JP2008187307A - Television receiver and its reception channel setting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that when a viewer wants to view a television service whose content is the same by a television receiver while viewing the partial reception service of digital television broadcasting by a portable terminal, it is necessary to perform the following complicated procedures, that is, checking the channel number of the partial reception service, retrieving the channel number of the television service by referring to a program table, and operating power-on and channel switching by the remote controller of the television receiver. <P>SOLUTION: The channel number investigation of a partial reception service, the retrieval of the channel number of the television service, and a remote operation to the television receiver are performed by a portable terminal. A switch or an icon for starting a series of procedures is provided so that the channel switching of the television receiver can be performed by a simple operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a television receiver for viewing a television broadcast, and relates to a technique for easily switching to a program desired by a user.

  In digital television broadcasting, it is possible to place a plurality of organized channels (programs) on one frequency channel. A standard television service can be broadcast for multiple channels and a partial reception service (commonly known as one-segment broadcasting), or a high-definition single channel and a partial reception service can be broadcast. From the viewpoint of viewers, it is necessary to select a channel to be viewed from a larger number of channels than in the analog broadcasting era. The partial reception service is a television broadcast for mobile terminals. In order to enable viewing even when the radio wave condition is poor, a modulation method with few transmission errors is adopted, but the screen resolution is sacrificed. Because it is positioned to interpolate television services, it is often said that the same content as broadcast channels of either standard or high-definition television services will be broadcast.

  In general, an infrared remote controller is used to operate a television receiver. A mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal may have a function for issuing an infrared command. If this function is used, it is possible to operate the television receiver from the mobile phone terminal.

  The above technique is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, and specifically, an invention that enables channel switching of a television receiver using a mobile phone terminal is disclosed. A list of receivable TV programs is displayed on the screen of the mobile phone like a scrollable icon menu. The viewer can select an icon corresponding to the program desired to be viewed. When the selection of an icon is confirmed, a method is described in which an infrared command for instructing a television receiver to switch channels is issued using an infrared command issue function of a mobile phone terminal.

JP 2005-295187 A

  According to the above prior art, when a viewer who is viewing a partial reception service on a mobile terminal wants to view a television service with the same content on a television receiver, the channel number of the partial reception service being received is confirmed. In addition, it is necessary to search for a channel that provides the corresponding TV service with reference to the program guide and the like, and further to perform a channel switching operation by turning on the TV receiver using the remote control of the TV receiver. When performing this series of operations, the viewer needs to keep an eye on the video screen of the partial reception service.

  Further, in Patent Document 1 described above, there is a description that the program selection and the channel switching operation are simplified by using the mobile phone terminal, but the viewer needs to select the program to the last and is being received by the mobile terminal. There is no idea of searching for a channel that broadcasts the same content as the partial reception service. Further, it is necessary to display a program selection menu on the screen of the mobile phone terminal, and there is a possibility that the image display of the partial reception service is restricted when the menu is displayed.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, for example, a channel switching method that enables continuous viewing of a broadcast program without performing a channel switching operation when the broadcast program is continuously viewed on a mobile terminal and a television receiver. It is to improve the usability regarding the operation of the portable terminal and the television receiver.

  The purpose is to acquire channel number information and program title information of the broadcast service that was being viewed, and to acquire channel number information of the broadcast service to be continuously viewed based on the channel number information and program title information when continuously viewing However, this problem can be solved by switching channels according to the channel number information.

  More specifically, a television receiver for receiving and outputting a television broadcast wave according to the present invention includes a tuner that selectively receives a plurality of channels of television broadcast waves, and broadcast information (for example, transfer stream information) received by the tuner. A broadcast service output unit for outputting the broadcast service content of the channel, a channel information acquisition unit for acquiring first channel number information of the broadcast service output by the broadcast service output unit from the broadcast information, and the first A channel information conversion unit that converts channel number information into channel number information of a broadcast service that has a corresponding relationship with the broadcast service output by the broadcast service output unit, and obtains second channel number information; and the second channel Channel information transmission that transmits number information to other TV receivers If, and to include a.

  In addition, the television receiver that receives the television broadcast wave and outputs the video according to the present invention outputs the broadcast service content of the channel from the tuner that selectively receives the television broadcast wave of a plurality of channels and the broadcast information received by the tuner. A broadcast service output unit, a program title acquisition unit for acquiring a program title of the broadcast service output by the broadcast service output unit from the broadcast information, and a broadcast service similar to the program title from the program guide information of the broadcast service. A channel information acquisition unit that searches and obtains channel number information of a similar broadcasting service; and a channel information transmission unit that transmits the channel number information obtained by the channel information acquisition unit to another television receiver. .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the usability regarding operation of a portable terminal and a television receiver can be improved. For example, the operation of switching the channel of the television receiver to the television service having the same content as the partial reception service received by the mobile terminal can be performed with a single switch operation.

  According to the present invention, a search for a TV service having the same content as the partial reception service being received by the mobile terminal, a power-on instruction to the TV receiver, and a switching instruction to the channel number obtained as a result of the search are performed once. It can be done by switch operation.

  In searching for a television service having the same content, it can be estimated from program specific information (PSI) of a partial reception service, or can be searched more accurately using EPG information. Searching for a TV service with the same content can also be performed on the mobile terminal side. In this case, EPG information may not be used due to functional restrictions of the mobile terminal. In that case, a method of estimating from program specific information (PSI) may be taken. It is also possible to search for a television service with the same content on the television receiver side. In this case, it is possible to search from EPG information.

  The TV receiver is operated by issuing an infrared command from the portable terminal to the TV receiver. The present invention can be implemented using only the general infrared command of the television receiver to be operated. Common infrared commands are “power on / off” and “channel switching to a specified number”. These infrared commands are provided in any television receiver. Therefore, it can be implemented universally regardless of the manufacturer of the television receiver. Infrared command systems vary by manufacturer. Even with the same “power on / off” command, the transmitted infrared format (infrared waveform) is different. Therefore, versatility can be improved by setting the manufacturer of the television receiver in advance on the mobile terminal side and selecting the infrared format according to the setting. When a completely new infrared command system appears, it can be dealt with by replacing a program for realizing the means according to the present invention. For the replacement of the program, an IC card or the like may be used, an engineering stream of digital television broadcasting may be used, or a wired or wireless network connection may be used.

  It is also possible to add a new infrared command to the television receiver and use the added infrared command. In this case, the versatility is lost, but there is an advantage that the TV operation can be performed reliably. If a “power on” command is added in addition to the “power on / off” command, the television receiver can be turned on more reliably.

  In order to search for “same channel” on the TV receiver side, a “3-digit number transmission” command and a “switch to the same channel” command can be added. The “channel with the same contents” search on the television receiver side can be performed more accurately by using the information of the EPG. In this case, the channel number of the partial reception service being received is transmitted from the portable terminal to the television receiver using a “3-digit number transmission” command. Then, the “switch to the same content channel” command can be used to instruct the television receiver to search for “the same content channel” and to switch the channel.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of the portable terminal of this embodiment. This portable terminal can receive a digital television broadcast, display its moving image, and output sound.

  A tuner demodulation unit 103, an image output unit 105, an audio output unit 107, and a system bus 104 are connected to the CPU 101.

  The antenna 102 receives a digital television broadcast wave. A tuner demodulation unit 103 selects and demodulates a digital television broadcast wave from a broadcast station to be viewed according to a command issued by the CPU 101 via the system bus 104.

  The image output unit 105 receives the pixel information stream from the image decoder 116 and adds a timing signal so that it can be displayed on the display unit 106. The display device 106 is, for example, a liquid crystal display panel.

  The audio output unit 107 receives the PCM stream from the audio decoder 117 and converts it into an analog audio signal. The output is sent to an earphone (not shown) connected via an earphone jack 108.

  To the system bus 104, a CPU 101, a tuner demodulator 103, a flash ROM 109, a RAM 110, a keypad controller 111, an infrared LED controller 113, and an IC card reader 120 are connected. The CPU 101 communicates with the tuner demodulation unit 103, flash ROM 109, RAM 110, keypad control unit 111, infrared LED control unit 113, and IC card reader 120 via the system bus 104 (command issue, status acquisition, data exchange, etc.). Can be done.

  The flash ROM 109 stores an OS (not shown) and program codes of software modules described later. The CPU 101 can also write data into the flash ROM 109.

  The RAM 110 is used as a working storage area for the OS and software modules.

  The keypad control unit 111 sends an interrupt signal and key data to the CPU 101 in accordance with the pressed state of the key on the keypad 112.

  The infrared LED control unit 113 generates a waveform of an infrared modulated wave modulated by data sent from the controller 119. The infrared command sending unit 114 receives the waveform signal from the infrared LED control unit 113 and drives the infrared LED to send an infrared command. The infrared command transmission will be described later.

  The IC card reader 120 can read data stored in the IC card 121. If the application software is written on the IC card 121 using a separate PC (not shown) or the like and then the IC card 121 is attached to the IC card reader 120, the CPU 101 can read the application software. The CPU 101 can read the application software from the IC card 121 and write (copy) it to the flash ROM 109. In this way, the mobile terminal of this embodiment can update the application software.

  The tuner demodulator 103 outputs a transport stream (hereinafter abbreviated as TS in this specification). A TS is a bit stream in which a digitized image stream, an audio stream, and system information associated therewith are superimposed.

  The TS demultiplexer 115, the image decoder 116, the audio decoder 117, the system decoder 118, and the controller 119 are software modules executed by the CPU 101. The entities of these software modules are stored in the flash ROM 109. These software modules are executed in a time-sharing manner on a multitask OS (not shown).

  The TS demultiplexer 115 receives the TS from the tuner demodulator 103 and separates the superimposed image stream, audio stream, and system information. The separated image stream is sent to the image decoder 116, the audio stream is sent to the audio decoder 117, and the system information is sent to the system decoder 118.

  The image decoder 116 reconstructs a moving image from the image stream in accordance with an instruction from the controller 119. Pixel information constituting the image frame is output to the image output unit 105 in the display order of the image frame.

  The audio decoder 117 reconstructs audio frames from the audio stream according to instructions from the controller 119. The PCM data constituting the audio frame is output to the audio output unit 107 in the order of reproducing the audio frame.

  The system decoder 118 extracts information regarding the TS. In digital television broadcasting, it is possible to broadcast a plurality of programs on one TS. Program specific information (Program Specific Information, hereinafter abbreviated as PSI in this specification) and program arrangement information (Service Information, hereinafter abbreviated as SI) in order to specify a program designated by the viewer. It is superimposed on TS. The system decoder 118 extracts PSI and SI from the system information separated from the TS by the TS demultiplexer 115. PSI will be described later.

  The controller 119 communicates with various devices (a tuner demodulator 103, a flash ROM 109, a RAM 110, a keypad controller 111, an infrared LED controller 113, and an IC card reader 120) connected via the system bus 104. Control signals are sent to the software modules (TS demultiplexer 115, image decoder 116, audio decoder 117, and system decoder 118). When the viewer operates the keypad 112, the keypad control unit 111 issues an interrupt signal to the controller 119. When the controller 119 receives an interrupt signal from the keypad control unit 111, the controller 119 accesses the keypad control unit 111 and reads the pressed state (which key is pressed). The keypad 112 has a plurality of keys, and functions such as “TV reception start”, “TV reception end”, and “channel switching” are assigned, for example. The controller 119 performs processing corresponding to these functions on various devices and software modules.

  Before explaining the cooperation between the portable terminal 201 and the stationary television receiver 203 of this embodiment, digital television broadcasting in Japan will be described within the scope of this embodiment. One broadcaster broadcasts one TS. Three standard-definition television services, one partial reception service, and a data service can be superimposed on TS (referred to as “type 1” in this embodiment). In addition, one high-definition television service, one partial reception service, and a data service can be superimposed (in this embodiment, “type 2”). Here, the television service can be considered as a “channel” in conventional analog television broadcasting.

  The partial reception service is a television broadcast called “one-segment broadcasting”. The partial reception service is a television broadcast premised on viewing on a portable terminal type television, an in-vehicle television or the like. The moving image is called a simple moving image, and the resolution of the image is lower than that of the television service. Instead, fewer CPU resources are required for image reconstruction. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size and power consumption of the device, which is suitable for a portable terminal type television or an in-vehicle television.

  In Type 1 TS, three standard-definition television services (television channels) and one partial reception service (one-segment channel) can be broadcasted by one broadcast carrier wave. In type 2 TS, one high-definition television service and one partial reception service can be broadcasted by one broadcast carrier wave.

  Thus, digital television broadcasting has a larger number of channels than conventional analog television broadcasting. In order to uniquely specify a channel to be viewed, a combination of three-digit numbers called “three-digit numbers” is used. Generally, a three-digit number can be specified by pressing a numeric key (0 to 9) three times using a television remote controller. However, it is troublesome to enter a 3-digit number each time a channel is selected. For this reason, each numeric key (in advance) can be selected so that a representative channel of each broadcaster can be selected by pressing one of the numeric keys (1 to 12) on the remote controller as in the case of conventional analog television broadcasting. A three-digit number is assigned to 1 to 12). Thus, as with analog television broadcasting, you can change channels with a single keystroke.

  The “typical channel” is called “primary service”. In Type 1 TS, three standard definition television services are superimposed on one carrier wave, and three different programs can be broadcast simultaneously. A service number (0 to 7, which will be described later) is assigned to each television service. The primary service is a television service whose service number is 0.

  In addition, simultaneous broadcasting of the same program as the television service using partial reception service (one-segment broadcasting) is called simulcasting. There is no restriction that the same program as the primary service must be broadcast by the partial reception service, but this is likely to be the case in actual operation. That is, it seems that there are many cases where a program having the same content as the partial reception service being viewed on a mobile terminal is broadcast as the primary service of the television service.

The function of sending an infrared command from the portable terminal 201 of this embodiment to the stationary television receiver 203 will be described with reference to FIG.
The portable terminal 201 is a portable terminal having the configuration described with reference to FIG. The portable terminal 201 includes a display 106, a keypad 112, and an infrared command transmission unit 114. Assume that the mobile terminal 201 is viewing a partial reception service (one-segment broadcasting) of a certain broadcaster.

  The stationary television receiver 203 includes a television screen 204 and an infrared command receiving unit 205. It is assumed that the stationary television receiver 203 is in a state where the main power supply is on but is not receiving a television broadcast (TV off).

It is assumed that the viewer is interested in the contents of the program while viewing the partial reception service on the portable terminal 201 and desires to view the large screen of the stationary television receiver 203. In the conventional example, the viewer needs to perform the following operation.
(1) The three-digit number of the partial reception service being received by the mobile terminal 201 is checked.
(2) The broadcaster (station) is determined from the three-digit number checked.
(3) The channel is switched using a remote controller (not shown) attached to the stationary television receiver 203.

  In the present embodiment, a function that exerts the same effect as the sequences (1) to (3) is assigned to one key 202 of the keypad 112 of the portable terminal 201. Hereinafter, the key 202 is referred to as a function key 202. When the viewer presses the function key 202, the controller 119 (FIG. 1) examines the PSI of the partial reception service being received and synthesizes the three-digit number of the corresponding primary service of the television service. Then, the infrared command transmission unit 114 transmits the “3-digit number designation channel switching” infrared command having the same format as the infrared command issued by the remote controller attached to the stationary television receiver 203. As a result, the viewing channel of the stationary television receiver 203 is switched to a television service corresponding to the partial reception service being viewed on the mobile terminal 201. This means is provided as application software stored in the IC card 121 of the portable terminal 201. This application software may be copied to the flash ROM 109.

Means for providing the function described with reference to FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.
A means for synthesizing the three-digit number of the corresponding primary service of the television service from the PSI of the partial reception service being received will be described with reference to FIG. TS301 is a bit stream on which image data, audio data, and system information are superimposed. In FIG. 3, it is represented as a band. TS demultiplexer 115 (FIG. 1) separates system information from TS 301. The PSI 302 that is one of the system information is decoded by the system decoder 118. The decoded PSI 302 forms a data structure that can be referred to by the controller 119. As shown in FIG. 3, the PSI is composed of four tables: a PAT (program association table) 303, a CAT (limited reception table) 304, a PMT (program map table) 305, and a NIT (network information table) 306. The NIT 306 includes a partial reception descriptor 307 and a TS information descriptor 309. The partial reception descriptor 307 includes service_id 308. The TS information descriptor 309 includes a remote_control_key_id 310.

  The service_id 308 is 16-bit data. The 3 bits of the 0th bit (LSB side), the 1st bit, and the 2nd bit indicate a service number (0 to 7). The service number is a number that can be set by the broadcaster for each TS service type (described later). However, it is specified that the service number of the primary service is “0”.

  The 7th and 8th bits of service_id 308 indicate the service type (0 to 3). When the value of the service type is 0, it represents “TV service”. When the value of the service type is 1 or 2, it represents “data service”. When the value of the service type is 3, it represents “partial reception service”.

  The remote_control_key_id 310 is data having a value of 1 to 12 assigned to each broadcaster. A three-digit number can be synthesized from the service type value, the remote_control_key_id 310 value, and the service number value. The three-digit number is a number obtained by adding a value obtained by multiplying the value of the service type by 200, a value obtained by multiplying the value of the remote_control_key_id 310 by 10, and a value obtained by adding 1 to the service number.

  The three-digit number of the primary service of the television service broadcast on the same TS as the partial reception service being received is obtained. The service type is 0 (representing a television service), and the 3-digit number calculated from the remote_control_key_id 310 and the service number 0 (the service number of the primary service) is the obtained 3-digit number.

  As a partial reception service, simultaneous broadcasting of the primary service of the television service is not necessarily performed, but from the position that the partial reception service is a “complementary broadcast” for the main channel, for the time being, the primary service of the partial reception service, It seems that simulcasting will be performed with the primary service of the TV service. For example, premium content (programs that are expected to have a high audience rating) such as international sports matches are broadcast using high-definition television broadcasting as the primary service of the TV service using Type 2 TS, and for viewers viewing on mobile terminals. Therefore, it seems that operation such as performing simulcast with partial reception service will increase. Therefore, even if the service number is fixed to 0 when obtaining the three-digit number, there is a high possibility of obtaining the three-digit number of the partial reception service received by the mobile terminal 201.

  As described above, the 3-digit number designated in the “3-digit number designation channel switching” infrared command issued by the portable terminal 201 to the stationary television receiver 203 is determined.

  In the above description, the service number is fixed to 0 when obtaining the three-digit number. However, it can be set to the same value as the service number of the partial reception service. In this way, in the future operation of digital television broadcasting, it is possible to cope with the provision that the service number is the same between services that perform simultaneous broadcasting. Although the method for determining the service number is changed, the portable terminal 201 can update the application software by copying new application software incorporating the change from the IC card 121 to the flash ROM 109.

  In this embodiment, a data code to be placed on an infrared command sent from the portable terminal 201 to the stationary television receiver 203 is represented as a general-purpose data code. In other embodiments, the data code may be expanded, and the comparison with them may be clarified. In addition, a device code (described later) indicating the product type of the apparatus is placed on the infrared command.

  Here, an example of the bit length and the bit pattern of the device code and the general-purpose data code will be described using the table 401 in FIG. A column 402 indicates the type of device code and general-purpose data code. Column 403 shows the respective bit lengths. Column 404 shows each bit pattern.

  From the row 405 relating to the device code, it can be seen that the bit length of the device code is 4 bits and the bit pattern is '0001'. The device code has a unique value for each product model. Here, an example in the case of the stationary television receiver 203 is shown.

  As can be seen from the row 406, the bit length of the general-purpose data code representing “power on / off” is 4 bits and the bit pattern is “1110”.

  From the row 407, it can be seen that the bit length of the general-purpose data code representing “3-digit number designation channel switching” is 16 bits. The bit pattern is a bit pattern in which the hundreds digit of the three-digit number is represented by 4 bits following “1101”, and a bit pattern in which the ten-digit value of the three-digit number is represented by 4 bits. A bit pattern in which the value of the place is represented by 4 bits follows.

  The infrared command includes, for example, a “power ON / OFF” infrared command, which continues with a device code and a power ON / OFF data code.

  The controller 119 generates a bit pattern. The infrared LED control unit 113 receives the bit pattern and modulates the infrared carrier wave accordingly. The modulated wave is sent to the infrared command sending unit 114 and sent as an infrared command.

  In the present embodiment, the stationary television receiver 203 is taken as an example of the receiver of the infrared command, but when this is a television of another manufacturer (assumed to be company B), it can be handled as follows. In general, the format of the infrared command (bit pattern to be transmitted) differs depending on the manufacturer. In the present embodiment, the controller 119 generates a bit pattern to be transmitted that is the original signal of the infrared command. Accordingly, it is possible to match the transmitted infrared command with the infrared command system of company B by exchanging application software. In this way, application software tailored to the main manufacturer's infrared command system is provided, and it is possible to use infrared commands that are adapted by selecting them according to the TV used by the viewer.

  In the above example, application software is prepared for each TV manufacturer. However, application software common to TV manufacturers can also be prepared. In this case, the TV manufacturer used by the viewer is set in the initial setting of the common application software. The TV manufacturer setting information specified at the time of setting is stored in the flash ROM 109. The common application software reads manufacturer setting information before issuing an infrared command, and selects an infrared command system according to the information.

  Also, although the format of the infrared command is different for each TV manufacturer, the commands required for basic TV operations, such as the "TV power on / off" command and the "3-digit number designation channel switching" command, are the same for any TV manufacturer. Exists in the infrared command system. By making it possible to issue remote control commands for these basic operations, the versatility of the portable terminal 201 is enhanced.

  With reference to FIG. 5, the timing of function key press / release and the issuance timing of the “3-digit number designation channel switching command” will be described. In the function key pressing section 501, the function key 202 is pressed (the viewer presses with a finger), and in the function key releasing section 502, the function key is released (releases the finger). The function key pressing section 501 is, for example, 1 second or less. When the function key is pressed, the controller determines a three-digit number to be sent to the stationary television receiver 203 and issues a “three-digit number designation channel switching” infrared command (section 503).

  So far, the means for switching the channel of the stationary television receiver 203 from the portable terminal 201 has been described on the assumption that the stationary television receiver 203 is already powered on. Next, a case where the stationary television receiver 203 is in a power-off state will be described.

  An example of a usage scenario in which the present invention is effective is as follows. In this case, a viewer who has watched a sports broadcast program on the portable terminal 201 arrives at home and wants to watch the rest of the program on the large screen of the stationary television receiver 203 while returning home. In this case, the stationary television receiver 203 may be in a power-off state. From the viewpoint of the viewer, it is ideal that the stationary television receiver 203 is turned on and the channel is changed by simply pressing the function key 202 of the portable terminal 201 that has been viewed so far.

  The “TV power on / off” command functions to turn on if the television is off at the time of sending the command, and to turn off if the television is on. When the viewer operates the remote control, there is an advantage that it is easy to understand intuitively because it can be switched on / off with one key.

  On the other hand, when a remote control command is sent from a device such as the portable terminal 201 of this embodiment to control power on / off, the current TV on / off state is not known on the device side. In order to control on / off using the “on / off” command, a device is required.

  Assume that the “TV power on / off” command is simply issued before issuing the “three-digit number designation channel switching” infrared command based on the case of FIG. When the stationary television receiver 203 is in a power-off state, the television is turned on, and an expected operation is performed in which the channel is switched. However, when the stationary television receiver 203 is in the power-on state, the added “television power on / off” command is in the power-off state, which is different from the expected operation.

  Therefore, when the function key 202 is pressed (long pressed) for 1 second or longer, for example, a “TV power on / off” command is additionally issued. FIG. 6 shows the timing. The length of the key pressing section 601 is 1 second or longer as shown in the figure. After the function key is pressed, a “three-digit number designation channel switching” infrared command is issued at the same timing as in FIG. 5 (section 602). After one second has elapsed from the start of pressing the function key, an “TV power on / off” infrared command is issued (section 603). Subsequently, the “three-digit number designation channel switching” infrared command is issued again (section 604).

  When the stationary television receiver 203 is in a power-on state, the channel of the stationary television receiver 203 is switched by pressing the function key 202 for less than one second. Further, when the stationary television receiver 203 is in a power-off state, if the function key 202 is pressed for more than one second, the power of the stationary television receiver 203 is turned on approximately one second after the pressing, and the channel is changed. Can be switched. The viewer determines whether to release the function key 202 immediately or press and hold it.

  FIG. 7 shows a configuration diagram of the stationary television receiver 203 (FIG. 2). The stationary television receiver 203 can receive a digital television broadcast, display its moving image, and output sound. A tuner demodulation unit 703, an image output unit 705, an audio output unit 707, and a system bus 704 are connected to the CPU 701.

  The antenna 702 receives a digital television broadcast wave. A tuner demodulation unit 703 selects and demodulates a digital television broadcast wave from a broadcast station to be viewed according to a command issued by the CPU 701 via the system bus 704.

  The image output unit 705 receives the pixel information stream from the image decoder 714 and adds a timing signal so that the display unit 706 can display it. The display device 706 is, for example, a liquid crystal display panel.

  The audio output unit 707 receives the PCM stream from the audio decoder 715 and converts it into an analog audio signal. The sound is output from the speaker 708.

  Connected to the system bus 704 are a CPU 701, a tuner demodulator 703, a flash ROM 709, a RAM 710, an infrared light reception controller 711, an IC card reader 718, and a hard disk drive interface 721. The CPU 701 communicates with the tuner demodulation unit 703, flash ROM 709, RAM 710, infrared light reception control unit 711, IC card reader 718, and hard disk drive interface 721 via the system bus 704 (command issuance, status acquisition, data exchange, etc.). I can do it.

  The flash ROM 709 stores an OS (not shown) and program codes of software modules described later. The CPU 701 can also write data into the flash ROM 709. The RAM 710 is used as a working storage area for the OS and software modules.

  The infrared light reception control unit 711 reads the infrared command from the digital signal sent from the infrared command light reception unit 712 and sends an interrupt signal and a data code of the infrared command to the CPU 701.

  The infrared command light receiving unit 712 receives an infrared modulated wave sent from the outside, demodulates it into a digital signal composed of a Hi section and a Lo section, and sends it to the infrared light reception control section 711.

  The IC card reader 718 can read data stored in the IC card 719. If the application software is written on the IC card 719 using a separate PC (not shown) or the like, and the IC card 719 is attached to the IC card reader 718, the CPU 701 can read the application software. The CPU 701 can read the application software from the IC card 719 and write (copy) it to the flash ROM 709 or the hard disk drive 720. In this way, the stationary television receiver of this embodiment can update the application software.

  The hard disk drive 720 is connected to the system bus via a hard disk drive interface 721. The CPU 701 can store and retrieve information from the hard disk drive 720.

The tuner demodulator 703 outputs a TS sent from the selected broadcaster.
The TS demultiplexer 713, the image decoder 714, the audio decoder 715, the system decoder 716, and the controller 717 are software modules executed by the CPU 701. The entities of these software modules are stored in the flash ROM 709. These software modules are executed in a time-sharing manner on a multitask OS (not shown).

  The TS demultiplexer 713 receives the TS from the tuner demodulator 703 and separates the superimposed image stream, audio stream, and system information. The separated image stream is sent to the image decoder 714, the audio stream is sent to the audio decoder 715, and the system information is sent to the system decoder 716.

  The image decoder 714 reconstructs a moving image from the image stream in accordance with an instruction from the controller 717. Pixel information constituting the image frame is output to the image output unit 705 in the display order of the image frame.

  The audio decoder 715 reconstructs audio frames from the audio stream in accordance with instructions from the controller 717. The PCM data constituting the audio frame is output to the audio output unit 707 in the playback order of the audio frame.

  The system decoder 716 extracts PSI and SI from the system information separated from the TS by the TS demultiplexer 713.

  The controller 717 performs communication with various devices (a tuner demodulation unit 703, a flash ROM 709, a RAM 710, an infrared light reception control unit 711, an IC card reader 718, and a hard disk drive interface 721) connected via the system bus 704. In addition, a control signal is sent to each software module (TS demultiplexer 713, image decoder 714, audio decoder 715, system decoder 716).

  In this embodiment, the stationary television receiver 203 is improved and a new infrared command is added to the infrared command system. The “power on / off” command and the “three-digit number designation channel switching” command (FIG. 4, row 406, row 407 in Table 401), which are infrared commands described in the first embodiment, are provided in television receivers of any manufacturer. Are highly versatile commands (hereinafter abbreviated as general-purpose infrared commands).

  The infrared command added in the present embodiment is a command used in cooperation with the mobile terminal 201. In the first embodiment, the means for switching the channel of the stationary television receiver 203 from the portable terminal 201 using only the general-purpose infrared command provided in any manufacturer's television receiver has been described. In the means of the first embodiment, due to the restriction that only the general-purpose infrared command is used, an operation such as pressing and holding the function key 202 for one second or longer in order to “turn on the power of the stationary television receiver 203 and switch the channel” is performed. It was necessary.

  This is because the “power on / off” command of the general-purpose infrared command is a command that turns on when the power is off and turns off when the power is on. Since there is no means for acquiring the on / off state of the stationary television 203 on the portable terminal 201 side, it is determined whether or not the viewer should issue a “power on / off” command depending on whether or not the function key 202 is pressed and held. It was. Depending on the operation of the viewer, for example, the possibility of performing an operation different from the operation expected by the viewer, such as when the stationary TV receiver 203 is turned on and the function key 202 is pressed for a long time, is turned off. Can not.

  If the following “power on” command and “power off” command are added to the infrared command system of the stationary television receiver 203, the above problem can be solved. The “power on” command turns on the power if the stationary television receiver 203 is turned off, and does nothing if the power is turned on. The “power off” command turns off the power if the stationary television receiver 203 is powered on, and does nothing if the power is off.

  In the first embodiment, means for obtaining the three-digit number of the television service corresponding to the partial reception service being viewed on the portable terminal 201 is performed on the portable terminal 201 side. If there is an infrared command for transmitting the 3-digit number of the partial reception service being viewed on the portable terminal 201 to the stationary television receiver 203, the stationary television receiver 203 performs means for obtaining the 3-digit number of the television service. Is possible. The stationary television receiver 203 has a higher function than the portable terminal 201. For example, a storage type service using data broadcasting can be supported. As in the first embodiment, not only association between services (channels) depending on the service number but also finer association using information obtained from data broadcasting, for example, information on a program guide (EPG). I can do it.

  In this embodiment, the infrared command to be added is called an extension data code. The extension data code will be described with reference to FIG. Table 801 shows an example of the bit length and bit pattern of the device code, general-purpose data code, and extended data code. A column 402 indicates the type of device code, general-purpose data code, and extended data code. Column 403 shows the respective bit lengths. Column 404 shows each bit pattern. Line 405 is a device code, line 406 is a general-purpose data code “power on / off”, and line 407 is a line related to general-purpose data code “3-digit number designation channel switching”, which are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  A row 802 is a row related to the extended data code “power on”. The bit length is 8 bits and the bit pattern is '11111110'. A row 803 is a row relating to the extended data code “power off”. The bit length is 8 bits and the bit pattern is '11111101'. A row 804 is a row relating to the extended data code “3-digit number transmission”. The bit length is 20 bits, the bit pattern is a bit pattern in which the hundreds digit of the 3-digit number is represented by 4 bits following '11111100', and the tens digit of the 3-digit number is represented by 4 bits. The bit pattern is followed by a bit pattern in which the first digit of the three-digit number is expressed in 4 bits. A row 805 is a row relating to the extension data code “switch to related channel”. The bit length is 8 bits and the bit pattern is '11111011'.

  The infrared command light receiving unit 712 demodulates the received infrared modulated wave and sends the obtained digital signal to the infrared light receiving control unit 711. When the infrared light reception control unit 711 recognizes the reader pulse 501 from the digital signal, it tries to extract 1 signal 502 and 0 signal from the subsequent digital signal. When extraction is successful and the bit pattern number 503 of the first 4 bits is “0001”, it is recognized as an infrared command to itself (the stationary television receiver 203). Next, the infrared light reception control unit 711 issues an interrupt signal to the CPU 701. The interrupt command reception routine of the controller 717 is activated by the interrupt signal. The infrared command reception routine accesses the infrared light reception control unit 711 via the system bus 704 and acquires the data code part of the received infrared command. The obtained data code is searched from the table 801, and a routine for performing a predetermined operation is started.

When the data code is the extended data code “power on”, the stationary television receiver 203 is shifted to the power on state if the power is off, and nothing is performed if the power is on.
When the data code is the extended data code “power off”, the stationary television receiver 203 is shifted to the power off state if the power is on, and nothing is performed if the power is off.
When the data code is the extended data code “3-digit number transmission”, the hundreds, tenths, and firsts of the three-digit number are decoded from the obtained data code and written in the temporary storage location of the RAM 710.

  When the data code is the extension data code “switch to related channel”, the following operation is performed. The controller 717 reads the 3-digit number stored in the temporary storage location of the RAM 710 by the “3-digit number transmission” command. It is assumed that the read three-digit number is the three-digit number of the partial reception service received by the portable terminal 201, and the three-digit number of the related television service is obtained from this three-digit number. Next, the channel is switched to the obtained three-digit number.

  The “related television service” is a television service that performs, for example, a partial reception service simultaneous broadcasting.

  The means for obtaining the relevant three-digit number of the television service from the three-digit number of the partial reception service may be the same as the means performed on the portable terminal 201 side of the first embodiment. Assuming that the primary service of the partial reception service and the primary service of the television service are simulcasts, the three-digit number of the television service is synthesized. The number obtained by subtracting 600 from the three-digit number of the partial reception service and having the first digit of 0 is the three-digit number of the primary service of the television service. Then, it is only necessary to switch to the three-digit number channel of the obtained television service.

  Moreover, you may obtain | require the 3-digit number of a related television service using the information of the electronic program guide (EPG) which the television has stored, for example. The program table is searched using the three-digit number of the partial reception service as a search key, and the program name character string of the program (partial reception service) being viewed on the mobile terminal 201 is obtained. Next, the program name character string is compared with the program name character string of another channel (television service) in the program table. A three-digit number of a channel having a program name character string that partially or entirely matches is set as a three-digit number of a related television service. What is necessary is just to switch to the channel of the 3-digit number of the television service obtained in this way.

  A method for obtaining a three-digit number of a related television service from EPG data will be described with reference to FIG. The EPG is created by the stationary television receiver 203 using SI information. Information for each program is described in an EIT (Event Information Table) which is a kind of table constituting the SI. From the EIT information, the program name character string, start time and program length can be obtained.

  The portable terminal 201 transmits the three-digit number of the partial reception service being received to the stationary television receiver 203 using an infrared command. In the stationary television receiver 203, the infrared command light receiving unit 712 receives the transmitted infrared command. The controller 717 acquires the three-digit number 901 of the partial reception service transmitted from the portable terminal 201 through the infrared light reception control unit 711.

  The remote_control_key_id extraction unit 902 considers the three-digit number 901 as a numerical value and subtracts 600 from the value. Divide the result by 10 and round off the result of the division. The obtained numerical value is remote_control_key_id.

  The NIT search unit 903 receives remote_control_key_id, and searches the NIT table corresponding to the broadcast station received by the mobile terminal 201 from the NIT table group 906 using the key as a key. Next, a list of service_id representing a list of services transmitted by the broadcast station is extracted from the identified NIT table.

  The EIT search unit 904 receives the list of service_id and repeats the EIT search for the number of service_ids included in the list. The EIT table is an information table related to each broadcast program. Information related to one program is described in one EIT table. The EIT table includes program start time and program length information, and a program name character string. The illustrated EIT table groups 907, 908, and 909 are obtained by dividing the EIT table for each service_id. For example, it is assumed that the EIT table group 907 is the EIT table group of the television service (1), 908 is the EIT table group of the television service (2), and 909 is the EIT table group of the partial reception service. The EIT table group can be selected according to service_id, and the EIT of the currently broadcast program can be specified by the current time. An EIT table is determined for each service_id, and a program name character string is obtained from each EIT table. The obtained program name character strings (three in this embodiment) are sent to the character string comparison / evaluation unit 905.

  The character string comparison / evaluation unit 905 evaluates the similarity between the program name character string of the partial reception service and the program name character string of the television service, as will be described later. In this embodiment, the program name character string of the partial reception service is compared with the program name character string of the television service (1), and the program name character string of the partial reception service and the program name character string of the television service (2) are compared. Make a comparison. If you are broadcasting the same content (for example, a baseball game), the program name strings should be similar. Therefore, it is assumed that the television service with more matching characters is a television service related to the partial reception service being received by the mobile terminal 201.

  An example of character string comparison evaluation in the character string comparison evaluation unit 905 will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the program name character string 1001 of the television service (1) is compared with the program name character string 1002 of the partial reception service. The number in the square representing the character is an index in the character string. First, the first character [1] of the program name character string 1002 of the partial reception service is compared with each character of the program name character string 1001 of the television service (1). If there is no matching character, the character [2] of the program name character string 1002 is similarly compared with each character of the program name character string 1001 of the television service (1). Hereinafter, the characters are compared in the same manner. For example, it is assumed that the character [3] of the program name character string 1002 matches the character [5] of the program name character string 1001. Next, the character string portion following the matched character in each character string is compared. For example, the character [4] of the program name character string 1002 is compared with the character [6] of the program name character string 1001. If they match, the next character is compared in the same way. If the character does not match or the end of one of the character strings is reached, the length of the matched character string is used as the evaluation value. For example, in the example of FIG.

  Similarly, the program name character string of the partial reception service and the program name character string of the television service (2) are compared and evaluated. The evaluation value of the television service (1) and the evaluation value of the television service (2) are compared, and the larger value is determined as the relevant television service. The three-digit number is set as the three-digit number 910 of the related television service.

  In this embodiment, when the viewer presses the function key 202 of the portable terminal 201, the portable terminal 201 transmits a “3-digit number transmission” infrared command and a “switch to related channel” infrared command. This is different from the operation when the function key 202 is pressed in the first embodiment. For this reason, it is necessary to change the application program of the portable terminal 201. The application program of the portable terminal 201 accompanying such a specification change can be changed by using the IC card 121 as shown in the first embodiment.

  The effect of the present invention from the viewpoint of the viewer will be described by taking the following example. Suppose a broadcaster broadcasts a sports broadcast program simultaneously using high-definition broadcasting and one-segment (partial reception service) broadcasting. This is a case in which a viewer who has watched a sports broadcast program on the mobile terminal 201 arrives at home and wants to watch the rest of the program on the large screen of the stationary television receiver 203 while returning home.

  Conventionally, the viewer picks up the remote control of the stationary television receiver 203, turns on the stationary television receiver 203, next checks the channel of the program that was being viewed on the portable terminal 201, and is simultaneously broadcast. It was necessary to estimate the channels of high-definition broadcasts and switch the channels using the remote control.

  With the portable terminal 201 according to the present invention, all of the above procedures can be performed by pressing the function key 202 once. In addition to saving time, it is possible to provide an intuitive and easy-to-understand user interface.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the broadcast service is viewed from the portable television receiver from the portable terminal has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the case where the broadcast service being viewed by the stationary television receiver is viewed from the portable terminal. . In this case, it is desirable to perform bidirectional wireless communication or bidirectional infrared communication instead of infrared communication from the portable terminal to the stationary television receiver.

It is an internal block diagram of the portable terminal of an Example. It is a figure explaining cooperation with a portable terminal and TV. It is explanatory drawing of the information obtained from a transport stream. It is a table of device codes and data codes. It is a figure which shows the infrared command transmission timing at the time of function button ON. It is a figure which shows the infrared command transmission timing at the time of function button ON. It is an internal block diagram of a television receiver. It is a table of device codes and data codes. It is explanatory drawing of the method of searching the 3-digit number of a cooperation channel from EPG. It is explanatory drawing of the character string comparison evaluation method.

Explanation of symbols

  101 ... CPU, 102 ... antenna, 103 ... tuner demodulation unit, 104 ... system bus, 105 ... image output unit, 106 ... display unit, 107 ... audio output unit, 108 ... earphone jack, 109 ... flash ROM, 110 ... RAM, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 111 ... Keypad control part, 112 ... Keypad, 113 ... Infrared LED control part, 114 ... Infrared command sending part, 115 ... TS demultiplexer, 116 ... Image decoder, 117 ... Audio decoder, 118 ... System decoder, 119 ... Controller 120 ... IC card reader 121 ... IC card 201 ... mobile terminal 202 ... function key 203 ... stationary television receiver 204 ... TV screen 205 ... infrared command receiver

Claims (9)

In a TV receiver that receives TV broadcast waves and outputs video,
A tuner that selectively receives TV broadcast waves of multiple channels;
A broadcast service output unit that outputs the broadcast service content of the channel from the broadcast information received by the tuner;
A channel information acquisition unit for acquiring, from the broadcast information, first channel number information of the broadcast service output by the broadcast service output unit;
A channel information converting unit that converts the first channel number information into channel number information of a broadcasting service that has a corresponding relationship with the broadcasting service that is output by the broadcasting service output unit, and obtains second channel number information;
A channel information transmitter for transmitting the second channel number information to another television receiver;
A television receiver comprising:
The television receiver according to claim 1,
The channel information acquisition unit acquires the first channel number information of the partial reception service from the PSI information of the broadcast information,
The television receiver, wherein the channel information conversion unit converts the first channel number information into channel number information of a primary service corresponding to a partial reception service to obtain second channel number information.
In a TV receiver that receives TV broadcast waves and outputs video,
A tuner that selectively receives TV broadcast waves of multiple channels;
A broadcast service output unit that outputs the broadcast service content of the channel from the broadcast information received by the tuner;
A program title acquisition unit for acquiring a program title of the broadcast service output by the broadcast service output unit from the broadcast information;
A channel information acquisition unit that searches for a broadcast service similar to the program title from the program guide information of the broadcast service, and obtains channel number information of the similar broadcast service;
A channel information transmission unit that transmits the channel number information obtained by the channel information acquisition unit to another television receiver;
A television receiver comprising:
In a TV receiver that receives TV broadcast waves and outputs video,
A channel number information input unit for inputting channel operation information of the user including at least the channel number information of the broadcast service;
The first channel number information input from the channel number information input unit is converted into the channel number information of the broadcasting service corresponding to the broadcasting service specified by the first channel number information, and the second channel number is converted. A channel information converter for obtaining information;
A tuner that selectively receives television broadcast waves of a plurality of channels based on the second channel number information;
A broadcast service output unit that outputs the broadcast service content of the channel from the broadcast information received by the tuner;
A television receiver comprising:
The television receiver according to claim 4.
The channel information conversion unit acquires a program title of the broadcast service specified by the first channel number information from the program guide information of the broadcast service, and another broadcast similar to the program title from the program guide information of the broadcast service A television receiver characterized by searching for a service and using channel number information of the searched broadcast service as second channel number information.
In the reception channel setting method of a television receiver that receives television broadcast waves and outputs video,
Obtain PSI information from the transport stream that is outputting the broadcast service,
Identify the first channel program information of the broadcast service from the PSI information,
Converting the first channel program information to obtain second channel program information indicating another service of the broadcast service;
A receiving channel setting method, wherein the second channel program information is set to change a receiving channel.
In the reception channel setting method of a television receiver that receives television broadcast waves and outputs video,
Obtain PSI information from the transport stream that is outputting the broadcast service,
Identify the program title information of the broadcast service from the PSI information,
Search for a broadcast service similar to the program title from the program guide information of the broadcast service, identify channel number information of the similar broadcast service,
A receiving channel setting method, wherein the receiving channel is changed by setting the channel program information.
In the reception channel setting method of a television receiver that receives television broadcast waves and outputs video,
The user's channel operation information including at least the broadcast service channel number information is input,
Identify the first channel number information from the channel operation information,
The second channel number information is acquired by converting into the channel number information of the broadcasting service that has a corresponding relationship with the broadcasting service specified by the first channel number information,
A receiving channel setting method, wherein the second channel program information is set to change a receiving channel.
In the reception channel setting method of a television receiver that receives television broadcast waves and outputs video,
The user's channel operation information including at least the broadcast service channel number information is input,
Identify the first channel number information from the channel operation information,
Obtaining the program title of the broadcast service specified by the first channel number information from the program guide information of the broadcast service,
Search other broadcast services similar to the program title from the program guide information of the broadcast service,
A reception channel setting method, wherein a reception channel is changed using channel number information of a searched broadcast service as second channel number information.

Images