KR20090117346A - Server for providing service, set-top box and method for providing service of set-top box in iptv system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A service providing server of an IPTV system, a set-top box and a service providing method thereof supplying a broadcast service are provided to supply a bulletin board/event service related to the broadcast program supplied to the user. CONSTITUTION: A service providing server of an IPTV system, a set-top box and a service providing method thereof supplying a broadcast service are as follows. The broadcasting program corresponding to the broadcast system channel selected from the broadcasting server by the user is a message received(S320). The bulletin board/event information related to the broadcasting program corresponding to the broadcast system channel is received(S330). The received broadcasting program and bulletin board/event information are provided to the user through TV(S340).

Description

SERVER FOR PROVIDING SERVICE, SET-TOP BOX AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SERVICE OF SET-TOP BOX IN ＩＴＴ SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a set top box of an IPTV system and a service providing method thereof.

The Internet Protocol Television (hereinafter referred to as IPTV) service is a communication / broadcasting convergence service that provides services such as broadcasting, music, video contents, and interactive data services from the headend center where data streams are transmitted through the Internet. Or it is a service provided through a subscriber terminal such as a TV.

Meanwhile, the broadcasting service provided through the conventional Internet network only provides a broadcasting program through a computer and a TV, and a bulletin board service or a popular voting, matching results, and prizes for exchanging opinions related to the broadcasting program in real time among broadcasting viewers. It is not possible to simultaneously provide event participation services.

In particular, when providing a broadcasting service through a TV, a user uses an inconvenient method of watching a broadcasting through a TV and performing a bulletin board or an event participating service through a separate computer, and thus, broadcasting through a TV. At the same time, there is a need for a method of providing a service such as a broadcasting bulletin board or an event participation service.

An object of the present invention is to provide a set-top box and a service providing method thereof which can simultaneously provide a bulletin board / event service related to a broadcast program while providing a broadcast program to a user in an IPTV system.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a broadcast server providing a broadcast program, a service providing server providing a bulletin board / event related to a plurality of broadcast programs, and a set top box connected through an internet network. The set top box includes a service providing unit and an output unit. The service provider receives a broadcast program provided from the broadcast server and receives bulletin / event information related to a broadcast program that is being broadcast to a user from the service provider server. The output unit provides the received broadcast program and the bulletin board / event information to the user through a TV.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a set top box for providing a broadcast program corresponding to a broadcast channel selected by a user through a TV and a service providing server connected through an internet network are provided. The service providing server includes a receiver, an information searcher, and a transmitter. The receiver receives broadcast program information corresponding to the broadcast channel selected by the user from the set top box. The information search unit searches for bulletin board / event information corresponding to the received broadcast program information. The transmitter provides the searched bulletin / event information to the set top box.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a broadcast server providing a broadcast program, a service provision server providing a bulletin board / event related to a plurality of broadcast programs, and a service providing method of a set top box connected through an internet network. . The service providing method may include receiving a broadcast program corresponding to broadcast channel information selected by the user from the broadcast server, a bulletin board associated with a broadcast program corresponding to broadcast channel information selected by the user from the service providing server; Receiving event information, and providing the received broadcast program and the bulletin board / event information to a user through a TV.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the user can view and discuss the broadcast program while watching the broadcast program, and can participate in events such as popularity voting, result matching, and prizes. That is, the user may be provided with an integrated broadcast service. In addition, the service providing server may provide a service provider with a profit effect according to the user's participation in the event.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention. Like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, except to exclude other components unless specifically stated otherwise.

Now, a set top box of an IPTV system and a service providing method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view schematically showing an IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the IPTV system includes a subscriber premises device connected to a broadcast server 100, a service providing server 200, and a broadcast server 100 and a service providing server 200 through an internet network 400. 300).

The broadcast server 100 manages a broadcast program provided from a broadcasting station, encodes the broadcast program, and delivers the broadcast program to the subscriber premises device 100 through the Internet network 400. In this case, the broadcast program may include a program already broadcast and a broadcast program waiting to be broadcast, and the broadcast program may be encoded by a motion picture expert group (MPEG) scheme.

The service providing server 200 provides an event function, such as a bulletin board function and a voting and a prize, to write and read, to the subscriber premises device 300, and these may be provided by a web page method such as HTML or XML. In addition, the service providing server 200 configures a bulletin board function and an event function into a web page, and converts it to be suitable for a screen such as a TV 320, a general PC, a wireless terminal, and the like. Performs a function provided by the wireless terminal.

The service providing server 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a receiver 210, an information manager 220, and a transmitter 230. The receiver 210 receives broadcast program information from the subscriber premises device 300. The information manager 220 searches for a bulletin board and / or event information corresponding to the broadcast program information based on the received broadcast program information, and transmits the searched bulletin board and / or event information to the transmitter 230. The information manager 220 collects bulletin boards and / or event information for each broadcast program among various various contents and manages bulletin board and / or event information for each broadcast program collected. In this case, the information manager 220 may collect bulletin boards and / or event information for each broadcast program using broadcast program information, or may operate its own bulletin board and / or event information for each broadcast program. have. In this case, the broadcast program information may include electronic program guide information including information on a broadcast program schedule. The transmitter 230 transmits the searched bulletin board and / or event information to the subscriber premises device 300 through the Internet network 400.

The subscriber premises device 300 includes a set top box 310 and a TV 320. The set-top box 310 receives a broadcast program of a broadcast channel selected by a user from the broadcast server 100 through the internet network 400, and a bulletin board and / or event related to a broadcast program currently being broadcast of the broadcast channel selected by the user. Is received from the service providing server 200, and transmits the received broadcast program, bulletin board and / or event to the TV (320). The TV 320 provides a user with a broadcast program, a bulletin board, and / or an event received from the set top box 310 through a screen.

Meanwhile, the service providing server 200 may provide a bulletin board and / or event information for each broadcast program through a web page through the internet network 400. Accordingly, the user may be provided with the same bulletin board and / or event service provided by the TV 320 using a computer or a wireless terminal through a URL of a web page providing bulletin board and / or event information for each broadcast program. have.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the set top box shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the set top box 310 includes an input unit 312, a service control unit 314, and an output unit 316.

The input unit 312 receives data generated from the user and transfers the generated data to the service controller 314. In this case, the data generated from the user may include data related to broadcasting such as broadcast channel, volume, resolution, data related to bulletin board and / or event participation, ratio control data of the broadcast program screen and the bulletin board and / or event screen, and the like. .

The service control unit 314 receives the broadcast program corresponding to the broadcast channel selected by the user from the broadcast server 100, and the bulletin board of the broadcast program corresponding to the broadcast channel selected by the user from the service providing server 200 and / Or event information is provided. The service controller 314 processes the received broadcast program, bulletin board, and / or event information, and transmits the processed program to the output unit 316.

In this case, the service controller 314 may search for information on a broadcast program corresponding to the broadcast channel selected by the user, and receive corresponding bulletin board and / or event information from the service providing server 200 based on the information. . That is, the service control unit 314 provides the broadcast program information to the service providing server 200, and the service providing server 200 searches for bulletin boards and / or event information corresponding to the broadcast program information and services the service control unit 314. Can be provided as In this case, the broadcast program information may be extracted through the electronic program guide, and in this case, may be the name or identifier of the broadcast program. On the other hand, the broadcast program information may be broadcast channel information. In this case, the service providing server 200 may search for a bulletin board and / or event information corresponding to the broadcast channel at the current time in consideration of the broadcast channel information and the current time and provide the same to the service controller 314.

Alternatively, the service providing server 200 may provide a bulletin board and / or event information in association with a broadcast program. Then, when the user selects and watches a broadcast program and selects to view the bulletin board and / or event information, the service controller 314 may deliver the bulletin board and / or event information to the output unit 316 in association with the broadcast program information. have.

Meanwhile, the service controller 314 may set a ratio between the broadcast program output screen and the bulletin board and / or event output screen and output the ratio to the output unit 316. The ratio of the broadcast program output screen and the bulletin board and / or event output screen may be adjusted according to a user setting.

In addition, the service controller 314 processes data input from the user through the input unit 312. At this time, when data according to the bulletin board and / or event participation from the user is input, it is transmitted to the service providing server 200 in real time. Then, the data input by the user may be reflected and output to the bulletin board and / or the event screen. In this case, the user may participate in reading a bulletin board, writing a bulletin board, and / or an event using a remote controller.

The output unit 316 outputs a bulletin board and / or an event screen together with the broadcast program through the TV 320.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a service method of the set-top box illustrated in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an output screen of a broadcast program, a bulletin board, and / or an event.

As shown in FIG. 3, upon receiving broadcast channel information from the user, the service controller 314 transmits the broadcast channel information to the service providing server 200 through the Internet network 400 (S310).

The service controller 314 receives a broadcast program corresponding to the broadcast channel information selected by the user from the broadcast server 100 (S320), and a bulletin board associated with the broadcast program corresponding to the broadcast channel information from the service provision server 200; / Or event information is provided (S330).

The service controller 314 processes a broadcast program, a bulletin board, and / or event information provided from the broadcast server 100 and the service providing server 200, respectively, and provides the processed information to the user through the screen of the TV 320 (S340). That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a broadcast program screen, a bulletin board, and / or an event screen may be simultaneously provided through the screen of the TV 320.

In this case, the service controller 314 may adjust the size of the output screen of the broadcast program and the output screen of the bulletin board and / or the event by receiving a user's command input using the remote controller. In addition, the service control unit 314 transmits data according to participation in the bulletin board and / or event input from the user through the Internet network 400. Then, the user watching the broadcast program may post a bulletin board or participate in an event.

For example, when the user switches the function so that the user can control the bulletin board and / or the event screen, the input unit 312 receives data corresponding to the button key input by the user using the remote control. The service controller 314 transmits the received data to the service providing server 200. Then, the service providing server 200 posts the data input by the user on the bulletin board by using the data transmitted from the service control unit 314. Then, the user can receive the data posted on the bulletin board through the screen. In this way, the user can participate in the event using the remote control.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

1 is a view schematically showing an IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the set top box shown in FIG. 1,

3 is a flowchart illustrating a service method of the set-top box shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a diagram illustrating an output screen of a broadcast program, a bulletin board, and / or an event.

Claims (12)

In the set-top box is connected to a broadcast server for providing a broadcast program and a service providing server for providing a bulletin board / events associated with a plurality of broadcast programs through the Internet network, A service provider which receives a broadcast program provided from the broadcast server and receives bulletin / event information related to a broadcast program that is broadcast to a user from the service provision server; and Output unit for providing the received broadcast program and the bulletin board / event information to the user through a TV Set top box comprising a. The method of claim 1, The service providing unit receives the user's selection to control the output screen of the broadcast program and the bulletin board / event set top box. The method of claim 1, The service providing unit searches for broadcast program information corresponding to a broadcast channel selected by the user, and receives the bulletin board / event information from the service providing server based on the searched broadcast program information. The method of claim 1, The service providing unit receives the selection of the user and outputs the bulletin board / event information through the TV. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Input unit for providing the user's participation in the bulletin board / event information Set top box further including. In the set-top box for providing a broadcast program corresponding to the broadcast channel selected by the user through a TV and the service providing server connected through the Internet network, A receiver configured to receive broadcast program information corresponding to a broadcast channel selected by the user from the set top box; An information search unit for searching the bulletin board / event information corresponding to the received broadcast program information, and Transmitter for providing the searched bulletin / event information to the set-top box Service providing server comprising a. The method of claim 6, And the broadcast program information is extracted from the electronic program guide information. The method of claim 6, And the broadcast program information is information corresponding to the broadcast channel. In the method of providing a service of a set-top box connected to a broadcast server for providing a broadcast program and a service providing server for providing bulletin boards / events related to a plurality of broadcast programs and an internet network, Receiving a broadcast program corresponding to broadcast channel information selected by the user from the broadcast server, Receiving bulletin / event information related to a broadcast program corresponding to broadcast channel information selected by the user from the service providing server, and Providing the received broadcast program and the bulletin board / event information to a user through a TV; Service providing method comprising a. The method of claim 9, Receiving the bulletin board / event information, Transmitting the broadcast channel information selected by the user to the service providing server, and And receiving bulletin board / event information related to the found broadcast program based on the broadcast channel information. The method of claim 9, The providing step, And receiving the user's selection and adjusting the size of the output screen of the broadcast program and the bulletin board / event on the screen of the TV. The method of claim 9, The providing step, And receiving the selection of the user and providing the bulletin board / event information to the user through the TV.

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