WO2013035214A1

WO2013035214A1 - Program information transmission device, program information reception device, and program information transmission method

Info

Publication number: WO2013035214A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/002220
Authority: WO
Inventors: 幸松　孝憲; 田中　真愉子; 岡本　宏夫; 町田　芳広
Original assignee: 日立コンシューマエレクトロニクス株式会社
Priority date: 2011-09-09
Filing date: 2012-03-30
Publication date: 2013-03-14

Abstract

Provided is a program information transmission device which provides program information through a network. Provided is a program information transmission device to receive digital broadcast including program information, wherein the program information transmission device is provided with: a program information processing unit which acquires program information from digital broadcast signals; an equipment information unit which provides another equipment with information regarding a function or a control method provided by a digital broadcast reception device to a network; a program information conversion unit which generates an EPG object having property information of a broadcast system, an organized channel, and a program, using the program information acquired by the program information processing unit; a program information providing unit which extracts the program information requested from another device from the EPG object, and provides the extracted information; and a timer recording unit which sets the recording of the designated program in response to the request from another device.

Description

Program information transmitting apparatus, program information receiving apparatus, and program information transmitting method

The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver.

As a background art of this technical field, there is JP-A-2007-510330 (Patent Document 1). In this publication, a method is provided which allows to establish a connection between multiple UpnP compliant resources. Each resource has a separate connection manager service. The method is at a predetermined time. In order to negotiate the connection between each resource to be established, it comprises setting up the respective connection manager service to enable the UpnP control point to use its respective service. (See summary).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-510330

In said patent document a method is described which enables scheduled recording. However, Patent Document 1 does not describe a method for providing program information of content to be scheduled for recording. Therefore, the present invention provides a program information transmitting apparatus for providing program information via a network.

In order to solve the above problems, for example, the configuration described in the claims is adopted.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a program information transmitting apparatus for providing program information through a network, or a program information receiving apparatus for acquiring program information through a network.

Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be apparent from the description of the embodiments below.

It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a system. It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a program information transmitting device. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a program information receiver. It is a figure which shows the software structural example of a program information transmitter. It is a figure which shows the software structural example of a program information receiver. It is a figure which shows an example of apparatus description information. It is a figure which shows an example of the action list | wrist of the detailed information of a service. It is a figure which shows an example of the service status table of the detailed information of a service. It is a figure which shows an example of FeatureList. It is a figure which shows the structural example of EPG information. It is a figure which shows an example of the request | requirement of "X_EPG_ChannelLineup" action. It is a figure which shows an example of the response of "X_EPG_ChannelLineup" action. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows the example which described the property definition by the XML document. It is a figure which shows the example which described the property definition by the XML document. It is a figure which shows the example which described the argument Result of a response with an XML document. It is a figure which shows an example of an EPG server search sequence. It is a figure which shows an example of an EPG information acquisition sequence. It is a figure which shows an example of a reservation video recording sequence. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic program guide which the acquisition program schedule production | generation part 510 produces | generates. It is a figure which shows an example of a genre major classified value and the description content. It is a figure which shows an example of the request | requirement and response of a "reservation recording object creation request" action. It is a figure which shows an example of the request | requirement and response of a "reservation recording object creation request" action. It is a figure which shows an example of the input argument of a "scheduled recording object creation request" action request. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a program information receiver. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic program guide which the integrated program schedule production | generation application 2610 produces | generates. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a start processing flow of an integrated program guide generation application 2610. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an EPG generation processing flow by the integrated program guide generation application 2610. It is a figure which shows an example of an operating device. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of an EPG display processing flow by the integrated program guide generation application 2610. It is a figure which shows an example of the state transition table of the integrated program schedule production | generation application 2610. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the request | requirement of "X_EPG_Program" action. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic program guide which the integrated program schedule production | generation application 2610 produces | generates. It is a figure which shows an example of each program column of the electronic program guide which the integrated program schedule production | generation application 2610 produces | generates. It is a figure which shows an example of apparatus description information. It is a figure which shows an example of a video recording server search sequence. It is a figure which shows an example of a video recording sequence. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic program guide which the integrated program schedule production | generation application 2610 produces | generates. It is a figure which shows an example of the request | requirement of "a reservation video recording object creation request" action. It is a figure which shows an example of the request | requirement of "a reservation video recording object creation request" action. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information. It is a figure which shows an example of the definition of property information.

Hereinafter, examples will be described using the drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts. Further, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example.

The present embodiment describes a reservation recording method via a network in which a program information receiving apparatus makes a program information transmitting apparatus a reservation recording setting of a broadcast program using program information acquired from a program information transmitting apparatus via a network. Do.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the system configuration of this embodiment.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a user's home for receiving broadcasts, 2 and 3 broadcast stations, 4 an external network, and 5 a transmission path for transmitting broadcasts transmitted by the broadcast station 3.

In the present embodiment, the broadcasting station 2 and the broadcasting station 3 transmit broadcasts by different broadcasting methods. Here, the case where the broadcasting station 2 transmits terrestrial digital broadcasting using terrestrial waves, and the broadcasting station 3 transmits digital cable television (CATV) broadcasting via the transmission path 3 will be described as an example. The broadcast systems of the broadcast station 2 and the broadcast station 3 may be different systems, and may be a combination of BS digital broadcast and CATV broadcast transmitted by satellite waves.

The user home 1, the broadcast station 2, and the broadcast station 3 may be connected to the external network 4. When connected to the external network 4, the

broadcast stations

2 and 3 can provide content and the like related to a broadcast program using a content server (not shown). The user home 1 is connected to the content server from the external network 4 and can use the content provided by the

broadcast stations

2 and 3.

In the

user home

1, 11 is a broadcast receiving antenna, 12 and 13 are distributors, 14 is a router, 15 is an access point, 16 is a hub, and 110 and 120 are digital broadcast receiving apparatuses that receive CATV broadcasts transmitted by the broadcast station 3. 130, 140, and 150 are digital broadcast receiving apparatuses for receiving terrestrial digital broadcasts transmitted by the

broadcast station

2, and 160 is a mobile device. Reference numeral 20 denotes a room border of the user home 1. Here, the lower side of the boundary line 20 is the first floor of the user house 1 and the upper side is the second floor.

The broadcast receiving antenna 11 receives the terrestrial digital broadcast transmitted by the broadcasting station 2, and the received digital broadcast is distributed to the

digital broadcast receivers

130, 140, and 150 capable of receiving the terrestrial digital broadcast through the distributor 12. Here, as a receiver for terrestrial digital broadcasting, 130 is a digital television (DTV), 140 is a digital television (DTV with a recording function) having a recording function, and 150 is a recorder as an example.

The CATV broadcasts sent from the broadcast station 3 are sent to the user home 1 via the transmission path 5 and distributed to the

digital broadcast receivers

110 and 120 capable of receiving the CATV broadcasts via the distributor 13. Here, as a CATV broadcast receiver 110, a set top box (STB with a recording function) having a recording function is shown as an example and a set top box (STB) 120 is shown as an example. The digital broadcast received by the recording STB 110 and the STB 120 and the content reproduced by the recording STB 110 are output to the DTV 130 and displayed.

The

digital broadcast receivers

110, 120, 130, 140, 150 of the user home 1 can be connected to each other via the hub 16, and devices connected to the hub 16 construct a home network of the user home 1, and the router 14 Can also connect to external networks via The mobile device 160 is connected to the hub 16 via the access point 15 and becomes a device configuring a home network. The

digital broadcast receivers

110, 120, 130, 140, 150 can be connected to each other through the hub 16 and can also be connected to an external network through the router 14.

In the system of FIG. 1, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 110 operates as the program information transmitting apparatus according to the present embodiment, and includes an “EPG server function” that provides broadcast program information via a network. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus 140 operates as a program information receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment, and includes an “EPG client function” that acquires program information via a network and provides the user with the program information. Hereinafter, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 110 is referred to as a program information transmitting apparatus 110, and the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 140 is referred to as a program information receiving apparatus 140.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 according to this embodiment.

The program information transmitting apparatus 110 includes a tuner unit 201, a demodulation and decoding unit 202, a demax unit 203, an audio decoding unit 205, a video decoding unit 206, a data decoding unit 207, a synthesizing unit 208, a network connection unit 209, a recording and reproducing unit 210, and control. 211, memory 213, input / output unit 214, operation I / F unit 215, limited reception I / F unit 216, limited reception information storage unit 217, antenna connection terminal 221, digital audio signal output terminal 222, digital video signal output terminal 223 It is a digital broadcast receiving apparatus having a network terminal 224 and an operation signal receiving unit 226 and receiving CATV broadcasts.

The CATV broadcast is input to the tuner 201 from the antenna connection terminal 221. The tuner 201 extracts the channel frequency band of the channel to be received, and outputs the extracted channel frequency band to the demodulation and decoding unit 202 as a baseband signal by orthogonal demodulation.

The demodulation and decoding unit 202 performs synchronous demodulation on the baseband signal using, for example, 8 PSK (Phase Shift Keying), performs error correction such as Viterbi decoding and RS (Reed Solomon) decoding, and decodes the digital broadcast signal. And output to the demax unit 203.

Here, a case will be described where, as a digital broadcast signal, an MPEG2-TS compressed and encoded by the Moving Picture Experts Groupe (MPEG) method and multiplexed by the TS (Transport Stream) method is handled.

The demux unit 203 separates and extracts an audio signal, a video signal, a subtitle and a data broadcast signal to be used in the subsequent stage from the multiplexed MPEG2-TS. Then, the key information etc. stored in the limited reception information storage unit 217 is acquired via the limited reception I / F unit 217, and using this information, the scramble applied to the MPEG2-TS for copyright protection is performed. It cancels and outputs data such as PES (Packetized Elementary Stream) or ES (Elementary Stream) which is a signal stream of video signals and audio signals and subtitles constituting contents such as a broadcast program, and data broadcasting.

The audio decoding unit 205 decodes the PES or ES of the audio signal separated and extracted by the demax unit 203 and outputs the decoded signal to the digital audio signal output terminal 222. The video decoding unit 206 decodes the PES or ES of the video signal separated and extracted by the demax unit 203 and outputs the decoded signal to the combining unit 208. The data decoding unit 207 decodes the subtitles and data broadcast signals separated and extracted by the demux unit 203 and outputs the subtitles and the data broadcast signal to the combining unit 208. The synthesizing unit 208 synthesizes the signals input from the video decoding unit 206 and the data decoding unit 207 to construct a display screen, and outputs the display screen to the digital video signal output terminal 223.

The network connection unit 209 includes a communication processing unit and a transmission content protection unit, and transmits / receives data and content to / from other devices connected to the hub 16 via the network terminal 224 or a remote server etc. connected to the network 3. . The communication processing unit interprets the communication protocol and controls the flow of communication data. The transmission content protection unit performs device authentication processing according to the copyright protection imposed on the content, performs encryption processing of the content to be output to the network, and performs decryption processing of the content received from the network.

The recording / playback unit 210 includes a recording medium and an encryption / decryption processing unit, records the received content such as a broadcast program or the content acquired via a network into the recording medium, and reads and outputs the recorded content from the recording medium Responsible for playback processing, deletion processing of recorded content, and the like. When the content is recorded on the recording medium, the encryption / decryption processing unit performs appropriate encryption processing, and when the content is read from the recording medium, the encryption applied at the time of recording is decrypted and output. The recording medium includes either or both of a non-removable recording medium such as a hard disk, or a removable recording medium such as an optical disk, a removable hard disk, and a memory card. In addition, several types of recording media such as a hard disk, an optical disk, and a memory card may be provided.

The control unit 211 executes an operating system (OS) and an application, and causes the program information transmitting apparatus 110 to function.

The memory 213 is composed of volatile memory and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory stores software for operating the program information transmitting apparatus 110 such as an OS or an application. Volatile memory temporarily stores data necessary for software operation.

The operation I / F unit 215 receives an input signal from the operation device 230 via the operation signal reception unit 226, and outputs the signal to the control unit 211. The operating device 230 is, for example, a remote control, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or the like. The operation signal reception unit 226 may wirelessly receive an input signal from the operation device 230 using infrared rays or the like, or may wire the operation device 230 via a connection terminal and receive the input signal.

A system bus 227 is a data bus connected to the components of the program information transmitter 110. It is used for communication of control signals and data signals between each component.

The conditional access I / F unit 216 is an interface for connecting the conditional access information storage unit 217. The limited reception information storage unit 217 holds key information and the like for descrambling.

A digital audio signal output terminal 222 and a digital video signal output terminal 223 are digital audio signals uncompressed on an external television or the like to view contents such as a broadcast program received by the program information transmission apparatus 110 or a broadcast program recorded. , And an output terminal for outputting a digital video signal. The digital audio signal output terminal 222 and the digital video signal output terminal 223 may be output from physically separated connectors, or may be implemented to be output from one connector using a connector having a plurality of output terminals. It is good. Further, a control signal output terminal may be assigned to the connector, and a display device control signal for controlling a display device externally connected such as a display may be output.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a program information receiving apparatus 140 according to this embodiment. In FIG. 3, the same or corresponding parts as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

The program information receiving apparatus 140 has an audio output unit 301, a video display unit 302, an audio input switching unit 303, a video input switching unit 304, a digital audio signal input terminal 305, and a digital video signal input terminal in addition to the configuration of the program information transmitting apparatus 110. 306 is provided.

The audio signal decoded by the audio decoding unit 205 is output to the digital audio signal output terminal 222 and the audio input switching unit 303.

The video signal output from the combining unit 306 is output to the digital video signal output terminal 223 and the video input switching unit 304.

A digital audio signal input terminal 305 and a digital video signal input terminal 306 are terminals for inputting an external audio signal and video signal. The input signal is output to the audio output unit 301 and the video display unit 302 via the audio input switching unit 303 and the video input switching unit 304.

The audio input switching unit 303 and the video input switching unit 304 control whether the signal input from the outside is output or the signal generated internally is output to the audio output unit 310 or the video display unit 302. It is controlled by 211.

The digital audio signal output terminal 222 and the digital video signal output terminal 223 may be output from physically separated connectors, or may be output from one connector using a connector having a plurality of output terminals. It may be implemented. Further, a control signal output terminal may be assigned to the connector, and a display device control signal for controlling a display device externally connected such as a display may be output.

Also, the digital audio signal input terminal 305 and the digital video signal input terminal 306 may be output from the physically separated connector, or may be output from one connector using a connector provided with a plurality of output terminals. It may be implemented. In addition, a control signal input terminal may be assigned to the connector, and a display device control signal for controlling the program information receiving device 140 as a display device may be input. The control unit 211 decrypts the encryption for copyright protection, determines the number of gradations of the input video signal, and determines whether it is 2D video or 3D (stereoscopic) video based on the input control signal. It determines and thereby controls the display and sound to be output.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of the software configuration of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 shown in FIG.

Control software 400 for realizing the function of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 is expanded in the memory 213 of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 and executed by the control unit 211.

The control software 400 includes a program guide generation unit 410, a program information processing unit 411, a program information conversion unit 412, a content management unit 413, a reservation management unit 414, a network communication processing unit 420, a message analysis unit 421, a message generation unit 422, and media distribution. A service 423, a device information service 424, a content directory service 425, a program information providing unit 426, a content information providing unit 427, a streaming connection service 428, a reservation recording service 429, and an application management unit 450.

Although the application management unit 450 has a relationship such as control or data reference with almost all software blocks constituting the control software 400, the relationship lines with other software blocks are omitted because the figure becomes complicated.

The program guide generation unit 410 browses information on a program scheduled to be broadcast by the user using information on a broadcast program acquired with reference to the program information processing unit 411, selects a desired program, and selects a desired station. An electronic program guide is provided that provides a user interface (UI) that enables recording of programs and reservation of viewing.

The program information processing unit 411 acquires program information such as a broadcast schedule and a program title from PES or ES including information on broadcast programs separated / extracted by the demax unit 203, and forms a program information table, Recording is performed in the recording / reproducing unit 210.

The program information processing unit 411 acquires program information of a broadcasting station that can be received by the receiving device. Then, each time the acquired program information is changed or new program information is acquired, the program information table is updated. The program information is inserted into, for example, program specific information (PSI: Program Specific Information) of MPEG-TS or program sequence information (SI: Service Information).

The program information conversion unit 412 converts program information from a format used in digital broadcasting (hereinafter referred to as a broadcast format) into a format used in network transmission (hereinafter referred to as a network format) to obtain a network format program guide The data is recorded in the memory 213 or the recording and reproducing unit 210. The network format program guide data is updated in synchronization with the update of the program information table. Further, in response to the inquiry of the program information service 426, the program information conversion unit 412 extracts program information satisfying the query condition, and outputs the program information in a network format.

When the content management unit 413 records content in the recording and reproduction unit 210, the content management unit 413 generates content information of the content and records the content information in the memory 213 or the recording and reproduction unit 210. The content information is, for example, program information such as an identifier (content ID) that uniquely defines the content, file name, size, type of content, data format, recording date and time, title name, genre, copy control information, and the like. Here, the type of content indicates video, audio, image or the like, and the data format indicates a coding method of content such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) or MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer-3). The content information is acquired from the program information processing unit 411 when the content to be recorded is a broadcast program, and acquired from the transmission source of the content in the case of the content acquired through the network. In addition, association of content and content information, update of content information when content is deleted or moved, management of the number of copies for content with a limited number of copies, and the like are performed. Also, a UI for presenting a list of contents recorded based on the content information is generated and presented to the user. Furthermore, in accordance with the instruction of the user, the content selected by the user is reproduced, and processing of copying and moving is performed.

The reservation management unit 414 receives recording reservation and viewing reservation set by the user operating the electronic program guide and the like, and recording reservation specified by the reservation recording service 429, and manages reservation information. The reservation information is recorded in the memory 213 or the recording / reproducing unit 210. In addition, the start time of the reserved program is monitored, and the channel to be received by the channel unit 201 is appropriately set, or in the case of a recording reservation, a stream constituting a content such as a broadcast program is recorded from the demax unit 203 to the recording / reproducing unit 210 It also performs setting processing when executing reservation, such as setting to output to.

The network communication processing unit 420 processes communication data in accordance with a communication protocol when transmitting and receiving content and control messages with other devices connected via a network.

The message analysis unit 421 interprets a message such as a control request generated according to a predetermined format transmitted and received between devices on the network, and distributes the requested control to a service that processes the control.

The service is a function provided by the device to another device, and the other device can use a service provided by the device by remote control via the network. In FIG. 4, the media distribution service 423, the device information service 424, the content directory service 425, the streaming connection service 428, and the reservation recording service 429 correspond to this.

The message generation unit 422 is a message according to a predetermined format used among devices on the network, which is a response to a control request from another device or a control request for another device, which is output by various services. Generate with The generated message is created, for example, in a format as shown in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, and is transmitted to another device by an appropriate communication protocol via the network communication processing unit 420.

The media distribution service 423 provides a service of transmitting designated content to another device via the home network or the public network 4. The media distribution service 423 outputs contents such as a broadcast program received by the program information transmission apparatus 110 and a broadcast program recorded in the recording / reproducing unit 210 to the network communication processing unit 420 according to a request from another device. It also provides an interface for controlling the delivery of content, such as start / stop, pause, and skip of delivery via a network. Also, information on the corresponding transfer protocol is recorded in the memory 213 or the recording / reproducing unit 210. The transfer protocol is such as HTTP GET and Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP).

The device information service 424 provides the other device with device description information describing its own device, and service detailed information describing details of the service provided by the own device. Also, it notifies the home network when its own device connects to the network, leaves the network, and responds to device searches from other devices. Device description information and service detail information will be described later.

The content directory service 425 provides metadata information such as content titles and genres for all the content that the program information transmitting apparatus 110 can provide to other devices. The content directory service 425 collects metadata information from the content information providing unit 427 for the content recorded in the recording and reproducing unit 210 and from the program information providing unit 426 for the EPG information of the broadcast.

The program information providing unit 426 refers to the program information conversion unit 412 and provides list information of organized channels, program list information of designated channels, information of each program, and the like according to a request from the content directory service 425.

The content information provision unit 427 refers to the content information created by the content management unit 413 according to the request from the content directory service 425, and provides list information of recorded programs, detailed information of a designated recorded program, and the like.

The streaming connection service 428 provides information on transfer protocols, content types, and data formats that the distribution service 423 supports. The transfer protocol is acquired from the media distribution service 423, and the type and data format of the content are acquired with reference to the content information created by the content management unit 413.

The reservation recording service 429 sets registration and deletion of reservation recording via the network in the reservation management unit 414, and acquires and provides list information of recordings reserved and the like from the reservation management unit 414.

The application management unit 450 manages the operation of each software operating in the program information receiving apparatus 140. The application management unit 450 performs control such as activating a predetermined application when receiving an input of a signal indicating pressing of a predetermined operation button from the operation device 230.

FIG. 5 is a software block diagram of the program information receiver 140 shown in FIG. 3. Control software 500 for realizing the function of the program information receiver 140 is expanded in the memory 213 of the program information receiver 140 and executed by the control unit 211. Be done.

The control software 500 includes a program guide generation unit 410, a program information processing unit 411, a content management unit 413, a network communication processing unit 420, a message analysis unit 421, a message generation unit 422, a device information service 424, a network reservation recording application 501, and an acquired program. Table generation unit 510, reservation setting management unit 514, media reception controller 523, content directory controller 525, program information acquisition unit 526, content information acquisition unit 527, streaming connection controller 528, reservation recording setting controller 529, device detection unit 530, application The management unit 450 is configured.

In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 4 denote the same or corresponding parts, and therefore the description will be omitted.

The network reservation recording application 501 is an application for providing the user with a reservation recording function via the network for performing recording reservation to another device on the home network. The network reservation recording application 501 controls the device detection unit 530, the content directory controller 525, the reservation recording setting controller 529, etc., searches for other devices on the home network, acquires program information from the devices, and performs reservation recording. Set The process of the scheduled recording function via the network will be described in detail later.

The application management unit 450 and the network reservation recording application 501 have a relationship such as control or data reference with almost all software blocks constituting the control software 500, but the relationship with other software blocks is complicated because the figure becomes complicated. The line is omitted.

The acquired program guide generation unit 510 generates an electronic program guide for a broadcast acquired from another device with reference to the program information acquisition unit 526. This provides a user interface (UI) that enables selection of a broadcast program to be received by another device to select a station or to make a recording or viewing reservation of a desired program.

The reservation setting management unit 514 holds and manages information on reservation recording settings set to another device via the reservation recording setting controller 529.

The media reception controller 523 receives the content sent through the home network or the public network 4, and records the content in the recording / reproducing unit 210 or outputs the content to the demux unit 203. In addition, a command for controlling the delivery of the content, such as start, stop, pause, or skip of delivery, is sent to the content delivery source by the user operation. Also, information on the corresponding transfer protocol is recorded in the memory 213 or the recording / reproducing unit 210.

The content directory controller 525 requests and acquires metadata information such as content title and genre according to an instruction from the network reservation recording application 501 or the like. When the metadata information of the EPG is acquired, it is outputted to the program information acquisition unit 526, and when the metadata information of the content such as other video, audio and image is acquired, it is outputted to the content information acquisition unit 527.

The program information acquisition unit 526 records program information acquired from another device in the memory 213 or the recording / reproducing unit 210 for program guide data. At this time, the device providing the program information is recorded in association with a network ID for uniquely identifying it on the home network. Further, the program information is output to the acquired program guide generation unit 510 in response to the reference request.

The content information acquisition unit 527 holds metadata information of the content acquired by the content directory controller 525, and generates a UI screen for providing the user with information of content that can be acquired via the network.

The streaming connection controller 528 requests information on transfer protocol, content type, and data format from other devices.

The scheduled recording setting controller 529 requests the other device to make settings for registration and deletion of scheduled recording, list information of scheduled recordings, and the like.

The device detection unit 530 detects a notification of connection or disconnection of another device to the network and detects the connection of the device to be controlled, acquires device description information of the device and service detailed information, and the network It is recorded in the memory 213 or the recording / reproducing unit 210 in a format that can be referred to by an ID or a device type. Further, as the connection state management information, connection state information indicating the state of connection, update time information (value indicating date and time of connection or disconnection), and the like are recorded in a format that can be referenced by a network ID identifying the device. Also, if necessary, a device search request is sent to search for a desired control target device on the home network. When a notification of withdrawal is detected, the connection state is updated to a value indicating withdrawal, and the update time information is updated to the time at which the notification of withdrawal is detected. The device description information of the detached device and the service detailed information may be deleted when the detachment is detected, or may be deleted after a predetermined time (such as 24 hours) has elapsed since the detachment.

Here, the details of the device description information provided by the device information service 424 will be described.
The device description information includes information such as device information and a service information list.

The device information describes basic information about the device, and includes information such as device type, device name, manufacturer name, model name, serial number, network ID, version, and icon information.

The device type indicates the function provided by the device to the network. For example, a device with the function to deliver content such as video, audio, and EPG information is defined as a media server (MediaServer), and a device with a function to receive and play content via a network is defined as a media renderer (MediaRenderer) Do.

The network ID is an ID for uniquely identifying the device on the home network, and is held in the non-volatile memory of the memory 213.

The service information list is list information of services provided to the network by the device type implemented by the device. Each service is composed of a service type, a service ID, a service description URL (Uniform Resource Locator), a control URL, an event URL and the like.

When the device type is a media server (MediaServer), services such as a content directory service (ContentDirectoryService), a streaming connection service (ConnectionManagerService), and a scheduled recording service (ScheduledRecordingService) are provided.

The service type indicates the function of each service, and the above-mentioned content directory or the like corresponds to this.
The service ID is an ID that uniquely identifies a service within the range of the device description information.
The service description URL is an access destination in order to acquire service detailed information describing details of a control method (action) for using control provided by the service.
The control URL is a transmission destination of an action command for performing control using a service.
The event URL is a registration destination that transmits an event delivery registration to receive a notification when an event occurs in a service.

The service detail information has information such as an action list and a service status table.
An action list is a list containing information on one or more actions. An action is a description of a control method for using control provided by a service, such as an action name, and an argument list that is list information that defines an argument name, an input / output direction of an argument, and a type definition name for each argument. With the information of
The service state table is a table including one or more state variable information. State variable information includes information such as the type definition name of the argument used for action, the data type of the argument such as string and ui4, the default value as required, the list of settable values, and the range of settable values.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the device description information of the program information transmitting apparatus 110. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the device description information 600 has an additional function list 630 in addition to the device information 610 and the service information list 620, and the device defined by the device type 611 provides the additional function.

In FIG. 6, in the program information transmitting apparatus 110, the device type is defined as "MediaServer" in the description of 611 in the device information 610. Service information list 620 describes service information for each service provided by program information transmitting apparatus 110.

In the present embodiment, the program information transmitting apparatus 110 provides

services

621, 622, and the like. The service 621 indicates that the service type 625 is "Content Directory", and that "Content Directory URL" described in the service description URL 626 can be accessed to acquire service detailed information.

“CDControlURL” described in the control URL 627 indicates the destination of the action request.

The additional function list 630 describes additional functions added to the basic functions of the device defined by the device type 611 as additional function types.
“EpgServer” 631 indicates that the program information transmitting apparatus 110 provides an EPG server function of providing program information of the received broadcast.
“EpgDirectScheduledRecorder” 632 indicates providing an Epg direct scheduled recording function capable of setting scheduled recording of a program to be performed via the network using an ID property of a program item provided by the EPG server.

As described above, by adding the additional function list 630 to the device description information 600, the other device is a media server to which the program information transmitting apparatus 110 distributes the content only by acquiring the device description information 600. It is possible to know that the EPG server function and the Epg direct reservation recording function are provided to other devices on the network as functions. Here, a method of realizing the EPG server function in the program information transmitting apparatus 110 will be described. The EPG server function is provided by the content directory service 425.
The content directory service 425 provides metadata of content to be delivered to the network by the program information transmitting apparatus 110 to the device receiving the service, and provides a control method (action) of the provided metadata as service detailed information.

Examples of the contents to be distributed to the network include AV contents such as broadcast programs and pictures recorded in the recording / reproducing unit 210, and information contents such as program information and tuner information. Metadata is property information on the content, such as the title, genre, and copy control information of the content.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the action list of the service detailed information of the content directory service 425.
As shown in the figure, set an action name and an argument list for each action. In FIG. 7, 710, 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, and 770 show each action. The action name of the action 710 is 711 and the argument list is 712. The argument list enumerates the information of one or more arguments.

In FIG. 7, information of one argument is shown on one line. Column 791 indicates an argument name, column 792 indicates an input / output direction (IN or OUT), and column 793 indicates a type definition name. The detailed information of the type (state variable) indicated by the type definition name is described in the service state table of FIG.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the service status table of the service detailed information of the content directory service 425. In FIG. 8, 810, 820, 830, 840, 850 and 860 are detailed information of the state variable. The detailed information of the state variable includes the state variable name 831, data type 832, and a permitted value list 833 including one or more definitions (permitted values) 834 and 835 of values that can be set as needed.

An apparatus using the content directory service 425 can refer to the service state table using the type definition name of the argument of the action, and can acquire detailed information such as the data type name of the argument. As an example, the type definition name of the Browse argument of the Browse argument of the action 720 is A_ARG_TYPE_BrowseFlag. If the type definition name is A_ARG_TYPE_BrowseFlag, this device refers to the service status table (FIG. 8), and from the detailed information 830 of the state variable whose name matches, the data type of the argument is string and the value that can be set is "BrowseMetadata" , "BrowseDirectChildren" can be known.

The request message and the response message of the action are encapsulated in a SOAP message and transmitted using, for example, the HTTP protocol. At this time, the action name and input / output arguments are described in the SOAP body in XML (Extensible Markup Language) format. The destination of the action request is described in the service information list 620 of the device description information 600 as the control URL 627 for each service.

Hereinafter, among the actions shown in FIG. 7, an action 710 related to transmission of program information according to the present embodiment will be described.

GetFeatureList 711 is an action that provides information such as the name of information content that can be provided when the content directory service 425 provides information content as well as AV content. FIG. 9 is an example of FeatureList transmitted as a response message from the content directory service 425 in response to an action request of action GetFeatureList.

An XML document 910 describes FeatureList.
920 is an XML header.
As shown in 930, the <Features> tag describes a list of information of information content provided by the content directory service 425. Information of each information content is described by <Feature> tag as shown in 931 and 932. The name attribute of the <Feature> tag indicates the name of the information content.
"EPG" indicates that program information is provided, and "TUNER" indicates that tuner information is provided.
The <objectIDs> tag describes an ID for identifying the information content designated by the name attribute. In the case of providing a plurality of information contents, as shown at 932, the IDs are listed separated by ", (comma)".

The object ID of “EPG” corresponds to the @id property (FIG. 12) of the EPG container which is the root container of the provided program information. The EPG container is provided in units of broadcasting systems such as CATV broadcasting, terrestrial digital broadcasting, and BS broadcasting. By providing on a broadcast system basis, a device having an EPG client function can easily search for a device that provides an EPG of a desired broadcast system, even when there are a plurality of devices having an EPG server function on the network. An EPG container is a container that holds information of a broadcast system.

Here, an example of the overall configuration of program information provided by the EPG server function will be described with reference to FIG.
An EPG container (epg container) 1001 is a top-level root container of program information, and holds information of the broadcasting system. The EPG container 1001 has as many channel containers as the number of organized channels provided by this broadcast system. The channel containers define video channel containers (epgVideoChannel container) 1010 and 1020 indicating video broadcasts such as television broadcasts, and audio channel containers (epgAudioChannel container) 1030 indicating audio broadcasts such as radio broadcasts. In addition, the channel container has program items that provide information on programs broadcast on that channel. As program items, EPG video program items (video Program items) 1011, 1012, 1013, 1021, 1022, 1023 indicating video programs and EPG audio program items (audio Program items) 1031, 1032 indicating audio programs are defined. In the present embodiment, the EPG container, the channel container, and the program item are collectively referred to as an EPG object.

Details of property information defined in each container and item are shown in FIG. 12, FIG. 13, FIG. 14, and FIG. The properties defined here are used for an EPG object which is program information in a network format. The program information conversion unit 412 converts and generates program information using program information of a broadcast format used in digital broadcasting.

FIG. 12 shows containers for providing program information, and properties commonly defined for items. "@" Indicates that this property is attribute information. Hereinafter, when "attribute id" is described, it indicates that it is "@ id" in FIG. Similarly, when “attribute parentID” is described, “@restricted” in FIG. 12 is indicated, and when “attribute restricted” is described, “@ restricted” in FIG. 12 is indicated. In the program item, the attribute id is identification information that uniquely identifies the program described in the program item. The attribute parentID indicates the attribute id of the channel container having the program item.
FIG. 13 shows an EPG container, FIGS. 14 (a) to 14 (b) show video channel containers, and FIGS. 15 (a) to 15 (h) show property information of EPG video program items. The property information of the audio channel container is omitted since it is different from the property of the video channel container of FIG. 14 and the value of the "catv: class" property.

In the audio channel container, write "object.container.epgContainer.epgAudioChannel" as a half-width character string. The property information of the EPG audio program item will not be described because it is different only in the property of the EPG video program item in FIG. 15 and the value of the "upnp: class" property. An EPG audio program item is described as "object.item.epgItem.audioProgram" as a single-byte character string.

FIG. 16 shows the case where the property definition is described in an XML document, using the EPG container as an example. 1610 is an XML document of the EPG container. Since the EPG container is a container object, it is surrounded by <container> </ container> tags as shown in 1611 and 1615. Then, as indicated by a dashed line 1620, property information of the EPG container defined in FIG. 13 is listed in the <container> </ container> tag. As shown in the figure, each property name is described as an XML tag.

The id of 1162, the parent ID of 1163, and the restricted of 1164 are attribute information common to the container and item defined in FIG. In the EPG container, an id (attribute id) 1162 describes a value of network_id (network identification) included in the NIT as an identifier uniquely identifying a broadcast system that provides the EPG. In parentID (attribute parentID), the attribute ID of the parent container is described. In the case of the top-level container (root container), write "-1". In the example of FIG. 16, the attribute id of the upper container of the EPG container is described as "epgTop" on the assumption that the system can provide the EPGs of a plurality of broadcast systems. The restricted (attribute restricted) 1164 describes whether the object can be modified. The EPG information is basically information that can not be changed, obtained from program specification information (PSI) included in the received PES or ES of the broadcast, or program arrangement information (SI). Therefore, “1” indicating that change is not permitted is designated in the EPG object.

The program identification information (PSI) includes a network information table (NIT: Network Information Table) that describes information on transmission paths and the like, and the program arrangement information (SI) includes information on services (organized channels) such as a broadcast station Event description information such as a service description table (SDT) describing a program, a broadcast time of a program used in an electronic program guide, a program name (event name), and a program description describing the content of the program There is a table (EIT: Event Information Table) and the like.

The configuration is the same for other container objects such as video channel containers. The <container> </ container> tag is the <item> </ item> tag. The other configuration is the same as that of FIG.

In the video channel container, the attribute id describes the value of service_id (service identification) included in the SDT as an identifier that uniquely identifies the organization channel. The attribute parentID describes the attribute id of the parent container, that is, the EPG container of the broadcast system providing the organized channel. Referring to FIG. 10, in the attribute parentID of the video channel container 1010, the attribute id of the EPG container 1001 is described.

In the EPG video program item, the attribute id describes the value of event_id (event identification) included in the EIT as an identifier for uniquely identifying the program. The attribute parentID describes the attribute id of the parent container, ie, the channel container of the channel providing the program. Referring to FIG. 10, the attribute id of the video channel container 1010 is described in the attribute parentID of the EPG

video program items

1011, 1012, 1013.

Note that a container can contain one or more containers or items.

FIG. 17 is an example of an XML document in the case where the EPG container includes a channel container and a program item. In the figure, solid lines indicate containers or items, and broken lines indicate container property information or item property information. Containers or items have one or more property information.

In the figure, reference numeral 1710 denotes an EPG container 1001, which includes a plurality of

channel containers

1712 and 1718 inside. Further, channel container 1712 includes a plurality of

program items

1714, 1716, and the like. Thus, the hierarchical structure of program information can be represented by an XML document.

In FIG. 7, 740, 750, 760 and 770 are actions defined to provide program information as an EPG server function. The details of each action are described below.

The X_EPG_ChannelLineup 741 of 740 is an action that returns list information of organization channels provided by the broadcast system.
In the input argument ObjectID, the identifier of the EPG container acquired by the "GetFeatureList" action is specified.

FIGS. 11A and 11B show an example of a request message and a response message of the “X_EPG_ChannelLineup” action. FIG. 11A shows the request message “Request”, and FIG. 11B shows the response message “Response”.

1101 is an argument objectID given to the request message. In this example, the identifier "catvEPG" 931 of the EPG container acquired by the "GetFeatureList" action is specified.
1110 is an XML document which describes Result obtained by a request message.
1120 is an XML header. 1130, 1140 and 1150 are channel containers. One channel container is represented by <container></container> tags, and the number is equal to the number of organized channels provided by the broadcast system.

The container id attribute is an identifier that uniquely identifies the container.
The parentID attribute is an identifier that identifies the parent container of this container. That is, a broadcast system providing this channel is shown.
The <restricted> attribute indicates whether the object can be modified. Here, “1” is designated to indicate that changing the program information is not permitted. When the change is permitted, “0” is designated. X_EPG_Program 751 is to return information on the broadcast program provided by the broadcast system. When a broadcast system ID is designated as the input argument ObjectID, a list of information of all programs provided by the broadcast system is returned. When a channel ID is designated, a list of information of all programs provided by the channel is returned.

The ID of the broadcasting system is "catvEPG" (description of the objectIDs tag in FIG. 9, 931) acquired by the "GetFeatureList" action, and the channel ID is "ch-001" acquired by the "X_EPG_ChannelLineup" action. (B), id attribute 1132 of 1130's container tag, and the like.

In the input argument TermCriteria, the filtering condition of the program information to be acquired is input. For example, when it is desired to acquire program information of a program including soccer in the program name, it is described as "dc: title contains" soccer ". If the input argument TermCriteria is not specified, information on all programs provided by the object specified by the input argument ObjectID is returned.

FIG. 18 is an example of an XML document describing Result obtained in a response message to the “X_EPG_Program” action.
FIG. 18 shows an example where the channel ID "ch-001" is specified in the input argument ObjectID. In the figure, solid lines indicate items as in FIG. 17, and broken lines indicate item property information. An item has one or more property information.

1820 is an XML header.
As shown in the figure, in the response message to the "X_EPG_Program" action, a program item which is information of a broadcast program provided by the ID "ch-001" of the channel designated by the input argument ObjectID is represented by an <Item> tag. To enumerate.

Reference numerals

1831, 1833 and 1835 are program items, respectively.

The attribute id of the <Item> tag is an ID that uniquely identifies the item.
The attribute parentID is the ID of the parent container. That is, it indicates that this program is provided on channel "ch-001".
The <restricted> attribute indicates whether the object can be modified. Here, “1” is designated to indicate that changing the program information is not permitted.

Program items

1831, 1833, 1835 have respective property information as shown in 1832, 1834, 1836.
The <dc: title> tag of 1832 is an event name (program title) of a program as described in FIG.
The <upnp: class> tag, as described in FIG. 15 (h), defines the classification of objects, in this example, the classification of program items.
object. item. epgItem. videoProgram indicates that this item is an EPG video program item. The property information listed in 1832 is an example of the property information of the program item and is not all. Although no specific example is given for 1834 and 1836, the configuration is similar to 1832.

X_EPG_CurrentNextProgram 761 is for returning information on a program currently being broadcast and a broadcast program of a program scheduled to be broadcast next. When a broadcast system ID is specified in the input argument ObjectID, for all channels provided by that broadcast system, when a channel ID is specified, a list of property information of current and next program broadcast programs is displayed for that channel. return. The response message has the same format as that of FIG. 18 except that the program item included in the output argument Result is composed of the current broadcast program and the next broadcast scheduled program.

X_EPG_KeywordSearchProgram 771 is for returning property information of a program that satisfies the keyword. When a broadcast system ID is specified in the input argument ObjectID, for all channels provided by the broadcast system, when a channel ID is specified, a list of property information of all broadcast programs of programs satisfying the keyword is displayed for that channel. return.
The response message has the same format as that of FIG. 18 except that the program item included in the output argument Result is configured by a program satisfying the keyword.

The input and output arguments of the

actions

740, 750, 760, and 770 are an example. For example, as an input argument, an argument that limits the number of <container> or <item> included in the response may be added to limit the amount of data of the response.

As described above, the program information transmitting apparatus 110 implements the EPG server function by providing the action of returning program information by the content directory service 425.

Next, a procedure will be described in which the program information receiving apparatus 140 searches for the program information transmitting apparatus 110 connected to the network, and sets scheduled recording in the program information transmitting apparatus 110 via the network.

FIG. 19 shows the procedure of the program information receiving apparatus 140 searching for the program information transmitting apparatus 110 on the network and acquiring EPG server information. The search process in the program information receiver 140 is executed as an EPG server search sequence of the network reservation recording application 501.

S1910: The device detection unit 530 of the program information reception apparatus 140 provides an EPG server function to search for an EPG server on the network via the message generation unit 422 and the network communication processing unit 420 according to the instruction of the network reservation recording application 501. Search for MediaServer (DMS) Send a "device search" message to all the devices that make up the home network.

S1911: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 which has received the “device search” message for searching the DMS processes the message with the device information service 424. Since the device type of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 is MediaServer, the device information service 424 generates a message including a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) indicating the acquisition destination of its own device description information, and responds to the program information receiving device 140. .

S1912: The device detection unit 530 of the program information receiving device 140 that has received the response accesses the URI included in the response message, and transmits a “device information request” message requesting device description information to the program information transmitting device 110.

S1913: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 that has received the “device information request” message to the acquisition destination URI of the device description information processes the message with the device information service 424. Then, a message including the device description information shown in FIG. 6 is generated, and the program information receiving apparatus 140 responds. Device description information is described in the response message in a format such as XML.

S1914: The device detection unit 530 of the program information receiving apparatus 140 that has received the response interprets the response message, and the program information transmitting apparatus 110 provides the content directory service 425 (Content Directory Service), the scheduled recording service 429 (Scheduled Recording Service), etc. , Accesses the service description URL of each service, and transmits a “service information request” message requesting the program information transmission device 110 for detailed information on the service.

S1915: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 that has received the “service information request” message to the service description URL of the content directory service 425 and the scheduled recording service 429 processes the message with the device information service 424. Then, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a response message is generated using the service detailed information including the action list and the service status table, and the program information receiving device 140 is responded.

S1916: The device detection unit 530 of the program information receiving apparatus 140 that has received the response passes the service detailed information of the content directory service to the content directory controller 525. Detailed service information of the scheduled recording service is passed to the scheduled recording setting controller 529. Each controller interprets service detail information and recognizes an action provided by each service. Then, the content directory controller 525 transmits the FeatureList action in order to confirm whether the content directory service of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 provides the EPG according to the instruction of the network reservation recording application 501.

S1917: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 which has received the FeatureList action processes the message by the content directory service 425. Then, a message for returning information content list information provided by the program information transmitting apparatus 110 as shown in FIG. 9 is generated, and the program information receiving apparatus 140 responds. Since the content directory controller 525 that has received the response message includes “EPG” in the name attribute of <Feature> 931, 932 included in the <Features> tag 930, the program information transmitting apparatus 110 provides the program information It recognizes that it is an EPG server and obtains an ID for acquiring an EPG from its <objectIDs> tag (931). The network reservation recording application 501 can transmit EPG server information such as device description information of the searched EPG server (program information transmitting apparatus) 110, detailed information of the service, and information content list information acquired by the FeatureList action to the EPG information of the program information transmitting apparatus 110. It is stored in the memory 213 in a format that can be referenced by a network ID or the like.

When there is a response from a plurality of program information transmitters in response to the "device search" message of S1910, the sequence of S1912 to S1917 is performed for each program information transmitter, and the EPG of the EPG server (program information transmitter) The server information is acquired and stored in the memory 213. In addition, the number of found EPG servers is also stored in the memory 213.

The program information receiving apparatus 140 searches for the program information transmitting apparatus 110 according to the above procedure. The execution timing of the search procedure may be when the program information receiving apparatus 140 is connected to the network or when the user requests a search for an EPG server on the network. Regardless of the user's request, searching when connected to the network has the advantage of being able to present the search results without having to wait for the user when requested by the user.

FIG. 20 shows the procedure of the program information receiving apparatus 140 acquiring EPG information from the program information transmitting apparatus 110 on the network. The EPG information acquisition processing in the program information receiving apparatus 140 is executed by the network reservation recording application 501 as an EPG information acquisition sequence.

S2010: The content directory controller 525 of the program information receiving apparatus 140 transmits an X_EPG_ChannelLineup action in order to acquire list information of organization channels of the EPG provided by the program information transmitting apparatus 110 according to the instruction of the network reservation recording application 501.
At this time, <objectIDs> of an element whose name attribute of <Features> included in the information content list information acquired in S1917 of FIG. 19 is “EPG” is used as the input argument ObjectID. The action message is sent out via the message generation unit 422 and the network communication processing unit 420. An example of the action message is shown in FIG.

S2011: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 that has received the X_EPG_ChannelLineup action processes the message in the content directory service 425. Then, a response message as shown in FIG. 11B is generated, and the program information receiving apparatus 140 is responded.
From the response message, the content directory controller 525 which has received the response message obtains information such as the number of organized channels of the EPG to be provided, the type of broadcast of a television broadcast channel or a radio broadcast channel, and the ID of the organized channel.

S2012: The content directory controller 525 of the program information receiving apparatus 140 transmits an X_EPG_Program action in order to obtain program information to be provided on each organized channel according to the instruction of the network reservation recording application 501. At this time, as the input argument ObjectID, the id attribute (1132 in FIG. 11B) of the channel container, which is the ID of the organization channel acquired in S2011, is used.

S2013: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 that has received the X_EPG_Program action processes the message in the content directory service 425. Then, it generates a response message as shown in FIG. 18 and responds to the program information receiving apparatus 140. The content directory controller 525 having received the response message obtains, from the response message, information such as the title (event name) and the genre of each program, and an ID for identifying the program.

The network reservation recording application 501 repeats the processes of S 1712 and S 1713 for all the composition channels provided by the EPG server, acquires program information of all the programs provided by the EPG server, and records the program information in the memory 213 or the recording / reproducing unit 210. The acquired program guide generation unit 510 generates a program guide using the program information acquired by the above procedure. The network reservation recording application 501 presents the generated program guide to the user, and causes the user to select a program for reservation recording. If the information content list information acquired in S1917 includes the IDs of a plurality of EPGs, the sequence of FIG. 20 is repeated to acquire information of all the EPGs.

FIG. 22 shows an example of the electronic program guide generated by the acquired program guide generator 510.
The electronic program guide 2200 includes a broadcast type field 2210, a broadcast system field 2211, a program schedule providing device field 2212, a broadcast date field 2213, a channel field 2216,

time fields

2217 and 2218, and a program field 2219.

The broadcast type field 2210 is a field for displaying a broadcast type such as television broadcast or radio broadcast. Whether it is a television broadcast or a radio broadcast can be determined by the catv: class property of the channel container. In the case of television broadcasting, “object.container.epgContainer.epgVideoChannel” is set, and in the case of radio broadcasting, “object.container.epgContainer.epgAudioChannel” is set.

In the present embodiment, when both the television broadcast and the radio broadcast exist, the screen configuration is different from the display. The user switches whether to display a television broadcast electronic program guide or a radio broadcast electronic program guide using a broadcast switching button or the like assigned to the remote control. The broadcast type column 2210 shows that the electronic program guide of the television is selected. In this way, it is displayed so that it can be judged visually which one is selected. If there is only one, only the broadcast type is displayed.

The broadcast system column 2211 represents the name of a broadcast system of an electronic program guide being displayed, such as cable television or digital terrestrial broadcasting. The broadcast system name is acquired from the dc: title property of the EPG container. 2211 is an example in the case of acquiring only program information of one broadcast system. When program information for a plurality of broadcast systems is acquired, as in the case of the broadcast type column 2210, the user can select the broadcast system and switch the display.

The program guide providing device column 2212 is the name of the program information transmitting device 110 which provided the program information.
The name of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 displays, for example, the name of the device included in the device information 610 of the device description information 600. By indicating the name of the provider of the program information, it is possible to explicitly inform the user that the program information is obtained via the network.

The broadcast date column 2213 is a column for displaying the broadcast date provided by the program information, so that it can be selected for a predetermined number of days from the current day. The selection method and display format are the same as in the broadcast type column 2210.

The channel column 2216 is a column that presents a list of channels provided by the broadcast system. Below the column of each channel column, program information of programs broadcasted on that channel is arranged. Channel list information is acquired using the X_EPG_ChannelLineup action as described above.
The channel field 2220 of one channel is composed of a channel name field 2221, an icon field 2222, and a channel number field 2223. The channel column 2220 displays the organized channel name acquired from the upnp: channelName property of the channel container of the channel. The icon column 2222 displays the organization channel logo acquired in the upnp: icon property of the channel container. The size of the logo is obtained from the upnp: icon @ arib: resolution property. If the channel container does not have the upnp: icon property, the channel number column 2223 is not displayed.

Time columns

2217 and 2218 are columns for displaying the time of broadcast. When displaying the electronic program guide, the display time is arranged at the top. The display time zone can be moved by the user's remote control operation or the like as in a general electronic program guide. In this embodiment, one time column is arranged on each side of the electronic program guide, but one or three or more time columns may be arranged depending on the size of the screen.

The program column 2219 is a column for displaying each program column 2230 which is program information of each program. As shown in the figure, each program column 2230 is arranged in a lattice form in the program column 2219. Each program column 2230 is arranged in the column of the channel column of the channel on which the program is broadcasted. The position of the vertical axis is determined by the program start time. For example, 1 hour column is divided into 4 by 15 minutes, and the start from 0 minutes to 15 minutes (not including 15 minutes) is the top position of 4 divisions, 15 minutes to 30 minutes (does not include 30 minutes) The start of the process is placed at the second position from the top of the four divisions.

The program start time is obtained from the program item's upnp: scheduledStartTime property. If the upnp: scheduledStartTime property does not exist, each program column 2230 of the corresponding program is not displayed.
The length 2234 in the time direction of each program column 2230 is calculated using either the upnp: scheduledEndTime property indicating the program end time as the property information of the program item, or the res @ duration property indicating the length of time of the program Do. For example, in the case where the length of time of the program is 2 hours, two minutes of the 1 hour column length are allocated, and in the case of 30 minutes, half of the 1 hour column length is allocated.

If neither the upnp: scheduledEndTime nor res @ duration properties are provided, the length in the time direction 2234 is taken until the program start time of the next program.

Each program column 2230 includes a program start time display column 2231, a program name display column 2232, a program description display column 2233, and the like.
In the program start time display column 2231, the value of the program start time is set, such as "15". The value of time can not be displayed in the program start time display column 2231 because it can be determined by the position of the vertical axis of each program column 2230. The program start time is acquired from the upnp: scheduledStartTime property.
The program title display column 2232 displays the program title acquired from the dc: title property of the program item.
The program description display column 2233 displays a program description acquired from the dc: description property of the program item.
When the number of characters of the acquired information is larger than the number of characters that can be displayed, the program name display column 2232 and the program description display column 2233 display information up to the number of characters that can be displayed.
Each program column 2230 may display an icon or the like indicating that the program content is paid. Whether the program is paid or free can be obtained from the program item's arib: caProgramInfo property. In addition, the background color of the program name display column 2232 may be set according to the genre of the program such as drama and sports to make it easier to select a program. The genre information of the program can be acquired from the upnp: genre property of the program item.

The configuration of the electronic program guide 2200 shown in FIG. 22 is an example. The arrangement of the time column 2217 and the channel column 2216 may be interchanged, or program information for a predetermined number of days may be displayed for one channel.

As described above, the acquired program guide generation unit 510 generates the electronic program guide using the program information acquired from the program information transmission apparatus 110.

FIG. 21 shows the procedure of setting the reserved recording reserved by the user in the program information transmitting apparatus 110. The scheduled recording setting process in the program information receiving apparatus 140 is executed by the network scheduled recording application 501 as a scheduled recording sequence.

S2110: The scheduled recording setting controller 529 of the program information receiving apparatus 140 transmits a “scheduled recording object creation request” message for setting the scheduled recording of the program selected by the user according to the instruction of the network reservation recording application 501. The destination of the message is the program information transmitting apparatus 110 which provided the information of the program selected by the user. An argument of the “reservation recording object creation request” message is “reservation information” which describes information of a program to be reserved. In this embodiment, since the program information transmitting apparatus 110 provides the Epg direct reserved recording function, reservation can be set only with the title and ID property of the program item.

S2111: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 which has received the “reservation recording object creation request” message processes the message by the reservation recording service 429. The reservation management unit 414 is referred to, and if there is no duplication of reservation, the program reservation is set in the reservation management unit 414. When the reservation is received, a reservation ID which is an identifier for referring to the reservation recording and a result which is information of the reservation result are returned.

FIG. 24 shows an example of a request message and a response message of the “reservation recording object creation request” action in the case of performing the Epg direct reservation recording.

"Request" is a request message.
Reference numeral 2410 denotes an XML document in which an argument “reservation information” to be given to the request message is described.
2411 is an XML header, and 2412 is an item object representing the value of the argument “reservation information”.
The item id (attribute id) is a reservation ID that uniquely identifies a scheduled recording. Since the attribute id is set by the program information transmitting apparatus 110, no value is designated in the request message of the "scheduled recording object creation request" action for requesting scheduled recording.
The <title> tag 2413 is a program name of a program to be reserved and recorded. The value of the dc: title property of the program item of the program selected by the user from the electronic program guide 2200 is set.
The <class> tag 2414 indicates the classification of the item object 2412.
“Object.recordschedule.direct.cdsepg” of 2414 represents that it is an item object for setting the Epg direct reservation recording.
In the <scheduledCDSObjectID> tag 2415, an ID for specifying a program to be scheduled and recorded by the EPG server that has provided the program information is set. Therefore, the attribute id of the program item of the program selected by the user is set.

"Response" is a response message.
An output argument “reservation ID” 2420 is set to an ID uniquely identifying a reservation recording. This reservation ID is used, for example, when deleting the set scheduled recording.
2430 is an XML document which describes "Result" which is information of reservation result.
2431 is an XML header, and 2432 is an item object representing the value of "Result".
As the attribute id, a reservation ID for uniquely identifying a reserved recording is set. This value is equal to the value set in 2420.
The <title> tag 2433 is the same as 2413, the <class> tag 2434 is the 2414, and the <scheduledCDSObjectID> tag 2435 is the same as 2415.
The <mediaRemainAlertID> tag 2436 is used to notify of a warning about the remaining amount of medium when the program information transmitting apparatus 110 for which scheduled recording has been set executes scheduled recording. As an example, the value “0” indicates that there is no fear of the remaining amount being insufficient, and the value “1” indicates that recording may not be possible because the remaining amount is insufficient.

FIG. 25A shows an example of the request message and the response message of the “reservation recording object creation request” action in the case of performing standard reservation recording that is not Epg Direct. In the case of a program information transmitting apparatus which provides only the EPG server function and does not provide the Epg direct reservation recording, the setting is made in this format.

"Request" is a request message.
An XML document 2510 describes an argument “reservation information” to be provided to the request message.
Reference numeral 2511 denotes an XML header, and reference numeral 2512 denotes an item object representing the value of the argument “reservation information”.
The attribute id is a reservation ID that uniquely identifies a scheduled recording. Since the attribute id is set by the program information transmitting apparatus 110, no value is designated in the request message of the "scheduled recording object creation request" action for requesting scheduled recording.
The <title> tag 2513 is the same as 2413.
In the <class> tag 2514, “object.recordschedule.direct.cdsNonepg” is set to indicate that the recording is a standard reservation recording that is not Epg Direct. There is no <scheduledCDSObjectID> tag because what is requested is standard recording that is not Epg Direct, and a program to be scheduled and recorded is specified by the channel number, the program start time, and the program duration.

The <scheduledChannelID> tag 2515 designates the channel number of the program selected by the user, and sets the upnp: channelNr property of the program item.
The <scheduledStartDateTime> tag 2516 is a program start time, and sets upnp: scheduledStartTime property of the program item.
The <scheduledDuration> tag 2517 is a length of a program time, and sets a res @ duration property of a program item.

The configuration of “Response” is the same as that of “Response” in FIG. The only difference is that the value of the <class> tag is "object.recordschedule.direct.cdsNonepg".

FIG. 25 (b) shows another format of the argument "reservation information" of the standard reservation recording. Use this format if the res @ duration property is not provided. In FIG. 25B, the program end time is set instead of the <scheduledDuration> tag 2517. In the <scheduledEndDateTime> tag 2518, the upnp: scheduledEndTime property of the program item is set.

As described above, the program information transmitting apparatus 110 according to the present embodiment provides the EPG information to other devices on the network, and uses the program information obtained from the EPG information to make a reservation recording in the program information transmitting apparatus 110. Provide an interface to configure.
Further, the program information receiving apparatus 140 which is an EPG client mounted apparatus according to the present embodiment searches for the program information transmitting apparatus 110 which is an EPG server mounted apparatus connected to a network, acquires EPG information, and obtains electronic information from the information. Generate a program guide screen and present it to the user. Then, the user is provided with means for selecting the presented program and performing scheduled recording. Therefore, the user can set the scheduled recording on the program information transmitting apparatus 110 via the network in the same way as setting the scheduled recording on the device being operated. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but includes various modifications. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Also, part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. In addition, with respect to a part of the configuration of each embodiment, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations.

In the present embodiment, a method in which a program information receiving apparatus operates the operation device 230 such as a user's remote control to acquire program information from a program information transmitting apparatus connected via a network, generates an electronic program guide and presents it to the user. explain.

The configurations of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 and the program information receiving apparatus 140 are the same as the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively. Further, the software configuration of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 is also the same as that shown in FIG.

FIG. 26 is a software block diagram of the program information receiving apparatus 140 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 26, the same or corresponding parts as those in FIG.

Control software 2600 for realizing the functions of the program information receiving apparatus 140 is expanded in the memory 213 of the program information receiving apparatus 140 and executed by the control unit 211.

26, an integrated program guide generation application 2610 is added to the software configuration of the program information receiving apparatus 140 shown in FIG.

The integrated program guide generation application 2610 is an electronic program guide of a broadcast system received by the program information reception apparatus 140 itself generated by the program guide generation unit 410, and an electronic program acquired from the program information transmission apparatus 110 and generated by the acquired program guide generation unit 510. It is an application that allows the user to select a program guide without being aware of the difference in the provider of the electronic program guide information.

The network reservation recording application 2611 is an application for providing the user with a reservation recording function via the network for performing recording reservation to another device on the home network, as in the network reservation recording application 501 of FIG. 5 described above. The network reservation recording application 501 is also responsible for the process of searching for an EPG server and the process of acquiring EPG information, but in the present embodiment, the integrated program guide generation application 2610 is responsible for these processes. The network reservation recording application 2611 is responsible for setting the reservation recording of the program selected by the user in the program information transmitting apparatus 110 in accordance with the request from the integrated program guide generation application 2610.

The application management unit 450, the integrated program guide generation application 2610, and the network reservation recording application 2611 have a relationship such as control or data reference with each software block constituting the control software 500, but other software may become complicated. The relation line to the block is omitted.

FIG. 27 shows an example of an electronic program guide generated by the integrated program guide generation application 2610. In FIG. 27, the same or corresponding parts as in FIG.

In the electronic program guide 2700 generated by the integrated program guide generation application 2610, an integrated EPG field 2701 is added to the electronic program guide of FIG.

The integrated EPG field 2701 presents the user with the types of available EPGs. In FIG. 27, it is an electronic program guide which acquires and generates program information via terrestrial digital broadcast and BS digital broadcast as a "main body EPG" which is an electronic program guide of a broadcast system which the program information receiving apparatus 140 itself can receive. An icon indicates to the user that a certain "net EPG" can be used. Reference numeral 2702 denotes a net EPG icon indicating that "net EPG" can be used. The electronic program guide to be displayed is selected by the user operating and instructing the operation device 230. In the present embodiment, "main body EPG" may be described as "EPG".

FIG. 30 shows an example of the operating device 230. Reference numeral 3001 denotes a program guide button for displaying an electronic program guide. If the program guide button 3001 is pressed during display, the electronic program guide is hidden. 3002 is a determination button. It is used, for example, when deciding on a scheduled recording program. 3003 is a back button. It is used to cancel the operation and return to the previous operation screen.

Reference numerals

3004, 3005, 3006, and 3007 denote cursor operation buttons used to move the cursor position on the operation screen. 3004 is an upper button, 3005 is a lower button, 3006 is a left button, and 3007 is a right button. A date button 3008 is used to select the display date of the electronic program guide. For example, the display of the electronic program guide is switched on the previous day in the upper side (△) and the next day in the lower side (▽). Reference numeral 3009 denotes a page button for selecting a display time zone of the electronic program guide. For example, the display of the electronic program guide is switched to the previous time zone on the upper side (△) and the later time zone on the lower side (▽). A terrestrial digital button 3011 and a BS button 3012 are buttons for selecting a broadcasting system. A net EPG button 3013 for selecting a net EPG is a button for selecting a net EPG.

Next, the operation of the integrated program guide generation application 2610 will be described.
First, start processing of the integrated program guide generation application 2610 will be described.
The activation process is triggered by an activation request from the application management unit 450. The application management unit 450 monitors pressing of the operation button of the operation device 230, and when it detects pressing of the program guide button 3001 or the net EPG button 3013, issues an activation request for the integrated program guide generation application 2610. At this time, the start mode of the integrated program guide generation application 2610 is set in accordance with the pressed button. When the program guide button 3001 is pressed, the start mode is set to "EPG mode", and when the net EPG button 3013 is pressed, the start mode is set to "net EPG mode". The “EPG mode” is a mode for displaying a “main body EPG” which is an electronic program guide of a broadcast system received by the program information receiving apparatus 140. The “net EPG mode” is a mode for displaying “net EPG” which is an electronic program guide generated using the program information acquired from the program information transmission apparatus 110.

FIG. 28 shows the start processing flow of the integrated program guide generation application 2610.
S2801: Introduction The integrated program guide generation application 2610 searches for an EPG server on the home network. The EPG server search is the same process as the EPG server search sequence described in FIG. By EPG server search, the number of EPG servers on the home network and EPG server information of each EPG server are acquired.

S2802: Next, the electronic program guide to be generated is determined by the start mode and the number of EPG servers. When the start mode is "net EPG mode" and the number of EPG servers is one or more, the operation state of the integrated program guide generation application 2610 is transitioned to "net EPG generation" for generating a net EPG, and the start processing flow is ended. (S2803). In other cases, the operation state of the integrated program guide generation application 2610 is transited to “EPG generation” for generating the main body EPG, and the start processing flow is ended (S2804). That is, even when the net EPG button 3013 is pressed, the main body EPG is generated when there is no EPG server on the home network.

FIG. 29 is an EPG generation processing flow by the integrated program guide generation application 2610. The EPG generation processing flow is executed when the operation state is "EPG generation" or "net EPG generation".

S2901: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 confirms its own operation state. In the case of "EPG generation", the process branches to the process of S2902. In the case of "net EPG generation", the process branches to the process of S2904.

S2902: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 requests the program guide generation unit 410 to generate a program guide, and transitions to S2903.

S2903: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 changes its operation state to "EPG display" for displaying the EPG, and ends the EPG generation processing flow.

S2904: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 refers to the memory 213 and confirms the number of EPG servers. The number of EPG servers is obtained by the activation process flow described above with reference to FIG. If the number of EPG servers> 1, ie, there are multiple EPG servers on the home network, the process proceeds to step S2905. In other cases, the process transitions to S2906.

S2905: A UI (User Interface) screen for presenting the name of the device of the EPG server and the like is displayed, and the user is allowed to select an EPG server for displaying the electronic program guide.

S2906: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 requests the content directory controller 525 to acquire program information from the EPG server. The content directory controller 525 acquires program information in the EPG information acquisition sequence shown in FIG. If there are a plurality of EPG servers on the home network, program information acquisition from the EPG server selected by the user is requested in S2906.

S2907: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 requests the acquired program guide generation unit 510 to generate a program guide, and the process transitions to S2908.

S2908: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 changes its operation state to "NET EPG display" for displaying the net EPG, and ends the EPG generation processing flow.

FIG. 31 is an EPG display processing flow by the integrated program guide generation application 2610. The EPG display processing flow is executed when the operation state is "EPG display" or "net EPG display".

S3101: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 refers to the number of EPG servers stored in the memory 213 to determine the display state of the integrated EPG column 2701. If the number of EPG servers is 0, that is, there is no EPG server on the home network, the net EPG icon 2702 in the integrated EPG column 2701 is grayed out to indicate to the user that the net EPG can not be used (S3102). If the number of EPG servers is not 0, the net EPG icon 2702 is displayed to indicate to the user that the net EPG can be used (S3103).

S3104: Next, an electronic program guide to be displayed is determined according to the state of the integrated program guide generation application 2610. When the state is "EPG display", the process transitions to S3105 to perform main body EPG display processing. If the state is "display of net EPG", the process transitions to step S3107 to perform net EPG display processing.

S3105: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 displays the main body EPG generated by the program guide generation unit 410. At this time, the layer of the integrated EPG field 2701 is displayed as the upper layer rather than the layer of the main EPG.

S3106: Then, the integrated program guide generation application 2610 changes its state to “during EPG display” and ends the EPG display processing flow.

S3107: The integrated program guide generation application 2610 displays the net EPG generated by the acquired program guide generation unit 510. At this time, the layer of the integrated EPG field 2701 is displayed as the upper layer rather than the layer of the net EPG.

S3108: Then, the integrated program guide generation application 2610 transits its state to "during net EPG display" and ends the EPG display processing flow.

FIG. 32 shows an example of the state transition table of the integrated program guide generation application 2610. The figure shows a state in which transition is made by an input from the operation device 230, that is, a button is pressed, when the state of the integrated program guide generation application 2610 is "during EPG display" or "during net EPG display". 3211 indicates a state in which the EPG is displayed, and 3212 indicates a state in which the net EPG is displayed.

Reference numerals

3221, 3222, 22323, 3224, 3325, and 3226 denote push buttons of the operating device 230. The slash ("/") means "OR".

When the program guide button or the back button is pressed in the state of “displaying EPG” 3211 (3221), the integrated program guide generation application 2610 hides the EPG being displayed, and ends the integrated program guide generation processing. . When the net EPG button is pressed (3222), the state is transited to "net EPG generation", and the EPG generation processing flow described in FIG. 29 is executed. When the terrestrial digital button or the BS button is pressed (3223), the display of the EPG is switched as necessary. For example, if the BS button is pressed during the EPG display of the BS, the current EPG display is maintained. When the determination button is pressed (3224), when a program of the current time is selected, the tuner unit 201 is requested to select a channel, the displayed EPG is hidden, and the integrated program guide generation process is ended. Do. When a future program is selected, the reservation setting management unit 514 is requested to perform reservation processing. When the date button is pressed (3325), the display date of the EPG display is switched to the previous day or the next day. When the page button is pressed (3326), the display time zone of the EPG display is switched to the previous time zone or the next time zone.

When the program guide button or the back button is pressed in the state of "displaying net EPG" 3212 (3221), the integrated program guide generation application 2610 hides the EPG being displayed, and ends the integrated program guide generation processing. Do. Similarly, when the net EPG button is pressed (3222), the integrated program guide generation processing ends. When the terrestrial digital button or the BS button is pressed (3223), the state is transited to "EPG generation", and the EPG generation processing flow described in FIG. 29 is executed. When the determination button is pressed (3224), the network reservation recording application 2611 issues a recording reservation request for setting the reservation recording of the selected program to the EPG server currently displaying the net EPG. The network reservation recording application 2611 executes setting of reservation recording of a program selected by the reservation recording sequence shown in FIG. When the date button is pressed (3325), and when the page button is pressed (3326), the date and time range to be displayed are specified and transition is made to "EPG generation", and the EPG generation processing described in FIG. 29 is performed. Execute the flow At this time, the range of date and time zone is specified in the program information acquisition request to the content directory controller 525 in S2906.

An example of the “X_EPG_Program” action 751 request in the case where the content directory controller 525 designates the range of the date and time zone in response to the program information acquisition request is shown in FIG. Describe the condition in the second argument as shown in 3301. In 3301, the time range of the start time of the program is set as the condition. By setting as in 3301, it is possible to acquire only program information of a program that satisfies the specified condition from program information provided by the EPG server.

Note that the date and time range may be set other than when display conditions such as when the date button or page button is pressed are specified. For example, when a condition is specified to acquire program information for a time that can be displayed on one screen of the electronic program guide, the amount of transmitted information decreases, so the time from the user request to the presentation of the net EPG display It has the effect of shortening.

As described above, the program information receiving apparatus 140 according to the present embodiment generates the “main body EPG” and the “net EPG” in a configuration that can be bi-directionally switched by the operation of the operation device 230. Therefore, the user can use "net EPG" without distinguishing it from "main EPG".

Further, since program information is acquired triggered by pressing of the net EPG button of the operation device 230 or the like, the "net EPG" can provide an electronic program guide composed of the newest information as in the "main body EPG". .

Furthermore, as in the case of the program information receiving apparatus 140 of the first embodiment, the user is provided with means for selecting and presenting a scheduled program. Therefore, the user can set the scheduled recording on the program information transmitting apparatus 110 via the network in the same way as setting the scheduled recording on the device being operated.

In this embodiment, a case will be described in which, when the program information transmitting apparatus 110 transmits program information, information on reserved recording set in the program is also added.

FIG. 34 shows properties related to scheduled recording added to the property information of the EPG video program item shown in FIG.

When providing program information, the program information providing unit 426 refers to the reservation management unit 414 and confirms whether reservation recording is set for the program. For a program for which scheduled recording has been set, the value of catv: recordSchedule, which is a scheduled recording setting property, is set to "1", and the value of catv: recordSchedule @ id is set in the scheduled recording sequence (FIG. 21). The reservation ID (FIG. 24, 2420) is set.

FIG. 35 is an example of an electronic program guide generated by the acquired program guide generation unit 510 when the property related to scheduled recording is added. In FIG. 35, parts that are the same as or correspond to those in FIG.

Reference numerals

3502 and 3501 denote an example of a scheduled recording icon indicating a program that has been scheduled and recorded. The scheduled recording icon is displayed in each program column of the program for which the value of the catv: recordSchedule property is set to "1". As described above, since the setting information of scheduled recording of a program can be acquired from the program information transmitting apparatus 110, the state of scheduled recording can be displayed even when the net EPG acquired from the EPG server is displayed. The user can confirm the program which has been reserved and recorded by the operation of displaying the EPG, which is convenient.

FIG. 36 shows an example of each program column 2230 generated by the acquired program table generation unit 510 when the property related to scheduled recording is added. In the example of FIG. 36, an icon column 3601 is provided, and a reserved recording icon 3602 is arranged there. In the case of this example, since it is not necessary to change the reserved recording icon 3602 even if the height of each program column 2230 changes, there is an effect that the process of the acquired program guide generation unit 510 can be simplified.

As described above, in the case of a program for which scheduled recording is set, the program information transmitting apparatus 110 of the present embodiment also provides a scheduled recording setting property as program information. Thus, the program information receiving apparatus 140 can display the scheduled recording setting state on the electronic program guide, and the usability for the user is improved.

In this embodiment, the program information receiving apparatus performs a scheduled recording setting for recording the broadcast program to the recording apparatus to the program information transmitting apparatus using the program information acquired from the program information transmitting apparatus via the network. The reservation video recording method via will be described.

In the system of FIG. 1, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 110 operates as a program information transmitting apparatus according to the present embodiment, and includes an “EPG server function” that provides broadcast program information via a network. The recorder 150 operates as a program information receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment, and includes an “EPG client function” that acquires program information via a network and provides the user with the program information. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus 140 operates as a recording apparatus according to the present embodiment, and includes a “recording server function” that acquires and records broadcast content via a network.

The configurations of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 and the recording apparatus 140 are the same as the examples shown in FIG.

The configuration of the recorder 150 is the same as the example shown in FIG.

The software configuration of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 is the same as the example shown in FIG.

The software configurations of the program information receiving apparatus 150 and the recording apparatus 140 are the same as the example shown in FIG.

Next, the program information receiving apparatus 150 searches for the program information transmitting apparatus 110 connected to the network, searches for the recording apparatus 140 connected to the network, and transmits the program information transmitting apparatus 110 to the recording apparatus 140 via the network. A procedure for setting a scheduled recording for recording via a network will be described.

The procedure for the program information receiving apparatus 150 to search for the program information transmitting apparatus 110 on the network is the same as that in FIG.

FIG. 38 shows an example of the procedure of the program information receiving apparatus 150 searching for the recording apparatus 140 on the network. The search processing in the program information receiving apparatus 150 is executed as a recording server search sequence of the network reservation recording application 501.

S3810: The device detection unit 530 of the program information reception apparatus 150 provides a recording server function to search for a recording server on the network via the message generation unit 422 and the network communication processing unit 420 according to the instruction of the network reservation recording application 501. Search for MediaServer (DMS) Send a "device search" message to all the devices that make up the home network.

S3811: Searching for DMS The recording device 140 that has received the “device search” message processes the message with the device information service 424. Since the device type of the recording device 140 is MediaServer, the device information service 424 generates a message including a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) indicating the acquisition destination of its own device description information, and responds to the program information receiving device 150.

S3812: The device detection unit 530 of the program information receiving device 150 that has received the response accesses the URI included in the response message, and transmits a “device information request” message requesting device description information to the recording device 140.

S 3813: The recording device 140 that has received the “device information request” message to the acquisition destination URI of the device description information processes the message with the device information service 424. Then, a message including the device description information shown in FIG. 6 is generated, and the program information receiving apparatus 150 responds. Device description information is described in the response message in a format such as XML.

FIG. 37 shows an example of the device description information of the recording device 150. The device description information of the recording device 140 is the same as the example shown in FIG. “Av-upload” 3701 indicates providing an upload option function of receiving video and audio content via the network and recording the content on the recording and reproducing unit 210.

S3814: The device detection unit 530 of the program information receiving device 150 that has received the response interprets the response message, and the recording device 140 is a content directory service (ContentDirectoryService), a scheduled recording service (ScheduledRecordingService), an upload option function (av-upload) , Etc., and accesses the service description URL of each service, and transmits a “service information request” message requesting the detailed information of the service to the recording device 140.

S3815: The recording device 110 that has received the “service information request” message to the function service description URL of the content directory service and the reservation recording service processes the message with the device information service 424. Then, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a response message is generated with the detailed information of the service including the action list and the service status table, and the program information receiving device 150 is responded.

S3816: The device detection section 530 of the program information receiving apparatus 150 which has received the response passes the service detailed information of the content directory service to the content directory controller 525 and delivers the service detailed information of the reservation recording service to the reservation recording setting controller 529. Each controller interprets service detail information and recognizes an action provided by each service. Then, the content directory controller 525 transmits a FeatureList action to confirm whether the content directory service of the recording device 140 provides an EPG according to the instruction of the network reservation recording application 501.

S3817: The recording device 140 that has received the FeatureList action processes the message in the content directory service 425. Then, the recording device 140 generates a message that returns the information content list information provided by the recording device 140 as shown in FIG. 9 with the content directory service 425, and responds to the program information receiving device 150. Since the content directory controller 525 that has received the response message includes “EPG” in the name attribute of <Feature> 931, 932 included in the <Features> tag 930, the EPG in which the recording device 140 provides program information is present. It recognizes that it is a server, and obtains an ID for acquiring an EPG from its <objectIDs> tag (931).

The network reservation recording application 501 stores recording server information such as the device description information of the recording server (recording device) 140 searched, detailed information of the service, and information content list information acquired by the FeatureList action by the network ID of the recording device 140 or the like. It is stored in the memory 213 in a format that can be referred to.

When there is a response from a plurality of recording devices in response to the "device search" message of S3810, the sequence from S3812 to S3817 is performed for each recording device to acquire the recording server information of the recording server (recording device), and the memory Store in 213. In addition, the number of recording servers found is also stored in the memory 213.

The program information receiving apparatus 150 searches the recording apparatus 140 according to the above procedure. The execution timing of the search procedure may be when the program information receiving apparatus 150 is connected to the network or when the user requests a search for a recording server on the network. Regardless of the user's request, searching when connected to the network has the advantage of being able to present the search results without having to wait for the user when requested by the user.

The procedure for the program information receiving apparatus 150 to obtain EPG information from the program information transmitting apparatus 110 on the network is the same as that shown in FIG.
The procedure for setting the reserved recording reserved by the user in the program information transmitting apparatus 110 is the same as that in FIG.

FIG. 41 shows an example of a request message of “reservation recording object creation request” action in the case of performing EPG direct reservation recording. In FIG. 41, the parts that are the same as or correspond to those in FIG.

The <recordDestination> tag 4101 indicates the recording destination device name of scheduled recording. The name of the device shown in FIG. 6 is specified by the character string specified by the <recordDestination> tag.

The recording quality is specified by the character string specified by the <desiredRecordQuality> tag 4102.

FIG. 42 shows an example of a request message of “reservation recording object creation request” action in the case of performing standard reservation recording which is not EPG direct. In FIG. 42, the parts that are the same as or correspond to those in FIG.

The character string specified by the <recordDestination @ mediaType> tag 4201 specifies a recording destination in the case where the recording device 140 has a plurality of recording units.
The URL of the recording device 140 is specified by the character string specified by the <recordDestination @ targetURL> tag 4202.

The recording quality is specified by the character string specified by the <desiredRecordQuality @ type> tag 4203. When DEFAULT is set as the recording quality, recording is performed with the recording quality set by the program information transmitting apparatus 110.

FIG. 39 shows the procedure of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 performing upload recording on the recording apparatus 140 on the network.

S3910: When the time of recording reservation managed by the reservation management unit comes, the program information transmitting apparatus 110, based on the information received as a reservation recording object, the recording server 140 on the network via the message generation unit 422 and the network communication processing unit 420. Request to create a recording object.

S3911: The recording server 140 generates the recording ID and the URL in the content management unit according to the received recording object generation request, and with the result (Result), the program information on the network via the message generation unit 422 and the network communication processing unit 420 The transmitter 110 responds.

S3912: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 having received the response transmits only the HTTP protocol Header to the URL contained in the response message via the media distribution service 423 and the network communication processing unit 420 to confirm the recording (POST ).

S3913: The recording device 140 that has received the Header normally (100 continue) in response to the HTTP protocol via the media reception controller 523 and the network communication processing unit 420 in order to notify that recording is normally possible. Send.

S3914: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 that has received the response transmits (POST) the HTTP protocol Body to the URL contained in the response message via the media distribution service 423 and the network communication processing unit 420 to perform recording. .

S3915: The program information transmitting apparatus 110 notifies the transmission end (POST End) of HTTP protocol Body transmission to the URL contained in the response message via the media distribution service 423 and the network communication processing unit 420 to end the scheduled recording. Do.

S3916: The recording device 140 that has received the POST End transmits a POST response (POST Response) of the HTTP protocol via the media reception controller 523 and the network communication processing unit 420 in order to notify that the recording has ended normally. .

FIG. 40 shows an example of the electronic program guide generated by the acquired program guide generator 510. In FIG. 40, parts that are the same as or correspond to those in FIG.

The reservation dialog 4000 includes reservation time information 4001, program information 4002, recording destination information 4003, recording mode information 4004, and the like.

The reservation time information 4001 displays date and time information of a program for which the user has specified a reservation. It is also possible for the user to change the time information.

The program information 4002 displays a channel and a program name.

The recording destination information 4003 displays UPnP-friendly friendly display of recordable devices, and the user can select which device to record. The friendly rename is information for identifying a recordable device.

When STB 110 with a recording function is selected by a user instruction, recording reservation is performed on program information transmitting apparatus 110, and recording is performed in program information transmitting apparatus 110.

When the DTV with a recording function is selected by a user instruction, recording reservation is performed on the program information transmitting apparatus 110, and network recording is performed on the recording apparatus 140.

When the DTV 130 is selected by a user instruction, the program information transmitting apparatus 110 and the program information receiving apparatus 150 make a recording reservation, and the program information receiving apparatus 150 performs a network recording. If it is a program that can be received by the DTV 150 itself, recording reservation is made to the program information receiving apparatus 150, and recording is performed by the program information transmitting apparatus 110.

In the recording mode information 4004, a recording mode such as high definition image quality (HD) or standard image quality (XP) is displayed and can be changed by the user.

The “information on program” selected in the reservation dialog 4000 is reflected in the reservation video recording object creation request, and the information is further reflected in the video recording object creation request. In the case of the EPG direct reservation, the “information on program” mentioned here includes a program name 2413, an attribute id 2415 of the program, a recording destination device name 4101 and a recording quality 4102. Further, in the case of standard reservation recording which is not EPG direct reservation, the “information on program” mentioned here can further include a recording destination 4201 and a URL 4202 of the recording device when the recording device has a plurality of recording units. In FIG. 42, elements with numbers common to those in FIG. 25 are the same as in FIG.

As described above, the program information transmitting apparatus 110 according to the present embodiment provides the EPG information to other devices on the network, and uses the program information obtained from the EPG information to make a reservation recording in the program information transmitting apparatus 110. Provide an interface to configure.

The program information receiving apparatus 150, which is an EPG client-equipped device according to the present embodiment, searches for the program information transmitting device 110, which is an EPG server-equipped device connected to the network, acquires EPG information, and is connected to the network. The recording device 140, which is a recording server-equipped device, is searched, and an electronic program guide screen is generated from the information and presented to the user. Then, the user is provided with means for selecting the presented program and performing scheduled recording. Therefore, the user can set scheduled recording for performing network recording on the recording device 140 in the program information transmitting device 110 via the network in the same way as setting scheduled recording for the device being operated.

In this embodiment, the program information receiving apparatus operates the operation device 230 such as a user's remote control to acquire program information from the program information transmitting apparatus connected via the network, and property information of the program registered in the acquired EPG object The program information is acquired and the program is recorded based on the above. In this embodiment, property information to be added to the property information described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 15 in the first embodiment will be described, and processing using the added property information will be described.

In the system of FIG. 1, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 110 operates as the program information transmitting apparatus 110 according to the present embodiment, and includes an “EPG server function” that provides broadcast program information via a network. The DTV with recording function 140 operates as the program information receiving apparatus 140 according to the present embodiment, and includes an “EPG client function” which acquires program information via a network and provides the user with the program information. Here, although the DTV 140 with a recording function is described as an example of the program information receiving apparatus for convenience of explanation, the recorder 150 may be used as the program information receiving apparatus of the present embodiment.

The configurations of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 and the program information receiving apparatus 140 are the same as the examples shown in FIGS. Further, the software configuration of the program information transmitting apparatus 110 is also the same as the example shown in FIG. The software configuration of the program information receiving apparatus 140 is the same as the example shown in FIG. 26 in the case of presenting a program guide, and is the same as the example shown in FIG. .

43 (a) to 43 (g) show details of property information defined in each container and item. The properties defined here are used for an EPG object which is program information in a network format. The program information conversion unit 412 converts program information of a broadcast format used in digital broadcasting to generate program information of a network format.

Here, for example, the “upnp: seriesTitle” property shown in FIG. 43 (b) will be described. The "upnp: seriesTitle" property is a title defined for a set of programs having the same property, for example, a program name of a drama series (referred to as AAAA). When the property information is to be transmitted from the program information transmitting apparatus 110 to the program information receiving apparatus 140, the following is added to the program item 1834 shown in the XML document of FIG. You can add <upnp: seriesTitle> AAAAA </ upnp: seriesTitle> under <upnp: genre> drama </ upnp: genre> already registered in the program item 1834 shown in the XML document in FIG. . The processing sequence is as shown in FIG. 20 when the other party is the program information transmitting apparatus 110 on the network. Description of each process is omitted since it is described above.

The program information receiving apparatus 140 receives the XML document shown in FIG. 18 in the above sequence, and acquires the information of the program item 1834. For example, if <upnp: seriesTitle> AAAAA </ upnp: seriesTitle> is present in the received XML document, it is known that the TV series is a drama of the program name "AAAAA". For example, when the user operates the program information receiving apparatus 140 with the operation device 230 and wants to display a series of program information of a drama named "AAAAA", the attribute "upnp: seriesTitle" is "AAAAA" in the received XML document If the program information having the EPG video item, which is the above, is read out from the place (the recording / reproducing unit 210 or the memory 213 or the like) storing the program information, the TV series drama can be displayed collectively. Also, if the program information receiving apparatus 140 is connected to the recording server via the network, the TV series drama of the program name "AAAAA" can be collectively scheduled for recording. In order to record and schedule TV series dramas collectively, according to the user's designation of the program "AAAAA", the program information receiving apparatus 140 is an EPG video program item whose property "upnp: seriesTitle" has "AAAAA". The program information transmitting apparatus 110 may be requested to create a reserved recording object by the number. To specify each program in each scheduled recording object, set the attribute id of the read EPG video program item to the attribute "scheduledCDSObjectID" of each scheduled recording object to be created as shown in Figs. 24 and 41. Good. Alternatively, as another method of specifying each program to be reserved for recording in the reserved recording object, as shown in FIG. 25A and FIG. 42, the program title (dc: Title) of the read EPG video program item, the program start time (ScheduledStartTime) It is also possible to set the length of time of the program (res @ duration) to the scheduled recording object. As another method of recording and scheduling TV series dramas collectively, "upnp: seriesTitle" can also be designated in a reservation recording object. In this case, while the program information transmitting apparatus 110 is processing the received reservation video recording object creation request, the program information stored in advance is stored as "AAAAA", with "upnp: seriesTitle" being "AAAAA" as a search condition. It is also possible to read out the EPG video program items relating to "and create each scheduled recording object.

The “upnp: series ID” property shown in FIG. 43 (b) is obtained by giving a unique ID to the serial drama of the program name “AAAAA” introduced as an example above. As described above, batch acquisition of program information and batch recording reservation can be performed based on the unique ID. The procedure may be read as "upnp: seriesID" where "upnp: seriesTitle" is mentioned in the explanation of the above-mentioned procedure for batch acquisition of program information and batch recording reservation.

FIGS. 43 (c) to 43 (d) are for registering names of performers, producers, original authors, etc. of the program. For example, when <upnp: artist> BBBB </ upnp: artist> is added to the XML document shown in FIG. 18 using the upnp: artist property, the program information receiving apparatus 140 displays the program information of the performer "BBBB". Acquisition and recording reservation can be performed. Moreover, it becomes possible to perform package acquisition and package recording reservation of program information in which "BBBB" has appeared based on performer "BBBB". Moreover, package acquisition and program recording of program information by other properties are also possible. The procedures of batch acquisition and batch recording may be replaced with “upnp: artist” and other properties in place of “upnp: seriesTitle” in the above description of the procedure of batch acquisition of program information. In the batch recording, the program information receiving apparatus 140 displays a dialog for accepting the designation of the program desired by the viewer from the program information acquired in a batch, and the viewer is selected from the programs displayed in the dialog box. The recording reservation object creation request may be transmitted to the program information transmitting apparatus for the program selected in.

In the above, some of the property information defined in each container and item shown in FIGS. 43 (a) to 43 (g) have been described. For example, when simultaneously using the upnp: seriesTitle property and the upnp: artist property described in the present embodiment, the performer "BBBB" shown in the upnp: artist property of the program name "AAAAA" shown in the upnp: seriesTitle property Further, it becomes possible to obtain more limited program information and to make a recording reservation. In this embodiment, the program name of the drama series is specified in the upnp: seriesTitle property, and the performer is specified in the upnp: artist property, but by combining the property information shown in FIGS. 43 (a) to 43 (g), Acquisition of program information and recording reservation can be performed in accordance with the preference of the user.

As described above, in the present embodiment, by having property information for specifying a program in the program information receiving apparatus, it becomes possible to perform an operation according to the user's preference in the operation device 230 such as a remote control.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but includes various modifications. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Also, part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. In addition, with respect to a part of the configuration of each embodiment, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations.

Further, each of the configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. described above may be realized by hardware, for example, by designing part or all of them with an integrated circuit. Further, each configuration, function, etc. described above may be realized by software by the processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as a program, a table, and a file for realizing each function can be placed in a memory, a hard disk, a recording device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

Further, control lines and information lines indicate what is considered to be necessary for the description, and not all control lines and information lines in the product are necessarily shown. In practice, almost all configurations may be considered to be mutually connected.

Reference Signs List 1

user home

2, 3 broadcast station 4 public network 5 broadcast cable 11

broadcast receiving antenna

12, 13 distributor 14 router 15 access point 16 hub 110 program information transmitting apparatus (digital broadcast receiving apparatus)
120 Digital Broadcasting Receiver (STB)
130 Digital Broadcasting Receiver (DTV)
140 Program Information Receiver (Digital Broadcast Receiver)
150 Digital Broadcasting Receiver (Recorder)
160 mobile device 201 tuner unit 202 demodulation and decoding unit 203 demax unit 205 audio decoding unit 206 video decoding unit 205 data decoding unit 208 combining unit 209 network connection unit 210 recording and reproduction unit 211 control unit 213 memory 214 input / output unit 215 operation I / F Unit 216 Limited reception I / F unit 217 Limited reception information storage unit 221 Antenna connection terminal 222 Digital audio signal output terminal 223 Digital video signal output terminal 224 Network terminal 225 Input output terminal 226 Operation signal reception unit 230 Operation device 301 Audio output unit 302 Video display unit 303 Input switching unit 304 Input switching unit 305 Digital audio signal input terminal 306 Digital video signal input terminal 400, 500, 2600 Control software 410 Program guide generation unit 411 Program information processing unit 4 2 program information conversion unit 413 content management unit 414 reservation management unit 420 network communication processing unit 421 message analysis unit 422 message generation unit 423 media distribution service 424 device information service 425 content directory service 426 program information provision unit 427 content information provision unit 428 streaming Connection service 429 Scheduled recording service 450 Application management unit 501, 2611 Network reservation recording application 510 Acquisition program table generation unit 514 Reservation setting management unit 523 Media reception controller 525 Content detection controller 526 Program information acquisition unit 527 Content information acquisition unit 528 Streaming connection Controller 529 Scheduled recording setting controller 530 Device detection unit 2210 Broadcast type column 2211 Broadcast system 2212 program guide providing apparatus column 2213 broadcast date orchid 2213
2216

channel column

2217, 2218 time column 2219 program column 2221 channel name column 2222 icon column 2223 channel number column 2230 each program column 2231 program start time display column 2232 program name display column 2233 program description display column 2610 integrated program guide generation application 2701 integration EPG field 2702 net EPG icon 4000 reservation dialog

Claims

A program information transmitting apparatus for receiving a digital broadcast including program information, comprising:
A program information processing unit that acquires program information from a digital broadcast signal;
A device information providing unit that provides device description information describing a command for controlling the program information transmission device to another device connected to the network;
A program information conversion unit that generates an EPG object having a broadcast system, an organization channel, and property information of a program using the program information acquired by the program information processing unit;
A program information providing unit for providing program information in response to the command sent from another device; a reservation recording unit for setting a recording of a program specified in response to the command sent from another device;
A program information transmitting apparatus comprising:
A program information receiving apparatus that controls another apparatus via a network,
A device detection unit that detects a program information transmission device connected via a network and acquires, from the program information transmission device, device description information describing a command for controlling the program information transmission device;
A program information acquisition unit that transmits the command described in the acquired device description information to the program information transmitting apparatus, and acquires program information from the program information transmitting apparatus;
An acquired program guide generation unit configured to generate an electronic program guide using the acquired program information;
A video display unit for displaying the electronic program guide;
An operation I / F unit that receives a selection of a program from the electronic number table displayed on the video display unit;
A reservation recording setting unit that transmits a recording reservation request for a program selected by the operation I / F unit to the program information transmitting apparatus;
A program information receiving apparatus comprising:
A program information transmission method for receiving a digital broadcast including program information, comprising:
A program information processing step of acquiring program information from a digital broadcast signal;
A device information providing step of providing information on functions and control methods provided by the digital broadcast receiving device to the network to another device;
A program information conversion step of generating an EPG object having a broadcast system, an organization channel, and property information of a program using the program information acquired in the program information processing step;
A program information providing step of extracting and providing requested program information from another device from the EPG object;
A program information transmission method comprising: a scheduled recording step of performing recording setting of a designated program in response to a request from another device.