JP2008288822A - Internet connection tv system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an Internet connection TV system capable of accessing a WEB site provided in a prescribed LAN only by depressing an Internet key and arbitrarily setting the WEB site to access. <P>SOLUTION: The Internet connection TV system comprises a WEB server storing WEB site information and an Internet connection TV controllable by a remote controller provided with the Internet key. The Internet connection TV is provided with a remote control signal input means for receiving a remote control signal, a control means for analyzing the remote control signal, a URL setting means for storing the URL information of the WEB server, and a WEB browser processing means for accessing the WEB server and acquiring WEB site information. The control means makes the WEB browser processing means acquire the WEB site information when the Internet key is depressed, and stores the input URL information in the URL setting means when the URL information is inputted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an Internet-connected TV system, and more particularly to an Internet-connected TV system that can be used in a LAN environment.

In recent years, with the spread of the Internet, construction of WEB sites for the purpose of providing medical information, service information, etc. in hospitals, hotels and other facilities has been actively performed. Therefore, the user can browse a desired information by operating a web site such as a hospital or a hotel by operating an information providing apparatus that can be connected to the Internet (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-325370 A

  However, in the information providing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the contents unique to the hospital (feeding information, medicine information) can be browsed on the WEB site, but the icons synthesized and displayed on the display unit together with the TV video are operated by remote control. There is a problem that it takes time and effort because the configuration is such that the WEB site can be accessed only after selection / determination.

  In addition, when all information is synthesized and displayed on a display unit such as a monitor having a small screen size, there is a problem that the size of the icon itself is small and difficult to check.

  The Internet-connected TV system according to claim 1 of the present invention is an Internet-connected TV system comprising a WEB server for storing WEB site information and an Internet-connected TV that can be controlled by a remote control having a dedicated key for connecting to the Internet. The Internet-connected TV has a remote control signal input means for receiving a remote control signal from a remote control, a control means for analyzing the received remote control signal, a URL setting means for storing URL information of a WEB server, and a URL information WEB browser processing means for accessing the WEB server based on the web browser and acquiring the WEB site information, and the control means causes the WEB browser processing means to acquire the WEB site information when the dedicated key is pressed, and using the remote control When URL information is entered It is characterized in that to store the URL information in the URL setting means.

  The Internet-connected TV system according to claim 2 of the present invention is the Internet-connected TV system configuration according to claim 1, wherein the Internet-connected TV further comprises card IF means for connecting an external storage medium, and the control means is The URL information stored in the external storage medium is stored in the URL setting means.

  The Internet connection TV system according to claim 3 of the present invention is the Internet connection TV system configuration according to claim 1, further comprising a DHCP / DNS server for storing URL information of the WEB server, and controlling the Internet connection TV. The means is characterized in that when the dedicated key is pressed for the first time, the DHCP / DNS server is accessed, URL information is acquired and stored in the URL setting means.

  According to the Internet-connected TV system of the present invention, it is possible to easily access a WEB site provided within a LAN to which the Internet-connected TV is connected, simply by pressing the Internet key of the remote controller attached to the Internet-connected TV. . In addition, since the WEB site to be accessed can be arbitrarily set by pressing the Internet key, it is possible to flexibly cope with various LAN environments. Furthermore, it is possible to automatically set the URL of the WEB site to be accessed by pressing the Internet key on the remote controller, so that convenience can be improved.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an Internet connection TV system of the present invention. The Internet connection TV system includes an Internet connection TV 100, a HUB 101, a router 102, a WEB server 103, a DB server 104, a hospital server 105, a DHCP / DNS server 106, and a PC 107.

  The Internet connection TV 100 is installed in each hospital room and is connected to the LAN by a LAN cable. The configuration and internal processing of the Internet connection TV 100 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The HUB 101 physically connects a plurality of Internet connection TVs 100 installed in each hospital room, increases the number of units that can be connected to a LAN, and enables mutual data communication between the plurality of Internet connection TVs 100 connected. The router 102 has a function of relaying data transmitted / received on the LAN of the Internet-connected TV system to another network via the Internet. Note that the router 102 of the present invention has a firewall function.

  The WEB server 103 stores data such as HTML files, images, sounds, and videos used in the hospital portal site, which is a WEB site displayed on the Internet-connected TV 100, and responds to browser display requests from the Internet-connected TV 100. Data to be transmitted to the Internet-connected TV 100. The DB server 104 accumulates hospital-specific contents such as meal menus and information on hospitalized life.

  The hospital server 105 accumulates data such as texts and images used in a WEB site that is open to another network via the Internet. The DHCP / DNS server 106 assigns an IP address to each device connected to the Internet-connected TV system, and manages the assigned IP address in association with a host name and a domain name.

  The PC 107 adds / deletes / updates data stored in the WEB server 103 and the DB server 104.

  Next, the configuration and internal processing of the Internet connection TV 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The Internet connection TV 100 includes a remote controller 200, an antenna 201, a digital broadcast receiving unit 202, an image processing unit 203, a display unit 204, an audio processing unit 205, a speaker 206, a storage unit 207, and a network information storage unit. 208, URL setting unit 209, WEB browser processing unit 210, control unit 211, remote control signal input unit 212, card IF unit 213, and communication unit 214.

  The remote controller 200 includes at least an Internet key for connecting to the Internet, a menu key for displaying a menu screen, an input key for inputting numbers and characters, and an up / down / left / right key for moving the focus up / down / left / right. And a determination key for determining the information selected by the focus. The user can send a browser display request by pressing an Internet key.

  The digital broadcast receiving unit 202 receives a desired digital TV broadcast signal based on a channel selection request from the control unit 211, performs high-frequency processing and demodulation processing on the received digital TV broadcast signal, converts it to a transport stream, and converts The transport stream is separated into MPEG video data and digital audio signals and additional information such as program information. The digital video signal is decoded and output to the image processing unit 203 as a video signal, and the digital audio signal is decoded and output to the audio processing unit 205 as an audio signal. Additional information such as program information is output to the control unit 211. The image processing unit 203 performs predetermined processing on the video signal from the digital broadcast receiving unit 202 or the image information from the WEB browser processing unit 210 and outputs the processed signal to the display unit 204. The display unit 204 displays the video signal or image information from the image processing unit 203 on the screen. The audio processing unit 205 performs predetermined processing on the audio signal from the digital broadcast receiving unit 202 or the audio signal from the WEB browser processing unit 210 and outputs the processed signal to the speaker 206. The speaker 206 outputs the audio signal from the audio processing unit 205. The storage unit 207 stores additional information from the control unit 211.

  The network information storage unit 208 stores information for the Internet connection TV 100 to connect to the network, and stores at least the IP address of the Internet connection TV 100, the subnet mask, the default gateway address, and the IP address of the DHCP / DNS server 106. .

  The URL setting unit 209 stores the URL of the WEB site displayed when the Internet key of the remote controller 200 is pressed. Here, the URL of the WEB site designates the hospital portal site stored in the WEB server 103.

  When there is a browser display request from the control unit 211, the WEB browser processing unit 210 acquires a URL stored in the URL setting unit 209, and an HTML file or an image from the WEB server 103 via the communication unit 214 using the HTTP protocol. , Data such as sound and video is acquired and output to the image processing unit 203 and / or the sound processing unit 205.

  The control unit 211 decodes the remote control signal from the remote control signal input unit 212. If the remote control signal is a channel selection request for a desired channel, the control unit 211 makes a channel selection request to the digital broadcast receiving unit 202, and the remote control signal is a browser display request. If so, a browser display request is sent to the WEB browser processing unit 210. Further, when URL information is input from the card IF unit 213, the URL information is stored in the URL setting unit 209.

  The remote control signal input unit 212 receives a remote control signal from the remote control 200 and outputs it to the control unit 211.

  The card IF unit 213 connects an external storage medium (not shown) such as an SD card, and outputs URL information stored in the connected external storage medium to the control unit 211.

  The communication unit 214 is connected to the Ethernet (registered trademark) via the Ethernet (registered trademark) interface, and performs TCP / IP communication using the TCP / IP protocol.

  Here, a screen display example of a hospital portal site in the Internet connection TV 100 will be described with reference to FIG. In the Internet connection TV 100, the user can display the hospital portal site 302 by pressing the Internet key 301 of the remote controller 200. Then, by operating the up / down / left / right key and the enter key 303 of the remote controller 200, the cursor 304 displayed on the hospital portal site 302 can be moved, and desired information can be confirmed. Furthermore, the hospital portal site 302 can also display information information 305 with a display time limit. The notification information 305 is displayed by information input from the PC 107.

  Next, processing for registering a URL in the URL setting unit 209 will be described with reference to FIG. The user presses the menu key of the remote controller 200 to display the menu screen 401, and the browser setting screen 404 is displayed via the initial setting screen 402 and the installation setting screen 403 by operating the up / down / left / right keys and the enter key 303 of the remote control 200. . Then, the homepage address input field 405 is focused, and the URL of the WEB server 103 is directly input by an input key operation or an operation of the up / down / left / right key and the enter key 303 on the screen keyboard displayed on the screen. As a result, the input URL information is stored in the URL setting unit 209.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, the URL information registered in the URL setting unit 209 is specified by direct input on the screen. However, by inserting an external storage medium (not shown) into the card IF unit 213. URL information stored in an external storage medium (not shown) may be automatically stored in the URL setting unit 209.

  According to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the hospital portal site 302 can be easily accessed simply by pressing the Internet key 301 of the remote controller 200.

  Furthermore, since the portal site to be accessed can be arbitrarily set by pressing the Internet key 301, it is possible to flexibly cope with various LAN environments.

(Embodiment 2)
The Internet-connected TV system according to the second embodiment of the present invention is realized in the same manner as in the first embodiment except that the DHCP / DNS server 106 is used when registering a URL in the URL setting unit 209.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an Internet connection TV system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The Internet connection TV 100 includes a remote controller 200, an antenna 201, a digital broadcast receiving unit 202, an image processing unit 203, a display unit 204, an audio processing unit 205, a speaker 206, a storage unit 207, and a network information storage unit. 208, URL setting unit 502, WEB browser processing unit 210, control unit 501, remote control signal input unit 212, card IF unit 213, and communication unit 214. 5 having the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 have the same functions as those in FIG.

  The control unit 501 makes a URL acquisition request to the URL processing unit 502 when there is a URL acquisition request from the remote control signal input unit 212. Here, the URL acquisition request may be made by pressing the first Internet key 301, or may be selected / executed as a menu item, or may be executed by pressing a key by providing a dedicated key on the remote controller 200. It may be.

  The URL processing unit 502 executes URL acquisition processing on the IP address of the DHCP / DNS server 106 stored in the network information storage unit 208 based on the URL acquisition request from the control unit 501.

  Here, URL acquisition processing will be described with reference to FIG. The URL processing unit 502 transmits a URL acquisition request to the DHCP / DNS server 106 (step S601). The DHCP / DNS server 106 identifies the IP address of the WEB server 103 (“YES” in step S602), and further identifies the corresponding domain name and host name from the identified IP address (“YES” in step S603). The DHCP / DNS server 106 transmits the specified domain name and host name as URL information to the Internet connection TV 100, and the control unit 501 of the Internet connection TV 100 uses the URL information acquired via the communication unit 214 as the URL setting unit 502. (Step S604). On the other hand, if the IP address, domain name or host name of the WEB server 103 cannot be specified in the DHCP / DNS server 106 (“NO” in step S602, “NO” in step S603), an error notification is transmitted. The error acquisition process is executed to end the URL acquisition process (step S605).

  According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the URL of the hospital portal site 302 accessed by pressing the Internet key 301 of the remote controller 200 can be automatically set, and convenience can be improved.

  According to the Internet-connected TV system of the present invention, a WEB site provided in a predetermined LAN environment can be easily accessed by simply pressing the Internet key of the remote controller once, and the WEB site to be accessed is arbitrarily set. This is useful in hospitals, hotels, and other facilities.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the internet connection TV system of this invention The figure which shows the structure of the internet connection TV which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of a screen display of the hospital portal site of this invention The figure which shows the URL registration process which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the structure of the internet connection TV which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. The flowchart which shows URL acquisition processing which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 Internet connection TV
101 HUB
102 router 103 WEB server 104 DB server 105 hospital server 106 DHCP / DNS server 107 PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 200 Remote control 201 Antenna 202 Digital broadcast receiving part 203 Image processing part 204 Display part 205 Sound processing part 206 Speaker 207 Storage part 208 Network information storage part 209, 502 URL setting part 210 WEB browser processing part 211, 501 Control part 212 Remote control signal input 213 Card IF unit 214 Communication unit 301 Internet key 302 Hospital portal site 303 Up / down / left / right key and enter key 304 Focus 305 Informational information 401 Menu screen 402 Initial setting screen 403 Installation setting screen 404 Browser setting screen 405 Homepage address input field

Claims (3)

An Internet-connected TV system comprising a WEB server for storing WEB site information and an Internet-connected TV that can be controlled by a remote control having a dedicated key for connecting to the Internet,
The internet connection TV is
Remote control signal input means for receiving a remote control signal from the remote control;
Control means for analyzing the received remote control signal;
URL setting means for storing URL information of the WEB server;
WEB browser processing means for accessing the WEB server based on the URL information and acquiring the WEB site information;
The control unit causes the WEB browser processing unit to acquire the WEB site information when the dedicated key is pressed, and when the URL information is input using the remote controller, the input URL information is input to the URL An internet-connected TV system characterized in that it is stored in a setting means. The Internet connection TV further includes card IF means for connecting an external storage medium,
2. The Internet-connected TV system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the URL setting unit to store URL information stored in the external storage medium. The Internet-connected TV system further includes a DHCP / DNS server that stores URL information of the WEB server,
The control means of the Internet connection TV accesses the DHCP / DNS server when the dedicated key is pressed for the first time, acquires the URL information, and stores the URL information in the URL setting means. The internet connection TV system according to 1.

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