JP2000270295A - Program information acquisition device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a program information acquisition device for quickly acquiring program information and supplying it to a request source when acquisition of program information is requested to display a program table. SOLUTION: First, a program information acquisition range setting unit 106
However, when a range of channels and time zones required for display is set, the acquisition condition setting unit 103 sets a plurality of filter conditions for specifying each of a plurality of program information tables corresponding to the range in the receiving unit 104 at the same time. The receiving unit 104
As soon as a plurality of program information tables which include the program information and are repeatedly transmitted and which match the filter condition are received, the program information is recorded in the program information recording unit 105. Next, when the program information acquisition request unit 101 successively requests individual program information required for displaying the program guide by designating the channel number and the date and time, the program information acquisition device 100 responds to each request by the program information recording unit. The program information already recorded in 105 is extracted and supplied to the program information acquisition request unit 101.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology relating to a digital television having a function of receiving a digital broadcast and displaying a program table of a broadcast program, and a technique for acquiring information necessary for displaying the program table. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as television broadcasting has been digitized and multi-channel broadcasting has been carried out, an electronic program guide (Electronic) has been provided as a service for eliminating the complexity of program selection by viewers.
A service called programming guide (EPG) is provided.

[0003] This electronic program guide includes information such as a channel number, a program name, and a broadcast schedule for each program for displaying a program table of broadcast programs (hereinafter, "program information").
That. ) And services that provide information on the contents of each program. This service transmits program information along with video and audio from the broadcasting station, and the digital TV that receives it transmits the program information based on the program information. This is realized by displaying a program guide having a time axis and a channel axis on a television screen.

[0004] With this electronic program guide, a user can confirm program information on a television screen without looking at a program guide described in a publication such as a newspaper.
In addition, multi-channel digital broadcasting is performed, for example, by MPE.
G2 (Moving Picture Experts
This is realized by multiplexing a plurality of channels in one band using a transport stream in the Group 2) standard.

[0005] Hereinafter, program information transmitted by a broadcasting station to implement an electronic program guide will be described. FIG.
It is a figure showing the data structure of a program information table. The program information is multiplexed in digital data in units of the structure of a program information table shown in the figure, and is repeatedly transmitted at a constant cycle so that the digital TV can acquire it whenever it starts receiving. Multiplexed in, for example, a transport stream.

[0006] The program information table includes a header 1501 and a payload 1502. Here, the header 1501 is a portion including information necessary for the digital television to acquire a specific program information table, that is, information for identifying a channel number and a time zone. Therefore, by specifying the content of the header 1501, the digital television can receive the multiplexed data transmitted from the broadcasting station and separate and extract a specific program information table from the multiplexed data. Become.

[0007] The payload 1502 includes a program name, a broadcast start time, a broadcast time, and the like, and is a central portion of program information. The payload 1502 is a program broadcast on a channel of a channel number indicated by the header 1501. , In the time range indicated by the header 1501. Therefore, the payload 1502 may include information on a plurality of programs.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a program information table. The program information tables 1601, 1602, 160
3 and 1604 are shown. Here, it is assumed that each program information table is a collection of program information broadcasted within 3 hours as one unit, and the time zone related to the header is divided into 24 hours from 0:00 every 3 hours. It is assumed that. For this reason, the payload may include information on a plurality of programs as long as the program is broadcast during three hours. When 24 hours are divided every three hours from 0:00, program information on programs included in two or more sections may be redundantly included in a plurality of program information tables.

For example, a program information table 16 shown in FIG.
01 indicates that the header is “ch200, 1998.12.01.
12: 00-15: 00 ", and the payloads are" Drama 1 ", which is a program that starts at 12:00 and is broadcast for 60 minutes;
"Drama 2" which is a broadcast program for each minute, and "Drama 3" which is a program which starts at 13:30 and is broadcast for 30 minutes
And "Drama 4", which is a program that starts at 14:00 and is broadcast for 60 minutes, and is broadcast in the time zone of 12:00 to 15:00 on December 1, 1998 on 200 channels. It contains program information of four programs.

In the following, in response to a request from the function section for displaying the program guide on the screen, a function section (hereinafter, referred to as "hereinafter referred to as a" program section ") provided inside a digital broadcast receiver such as a digital television. A conventional example of “program information acquisition device”) will be described. FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of a conventional program information acquisition device 1400. Note that FIG. 14 also shows a program information acquisition request unit 1401 related to a function part for displaying a program table on a screen.

A program information acquisition requesting unit 1401 successively requests the program information acquisition device 1400 to acquire and supply program information necessary for displaying a program guide having a time axis and a channel axis on a television screen. Each request is made by designating a channel number and a date and time.
The program information acquisition device 1400 includes a program information acquisition request unit 14
The program information is obtained in response to a request from the program information manager 01, and the program information is supplied to a program information acquisition requesting unit 1401. Functionally, a program information management unit 1402, an acquisition condition setting unit 1403, a receiving unit 1404 and the program information recording unit 1
405. The program information acquisition request unit 140
1. Program information management unit 1402, acquisition condition setting unit 1403
The functions are basically realized by executing a program stored in a memory by a CPU.

Here, the acquisition condition setting unit 1403 sets a filter condition for the reception unit 1404 in response to an instruction from the program information management unit 1402. This filter condition specifies the contents of the header of the program information table described above. The receiving unit 1404 stores the filter condition set by the acquisition condition setting unit 1403,
Digital broadcast data in which the program information table is multiplexed is received, a specific program information table is separated and extracted from the multiplexed data in accordance with the filter condition, and is passed to the program information management unit 1402. It is configured using a so-called transport decoder that separates and extracts data such as video, audio, and program information tables that are multiplexed and transmitted in a transport stream according to filter conditions.

The program information recording unit 1405 includes a receiving unit 140
4 is a memory area in which the program information shown in the program information table extracted by 4 is recorded by the program information management unit 1402. Upon receiving the request from the program information acquisition requesting unit 1401, the program information management unit 1402 stores the program information of the program specified by the designated channel number and the date and time, that is, the program information of the program broadcasted on that date and time. It is checked whether the program information is recorded in the program information recording unit 1405, and if it is recorded, the recorded program information is passed to the program information acquisition requesting unit 1401; Content acquisition condition setting unit 1
403 to issue an instruction for setting filter conditions.

Hereinafter, the operation of the conventional program information acquiring apparatus 1400 will be described. The description will be made on the assumption that no program information is recorded in the program information recording unit 1405. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the program information acquisition device 1400. First, the program information management unit 1402 of the program information acquisition device 1400 receives a request for program information specified by specifying a channel number and date and time from the program information acquisition request unit 1401 (step S170).
1). Here, the program information acquisition request unit 1401 sends
The description will be made assuming that acquisition of program information has been requested by specifying 12:00 on December 1, 1998 of channel 00.

The program information acquisition request section 1401 is, for example, when a user of a digital television is watching 200 channels at 12:00 on December 1, 1998. When the display of the table is instructed, the program information is first requested to the program information acquisition device 1400 for the 200 channel program at the current date and time.

Upon receiving a request from the program information acquisition request section 1401, the program information management section 1402 checks whether the requested program information has already been recorded in the program information recording section 1405 (step S1702). If it has been recorded, the process proceeds to YES in step S1703, where the program information management unit 1402 extracts the recorded program information and passes it to the program information acquisition requesting unit 1401 (step S1710).

However, based on the presupposed state, since the information has not yet been recorded in the program information recording unit 1405, the process proceeds to NO in step S1703, and the program information management unit 1402 sends the request from the program information acquisition request unit 1401 Is transmitted to the acquisition condition setting unit 1403 (step S1).
704). That is, the program information management unit 1402 designates 12:00 on December 1, 1998 of channel 200, and issues an instruction to the acquisition condition setting unit 1403. In response to this instruction, the acquisition condition setting unit 1403 transforms the date and time into a date and time suitable for the contents of the header of the program information table (see FIGS. 1 and 13), and sets “ch200, 1998.12.01 12:
00-15: 00 ”, and sets the filter condition in the receiving unit 1404 (step S1).
705).

The receiving unit 1404 separates and extracts the program information table matching the filter condition set by the acquisition condition setting unit 1403 from the multiplexed data by referring to the header while receiving the multiplexed data. (Step S1706), that is, here, the program information table 1601 is acquired and passed to the program information management unit 1402 (step S1707).

The program information management section 1402, which has received the program information table from the receiving section 1404, records the program information indicated in the program information table in the program information recording section 1405 (step S1708). Next, the program information management unit 1402 searches for the payload of the program information table 1601, extracts the information of “Program 1” broadcasted at 12:00 on the designated 200 channel, and passes it to the program information acquisition requesting unit 1401 ( Step S1709). As a result, the program information acquisition request unit 1401 can acquire the requested program information.

After receiving the supply of the program information from the program information acquisition device 1400, the program information acquisition requesting unit 1401 refers to the contents of the program information and continues to display it as a program guide on the television screen. It is determined whether or not program information on a program is necessary, and if necessary, the program information on the succeeding program is transmitted to the program information acquisition device 1.
Request 400.

For example, if the display form of the program guide on the television screen has a display area for three channels, the program information acquisition requesting unit 1401 sequentially acquires program information for another channel. Become. When the display format of the program guide on the television screen has a display area for 6 hours for each channel, the broadcast time indicated by the program information acquired first by the program information acquisition requesting unit 1401 is 6 hours. If it is determined that the time is longer than the predetermined time, the program information acquisition request unit 1401 does not request the acquisition of the program information for the succeeding program. For this determination and the like, the program information acquisition request unit 1401 sequentially requests the program information. .

Thus, the program information acquisition request section 1401
Obtains a plurality of pieces of program information necessary for displaying the program guide on the television screen by sequentially requesting the program information obtaining apparatus 1400, that is, after receiving the request and receiving the supply of the program information, the next program information is obtained. Since the request for information is repeated, the above-described operation procedure is executed for each request,
As a result, the operation shown in FIG. 15 is repeated.

Since the program information acquisition device 1400 records the program information once acquired in the program information recording unit 1405, when the program information acquisition request unit 1401 requests the recorded program information, the Program information can be supplied at high speed.

[0024]

In order to realize a function of displaying a program guide on a television screen, the above-described program information acquiring apparatus is sequentially requested to acquire program information. Set filter conditions as required. However, since the program information is repeatedly transmitted at a fixed period of time, for example, several tens of seconds, in the form of a program information table, setting of a filter condition or the like in response to a request and starting acquisition of the program information table starts. On average, it takes half the repetition period to acquire the program information table. Therefore, it takes a lot of time to acquire all the program information necessary for displaying the program guide, and the response of the digital TV when the user instructs the display of the program guide by operating a TV remote control or the like is It will be very bad.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problem, and when acquisition of program information is requested to display a program guide, the program information is quickly acquired and transmitted to the request source. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program information acquisition device for supplying.

[0026]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the program information of each broadcast program is stored in a program corresponding to a time zone and a channel of a predetermined width for convenience of transmission and reception. The information is divided into information tables and transmitted from the broadcasting station side.
In order to display a dimensionally represented program table, it has been noted that it is often necessary to receive and acquire a plurality of program information tables so as to cover a certain range of channels and time zones. Things.

That is, the program information acquiring apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
A required program information table is selected from a plurality of program information tables existing and transmitted for each set of a time zone and a broadcast channel, and broadcast information which is included in the table and is information for displaying a program table is selected. A program information acquisition apparatus for acquiring program information of a program, comprising: a request receiving unit for receiving a request for supply of program information; and a condition for specifying one program information table for specifying a plurality of program information tables. A plurality of condition deciding means, a plurality of condition setting means for simultaneously setting a plurality of conditions decided by the condition deciding means, and a plurality of program information tables transmitted, each of which is simultaneously set by the condition setting means. Receiving and extracting means for receiving and extracting all the program information tables specified by the conditions; and program information included in the program information table extracted by the receiving and extracting means. Holding means for holding the, characterized in that it comprises a supply means for supplying to the requesting withdrawn from the holding means program information relating to the request received by said request receiving means.

Here, the receiving and extracting means can set a plurality of filter conditions for specifying one program information table. The program information table that matches the conditions is extracted. The "condition for specifying one program information table" in the condition determining means corresponds to the filter condition. Further, "set a plurality of conditions simultaneously" in the condition setting means means that a plurality of filter conditions corresponding to the program information table not yet extracted by the reception extraction means are set to the reception extraction means. It means to.

According to the above configuration, the program information acquiring apparatus according to the present invention sets a plurality of filter conditions for specifying each program information table collectively, so that among the plurality of program information tables repeatedly transmitted at a fixed cycle, All program information tables that match the set filter conditions
During the one cycle, the data is received, separated, extracted, and held. In other words, the program information device according to the present invention sets a plurality of program information tables in a pre-read state, so that the program information display function is realized by an application program or the like and the program table is displayed on the television screen. When the program information is repeatedly requested, it is possible to quickly respond to the request because the possibility that the requested program information is already held is increased.

[0030]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. <Embodiment 1><Programinformation> In order to realize an electronic program guide, program information transmitted by a broadcasting station for the purpose of being received by a digital television or the like including the program information acquisition device according to the present invention will be described. I do.

The program information is the same as that described above as the prior art. The program information is multiplexed in digital data in units of a program information table having a header and a payload (see FIG. 1). Is transmitted repeatedly at a fixed period so that it can be obtained even when the communication is started, and is multiplexed in, for example, a transport stream.

For the header, the digital television side, for example,
It is identification information necessary for separating and extracting a specific program information table as table data of the MPEG2 standard from various data multiplexed and transmitted as a transport stream by a transport decoder or the like. 1998.12.01 12:00
The code is given a meaning such as "-15: 00". In this case, the transport decoder uses the contents of the header as a filter condition to separate and extract a program information table that matches the filter condition from the received data.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a program table created based on the above-mentioned program information existing for each program. As shown in the figure, in the program table, the program names of the programs are arranged based on the channel axis and the time axis. In the figure, the shaded portion represents an example of a display range when the digital TV acquires program information sent from the broadcast station and displays a program guide on the television screen.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are diagrams showing examples of the program information table including the program information on which the program table of FIG. 2 is based. FIG. 3 shows program information tables 201, 202 and 203 for 200 channels and program information tables 301, 302 and 30 for 300 channels.
3 and the program information table 40 for the 400 channel
1, 402 and 403. FIG. 4 shows program information tables 501, 502 and 50 for 500 channels.
3 and the program information table 60 for the 600 channel
1, 602 and 603 are shown.

Here, each program information table is the same as that described above as the prior art, and it is assumed that the program information of programs broadcast within three hours is collected as one unit, and the header information The time zone is defined by dividing 24 hours every three hours from 0:00. For example, the program information table 201 shown in FIG. 3 includes program information of a program that is broadcasted on channel 200 from 9:00 to 12:00 on December 2, 1998, and the program information table 202 includes December 1998 with 200 channels
It contains program information of programs broadcasted between 12:00 and 15:00 on the second day of the month.

When 24 hours are divided every three hours from 0:00, program information on programs included in two or more sections is redundantly included in a plurality of program information tables. For example, the program information table 401 and the program information table 402 shown in FIG. <Configuration of Program Information Acquisition Apparatus> Hereinafter, the configuration of program information acquisition apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the program information acquiring apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, a program information acquisition request unit 101 and a program information acquisition range setting unit 106 related to a function of displaying a program table on a screen are shown.
Is also shown. The program information acquisition requesting unit 101 sequentially requests the program information acquisition device 100 to acquire and supply program information necessary for displaying a program guide having a time axis and a channel axis on a television screen, Each request is made by designating a channel number and date and time.

The program information acquisition range setting unit 106
Prior to the sequential request for the program information by the program information acquisition request unit 101, the program information is requested to the program information acquisition apparatus 100 to acquire the program information and record it in the memory area. This is done by designating a plurality of channel numbers and time zones necessary for displaying on the television screen.

The program information acquisition device 100 acquires program information in response to a request from the program information acquisition range setting unit 106 and records it in a memory area.
The program information is obtained in response to a request from the user and the program information is supplied to the program information acquisition request unit 101. The program information management unit 102 and the acquisition condition setting unit 103
, A receiving unit 104, and a program information recording unit 105. Note that the program information acquisition request unit 101, the program information acquisition range setting unit 106, the program information management unit 102, and the acquisition condition setting unit 103 basically have the functions thereof when the programs stored in the memory are executed by the CPU. Is realized. The program information acquisition request unit 101 and the program information acquisition range setting unit 106 are realized by an application program for displaying a program guide on a television screen. It manages functions including a function for application interface in a system program for realizing the information acquisition device 100.

Here, the acquisition condition setting unit 103 sets a filter condition for the reception unit 104 in response to an instruction from the program information management unit 102. This filter condition specifies the contents of the header of the program information table described above. The receiving unit 104 includes an acquisition condition setting unit 103
Receiving the digital broadcast data in which the program information table is multiplexed, separating and extracting a specific program information table from the multiplexed data in accordance with the filter condition, and 102
For example, it is configured using a so-called transport decoder that separates and extracts data such as video, audio, and program information tables that are multiplexed and transmitted in an MPEG2 transport stream according to filter conditions. Note that up to 32 filter conditions can be specified at the same time, and the receiving unit 104 stores the program information in the program information management unit 102 every time a program information table that matches one of the filter conditions is detected from the transmitted data. Pass the table.

The program information recording unit 105 is a memory area where the program information shown in the program information table extracted by the receiving unit 104 is recorded by the program information management unit 102, and the program information acquisition range setting unit 106 And the like acquired in response to the request by the user. Since the recordable capacity of the program information recording unit 105 is limited,
If there is no free space for recording in the program information recording unit 105, the program information management unit 102 deletes the already recorded program information and records the newly acquired program information.
Here, as a method of specifying the program information to be deleted, for example, it may be a condition that the program information has been acquired in the farthest past. The program information of the program broadcast on the channel may be deleted.

The program information management section 102 is included in the designated channel number and time zone in response to a request from the program information acquisition range setting section 106 by designating a plurality of channel numbers and time zones. It is checked whether all the program information is already recorded in the program information recording unit 105, and if all or a part is not recorded, it is necessary to specify necessary program information excluding the recorded program information. Is transmitted to the acquisition condition setting unit 103 to issue a filter condition setting instruction. Further, in response to the request from the program information acquisition request unit 101, the designated channel number and date / time The program information of the program specified by, that is, the program information of the program broadcast on that date and time is
Check whether it is already recorded in the program information recording unit 105,
If the program information has been recorded, the recorded program information is passed to the program information acquisition request unit 101. If the program information has not been recorded, the specified content from the program information acquisition request unit 101 is transmitted to the acquisition condition setting unit 103 to set the filter condition. Is to give the instructions.

<Operation of Program Information Acquisition Apparatus> The operation of the program information acquisition apparatus 100 will be described below. The description will be made on the assumption that no program information has been recorded in the program information recording unit 105 yet. First, the operation of the program information acquisition apparatus 100 when acquisition and recording of program information are requested from the program information acquisition range setting unit 106 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the program information acquisition apparatus 100 when acquisition and recording of program information are requested from the program information acquisition range setting unit 106. Program information management unit 102 of program information acquisition device 100
Accepts a request from the program information acquisition range setting unit 106 to designate a plurality of channel numbers and time zones and to acquire program information and record it in the program information recording unit 105 (step S601).

The request by the program information acquisition range setting unit 106 is, for example, when a digital TV user operates a button or the like of a TV remote controller to give an instruction to display a program table, the program table is displayed on the TV screen. This is done by specifying the range to be performed. Here, in order to display the shaded portion in FIG. 2 on the television screen, the program information acquisition range setting unit 10
From 6, 200 channels, 300 channels and 40
The description will be made on the assumption that the channel 0 is designated from 9:00 to 15:00 on December 2, 1998, and a request for acquisition and recording of program information has been made.

Upon receiving the request from the program information acquisition range setting section 106, the program information management section 102 confirms whether or not all the program information in the requested range has already been recorded in the program information recording section 105 (step). S602). If all of them have been recorded, the process proceeds to the YES branch in step S603, and the program information acquisition range setting unit 1
When the acquisition and recording of the program information are requested from 06, the operation of the program information acquiring apparatus 100 ends.

However, based on the presupposed state, since the information has not yet been recorded in the program information recording unit 105, the process proceeds to NO in step S603, and the program information management unit 102 The range designation received as the information acquisition condition, that is, a plurality of channel numbers and time zones are transmitted to the acquisition condition setting unit 103 (step S604). If only a part of the program information is recorded in the program information recording unit 105,
Except for the recorded program information, the program information management unit 102 notifies the acquisition condition setting unit 103 of one or more sets of channel numbers and time zones for specifying necessary program information (step S604).

In response to this, the acquisition condition setting unit 103 generates a filter condition based on the transmitted channel number and time zone so as to conform to the contents of the necessary program information table header (see FIG. 3). This filter condition is set in the receiving unit 104 (step S605). here,
The acquisition condition setting unit 103 sets the acquisition conditions of 200 channels, 300 channels, and 400 channels from 9:00 to 15:00 on December 2, 1998, to the program information management unit 1.
02, and based on this, "ch200, 1
998.12.02 9: 00-12: 00 "," ch
200, 1998.12.02 12: 00-15: 0
0 "," ch300, 1998.12.02 9:00
-12: 00 "," ch300, 1998.12.02 "
12: 00-15: 00 "," ch400, 199
8.12.02 9: 00-12: 00 ”,“ ch40
0, 1998.12.02 12: 00-15: 00 "
Are generated and set in the receiving unit 104.

The receiving unit 104 having the filter conditions set by the acquisition condition setting unit 103 receives the multiplexed data and multiplexes the program information table matching any of the filter conditions by referring to the header. It is separated and extracted from the coded data and passed to the program information management unit 102 (step S606). The program information management unit 102 that has received the program information table from the receiving unit 104 records the program information indicated in the program information table in the program information recording unit 105 (step S607).

After recording the program information, the program information management unit 10
2 judges whether all the program information to be acquired has been recorded,
Steps S606 and S6 until all are recorded
07 is repeated (step S608). The receiving unit 1
Each time the program information table that matches the filter condition is separated and extracted, the filter condition is deleted from the internal storage area.

By repeating steps S606 and S607, the program information tables 201, 202, 301, 302, 401 and 402 shown in FIG.
Are acquired, and the program information included therein is recorded in the program information recording unit 105. As a result, the program information recording unit 10
5 is in the state shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows a program information acquisition device 10 corresponding to a request from the program information acquisition range setting unit 106.
0 is a conceptual diagram showing the state of the program information recorded in the program information recording unit 105. In the program information recording unit 105, each piece of program information is organized and managed so as to form a tree structure as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the program information acquisition apparatus 100 when the acquisition and supply of program information is requested from the program information acquisition request unit 101 following the above-described operation will be described. Note that the request by the program information acquisition request unit 101 and the operation of the program information acquisition device 100 in response to this request are basically the same as the request by the program information acquisition request unit 1401 described above as a conventional technique and the operation of the program information acquisition device 1400 in response to this request. The same applies to However, the request by the program information acquisition request unit 101 is performed a plurality of times after the request by the program information acquisition range setting unit 106. In order to display each program name and the like as a program table on the television screen, the channel information is sequentially set. This is done by specifying the number and the date and time.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the program information acquisition apparatus 100 when acquisition and supply of program information are requested from the program information acquisition request unit 101.
The program information management unit 102 of the program information acquisition device 100 receives a request for program information specified by specifying one channel number and date and time from the program information acquisition request unit 101 (step S801). Here, it is assumed that 9:00 on December 2, 1998 of channel 200 has been designated and acquisition of program information has been requested.

Upon receiving the request from the program information acquisition requesting unit 101, the program information management unit 102 checks whether the requested program information has already been recorded in the program information recording unit 105 (step S802). Here, since the program information recording unit 105 is in the state shown in FIG. 7 and has already been recorded, the process proceeds to the YES branch in step S803, and the program information management unit 102 transmits the recorded program information, that is, “animation”. The program information "1, 9:00 broadcast start, 90-minute program" is extracted and passed to the program information acquisition request unit 101 (step S810). If the requested program information is not already recorded in the program information recording unit 105, the program information acquisition device 100 proceeds from step S804 to step S804.
The processing up to 809 is performed. The processes from S804 to S809 are performed in steps S1704 to S1709 in the operation of the conventional program information acquisition device 1400 (see FIG. 15).
Therefore, the description is omitted here.

After receiving the supply of the program information from the program information acquisition device 100, the program information acquisition request unit 101 refers to the contents of the program information and continues to display it as a program guide on the television screen. It is determined whether program information on a program is necessary, and if necessary, program information on a succeeding program is transmitted to the program information acquisition device 100.
Request to. Therefore, the program information acquisition requesting unit 101 next transmits the 200 channel, 10:03 on December 2, 1998.
Request program information by designating 0 minutes.

Upon receiving this, that is, when receiving a request from the program information acquisition request unit 101 (step S801),
The program information management unit 102 checks whether the requested program information has already been recorded in the program information recording unit 105 (step S802). Here, the program information recording unit 10
5 is the state shown in FIG. 7 and has already been recorded, so that the recorded program information, that is, "animation 2, 10: 3
0 broadcast start, 60 minute program "and extract it to the program information acquisition requesting unit 101 (step S81).
0). Thereafter, the request for the program information from the program information acquisition request unit 101 for displaying the program table is repeated. As a result, all the program information shown in FIG. The request is supplied to the request unit 101.

As described above, using the program information obtaining apparatus 100, first, a plurality of channels and time zones are designated by the program information obtaining range setting unit 106, and a plurality of channels and time zones which may be necessary for displaying the program guide are displayed. By requesting recording of program information and subsequently requesting individual program information required for displaying the program guide by the program information acquisition request unit 101, the program information can be obtained quickly, so that the program guide can be smoothly displayed. It can be displayed.

The operation performed when the program information acquisition device 100 receives a request from the program information acquisition range setting unit 106 (see FIG. 6) and the operation performed when a request from the program information acquisition request unit 101 is received. The operation (see FIG. 8) is realized by executing a program stored in the memory together with the CPU, but the operations may be performed in parallel by multitask control.
In this case, after the acquisition condition setting unit 103 sets the filter conditions in the receiving unit 104 such as a transport decoder in step S605, the task for performing the operation illustrated in FIG. It may be in a waiting state until the program information table corresponding to the filter condition is separated and extracted from the received data. For example, the receiving unit 104 interrupts the CPU when the program information table corresponding to any of the filter conditions is separated and extracted, and the CPU responds to this at step S60.
Operation after step 6 may be realized. According to this multi-task control, the operation shown in FIG. 8 can be executed even before the receiving unit 104 receives and separate-extracts all the program information tables that match the set filter condition. The request unit 101 determines in step S80
If the necessary program information table has already been separated and extracted and the program information has been recorded in the program information recording unit 105 at the time of execution of Steps 2 and S803, the necessary program information can be obtained immediately.

<Consideration> As described above, acquiring program information by using the program information acquisition device 100 by the program information acquisition range setting unit 106 and the program information acquisition request unit 101 as described above has been described as a conventional technique. The fact that program information can be acquired more quickly than when program information is acquired by the program information acquisition request unit 1401 using the program information acquisition device 1400 will be described by comparing them.

Now, it is assumed that the program information necessary for displaying the program guide is the program information of the 200-channel, 300-channel, and 400-channel programs broadcast from 9:00 to 15:00 on December 2, 1998. I do. The necessary program information is stored in the program information tables 201 and 20 shown in FIG.
2, 301, 302, 401, 402,
It is assumed that these program information tables and other program information tables and the like are repeatedly transmitted from the broadcast station at a constant cycle.

The conventional program information acquisition apparatus 1400 acquires program information by setting one filter condition and acquiring one program information table, and then setting another filter condition and acquiring one program information table. Since it is performed by repeating the operation of acquiring the table, if it takes an average of half the repetition period from the setting of the filter condition to the acquisition of the program information table, six program information tables are acquired. Requires three times the period.

On the other hand, according to the program information acquisition apparatus 100 of the present invention, six filter conditions are set at once in response to a request from the program information acquisition range setting unit 106, and any one of the filter conditions is satisfied. Since the obtained program information tables are acquired at any time and recorded in the memory, the time required to acquire the six program information tables is at most the same as the above-mentioned cycle. The six filter conditions in this case are:
"Ch200, 1998.12.02 9: 00-1
2:00 "," ch200, 1998.12.021 "
2: 00-15: 00 "," ch300, 1998.1.
2.02 9: 00-12: 00 "," ch300, 1
998.12.02 12: 00-15: 00 "," c
h400, 1998.12.02 9: 00-12: 0
0 "," ch400, 1998.12.02 12: 0 "
0-15: 00 ".

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, “program 42”, which is the content of the program information
Although it is broadcast for 0 minutes, if this "program 42"
Is broadcast for 240 minutes from 11:00, the program information table 402 includes only the program information of "Program 42". In the case according to this assumption, the program information acquisition device 100 according to the present invention is the same as the above-described example, and the time required to acquire the program information table is the same as the above-mentioned period even if it is long. On the other hand, in the case according to this assumption, in the conventional program information acquisition device 1400,
Once the program information acquisition requesting unit 1401 has acquired the program information of the "program 42", the program information table 402 is not required because it does not request again. Therefore, it takes 2.5 times the period to display the program guide. Here, the time other than the time required for acquiring the program information table is ignored.

From this, the conventional program information acquisition device 1
According to 400, when the program information of all the programs included in the display range when the program guide is displayed on the television screen is included in one program information table, the program guide is quickly displayed. It is considered possible. However,
Depending on the configuration of each program information table as a unit of transmission and reception, the display form of the program table, and the like, in practice, the display contents of the program table, that is, which channel at which date and time is displayed, etc. Since it changes in response to a user's instruction or the like, it is usually the case that two or more program information tables must be obtained in order to obtain program information of all programs included in the display range.

Therefore, in actual use, according to the program information obtaining apparatus 100 according to the present invention, the conventional program information obtaining apparatus 1
It can be said that the program information for displaying the program guide can be acquired more quickly than by 400. <Embodiment 2> Hereinafter, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, a description will be given of a program information acquiring apparatus 900 which is a modification of the program information acquiring apparatus 100 described in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment as well, in order to realize an electronic program guide, the broadcast station repeatedly includes program information in a program information table and repeatedly transmits the program information, and transmits the program information to a digital television including the program information acquisition device 900 according to the present invention. , And the structure of the program information table is the same as that shown in the first embodiment.

<Configuration of Program Information Acquisition Apparatus> The configuration of program information acquisition apparatus 900 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a program information acquiring device 900 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 2 also shows a program information acquisition request unit 101 and a program information acquisition relative range designating unit 920 related to a functional part for displaying a program table on a television screen. Also, in the figure, components having the same functions as those of the components of the program information acquiring apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The program information acquisition device 900 acquires program information in response to a request from the program information acquisition request unit 101 and supplies the program information to the program information acquisition request unit 101. Based on the designation by the acquisition relative range designation unit 920, the program information acquisition request unit 101 acquires program information that is not directly requested to acquire, and records this in the memory area, so that the subsequent program information acquisition request unit In order to promptly supply program information in response to a request from the user 101, the program information management unit 910 is functionally provided.
, An acquisition condition setting unit 103, a receiving unit 104, and a program information recording unit 105. Note that the program information acquisition request unit 101, the program information acquisition relative range designation unit 920, the program information management unit 910, and the acquisition condition setting unit 103 basically execute the programs stored in the memory by the CPU. The function is realized. In addition,
The program information acquisition request unit 101 and the program information acquisition relative range designating unit 920 are realized by an application program for displaying a program table on a television screen, and the program information management unit 910 basically stores program information. It manages functions including an application interface function in a system program for realizing the acquisition device 900.

Here, program information management section 910 receives relative value information for specifying the range of program information from program information acquisition relative range specifying section 920 and holds the relative value information.
When a program information acquisition request specified by specifying a channel number and a date and time is received from the program information acquisition request unit 101, the range of the program information to be acquired is determined based on the held relative value information. And all the program information included in the range is already stored in the program information recording unit 1.
05, and if all or a part is not recorded, information of all pairs of a channel number and date and time for specifying necessary program information excluding the recorded program information Is transmitted to the acquisition condition setting unit 103 to issue an instruction for setting a filter condition.

The program information management section 910 includes the receiving section 10
When the program information table received and received from the multiplexed data and extracted from the multiplexed data is passed, the program information included in the table is recorded in the program information recording unit 105. If the program information requested by the request unit 101 is recorded, the program information is supplied to the program information acquisition request unit 101.

A program information acquisition relative range designation unit 920
Designates relative value information for specifying the range of program information to be stored in the memory by the program information acquisition device 900. The relative value information for specifying the range of the program information is based on one channel as a reference, information on the number of channels before and after the reference channel, and one date and time as the reference date and time. It is the information of how many hours ahead. In other words, the relative value information is information including the number of channels continuous to the reference channel and the amount of time following the reference date and time, and is, for example, information of “one channel before and after, 3 hours”. The reference here is the program information acquisition request unit 101
Is the channel number and date and time specified when the program information acquisition request is issued. Therefore, the program information management unit 910 can specify the range of the program information to be stored in the memory by referring to the reference information and the relative value information for specifying the range of the program information. .
Note that the front and back of the channels refer to the order before and after the channels are arranged in a certain order such as the ascending order of channel numbers when the program guide is displayed on the television screen. For example, in the program guide shown in FIG. 2, the channels before and after the 300 channel are 200 channels and 400 channels.

<Operation of Program Information Acquisition Apparatus> The operation of the program information acquisition apparatus 900 will be described below. The description will be made on the assumption that no program information has been recorded in the program information recording unit 105 yet. When the relative value information for specifying the range of the program information is specified by the program information acquisition relative range specification unit 920, the program information management unit 910 of the program information acquisition device 900 holds the relative value information. Here, the description will be made assuming that the relative value information “one channel before and after 3 hours” is specified.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the program information acquisition device 900 when the acquisition and supply of program information is requested from the program information acquisition request unit 101. The request by the program information acquisition requesting unit 101 is sequentially issued to display each program name and the like as a program table on a television screen.
This is performed by designating the channel number and the date and time. First, the program information management unit 910 of the program information acquisition device 900 receives a request for program information from the program information acquisition request unit 101 (step S1301). Here, it is assumed that the acquisition of the program information is requested by specifying 12:00 on December 2, 1998 for channel 400.

Upon receiving a request from program information acquisition request section 101, program information management section 910 checks whether or not the requested program information has already been recorded in program information recording section 105 (step S1302). If it has been recorded (step S1303), the program information management unit 910 supplies the program information to the program information acquisition request unit 101 (step S1304).

Here, based on the premise, since no program information has been recorded yet, the process proceeds to the NO branch in step S1303, and the program information management unit 910 determines whether the stored relative value information and program information acquisition From the channel number and the date and time specified by the request unit 101, a channel number group and a time zone for determining the range of the program information to be acquired are obtained (step S1305). It should be noted that the program information management unit 910 includes information for determining before and after the channel as described above, for example, the channel number is 200,
Information that they are arranged in the order of 300, 400, 500, and 600 is held. Here, step S13
As a result of 05, a channel number group and a time zone of “300 channels, 400 channels, and 500 channels from 12:00 to 15:00 on December 2, 1998” are obtained.

After obtaining the channel number group and the time zone, the program information management unit 910 checks whether all the program information within the range has already been recorded in the program information recording unit 105 (step S1306). If all of them have been recorded, the process proceeds to YES in step S1307, and the operation of the program information acquisition device 900 corresponding to one request from the program information acquisition request unit 101 ends.

Here, considering the state assumed,
Since the information has not yet been recorded in the program information recording unit 105, the process proceeds to NO in step S1307, and the program information management unit 910 notifies the acquisition condition setting unit 103 of the channel number group and time zone obtained in step S1305 (step S1308). If only a part of the program information is recorded in the program information recording unit 105, the program information management unit 910 excludes the recorded program information and sets a channel number for specifying necessary program information. One or a plurality of sets of time and time zones,
(Step S1308).

In response to this, the acquisition condition setting unit 103 generates a filter condition based on the transmitted channel number and time zone so as to conform to the contents of the necessary program information table header (see FIG. 3). This filter condition is set in the receiving unit 104 (step S1309). Here, the acquisition condition setting unit 103 includes 300 channels, 40 channels,
Acquisition conditions for the 0th channel and the 500th channel from 12:00 to 15:00 on December 2, 1998 are transmitted from the program information management unit 910, and based on this, “ch30
0, 1998.12.02 12: 00-15: 0
0 "," ch400, 1998.12.02 12: 0 "
0-15: 00 "," ch500, 1998.12.0
2 12: 00-15: 00 ”is generated and set in the receiving unit 104.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a range designated as 1 channel and 3 hours relatively before and after 400 channels at 12:00. The range is indicated by hatching in FIG. The receiving unit 104 in which the filter condition is set by the acquisition condition setting unit 103 receives the multiplexed data, and generates a program information table that matches any of the filter conditions from the multiplexed data by referring to the header. It is separated and extracted and passed to the program information management unit 910 (step S1310). Each time the receiving unit 104 separates and extracts the program information table that matches the filter condition, the receiving unit 104 deletes the filter condition from the internal storage area.

The program information management section 910 which has received the program information table from the receiving section 104 records the program information indicated in the program information table in the program information recording section 105 (step S1311). After recording the program information, the program information management unit 910 determines whether or not the recorded program information is requested by the program information acquisition requesting unit 101 (step S1312). If the program information has not been supplied to the program information acquisition request unit 101 yet (step S1313), the program information is supplied to the program information acquisition request unit 101 (step S1314), and all the program information to be acquired is recorded. It is determined whether it is (Step S1315).

If the program information is not requested or has already been supplied, step S1
314 is skipped, and the program information management unit 910 returns
It is determined whether all the program information to be acquired has been recorded (step S1315). By determining whether all the program information to be acquired has been recorded (step S1315), the program information management unit 910 proceeds to step S1310 until all the program information is recorded.
The subsequent processing is repeated.

By repeating the processing after step S1310, the program information tables 302, 402 and 502 shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4 are obtained, and the program information contained therein is recorded in the program information recording unit 105. . As a result, the program information recording unit 105 is in the state shown in FIG. FIG. 12 shows that the program information acquisition device 900 uses the program information acquisition
FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram showing a state of program information recorded in a program information recording unit 105 in response to a program information acquisition request designated at 12:00 on December 2, 2000.

As described above, 400 channels and 199
After a request for program information is made by specifying 12:00 on December 2, 2008, for example, the program information acquisition request unit 101
Assuming that a request for program information is made by designating channel 00 and 12:00 on December 2, 1998, the program information acquisition device 900 promptly sends the program information to the program information acquisition request unit 10.
1 and 600 channels in 1998 December
The program information from 12 o'clock to 15 o'clock on the 2nd of the month is obtained by receiving data sent from the broadcasting station and separating and extracting the program information table, and records it in the program information recording unit 105.

As described above, the program information acquiring device 900
In response to one request from the program information acquisition request unit 101, all program information in the range specified based on the relative value information, that is, adjacent to the broadcast channel and the broadcast time zone of the program related to the request If all the program information of the channel and the time zone is not already recorded, it is recorded in the program information recording unit 105. Therefore, when the program information acquisition request unit 101 next requests the program information around the program information related to the previous request, the program information acquisition device 900
Extracts the program information from the program information recording unit 105 to quickly supply the requested program information. <Supplement> The program information acquisition device according to the present invention has been described based on the first and second embodiments. However, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, (1) In both embodiments, the receiving unit 104 can set 32 filter conditions. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the receiving unit 104 sets a plurality of filter conditions simultaneously. Anything that can be done is acceptable. Note that the acquisition condition setting unit 103 determines that the number of filter conditions to be set in the reception unit 104, which is obtained based on the acquisition condition obtained from the program information management unit, is greater than the number of filter conditions that can be set in the reception unit 104 simultaneously. If the number of filter conditions is large, the filter conditions are set as much as possible, and the remaining filter conditions are deleted because the receiving unit 104 acquires a program information table that matches the filter conditions. At this time, it may be set for each deleted portion. (2) In both embodiments, the channel on which a program is broadcast is represented as a channel number, but a channel name or the like that can identify each channel may be used instead of the channel number. (3) In both embodiments, the program information table has the structure shown in FIG. 1. However, other information may be included in the header, and information about program attributes such as the genre of the program or the like may be included in the payload. Information related to the program such as a description of the program content may be included.

The header shown in FIG. 1 is included in the payload, and the header has no particular meaning and is merely an identifier for identifying each program information table.
The data transmitted from the broadcast station includes the identifier,
It is assumed that index-type table data in which channel numbers and time zones are associated is included, and the acquisition condition setting unit 1
Numeral 03 makes the receiving unit 104 receive the index table data, obtains in advance information on the correspondence between the channel number and the time zone and the identifier of the program information table, and obtains the acquisition conditions from the program information management unit 102 or 910. Is passed, an identifier corresponding to a necessary channel number and time zone may be set in the receiving unit 104 as a filter condition. (4) In the first embodiment, if the program information requested by the program information acquisition requesting unit 101 is not recorded in the program information recording unit 105, the program information table including the program information is received and separated and extracted (see FIG. 8, steps S804 to S8
09), but the determination in step S803 is repeated until it is determined in step S803 that the program information requested by the program information acquisition request unit 101 is recorded in the program information recording unit 105. S
The processing from step 804 to step S809 may not be performed. However, in this case, prior to the request for the program information by the program information acquisition request unit 101, the side using the program information acquisition device 100 sets the program information acquisition range setting unit that specifies a range including the program information. A request to record program information by 106 must be made. (5) In the first embodiment, the program information acquisition range setting unit 10
6 designates a channel and a time zone in a range corresponding to a display range when displaying a program guide on a television screen. However, the designated range is not limited to this. It may be made slightly wider so that the program guide can be quickly displayed when scrolling up, down, left, or right in response to a user operation. The range to be specified may be a range corresponding to a plurality of program information tables, and it is not necessary to specify a plurality of channels. (6) In the first embodiment, when the program information management unit 102 transfers the program information to the program information acquisition request unit 101, the program information is stored, for example, by passing the value of the program information itself. It is also possible to pass the address of the memory area that is being used. The same applies to the way in which the program information management unit 910 transfers the program information to the program information acquisition request unit 101 in the second embodiment. (7) In the second embodiment, the relative value information for specifying the range of the program information is specified by the program information acquisition relative range specifying unit 920, but the program information management unit 910
Holds predetermined relative value information in advance, and until a new designation is made by the program information acquisition relative range designation unit 920, uses the previously held relative value information to acquire program information to be acquired. May be specified (see step S1305). In this case, the relative value information held in advance includes the range of the display area when the program guide is displayed on the television screen, the number of filter conditions that can be simultaneously set in the receiving unit 104, and the recording capacity of the program information recording unit 105. May be determined in consideration of the above.

The relative value information is specified with respect to the reference channel and the date and time by the number of consecutive channels before and after the reference channel and the amount of time in the time zone following the reference. The number of channels is not limited to the number of channels before and after, and may be determined to be the number of channels in one direction before or after, and the amount of time may be determined to be the amount of time for a time zone before, after, or before the reference. . (8) In the second embodiment, when program information around the program information requested by the program information acquisition request unit 101 is not recorded in the program information recording unit 105, the requested program information itself is recorded. However, if the requested program information has already been recorded, the acquisition of the peripheral program information is not performed. It may not be performed. (9) Among the components of the program information acquisition device 100 described in the first embodiment and the program information acquisition device 900 described in the second embodiment, the functions stored in the memory are executed by the CPU by executing the programs. Is realized, that is, the function is realized by software, the hardware may realize the same function. (10) Processing Procedure of the Program Information Acquisition Device in Both Embodiments (Procedures of Flowcharts in FIGS. 6, 8, and 10)
May be realized by a machine language program, and this may be recorded on a recording medium to be distributed and sold. Such a recording medium includes an IC card, an optical disk, a flexible disk, a ROM, and the like, and the machine language program recorded on these is used by being installed in a general-purpose computer or a home appliance having a program execution function. To be served. In other words, a general-purpose computer or a household electrical appliance having a program execution function sequentially executes the installed machine language program to realize the program information acquisition device as described in both embodiments.

A computer program for causing a general-purpose computer or a home appliance having a program execution function to execute the processing procedure of the above-described program information acquiring apparatus is distributed online via a recording medium such as a hard disk and a communication line. It can also be distributed.

[0087]

As is clear from the above description, the program information acquisition apparatus according to the present invention is capable of transmitting necessary program information among a plurality of program information tables which are present and transmitted for each set of time zone and broadcast channel. A program information acquisition apparatus for selecting a table and acquiring program information of a broadcast program, which is included in the table and is information for displaying a program table, and receives a request for supplying program information. Means, condition determining means for determining a plurality of conditions for specifying one program information table for specifying a plurality of program information tables, and condition setting means for simultaneously setting a plurality of conditions determined by the condition determining means Receiving and extracting all of the program information tables specified by the conditions set simultaneously by the condition setting means from among the plurality of program information tables transmitted Issuing means, holding means for holding the program information included in the program information table extracted by the receiving and extracting means, and extracting the program information relating to the request accepted by the request accepting means from the holding means to the request source. And supplying means for supplying.

Here, the reception and extraction means can set a plurality of filter conditions for specifying one program information table. The program information table that matches the conditions is extracted. The "condition for specifying one program information table" in the condition determining means corresponds to the filter condition. Further, "set a plurality of conditions simultaneously" in the condition setting means means that a plurality of filter conditions corresponding to the program information table not yet extracted by the reception extraction means are set to the reception extraction means. It means to.

Thus, the program information acquiring apparatus according to the present invention sets a plurality of filter conditions for specifying each program information table at a time. All the program information tables that match the set filter conditions are received, separated, extracted, and held during one cycle. That is, since the program information acquisition apparatus sets a plurality of program information tables in a pre-read state, a function part realized by an application program or the like and displaying a program table on a television screen includes:
When the program information required for displaying the program guide is repeatedly requested, it is possible to respond quickly to the request because the possibility that the requested program information is already held is increased.

Here, the request accepting means accepts designation of a channel number and a date and time on which a program is to be broadcasted as information for specifying program information relating to the request, and the program information acquiring device comprises a channel number group and a time A range receiving unit for receiving a designation of a band, wherein the condition determining unit holds the program information of all programs in a channel number group and a time zone received by the range receiving unit as a result, so that the holding unit holds the program information. The determination of the condition may be performed.

Thus, the program information acquisition apparatus receives designation of a channel number group and a time zone, and simultaneously sets a plurality of filter conditions for holding a program information table corresponding to this range. That is, since the program information table corresponding to the range is pre-read, the function part realized by the application program or the like and displaying the program table on the television screen is provided to the program information acquisition device by:
After specifying a channel number group and a time zone within a range that may be necessary for displaying the program guide, if the program information is requested by specifying each channel number and date and time, the program information necessary for displaying the program guide can be obtained. Can be quickly acquired, and the program guide can be quickly displayed. As a result,
The response to a case where a user of a digital television or the like gives an instruction to display a program guide by operating a remote controller or the like can be improved.

The request accepting means accepts designation of a channel number and a date and time on which a program is to be broadcast as information for specifying program information relating to the request, and the condition determining means accepts the request by the request accepting means. The condition may be determined such that the holding unit holds the program information of all the programs included in the channel number group and the time zone around the channel number and the date and time.

Thus, the function of displaying the program guide on the television screen is only required to sequentially request the program information acquisition device for the program information necessary for displaying the program guide. The program information table corresponding to the vicinity of the channel and the date and time relating to the information is basically prefetched within a time period corresponding to a cycle in which the program information table is repeatedly transmitted, so that the sequentially requested program information can be promptly received. .

The condition determining means has a relative value holding unit for holding the number of channels and the amount of time, and the condition determining means uses the channel number and the date and time received by the request receiving means as a reference. While specifying a channel number continuous to the reference channel number by the number of channels held by the relative value holding unit,
Identify time zones that are continuous with the reference date and time by the amount of time held by the relative value holding unit, and divide the channel number groups and time zones that are the results of these specification into the peripheral channel number groups and time zones. The above conditions can be determined by treating the conditions.

Thus, when one channel and one date and time are designated, the program information table corresponding to the surrounding channel and time zone is pre-read based on the designated channel. There is a high possibility that the program information that may be required for displaying the program guide displayed in two dimensions is prefetched, and the function of displaying the program guide on the television screen is the program information sequentially requested for displaying the program guide. Can be received quickly.

[0096] Further, the program information acquiring apparatus may include relative value reception storage means for receiving the designation of the number of channels and the amount of time and storing the received value in the relative value storage unit. Thereby, the function part for displaying the program guide on the television screen can specify the relative number of channels and the amount of time in accordance with the relationship with the display area and the like. This can be easily performed, and the program information sequentially requested for displaying the program guide can be promptly received.

Further, the program information acquiring apparatus is built in a digital broadcast receiver for receiving a digital broadcast and displaying a program table and a broadcast program having a channel axis and a time axis on a screen. It is also possible to receive the request made sequentially from a certain component of the digital broadcast receiver for displaying the program guide on a screen.

Thus, a digital broadcast receiver capable of receiving a digital broadcast and quickly displaying a program guide on a screen is realized. Further, the program information acquisition device according to the present invention selects a necessary program information table among a plurality of program information tables that are present and transmitted for each set of time zone and broadcast channel, and are included in the program information table. A program information acquiring apparatus for acquiring program information of a broadcast program, which is information for displaying a program guide, wherein the program information is specified by the channel number and date and time specified by the channel number and date and time when the program is broadcast. It holds a request for receiving one piece of program information to be supplied and information on the number of channels and the amount of time, and holds the request by itself based on the channel number and date and time received by the request receiving means. While specifying a channel number continuous to the reference channel number by the number of channels,
A plurality of program information including program information of all the programs included in the channel number group and the time zone, which are specified results, are specified by specifying the time zones continuous with the reference date and time by the amount of time held by the user. A condition determining means for determining a plurality of conditions for specifying one program information table; a condition setting means for setting a plurality of conditions determined by the condition determining means; Of the program information tables, all the program information tables specified by each condition set by the condition setting means,
Receiving and extracting means for receiving and extracting, holding means for holding program information included in the program information table extracted by the receiving and extracting means, and program information relating to the request received by the request receiving means from the holding means. Supply means for extracting and supplying the request source to the request source.

Thus, the program information acquiring apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that, when one channel and one date and time are designated and acquisition of program information is requested, the channel and the time around the designated channel and the date and time are designated. Since the program information table corresponding to the band is received and the program information in the table is retained, another program information in the vicinity of the channel and time zone with respect to the program information that has already been requested will be , Allowing for the rapid supply of the other program information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a data structure of a program information table.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a program table created based on program information existing for each program.

FIG. 3 shows a base 200, 30 on which the program guide of FIG. 2 is created;
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a program information table including program information of programs on channels 0 and 400.

FIG. 4 is a table 500 and 6 on which the program guide of FIG. 2 is created;
It is a figure which shows the example of the program information table which contains the program information of the program of the 00 channel.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the program information acquisition device 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the program information acquisition apparatus 100 when acquisition and recording of program information are requested from the program information acquisition range setting unit 106.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing a state of program information recorded in program information recording section 105 by program information acquisition apparatus 100 in response to a request from program information acquisition range setting section 106.

FIG. 8 shows a program information acquisition apparatus 1 when acquisition and supply of program information are requested from a program information acquisition request unit 101.
9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the 00.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a program information acquisition device 900 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the program information acquisition device 900 when acquisition and supply of program information are requested from the program information acquisition request unit 101.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a range designated as 1 channel and 3 hours relatively before and after 400 channels at 12:00.

FIG. 12 shows a program information acquisition apparatus 900 which is configured to transmit 400 channels and
FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing a state of program information recorded in a program information recording unit 105 in response to a request to acquire program information designated at 12:00 on the second day of the month.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a program information table.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of a conventional program information acquisition device 1400.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the program information acquisition device 1400.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 program information acquisition device 101 program information acquisition request unit 102 program information management unit 103 acquisition condition setting unit 104 reception unit 105 program information recording unit 106 program information acquisition range setting unit 900 program information acquisition device 910 program information management unit 920 program information acquisition Relative range specification section 1501 Header 1502 Payload

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A required program information table is selected from a plurality of program information tables which are present and transmitted for each set of time zone and broadcast channel, are included in the table, and are used for displaying a program table. What is claimed is: 1. A program information acquiring apparatus for acquiring program information of a broadcast program, said request information receiving means for receiving a request for supply of program information; and a plurality of program information tables for specifying a condition for specifying one program information table. Condition determining means for determining a plurality of conditions for specifying the plurality of conditions, a condition setting means for simultaneously setting a plurality of conditions determined by the condition determining means, among a plurality of program information tables transmitted, the condition setting means Receiving and extracting means for receiving and extracting all the program information tables specified by the conditions set at the same time; and a program information table extracted by the receiving and extracting means A program information acquiring apparatus comprising: a holding unit for holding included program information; and a supply unit for extracting program information related to a request received by the request receiving unit from the holding unit and supplying the extracted program information to a request source. . 2. The request accepting means accepts designation of a channel number and a date and time on which a program is broadcast as information for specifying program information related to the request, and wherein the program information acquiring device includes a channel number group and a time zone. The condition determination means, the condition determination means, as a result, the holding means to hold the program information of all programs of the channel number group and the time zone received by the range receiving means, 2. The program information acquiring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a condition is determined. 3. The request accepting means accepts designation of a channel number and a date and time on which a program is broadcast as information for specifying program information pertaining to the request, and the condition determining means accepts the designation by the request accepting means. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the condition is determined such that the holding unit holds the program information of all programs included in the channel number group and the time zone around the channel number and the date and time. The described program information acquisition device. 4. The condition determining means has a relative value holding unit for holding the number of channels and the amount of time, and the condition determining means sets the channel number and date and time received by the request receiving means as a reference. A channel number that is continuous with the reference channel number by the number of channels held by the relative value holding unit is specified, and a time that is continuous by the reference date and time by the amount of time held by the relative value holding unit is specified. 4. The program information according to claim 3, wherein the condition is determined by specifying a band, and treating the channel number group and the time zone which are the specified results as the peripheral channel number group and the time zone. Acquisition device. 5. The program information acquisition device according to claim 4, wherein the program information acquisition device includes a relative value reception storage unit that receives designation of the number of channels and the amount of time and causes the relative value storage unit to store the received value. apparatus. 6. The program information acquiring apparatus is incorporated in a digital broadcast receiver that receives a digital broadcast and displays a program table and a broadcast program having a channel axis and a time axis on a screen. The program information according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the request is sequentially received from a component of the digital broadcast receiver for displaying the program guide on a screen. Acquisition device. 7. A required program information table is selected from a plurality of program information tables which are present and transmitted for each set of time zone and broadcast channel, are included in the table, and are used for displaying a program table. A program information acquisition device for acquiring program information of a broadcast program, which is information, wherein the program information is specified by the channel number and date and time specified by the channel number and date and time.
Request receiving means for receiving a request for supply of two pieces of program information, and information on the number of channels and the amount of time, and the number of channels held by itself based on the channel number and date and time received by the request receiving means. A channel number that is continuous with the reference channel number by the number of minutes is specified, and a time zone that is continuous with the reference date and time is specified by the amount of time held by itself, and a channel number group that is a result of these determinations is specified. And condition determining means for determining a plurality of conditions for specifying one program information table, in order to specify a plurality of program information tables including program information of all programs included in the time zone, Condition setting means for setting a plurality of conditions, the condition setting means of a plurality of transmitted program information tables Receiving and extracting means for receiving and extracting all of the program information tables specified by the respective conditions set by the conditions; holding means for holding program information included in the program information table extracted by the receiving and extracting means; A program information acquisition apparatus comprising: a supply unit that extracts program information related to a request received by a reception unit from the holding unit and supplies the extracted program information to a request source. 8. A required program information table is selected from a plurality of program information tables existing and transmitted for each set of a time zone and a broadcast channel in response to a request from the outside, and included therein. A program medium for displaying a program table, a program medium for acquiring program information of a broadcast program, and supplying a program information to a request source, a recording medium recording a control program for causing a computer to execute, The computer includes a storage device, the program information acquisition process includes: a request receiving step of receiving a request for supply of program information; and a condition for specifying one program information table, for specifying a plurality of program information tables. A plurality of condition determining steps; a plurality of the conditions can be set, and program information specified by each set condition among a plurality of transmitted program information tables A condition setting step of simultaneously setting a plurality of conditions determined in the condition determination step for a reception and extraction circuit that receives and extracts all the cables and stores the received conditions in the storage device; A supply step of extracting program information relating to the request from the storage device and supplying the program information to a request source.