.

The previous broadcast channel list is data information on a previous broadcast channel stored in the memory unit 29 and is information related to broadcast channels that the viewer has displayed for a predetermined time.

Only about 10 broadcast channels that the viewer has previously watched may be displayed in the history list window, and in some cases, the number of broadcast channels to be displayed may vary.

The previous broadcast channel list of the history list window may include a broadcast channel number, broadcast channel information, program information of the corresponding broadcast channel, and a window showing a still image corresponding to the selected broadcast channel.

Here, the broadcast channel information indicates a category of the corresponding broadcast channel, and the program information briefly shows the broadcast contents watched by the viewer on the corresponding broadcast channel.

The selected broadcast channel is highlighted as shown in FIG. 2, so that the viewer can easily recognize it, and the viewer can directly change the broadcast channel from the currently displayed broadcast channel by pressing the select button of the key input unit 25. have.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the present invention may briefly show a history list window for a previous broadcast channel.

For example, only the broadcast channel numbers are listed, and the viewer can highlight the corresponding broadcast channel using the up-down key of the key input unit 25, and press the select key of the key input unit 25 to change to the corresponding previous broadcast channel. have.

Also, the viewer may expand the window to display detailed information as shown in FIG. 2 by selecting detailed information of the history list window for the previous broadcast channel.

In some cases, if the viewer does not need the history list window for the previous broadcast channel, the viewer may select the cancel button to remove it.

As described above, a method of providing a broadcast channel history list of the cable broadcasting system according to the present invention is as follows.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a broadcast channel history list of a cable broadcasting system according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, when a broadcast channel request signal to be viewed through a key input unit 25 is received from a viewer, the control unit 26 receives and signal-processes a corresponding broadcast channel and displays the display unit 31. (S11)

Subsequently, the control unit 26 determines whether the display time of the broadcast channel currently displayed on the display unit 31 has passed a predetermined time through the timer 27 (S12).

As a result of the determination, if the predetermined time has elapsed, the controller 26 extracts the information of the corresponding broadcast channel and stores the information in the memory unit 29 (S13).

However, if the predetermined time has not elapsed, the controller 26 repeatedly performs step S11 for receiving and displaying the requested broadcast channel.

Subsequently, the controller 26 determines whether there is a history list request for the broadcast channel through the viewer's key input unit 25 (S14).

As a result of the determination, if there is a history list request, the history list window generation unit 30 generates a history list window according to the control signal of the control unit 26, and the extraction unit 28 stores the memory according to the control signal of the control unit 26. The previous broadcast channel list is extracted from the information of the broadcast channels stored in the unit 29, and the control unit 26 includes the extracted previous broadcast channel list in the history list window and displays it on the display unit 31 (S15).

However, if there is no history list request, the controller 26 repeats step S11 for receiving and displaying the requested broadcast channel.

Next, the controller 26 determines whether the viewer has a predetermined previous broadcast channel request from the previous broadcast channel list in the history list window using the key input unit 25 (S16).

As a result of the determination, if there is a request for the previous broadcast channel, the controller 26 repeatedly performs step S11 for receiving and displaying the requested broadcast channel.

However, if there is no broadcast channel request, the controller 26 again determines whether there is a request to remove the history list window.

As a result of the determination, if there is a request for removing the history list window, the control unit 26 removes the history list window so that it is not displayed on the display unit 31.

However, if there is no request to remove the history list window, the controller 26 repeats step S16 of determining whether there is a broadcast channel request selected from a previous broadcast channel list of the history list window.

As described above, the present invention is a system that enables the viewer to easily and conveniently find a previous broadcast channel by showing a list of broadcast channel histories previously watched.

The present invention is also a system that enables quick search of a broadcast channel by providing viewers with brief information about the previous broadcast channel.

In addition, the present invention is a system that can improve the convenience and reliability of the viewer for the previous broadcast channel search by listing only the broadcast channels watched for a predetermined time among the previous broadcast channels watched by the viewer.

The broadcast channel history list providing method of the cable broadcasting system according to the present invention has the following effects.

The present invention shows a history list of broadcast channels that the viewer has already watched, so that the viewer can easily and conveniently watch the previous broadcast channel.

In addition, the present invention has an effect of allowing the viewer to easily remember the previous broadcast channel by providing brief information of the broadcast channel that the viewer has already watched.

The present invention can improve the convenience and reliability of the viewer with respect to the previous broadcast channel search by listing only the preferred broadcast channels watched for a predetermined time among the previous broadcast channels watched by the viewer.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (7)

Receiving and displaying the requested broadcast channel; Determining whether a display time of the broadcast channel has elapsed a predetermined time; If the predetermined time has elapsed, extracting and storing information on the broadcast channel; Determining whether there is a history list request of the broadcast channel; Generating a history list window and displaying a list of previous broadcast channels extracted from the information of the stored broadcast channel in the history list window if there is the history list request; Determining whether there is a broadcast channel request selected from a previous broadcast channel list in the history list window; If there is no broadcast channel request, determining whether there is a request to remove the history list window; And, If there is a request to remove the history list window, not displaying the history list window. The method of claim 1, wherein in the determining whether the display time of the broadcast channel has elapsed a predetermined time, And if the predetermined time has not elapsed, repeatedly receiving and displaying the requested broadcast channel. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether there is a history list request of the broadcast channel; And if the history list request is not received, repeatedly receiving and displaying the requested broadcast channel. The cable broadcasting system of claim 1, wherein the previous broadcasting channel list of the history list window includes a previous broadcasting channel number, summary information of the previous broadcasting channel, program information viewed on the previous broadcasting channel, and a still image thereof. To provide a history list of broadcast channels. The method of claim 1, wherein in the determining of whether there is a broadcast channel request selected from a previous broadcast channel list of the history list window, And if the broadcast channel request is received, repeating the step of receiving and displaying the requested broadcast channel. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the history list window removal request comprises: And if there is no request to remove the history list window, repeatedly determining whether there is a broadcast channel request selected from a previous broadcast channel list of the history list window. A receiver for receiving a requested broadcast channel and channel information thereof; A cable card for decoding the received broadcast channel and channel information; A signal processor which processes the decoded broadcast channel and channel information; A history list window generator for generating a history list window for the broadcast channel; A display unit configured to display the history list window and the signal processed broadcast channel; A memory unit which stores information on the broadcast channel displayed during the predetermined time; An extraction unit for extracting a previous broadcast channel list from the stored broadcast channel information; A timer measuring a display time of the broadcast channel; And, And a controller for controlling the timer, extractor, memory, history list window generator, and cable card.

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