WO2005099268A1

WO2005099268A1 - Service reception device and service providing device

Info

Publication number: WO2005099268A1
Application number: PCT/JP2005/006610
Authority: WO
Inventors: Akiyoshi Kawamura; Takanobu Matsubara; Satoshi Terada; Azusa Umemoto; Toru Ueda
Original assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
Priority date: 2004-04-08
Filing date: 2005-04-04
Publication date: 2005-10-20
Also published as: JP3987852B2; JP2005323332A

Abstract

A service reception device (100) includes: an output unit (162) capable of selecting and using an arbitrary service which can be used; a content selection unit (144) for selecting a service to be used; a view information transmission unit (164) for transmitting view information concerning the service used by the output unit (162) when the content selection unit (144) selects a content; a report information reception unit (154) and a report information storage unit (156) for receiving and holding the report transmitted from the server in response to the view information; and a report information control unit (160) for outputting the report information on the display of the output unit (162).

Description

Specification

Service receiving device and service providing device

Technical field

The present invention relates to a technology for transmitting and receiving programs and service information using a terminal such as a television (hereinafter simply referred to as “τν”) or a personal computer. The present invention relates to a service information providing technology capable of efficiently obtaining useful information for a user without imposing a special burden on the user from a service provider, and notifying the user of the existence of such information at an appropriate timing.

Background art

[0002] In recent years, TV broadcasting services such as satellite broadcasting and CATV (cable television) have become widespread. In addition, the start of digital broadcasting has provided a huge number of broadcast programs to viewers. In addition, programs can be broadcast according to a predetermined schedule using a data communication network such as the Internet. As a result, users are becoming more and more available.

[0003] In addition, with the development of the Internet, various services that can be used via two-way communication, which is more than just watching like a conventional broadcast, are increasing daily. In addition, with the advent of Internet TV, the use of the same TV receiver has enabled the use of services on the Internet in addition to regular TV broadcast programs. Therefore, the range of choices of programs and services available to users is steadily expanding.

[0004] Furthermore, unlike broadcasting using conventional radio, broadcasting and services using the Internet do not have borders, so the options available to users are far greater than before. It is expected to increase at a very fast pace in the future.

[0005] In such a situation, since too many services are provided, it becomes a problem how to find a service that is useful for the user. Therefore, there is a need to provide support so that users can easily find the service they prefer from such many programs and services. A digital information receiving device having such a function is described in Patent Document 1 given below. [0006] The digital information receiving device described in Patent Document 1 interrupts the currently received program screen if a program matching the selection information registered by the user exists while watching the program, and transmits the message. Notice.

[0007] Patent Document 2 discloses a content distribution device that realizes efficient content distribution according to user preferences. In this device, advertisement content is delivered in advance of the content requested by the user. The user's operation log (time to operation, number of selections, etc.) for the delivered content is recorded, and the content evaluation value is updated according to this log and reflected in the next selection.

[0008] In addition, a number of mail delivery services are provided in which the user specifies items and keywords for which information is to be received in advance, and if there is information matching the conditions, the information is delivered by e-mail. Have been.

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2003-9033

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-315215

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0010] However, the invention of Patent Document 1 is based on the premise that the function of allowing the user to register a keyword related to a program that the user wants to be notified and the function of retaining the registered content are realized on the receiving device side. Become. In other words, it is necessary for the user to set conditions that must be satisfied by the program to be announced. When the interest of the user changes every moment, it is necessary to change the setting every time. As a result, there is also a problem that the operation of the device described in Patent Document 1 is troublesome. Further, the invention of Patent Document 1 is based on the premise that a function of selecting information to be notified based on a registered keyword is realized on the receiving device side. That is, the selection of the information on the program to be announced is performed based on the information registered in advance by the user on the receiving device. For this reason, the information desired by the receiver cannot be pre-determined by the sender, and the sender must send all program information to the receiver. Therefore, the existence of a program that matches the registered information, which is related to what kind of program the user is actually watching, is notified.

[0011] In addition to notification of broadcast program information, notification of related information on the Internet If so, the amount of data to be transmitted further increases. In particular, when the storage capacity is limited on the receiving device, a huge amount of information cannot be stored in advance, and only the medium power of the limited information can be provided to the user. When the information to be provided is updated every moment, it is necessary to send enormous information frequently in order to provide the latest information, which increases the load on the network.

[0012] The technology described in Patent Document 2 also has a similar problem. In particular, since the advertisement data is attached to the content data and distributed, the amount of distribution data increases. In addition, there is a problem that explicit operation by the user is required in order to collect user preference information. Furthermore, in the technology described in Patent Document 2, it is indispensable to measure the elapsed time until an operation is performed at a predetermined time force in order to acquire a user operation log. The invention of Patent Document 2 assumes that the distribution device measures time. However, when the distribution device distributes the advertising content to a large number of receiving devices, it is necessary to measure time and acquire a log for each of the large number of receiving devices, and the amount of processing is also small. Increase.

[0013] On the other hand, in the mail delivery service, information provided on the server side is selected. Therefore, the amount of data received by the receiving side is reduced. However, in the mail delivery service, only information on pre-registered data is sent unilaterally, and information related to a program or service currently viewed (hereinafter referred to as “related information”) is used in real time. Can not be notified to others. In addition, there is still a problem that a user needs to register information to be provided.

[0014] Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a service receiving device and a service providing device that can efficiently provide useful service information for a user.

[0015] Another object of the present invention is to provide a service receiving apparatus and a service providing apparatus capable of providing useful service information with good timing for a user who does not have to register information on matters of interest to the user. It is.

[0016] Still another object of the present invention is to provide useful service information for a user efficiently, and to enable a user to search for such information in a short time. To provide a service receiving device and a service providing device. Means for solving the problem

[0017] A service receiving device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a display device, and a service use module capable of selecting and using an arbitrary one of a plurality of services using the display device. A service selection module for selecting a service to be used by the service usage module, and predetermined information regarding a service used by the service usage module at the time of the event in response to occurrence of the predetermined event. A transmitting device that transmits to the destination, a receiving device that receives information transmitted externally in response to predetermined information, and a notification display device that displays information received by the receiving device on a display device. And

When a predetermined event occurs, predetermined information on the service used at that time is transmitted to the transmission destination. At the transmission destination, information related to the service used is selected based on this information, and the information is displayed on the display device by transmitting to the service receiving device. Therefore, the user can obtain information related to the service being used simply by using the service without taking any special action such as registering a keyword by himself / herself. There is no need for the service receiver to keep the contents of the registration by the user. Furthermore, information related to the service being used can be displayed without the user having to select the information displayed by the notification display device.

[0019] Preferably, the information received by the receiving device includes access information necessary for the service using module to access a service available, and the service receiving device further includes: It includes a module that gives access information to the service selection module and enables the service selection module to select the service.

[0020] By giving the access information of the information received by the receiving device to the service selection module, the user can operate the service selection module to directly access the service corresponding to the access information. As a result, seeing the information displayed by the notification display device, the user can immediately use the service corresponding to the information. [0021] Preferably, the transmitting device transmits predetermined information regarding the service used by the service using module at the time of occurrence of the event to the destination in response to the occurrence of the event of service switching by the service selecting module. Including modules.

[0022] When the user switches the service according to his / her preference, information related to the service after the switching can be obtained. Users can obtain information related to the service simply by switching to the service they are interested in without any special operation.

[0023] In response to the occurrence of the predetermined event, the transmitting device transmits predetermined information on the service used by the service use module when the event occurs, and a predetermined relationship with the used service! The information may include a module for transmitting predetermined information relating to the service to the transmission destination.

[0024] By transmitting predetermined information relating to a service having a predetermined relationship with the service used by the service using module at the time of the event occurrence, the transmission destination can obtain information relating to both of the services. You can select and send it to the service receiver.

[0025] The notification display device responds to the fact that the same service is continuously used in the service use module for a predetermined time after the occurrence of the predetermined event, and displays the information received by the reception device. A module for displaying on a display device may be included.

If the same service has been used for a certain period of time or more, the user is considered to be interested in the contents of the service. Therefore, by displaying information only when such conditions are met, the possibility of displaying information that is of interest to the user can be reduced. As a result, information that is considered to be of interest to the user with high accuracy can be presented.

[0027] The transmitting device responds to the occurrence of the event that the time reached a predetermined time before the end of the content provided by the used service, and is used by the service using module when the event occurs. It may include a module for transmitting predetermined information on the service that was used to the destination.

[0028] After the service used by the user ends, the same service as that service is used. It is highly probable that the user will choose. Therefore, by approaching the end of the service, by transmitting information about the service to the destination and obtaining information about the related service and presenting it to the user, the user can continue to use the same service. Is more likely to be selected.

[0029] A service receiving device according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a display device, and a service use module capable of selecting and using an arbitrary one of a plurality of services using the display device. A service selection module for selecting a service to be used by the service usage module, a history recording device for recording the usage history of the service selected by the service usage module, and a history recording device in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event. A transmitting device that transmits a recorded history that satisfies a predetermined condition to a predetermined destination; a receiving device that receives information transmitted externally in response to predetermined information; And a notification display device for displaying information received by the device on a display device.

[0030] By transmitting the service usage history to the transmission destination, the transmission destination can prepare information on services that are likely to be of interest to the user and the user's usage history. As a result, users can easily obtain information on services that are likely to be of interest to them according to their usage history. No special operation is required for this.

[0031] A service receiving apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a display apparatus, and a service use module that can select and use any of a plurality of services using the display apparatus. The service selection module for selecting the service to be used by the service usage module and the notification information that may be notified to the user, and the predetermined conditions to be satisfied for notifying the user are specified. The conditional notification information receiving device that receives and stores the attached conditional notification information, and the notification information that is stored by the conditional notification information receiving device that satisfies the corresponding condition. And a notification display device that displays, on a display device, notification information corresponding to a condition in which satisfaction is detected by the monitoring module.

[0032] The service receiving device that has received the conditional notification information from the outside can display the notification information satisfying the conditions. Set conditions that have been created in advance, such as user service usage Accordingly, the appropriate notification information is displayed, so that the user can easily obtain the information related to the service that suits his / her use situation.

[0033] A service receiving device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention has a display device, and a service use module capable of selecting and using an arbitrary one of a plurality of services using the display device. , A service selection module that selects the service to be used by the service usage module, a history recording device that records the usage history of the service selected by the service usage module, and the history recorded in the history recording device from outside Device that receives and saves the conditions for receiving the information, and in response to a predetermined event, compiles the history recorded in the history recording device according to the aggregation conditions stored by the device. And a transmitting device that transmits the result of aggregation to a predetermined destination, and a communication device that receives notification information transmitted externally according to the result of aggregation transmitted by the transmitting device. An information receiving apparatus, the notification information received by the notification information receiving apparatus, and a notification display device for displaying on a display device.

[0034] The use history of the service is totaled according to the totaling conditions given, and the totaling result is transmitted to the outside. The transmission destination can select a service that is deemed appropriate for the user based on the result of the aggregation, and send information on the service to the service reception device. As a result, the user of the service receiving apparatus can easily obtain information that is likely to be of interest to him without any special operation.

When the computer program recorded on the recording medium according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is executed by a computer, the computer program as the service receiving device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is executed. Operate the computer. As a result, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described service receiving device can be obtained.

[0036] A service providing apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention provides a service for transmitting, to a service receiving apparatus, information relating to a related service selected based on a use history of the service in the service receiving apparatus. A service receiving device that receives processing conditions for use history of the service receiving device when transmitting service usage history of the service receiving device to the service providing device in response to occurrence of a predetermined event. History condition sending device to send to device and service in response to usage processing condition The history information receiving device that receives the history information transmitted from the receiving device, the notification information storage device that stores information to be notified to the user regarding the related service, and the history information that is received by the history information receiving device. A notification information transmitting device that selects information having a predetermined relationship with the received history information from among the information stored in the notification information storage device and transmits the selected information to the service receiving device that has transmitted the history information. And

[0037] The service usage history in the service receiving device is subjected to the processing indicated by the conditions given by the service providing device! / ヽ, since the result is transmitted to the service providing apparatus, only data subjected to appropriate processing according to the purpose need be transmitted to the service providing apparatus. Therefore, the data amount is reduced. Since the history processing is performed by the service receiving apparatus, it is possible to efficiently select the notification information according to the history with a small amount of processing without performing the history processing on the service providing apparatus side. In addition, since the condition indicating the content to be processed is specified from the service providing device, the service providing device can control the history selection criterion, which is the basis of the service providing decision, and burden the user of the service receiving device. It is possible to carry out the work to make the service to be provided more appropriate without using the service.

[0038] Preferably, the history information received by the history information receiving device includes attribute information regarding a specific service used by the service receiving device, and the notification information transmitting device transmits the attribute information to the history information received by the history information receiving device. A module that selects information having attribute information that matches the attribute information included in the received history information from among the information stored in the notification information storage device and transmits the selected history information to the service receiving device that has transmitted the history information. including.

[0039] Among the services used by the user, the attribute information on the specific service that also specifies the service providing device power is transmitted to the service providing device. Even if the user does not perform any particular work, the service providing apparatus can obtain attribute information on a specific service and select notification information on a service having attribute information that matches the attribute information. As a result, it is possible to efficiently notify the user of information on services that are considered to have attributes that the user may be interested in without performing any particular work.

[0040] Preferably, the history information received by the history information receiving device includes attribute information on usage time totalized for each attribute of the service used by the service receiving device, and The information transmitting device, based on the history information received by the history information receiving device, among the attribute information included in the received history information, the attribute information having attribute information that matches the attribute information with the longest usage time, It includes a module that selects from among information stored in the notification information storage device and transmits the history information to the service receiving device that has transmitted the history information.

[0041] The result of totaling the usage time for each service attribute is transmitted to the service providing apparatus. The data amount is small because only the aggregation results. No special work is required by the user. Also, based on the result of the aggregation, the notification information on the service having the attribute information that matches the attribute information used by the user for a long time is selected and transmitted to the service receiving device.

[0042] Preferably, the history information received by the history information receiving device includes aggregation information on the use time for each time zone of the service used by the service receiving device, and the notification information transmitting device transmits the information to the service receiving device. When the time to be transmitted is reached, the information stored in the notification information storage device, which is selected according to a predetermined criterion based on the total information of the time zone to which the time to be transmitted included in the history information belongs, is stored in the history information. Includes a module that sends information to the service receiving device that sent the information.

[0043] The result of totaling the service usage time for each time zone is transmitted to the service providing apparatus. The data amount is small because only the aggregation results. No special work is required by the user. At the time when the information should be transmitted to the service receiving device, the notification information on the service is selected and transmitted to the service receiving device based on the total information of the time zone included in the history information.

[0044] Preferably, the information stored in the notification information storage device is provided with notification method information for designating a notification method of the information, and the notification information transmitting device transmits the notification information based on the history information. Among the information stored in the storage device, a module for selecting information having a predetermined relationship with the received history information, information selected by the selected module, and notification method information attached to the selected information are stored in the history. And a module for transmitting the information to the service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the information.

[0045] The transmitting module transmits the information selected by the selected module and the notification method information attached to the information to the service receiving apparatus. As a result, the service receiver The device can notify the transmitted information to the user using an appropriate notification method specified by the notification method information.

[0046] A service providing apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention provides a service providing apparatus that transmits, to a service receiving apparatus, information on a service selected based on a service usage history in the service receiving apparatus. In response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, the service information and the conditions that the service use history of the service receiving device must satisfy in order to notify the user of the service information at the service receiving device. And a conditional notification information transmitting device that transmits the conditional notification information generated by the conditional notification information generating module to the service receiving device.

[0047] When the service providing apparatus transmits the conditional notification information to the service receiving apparatus, the service receiving apparatus collates the service history of the service owned by the user with the conditions attached to each piece of notification information, and Can be notified to the user that is satisfied. The service receiving device can also notify only the notification information on services that are considered to be of interest to the user based on the user's usage history without transmitting any information to the service providing device. There is no work for the user to do for this.

[0048] A service providing apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention provides a service for transmitting, to a service receiving apparatus, information on a related service selected based on a use history of the service in the service receiving apparatus. A providing device for storing notification information related to a service to be notified to a user of the service receiving device; and a service receiving device in response to occurrence of a predetermined event. Aggregation condition sending device that sends the service usage history aggregation conditions to the service reception device, and aggregation that receives the service usage history aggregation results returned in response to the aggregation conditions. The notification information stored in the notification information storage device is based on the result receiving device and the totaling result of the service use history received by the totaling result receiving device. And a notification information transmitting device for selecting any one of them and transmitting the result to the service receiving device that has transmitted the history totaling result.

[0049] The total condition of the service usage history is stored in the service providing device. And a totaling result is received from the service receiving apparatus. And the received tally

Then, the notification information to be transmitted to the service receiving apparatus is selected and transmitted. As a result, the service providing apparatus can control the method of counting the service usage history in the service receiving apparatus. Also, since only the aggregation result needs to be transmitted from the service receiving device, the amount of transmission data can be reduced. In addition, the user can obtain notification information on services that may be of interest to the user based on the user's usage history without any special work.

[0050] A service providing device according to a ninth aspect of the present invention includes a notification information storage device that stores notification information to be notified to a user for one or more services, and an external transmission source An information request receiving device that receives a request for information on a service that satisfies a predetermined condition; and a notification stored in a notification information storage device in response to the information request receiving device receiving the information request. And a notification information transmitting device that selects information relating to a service that satisfies a predetermined condition specified by the information request from the information and transmits the selected information to an external transmission source.

When a request for information is received from an external transmission source, information on a service that satisfies a predetermined condition specified by the request for information is selected from the notification information stored in the notification information storage device. Send to sender. By sending a request for information, an external source can easily obtain information on a service that satisfies predetermined conditions.

[0052] When the computer program recorded on the recording medium according to the tenth aspect of the present invention is executed by a computer, the computer program can be used as a service providing apparatus according to any one of the sixth aspect to the ninth aspect. Let it work. As a result, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described service providing device can be obtained.

The invention's effect

As described above, according to the present invention, a user can obtain information related to a service in use only by using the service without taking any special action by himself / herself. Further, it is not necessary for the service receiving apparatus to hold the contents of the registration by the user. Furthermore, information related to the service being used can be displayed without the user having to select the information displayed by the notification display device. The user immediately receives the information Can be used. Users only need to switch to the service they are interested in, and can obtain information related to that service. In addition, since related information on a service having a predetermined relationship with the service being used can be obtained in advance, there is no need to obtain related information again when the service is switched. It is possible to accurately present information considered to be interesting to the user.

Further, according to the service receiving apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prepare information on a service that is highly likely to be of interest to the user according to the usage history of the user. As a result, users can easily obtain information on services that are likely to be of interest to them according to their usage history. No special operation is required for this.

[0055] According to the service receiving apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, a user can easily obtain information related to a service in his / her own use situation. In addition, the user can obtain information on the appropriate service selected based on his / her service history.

[0056] According to the service receiving apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the user of the service receiving apparatus can easily obtain information that is highly likely to be of interest without any special operation.

[0057] According to the recording medium of the fifth aspect of the present invention, the computer executes the computer program recorded by the recording medium, and thereby, the service receiving apparatus according to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, and Similar effects can be obtained.

According to the service providing apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to control a history selection criterion serving as a basis for determining service provision, for example, a powerful selection criterion such as a service use time, and Information on services appropriate for users can be efficiently notified without burdening users. If the result of measuring the usage time for each attribute attached to the service is sent to the service providing device, the user's preference, service selection tendency, etc. are estimated based on the totaled result, Can select an appropriate service and send notification information about the service to the service receiving device. The notification information according to the history can be selected without performing the history processing on the service providing device side. To the user The burden can be efficiently provided to users without the need for power.

[0059] According to the service providing apparatus according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the service receiving apparatus can also provide the service providing apparatus with a user based on the use history of the user without transmitting any information to the service providing apparatus. Only notification information on services that may be of interest can be notified without the burden of the user.

[0060] According to the service providing apparatus according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the service providing apparatus can control the method of counting the service use history. In addition, based on the user's service history without the user performing any special work, it is possible to efficiently provide the user with notification information on services that may be of interest to the user without burdening the user.

[0061] According to the service providing apparatus of the ninth aspect of the present invention, when the external transmission source also receives the information request, the predetermined information specified by the information request is selected from the notification information stored in the notification information storage module. Select information about services that satisfy the conditions and send them to an external source. By sending an information request, an external source can easily obtain information on a service that satisfies predetermined conditions.

According to the recording medium of the tenth aspect of the present invention, the computer can execute the computer program recorded by the recording medium, thereby providing the service providing device according to the sixth to ninth aspects of the present invention. Similar effects can be obtained.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a service receiving apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a system including a service receiving device and a service providing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a communication sequence between a service receiving device and a service providing device of the system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a remote controller for controlling a service receiving device according to the present invention.

[FIG. 5] Structure of notification information 212 stored in notification information storage section 156 of service receiving apparatus 100. It is a figure showing an example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a program guide 214.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a genre table 216.

[8] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a service providing apparatus 80 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of notification information 230 stored in a notification information storage unit 218 of the service providing apparatus 80.

[10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of transition of display on the service receiving device 100.

[11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a transition example of display on the service receiving device 100.

[12] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a communication sequence between the service receiving device 100 and the service providing device 80 in a modification of the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a physical block of the service receiving apparatus 100.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an overall flow of processing by a computer program executed by a CPU 292 of the service receiving apparatus 100.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration of a physical block of a service providing apparatus 80.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a program process executed by a CPU 362 to implement the service providing apparatus 80.

圆 17] Service receiving device 1 in first modified example of system according to first embodiment

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a communication sequence between 00A and the service providing device 80.

[18] Service receiving device 1 in second modified example of system according to first embodiment

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a communication sequence between 00B and a service providing apparatus 80.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to a second embodiment and a progress of communication between devices in the system.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a service receiving device 442 used in the system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of history information 500 stored in a history information storage unit 476.

[22] FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a service providing apparatus 440 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 23 is a flowchart of a process related to a viewing history performed by the service receiving apparatus 442.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a process related to notification of service information performed by service receiving apparatus 442.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart of a process executed by a service providing apparatus 440 according to the second embodiment.

[26] FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a viewing history totaling table 630 held in a service providing apparatus 440 according to a first modification of the second embodiment.

[27] FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of a viewing history totaling table 900 for each time period, which is held in the service providing apparatus 440 according to the third modification of the second embodiment.

[28] FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an operation in which a service providing apparatus selects notification information based on a tabulation table 900 in a third modification of the second embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to a third embodiment and a progress of communication between devices in the system.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a service receiving device 640 used in the system according to the third embodiment.

[31] FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a service providing apparatus 642 according to the third embodiment.

[32] FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating an example of conditional notification information 676 generated by the tallying condition generation unit 672 in the third embodiment.

[33] FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating a communication sequence between the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 when requesting transmission of conditional notification information in the third embodiment. [34] FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a communication sequence between the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 when transmitting conditional notification information in the third embodiment.

[35] FIG. 35 is a flowchart of a program process for realizing each functional unit of the service receiving device 640 according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart of a program process executed by a CPU in order to realize a service providing device 642 in the third embodiment. FIG. 37 is a diagram showing an example of a communication sequence in the case of transmitting aggregation conditions at another timing between the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 of the system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing a communication sequence between the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 of the system according to the first modification of the third embodiment.

[39] FIG. 39 is a diagram illustrating an example of a viewing history totaling table 930 for each time period, which is held in a service receiving apparatus 640 according to a second modification of the third embodiment.

[40] FIG. 40 is a diagram illustrating an example of conditional notification information 940 according to a second modification of the third embodiment.

[41] FIG. 41 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display based on conditional notification information 940 according to a second modification of the third embodiment.

FIG. 42 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to a fourth embodiment and a communication process between devices in the system.

[43] FIG. 43 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a service receiving device 760 according to the fourth embodiment.

[44] FIG. 44 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a service providing device 762 used in the system according to the fourth embodiment.

{45] FIG. 45 is a diagram illustrating an example of a tallying condition 800 transmitted from the tallying condition transmitting unit 794 to the service receiving device 760 in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 46 is a diagram showing an example of a tally result obtained by tallying histories according to a tallying condition 800 in the system according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 47 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a notification information table stored in a notification information storage unit 218 of the service providing device 762.

FIG. 48 is a diagram showing an example of notification information 804 in the system according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 49 is a flowchart of a program process for realizing service receiving apparatus 760 according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 50 is a flowchart of a program process executed by a service providing apparatus 762 according to the fourth embodiment. Explanation of reference numerals

[0064] 60 information providing system, 80, 440, 642, 762 service providing device, 90, 92 service Sano, 100, 100A, 100B, 102, 442, 640, 760 service receiving device, 140 content receiving section, 142 user input Section, 144, 470 content selection section, 146 program table reception section, 148 program table storage section, 150, 486, 510 clock section, 152 program table analysis section, 154 notification information reception section, 156 218 notification information storage section, 158 Notification information selection section, 160, 656 Notification information control section, 162, 472 output section, 164 viewing information transmission section, 190 remote control, 212, 230 notification information, 214 program table, 216 genre table, 220, 512, 670, 792 Notification information provision control unit, 224, 520, 796 notification information selection unit, 226, 798 notification information transmission unit, 290 nos, 292, 362 CPU, 294, 364 memory, 296, 366 nonvolatile memory, 298 output Device, 300, 368 network connection circuit, 302 input device, 304 broadcast tuner, 474 viewing Clock section, 476 history information storage section, 478 history count condition reception section, 480 history count condition update section, 482 history count condition storage section, 484 history count discrimination section, 500 history information, 514 history count condition transmission section, 516 history Information receiving unit, 518 History information storage unit, 650 Conditional notification information receiving unit, 652 Conditional notification information storage unit, 654 Condition judging unit, 672 Total condition generating unit, 674 Conditional notification information transmitting unit, 780 Total condition receiving Section, 782 history totaling section, 784 totaling result transmitting section, 790 totaling result receiving section, 794 totaling condition transmitting section

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description and drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are the same, and the description thereof will not be repeated. Each block described below can be realized by a hardware module, a combination thereof, a program module, or a combination thereof.

[First Embodiment]

An information providing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a system 60 according to an embodiment of the present invention. ing.

Referring to FIG. 2, the information providing system 60 includes a data communication network 70 and one or more service receiving devices connected to the network 70 and used by a user to receive a service. 100, 102; a service providing device 80 for notifying the service receiving devices 100, 102 of information on various services via the data communication network 70; and a service receiving device connected to the data communication network 70. 100, 102 and one or more service servers 90, 92 for providing actual services.

[0068] The service providing apparatus 80 manages service related information in order to notify the service receiving apparatuses 100 and 102 of various service information, and appropriately transmits the related information to the service receiving apparatuses 100 and 102. Notice. The related information includes information such that each of the service receiving apparatuses 100 and 102 can immediately connect to the service servers 90 and 92 that provide a desired service and receive a desired service.

[0069] The service receiving apparatus 100 (hereinafter, only the service receiving apparatus 100 will be described as a representative of the service receiving apparatus) is an apparatus operated by a user to enjoy the service. The service receiving apparatus 100, for example, watches powerful broadcast programs such as terrestrial waves, cables, satellite waves, or uses peripheral devices to view music or images recorded on a predetermined recording medium, It makes it possible to use various services on the Internet and enjoy services such as e-mail, Internet telephone, and videophone.

[0070] The service servers 90 and 92 (hereinafter, only the service server 90 will be described as a representative of the service server) serve to provide an actual service to the service information provided by the service providing apparatus 80. It is. For example, when the service is a service on the WWW (World Wide Web), providing the service URI (Universal Resource Identifier) corresponds to the service providing device 80, and the service entity specified by the URI is a service server. Equivalent to 90. However, the service providing device 80 may serve as the service server 90.

[0071] In the following embodiments, T broadcasted according to a predetermined schedule will be described. An example will be described in which information about any other service provided on the Internet is notified while watching V broadcast. However, the present invention is not limited to this. TV broadcasting and information provided on the Internet can be handled as being equivalent to each other. Furthermore, contents recorded on package media such as DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) can be handled in the same manner.

FIG. 3 shows a typical example of a communication sequence between service receiving apparatus 100 and service providing apparatus 80 in information providing system 60 of the present embodiment. First, in the service receiving apparatus 100, when a predetermined event 110 occurs, for example, when the user changes the channel of the TV broadcast or when the TV program being broadcast approaches the end, a process 112 relating to the event 110 is performed. Then, information that specifies what the event 110 is (for example, information about the program after the change of the channel) is created and transmitted as the service information request 114 to the service providing apparatus 80.

[0073] The event 110 is not limited to a force including an operation of an explicit channel change by a user. For example, when timer reservation is possible, automatic activation or channel switching by timer reservation is included. In addition, this includes the case where the schedule automatically switches over time according to the program schedule of the service.

[0074] The service providing apparatus 80 stores a large amount of notification information for notifying a service in advance, and upon receiving the request 114, performs processing 116 for selecting notification information corresponding to the request 114. After that, the service providing apparatus 80 transmits the selected notification information 118 to the service receiving apparatus 100.

The service receiving apparatus 100 performs a predetermined process 120 for displaying the received notification information 118 on the received notification information 118 and displays a notification 122 on the screen.

That is, in the information providing system 60 according to the first embodiment, when an event occurs on the service receiving apparatus 100 side, based on the event generated on the service receiving apparatus 100 side, The service receiving apparatus 100 makes a determination as to whether or not to provide the necessary information, and the information is received from the service providing apparatus 80 and displayed.

<Configuration of Service Receiving Apparatus 100> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the service receiving apparatus 100. Referring to FIG. 1, service receiving apparatus 100 receives program table receiving section 146 for receiving program table 172 relating to a broadcast program that can be viewed on a terminal constituting service receiving apparatus 100, and program table receiving section 146. A program table storage section 148 for storing a program table, a content receiving section 140 such as a tuner for receiving program contents 170, a user input section 142 for receiving user input, and a user input section 142. According to the operation of the user used, a content selection unit 144 for selecting one of the contents received by the content reception unit 140 (actually switching channels), and a channel selected by the content selection unit 144 And an output unit 162 having a display device for outputting (displaying) the program. It is assumed that the content receiving unit 140 can access any address on the Internet that can be obtained only by TV broadcasting and can acquire information.

[0078] The service receiving apparatus 100 further analyzes a timer table 150 that provides time information and a program table stored in the program table storage section 148 based on the time information given from the timer section 150, and For example, the program table analysis unit 152 for determining which program is a specific program for each channel, the channel selected by the content selection unit 144, and each channel determined by the program table analysis unit 152 From the information on the program being broadcast on the TV, the user selects the currently selected program, and the viewing information for transmitting the information on the program as viewing information 176 on the program being viewed by the user to the service providing apparatus 80. And a transmission unit 164.

[0079] The viewing information refers to attribute information of a service,,,, and, in the case of a TV broadcast, program identification information, and includes any combination of a channel frequency, a program title, a broadcast area, and a program genre. Can be included.

[0080] Service receiving apparatus 100 further includes a notification information receiving section 154 for receiving notification information 174 transmitted from service providing apparatus 80 in response to the viewing information transmitted by viewing information transmitting section 164; A notification information storage unit 156 for storing the notification information received by the information reception unit 154, and a notification information selection unit 158 for selecting an appropriate one to be displayed from the notification information stored in the notification information storage unit 156. And the notification information selected by the notification information selection unit 158 is superimposed on the image of the program output to the output unit 162 and output. And a notification information control section 160.

FIG. 4 shows the appearance of a remote controller (hereinafter, referred to as “remote controller”) 190 that constitutes a part of the user input section 142. Referring to FIG. 4, remote control 190 includes a power button 200 for switching on / off the power of service receiving apparatus 100 and an infrared ray for transmitting various button operations of remote control 190 to service receiving apparatus 100 as control signals. A transmission unit 202, a plurality of numeric buttons 204 including 0-9, an up / down button 206 for sequentially switching up and down channels of TV broadcasts and the like, a volume button 208 for adjusting the volume, and notification information. And a decision button 210 for selecting and executing the displayed service.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the notification information 212 stored in the notification information storage unit 156. Referring to FIG. 5, each entry of notification information 212 includes a channel number assigned to the notification information represented by the entry, a service identification number (ID) of the service represented by the notification information, and , A URI of a service server that provides the service, a genre code indicating a genre of the service, and text information indicating a description of the service. The service ID is assigned to be unique within the service receiving apparatus 100.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the service ID of the service represented by the notification information regarding the channel number 500 is 0404, and the service URI is “

http://world.soccer.co.jp/index.html ”, its Jianno record is 0102 (Jyanno record is described later with reference to Fig. 7), and the text of the explanation is is there.

[0084] The same applies to other entries. However, in this example, the channel number is assigned by the user so that services different from TV broadcasting can be used in the same manner as broadcasting. Therefore, some services may have obtained notification information but have not assigned a channel number by the user. For such services, the channel number in the table shown in Fig. 5 is indicated as “Not yet”. Channel numbers are used by users to identify broadcasts and services from each other. For example, based on the magnitude relationship of the channel numbers, the channels can be sequentially switched using the buttons 206 of the remote control 190, or the broadcast or service can be directly selected by directly specifying the channel numbers with the numeric buttons 204.

[0085] The information serving as the basis of this notification information is stored in the service providing apparatus 80. The configuration of the notification information stored in the service providing apparatus 80 will be described later with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the program guide 214 stored in the program guide storage 148. Referring to FIG. 6, this program table 214 takes time on the vertical axis, channel name and channel number on the horizontal axis, and lists in a matrix form what program is being broadcast on which channel at which time. It is a timetable that was struck. Each entry, which is described in the dash ([]), contains a word indicating the genre name of the program (for example, “Sports Z Soccer”).

[0087] The contents of the program table 214 are usually distributed by broadcast waves at a certain time, and the program table 214 is updated based on the information.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration of genre table 216 in which genre names of genres to which programs and services belong and genre codes are associated as described above. As shown in FIG. 7, the genre name and the genre code are paired with each other. Therefore, for example, the genre code corresponding to the genre name of a certain program in the program table 214 shown in FIG. 6 can be known, and vice versa. The genre name is defined as sports / small and baseball or soccer as its minor category, and the genre code is assigned to each category. The manner of this genre classification is not limited to this, and may be further subdivided.

The genre table 216 is used to select a genre that matches the currently selected program (see FIG. 6) from the received notification information 212 (see FIG. 5).

FIG. 8 shows a functional configuration of the service providing apparatus 80 in a block diagram form. Referring to FIG. 8, service providing apparatus 80 includes notification information storage section 218 storing notification information to be transmitted to service receiving apparatus 100 and the like, and viewing information reception for receiving viewing information from service receiving apparatus 100. Unit 222, notification information provision control unit 220 for activating transmission of notification information in service providing apparatus 80 in response to reception of viewing information by viewing information reception unit 222, and notification information provision control unit 220 When the provision of the notification information is started, the notification information storage unit 218 has a predetermined relationship with the viewing information among the notification information stored in the notification information storage unit 218 based on the viewing information received by the viewing information reception unit 222. The notification information selection unit 224 for selecting items and the notification information selected by the notification information selection unit 224 are combined with the viewing information 176. And a notification information transmitting section 226 for transmitting the notification information 174 to the service receiving apparatus 100 that has transmitted the notification information.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the notification information 230 stored in the notification information storage unit 218. The configuration of each entry of the notification information 230 shown in FIG. 9 is the same as the configuration of each entry of the notification information 212 in the service receiving apparatus 100 shown in FIG. However, since the channel number shown in FIG. 5 is assigned by each service receiving apparatus 100, it is not included in the notification information 230 shown in FIG.

[0092] <Operation>

Next, the operation of the system according to the first embodiment described above, in particular, the transition of the display on the service receiving apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 10 (A) shows a list of all services available on service receiving apparatus 100 displayed on a screen in a table format. As an example of the program information, TV program information of 300 to 302 channels stored in the program table 214 shown in FIG. Further, as an example of the notification information, the notification information regarding the two services of the 500 channel and the 501 channel stored in the notification information 212 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

FIG. 10 (B) shows a state where the service screen is displayed after channel 301 is selected in the display state of FIG. 10 (A). As with the conventional TV device, the user can easily switch channels using the up / down buttons 206 of the remote control 190 shown in FIG. 4 and easily call each service. In this example, services on the Internet are assigned to the 500s as shown in Fig. 10 (A), and each service is selected and selected using the buttons 206 or 204 of the remote control 190 as in the case of a TV program. Service can be executed.

[0095] Referring to Fig. 1, content selection section 144 receives a program according to a corresponding channel on a TV tuner in the case of a TV broadcast, and accesses a service URI in the case of a service on the Internet. Then, the data of the service entity can be received, and the service content can be given to the output unit 162 and displayed on the screen. The viewing information transmitting unit 164 transmits the viewing information 176 to the service providing apparatus 80 in order to request notification information related to the service currently used. On the other hand, the service providing device 80 is related to the service. When the notification information 174 is transmitted, the notification information receiving unit 154 receives it and stores it in the notification information storage unit 156.

[0096] In the present embodiment, the service currently used refers to a service for which a display related to the service is displayed on the screen. The data transmitted by the notification information transmitting unit 226 shown in FIG. 8 to receive the notification information is “http: @infoserver? Pgid = 08006” t, which is a URI. Here, the character string “infoserver” in the URI is an address representing the entity of the service providing apparatus 80. The character string “pgid”, which is a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) option on the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) server following the “?”, Is used on the service receiving device 100 and is currently used! Indicates the genre code of the service.

[0097] In Fig. 10 (B), a program titled "Eating around the country" for channel 301 is displayed, and its genre code is "08006" with reference to Figs. The service providing device 80 selects genre information that matches this genre code from the notification information stored in the notification information 230 shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that two pieces of notification information having service IDs “041000” and “041001” are transmitted from the service providing apparatus 80 to the service receiving apparatus 100.

[0098] When the notification information receiving unit 154 receives the service information, it adds an entry of this information to the notification information 212 shown in FIG.

[0099] The notification information selection unit 158 searches for service information having the same attribute from the notification information 212 in the notification information storage unit 156 for the currently used service, and notifies the user if it exists. In the present embodiment, the user is notified by searching for service information that has the same genre code as the currently used service and that has not been notified yet.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a display change of the service receiving apparatus 100 when notifying a user of information of a service provided from the service providing apparatus 80. Screen 240 shown in FIG. 11 displays a TV program of 301 channels. Here, the screen 240 displays the program "Whole country meal" on the main screen. The service information 242 of “Introduction to Winter Food Shop” having the same genre code as this program is displayed at the lower right of the screen. Here, the service information 242 is only the text in the “description” column of the notification information. However, this Not limited to this, the URI or genre name of the service may be notified instead or in addition to this.

[0101] When the enter button 210 of the remote control 190 is pressed while the screen 240 is displayed, the content selection unit 144 shown in FIG. 1 executes the service information 242 displayed on the screen, Switch services. Screen 244 shown in FIG. 11 shows a state of the screen display after the notified service is executed. Here, similarly, for the switched and displayed service, the service information related to this service is searched from the notification information 212, and if there is any unreported service information, the user is notified. On the screen 244, the service of “day trip information” is stored in the notification information 212, and the user is notified of the service information 246.

[0102] As described above, it is possible to notify the user of related service information one after another, and it becomes possible to easily find a service that is interesting to the user by switching services.

[0103] In Fig. 11, screen 248 shows a screen display when the channel is switched to 300 by using button 206 of remote controller 190. Here, too, service information 250 related to the displayed service is notified. Here, by pressing the enter button 210 of the remote control 190, the related service “△△ match ticket reservation service” is executed, and a screen 252 is displayed.

[0104] In the screen 252, it is assumed that no service having the same genre code as the genre code of this service exists in the notification information 212. Then, the service information is not displayed on the screen 252. As described above, when the service information does not exist, a display “service information does not exist” may be displayed.

A screen 254 in FIG. 11 displays a list of service information acquired from the service providing apparatus 80. By selecting the service information 256 in the list, the user can move to the screen 252 of the corresponding service. In this way, the service information notified during program viewing may be used at any time after the program ends. In that case, the display order may be the genre that the user frequently views or the order in which the date of reception is newer. In addition, after receiving service information, service information that has not been used for a certain period of time should be automatically deleted. It may be.

[0106] Furthermore, a mode is provided in which the notified service information is added as a channel at any timing, and the service is automatically erased by assigning a channel number to a service of interest to the user. May be prevented. In this case, this service information is not deleted from the notification information 212, and a unique channel number within the notification information 212 may be assigned. In this way, a new channel number is assigned to the service provided from the service providing apparatus 80, and the service number is added to the service list screen at any time as shown in the left diagram of FIG.

[0107] The service information to be transmitted may be information relating to the result of executing the service information that is not limited to information relating to TV. Further, the type of the service information notified from the service providing apparatus 80 to the service receiving apparatus 100 as the related information is not limited. In addition, of the service information held in the notification information storage unit 156, information that has not been notified (displayed) to the user for a certain period of time may be automatically deleted. In this way, even a terminal having a small storage capacity can receive and store service information one after another.

[0108] The method of displaying related service information is not limited to the above. The text display may be slid or the display may become smaller over time so as not to disturb the main screen. When there is a plurality of related service information, it may be arranged so that the information is switched and displayed at regular intervals. Further, the service providing device 80 may set the priority of the service information, and change the display time of the service information or the size of the font to be displayed according to the priority. It may be displayed in combination with the animation display. In this way, the display mode of the service information on the service receiving apparatus 100 can be controlled from the service providing apparatus 80. Further, the method of storing the service information in the notification information storage unit 156 may be any method as long as the order relationship between the service information can be managed in a table, an array, or a list structure. .

In the present embodiment, the notification information from service providing apparatus 80 is returned as an HTTP response, but the format of the returned information is not limited to HTTP. For example, when there are a plurality of service information sent from the service providing apparatus 80, one file may be received as one file for each service information, or XML (extended A file in which a plurality of pieces of service information are written in one file using a format that can clearly indicate data division such as a Markup Language file may be received. The protocol used for communication may use other protocols such as SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer protocol) other than HTTP.

In the first embodiment, when a user changes a channel or the like (including automatic change by a timer), the service receiving apparatus 100 requests the service providing apparatus 80 for notification information. And displayed the returned information. However, the timing of notification of service information in the present embodiment is not limited to such. For example, if the end time of a broadcast program being watched by a user is already in advance, service information of the same genre as the program may be notified immediately before the end of the program. FIG. 12 shows an example of a communication sequence between the service receiving device 100 and the service providing device 80 in this case.

Referring to FIG. 12, it is assumed that a certain program 260 is displayed on service receiving apparatus 100. The end time 262 of this program can be easily determined from the program guide 214 shown in FIG. At a time point 264 preceding the end time 262 by a predetermined time, from the notification information 212 stored in advance, a program having the same genre code as that of the program currently viewed by the user! Processing 266 is performed! /, And notification 268 is performed.

Further, when a predetermined event 270 occurs, such as when the user changes the channel, the viewing information 272 relating to the program being displayed at that time is sent to the service providing apparatus 80. The service providing apparatus 80 performs a process 274 of searching for service information of the same genre as the program based on the viewing information 272, and notifies the service receiving apparatus 100 as notification information 276.

[0113] The service receiving apparatus 100 stores the notification information 276 in the notification information storage unit 156, executes a process 278 of extracting a program having the same genre code as that of the program currently being viewed, and generates a notification 280. Do. In the present embodiment, this notification 280 is made after a predetermined time has elapsed after receiving notification information 276.

[0114] Realization by computer> FIG. 13 shows a configuration of a physical block of the service receiving apparatus 100. Referring to FIG. 13, service receiving apparatus 100 includes a nonvolatile memory 296 such as a hard disk or a flash memory, which is a powerful memory, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 292, a memory 294, a network connection circuit 300, an output device 298, and an input device 302. , As well as a broadcast receiving tuner 304 and a nos 290 interconnecting them. That is, service receiving apparatus 100 is substantially equivalent to a computer.

[0115] The notification information storage unit 156 shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the nonvolatile memory 296 or, in some cases, by the memory 294. The content selection unit 144, the notification information selection unit 158, the notification information control unit 160, and the program guide analysis unit 152 illustrated in FIG. 1 are realized by a computer program stored in the nonvolatile memory 296 and a CPU 292 that executes the computer program. The content receiving unit 140 is realized by the network connection circuit 300 or the broadcast receiving tuner 304.

[0116] The network connection circuit 300 can be realized by a device that performs communication using the IP (Internet Protocol) protocol or infrared communication. The output device 298 is realized by a display monitor, a small liquid crystal panel, a speaker, or the like. The input device 302 is realized by a mouse, a keyboard, a remote controller, a touch pad, or the like. The broadcast receiving tuner 304 is realized by a tuner that can receive one or more of satellite broadcasting, terrestrial broadcasting, digital broadcasting, analog broadcasting, radio broadcasting, and the like.

[0117] In FIG. 13, the input device 302 may be indirectly connected to the bus 290 by wireless communication such as force infrared communication or weak radio wave directly connected to the bus 290.

[0118] The configuration shown in Fig. 13 is merely an example. Depending on the scale or application of the device, all or some of the components shown in the service receiving device 100 of the first embodiment may be provided. For example, if the service receiving device is implemented by an Internet TV receiver, all the components shown in Fig. 13 are required.However, since the service receiving device is implemented by an STB (Set Top Box) that connects to the TV device, If so, the output device 298 is unnecessary.

FIG. 14 shows a computer program executed by CPU 292 of service receiving apparatus 100. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an overall flow of a process according to the third embodiment. In addition, in the present application including FIG. 14, in each of the flowcharts in the figure, each step, a part of those steps, or a collection of a plurality of those steps is executed by a predetermined program module. May be revealed. Referring to FIG. 14, in step 320, the currently displayed program is selected. At step 322, it is determined whether or not the notification information has been received from the service providing apparatus 80. If so, go to step 340; otherwise, go to step 324.

[0120] In step 324, it is determined whether or not an event of a channel change by the user has occurred. If there is a channel change, proceed to step 332; otherwise, proceed to step 326.

[0121] In step 332, the stored program list is checked, and as a result of the channel change, it is determined which program the user is viewing. Further, the genre information of the program is checked, and the genre information is transmitted to the service providing apparatus 80 as viewing information in step 334. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 320.

[0122] If it is determined in step 324 that the channel has not been changed, in step 326 the program currently being viewed by the user is determined, and the end time thereof is checked. In step 328, it is determined whether or not the power is less than a predetermined time until the end time of the program. If the time is less than the predetermined time until the end of the program, the process proceeds to step 330; otherwise, the process returns to step 320.

At step 330, the genre information of the program that is currently being viewed and is almost finished is transmitted to the service providing apparatus 80 as viewing information, and the process returns to step 320.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 322 that the notification information has been received, the received notification information is stored in the notification information storage unit 156 in step 340. In step 342, the program currently being viewed is identified from the program guide, channel, and time information. In step 344, the program has a genre code that matches the genre code of the program, and is compatible with the program currently being viewed. Select the notification information.

At step 346, it is determined whether or not the selected notification information power matches the program currently being viewed and whether or not the power is higher. If there is a match, this notification information is displayed in step 348, and the process returns to step 320. If there is no match, do nothing and return to step 320.

The above is the processing by the computer program for realizing the service receiving apparatus 100 It is a flowchart of FIG.

[0127] The rule for selecting the notification information in the service providing apparatus 80 is not limited to the genre code as described above. For example, the service registration date may be held in the table of the notification information 230 in FIG. 9, the registration date may be new, and the service may be preferentially selected. In addition, service information such as the performance and type of available terminals, the age or gender of the target of use, and the like, are compared with the terminal information of the service receiving apparatus 100, and only the matching service information is selected. You may. In this case, the terminal type, performance, and the like may be automatically transmitted from the service receiving apparatus 100 to the service providing apparatus 80 as the terminal attribute information of the service receiving apparatus 100. The information may be received together with the viewing data of the service receiving apparatus 100. The age and gender of the user to use may be registered in the service providing apparatus 80 in advance, but in that case, it will take time and effort.

[0128] The service start or end time may be defined for a service accessible by the service information. In such a case, if the service providing device 80 is provided with a function for acquiring the current time, when the viewing data from the service receiving device 100 is received, for example, the notification information is selected from service information within 5 minutes before the start. When you select, you can use the selection rule you have chosen in combination with the above rules. In addition, if you have information on whether each service is paid or free, you can use many paid services, and if you have a higher priority, choose a paid service for your users. You can also.

[0129] For example, when there are a plurality of services of the same genre, the priority may be set by a predetermined rule so that the order of notification by the service receiving apparatus 100 may be controlled. By making it possible to summarize the service usage rates of all users and setting high priority to services with high usage rates, users will be able to know high-quality service information more quickly. .

FIG. 15 shows a configuration of a physical block of the service providing apparatus 80. Referring to FIG. 15, service providing apparatus 80 includes a non-volatile memory 366, a CPU 362, a memory 364, a network connection circuit 368, and a bus 360 interconnecting these. Figure 15 configuration As is evident, the service providing device 80 can be configured using a commercially available server device or a personal computer (hereinafter, a personal computer).

The notification information storage unit 218 shown in FIG. 8 is realized by the nonvolatile memory 366 or the memory 364. The viewing information receiving unit 222 and the notification information transmitting unit 226 are realized by the network connection circuit 368. The notification information provision control unit 220 and the notification information selection unit 224 are realized by the network connection circuit 368, the computer program stored in the nonvolatile memory 366, and the CPU 362 executing the computer program.

[0132] A flowchart of a program process executed by the CPU 362 to implement the service providing apparatus 80 will be described with reference to FIG. In step 380, it is determined whether or not the receiving apparatus has received the viewing data. If not received, execute this step again and wait until receiving device power viewing data is received.

When the viewing data is received from service receiving apparatus 100, the viewing data is analyzed in step 382, and the genre code is extracted. In step 384, service information having the genre code is extracted from the notification information 230 stored in the notification information storage unit 218 shown in FIGS. In step 386, the extracted notification information is transmitted to the service receiving apparatus 100 that has transmitted the viewing data first, and the process returns to step 380. If there is no notification information having the same genre code as the received genre code, or if the received genre code is registered in the genre table 216, !! The transmission data is transmitted to the service receiving device 100.

As described above, in the present embodiment, by transmitting service information being used by service receiving apparatus 100 to service providing apparatus 80, the user performs work such as registration of information considered to be useful. You can be notified of information about services that are unknown to you and that are relevant to you. Even if there is a large amount of service information, only the notification information related to the service currently used is transmitted, so that the service information can be received efficiently with a reduced amount of communication transmission. In addition, notification information is presented when the service currently being used is nearing the end of its service or when switching channels on a TV, etc., so that it is possible to notify information that the user is likely to be interested in at the right time . <Modification 1 of First Embodiment>

In the first embodiment described above, service receiving apparatus 100 transmits viewing information relating to the currently used service to the server, and receives related notification information. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, operation in the format shown in FIG. 17 or FIG. 18 can be performed.

FIG. 17 shows a communication sequence between service receiving apparatus 100 A and service providing apparatus 80 in the first modified example. In this modification, the service receiving device 100A also sends viewing information to the service providing device 80 for a service that is likely to be used next to the currently used service, and provides notification information related to the currently used service. And the notification information about the service likely to be used next. The next service most likely to be used is, for example, in the case of TV broadcasting, two channels that are adjacent to the currently viewed channel among the channels that can be viewed. This is because if you use a remote control 190 with up / down buttons 206 as shown in Fig. 4, if there is a channel switch, you may be able to switch to the channel immediately before or next to the current channel. This is because of high.

In this case, the following communication is performed. Referring to FIG. 17, it is assumed that there is a channel switching 400 by the user at! / At service receiving apparatus 100A. It is assumed that this channel is, for example, the 301 channel and the adjacent viewable channels are the 300 channel and the 302 channel. In this case, the service receiving apparatus 100A includes not only the viewing information indicating the program on the 301 channel but also the viewing information indicating the program scheduled to be broadcast in the same time zone on the 300 and 302 channels. Send to 80. This is shown as viewing information 402 in FIG.

[0138] Assuming that it is 13:00 at present, in this modified example, the HTTP data (for example,

http: 〃Sends infoserver? pgid = 08006 & gidl = 0101 & gid2 = 0104) to the service providing device 80. Here, “infoserver” is an address representing the entity of the service providing apparatus 80. The “pgid” option that follows is the genre code of the service (301 channel) currently used on the service receiving device 100A, and the genre code after “gidl”. In the option, the genre codes of the services to be used next are arranged. Here, the genre codes of 300 channels and 302 channels are described, respectively. However, in the present embodiment, the clock unit 150 measures the use time of the currently used service, and controls the timing of notification based on the use time.

The service providing apparatus 80 receiving this information performs a process 404 of searching for and selecting notification information belonging to the same genre as the genre of each program in the 300 to 302 channels, and performs a process 404 as the notification information 406 as the notification information 406 Reply to 100A.

[0140] Assuming that the service receiving apparatus 100A that has received the notification information continues to view the 301 channel, the service information related to the 301 channel program is notified as in the case of the first embodiment. Is done.

[0141] On the other hand, it is assumed that there is a channel switching 408 from channel 301 to channel 300 before service receiving apparatus 100A receives notification information 406. In this case, at a later time 410, the notification information 406 is received, and the notification information 406 already includes the notification information of the service related to the program of 300 channels. Therefore, the service receiving apparatus 100A transmits the 300-channel viewing information again to the service providing apparatus 80. At a point 412 when a predetermined time t has elapsed from the point 410 of receiving the necessary notification information, the service receiving apparatus 100A uses the notification information 406 to associate with the 300 channel. Notification 414 of service information to be performed.

Therefore, in the first modification, the number of transmissions of the viewing information from service receiving apparatus 100A to service providing apparatus 80 can be reduced.

[0143] Further, in the present modification, the number of service information related to a service currently used and the number of service information related to a service that is likely to be used next are made different from each other. It is reasonable to make two for the case and one for the latter. However, any combination other than such a combination is possible.

As a service likely to be used next, in the case of TV broadcasting, a program that is scheduled to be broadcast next to the program currently being broadcast on the currently viewed channel is selected. Can also be used. Even in such a case, the operation of the service receiving apparatus 100 is basically the same as that of the first embodiment and the first modification thereof, and the viewing information transmitted to the service providing apparatus 80 includes the current viewing information. It differs in that it includes viewing information about not only the program but also the program that is scheduled to be broadcast next.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a communication sequence between service receiving apparatus 100B and service providing apparatus 80 in this case. Referring to FIG. 18, assume that channel switching 420 to channel 302 has been performed in service receiving apparatus 100B. The service receiving apparatus 100B transmits, to the service providing apparatus 80, the genre code of the program scheduled to be broadcast next on channel 302 as viewing information 422, in addition to the genre code of the program currently being broadcast on channel 302. The next program can be easily checked with reference to the program table 214 shown in FIG.

[0146] The service providing apparatus 80 that has received the viewing information 422 provides a service having the same genre code as the genre code included in the viewing information 422, as in the first embodiment and the first modification thereof. (424), and transmits the notification information 426 to the service receiving apparatus 100B.

[0147] If the original program is still displayed on the service receiving apparatus 100B having received the notification information 426, for example, at the time when a predetermined time t elapses when the channel is switched for the first time 428, the current broadcast is performed. Notification 430 of service information related to the program in progress can be performed.

Further, at time 432 when the program ends, it is not necessary for service receiving apparatus 100 B to transmit the viewing information to service providing apparatus 80 again. This is because the notification information 426 includes the notification information of the service related to the new program. Therefore, at a time point 434 after a predetermined time t has elapsed from the start time point 432 of the new program, notification 436 of service information related to the new program can be made.

[0149] In the first and second modified examples, the notification of the related service is not performed when a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) has passed after a channel change or a program change is performed. For example, if the act of switching channels frequently is performed, as in the case of! /, So-called zubbing, it is considered that it is not useful to notify the service information each time. If you continue to watch the same service for a certain amount of time, It is thought that there is taste. Therefore, it is reasonable to notify the relevant service information only when using the same service for a certain amount of time.

[0150] Further, the above-mentioned predetermined time may be changed depending on the genre. For example, for a drama, etc., the service information should be notified only after watching the time for a relatively long time. Information may be provided.

[0151] Further, in a target service, for example, a broadcast program, the predetermined time may be changed depending on the entire broadcast time.

[0152] As in the present embodiment, by transmitting service information that is highly likely to be used as well as the service being used to the service providing apparatus 80, it is possible to efficiently obtain service information. Even when the service being used is frequently switched, related service information can be smoothly notified.

[Second Embodiment]

In the first embodiment, the service receiving apparatus 100 sends viewing information relating to the currently viewed service to the service providing apparatus 80, and uses the notification information transmitted from the service providing apparatus 80 in response thereto. Then, the related service is notified. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. In the second embodiment, the service receiving device keeps a history of the service usage status of the user, and receives service information considered useful to the user from Sano based on the history. take.

FIG. 19 shows a schematic configuration of a system according to the second embodiment, and the progress of communication between devices in the system. Referring to FIG. 19, the system according to the present embodiment includes a service providing device 440 and a service receiving device 442. The outline of both communications is as follows.

Referring to FIG. 19, first, history count condition 450 indicating under what conditions the history should be transmitted is transmitted from service providing apparatus 440 to service receiving apparatus 442. On the other hand, the service receiving device 442 is a process for recording the history of the user's service usage Perform 452. When a predetermined condition is satisfied (for example, at a regular time every day), the service receiving device 442 transmits history information 454 matching the history count condition to the service providing device 440. The service providing device 440 that has received the history information 454 performs a service notification information selection process 456 based on the history, and transmits it as the notification information 458 to the service receiving device 442.

[0156] Upon receiving this notification information 458, the service receiving device 442 immediately makes a notification 460 based on the notification information 458.

FIG. 20 shows, in a block diagram form, a functional configuration of service receiving apparatus 442 used in the system according to the second embodiment. Referring to FIG. 20, service receiving apparatus 442 includes a user input section 142, a content receiving section 140, a notification information receiving section 154, and a notification section similar to those used in service receiving apparatus 100 of the first embodiment. A history count condition storage unit 482 for storing the history count condition stored in the information control unit 160, a history count condition reception unit 478 for receiving the history count condition transmitted from the service providing device 440, A history count condition update unit 480 for updating the history count condition stored in the history count condition storage unit 482 by using the history count condition received by the history count condition reception unit 478.

[0158] The service receiving device 442 further selects a content to be received by the content receiving unit 140 according to the user input from the user input unit 142 and the notification information of the related service from the notification information control unit 160. A content selection unit 470, an output unit 472 for displaying the content selected by the content selection unit 470, and optionally displaying the notification information received from the notification information control unit 160 in a superimposed manner, and a content selection unit 470 Time monitoring unit 474 for monitoring the content selection operation by the user and clocking the content viewing time, and a history information storage unit for storing the viewing time of the content measured by the viewing time timer 474 as a history. And 476.

The service receiving device 442 further transmits the history information stored in the history information storage unit 476 to the service providing device 440 based on the history event conditions stored in the history count condition storage unit 482. History count discriminator 484 for determining the history information to be provided, and a memory determined to be transmitted to the service providing device 440 by the history count discriminator 484. A history information transmitting unit 488 for transmitting the history information to the service providing apparatus 440, a schedule information transmission unit 488 for providing the time information and transmitting the history information, and a history information transmitting unit 488 when the scheduled time comes. And a timer 486 for activating and transmitting history information.

FIG. 21 shows an example of history information 500 stored in history information storage section 476. Referring to FIG. 21, history information 500 includes the date and time when content of a predetermined genre was broadcast, the genre to which the content belongs, the title of the content, and the total viewing time. A power of specifying what kind of service history is to be extracted and transmitted from the history information 500 is a history count condition transmitted from the service providing apparatus 440.

The history count condition is a condition that specifies that the viewing history is transmitted only when a specific condition is satisfied, or that the viewing history is not transmitted when the specific condition is satisfied. For example, if a program has not been viewed for more than 5 minutes, the viewing history of the program is not transmitted, or the viewing history of the program is not transmitted for a specific program or a specific genre. Condition. Or, alternatively, it may specify the condition of whether or not to keep a history.

FIG. 22 shows a functional configuration of the service providing apparatus 440 in a block diagram form. Referring to FIG. 22, a service providing device 440 is provided with a notification information storage unit 218 and a notification information transmission unit 226 similar to those according to the first embodiment, and a clock unit for clocking time. 510, a history count condition transmission unit 514 for transmitting the history count condition to each service receiving device 442 when the transmission count time of the history count condition is reached based on the timing by the timer unit 510, and a service receiving device A history information receiving unit 516 for receiving history information from the 442, a history information storage unit 518 for storing the history information received by the history information receiving unit 516, and a history count in accordance with an instruction from the timer unit 510. The notification information provision control unit 512 for controlling the transmission of the condition and the notification information, and the history information storage unit 51 8 in response to the notification information provision control unit 512 receiving the instruction to transmit the notification information. To憶 by the notification information of the service that matches the history information are Churyoku et selection of the notification information storage section 21 8, and a notification information selecting unit 520 for providing the notification information transmitting unit 226 for transmission. [0163] The method of selecting the notification information of the notification information selection unit 520 may be a method of selecting information of a service that matches the genre code included in each piece of history information, or a method of selecting all pieces of history information.

Alternatively, information of a service having a large number of viewing hours and matching the top N genre codes may be selected. In addition, selection methods based on various criteria can be used.

[0164] <Operation>

Referring to FIG. 20 and FIG. 22, the system according to the second embodiment operates as follows. First, referring to FIG. 22, when the time count unit 510 of the service providing device 440 detects that the transmission date and time of the history count condition has come, the notification information provision control unit 512 generates what kind of history count condition. Information on whether to transmit is provided to the history count condition transmitting unit 514. The history count condition transmitting unit 514 generates a history count condition according to the provided information, and transmits the history count condition to the service receiving device 442.

Referring to FIG. 20, history count condition receiving section 478 of service receiving apparatus 442 receives this history count condition, and provides the history count condition updating section 480. The history count condition updating unit 480 updates the history count condition stored in the history count condition storage unit 482 with the history count condition.

On the other hand, when the user selects some service (content) using the user input unit 142, the content selection unit 470 selects the corresponding content in response to the operation and outputs the selected content to the output unit 472. The viewing time counting unit 474 counts the time during which the user uses the selected service, and stores the time in the history information storage unit 476 as history information. At this time, if the selected service is a TV program or the like, information on the program is obtained from the program table, and history information 500 as shown in FIG. 21 is created. The history count determination unit 484 determines a history to be transmitted to the service providing device 440 according to the history count condition stored in the history event condition storage unit 482, and provides the history to the history information transmission unit 488. As history information to be transmitted to the service providing apparatus 440, genre codes of all histories satisfying the history count condition are used. In addition, the program title and description, and the viewing time information may also be transmitted.

When the timer unit 486 determines that the date and time to transmit the history to the service providing device 440 has been reached, the history information transmitting unit 488 determines from the history given from the history count determination unit 484 Is transmitted to the service providing apparatus 440.

Referring to FIG. 22, when history information receiving section 516 receives this history information, it stores it in history information storage section 518. When the timing unit 510 determines that the date and time to transmit the notification information has come, the notification information provision control unit 512 activates the notification information selection unit 520. Based on the history information stored in the history information storage unit 518, the notification information selection unit 520 generates, from the notification information stored in the notification information storage unit 218, the notification information that matches the service usage history of the user. Is selected and given to the notification information transmitting unit 226. The notification information transmitting unit 226 transmits the notification information to the service receiving device 442.

Referring to FIG. 20, notification information receiving section 154 gives the notification information control section 160 when receiving this notification information. The notification information control unit 160 superimposes the notification information indicating that there is a service considered to be of interest to the user on the video displayed on the output unit 472 and displays the notification information on the content selection unit 470. Information such as the URL for accessing the service.

[0170] The method of displaying the notification information controlled by notification information control section 160 is not limited to the case where display is performed by superimposing on output section 472. A specific channel that displays only the notification information received from the service providing device 440 is prepared, and when that channel is selected, it is displayed in a list on the output unit 472 or displayed while switching sequentially by time management. Control may be performed as follows. In this case, the notification information control unit 160 temporarily stores the received notification information in the notification information receiving unit 154 instead of immediately displaying the notification information on the output unit 472, and stores the notification information held when a specific channel is selected. This can be easily realized by reading the information and displaying it on the output unit 472.

[0171] If the user presses decision button 210 (see Fig. 4) of remote controller 190 to select this service, content selection section 470 uses the information according to the information such as the URL provided from notification information control section 160. Access the service selected by the user.

[0172] <Computer realization>

The service receiving device 442 shown in FIG. 20 and the service providing device 440 shown in FIG. 22 both have the hardware shown in FIGS. 13 and 15 and the CPU 292 and 362 shown in FIGS. 13 and 15, respectively. Realized by the computer program executed by . Fig. 23 and Fig. 24 show the flow of computer processing for that purpose in flowchart form.

[0173] The processing performed by the service receiving device 442 is divided into two. The first process relates to the viewing history, and the second process relates to the display of the notification information. FIG. 23 shows a flowchart of the first process, and FIG. 24 shows a flowchart of the second process.

With reference to FIG. 23, the processing related to the viewing history performed in service receiving apparatus 442 will be described. First, in step 540, it is determined whether or not the date and time of transmitting the viewing history data to the service providing apparatus 440 has been reached. If the transmission date and time has been reached, the process proceeds to step 542; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 548.

In step 542, the stored viewing history count condition is read, and in step 544, a matching viewing history count condition is selected from the viewing history. Further, in step 546, the selected viewing history data is transmitted to service providing apparatus 440. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 540.

On the other hand, if the date and time of transmission of the viewing history data is! / データ, it is determined in step 548 whether or not the history count condition has been received from the service providing apparatus 440. If received! /, The history count condition already stored is updated at step 550 using this history count condition. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 540. If the history count condition has not been received, the process returns to step 540 without doing anything.

In the process related to notification of service information shown in FIG. 24, in step 320, a process of selecting a thread is performed. In step 322, it is determined whether or not notification information has been received from the service providing device 440. If the notification information is received! /, The process proceeds to step 348 to display the received notification information, and returns to step 320. If the notification information has not been received, the process proceeds to step 324.

At step 324, it is determined whether or not the user has changed the program (service). If there is a program change, go to step 332; otherwise go to step 562.

[0179] In step 332, the type of the program after the change is checked using a program table. In step 560, the program information obtained from the program guide The information is stored in the information 500 and the process returns to the step 320.

[0180] On the other hand, if there is no program change, in step 562, the viewing time is counted for the currently viewed program !, and the process returns to step 320.

FIG. 25 shows a flowchart of a process executed by service providing apparatus 440. Referring to FIG. 25, service providing apparatus 440 first receives history information if there is an incoming call from service receiving apparatus 442 in step 570. In step 572, a determination is made as to whether or not the force has reached the date and time for notifying the related service information. If it is the notification date and time, go to step 574, otherwise return to step 570.

[0182] In step 574, the content is received, accumulated !, and viewed based on the history information! Identify information such as the power of the service and its genre. At step 576, notification information (for example, notification information of the same genre as the service that has been viewed for the longest time, and the same genre as the service that has been viewed for the longest time) is selected. Send to 442. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 570.

[0183] The above processing is executed for all the service receiving apparatuses 442 that receive the service from the service providing apparatus 440.

As described above, according to the device of the second embodiment, the history count condition indicating whether the viewing history should be transmitted is transmitted from the service providing device 440 to the service receiving device 442, and the service The receiving device 442 transmits the viewing history only for the service for which the transmission of the history is instructed according to the condition. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the communication capacity that does not need to be transmitted for services that are considered to have no use value in the history on the server. Also, by specifying a condition that transmission is performed only when the user has watched the content for more than 5 minutes as a history count condition, the history can be received only for services that the user is interested in. Accuracy can be improved. Since communication traffic does not always occur every time a program is changed, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication.

In the second embodiment, the viewing history is taken for each program viewed by the service receiving device 442. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, viewing histories are aggregated for each genre, not for each program, and the aggregation results are collected by the service May be transmitted. In this case, an example of the viewing history totaling table 630 held in the service providing apparatus 440 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 26, the table stores the total viewing time for each day and for each genre, instead of the viewing time for each individual program. By transmitting such a total result to the service providing apparatus 440, the service providing apparatus 440 can know the service that the user is interested in by analysis, and can transmit appropriate notification information to the service receiving apparatus.

[0186] In this embodiment, the service providing apparatus 440 selects the notification information based on the viewing result of the viewing history received from the service receiving apparatus 442! , To the receiving device 442. However, in addition to the above, the configuration is such that the result of counting the received viewing history is provided to another different service providing apparatus, and the other different service providing apparatus selects and transmits the notification information to the service receiving apparatus 442. You may. In this way, the user only needs to transmit the viewing history count result to the service providing apparatus 440 only, and can receive notification information according to his / her preference from another different service providing apparatus. . In still another example, if the viewing results are provided to the service servers 90 and 92 shown in FIG. 2, the service servers 90 and 92 provide the service receiving device 442 with a service according to the user's preference. Can be provided.

In the second embodiment, the service receiving device 442 transmits history information to the service providing device 440 after receiving the history count condition from the service providing device 440. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. The history information may be transmitted to the service providing apparatus 440 regularly or irregularly according to the schedule of the service receiving apparatus 442 related to the reception of the history count condition. In this case, the service receiving apparatus 442 provides the service use history stored in the history information storage section 476 as a service when the timer section 486 determines that the date and time to transmit the history information to the service providing apparatus 440 has come. Send to device 440.

The transmission timing here may be regular, such as every hour or every day, or may be a schedule implemented in the service receiving device 442. Alternatively, the time may be separately specified in advance from the service providing apparatus 440. Also, here, all histories are sent. The history to be transmitted may be selected and transmitted according to predetermined conditions in the service receiving apparatus 442, such as those viewed for 10 minutes or more instead of transmitting. Further, as a condition for this selection, a history count condition received from the service providing device 440 may be used as in the second embodiment.

[0189] The history storage processing when the service providing apparatus 440 receives the history and the transmission processing of the notification information based on the history information are the same as those in the second embodiment.

In the second embodiment, the service receiving apparatus 442 counts the viewing time for each day. However, the method of tabulating the viewing history by the service receiving device 442 is not limited to such a method. For example, the viewing histories in the time zone may be totaled for each predetermined time zone, and the totaling result may be transmitted to the service providing apparatus 440. In this case, FIG. 27 shows an example of the viewing history totaling table 900 held in the service providing apparatus 440. Referring to FIG. 27, tabulation table 900 stores tabulation of viewing time for each genre, as in tabulation table 630 shown in FIG. However, unlike the tallying table 630 shown in FIG. 26, the tallying table 900 tabulates the viewing time in each time period in units of 15 minutes. The aggregation table 900 summarizes the aggregation results for each time zone according to the day when the aggregation was performed. The aggregation table 900 further includes information on the day of the week on which the aggregation was performed.

By transmitting the result of the aggregation to the service providing apparatus 440, the service providing apparatus 440 can know the periodic tendency of the service used by the user by analysis. Therefore, it is possible to transmit appropriate notification information to the service receiving device in accordance with the user's preference and the life rhythm. FIG. 28 shows an outline of an operation in which the service providing apparatus 440 analyzes a periodic viewing tendency based on the result of aggregation for each time zone, and selects notification information according to the viewing tendency.

Referring to FIG. 28, first, service providing apparatus 440 selects a viewing history on the same day of the week as the current day of the week from totaling table 900 for each time zone (see FIG. 27). For example, assuming that the current day is Monday, August 23, the totaling result for each time zone on the last three weeks on Monday is selected as the viewing history 910 to be analyzed from the totaling table 900. Sir The service providing apparatus 440 specifies, for each time zone in the viewing history 910, the genre that has been viewed for the longest time in that time zone. For example, in the time zone from 7:00 to 7:15, it is specified that the service of “genre A” is viewed for the longest time. The service providing apparatus 440 uses the viewing tendency 912 of each time zone specified in this way for selecting notification information.

[0193] When the time at which the notification information is to be transmitted arrives, service providing apparatus 440 refers to viewing tendency 912 and matches the viewing tendency in the time zone to which the time belongs, from among notification information 914 that can be provided. The notification information is selected and transmitted to the service receiving device. For example, assuming that the notification information should be transmitted at 8:00, the service providing apparatus 440 refers to the viewing tendency in the time period from 8:00 to 8:15. During this time, the “Genre B” service is viewed for the longest time. Assuming that the notification information 91 4 that can be provided includes introduction information 920A to 920E of programs 1 to 5 corresponding to genres A to E, respectively, the service providing apparatus 440 sets the genre B to The program information 920B of the corresponding program 2 is selected and transmitted to the service receiving device.

[0194] Note that the aggregation table 900 shown in FIG. 27 shows, for each time slot, the genre of the service that has the longest viewing time in that time slot, instead of the total viewing time for each genre. Only the information may be stored. In this case, the service providing apparatus 440 may set the genre frequently stored in the tally table in each time slot of each day of the week as the viewing tendency in that time slot of the day of the week.

[Third Embodiment]

In the second embodiment, the service receiving device 442 obtains a viewing history and transmits this to the service providing device 440, so that the service providing device 440 selects appropriate notification information based on the history, and Transmitting to receiving device 442. However, a method of notifying appropriate service information based on the history is not limited to this. In the system according to the third embodiment, notification of service information is performed in the following manner.

[0196] Fig. 29 shows a schematic configuration of a system according to the present embodiment and the progress of communication between devices in the system. Referring to FIG. 29, the system includes a service providing device 642 and a service providing device. Receiving device 640. The outline of both communications is as follows.

Referring to FIG. 29, service receiving apparatus 640 performs processing 660 for obtaining a history related to viewing of a service by a user. The service providing device 642 collectively transmits to the service receiving device 640 instruction conditions for instructing which service information should be notified when the history satisfies which conditions together with various service information. Perform. The service receiving apparatus 640 performs processing 664 of applying the history information held by itself to the received instruction condition, determining service information to be notified, and notifying.

[0198] The service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 perform communication between the two, a type of communication control protocol for controlling the start, change, and end of a bidirectional session, the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). ) Using the SUBSCRIBE method and NOTIFY method. That is, the service receiving device 640 requests the service providing device 642 to notify information in advance using the SUBSCRIBE method, and the service providing device 642 registers the service receiving device 640 as a notification destination. In process 662, the service providing apparatus 642 notifies the registered service receiving apparatus 640 using the NOTIFY method.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of service receiving apparatus 640 used in the system according to the third embodiment. Referring to FIG. 30, service receiving apparatus 640 includes a user input unit 142 and a content receiving unit 140 similar to those according to the first embodiment, and a content selection unit similar to that according to the second embodiment. Section 470, output section 472, viewing time counting section 474, and history information storage section 476, as well as conditional notification information receiving section 650 for receiving conditional notification information from service providing apparatus 642, and conditional notification information. A conditional notification information storage unit 652 for storing the conditional notification information received by the receiving unit 650.

[0200] Service receiving apparatus 640 further selects notification information to be notified to the user by applying the conditions stored in conditional notification information storage section 652 to the history stored in history information storage section 476. Control section 654 and the output section 472 to display the notification information selected by the condition determination section 654 so as to be superimposed on the screen on the output section 472, and also to the content selection section 470, Information such as the address of the service corresponding to the notification information And a notification information control unit 656 for notifying information.

FIG. 31 shows a functional configuration of the service providing device 642 in a block diagram form. Referring to FIG. 31, service providing device 642 includes notification information storage unit 218 similar to that used in service providing device 80 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. A notification information provision control unit 670 for determining and executing a time when the notification information should be notified to the service receiving apparatus 640 according to the time measurement by the time measurement unit 510; When activated by the notification information provision control unit 670, the notification information storage unit 218 generates the aggregation condition generation unit 672 for generating the aggregation condition based on the stored notification information and the aggregation condition generation unit 672. And a conditional notification information transmitting unit 674 for transmitting the calculated notification condition to the corresponding notification information and transmitting the conditional notification information to the service receiving apparatus 640.

[0202] FIG. 32 shows an example of conditional notification information 676 generated by the tallying condition generation unit 672.

Referring to FIG. 32, this conditional notification information 676 includes two pieces of conditional notification information. The first notification information indicates that "on January 1, if a user has viewed a service with a genre code of 1000 for 30 minutes or more, the user will be notified of the service" variety. Smil "." The second notification information is, "If the total service of genre code 2000 was 240 minutes or more between January 1st and January 3rd, the service" New Drama. Notification. " Therefore, if the service receiving apparatus 640 maintains the history information regarding the viewing of the user, it is possible to determine which service information should be notified to the user based on this condition.

[0203] <Operation>

The operation of this system will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0204] As described above, the service receiving device 640 requests the service providing device 642 to transmit the conditional notification information 676 in advance using the SUBSCRIBE method of SIP. FIG. 33 shows a communication sequence between the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 when the service receiving device 640 makes a request. Referring to FIG. 33, when the user of service receiving apparatus 640 desires the notification by the conditional notification information and makes a predetermined setting 960 to service receiving apparatus 640, service receiving apparatus 640 performs processing 962 concerning the setting. line Nau. After that, the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 start a series of processing by the SUBSCRIBE method. First, the service receiving device 640 transmits a request 964 for transmitting the conditional notification information to the service providing device 642. The service providing device 642 performs a registration process 966 for registering the service receiving device 640 as a destination of the conditional notification information based on the transmission request 964. When the registration process 966 is completed, the service providing device 642 transmits the result 968 of the registration process 966 to the service receiving device 640.

[0205] Referring to Fig. 31, when timekeeping section 510 of service providing apparatus 642 detects that the time to transmit conditional notification information has come, notification information provision control section 670 causes aggregation condition generation section 672 to execute. Start The tally condition generation unit 672 reads the notification information from the notification information storage unit 218, generates the tally condition according to the condition given from the tally condition generation unit 672, and attaches the tally information to the notification information. This is given to the information transmitting unit 674. The conditional notification information transmitting unit 674 transmits the totalized conditional notification information to the service receiving device 640 registered as the transmission destination.

FIG. 34 shows a communication sequence between the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 when the service providing device 642 transmits the conditional notification information to the service receiving device 640. Referring to FIG. 34, when the conditional notification information is provided to conditional notification information transmitting section 674 in the above-described series of operations, conditional notification information transmitting section 674 registers in the registration process 966 shown in FIG. Based on the information, a process 970 for specifying the destination of the conditional notification information, that is, the service receiving device 640 is performed. After that, the conditional notification information transmission unit 670 transmits the conditional notification information 972 to the service receiving device 640 using the NOTIFY method of SIP. The service receiving device 640 starts the process 974 based on the received conditional notification information, and further replies 976 to the service providing device 642 for the conditional notification information. Thereafter, the service receiving device 640 displays the notification information based on the conditional notification information (664).

Referring to FIG. 30, in process 974 shown in FIG. 34, when the conditional notification information receiving section 650 of service receiving apparatus 640 receives this conditional notification information, it stores it in conditional notification information storage section 652. . On the other hand, the content selection by the user and the accompanying viewing time meter Creation and update of history information by the time section 474 are as described above.

[0208] The condition determination unit 654 matches any one of the aggregation conditions of the notification information stored in the conditional notification information storage unit 652 in the history stored in the history information storage unit 476. It monitors whether there is a match, and when a match is found, gives the notification information to the notification information control unit 656. The notification information control unit 656 superimposes and displays the notification information on the display of the output unit 472 to notify the user, and provides the content selection unit 470 with access to the service corresponding to the notification information. Give necessary information.

[0209] <Computer realization>

Each functional unit of the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 can also be realized by hardware as shown in FIGS. 13 and 15 and a computer program executed on the CPU. FIG. 35 shows a flowchart of a program process for realizing each functional unit of the service receiving device 640. Referring to FIG. 35, in step 320, the current program is selected. In step 322, it is determined whether or not the conditional notification information has been received from the service providing device 642. If so, go to step 692; otherwise, go to step 324.

[0210] In step 692, the received conditional notification information is stored in the conditional notification information storage unit 652. In step 694, it is determined whether or not some of the history information stored in the history information storage unit 476 matches the condition of the conditional notification information stored in the conditional notification information storage unit 652. If so, at step 696 the notification information (s) is displayed and the process returns to step 320. If not, the process returns to step 320.

[0211] If the conditional notification information has not been successfully received, it is determined in step 324 whether or not the program has been changed by the user. If there is a program change, the process proceeds to step 332; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 562.

[0212] In step 332, the program information such as the genre of the changed program is checked with reference to the program table. At step 560, the program information is stored in the history information storage unit 476 to record the viewing history of the program by the user. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 320.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 324 that the program has not been changed by the user, the viewing time of the currently viewed program is counted in step 562, and the history information is updated. After this, Return to 320.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart of a program process executed by the CPU to implement the service providing device 642. Referring to FIG. 36, first, in step 572, it is determined whether or not the date and time to notify the service receiving apparatus 640 of the conditional notification information has come. If not, the process returns to step 572 and waits until the notification date and time.

[0215] When the notification date and time comes, in step 710, a process of generating the aggregation condition is executed. Further, in step 712, the generated notification information with tally condition is transmitted to the service receiving device 640, and the process returns to step 572.

[0216] The transmission timing of the conditional notification information is not limited to the predetermined date and time as described above. FIG. 37 shows another example of the communication sequence between the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642. Referring to FIG. 37, an example in which the aggregation condition is transmitted at another timing between the service receiving device 640 and the service providing device 642 of this system will be described. First, it is assumed that the user turns on the power of the service receiving apparatus 640 (720), and then switches the channel from 301 to 300 (728). At the time 720 when the service receiving device 640 is turned on, a request 722 for notification information is transmitted to the service providing device 642. In response to the request, the service providing device 642 performs a conditional notification information selection process 724, and transmits the resulting conditional notification information 726 to the service receiving device 640.

[0217] Upon receiving the conditional notification information 726, the service receiving apparatus 640 stores and checks the history to determine whether or not there is a condition satisfied by the history among the conditional notification information 726. Check regularly. The history is constantly updated.For example, when 300 channels are continuously viewed for a predetermined period of time 730, service information is notified. Notification 732 is provided.

According to the present embodiment, by transmitting data including the aggregation condition as notification information to service receiving apparatus 640, service providing apparatus 642 can control the notification method. . In addition, if the conditions based on the history are not used, such as the age of the user, the local information where the user lives, and the information on! / Pure personal information, the information on the privacy of the user can be provided as a service. Registered for providing device 642 It is possible to perform processing such that only information that is important to the user who does not transmit or transmit is notified.

The system of the third embodiment can be combined with the first embodiment. Figure 38 shows the communication sequence between the devices in the system according to the modification with such a combination.

[0220] Referring to Fig. 38, in the system according to the present modification, service receiver 640, as in the first embodiment, is viewing a certain service (for example, TV broadcast of channel 301). At a predetermined time before the end of the broadcast, a notification 740 of service information related to the program being broadcast on channel 301 is made. Further, after this, when the user switches 742 to another channel (for example, 300 channel), the viewing information 744 is transmitted to the service providing device 642.

[0221] Upon receiving this viewing information, the service providing device 642 creates conditional notification information (746) and transmits it to the service receiving device 640 as notification information 748. The service providing device 642 is also broadcasted on channel 300, performs a selection process based on service information related to the program, and transmits notification information 748 including notification information under conditions. .

[0222] Upon receiving this notification information 748, the service receiving device 640 first performs notification 750 of service information based on the notification information having no conditions. Furthermore, matching is performed between the history information and the condition of the conditional notification information. If, for example, the condition that the user is watching the program of 300 channels is satisfied for a predetermined time 752, the condition is added. Then, a notification 754 of the service information is performed.

In the third embodiment, service receiving apparatus 640 counts the viewing time for each day, and notifies the user of service information whose total viewing time satisfies the condition. However, the method of counting the viewing history by the service receiving device 640 is not limited to such a method. For example, the viewing history in the time zone may be totaled for each predetermined time zone, and the user may be notified of service information satisfying the viewing time condition. In this case, Fig. 39 shows an example of the aggregation table held in the service receiving device. Referring to FIG. 39 Similarly, the aggregation table 930 stores the aggregation of the viewing time for each genre for each 15-minute time slot, similarly to the aggregation table 900 shown in FIG. In the tabulation table 930, the tabulation results for each time zone are summarized according to the day on which the tabulation was performed, and information on the day of the week corresponding to the day on which the tabulation was performed is added.

[0224] In the third embodiment, service providing apparatus 642 receives an instruction condition for instructing which service information should be notified when the history satisfies the condition together with the service information. Sent to device 640. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the service providing apparatus 642 transmits the conditional notification information together with the instruction condition, the service information, and the information specifying the notification method of the notification information, such as the timing of notifying the service information. Is also good.

[0225] Fig. 40 shows an example of conditional notification information including an instruction condition, notification information corresponding to service information, and information specifying a notification method of the notification information. Referring to FIG. 40, conditional notification information 940 is substantially information in XML format. XML documents can contain multiple elements. Although the details of the notation of the XML document are not described here, each element generally includes a start tag, an end tag, and element contents arranged between the start tag and the end tag. The start tag describes an element name of information between “ku” and “>”. The end tag describes the element name of information between "ku Z" and ">". By nesting tags, a plurality of items can be structured. The first line of the conditional notification information 940 indicates that the conditional notification information 940 is information described in an XML format.

[0226] The conditional notification information 940 is a format based on RDF (Resource Description Framework), which is a framework for a method of expressing metadata (secondary information based on certain information). Yes, it is commonly used to describe a website summary, and is written in a format that conforms to the RSS (RDF Site Summary, or Rich Site Summary) 1.0 format. The second line is a format based on the information power RDF described from this line to the tag “ku Zrdf: RDF>” on the 28th line, and is information written in a notation compliant with RSS 1.0. It indicates that.

[0227] The information described in the third to 27th lines is the content of the conditional notification information 940. This part consists of a channel element (lines 3 to 13) corresponding to one channel, Item elements (lines 14 to 20, and lines 21 to 27) respectively corresponding to the provided program.

[0228] A channel element includes a title element for describing a title of a channel corresponding to this element, a link element for describing access information for acquiring channel data of the channel, and an outline of the channel. And a items element indicating the configuration of the item element in the conditional notification information 940. The item element describes a title element for describing the title of the program corresponding to this element, a link element for describing access information for acquiring the program data of the program, and a summary of the program. And a description element. The information of these elements is the notification information that should be notified to the user according to the conditions.

[0229] The item element further includes information specifying the display timing of the information of the item element, and information specifying the condition for notifying the information of the element. This information is provided in a modularized manner as a description method for information other than the above-mentioned elements.

It is described based on the notation of the Core module. For example, the display timing of the information of the item element on the 14th to 20th lines is described in the “dc: date” element on the 18th line in this element. In this example, the display timing is “7:00 on May 18, 2004”. The conditions for notifying the information of the item element are described in the "6" element on the 19th line. In this example, the condition is that “if the viewing tendency of viewing the service with the service genre code 3000 is obtained, the information in the item element is notified to the user”.

[0230] The service receiving device 640 totals the viewing history for each time zone in the totaling table 930 shown in Fig. 39, and the service providing device 642 transmits the conditional notification information shown in Fig. 40 to the service receiving device 640. In this case, when the condition specified by the conditional notification information 940 is satisfied in a time zone near the specified display timing, the content receiving device 640 notifies the service information at the specified timing. It is also possible to do so.

[0231] For example, the service receiving apparatus 640 creates and updates history information in accordance with the content selection by the user, and tallies the viewing time for each time zone, as shown in FIG. Assume that a totaling table 930 has been created. It is also assumed that the service providing apparatus 642 has transmitted the conditional notification information 940 to the service receiving apparatus 640. In this case, the condition determination unit 654 (see FIG. 30) of the service receiving device 640 monitors the power of the totaling table 930 that has any of the conditional notification information 940 that matches any of the totaling conditions. Referring to Fig. 39, the aggregation table 930 shows that during the time period from 7:00 to 7:15 on May 18, a genre code of 2,000 and a genre code of 2,000 are watched for 10 minutes. After watching for 5 minutes, the result is shown. In other words, the genre code of the service that the user has watched for the longest time in this time zone is 3000. The tabulation conditions described in lines 18 and 19 of the conditional notification information 940 match this tabulation result. If the condition determination unit 654 finds a match, the condition determination information 940 provides the notification information control unit 656 with information on the item elements on the 14th to 20th lines corresponding to this condition in the conditional notification information 940. The notification information control section 656 superimposes and displays this information on the display of the output section 472 to notify the user and provides the content selection section 470 with access to the service corresponding to the notification information. Give necessary information.

FIG. 41 shows an example of the screen display at this time. Referring to FIG. 41, screen 950 displays a notification 952 superimposed on the display of the content of 300 channels. The notification 952 displays the title element information and the description element information of the item element on lines 14 to 20 of the conditional notification information 940. In this way, by summing up the viewing history for each time period and notifying the service information at a predetermined timing, it is possible to notify the user of appropriate service information suitable for the user's preference and life rhythm. it can.

[0233] In the above example, the conditional notification information 940 includes information for specifying the display timing of the notification information. However, the conditional notification information 940 includes the display position and the size of the notification information. , And various information that specifies how to display the notification information, such as the duration of the display. Further, it is also possible to add information designating display timing and the like to the notification information without a condition in the first modification of the third embodiment.

As described above, in this embodiment, appropriate service information is notified at a predetermined time before the end of the program, immediately after the switching of the program, and when a predetermined condition is satisfied, respectively. . As a result, users can be notified of useful information at the right time and efficiently. It comes out.

[0235] By providing the condition for notifying the service information from the service providing device 642, it is possible to notify the service information only to appropriate users. Further, the service receiving apparatus 640 determines whether or not the power matches the conditions, so that even when the service to be notified is changed for each user, the service providing apparatus 642 performs the service selection for each user. Disappears.

[0236] Also, by setting conditions, it is possible to set conditions that can be used at any time regardless of the channel and time of viewing, and to make condition judgments using personal information set in the service providing device 642. It becomes. Even if the personal information or the viewing log and the confidential information are not managed by the service providing device 642, various actions according to the user's interest can be executed. Users can also ease their concerns about leaking personal information.

[0237] Also, regarding a paid service, if the user identification number of the service is stored in the service receiving device 640, the service providing device 642 notifies new services one after another only to the user who has made the viewing contract. It becomes possible. Also, set a password for the notified message so that only users who know the password can see the notification message!

In addition to the condition notation shown in FIGS. 32 and 40, for example, a rule that, if the condition of the “IF” clause is satisfied, an action of the “Then” clause or lower can be used. More complicated rule settings may be made. Further, in the present embodiment, the ability to match conditions using past viewing logs is not limited to this. For example, "If the currently viewed channel is 300 channels, display the notification information" or "If the currently used service is a mail-order service, display the product information" It is also possible to match conditions by combining.

[Fourth Embodiment]

In the third embodiment described above, conditional notification information is transmitted to the service providing apparatus, the service receiving apparatus, and the service receiving apparatus determines whether the history satisfies the condition. ing. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the service receiving device collects the history from the history according to the specified totaling conditions, transmits the totaled result to the service providing device, and the service providing device notifies the service providing device of the! / You can also choose.

[0240] Fig. 42 shows a schematic configuration of a system according to the present embodiment and a communication process between devices in the system. Referring to FIG. 42, the system includes a service providing device 762 and a service receiving device 760. The outline of both communications is as follows.

Referring to FIG. 42, first, history provision condition 761 is transmitted from service providing apparatus 762 to service receiving apparatus 760. Upon receiving the tally condition 761, the service receiving device 760 performs a process 767 of tallying from the history according to the tally condition 761, and transmits the tally result 763 to the service providing device 762.

[0242] Upon receiving the tally result 763, the service providing apparatus 762 performs a process 764 of determining what service information should be notified to the service receiving apparatus 760 based on the history. Is transmitted to the service receiving device 760.

[0243] The service receiving device 760 performs a process 766 of notifying the user of the received notification information and the service information.

FIG. 43 shows a functional configuration of service receiving apparatus 760 according to the present embodiment in block diagram form. Referring to FIG. 43, service receiving apparatus 760 includes a user input unit 142, a content receiving unit 140, a notification information receiving unit 154, and a notification information control unit similar to those used in the first embodiment. In addition to the content selection unit 160, the content selection unit 470, the output unit 472, the viewing time counter 474, and the history information storage unit 476 used in the second embodiment, and the aggregation of the history from the service providing device 762. A counting condition receiving unit 780 for receiving the condition, a history counting unit 782 for counting the histories stored in the history information storage unit 476 according to the counting condition received by the counting condition receiving unit 780, And a totaling result transmitting unit 784 for transmitting the totaling result 806 totaled by the history totalizing unit 782 to the service providing device 762.

FIG. 44 shows, in a block diagram form, a functional configuration of service providing apparatus 762 used in the system according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 44, the service providing device 762 is In addition to the notification information storage unit 218 similar to that used in the device according to the embodiment and the timer unit 510 of the device according to the second embodiment, it is controlled by the timer unit 510, and according to a predetermined schedule. Accordingly, a tallying condition transmitting unit 794 for transmitting the tallying condition 800 to the service receiving device 760, a tallying result receiving unit 790 for receiving the tallying result of the history from the service receiving device 760, and a tallying result receiving unit 790 And a notification information provision control unit 792 for activating notification information selection processing in response to the reception of the counting result. The notification information provision control unit 792 also has a function of controlling generation of the tallying condition by the tallying condition transmitting unit 794 by sending information on what kind of tallying condition should be generated to the tallying condition transmitting unit 794.

[0246] When the service providing device 762 is further activated by the notification information provision control unit 792, any of the notification information stored in the notification information storage unit 218 is transmitted to the service receiving device 760. A notification information selection unit 796 for selecting whether to be performed based on the aggregation result received by the aggregation result reception unit 790, and notification information 804 selected by the notification information selection unit 796 for the service receiving device 760. And a notification information transmitting unit 798 for transmitting the information.

FIG. 45 shows an example of the tallying condition 800 transmitted from the tallying condition transmitting unit 794 to the service receiving device 760 in the present embodiment. The tallying condition 800 represents a tallying condition of “give up the time spent watching the service with the genre code = 1000 during the period from January 1 to January 3”. In the present embodiment, other aggregation conditions are specified in a similar format. However, the genre code = 1000 indicates the genre of the variety program.

FIG. 46 shows an example of a total result transmitted from the service receiving device 760 to the service providing device 762 after totaling the history according to the total condition 800. Referring to FIG. 46, the totaling result 806 indicates that the total time that the user used the service belonging to the genre code = 1000 between January 1 and January 3 was 235 minutes. It indicates that.

FIG. 47 shows an example of the configuration of a notification information table stored in notification information storage section 218 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 47, this notification information table 802 corresponds to the aggregation condition 800 shown in FIG. 45, and is a collection transmitted from the service receiving device 760. The size of the total time indicated by the total result 806 (FIG. 46) is associated with which content file should be transmitted. In the example shown in Fig. 47, if the time of using the service belonging to genre code = 1000 is 0 minutes or more and less than 60 minutes, `` variety rebroadcast .smil '' is used, and if it is 60 minutes or more and less than 240 minutes, `` new arrival variety. "smil" for 240 to 600 minutes indicates that "special variety.smil" should be selected as the notification information. Therefore, when the aggregation result 806 as shown in FIG. 46 is transmitted, the notification information to be transmitted to the service receiving device 760 is “new arrival variety.smil”.

FIG. 48 shows an example of the notification information 804 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 48, notification information 804 includes a tag <inform> indicating the notification information and “file =“ new arrival variety. Smil ”” indicating the file name of the service information. Upon receiving the notification information 804, the service receiving device 760 displays notification information indicating that there is a file called “smil”, which is considered to be of interest to the user based on the user's past service usage history. Do

[0251] <Operation>

With reference to FIG. 43 and FIG. 44, an outline of a part of the operation of the system according to the present embodiment that is unique to the present embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 44, when the date and time of transmission of the tallying condition comes, tallying condition transmitting section 794 of service providing device 762 generates tallying condition 800 and transmits it to service receiving device 760.

Referring to FIG. 43, when the tallying condition receiving unit 780 of the service receiving device 760 receives this tallying condition, the history tallying unit 782 tallies up the histories in the history information storage unit 476 according to the tallying condition, This is given to the tally result transmission unit 784. The tally result transmitting unit 784 sends the tally result 806 to the service providing device 762.

Referring to FIG. 44, when the tally result receiving unit 790 receives this tally result, the notification information provision control unit 792 activates the notification information selection unit 796 based on the tally result received. The notification information selection unit 796 selects the notification information stored in the notification information storage unit 218 that matches the received aggregation result, and provides the notification information to the notification information transmission unit 798. Notification information transmitting section 798 transmits the provided notification information to service receiving apparatus 760. [0254] The notification information is displayed by the notification information receiving unit 154, the notification information control unit 160, and the output unit 472 of the service receiving device 760. Also, access information to the service corresponding to the notification information is provided to the content selection unit 470.

[0255] <Computer realization>

FIG. 49 shows a flowchart of the program processing for realizing service receiving apparatus 760 according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 49, first, in step 320, a program is selected. Subsequently, in step 820, it is determined whether or not the aggregation condition expression has been received from the service providing device 762. If so, go to step 822; otherwise, go to step 322.

In step 822, the recorded histories are totaled according to the transmitted totaling conditions, and in step 824, the totaling result is transmitted to the service providing apparatus 762. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 320.

[0257] If it is determined that the aggregation condition expression has not been received, it is determined in step 322 whether or not the notification information has been received from the service providing apparatus 762. If received! /, If it is, the process proceeds to step 348 to display the notification information and returns to step 320. If not, it is determined in step 324 whether or not the program has been changed by the user. If the program change has been performed, the process proceeds to step 332, and if not, the process proceeds to step 562.

[0258] In step 332, the program table is examined for the program after the change to obtain program information such as genre. In step 560, the program information is stored in the history information storage unit 476 so as to obtain a history of the program thereafter. Thereafter, the process returns to step 320.

On the other hand, in step 562, the viewing time of the program being displayed is counted, and the viewing time of the program in the history information storage unit 476 is counted. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 320.

[0260] By executing a program having the above control structure on the CPU, service receiving apparatus 760 according to the present embodiment can be realized.

FIG. 50 shows a flowchart of the program processing executed by service providing apparatus 762. Referring to FIG. 50, it is determined in step 572 whether or not the date and time for transmitting the tally condition has come. If the date and time for transmitting the tallying condition has come, the process proceeds to step 840; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 844. [0262] In step 840, a tally condition is generated, and in step 842, the tally condition is transmitted to the service receiving device 760. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 572.

[0263] If the process proceeds from step 572 to step 844, the service receiving device 7

It is determined whether or not the counting result has been received from 60. Receive the count result! /

Proceed to 846, otherwise return to step 572.

[0264] In step 846, the received totaling result is analyzed, and in step 848, notification information to be transmitted to the service receiving device 760 is selected based on the analysis result. Step 8

At 50, the notification information is transmitted to the service receiving device 760, and the process returns to step 572.

[0265] By executing a program having the above control structure on a CPU, service providing apparatus 762 according to the present embodiment can be realized.

[0266] The embodiments disclosed this time are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to only the above-described embodiments. The scope of the present invention is shown by each claim in the claims, taking into account the description of the detailed description of the invention, and all changes within the meaning and scope equivalent to the language described therein are set forth. including.

Industrial applicability

[0267] As described above, the present invention notifies a user of a general system for transmitting and receiving programs and service information via a broadcasting system, an information network, and the like, in particular, the presence of information useful for the user. It can be used for a system.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] a service use module having a display device and selecting and using any of a plurality of services using the display device;

A service selection module for selecting a service to be used by the service usage module;

A transmitting device that transmits, to a predetermined destination, predetermined information relating to a service used by the service use module at the time of occurrence of the event, in response to occurrence of the predetermined event;

A service receiving device, comprising: a receiving device that receives information transmitted from the outside in response to the predetermined information; and a notification display device that displays the information received by the receiving device on the display device.

[2] The information received by the receiving device includes access information necessary for the service using module to access a service available,

The service receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a module that, among the information received by the receiving apparatus, provides the access information to the service selection module and enables the service selection module to select the service. The service receiver described.

[3] In response to the occurrence of an event of service switching by the service selection module, the transmitting device transmits the predetermined information on a service used by the service using module at the time of occurrence of the event to the destination. 2. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a module that performs the operation.

[4] In response to the occurrence of the predetermined event, the transmission device performs predetermined information on a service used by the service use module at the time of the event, and 2. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a module that transmits the predetermined information regarding a service having a relationship to the destination.

[5] The used service is a broadcast of a certain channel of television broadcasting, and a service having the above-mentioned predetermined relationship is a broadcast of a channel adjacent to the certain channel. 5. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the service receiving apparatus transmits the service.

[6] The service used is a service in which a plurality of contents are sequentially distributed according to a predetermined schedule.

The service according to claim 4, wherein the service having the predetermined relationship is a delivery of a content scheduled to be delivered by the same service next to the content delivered at the time of occurrence of the event. Receiver.

[7] The notification display device responds to the fact that the same service is continuously used in the service use module for a predetermined time after the occurrence of the predetermined event, and The service receiving device according to claim 1, further comprising a module for displaying received information on the display device.

[8] The transmitting device responds to the occurrence of the event that the used time has been reached by a predetermined time before the end of the content provided by the service and the service is provided when the event occurs. 2. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a module that transmits the predetermined information regarding a service used by a use module to the destination.

[9] a service use module having a display device and selecting and using an arbitrary one of a plurality of services using the display device;

A history recording device for recording a use history of the service selected by the service use module;

A transmission device that transmits, to a predetermined transmission destination, a history that satisfies a predetermined condition among histories recorded in the history recording device in response to occurrence of a predetermined event;

[10] The information received by the receiving device includes access information necessary for the service using module to access a service available, 10. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a module that, among the information received by the receiving apparatus, provides the access information to the service selection module and enables the service selection module to select the service. The service receiver described.

[11] In response to a transmission instruction generated according to a predetermined schedule, the transmission device transmits a history satisfying the condition among histories recorded in the history recording device to a predetermined transmission destination. 10. The service receiving device according to claim 9, further comprising a module for performing the operation.

12. The service according to claim 9, wherein the history recording device includes a module for recording the usage history of the service selected by the service usage module for each genre of content provided by each service. Receiver.

13. The service receiving device according to claim 9, wherein the history recording device includes a module that records a use history of the service selected by the service use module for each predetermined time period.

[14] The information received by the receiving device includes information to be displayed on the display device, and information indicating a method of displaying the information to be displayed on the display device. 10. The service receiving device according to claim 9, further comprising a module for displaying the information to be displayed on the display device according to the display method.

[15] The information indicating the display method includes timing information indicating a timing at which the information to be displayed is displayed on the display device,

15. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the displaying module displays the information to be displayed on the display device at a timing indicated by the timing information.

16. The service receiving device according to claim 9, further comprising a module that receives and stores the predetermined condition from outside.

[17] A service use module having a display device and capable of selecting and using an arbitrary one of a plurality of services using the display device,

A service selection module for selecting a service to be used by the service usage module; Conditional notification information receiving device that receives and stores conditional notification information that is likely to be notified to the user and that has been given certain conditions to be satisfied for notifying the user When,

A monitoring module that monitors whether there is any notification information stored by the conditional notification information receiving device that satisfies a corresponding condition;

A notification display device for displaying, on the display device, notification information corresponding to a condition that the satisfaction is detected by the monitoring module.

[18] The apparatus further includes a history recording device that records a usage history of the service selected by the service usage module,

The monitoring module monitors the history recorded by the history recording device, and determines whether there is any notification information stored by the conditional notification information receiving device that is satisfied by the history. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a module that monitors whether the service is received.

19. The service receiving device according to claim 18, wherein the history recording device includes a module that records a use history of the service selected by the service use module for each predetermined time period.

[20] The notification information includes access information necessary for the service using module to access a service available,

The service receiving apparatus further includes a module that gives the access information to the service selection module among the notification information received by the conditional notification information receiving apparatus, and enables the service selection module to select the service. 18. The service receiving device according to claim 17, comprising:

[21] The conditional notification information further includes information indicating a notification method of the notification information,

18. The service receiving device according to claim 17, wherein the notification display device includes a module that displays notification information corresponding to a condition that the monitoring module has detected satisfaction on the display device according to the notification method.

[22] The information indicating the notification method includes timing information indicating a timing of notifying the notification information. Information,

22. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the displaying module displays notification information corresponding to a condition that the satisfaction is detected by the monitoring module on the display device at a timing indicated by the timing information.

[23] A service use module having a display device and capable of selecting and using an arbitrary one of a plurality of services using the display device,

A counting condition receiving device that receives and stores conditions for counting the histories recorded in the history recording device from outside,

A transmission device that, in response to a predetermined event, records the history recorded in the history recording device according to the aggregation conditions stored by the aggregation condition receiving device, and transmits the aggregation result to a predetermined destination. When,

A notification information receiving device that receives notification information transmitted from outside according to the aggregation result transmitted by the transmitting device;

A service receiving device, comprising: a notification display device that displays notification information received by the notification information receiving device on the display device.

24. The service receiving device according to claim 23, wherein the history recording device includes a module that records a use history of the service selected by the service use module for each predetermined time period.

[25] The notification information includes access information necessary for the service using module to access a service available,

The service receiving device further includes a module that gives the access information to the service selection module among the notification information received by the notification information receiving device, and enables the service selection module to select the service. 24. The service receiving apparatus according to claim 23.

[26] The notification information receiving device includes a module for receiving notification information transmitted from the outside in accordance with the count result transmitted by the transmission device and information indicating a notification method of the notification information,

24. The service receiving device according to claim 23, wherein the notification display device includes a module that displays the notification information received by the notification information receiving device on the display device according to the notification method.

[27] The information indicating the notification method includes timing information indicating a timing of notifying the notification information,

27. The service receiving device according to claim 26, wherein the displaying module displays the notification information on the display device at a timing indicated by the timing information.

[28] A recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to operate as the service receiving device according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

[29] A service providing device for transmitting, to a service receiving device, information on a related service selected based on a use history of the service in the service receiving device,

In response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, processing conditions for the use history in the service receiving device when transmitting the service use history in the service receiving device to the service providing device are transmitted to the service receiving device. A history condition transmitting device to be transmitted;

A history information receiving device for receiving history information transmitted from the service receiving device in response to the processing condition;

A notification information storage device that stores information to be notified to the user regarding the related service; and, based on the history information received by the history information reception device, based on the history information, the information stored in the notification information storage device. And a notification information transmitting device that selects one having a predetermined relationship with the received history information and transmits the selected history information to the service receiving device that has transmitted the history information.

[30] The processing condition is such that a service use time of which is equal to or longer than a predetermined time is selected. 30. The service providing device according to claim 29, including conditions.

[31] The history information received by the history information receiving device includes attribute information on a specific service used by the service receiving device,

The notification information transmitting device, based on the history information received by the history information receiving device, matches attribute information included in the received history information among information stored in the notification information storage device 31. The service providing apparatus according to claim 30, further comprising: a module that selects one having attribute information and transmits the history information to the service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history information.

32. The processing condition according to claim 29, wherein the processing condition includes a condition that, for a plurality of services used by the service receiving device, a process of totalizing use time for each attribute attached to each service is performed. The service providing device according to the above.

[33] The history information received by the history information receiving device includes attribute total information on usage time totaled for each attribute of a service used by the service receiving device, and the notification information transmitting device includes: Based on the history information received by the receiving device, among the attribute total information included in the received history information, the attribute information that has the longest usage time and attribute information that matches the attribute information is sent to the notification information. 33. The service providing apparatus according to claim 32, further comprising: a module that selects from the information stored in the storage device and transmits the history information to the service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history information.

[34] The processing condition includes a condition that, for a plurality of services used by the service receiving apparatus, a process of totalizing the use time of each service for each predetermined time zone is performed. 30. The service providing device according to 29.

[35] The history information received by the history information receiving device includes aggregate information on the use time of each time zone of the service used by the service receiving device,

When the time at which information is to be transmitted to the service receiving device comes, the notification information transmitting device includes, among the information stored in the notification information storage device, the time to be transmitted included in the history information. 35. The service providing apparatus according to claim 34, further comprising a module for transmitting a selected item based on a predetermined standard based on time slot total information to a service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history information.

[36] The history information received by the history information receiving device includes attribute information on a specific service used by the service receiving device,

The notification information transmitting device, based on the history information received by the history information receiving device, matches attribute information included in the received history information among information stored in the notification information storage device 30. The service providing apparatus according to claim 29, further comprising: a module that selects one having attribute information and transmits the history information to the service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history information.

[37] The history information received by the history information receiving device includes attribute aggregation information on usage time aggregated for each attribute of a service used by the service reception device, and the notification information transmitting device includes: Based on the history information received by the receiving device, among the attribute total information included in the received history information, the one having the longest use time and the attribute information that matches the attribute information is referred to as the notification information. 30. The service providing apparatus according to claim 29, further comprising a module that selects from information stored in a storage device and transmits the history information to a service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history information.

[38] The history information received by the history information receiving device includes aggregate information on the use time of each time zone of the service used by the service receiving device,

When the time at which information is to be transmitted to the service receiving device comes, the notification information transmitting device includes, among the information stored in the notification information storage device, the time to be transmitted included in the history information. 30. The service providing apparatus according to claim 29, further comprising a module for transmitting a selection selected based on a predetermined reference based on time period aggregated information to a service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history information.

[39] The information stored in the notification information storage device is provided with notification method information for designating a notification method of the information,

The notification information transmitting device,

A module for selecting, from the information stored in the notification information storage device, one having the relationship with the received history information, based on the history information;

A module for transmitting the information selected by the selected module and the notification method information attached to the selected information to a service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history information. 30. The service providing device according to claim 29, comprising:

40. The service providing apparatus according to claim 39, wherein the notification method information includes information for specifying a timing of notifying the selected information.

[41] A service providing apparatus for transmitting information related to a service selected based on a service use history of the service receiving apparatus to the service receiving apparatus, and in response to occurrence of a predetermined event, A condition for generating conditional notification information including service information and a condition that a service use history in the service receiving device should satisfy the service information in order to notify the user of the service information to the service receiving device. A notification information generation module with a condition,

A service providing device, comprising: a conditional notification information transmitting device that transmits the conditional notification information generated by the conditional notification information generating module to a service receiving device.

42. The conditional notification information generating module according to claim 41, wherein the conditional notification information generating module includes a module that generates a plurality of the conditional notification information in response to the occurrence of the event and provides the plurality of conditional notification information to the conditional notification information transmitting apparatus. The service providing device according to the above.

43. The service providing device according to claim 41, wherein the conditional notification information generation module includes a module that periodically generates the conditional notification information and provides the conditional notification information to the conditional notification information transmitting device.

[44] The conditional notification information generation module, in response to the occurrence of the event, notifies the user of the service information and the service information in the service receiving device. 42. The service providing apparatus according to claim 41, further comprising a module that generates conditional notification information including a condition that the viewing history should satisfy.

[45] The conditional notification information generating module, in response to the occurrence of the event, includes service information and a service usage history in the service receiving apparatus for notifying the user of the service information in the service receiving apparatus. 42. The service providing apparatus according to claim 41, further comprising: a module that generates conditional notification information including a condition to be satisfied and notification method information that specifies a notification method of the service information.

[46] The notification method information includes information designating a timing of notifying the selected information. 46. The service providing apparatus according to claim 45.

[47] A service providing apparatus for transmitting, to a service receiving apparatus, information on a related service selected based on a use history of a service in the service receiving apparatus,

A notification information storage device for storing notification information related to a service to be notified to a user of the service receiving device;

A tally condition transmitting device that transmits, to the service receiving device, a tally condition of service usage history in the service receiving device in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event; and a service receiving device card in response to the tally condition. A tallying result receiving device for receiving tallying results of use history of the returned service,

The notification information stored in the notification information storage device, based on the aggregation result of the service usage history received by the aggregation result receiving device, includes! And a notification information transmitting device for selecting any one of them and transmitting the result to the service receiving device that has transmitted the total result of the history.

48. The summarizing condition transmitting apparatus according to claim 47, wherein the summarizing condition transmitting apparatus includes a module for transmitting, to the service receiving apparatus, a summarizing condition instructing to sum up the usage time of each service used in the service receiving apparatus. A service providing device according to claim 1.

[49] The notification information transmitting apparatus may use the longest available time among the pieces of notification information stored in the notification information storage device, based on the result of the use history of the service received by the tally result receiving apparatus. 48. The service providing apparatus according to claim 47, further comprising: a module for selecting notification information of a service belonging to a genre, and transmitting the notification information to the service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history totaling result.

[50] The aggregation condition includes a condition that, for a plurality of services used by the service receiving apparatus, a process of totalizing use time of each service for each predetermined time zone is performed. Including a result of counting the usage time of the service used by the receiving device for each of the time zones,

The notification information transmitting device is configured to transmit the history information received by the history information receiving device. On the basis of the included totaling result, the notification information stored in the notification information storage device is selected from those having a predetermined relationship with the totaling result regarding the usage time for each time zone, 48. The service providing apparatus according to claim 47, further comprising a module that transmits the history information to a service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the history information.

[51] The notification information stored in the notification information storage device is provided with notification method information that specifies a notification method of the notification information.

The notification information transmitting device,

Based on the result of the aggregation, the notification information stored in the notification information storage device is selected from! , A module to select a gap,

48. A module for transmitting the notification information selected by the selected module and the notification method information attached to the selected notification information to a service receiving apparatus that has transmitted the result of counting the history. A service providing device according to claim 1.

52. The service providing apparatus according to claim 51, wherein the information specifying the notification method includes information specifying a timing of notifying the selected information.

[53] a notification information storage device for storing notification information to be notified to a user regarding one or more services,

An information request receiving device that receives a request for information on a service that satisfies a predetermined condition, to which an external transmission source is also transmitted;

In response to the information request receiving device receiving the information request, the predetermined condition specified by the information request is satisfied from the notification information stored in the notification information storage device. And a notification information transmitting device for selecting information related to the service and transmitting the information to the external source.

[54] The notification information stored in the notification information storage device includes access information necessary for accessing a service related to the notification information, attribute information assigned in advance to the service, and Information to be presented to the user regarding the service, wherein the request for the information requests information regarding the service having specific attribute information;

The notification information transmitting device, In response to the information request receiving device receiving the request for the information, from among the notification information stored in the notification information storage device, notification information regarding a service having the specific attribute information is provided. A selection module to select,

54. The service providing apparatus according to claim 53, further comprising: a module that transmits the notification information selected by the selection module to the external transmission source.

[55] The request for information may include a request for information on a plurality of services each satisfying a separate condition,

The notification information transmitting device,

In response to the information request receiving device receiving the request for information on the plurality of services, one of the separate conditions is satisfied from the notification information stored in the notification information storage device. A selection device for selecting notification information;

54. The service providing device according to claim 53, further comprising: a module for transmitting the notification information selected by the selection device to the external transmission source.

[56] A recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to operate as the service providing apparatus according to any one of claims 29 to 55.