KR20040000632A - Apparatus and method for generating virtual channel, apparatus and method for viewing television by generating virtual channel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and a method for generating virtual channels, and an apparatus and a method for watching a TV by the generated virtual channels are provided to realize virtual TV channels of a user's own, thereby watching a TV without moving TV channels. CONSTITUTION: Channel information is inputted by a user for generating a database. A control unit(107) filters time information over certain time including a viewing intention of the user among program information stored in the database. A user table is generated based on materials stored in the database. A TV program selecting table is formed based on the user table. TV program priority is selected by judging whether programs overlapped with each other exist. A virtual channel schedule is formed from the priority selected TV programs and the user watches a TV according to the formed virtual channel schedule.

Description

Apparatus and method for generating virtual channel, apparatus and method for viewing television by generating virtual channel

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for operating a television, and more particularly, to generate a virtual broadcast channel composed of user favorite TV programs in a TV viewing time zone, and to generate a virtual channel for watching television by the generated virtual broadcast channel. Apparatus and method, and apparatus and method for watching TV by generated virtual channel.

We spend a great deal of our day spending time watching TV, and some people find extraordinary information or joy on their TV. As such, the medium of TV is closely related to our lives. In addition to cable broadcasting as well as digital broadcasting, it is also very difficult for viewers to watch TV by selecting broadcasts and programs that suit their tastes at a given viewing time. Dozens of times a day or hundreds of times with the buttons on the TV's remote control to find the broadcast you want to see often a feeling of irritability often occurs. Moreover, watching TV programs with overlapping time zones further increases the inconvenience that leads viewers to make choices. From the viewer's point of view, a broadcast program is like a favorite food, and it can be varied depending on the viewer's preference, such as enjoying sports, watching dramas, or watching current affairs programs. Looking closely at the tastes of these viewers, it can be seen that there are individual TV program viewing patterns. From Monday to Sunday, your favorite time-of-day TV program is almost fixed and you simply connect the TV programs. Viewers don't recognize their own patterns and use the remote to navigate through all the stations to find each TV program. I do it.

As such, conventionally, a very simple function of searching for a desired channel using a select button built in the remote control or the main body of the TV, or pre-recording a desired TV program by setting a time, or turning on / off the power of the TV is implemented. . Similar functions in existing TVs have been manually operated by the user through reservation or setting using a remote control. Although there are various functions due to the difficulty and inconvenience of the user using it, only a part of the functions are used.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to extract the TV viewing program pattern of the user based on the EPG information, and to make the table information so that the TV continuously schedules and controls the program on any virtual channel without the user's special setting An apparatus and method for generating a channel are provided.

Another technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to extract the TV viewing program pattern of the user based on the EPG information, and to make the table information so that the TV continuously schedules and controls the program on any virtual channel without user's special setting. The present invention provides a device and method for watching TV by using a generated virtual channel capable of watching TV.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a virtual channel generating apparatus and a TV viewing apparatus using the generated virtual channel.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a virtual channel generation / operation unit in FIG. 1.

3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an electronic program guide (EPG) information table.

4 is a diagram for describing generation of filtered channel information D / B.

5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of weekly channel information.

6 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a user selection information table.

7 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a viewing time for each TV program.

8 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of viewing time for each channel.

9 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a TV program selection table.

10 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a virtual channel TV program.

11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a virtual channel generating method and a TV viewing method using the generated virtual channel.

An apparatus for generating a virtual channel for solving the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is a device for generating a virtual channel from a satellite, cable or terrestrial broadcast signal received through an antenna or a cable network, when the viewing program channel movement occurs A database for storing broadcast program information generated based on a program identification code for each; A user information generator configured to filter the broadcast program information stored in the database based on a predetermined time and then generate a UST (user table) indicating viewing information for each time zone of the user; And a virtual channel generator for generating a virtual channel program based on the user viewing information generated by the user information generator.

The virtual channel generation method for solving the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is a method for generating a virtual channel from a satellite, cable or terrestrial broadcast signal received through an antenna or cable network, (a) the movement of the viewing program channel Storing broadcast program information generated based on a program identification code each time this occurs; (b) generating a UST (User Table) indicating the user's time zone viewing information after filtering the stored program information based on a predetermined time; And (c) generating a virtual channel program based on the generated user viewing information.

In order to solve other technical problems to be solved by the present invention, a TV viewing apparatus using a generated virtual channel stores arbitrary broadcast program information generated based on a program identification code every time a channel and viewing program movement occurs, and stores a predetermined time. A virtual channel generator for generating a virtual channel based on the most watched program information after filtering based on the reference; A storage unit for storing a program of which broadcasting time is overlapped among the generated virtual channels; And a signal processing unit which performs signal processing to sequentially output the virtual channel information generated for viewing the program and the program information stored in the storage unit as reproduced video and audio.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a TV viewing method using a generated virtual channel to store (a) any broadcast program information generated based on a program identification code whenever channel and viewing program movement occurs. Generating a virtual channel based on the most viewed program information after filtering based on a predetermined time; (b) storing a program of which broadcasting time is overlapped among the generated virtual channels; And (c) sequentially processing the reproduced video and audio of the virtual channel information generated in step (a) and the program information stored in step (b) for viewing a program.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a virtual channel generating apparatus and a TV viewing apparatus using the generated virtual channel, and includes a tuner 100, a demodulator 101, a demultiplexer 102, an audio processor 103, and a video processor 104. ), Timer 105, EPG module 106, control unit 107, storage control module 108, storage unit 109, and virtual channel generation / operation unit 110.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the virtual channel generation / operation unit in FIG. 1, which includes a broadcast program information extraction unit 110-1, a database 110-2, a virtual channel controller 110-3, and a virtual channel scheduling table 110-. 4) consists of.

3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an electronic program guide (EPG) information table.

4 is a diagram for describing generation of filtered channel information D / B.

5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of weekly channel information.

6 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a user selection information table.

7 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a viewing time for each TV program.

8 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of viewing time for each channel.

9 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a TV program selection table.

10 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a virtual channel TV program.

11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a virtual channel generation method and a TV viewing method using the generated virtual channel, including channel information input step 1100, database generation step 1101, database filtering step 1102, and a user selection table ( User Select Table (1103), TV program selection table formation step (1104), determining whether there are programs that overlap in time (1105), TV program priority selection step (1106), virtual channel schedule formation step ( 1107, watching 1108 the TV by the formed virtual channel schedule.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11.

The broadcast signal (including digital broadcast) received through the antenna or the cable network is selected by the controller 107 through the tuner 100. The selected broadcast signal is output from the demodulator 101 in the form of a digital packet and demultiplexer 102 is output as a stream of audio and video states through a demultiplexing process. The audio processor 103 processes the audio stream and outputs the audio, and the video processor 104 processes the video stream and outputs the image.

The EPG module 106 stores and updates EPG data sent to each broadcasting station. The EPG module 106 facilitates the utilization of the database 110-2 configuration data of the program selected as the reference data for generating the program information table and the generation of the UST table. The EPG module 106 is used to create a virtual channel schedule program link. Is controlled by the control unit 107.

The controller 107 controls the program information being viewed to be stored in the database 110-2, controls the generation of the virtual channel scheduling table 110-4, initializes and controls the virtual channel. The control unit 107 for controlling the system as a whole may include a memory having a control command execution code by itself, and may be provided separately from the outside.

The storage control module 108 stores the broadcast program generated by the program table demultiplexer 102 in the storage unit 109 using the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) function or reproduces the broadcast program stored in the storage unit 10 (). Do this.

The virtual channel generation / operation unit 110 stores arbitrary broadcast program information generated based on EPG information whenever channel and viewing program movement occurs under the control of the controller 107, and controls the controller 107 based on a predetermined time. The virtual channel is generated and operated on the basis of the most viewed program information among the broadcast signals filtered by the " The broadcast program information extracting unit 110-1 extracts broadcast information selected by the current TV viewer from all received broadcast information, and the broadcast information is extracted based on the EPG information. The database 110-2 forms an arbitrary broadcast database with broadcast information extracted continuously. The virtual channel controller 110-3 performs a series of hardware / software necessary tasks for initializing the virtual channel formation according to the command of the controller 107. After the initialization operation, the storage control module 108 controls the channel schedule to be made according to the virtual channel program table generated for the virtual channel through the control of the tuner 100 and the demultiplexer 9102. The virtual channel controller 110-3 controls the demultiplexer 102 to generate a virtual channel in an unused channel. The virtual channel controller 110-3 controls and selects a broadcast signal according to the generated virtual channel scheduling. The virtual channel scheduling table 110-4 generates a virtual information schedule for each day of the week based on the pattern information and the EPG information stored in the database 110-2, stores it in a storage location in a predetermined format, and updates it every day. Support the structure of the way it is done.

EPG information among the broadcast signals tuned by the tuner 100 is stored in the EPG module 106, and the EPG information is displayed on the TV screen based on the time axis through the classification scheme as shown in FIG. 3 through the EPG display function. The program identification code P N0-N1-N2 shown in FIG. 3 is used as a program identification factor. The program identification code generates EPG information as a value distinguished for each program schedule, channel, and broadcast time zone, and each information maintains the independence of the variable. For example, if the program identification code is P5-2-2, 5 in P5 means that the channel is a drama, the next number 2 means channel 2, and the last 2 is the time of the second drama on the same day. It is represented by a value representing information.

The EPG information table created in FIG. 3 is stored in the database 110-2 as basic data of pattern information recognition of the user. When the operation of the present invention starts, the control unit 107 stores the program code data in the database 110-2 each time the user moves the channel and the program, and the time information for a predetermined time or more containing the user's willingness to watch in the stored program information. Only the information in is rearranged through the filtering process. After the rearrangement, the table is created using UST (user selection table) generation data, and then used as program selection criteria data for creating a virtual channel schedule table for a specific day based on EPG information.

The controller 107 stores the program code information in the database 110-2 so as to match the progression of time whenever channel and viewing program movement occurs so that the program code information can be utilized as the program pattern sample information of the viewer. The storage method is divided into a daily data storage area that is a unit of day and a weekly data storage area that can store information about the whole week. The UST is generated based on the data stored in the database 110-2, and the UST will display the user's TV viewing pattern information. Based on this, it is possible to predict a program that a viewer may want to watch at a certain day and a specific time.

Of course, not all viewers' broadcast channel movements can be used as prediction data. For example, a very momentary movement is a movement of the program rather than a viewer watching the program, and this momentary movement is not a reference material for generating the UST. Therefore, this information should be excluded from the input. The time base is usually defined as the response time that viewers can sample and watch for a while to select a channel. This data should be kept constant for a certain period of time and kept updated.

4 illustrates an embodiment in which arbitrary time channel information of a user is stored in the database 110-2 for each time zone. FIG. 4 (b) shows channel information of a section indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 2 (a) in more detail, and information on a plurality of short-term channel motions indicated by circles is UST generated data. Cannot be used for Therefore, the controller 107 executes the filtering operation of the database 110-2 information as shown in FIG. 4C. After the filtering process, only information of the form as shown in FIG.

The weekly database is formed into a table as shown in FIG. 5 with the information generated as shown in FIG. 4 (d), and this data is called a weekly information channel table. This weekly information channel table contains weekly weekly weekly TV viewing information for the user. The weekly information channel table generated in FIG. 5 generates the UST shown in FIG. 6 through the viewing time for each pair. The UST shown in FIG. 6 is partially written to assist in understanding the present invention based on information of any day and a specific time zone.

The UST of FIG. 6 provides a matrix structure of information for viewing a TV program viewing pattern of a user at a glance. Through the UST of FIG. 6, information of a program that has been watched for the longest time of the week can be known by organization, and channel information which has been most preferred can also be known. In addition, if the total time is summed for each program, the user's preferred TV program pattern for each broadcast channel can be known. FIG. 7 shows a viewing time for each user's program programming, and FIG. 8 shows a viewing time for each channel. Looking at the combined viewing time information of FIG. 7 shows the P1 news program for the longest time, and shows the preference of the programming in the order of love and drama. FIG. 8 shows information indicating a channel preference of a user, indicating that the most preferred channel is CH3.

If a table is formed based on the program having the longest viewing time per single program in the organization of UST, the virtual channel schedule program is selected in order from the table created in FIG. 9 and the virtual channel as shown in FIG. You can create a program. First, when linking to the EPG information table of FIG. 3 according to the table priority generated in FIG. 9, it can be confirmed that the TV program indicated by color in FIG. 10A is a meaningful program.

In order to select the priorities of meaningful TV programs indicated by colors in FIG. 10 (a), first, programs that do not overlap each other on the basis of the time axis are first linked to the EPG table in the TV program linking process by priority. (P1-3-1, P4-3-1, P4-2-1, P8-2-1) If the entire TV program overlaps with a program with high priority already, the first selected program is adopted as a virtual channel program. do. P1-1-2 is formed between P-1-3-1 and P4-3-1, resulting in program duplication, but P1-3-1 and P4-3-1 program priorities are high in virtual channel forming programs. Excluded (P10-4-1, P1-1-2, P4-1-1, P3-3-1, P7-4-1)

When programs are linked to the EPG table so that the broadcasting time between the programs is not overlapped with each other in order from the viewing order, the time zone during which the selection between the program (P4-2-1) and the program (P1-3-1) is not made. Is generated. The program selection at this time is based on the time when the P3-3-1 program is finished, and the program having the highest viewing rank is selected among the programs that were broadcast equally or earlier. If there are two or more programs that have the same listening time as the selected program, the program with the highest time zone by the organization becomes the priority, and the program belonging to the channel with the highest viewing time by channel is the priority after the programming priority. Select a program to have If the UST is not formed, the criteria for selecting a program is to preferentially broadcast the broadcast program of the channel selected as the reference channel.

Therefore, the space between P4-2-1 and P1-3-1 generated in the virtual channel program formation process described above as an example above may be selected after P1-4-1, and occurs after P4-3-1. The blank can be selected by P5-2-2. Due to this, the time duplication between the generated programs can solve the program broadcasting problem by using the PVR function. P1-3-1 and later broadcasts are delayed by 10 minutes, and a total of 20 minutes of time-shifted broadcasts are combined with the 10-minute delay that occurs in P5-2-2. FIG. 11B shows the last generated virtual channel.

Referring to FIG. 11, operations of the virtual channel generation method and the TV viewing method using the generated virtual channel are input by the user (step 1100).

The database 110-2 is generated based on the channel information input by the user (step 1101). The program code data is stored in the database 110-2 every time the channel moves and the program moves by the user.

The control unit 107 filters only the information of the time information over a predetermined time including the user's willingness to view the program information stored in the database 110-2 (step 1102). The very momentary movement is the movement of the program rather than the viewer watching the program, and this momentary movement is not a reference material of UST generation. Therefore, this information should be excluded from the input.

The filtering process then forms a UST (step 1103). The UST is generated based on the data stored in the filtered database 110-2, and the UST will represent the TV viewing pattern information of the user. Based on this, it is possible to predict a program that a viewer may want to watch at a certain day and a specific time.

A TV program selection table is formed based on the UST (step 1104). The TV program screening table is formed based on the longest viewing time per single program in UST by using the user's programming viewing time and channel viewing time.

In step 1105 and 1106, the TV program priority is selected by determining whether there are duplicated programs in the TV program selection table. In order to select the priority of the TV program, first, programs that do not overlap each other on the basis of the time axis are linked to the EPG table. If the entire TV program overlaps with a program of high priority already, the first program selected is adopted as the virtual channel program. When programs are linked to the EPG table so that broadcast times of the programs do not overlap with each other in order from the viewing order, time zones in which selections are not made between programs are generated. The program selection at this time selects the program with the highest viewing rank among programs that were broadcasted equally or earlier based on the time when any program (P3-3-1 in FIG. 10) ends. If there are two or more programs that have the same listening time as the selected program, the program with the highest time zone by the organization becomes the priority, and the program belonging to the channel with the highest viewing time by channel is the priority after the programming priority. Select a program to have If the UST is not formed, the criteria for selecting a program is to preferentially broadcast the broadcast program of the channel selected as the reference channel. Therefore, in the virtual channel program formation process described above, time duplication among the generated programs can solve the program broadcasting problem by using the PVR function.

A virtual channel schedule is formed from a TV program of which priority is selected, and the TV is watched by the virtual channel schedule (steps 1107 and 1108).

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be modified by those skilled in the art within the spirit of the invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user creates the effect of having his or her own virtual TV channel. If the TV program is available without moving the TV channel continuously according to the user's viewing pattern of the day, the user can spend more time searching the channel with the TV remote control. And since the user does not need a specific setting, anyone can use the function.

Claims (22)

An apparatus for generating a virtual channel from a satellite, cable or terrestrial broadcast signal received via an antenna or cable network, A database for storing broadcast program information generated based on a program identification code each time a movement of a viewing program channel occurs; A user information generator configured to filter the broadcast program information stored in the database based on a predetermined time and then generate a UST (user table) indicating viewing information for each time zone of the user; And And a virtual channel generator for generating a virtual channel program based on the user viewing information generated by the user information generator. The method of claim 1, wherein the program identification code of the database is Virtual channel generation apparatus characterized in that the program is classified by programming, channel, time zone. The method of claim 1, wherein the database Virtual channel generating apparatus characterized by divided into the area for storing the daily program information and the area for storing the weekly program information. The virtual channel generating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user information generating unit may change a predetermined time which is a reference for filtering by the user. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual channel generating unit The virtual channel generating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the virtual channel is generated by selecting a priority to a program channel having a high viewer rating on the basis of a time axis with respect to the virtual channel created in the same time zone. A method for generating a virtual channel from a satellite, cable or terrestrial broadcast signal received via an antenna or cable network, (a) storing broadcast program information generated based on a program identification code each time a movement of a viewing program channel occurs; (b) generating a UST (user table) indicating viewing time information of a user's time zone after filtering the stored broadcast program information based on a predetermined time; And (c) generating a virtual channel program based on the generated user viewing information. The program information stored in the step (a) is The virtual channel generation method, characterized in that divided into the area for storing the daily program information and weekly program information, respectively. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the storing operation of step (a) is continuously maintained for a predetermined time, and is updated with new program information after the predetermined time has passed. The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined time that is a reference for filtering in the step (b) is a reaction time for sampling a program for a while to select the broadcasting channel. The method of claim 6, wherein step (c) And generating a virtual channel by selecting a priority of the virtual channels created in the same time zone. Virtual channel that generates virtual channel based on the most watched program information after storing any broadcasting program information generated based on program identification code and filtering based on a certain time whenever channel and viewing program movement occurs Generation unit; A storage unit for storing a program of which broadcasting time is overlapped among the generated virtual channels; And And a signal processing unit for signal processing to sequentially output the virtual channel information generated for program viewing and the program information stored in the storage unit as reproduced video and audio. The method of claim 11, wherein the virtual channel generating unit A database for storing broadcast program information generated based on a program identification code each time a movement of a viewing program channel occurs; A user information generator configured to filter the broadcast program information stored in the database based on a predetermined time and then generate a UST (user table) indicating viewing information for each time zone of the user; And And a virtual channel generator for generating a virtual channel program based on the user viewing information generated by the user information generator. The method of claim 12, wherein the program identification code of the database is A television viewing apparatus, characterized in that it is classified by broadcasting program organization, channel, and time zone. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the database is A TV viewing apparatus, characterized by being divided into an area for storing daily program information and an area for storing weekly program information. The TV viewing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the user information generation unit changes a predetermined time which is a reference for filtering by a user. The method of claim 12, wherein the virtual channel generating unit And generating a virtual channel by selecting a priority of program channels having a high viewer rating on the basis of a time axis of the virtual channels created in the same time zone. (a) Whenever channel and viewing program movement occurs, random broadcasting program information generated based on the program identification code is stored, filtered based on a predetermined time, and a virtual channel is generated based on the most viewed program information. Performing; (b) storing a program of which broadcasting time is overlapped among the generated virtual channels; And and (c) sequentially processing the reproduced video and audio of the virtual channel information generated in step (a) and the program information stored in step (b) for program viewing. The method of claim 20, wherein step (a) (a-1) storing broadcast program information generated based on a program identification code whenever a movement of a viewing program channel occurs; (a-2) generating the UST (User Table) indicating the user's time zone viewing information after filtering the stored program information based on a predetermined time; And (a-3) generating a virtual channel program based on the generated user viewing information. The program information stored in the step (a-1) is The TV viewing method, characterized in that divided into the area for storing the daily program information and weekly program information, respectively. The method of claim 18, wherein the storing operation of the step (a-1) is continuously maintained for a predetermined time, and is updated with new program information after the predetermined time has passed. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the predetermined time as a reference for filtering in the step (a-2) is a reaction time for sampling a program for a while to select the broadcasting channel. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein step (a-3) A method for watching TV, characterized in that the virtual channel is generated by selecting a priority of the virtual channels created in the same time zone.