DE29880170U1 - Device for controlling a storage unit - Google Patents

Description

C ·

Patent attorneys ■ Königstraße 28 ■ D-22767 Hamburg DIEHL · GLAESER HILTL & PARTNER

23.06.2000 F. 35308/00 Gl/th

GLAESER-HILTL

CIVIL LAW COMPANY

Joachim W. Glaeser
Dr. Elmar HiItI*

Graduate engineer Graduate chemist

Patent Attorneys ■ European Patent Attorneys European Trademark Attorneys
HAMBURG MUNICH*

Office:

Königstrasse 28 ■ D-22767 Hamburg

Force Electronics A/S

DK-940 0 Norresundby

Denmark

Telefotf t'Tetephon&fawQß 1*2-S3-34··* fetekopifer '-Facsimile (0*4Oj*38ei92 88 Email: Patentanwaelte@compuserve.com · VAT No. DE 130 492 022

Device for controlling a storage unit

The present invention relates to a device designed to control a storage unit as defined in the preamble of claim 1.

It is well known that programming in the form of timing of various recording devices, e.g. video tape recorders, can be quite a complicated matter. In particular, timing of recording equipment is of interest in connection with a desire to record a program or transmission transmitted by a broadcasting station, e.g. a television station, since the desired program or transmission is typically broadcast at a particular time.

When the recording equipment is to be set to record a desired program on a given channel at a given time, the following setting procedure is typically used: First, it must be specified which program is to be recorded, when it is to be broadcast, and on which channel it is to be broadcast. Then the recording equipment must be set to the channel, and it must be specified when the recording equipment is to start and stop recording the program.

Programming in the form of time control of the recording device is typically carried out on the basis of a broadcast program that is provided directly or indirectly by the broadcasting station. The broadcast program

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can be &zgr;. B. as information in a newspaper or a
magazine, as information on a teletext page, as information on a home page on the Internet or in another form. In such a
Broadcast program can use the recording equipment as above
If several programs or transmissions are to be recorded, the above mentioned
Setup procedure must be followed for each transmission to be recorded. This involves a great risk that the user will not be able to
Information points are confused and thus the
recording equipment incorrectly. Since the user typically sets up the programming facility due to his or her absence of recording equipment
will use when the program is broadcast and
is to be recorded, a programming error will therefore - typically - not be detected until it is too late and the program has been sent and perhaps
- will not be sent again.

For some types of video recorders, a method is known for setting the video recorder by means of a connected television set and a remote control. A first step of the method involves setting the video recorder
by pressing a button on the remote control
to enter a programming state. The video recorder will then present a menu or form that can be filled in using buttons on the remote control.

Furthermore, methods for programming video recorders using bar code readers are known. These methods are based on the printing of bar codes (e.g. in a

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magazine) along with a description of a broadcast by a broadcasting station. The bar code contains information about when the broadcast will be broadcast and possibly the channel on which the broadcast will be broadcast. This allows the bar code reader to enter the bar code and provide the VCR with information about when the VCR should record the broadcast.

EP-A-312 798 explains a method of programming a video recorder to record television programs transmitted via satellite, in which method the satellite service also includes a teletext service which transmits program information and a time of day with respect to the broadcaster. The recorder detects the program information and the broadcast time and compares the time with a local time signal to work out precise timings for starting and stopping the recording. No explanation is given as to how to tune the receiver to the respective channel. The publication describes an embodiment in which the broadcaster can transmit program listings both with respect to its own broadcasts and a program listing with respect to other broadcasters. In this case the teletext pages with the program listing from the other broadcaster must contain a signal indicating the local time of the respective broadcaster. When a television program is selected, the data concerning program number, date and start and stop timings are automatically transmitted from the teletext page to the recorder.

Publication WO 95/26608 relates to a system in which information is transmitted as machine-readable data in a special format. The format differs from the normal data format used for teletext for display on the screen and is therefore suitable for a classical

Teletext presentation unit cannot read it. Therefore, the publication assumes the transmission of data packets with a comprehensive program listing, which data packets are transmitted in a service channel between the data signals used to deliver the teletext page information. The publication does not address the control of video recorders.

The problem with the current state of the art is that programming a video recorder involves a significant risk that the user will confuse the various information points and therefore incorrectly set up the recording equipment. Another problem is that the setting procedures are quite complicated and therefore difficult for non-technical users to understand.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a device for controlling a recorder which is designed for an easily understandable function and which does not have the disadvantages described above.

The object of the invention is achieved by providing the device of the general type identified above with the features according to the characterizing part of patent claim 1.

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The first communication channel is a communication channel which transmits television/video signals, while the second electronic communication channel is a communication channel which transmits teletext pages. This ensures that both the first and second communication channels can be received with the same equipment, and the invention can therefore be realized in a particularly user-friendly manner. Furthermore, the program schedules already provided in connection with teletext can be used. Therefore, the invention does not rely on specially prepared program listings, but rather uses data which is generally provided by the respective television provider in connection with the television signal, although not always in a standardized form.

The user interface is formed by display units which display a menu containing information for identifying a variety of broadcasts, the menu being controlled by a control panel. Such user interfaces are well known to most users of conventional television equipment and can therefore be used without or after a short period of familiarization.

This ensures that the recorder is automatically controlled in response to the programs selected via the electronic user interface. The user therefore does not need to worry about the exact time of broadcast of a selected program - the user can concentrate on selecting the program he/she wants to watch.

and select this, after which the actual storage takes place without user assistance.

The simultaneous display of parts of several teletext pages on the screen of the television receiver enables the user to obtain a very good overview of the program options available, for example right now, even when it is possible to receive a very large number of television channels.

In a particularly useful embodiment of the invention, the control of the storage unit is carried out by converting the times of the selected transfers into commands and transmitting the commands to the storage unit by means of a communication protocol so that the storage unit executes the commands. This ensures that the programming takes place in a separate physical unit and that this can communicate with the storage unit.

When information about the communication protocol is entered into a second memory, where the communication protocol is specific to a selected storage device, it is ensured that the storage device is controlled regardless of being controlled by vendor-specific commands. It is also ensured that multiple communication protocols can be stored, thereby enabling communications with multiple different storage media.

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Furthermore, transmitting the commands to the storage unit via an infrared communication channel ensures that the storage unit is controlled in a manner that is particularly convenient for the user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the commands are transmitted to the memory unit via a communication channel that is also used for remote control of the memory unit. This allows an arbitrary memory unit to be controlled remotely.

It is similarly convenient that the storage unit is a video tape recorder or a digital video disk recorder/player. It will thus be possible to use the invention in connection with existing equipment and the invention will therefore be very easy for a user to install.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawing, in which

Fig. 1 shows the overall structure of a television system consisting of a storage unit, a receiver and display means, the system being arranged so that the storage unit is automatically controlled;

Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of the system of Fig. 1 in which an electronic program guide (EPG) is used to provide a user menu.

and which illustrates how the storage medium is controlled;

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of how a transmission is selected from the EPG and subsequently stored in the command list;

Fig. 3b shows a flow chart of the control procedure;

Fig. 4a shows the storage unit reading control sequences of a remote control capable of controlling a storage medium, so that the storage control medium can control the storage unit;

Fig. 4b shows a storage controller communicating with the storage medium via a learned control sequence;

Fig. 5 shows a screen image displaying EPG data and in which the transmissions to be saved are marked,

Fig. 6 shows a screen with an overview of the selected transmissions to be saved;

Fig. 7 shows an example how EPG data can be collected.

Fig. 1 shows the overall structure of a television system consisting of a storage unit 101, a receiver 102 and display means 103, the system being arranged so that the storage unit is automatically controlled. The storage unit 101, which may be, for example, a video device or a

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DVD (digital video disk recorder/player) is connected via the connection 104 to a display means 103 which can represent a television set. The storage unit 101 is additionally connected to a receiver 102, the receiver unit 102 being arranged to receive transmitted audio/video signals 105. The audio/video signals are transmitted via 106 to the storage unit 101 and further to the display means 104. It is also possible, for example, to have the transmitted video signals displayed on the television set. The storage unit is used to store the transmitted audio/video signals.

In conjunction with the control of the storage unit, the user can select the transmissions to be stored via an electronic list of the audio/video signals to be transmitted and via signals 107.

evening programme

Research

—»

20:00 Killer Whale 21:15 Arthur C. Clark 23:00 Discovery hits 00:30 Goodnight

Only feature films 20.00 Death by Night

22.30 Goldeneye
01.00 Lovely Lady
03.3 0 Late night show

Table 1

Table 1 shows a selection of programs that have been broadcast times and where the user can

individual programs. The receiver 102 then ensures that the memory unit 101 is activated and deactivated via the signal 108 when the selected transmissions begin and end, respectively.

Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of the system of Fig. 1 which uses an electronic program guide (EPG) to generate a user menu and illustrates how the storage medium is controlled. In connection with the EPG, data is stored in a database 201, the EPG data containing information about the transmissions that are broadcast and the time at which the individual transmissions are broadcast. It is described at the end of this application how the EPG data is collected, which is also known from Danish Patent Application No. DK 1357/97. The EPG data is presented to the user by means of a user interface 202 in which the data can be presented as shown in Table 1. For example, via a button the user has access to mark the transmissions to be stored. The selection is re-stored in a command list 203 together with a time indicating when the individual command is carried out.

Command type Execution time Command 2 Time 1 Command 3 Time 2 Command 1 Time 3 Command 3 Time 4

Table 2

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The commands that can be stored can be, for example, RECORD, STOP, SWITCH OFF, SWITCH ON, linked to a time when the given command is to be executed. If it has been indicated that, for example, the transmission marked in Table 1 is to be stored, the commands shown in Table 3 can be stored provided that the storage medium is tuned to receive the relevant channel. Alternatively, the information from the EPG is used to generate a command telling which channel to tune to, and this command is executed before the following one.

Command type Execution time TURN ON 23.00 RECORD 23.00 STOP 00.30 TURN OFF 00.30

Table 3

When the user makes a selection via the user interface, the control list is checked to see if the selections may be made in relation to selections that are already recorded. For example, recording of a transmission cannot be started at a time when the storage unit is currently recording another transmission. In one embodiment, there is a special user screen that presents the selections made so that the user has an overview of the selections and the opportunity to remove a selection from the command list.

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The storage control unit 204 uses data listed in the command list to transmit the given command to the storage medium 205.

Fig. 3a shows a flow chart of how a transmission is selected from the EPG and subsequently stored in the command list 203. The stored EPG data 3 01 is presented to the user in step 3 02 and the user can make selections about, for example, which transmissions to store, which takes place in step 3. It is checked in step 3 04 whether the selections made conflict with the selections already recorded in the command list 203. If the selection conflicts with those already made, the user is prompted to solve the problem in step 3 05 by deciding against the new selection or the selection that conflicted with the new one. If the selection made does not conflict with those already recorded, commands are generated in step 306 and listed in the command list 203. It is checked in step 3 07 whether there are further commands to be stored and if so, it is returned to step 3 02. After commands have been listed in the command list, the control procedure 3 08 controlling the storage medium itself is carried out. In one embodiment, the command list can be linked to the EPG data so that the command times are automatically updated in the event of a program change. The device will hereby automatically enable program changes without the user having to take automatic action.

Fig. 3b shows a flow chart of the control procedure. The next time of execution of a command is determined based on the command list, i.e. the time closest to the actual time. This is done in step 309 and the actual time is compared with the time of the next command in step 310. If these times coincide, the command is forwarded to the storage medium, which takes place in step 311.

In order for the above technique to be used in conjunction with existing storage media, it is necessary that the storage controller can communicate with the storage media. This is possible by causing the storage controller to learn the communication protocol of the storage device.

Fig. 4a shows the storage unit 401 learning control sequences through a remote control 402 which can control a storage medium via IR communication so that the storage control unit 401 can communicate with the storage unit. In order for the storage control unit to learn the control signals from the remote control, it has an IR receiver 403 and a transmitter 404. The buttons on the remote control used in connection with the control of the storage medium are activated near the storage control unit. The signals are read and stored by the storage control unit 401 which is then able to communicate with the storage unit.

Fig. 4b shows a storage control unit 401 which communicates with the storage medium 405 via the learned control signals. If the storage control unit is arranged in an audio/video signal receiver, these signals are then transmitted to the storage unit via the cable 406, e.g. a so-called Scart cable.

In another embodiment, it is not IR signals that the memory control unit learns, but a communication protocol for communication, e.g. via a Scart cable.

Fig. 5 shows an example of a screen image on a user screen showing EPG data and where the transmissions to be stored are marked. This is shown in the form of a "*" on the screen image 501 for the programs designated 502, 503 and 504.

Fig. 6 shows a screen image on a user screen displaying a summary of the transmissions selected for storage. As will be additionally seen in Fig. 6, screen image 601 shows the ordering of three programs that require a total recording time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, which assists a user in checking whether there is sufficient recording time to record all of the programs.

Fig. 7 shows an example of how EPG data can be collected by a collector unit 701. The collector unit 701 collects data from a variety of information channels. The collector unit comprises a

Receiver 702. This receiver 702 can be connected to information sources, e.g. the television network or the Internet, which contain information about the programs transmitted on the individual television channels, e.g. in the form of HTML documents or teletext pages. The receiver 702 is connected to a channel database 703. The channel database 703 comprises data describing the channels/Internet pages to which tuning is to be performed and from which data is subsequently to be retrieved. When the receiver 702 has been tuned to receive a given channel/Internet page, the channel information is filtered by a filter 704. The filter 704 ensures that only the data relating to the programs transmitted by the individual television channels passes through the filter. This filtering depends on the channel to be filtered, and the filter criteria stored in the channel database 703 are specific to the individual channel. The data passing through the filter is subsequently stored in the program database 705.

The type of information that can be stored in the channel database 7 03 and the program database 7 05, for example, is shown in the two tables below.

Channel database Channel ID

Update time Data type

Filter criterion channel time zone

Checkbox

Table 1

Channel name and number Broadcast time Category Programme mention References, if available Additional information, if available

Table 2

The channel database 703 comprises a channel ID which is used to link the subsequent information to the individual channel. The update time is used to tell the receiver 702 when to tune to the channel in question and update the programme information. This time is individual for the channel in question and in the case where the programme channel is teletext, the programme information on DR2 may be updated e.g. at 5.00 p.m. and TV3 as early as 2.00 a.m. Data type indicates the data type and is used in connection with teletext to indicate which teletext pages are to be read. The filter criterion acts on the filter so that only the required information passes through the filter and may e.g. be an indication of which lines of e.g. the teletext page contain relevant information. The time zone of the individual channel is stored and is used in the situation where the programme information comes from a channel with a time zone which is different from the time zone in which the information is to be presented. Finally, there is a checkbox that can be checked or unchecked. The box is checked once an update has been performed and the check is unchecked once a new update begins.

Table 2 shows the data stored in the program database. The program database is set up to associate some descriptive data with a given program. The channel name and number are used to help the user identify the channel on which the named program is being broadcast. The time indicates

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when the programme is broadcast, and in this context the time zone is used by the channel database to correct for time zones. Category indicates which category the programme belongs to, e.g. comedy, tragedy, etc. Further, a mention of the individual programme and references, if any, of the individual programme, as well as a link to other programmes, are stored, and finally space has been allocated to store additional relevant information.

Although the invention has been explained in connection with a preferred embodiment of the invention, other embodiments are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (10)

1. Device for controlling a recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ) which is designed to record a television program transmitted by a transmitter via a first communication channel ( 105 ) at specific times and which comprises a first memory ( 201 ) for storing program information relating to television channels and timings of a plurality of television programs, a receiver which is designed to periodically collect program information via a second electronic communication channel ( 105 ) which is designed to transmit teletext signals, an electronic user interface ( 501 , 601 ) by means of which a user can select the television programs to be recorded, and means for automatically controlling the recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ) based on the stored program information, characterized in that the receiver is designed to collect the program information by collecting pieces of information from a plurality of teletext pages which are transmitted by a plurality of television providers and relate to a plurality of television channels by the receiver is suitably adjusted to channels of the respective television providers. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the user interface comprises a display means ( 103 ) which displays a menu ( 501 , 601 ) with information for identifying a plurality of television programs, the menu being controlled by a control panel ( 402 ). 3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ) is a video tape recorder or a digital video disk recorder/player. 4. Apparatus according to claims 1-3, characterized in that the channel information is filtered according to a filter criterion which is specifically set for the particular channel in order to retrieve the data concerning the television channel and the timing for storage in a program database. 5. Device according to claims 1-4, characterized in that the data stored in the program database contain the time zone of the respective channel and that the means for the automatic identification and selection of the television channel and timing of the selected television program are designed such that the control of the timing of the recording is based on information about the actual time with a correction according to the time zone information. 6. Apparatus according to claims 1-5, characterized in that the receiver is designed to update the channel information of respective television channels according to update time information regarding the individual channels. 7. Device according to claims 1-6, characterized in that the receiver is designed to convert the timings of the selected television programs into commands and to transmit the commands to the recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ) by means of a communication protocol so that the recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ) executes the commands. 8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that a second memory ( 204 ) is designed to store information about the communication protocol, wherein the communication protocol is specific to a selected recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ). 9. Device according to claims 7 or 8, characterized in that the recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ) is designed for control by commands transmitted via an infrared communication channel. 10. Device according to claims 1-9, characterized in that the recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ) is designed for control by commands transmitted via a communication channel which is also used for remote control of the recorder ( 101 , 205 , 405 ).