JP2001309350A - An information providing system, an information receiving device, and a method thereof. - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an information providing system, an information receiving apparatus, and a method thereof that can effectively use information provided by a broadcasting station. An information transmitting device distributes an arbitrary number of unit information related to an article as provided information together with positional information of the article by describing the provided information in a variable length. By selecting arbitrary unit information from among the above, and recording the selected unit information and the specific information used for specifying the position as a usable state on a predetermined recording medium, the information provided by the broadcast station Can be used effectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information providing system,
The present invention relates to an information receiving apparatus and an information receiving method, and is suitably applied to, for example, an information providing system, an information receiving apparatus and an information receiving method for transmitting and receiving broadcast waves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a broadcasting station on a transmitting side distributes a broadcast wave on which provided information such as a program or a commercial is superimposed, and a receiving device (hereinafter referred to as IR) provided in each home on the receiving side.
D: Integrated Receiver Dec
There is an information providing system for receiving broadcast waves supplied from a broadcast station, extracting provided information superimposed on the broadcast waves, and displaying the information on a monitor of a television device.

[0003]

In such an information providing system, a broadcasting station distributes provided information that meets the needs of many viewers, but it is determined by individual viewers. The user simply selects a desired program from the number of channels and the time period.

[0004] Therefore, provided information distributed from a broadcasting station often becomes passive information for a viewer. As a specific example, for example, when a user is watching a cooking program provided as provided information from a television broadcasting station, details regarding the article, such as the price of the article worn by the performer of the program and the selling place, etc. If you want to know more information, the cooking program provided as information provided by the television broadcasting station at this time has no information on the article, and in this case, the user can call the broadcasting station, check at the bookstore, Complicated work such as accessing a search homepage can be performed. For this reason, the user often gives up or forgets to acquire the detailed information on the article, and does not always obtain desired information.

[0005] As described above, in the information providing system, there is a problem that the broadcast station cannot effectively use the provided information because there are few types of the provided information that can be selected according to the individual needs of the individual viewer.

[0006] If the above problems are solved, the broadcasting station can provide much more information, so that the viewer can view the provided information supplied from the broadcasting station with will. Become. As a result, viewers are more likely to purchase goods and the like evoked based on the information provided from the broadcasting station, which is expected to have a great effect on the activation of the distribution economy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to propose an information providing system, an information receiving apparatus, and a method thereof that can effectively use information provided by a broadcasting station.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the information transmitting apparatus describes the information to be provided in a variable length so that an arbitrary number of unit information relating to the article is provided as the information to be provided. The information receiving device distributes together with the position information, the information receiving device selects any unit information from the distributed unit information, and sets the selected unit information and the specific information used for specifying the position as an available state. By recording on a predetermined recording medium, information provided by a broadcasting station can be effectively used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Information Providing System In FIG. 1, 1 indicates an information providing system as a whole.
A broadcasting station 2 such as a television broadcasting station or a radio broadcasting station distributes broadcast waves.
Receivers installed in various environments (hereinafter referred to as I
RD: Integrated Receiver De
3) is configured to receive a broadcast wave distributed from the broadcast station 2.

The IRD 3 includes an IC (Integrate).
d Circuit), a slot (not shown) for mounting a stick-shaped portable recording medium (hereinafter, referred to as a removable medium) 5 having a built-in memory is provided. The user mounts the removable media 5 individually owned.

The broadcasting station 2 distributes the additional information, which is the advertising information provided by the information providing advertiser 4, by superimposing the additional information on a broadcast wave. A broadcast wave distributed from the station 2 is received, additional information as advertisement information is extracted from the received broadcast wave as necessary, and recorded on the removable medium 5.

Various terminal devices (personal computer 6, mobile phone 7, PDA (Personal Dig)
Italian Assistants 8, navigation device 9, etc.) are also provided with slots (not shown) for mounting removable media 5, and when using these terminal devices, the user can advertise to the operated terminal. The removable medium 5 in which additional information as information is recorded is mounted.

Here, when the user mounts the removable medium 5 on which the additional information, which is the advertisement information, is recorded in any of the terminal devices, the terminal device on which the removable medium 5 is mounted is attached to the recorded additional information. Based on the characteristics of the terminal device attached at that time, various types of information are provided to the user.

As described above, the user possesses the removable medium 5 on which the additional information as the advertisement information is recorded, and can obtain various kinds of information by using each terminal device at a desired time or at a desired place. It has been done.

(2) Example of Information Providing System FIG. 2 shows a system example of such an information providing system as a whole. The television broadcasting station 10 is adapted to create a television program as needed. Signal S10 and video signal S of the selected television program
11 is output to the transmission device 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, an audio signal S10 and a video signal S11 of a television program created by the television broadcasting station 10 are input to the transmitting device 15. At this time in the same manner, the transmission apparatus 15, among a plurality of television programs that are created in other audio signal _S12 1 _{~S12 n} and the video signal _S13 1 _{~S13 n} of a predetermined number of television programs are also input You.

The transmitting device 15 converts the input audio signals S10 and S12 _{1 to} S12 _n into the audio encoder 2
1 and the video signals S11 and S13 _{1 to} S13 _{1 to} S
Outputs the 13 _n to the video encoder 22.

The audio encoder 21 converts the audio signals S10 and S12 _{1 to} S12 _n into MPEG (Moving).
Picture Experts Group) compression encoding by an encoding method based on standard, the resulting speech encoded data D14 and _D15 1-D15 _n
Are output to the multiplexer (MUX) 23, respectively.

On the other hand, the video encoder 22 outputs the video signal S1
1 and S13 _{1 to} S13 _n are respectively MPEG (Mov
ing Picture Experts Grou
p) compression coding by the coding method based on standard, the resulting video encoded data D16 and D17 ₁ ~
The D17 _n respectively output to the multiplexer 23.

The multiplexer 23 outputs these coded data D14, D15 _{1 to} D15 _n , D16 and D17 ₁ to
D17 _n is subjected to a time-division multiplexing process to generate a bit stream, the bit stream is scrambled, and the resulting multiplexed data D18
Is output to the modulator 24.

The modulator 24 applies a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shi) to the multiplexed data D18.
ft Keying) modulation scheme is performed, and the resulting transmission signal S20 is supplied to the parabona antenna 26.

As a result, a radio wave corresponding to the transmission signal S20 from the parabona antenna 26 is emitted toward a communication satellite (not shown), and the number of transponders is transmitted through a transponder (not shown) provided in the communication satellite. Is transmitted as a broadcast wave to the IRD 3 (FIG. 2) installed in each environment on a transmission channel corresponding to.

IRD3 (FIG. 2) is, as shown in FIG.
When various command signals S1 superimposed on infrared rays and transmitted from the remote controller 29 are received by the infrared ray receiving section 28, the infrared ray receiving section 28 performs photoelectric conversion on the received infrared rays to thereby superimpose them on the infrared rays. The instruction signal S1 is taken out, and this is sent to the CPU (Centra
l Processing Unit) 36.

As a result, the CPU 36 reads the ROM (Ree).
d Only Memory) 38 is read out as needed, and the read out control program is read from a RAM (Random Access).
(Memory) 39 to execute various processes.
Each circuit section of the RD3 is controlled.

Here, the user operates the remote controller 29.
When a predetermined channel selection operation is performed, the remote controller 29 generates a command signal S1 corresponding to the operation, and superimposes the generated command signal S1 on infrared rays and transmits it to the IRD 3.

When the IRD 3 receives the command signal S1 transmitted by being superimposed on the infrared ray at the infrared receiving section 28, the infrared receiving section 28 performs a photoelectric conversion on the received infrared ray to thereby superimpose it on the infrared ray. The command signal S1 is extracted and sent to the CPU 36.

As a result, the CPU 36 controls the front end 3
0, the front end 30 extracts a broadcast wave of a channel (broadcasting station) corresponding to the channel selection signal S3 from broadcast waves received by a receiving antenna (not shown), and broadcasts the extracted channel. The multiplexed data D21 is generated by demodulating the wave and sent to the demultiplexer 31.

The demultiplexer 31 outputs the multiplexed data D
21 is temporarily stored in a buffer (not shown), and the stored multiplexed data D21 is transmitted in advance using the descrambling key data owned by the IRD 3 to the transmitting device (FIG. 2).
After the descrambling performed in step (1), the desired audio encoded data D22 and video encoded data D23 (data corresponding to the channel selected by the user) are extracted by appropriately reading out the scramble.

Further, the demultiplexer 31 sends out the extracted audio encoded data D22 to the audio decoder 32,
The encoded video data D23 is sent to the video decoder 33.

The audio decoder 32 outputs the encoded audio data D
22 is expanded and decoded to generate audio data D24, which is converted to a digital / analog (D / A: Digi
tal / Analog) conversion circuit 34.

The D / A conversion circuit 34 outputs the audio data D24
Of the television broadcast station 10 by converting
Signal S of the original television program created in
10 (S12 _{1 to} S12 _n ) are restored and output to the television device 11 (FIG. 2).

On the other hand, the video decoder 33 expands and decodes the video coded data D23, thereby obtaining the video data D2.
5 is output to the RGB encoder 35.
The RGB encoder 35 converts the video data D25 into an analog signal, and converts the video data D25 into a video signal S11 (S1) of the original television program created in the television broadcasting station 10.
3 ₁ ~S13 _n) restores the news NTSC (Nat
ionical Television System C
(i.e., a luminance signal S26 and a chrominance signal S27), and outputs them to the monitor 12 (FIG. 2) of the television device 11.

The television program created in the television broadcasting station 10 on the transmitting side in this manner is transmitted to the monitor 12 (FIG. 2) of the television apparatus 11 on the receiving side.
Is provided to the user (viewer) through the display screen of the user, so that the user can view the television program.

By the way, in the information providing system,
Electronic program guide information (hereinafter referred to as EPG data) for the purpose of notifying a user of a program provided from each broadcast station is periodically generated, and the generated EPG data is added to each information providing advertiser. Additional information is added as an advertisement and this is distributed.

This EPG data is generated for each program,
XML (extensible Markup L) which is a tag language using a tag sandwiched between “<” and “>”
(language).

XML is a document type definition (DTD: Docu).
The variable length description is possible by specifying the attribute of the hierarchical structure and the data type for the tag defined by the self-defined tag by the “ment type definition”.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the EPG data is a Broadcaster-code for identifying a broadcast system among various existing broadcast systems such as a satellite broadcast and a terrestrial broadcast so that the broadcast system can be specified. ID (I
And a Service- for identifying which service content among various service contents set in the broadcasting system can be specified.
ID and various programs (including commercials)
E for identifying the program so that it can be specified
It has a hierarchical structure consisting of vent-ID.

Further, the EPG data includes a program (Even
t-ID) is further categorized, and among the categorized various units (program scenes), which unit (program scene)
Local for identifying so that it can be specified
The Event-ID is provided in a lower layer below the Event-ID, and the LocalEvent-ID is:
For example, it is divided into various units (program scenes) such as a cooking scene (a cooking scene in a certain program), a travel scene, and the like (a traveling scene in a certain program).
Also, Event-ID or LocalEvent-I
Additional information is added to D as needed.

The file structure of the EPG data is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, a predetermined program scene (Local-ID) is assigned to a program (Event-ID) and the title of the program.
Event-ID) and the title of the program scene are provided, and a predetermined program scene (LocalEven) is further provided.
(nt-ID) and the title of the program scene, a category is provided, and additional information is added to the category. Since the LocalEvent-ID and the category are described in the EPG data using XML for one program (Event-ID), a plurality of LocalEvent-IDs and categories can be added as necessary.

In the additional information, a predetermined number of items (attributes), which are unit information, are determined in advance by the television broadcasting station 10, and Tar indicating the type of each terminal device is used.
get device information, expiration date indicating the period in which additional information can be used, genre, and sponsor information indicating an advertiser providing information of additional information, and URL (Uniform Resource) indicating an access location of the sponsor's homepage.
access item that describes access information such as ce Locator, TEL indicating the phone number of the sponsor, location indicating the location of the sponsor (location information: latitude, longitude), music (song title, song number) indicating the music information of the sponsor, etc. Consists of

Since this additional information is described in the EPG data using XML, it is possible to add or delete new items as necessary from various items determined by the television broadcasting station 10 in advance. Has been made.

Further, the additional information is provided with a predetermined information identifier defined between the television broadcasting station 10, the IRD 3, and various terminal devices. The information identifier can identify a matter described in each item of the additional information.

The Target device information in each item of the additional information includes an identification code indicating which terminal device can handle the access information described in the access item, and is described in the access information. A combination of terminal devices that can be handled is represented by an identification code according to the item. For example, when the item of “URL” is described among the items of the additional information, the item of Target device information includes an identification code indicating that the terminal device that can handle the URL is a personal computer, a PDA, and a mobile phone. When the additional information is described in the item "TEL" of the items of the additional information, the item of the target device information is an identification code indicating that the terminal device that can handle the telephone number is a mobile phone.

Thus, each terminal device (FIG. 1: personal computer 6, mobile phone 7, PDA 8, navigation device 9, etc.) reads out the access item based on the Target device information.

By the way, the category is LocalEven
Indicates a unit that is a further subordinate concept of t-ID (classified unit (program scene)), and the category is, for example, when LocalEvent-ID is “music scene”, music in the music scene is related. "Music" indicating the clothing relationship of the performers in the music scene.

The genre, which is one of the items of the additional information, indicates a unit which is a lower concept of the category.
Specifically, for example, when the category is “music”, the genre is described as hip-pop, reggae, techno, or the like.

Event-ID and LocalEven
As shown in FIG. 7, in the relation between the t-ID and each item of the additional information, Event-ID and LocalEven
The t-ID is a variable portion that changes according to the number of programs created by the television broadcast station 10.

On the other hand, in the additional information, since the information providing advertiser describes each item prearranged by the television broadcasting station 10 on the information providing advertiser side, the additional information is invariable. Become.
Therefore, the variable portion is information provided by the television broadcasting station 10 to the user (viewer), and the invariable portion is information provided by each information providing advertiser to the user.

Further, Event-ID and LocalE
The vent-ID is an identifier for the additional information for the IRD 3 on the receiving side.

[0050] Such additional information is transmitted to the television broadcasting station 1
0, and is described by each information providing advertiser who has performed a predetermined charging process.
7 performs a predetermined charging process with the television broadcasting station 10 and then performs a connection process by a predetermined communication means using a computer (not shown) installed in the facility of the CD production company 17, for example. , Television broadcasting station 10
Is connected to the additional information management server 16 (FIG. 2).

The computer (not shown) of the CD production company 17 has a CPU and a RAM (Random Access).
ss Memory), ROM (Read Only)
Memory), a communication interface for exchanging data with a communication network (not shown), a VRAM storing characters and graphics corresponding to data to be displayed on a display unit such as a hard disk drive or a liquid crystal display panel. Vi
signal from a user operating an input unit such as a keyboard and a mouse.
Are connected to the data bus BUS.

The CPU executes various processes in accordance with the processing programs stored in the ROM, and controls each circuit according to the processes. The CPU displays the various processing contents on the display unit.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, when a computer (not shown) of the CD production company 17 performs a predetermined connection operation via the input unit, the input interface transmits data representing the connection operation. Send to CPU. Thus, the CPU makes a call to the additional information management server 16 via the communication interface, establishes a communication path, and establishes a session. The CPU of the computer (not shown) has a
And the Event-ID (for example, “DR
G7 ”), a LocalEvent-ID (for example,“ LKIO ”) and a category (to be a dish) are read and transmitted to the additional information management server 16 as additional information acquisition data D40.

The additional information management server 16 stores each additional information described by each information providing advertiser as Even.
The management is performed based on the t-ID and the LocalEvent-ID. As shown in FIG. 9, the additional information acquisition data D40 transmitted from the CD production company 17 at this time is received by the communication unit 16A, and the reception is performed. The obtained additional information acquisition data D40 is transmitted to the application processing unit 16
B.

The application processing unit 16B transmits the Event-ID “D” which is the content of the additional information acquisition data D40.
RG7 "and LocalEvent-ID" LKIO "
Additional information entry data D described in XML based on
41, and supplies this to the media conversion unit 16C.

The media conversion unit 16C converts the additional information entry data D41, which has been converted to conform to the data format of the computer (CD production company 17) that has requested the acquisition of the additional information, at this time, to the communication unit. 16
A is transmitted to a computer (not shown) of the CD production company 17 via A.

Thus, the CPU of the computer (not shown) of the CD production company 17 displays an additional information entry screen as shown in FIG.
Prompt for entry.

Each item of the additional information displayed at this time is
Since each information providing advertiser can describe only desired items, the television broadcasting station 10 responds to each information providing advertiser according to the intention of each information providing advertiser as a result. Additional information can be provided to the user.

Accordingly, if the CD production company 17 does not want to access the telephone, for example, the item of the expiration date is set to “XX year,
△ month □ day ”,“ pops ”for the genre item,“ xxxxxx company ”for the sponsor item, and“ http ”for the URL item
p: // www. %%%%%%%. ne. jp / ”,“ Latitude ☆☆ / Longitude ◇◇ ”in the location field,“ Song title / CD number (specific information used to identify the location) ”in the music field, etc. The CPU of the computer (not shown) returns this to the additional information management server 16 via the communication interface (FIG. 9) without filling in the item as the additional information filled data D43.

Here, in the additional information entry screen, Ta
In the item of rget device information, when an access item (URL, position, music) is described, a combination of terminal devices that can be handled is represented by an identification code according to the described access item. That is, the identification code of the Target device information indicates the intention of the CD production company 17 (each terminal device desired to be used).

The additional information management server 16 performs a predetermined security check on the additional information filled data D43 supplied from the CD production company 17, and then sends it to the media conversion unit 16C. Media converter 16C
Is to rewrite the additional information filled data supplied from each information providing advertiser in XML conforming to the EPG data, and the content of the additional information filled data D43 supplied from the CD production company 17 By omitting the additional information items (telephone number items) not described at this time out of the additional information and re-writing the additional information in XML conforming to the EPG data, the additional information D44 is generated, and this is generated.
t-ID "DRG7", LocalEvent-ID
It is stored in the database 16D as a file of “LKIO” (FIG. 9).

Here, the EPG generation unit 25 of the transmission device 15
In FIG. 3, for example, one week of EPG data is periodically created, and in this case, the EPG generation unit 2
5 executes the EPG data generation processing procedure shown in FIG.

That is, in FIG.
5 enters the EPG data generation processing procedure RT1 and moves to step SP1, where a predetermined number of Eve are described in the XML description.
An nt-ID is generated, and the routine goes to step SP2.

In step SP2, the EPG generator 25
Is a predetermined number (for example, one week of Event-
LocalEve for each Event-ID of
It is determined whether to generate an nt-ID. Here, if a negative result is obtained, this means that the television broadcasting station 10 does not want to add LocalEvent-ID to all of the generated predetermined number (for example, one week of Event-ID) of each Event-ID. At this time, the EPG generator 25 proceeds to step SP4.

On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP2, this means that a predetermined number of generated Event-IDs (for example, one week of Event-ID) are generated.
Indicates that the television broadcast station 10 wishes to add the LocalEvent-ID to all or any of the above. At this time, the EPG generator 25 proceeds to the subsequent step SP3.

In step SP3, the EPG generator 25
Is the Event-I desired by the television broadcasting station 10.
A predetermined number of LocalEvent-IDs are added to D, and one or more categories are added to the LocalEvent-ID, and the process proceeds to step SP4.

In step SP4, the EPG generator 25
Is Event-ID or LocalEvent-ID
It is determined whether or not additional information is added to the category.
If a negative result is obtained here, this means that the generated Ev
additional information or LocalEve corresponding to the ent-ID
This indicates that there is no additional information corresponding to the nt-ID (there is no provision of additional information by each information providing advertiser for a program or a program scene generated by the television broadcasting station 10). Then, the procedure goes to step SP6 to end the EPG data generation processing procedure RT1.

On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP4, this means that the generated Event-I
Additional information or LocalEvent-ID corresponding to D
(Each information providing advertiser provides additional information for a program or a program scene generated by the television broadcast station 10). At this time, the EPG generation unit 25 performs the following steps. Move on to SP5.

In step SP5, the EPG generator 25
Is the additional information or Locala corresponding to the Event-ID.
The additional information corresponding to the lEvent-ID is added (read from the database 16D of the additional information management server 16), and the process proceeds to step SP6 where the EPG data generation processing procedure RT1 ends.

As described above, in the information providing system,
The television broadcasting station 10 transmits the L to the EPG data.
ocalEvent-ID and additional information description in XML
As shown in FIG. 12, a plurality of LocalEvent-IDs and a plurality of categories can be added to one program (Event-ID) as shown in FIG. A plurality of pieces of additional information corresponding to the added various units (categories) can be added (that is, several LocalEs).
vent-ID, category and additional information can be added). FIG. 13 shows a file description example of the additional information described above with reference to FIG.

The EPG data D25 (supposed to include the additional information provided by the CD production company 17) generated by the EPG generation unit 25 in this manner is transmitted from the television broadcasting station 10 (FIG. 2). The signal is output to the multiplexer 23 (FIG. 3) in the device 15 (FIG. 3).

In this case, the multiplexer 23 (FIG. 3)
EPG data D25 supplied from EPG generation unit 25
At this time, a bit stream is generated by performing time division multiplexing processing on each of the audio encoded data supplied from the audio encoder 21 and the video encoded data supplied from the video encoder 22. The bit stream is scrambled, and the resulting multiplexed data D30 is output to the modulator 24.
Therefore, as a result, the transmission device 15 distributes the broadcast wave on which the EPG data is superimposed to the IRD 3.

In this case, the front end 30 of the IRD 3 (FIG. 4) extracts the broadcast wave of the channel on which the EPG data is superimposed from the received broadcast wave, and demodulates the broadcast wave of the extracted channel. To generate the multiplexed data D30 and send it to the demultiplexer 31.

The demultiplexer 31 outputs the multiplexed data D
30 is temporarily stored in a buffer (not shown), and the stored multiplexed data D30 is transmitted in advance using the descrambling key data owned by the IRD 3 (FIG. 3).
After the scramble performed in step (1) is released, the EPG data D25 is transferred to the flash memory 41 via the bus BUS and stored therein by appropriately reading the scramble.

As described above, the IRD 3 (FIG. 4) periodically updates the EPG data stored in the flash memory 41, and always stores the latest EPG data in the flash memory 41. .

In this state, when the user is watching a desired television program (referred to as a music program) via the display screen of the monitor 12 (FIG. 2) of the television device 11, for example, C of the song being sung
When the user wants to obtain detailed information about music, for example, when he or she wants a D (Compact Disk), he or she mounts the removable medium 5 owned by himself / herself in a slot provided in the IRD 3.

As shown in FIG. 14, the removable medium 5 is inserted into a slot of each terminal device (FIG. 1: IRD 3, personal computer 6, mobile phone 7, PDA 8 and navigation device 9, FIG. 2: karaoke device 18). 5A, and a memory 5B connected to the connector 5A via a bus BUS.

When the removable medium 5 is the IRD 3
(FIG. 4), when the detection contact of the removable medium 5 is connected to the contact of the removable media interface 43 in the IRD 3, the interface processing unit 44 changes the signal level for detection of the removable medium (see FIG. 4). A change from a logic "L" level to a logic "H" level) is detected, and an interrupt signal is sent to the CPU 36 to perform interrupt processing. Thereby, the CPU 36 detects that the removable medium 5 is mounted.

The interface processing unit 44 transmits and receives data to and from the removable medium 5
This is a processing block for performing protocol processing according to the interface specifications. As a result, the interface processing unit 44 enters a state in which additional information serving as user-specific information can be written to the removable medium 5.

The removable media interface 43 is constituted by a serial interface and has at least three data lines. The first data line transmits a clock signal during data transmission, the second data line transmits a status signal required during data transmission, and the third data line transmits data written to or read from the removable medium 5. Transmit serially.

In a state where the removable medium 5 is mounted in the slot of the IRD 3 (the CPU 36 detects that the removable medium 5 is mounted), the user uses the remote controller 29 to perform a predetermined additional information acquisition operation. Then, the remote controller 29 generates a command signal S1 corresponding to the operation, and superimposes the generated command signal S1 on infrared rays and transmits the signal to the IRD 3.

When the IRD 3 receives the command signal S1 superimposed on the infrared ray and transmitted by the infrared ray receiving section 28, the infrared ray receiving section 28 performs photoelectric conversion on the received infrared ray to thereby superimpose it on the infrared ray. The command signal S1 is extracted and sent to the CPU 36.

Thus, the CPU 36 as selection means
Is the Event-ID corresponding to the music program selected by the IRD 3 (displayed on the monitor by the user) at this time.
All of the additional information existing in the lower hierarchy of the
Dictionary data such as characters and symbols stored in the RAM 3
9 on the RAM 39, and performs graphic processing on all the additional information read out at this time based on the dictionary data.
5 is generated and sent to the graphic engine 40.

The graphic engine 40 performs a digital-to-analog conversion process on the additional information selection screen data D45, and further converts it into an NTSC luminance signal and color difference signal to generate an additional information selection image signal S46. It is sent to the RGB encoder 35.

The RGB encoder 35 outputs the additional information selection image signal S 46 supplied from the graphic engine 40.
And a video signal supplied from the video decoder 33 at this time.
(FIG. 2), the television apparatus 11 displays an image corresponding to the mixed signal S46 and an additional information selection screen as shown in FIG. 15, for example, on the monitor 12 to urge the user to make a selection.

The user uses the remote controller 29 to display the additional information selection screen displayed at this time.
When the user inputs a desired number and performs a predetermined acquisition operation (an operation of acquiring the additional information provided by the CD production company 17), the remote controller 29 issues a command signal S corresponding to the operation.
1 is generated, and the generated command signal S1 is superimposed on infrared rays and transmitted to the IRD 3.

When the IRD 3 receives the command signal S1 superimposed on the infrared ray and transmitted by the infrared ray receiving section 28, the infrared ray receiving section 28 performs photoelectric conversion on the received infrared ray to thereby superimpose it on the infrared ray. The command signal S1 is extracted and sent to the CPU 36.

As a result, the CPU 36 as a selection means
Sends the additional information corresponding to the number input (selected) by the user among the additional information developed on the RAM 39 at this time to the filter unit 42.

The filter section 42 filters (rewrites or deletes) each additional information based on the registration information registered in the flash memory 41 of the IRD 3 in advance.

Here, the registration information is information for registering various terminal devices owned by the user in the IRD 3 or various terminal devices desired to be used as an identification code, and the identification code is a flash memory in the IRD 3. 4
1 is stored. The identification code has a combination corresponding to the identification code of Target device information (FIG. 6), which is an item of additional information, and is read out by the CPU 36 when the removable medium 5 is mounted.

In this registration information registration method, when the user purchases the IRD 3, the remote controller 29
When a predetermined initial registration operation is performed using
For example, a registration screen as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed to prompt the user to register. On the other hand, the user performs a predetermined registration operation using the remote controller 29 on the registration screen to register. The registered content registered at this time is the CPU
36 is reflected in the identification code of the registration information. That is, the identification code of the registration information represents various terminal devices used by the user or a combination of various terminal devices desired to be used.

Incidentally, the IRD 3 is designed to rewrite the registration information again. In this case, for example, when the user purchases a new terminal device and performs a predetermined re-registration operation using the remote controller 29, the CPU 36
Displays a registration screen as shown in FIG. 17 again, and prompts the user to register again. On the other hand, the user performs a predetermined registration operation using the remote controller 29 on the registration screen to register again. The registration contents registered at this time are reflected by the CPU 36 on the identification code of the registration information.

In a state in which the additional information corresponding to the number input (selected) by the user is sent from the RAM 39 to the filter unit 42, the filter unit 42 as the recording means sets the additional information supplied from the RAM 39 at this time. The combination of both the identification code (combination) of each Target device information and the identification code (combination) of the registration information (personal computer 6, mobile phone 7, PDA 8, and navigation device 9 as the device possessed by the user) The identification code of each Target device information is rewritten so as to be a matching combination.

That is, the filter unit 42 provides a Tar table representing a combination of terminal devices that the information providing advertiser wants to use.
Both the identification code of the get device information and the identification code of the registration information indicating the combination of the terminal devices used by the user match (the terminal device desired by the information providing advertiser and the terminal device used by the user). By rewriting the identification code of the target device information so as to be a combination, the rewritten identification code of the target device information is the terminal device that the information providing advertiser wants to use among the terminal devices that the user can use. It consists of a combination of devices.

That is, for example, the access information (for example, “http: // www. !!!!! .co.”) Is added to the access item (for example, “URL” item, “position” item) of the additional information.
jp "," N: 38 ° 24'15 "/ S: 138 ° 2
By describing 3'53 "", a personal computer and a navigation device (that is, a personal computer as a terminal device that an information providing advertiser wants to use) can be handled as a terminal device that can be handled represented by the identification code of Target device information. And the navigation device is represented), and only the personal computer (that is, the terminal device possessed by the user is the only personal computer) as the treatable terminal device represented by the identification code of the registration information, The filter unit 42 rewrites the identification code of the Target device information to a combination of terminal devices that can be used by the user (that is, a personal computer) among the terminal devices that the information providing advertiser wants to use.

The filter unit 42 determines in advance whether or not the expiration date described in the expiration date of the additional information has passed based on the clock in the IRD 3. If the described time limit has passed, the additional information is filtered (deleted).

When the identification code of the Target device information is rewritten, the filter unit 42 as a recording unit stores each additional information in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5 via the removable medium interface 43 and the connector 5A.

Here, the removable medium 5 stores the I
With the RD3 mounted in the slot, the IRD3
Searches the EPG data stored in the flash memory 41 for each item of LocalEvent-ID or additional information, and among the searched additional information, additional information desired by the user in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5.
Can also be stored.

In this case, when the user performs a predetermined operation for displaying the search screen from the remote controller 29, the remote controller 29 generates a command signal S1 corresponding to the operation, and transmits the generated command signal S1 to the infrared ray. And transmit it to IRD3.

When the IRD 3 receives the command signal S1 superimposed on the infrared ray and transmitted by the infrared ray receiving section 28, the infrared ray receiving section 28 performs photoelectric conversion on the received infrared ray to thereby superimpose it on the infrared ray. The command signal S1 is extracted and sent to the CPU 36.

The CPU 36 at this time reads the ROM
A search designation screen as shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the monitor 12 of the television device 11 based on the search program stored in the storage device 38 to prompt the user to input.

On the other hand, when the user uses the remote controller 29 to input, for example, “music scene” as information serving as a keyword and performs a predetermined search operation, the remote controller 29 issues a command signal corresponding to the operation. S
1 is generated, and the generated command signal S1 is superimposed on infrared rays and transmitted to the IRD 3.

When the IRD 3 receives the command signal S1 superimposed on the infrared ray and transmitted by the infrared ray receiving section 28, the infrared ray receiving section 28 performs photoelectric conversion on the received infrared ray to thereby superimpose it on the infrared ray. The command signal S1 is extracted and sent to the CPU 36.

As a result, the CPU 36 as a selection means
Is the E stored in the flash memory 41 at this time.
Among the various LocalEvent-ID titles (FIG. 6) of the PG data, additional information in which characters of “music scene” are input is expanded on the RAM 39 and RO
Dictionary data such as characters and symbols stored in M38 is also R
By developing the data on the AM 39 and performing graphic processing on the additional information read at this time based on the dictionary data on the RAM 39, the search result screen data D35
Is generated and sent to the graphic engine 40.

The graphic engine 40 performs a digital-to-analog conversion process on the search result screen data D35, and further converts the search result screen data D35 into an NTSC luminance signal and color difference signal to generate a search result image signal S36.
It is sent to the B encoder 35.

The RGB encoder 35 receives the search result image signal S36 supplied from the graphic engine 40,
At this time, the video signal supplied from the video decoder 33 is mixed and output to the television device 11 (FIG. 2), and the television device 11 outputs the video and the search result image signal S3.
6 and a search result screen as shown in FIG. 19, for example, are displayed on the monitor 12 (FIG. 2).

In this way, the IRD 3 causes the television apparatus 11 to display the search result screen in which the “music scene” has been picked up, and prompts the user to make a selection to store it in the memory 5 B of the removable medium 5. .

When the user inputs a desired number to the search result screen displayed at this time by using the remote controller 29 and performs a predetermined additional information acquisition operation,
The remote controller 29 generates a command signal S1 corresponding to the operation, and superimposes the generated command signal S1 on infrared rays and transmits the command signal S1 to the IRD 3.

When the IRD 3 receives the command signal S1 superimposed and transmitted on the infrared ray at the infrared ray receiving section 28, the infrared ray receiving section 28 performs photoelectric conversion on the received infrared ray and thereby superimposes it on the infrared ray. The command signal S1 is extracted and sent to the CPU 36.

As a result, the CPU 36 as a selecting means
Sends the additional information corresponding to the number input (selected) by the user among the additional information developed on the RAM 39 at this time to the filter unit 42.

At this time, the filter unit 42 identifies the target device information identification code and (combination) of each piece of additional information supplied from the RAM 39 and the registration information (the personal computer 6 as a device possessed by the user.
The mobile phone 7, the PDA 8, the navigation device 9, and the karaoke device 1 as a terminal device that the user desires to use.
8) so that both combinations with the identification code (combination) in step 8) match each other.
The identification code of the rget device information is rewritten, and the rewritten additional information is stored in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5 via the removable medium interface 43 and the connector 5A.

On the other hand, when the user
When a predetermined search operation is performed by inputting, for example, “music” which is an item of additional information as information serving as a keyword by using, the CPU 36 as a selection unit performs various types of addition of EPG data stored in the flash memory 41. Of the information, only the additional information having a music item is developed on the RAM 39, and the search result screen (FIG. 19) is displayed on the monitor 12 (FIG. 2) in the same manner as when searching for "music scene".
The user is prompted to make a selection to store the data in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5. Further, the filter unit 42
Is T of the additional information of the item selected by the user at this time.
The identification code of the device information is rewritten, and the rewritten additional information is stored in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5 via the removable medium interface 43 and the connector 5A.

That is, when the removable medium 5
When the user performs a predetermined additional information acquisition operation using the remote controller 29 in a state where the CPU 3 of the IRD 3 is mounted in the slot of the DRD 3, as shown in FIG.
6 enters the additional information recording processing procedure RT2,
The process moves to P11, where all the additional information corresponding to the key operation of the remote controller 29 is extracted from the memory (flash memory 41), and the process moves to step SP12.

At step SP12, the CPU 36
It is determined whether the expiration date of each extracted additional information has passed. If a negative result is obtained here, this means that the expiration date of all the extracted additional information has not passed, and the CPU 36 proceeds to step SP14 at this time.

On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP12, this means that all or any of the extracted additional information has expired, and the CPU 36 then proceeds to step SP13. Move on to

At step SP13, the CPU 36
Of the additional information, the additional information whose validity period has expired is deleted, and the routine goes to step SP14.

At step SP14, the CPU 36
The extracted additional information is stored in removable media,
Moving to the next step SP15, the additional information recording processing procedure RT2 is ended.

As described above, IRD3 is a LocalEve
Since the nt-ID and the information identifier are described in the EPG data in XML, various searches can be performed. Therefore, the user can easily obtain desired additional information from the EPG data having a large amount of information in the removable medium. 5 can be recorded.

The memory 5 of the removable medium 5
After each additional information is recorded in B (additional information provided by the CD production company 17 is also recorded), the user stores the removable medium 5 uniquely owned by the personal computer 6, the mobile phone 7, the PDA 8, the navigation, and the like. By installing any one of the device 9 and a device 18 (hereinafter, referred to as a multimedia terminal device) for performing a search process or a purchase process of an article, the terminal device to which the removable medium 5 is mounted can be replaced with a removable medium. 5 to read out the additional information recorded in
Based on the read additional information, specialize in the terminal device attached at that time (make a call if it is a mobile phone, or display the position on the display unit of the navigation device if it is a navigation device, etc.) ) Is performed.

That is, as the first terminal device, the personal computer 6 can perform predetermined connection processing to access the Internet (not shown). As shown in FIG. 20, the personal computer 6 includes a CPU 6A, a RAM (Random Access).
ss Memory) 6B, ROM (Read Onl)
y Memory) 6C, a removable media interface (INF) 6D for exchanging data with the removable medium 5 as an external storage means, an interface processing unit 6J, and a communication exchanging data with a communication network (not shown). A VRAM (Video RA) storing characters and graphics corresponding to data to be displayed on the display 6G such as the interface 6E and the liquid crystal display panel.
M) A signal input by the user operating the 6F and the input unit 6H such as a keyboard and a mouse is transmitted to the CPU 6A.
The input interface (INF) 61 for communicating with the data bus is connected to the data bus BUS.

The CPU 6A executes various processes in accordance with the processing programs stored in the ROM 6C, and controls each circuit according to the processes. C
The PU 6A displays the various processing contents on the display unit 6G.

Here, the user wishes to check information on the CD production company 17, and the removable medium 5
Is attached to the removable media interface 6D having the removable media slot, the detection contact of the removable media 5 is connected to the contact of the removable media interface 6D, so that the interface processing unit 6J changes the signal level for detection of the removable media ( A change from the logic "L" level to the logic "H" level) is detected, and an interrupt signal is sent to the CPU 6A to perform interrupt processing.

As a result, the CPU 6A detects that the removable medium 5 has been connected. Incidentally, the interface processing unit 6J is a processing block for performing a protocol process in accordance with the interface specification when transferring data to and from the removable medium 5. As a result, the interface processing unit 6J is ready to read data from the removable medium 5.

Incidentally, the removable media interface 6D is constituted by a serial interface.
It has at least three data lines. The first data line transmits a clock signal during data transmission, the second data line transmits a status signal required during data transmission, and the third data line transmits a clock signal.
These data lines serially transmit data to be written to or read from the removable medium 5.

In a state where the interface processing unit 6J can read data from the removable medium 5, the CPU 6 sets the personal computer 6 based on the target device information of the additional information recorded in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5. An access item (for example, “URL”) of each piece of additional information that can be used by the user and a LocalEvent-ID corresponding to each piece of the additional information
, Respectively (that is, the title name of the program scene), and read them out in VRA (Video RA).
M) A list is displayed on the display unit 6G via the 6F to urge selection.

When the user selects the URL of the CD production company 17 via the input section 6H in response to the list display, the input interface (INF) 6I informs the CPU 6 to that effect.
Tell A.

Thus, the CPU 6A reads out the URL selected by the user via the input unit from the memory 5B of the removable medium 5 and develops the same on the RAM 6B, whereby the URL is read via the interface processing unit 6J and the communication interface 6E. Access a homepage corresponding to the URL (a homepage created by the CD production company 17).

The home page created by the CD production company 17 is displayed on the display unit 6G of the personal computer 6.
Is displayed, whereby the user can obtain detailed information on the CD production company 17.

In this state, if the user wants to purchase a CD posted on the homepage, the personal computer 6 is connected to a computer (not shown) of the CD production company 17 that provides the homepage. By performing the charging process described above, a CD can be purchased.

As described above, since the IRD 3 filters (rewrites) based on the identification code of the registration information and the identification code of the Target information, the personal computer 6 operates based on the identification code of the Target information. Items of additional information (U
RL) and LocalEve corresponding to the additional information.
Only the title of the nt-ID (that is, the title of the program scene) can be read out, whereby the personal computer 6 can read each item (U
RL) and LocalEve corresponding to the additional information.
A list of nt-ID titles is displayed on the display unit 6G.

Thus, the user simply mounts the removable medium 5 on the personal computer 6, and only information that can be handled by the personal computer 6 is displayed as an option on the display unit 6G so as to be easily selected. By simply selecting, detailed information on the information providing advertiser who provided the URL can be obtained. The user can also make a reservation, purchase a product, and the like by performing a predetermined charging operation based on detailed information (homepage) on the information providing advertiser who provided the URL.

As a second terminal device, a portable telephone 7
As shown in FIG. 21, CPU 7A, memory 7B, removable media interface (INF) 7C,
An interface processing unit 7N, a transmission / reception circuit (RF) 7E for transmitting / receiving signals to / from a telephone line (not shown), and an RF (Radio F) received by the transmission / reception circuit unit 7E.
MMI (M), which is an interface with a baseband processing unit 7D, a microphone 7G, and a speaker 7H that converts a signal to a baseband signal and converts a baseband signal to be transmitted into an RF signal.
an Machine Interface) section 7F,
A VRAM 7K storing characters and graphics corresponding to data to be displayed on a display unit 7I such as a liquid crystal display panel;
And the input unit 7J is connected to the data bus BUS.

The CPU 7A executes various processes in accordance with the processing programs stored in the memory 7B, and controls each circuit according to the processes. C
Various processing contents of the PU 7A are displayed on a display unit 7I constituted by a liquid crystal panel or the like as necessary.

When a telephone number of a call destination desired by the user is input, input unit 7J converts data representing the telephone number into a CP.
Supply to U7A. As a result, the CPU 7A transmits a connection request to the call destination represented by the telephone number input by the user via the transmission / reception circuit unit 7E. At this time, a telephone line (not shown) connects the line according to the response of the called party.
When the line is connected, the transmission / reception circuit unit 7E converts the RF signal from the other party received via the antenna (not shown) into a baseband signal. Baseband processing unit 7D
Converts the converted baseband signal S7F into an MMI
By supplying the audio signal to the unit 7F, the received audio signal from the called party is output from the speaker 7H as audio.

When the user inputs voice through the microphone 7G, the MMI unit 7F supplies the input voice signal supplied from the microphone 7G to the baseband processing unit 7D, where the baseband signal is converted into an RF signal. I do. Then, the baseband processing unit 7D sends the converted RF signal to a telephone line (not shown) via the transmission / reception circuit unit 7E, thereby transmitting the RF signal to a destination connected to the line. Thus, the user using the mobile phone 7 can exchange conversations and various information with the other party.

Here, the user desires to purchase clothes of the person shown on the jacket of the CD, for example, and connects his / her own removable media 5 to the removable media interface 7C having a removable media slot of the mobile phone 7. Then, since the detection contact of the removable medium 5 is connected to the contact of the removable media interface 7C, the interface processing unit 7N changes the signal level for detection of the removable medium (from the logical “L” level to the logical “H” level). ) Is detected, and an interrupt signal is sent to the CPU 7A to perform an interrupt process.

As a result, the CPU 7A detects that the removable medium 5 has been connected. Incidentally, the interface processing unit 7N is a processing block for performing protocol processing in accordance with the interface specifications when data is transferred to and from the removable medium 5. As a result, the interface processing unit 7N controls the removable medium 5
Is ready to read the additional information recorded in.

In a state where the interface processing unit 7N can write or read data to or from the removable medium 5, the CPU 7A transmits the Tar of the additional information recorded in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5.
Based on the get device information, only the access item (“TEL”) of each additional information that can be used by the mobile phone 7 and the title of the LocalEvent-ID corresponding to the respective additional information (that is, the title name of the program scene) are respectively stored. And read them out via the VRAM 7K to the display unit 7I.
And display a list to prompt the user to select.

When the user selects a desired telephone number via the input section 7J with respect to this list display, the fact is notified to the CPU 6A via the bus BUS.

As a result, the CPU 7A sends the transmission / reception circuit section 7 to the destination indicated by the telephone number entered by the user.
Send a connection request via E. At this time, a telephone line (not shown) connects the line according to the response of the called party. Thereby, the user can directly hear detailed information on clothes from the information providing advertiser who provided the additional information.

As described above, since the IRD 3 filters (rewrites) based on the identification code of the registration information and the identification code of the Target information, the portable telephone 7 can handle each item of the additional information that can be handled. (TE
L) and LocalEven corresponding to the respective additional information
Only the title of the t-ID can be read, whereby the mobile phone 7 can read each item (T) of the read additional information.
EL) and LocalEve corresponding to each of the additional information.
A list of nt-ID titles is displayed on the display unit 6G.

Thus, the user simply mounts the removable medium 5 on the mobile phone 7 and easily selects only information that can be handled by the mobile phone 7 as an option.
Is displayed, the detailed information can be directly heard from the information providing advertiser who provided the telephone number only by selecting the desired telephone number from the options.

As the third terminal device, PDA 8
A predetermined connection process is performed to access the Internet (not shown). This PDA8 is
As shown in FIG. 22, CPU 8A, RAM (Rando)
m Access Memory) 8B, ROM (Re
ad Only Memory) 8C, a removable media interface (INF) 8 for exchanging data with the removable medium 5 as an external storage means.
D, interface processing unit 8J, communication network (not shown)
A communication interface 8E for exchanging data with the
A VRAM (Vi) storing characters and graphics corresponding to data to be displayed on a display unit 8G such as a liquid crystal display panel.
video RAM) 8F and an input interface (INF) for transmitting a signal input by a user operating an input unit 8H such as a keyboard or a mouse to the CPU 8A.
8I are connected to the data bus BUS.

The CPU 8A executes various processes in accordance with the processing programs stored in the ROM 8C, and controls each circuit according to the processes. C
The PU 8A displays the various processing contents on the display unit 8G.

Here, when the user inserts the removable media 5 into the removable media interface 8D having the slot for the removable media in the hope that the user wants to check the information on the music, the contact for detecting the removable media 5 is changed to the contact of the removable media interface 8D. The interface processing unit 8J detects a change in the signal level for detecting the removable medium (change from the logical "L" level to the logical "H" level) and sends an interrupt signal to the CPU 8A. Performs interrupt processing.

Thus, the CPU 8A detects that the removable medium 5 has been connected. Incidentally, the interface processing unit 8J is a processing block for performing a protocol process in accordance with the interface specification when transferring data to and from the removable medium 5. As a result, the interface processing unit 8J is ready to read data from the removable medium 5.

In this case, similarly to the personal computer 6, the PDA 8 uses the access item (eg, “URL”) of each additional information that can be used and the L corresponding to each of the additional information.
Only the title of the ocalEvent-ID (that is, the title name of the program scene) is read out, and these are listed and displayed on the display unit 6G via the VRAM 8F. Thus, the user merely attaches the removable medium 5 to the PDA 8 and can handle information (UR) that can be handled by the PDA 8.
Since only L) is displayed on the display unit 8G so as to be easily selected as an option, only by selecting a desired URL from the options,
Detailed information about the information providing advertiser who provided the URL can be obtained.

The PDA 8 is a portable information terminal device as one feature of the PDA. This allows the user to compare the PDA 8 with the personal computer 6,
It can be easily transported. Thus, the user can check information on, for example, music recorded on the removable medium 5 at a desired time or at a desired place.

As a fourth terminal device, the navigation device 9 includes a CPU 9A and a RAM as shown in FIG.
(Random Access Memory) 9B,
A ROM (Read Only Memory) 9C, a removable media interface (INF) 9D for exchanging data with the removable medium 5 serving as an external storage means, an interface processing unit 9J, and a calculation of a position of an automobile equipped with the navigation device 9 and the like. Positioning information detection unit 9E for generating various information necessary for communication with interface 9F for sending and receiving, display unit 9 such as a liquid crystal display panel
A graphics controller 9G configured to generate data to be displayed on H, an input unit 9I such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a data reproduction unit 9K based on predetermined data from a positioning information detection unit 9E. Each of the audio controllers 9M that generates an audio signal S9M is connected to the data bus BUS.

The CPU 9A executes various processes in accordance with the processing programs stored in the ROM 9C, and controls each circuit in accordance with the processes. C
The PU 9A displays the various processing contents on the display unit 9H via the VRAM 9G and, if necessary, the audio control unit 9
A sound is output from a speaker (not shown) according to a sound signal S9M generated in M.

When the user performs a predetermined operation of turning on the power via the input unit 9I, the positioning information detecting unit 9E detects the azimuth information signal S9N obtained by detecting the terrestrial magnetism in the traveling azimuth detecting unit 9N, and detects the angular velocity. The angular velocity information signal S9P obtained by detecting the angular velocity of the automobile in the section 9P, the traveling distance information signal S9Q obtained by detecting the traveling distance of the automobile in the traveling distance detecting section 9Q, and a plurality of GPS satellites in the GPS receiving section 9R. A radio wave obtained from a vehicle (not shown) is received via an antenna 9U, a positioning information signal S9R obtained by the reception, and a speed information signal obtained by detecting the speed of the vehicle by a vehicle speed detector 9T. In S9T, the traffic information receiving unit 9V constantly receives radio waves obtained from a road traffic communication station (not shown) via the antenna 9L and generates traffic information such as traffic congestion. The passing information signal S9V respectively sent to the interface 9F.

The interface 9F converts the input signals (azimuth information signal S9N, angular velocity information signal S9P, mileage information signal S9Q, positioning information signal S9R, speed information signal S9T, and traffic information signal S9V) into digital conversion processing. By applying, azimuth information data D9N,
Angular velocity information data D9P, traveling distance information data D9Q,
It generates positioning information data D9R, speed information data D9T, and traffic information data D9V, respectively, and uses these bus BUs.
The data is sent to the CPU 9A via S.

The CPU 9A reads out a predetermined program stored and held in the ROM 9C in advance, and based on the read out program, azimuth information data D9N, angular velocity information data D9P, traveling distance information data D9Q, positioning information data D9R, and speed information data. A predetermined calculation process is performed on the D9T, and as a result, the current position (latitude, longitude, etc.) of the vehicle, the amount of movement of the vehicle from the departure point (or activation of the navigation device 9) to the current time, the speed of the vehicle, and The traveling direction of the vehicle and the like can be calculated, and these are sent to the graphic controller 9G as vehicle positioning data D9Z.

Here, the data reproducing section 9K is a CD-ROM in which map information is recorded in the form of digital data, for example.
Is loaded in advance, and the CD is controlled under the control of the CPU 9A.
-Reproduce the ROM and transmit map information in a predetermined range including the position of the vehicle calculated by the above-described calculation to the graphic controller 9G as map information data D9Y.

The graphic controller 9G generates video data in frame units from the map information data D9Y so that a map composed of roads, intersections, and the like can be displayed on the screen of the display section 9H, and generates the video data based on the vehicle positioning data D9Z. Display data D9X obtained by generating vehicle position data representing the position and traveling direction of the vehicle
To the display unit 9H.

As a result, the display unit 9H displays a map on the screen and displays a mark indicating the position and the traveling direction of the automobile on the map in a superimposed manner. Thus, the user who looks at the car navigation device 9 can visually recognize the current position of the vehicle and the traveling direction of the vehicle.

When the user performs a predetermined operation for searching for a route to a predetermined destination via the input unit 9I, the CPU 9A reads a route search program from the ROM 9C and loads the program on the RAM 9B. As a result, a route search mode is set.

In this state, the CPU 9A controls the data reproducing section 9K to reproduce the CD-ROM,
Selecting map information including the current vehicle position to the destination from the ROM and corresponding road information from the map data D9W, and among the selected map information and corresponding road information, traffic information supplied from the interface 9F; Based on the data, the map information and the corresponding road information that are the shortest time are searched by the route search program.

Then, the CPU 9A sends the retrieved map information and the corresponding road information and the vehicle position data representing the position and the traveling direction of the vehicle to the graphic controller based on the vehicle positioning data D9Z. The corresponding road information and the vehicle position data are combined and transmitted to the display unit 9H. Thus, the user who looks at the car navigation device 9 can search for a route to a predetermined destination.

Further, the voice control circuit 9M provides the data reproducing section 9 based on the azimuth change data (generated when the CPU 9A determines that the vehicle needs to change the heading).
M to reproduce the CD-ROM,
The audio information corresponding to the azimuth change data is read out of various audio information recorded in advance in M. As a result, the voice control circuit 25 outputs the voice signal S10 representing the notification sound such as right turn or left turn.
Is generated and sent to the speaker 27. Speaker 2
7 outputs a notification sound corresponding to the audio signal S10. Thus, the user driving the car, when the car needs to change the heading while the car is traveling along the route to the destination, by outputting a notification sound prior to this, The change in the traveling direction of the vehicle can be recognized audibly.

Here, if the user is, for example, a CD production company 17
To find the location of removable media 5
Is inserted into the removable media interface 9D having the removable media slot, the detection contact of the removable media 5 is connected to the contact of the removable media interface 9D, and the interface processing unit 9J changes the signal level for the detection of the removable media ( A change from the logic "L" level to the logic "H" level) is detected, and an interrupt signal is sent to the CPU 9A to perform an interrupt process.

Thus, the CPU 9A detects that the removable medium 5 has been connected. Incidentally, the interface processing unit 9J is a processing block for performing a protocol process in accordance with the interface specification when transferring data to and from the removable medium 5. As a result, the interface processing unit 9J is ready to read data from the removable medium 5.

Incidentally, the removable media interface 9D is constituted by a serial interface.
It has at least three data lines. The first data line transmits a clock signal during data transmission, the second data line transmits a status signal required during data transmission, and the third data line transmits a clock signal.
These data lines serially transmit data to be written to or read from the removable medium 5.

In a state where the interface processing unit 9J can write or read data to or from the removable medium 5, the CPU 9A transmits the Tar of the additional information recorded in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5.
The navigation device 9 based on the get device information
The access item (“position”) of each piece of additional information that can be used by LocalEvent-I corresponding to each piece of additional information
Only the title of D (that is, the title name of the program scene) is read out, and the items of the read out additional information are displayed in a list on the display unit 9H via the graphic controller 9G to urge the selection.

When the user selects the position (place: latitude and longitude) of the CD production company 17 via the input unit 9I in response to the list display, the CPU 9 informs the user via the bus BUS of the selection.
Tell 9A.

As a result, the CPU 9A reads the route search program from the ROM 9C, reads the position information (latitude and longitude) selected by the user from the memory 5B of the removable medium 5, and stores the program and the position information (latitude and longitude) in the RAM 9B. By expanding it above, it becomes the route search mode.

In this state, the CPU 9A controls the data reproducing section 9K to reproduce the CD-ROM, and includes from the current position of the automobile to the destination from the CD-ROM based on the position information (latitude and longitude). The map information and the corresponding road information are selected from the map data D9W. Based on the selected map information and the traffic information data supplied from the corresponding road information interface 9F, the shortest time map information and the corresponding road information are determined. Search by route search program.

Then, the CPU 9A sends the retrieved map information and the corresponding road information, and the vehicle position data representing the position and traveling direction of the vehicle to the graphic controller based on the vehicle positioning data D9Z. The corresponding road information and the vehicle position data are combined and transmitted to the display unit 9H. Thus, the user who looks at the navigation device 9 can search for a route to a predetermined destination.

As described above, since the IRD 3 filters (rewrites) based on the identification code of the registration information and the identification code of the Target information, the navigation device 9 can handle each of the additional information that can be handled. Only the item (positional information (longitude and latitude)) and the title of the LocalEvent-ID corresponding to each of the additional information (namely, the title of the program scene) can be read out, so that the navigation device 9 can read out the read out additional information. (Position information (longitude and latitude)) and LocalEvent-ID corresponding to each of the additional information
Is displayed on the display unit 9H.

Thus, the user merely mounts the removable medium 5 on the navigation device 9 and only information that can be handled by the navigation device 9 is displayed on the display section 9H as an option so that the user can easily select the information. By simply selecting the longitude and latitude, the detailed location of the information providing advertiser that provided the longitude and latitude can be confirmed.

As a fifth terminal device, for example, a multimedia terminal device 18 installed in a department store
Can access the Internet (not shown) by performing a predetermined connection process. This multimedia terminal device 18, as shown in FIG.
CPU 18A, RAM (Random AccessM)
memory) 18B, ROM (Read Only M)
memory 18C, a removable media interface (INF) 18D for exchanging data with the removable medium 5 as an external storage means, an interface processing unit 18J, a communication interface for exchanging data with a communication network (not shown). 18E, a VRAM (Video R) storing characters and figures corresponding to data to be displayed on a display unit 18G such as a liquid crystal display panel.
AM) 18F and an input unit 18 such as a keyboard and a mouse.
The signal input by the user operating H is CP
Input interface (INF) 18 to inform U18A
I are respectively connected to the data bus BUS.

The CPU 18A executes various processes in accordance with the processing programs stored in the ROM 18C, and controls each circuit according to the processes. The CPU 18A displays the various processing contents on the display unit 18G.

Here, if the user attaches the removable medium 5 to the removable medium interface 18D having the removable medium slot in order to purchase the CD after actually defining the CD, the detection contact of the removable medium 5 becomes By connecting to the contacts of the media interface 18D,
The interface processing unit 18J detects a change in the signal level for detection of a removable medium (change from a logical “L” level to a logical “H” level), and performs an interrupt process by sending an interrupt signal to the CPU 18A. .

Thus, the CPU 18A detects that the removable medium 5 has been connected. Incidentally, the interface processing unit 18J is a processing block for performing a protocol process in accordance with the interface specification when transferring data to and from the removable medium 5. Thus, the interface processing unit 18J is in a state where data can be read from the removable medium 5.

Incidentally, the removable media interface 18D is constituted by a serial interface and has at least three data lines. A first data line transmitting a clock signal during data transmission, a second data line transmitting a status signal required during data transmission,
The third data line serially transmits data to be written to or read from the removable medium 5.

In a state where the interface processing unit 18J can read data from the removable medium 5, the CPU 18 determines the multimedia terminal based on the target device information of the additional information recorded in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5. Apparatus 1
8 reads the song title of the music item of each additional information that can be used, and stores the read song title in the VRAM (Vi
A list is displayed on the display unit 18G via the (deo RAM) 18F to prompt the user to make a selection.

In response to this list display, when the user selects a song title that the user actually wants to define, via the input section 18H, the input interface (INF) 18 informs the user.
I informs the CPU 18A.

As a result, the CPU 18A stores in the ROM 1
8C is read out and expanded on the RAM 18B, and the CD number, which is identification information used to identify the position corresponding to the song title selected by the user via the input unit, is also displayed. The data is read from the memory 5B of the removable medium 5, which is also read from the RAM 1
8B, C corresponding to the CD number
If D has been delivered to a department store, and if the CD has been delivered, the location of the department store is searched to identify the location where the CD desired by the user is displayed.

Then, the CPU 18A creates map data and text data indicating the display location of the specified CD desired by the user, and displays the created map data and text data via the VRAM 18F.
Display on G.

As a result, the user can retrieve the desired CD without having to search the department store for the removable medium 5.
Is inserted into the multimedia terminal device 18, and only by selecting a desired CD, detailed information such as a map of a place where the desired CD is displayed or a way to go can be obtained.

As described above, the additional information recorded on the removable medium 5 is not the detailed information itself specialized for each terminal device, but only the access information (trigger). The recording capacity for recording can be further reduced. Further, when the user records the access information (trigger) on the removable medium 5 which uniquely possesses the desired additional information, the user can acquire much more detailed information,
This allows the user to attach the removable medium 5 to the terminal device according to the recorded additional information at a desired time or at a desired place, and as a result, obtains detailed information specific to each terminal device. can do.

In the above configuration, the television broadcasting station 10 performs the additional information described in the EPG data in XML, and the information identifier is the television broadcasting station 1
0, IRD3 and each terminal device, it is possible to provide each information providing advertiser with additional information including various items. Therefore, the television broadcasting station 10 can also change the additional information according to the request of each information providing advertiser.

Accordingly, the television broadcasting station 10 provides a new item describing the article-specific number in the additional information, so that the information providing advertiser dealing with the article such as a department store can actively enter the article-specific number. The described additional information is provided for the program created by the television broadcasting station 10.

In this case, the television broadcasting station 10 can provide the user (viewer) by adding the additional information describing the number unique to the article to the EPG data, and as a result, the IRD 3 The user (viewer) can store, in the removable medium 5, additional information corresponding to a program in which the purchase motivation for a certain product is aroused.

Here, if the user wishes to purchase the goods for which purchase motivation has been stimulated without actually purchasing the goods via a network or the like, after defining the items, the user can add additional information to the goods for which the purchase motivation has been stimulated. When the stored removable media 5 is attached to the multimedia terminal device 18 installed in a department store or the like, the multimedia terminal device 18 specifies the storage location of the article based on the unique number of the article, and specifies this. indicate.

Thus, the user can obtain detailed information such as the map of the location of the article and the way to go by simply inserting the removable medium 5 into the multimedia terminal device 18 without searching for the storage location of the article. Thus, it is possible to determine the article for which purchase motivation has been stimulated without having to perform complicated work.

According to the above configuration, the television broadcasting station 10, the IRD 3, and the multimedia terminal device 18
By providing an item describing the number unique to the article in the additional information that can be added by the information identifier defined between them, the user who has stored the additional information in the removable medium 5 can send it to the multimedia terminal device 18. Just by attaching, multimedia terminal device 18
Specifies the storage location of the article based on the unique number of the article and displays it.

Thus, the user can obtain detailed information such as a map of the location of the article and the way to go by simply inserting the removable medium 5 into the multimedia terminal device 18 without searching for the storage location of the article. Can be.

(3) Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, additional information is added to the EPG data, and the EPG data to which the additional information is added is output by the multiplexer 23 to the audio encoded data and the video encoded data. In addition, a case has been described where multiplexed data is generated by performing time-division multiplexing processing, modulated, and transmitted as a broadcast wave from the transmitting device 15 to the IRD 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The video signal may be superimposed on the vertical blanking period, modulated, and transmitted from the transmitting apparatus to the IRD as a broadcast wave.

In this case, the IRD which is the device on the receiving side is
In FIG. 25, in which parts corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are assigned the same reference numerals, a broadcast wave of a channel on which additional information is superimposed by the front end 30 is extracted from broadcast waves received by a receiving antenna (not shown). Then, the video signal S50 is generated by demodulating the broadcast wave of the extracted channel, and the video signal S50 is generated by the RGB encoder 35 and the VBI (Vert).
ical blanking interval) to the slicer 50.

The VBI slicer 50 extracts the additional information D51 from the video signal S50, and
5 The RGB encoder 35 generates an additional information signal by converting the additional information D51 supplied from the VBI slicer 50 into an analog signal, and generates the additional information signal and the video signal S50 supplied from the front end 30 at this time. Is output to the television apparatus 11 (FIG. 2), and the television apparatus 11 displays on the monitor 12 a video image corresponding to the mixed signal S52 and a program screen with the icon 80 as shown in FIG. indicate.

As described above, if the additional information is superimposed on the vertical blanking period of the video signal, and this is modulated and transmitted from the transmitting device to the IRD as a broadcast wave, the additional information of the program that the user watches is obtained. The presence or absence can be visually recognized by the icon 80.

In the above embodiment, the EPG
E in which additional information is added to the data and the additional information is added
A description will be given of a case where multiplexed data is generated by performing time-division multiplexing processing on PG data together with audio coded data and video coded data by a multiplexer 23, and this is modulated and transmitted from a transmitting apparatus to the IRD 3 as a broadcast wave. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the additional information may be embedded in the video signal or the audio signal as digital watermark information.

In this case, the transmitting device 1 which is the transmitting device
5 (FIG. 3), the additional information is embedded in the video signal of the television program created by the television broadcasting station 10, and the video signal in which the additional information is embedded is modulated by the modulator 2.
4 (FIG. 3) is provided with an additional information embedding section 58 adapted to be transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 27, the additional information embedding unit 58 converts the video signal S51 input via the terminal 51 into an FFT (Fast Fourier Transform).
) is received by the processing circuit 53. The FFT processing circuit 53 converts the video signal S51 from the time domain to the frequency domain to generate a frequency spectrum S53, and outputs the frequency spectrum S53 to the variable filter circuit 55.

Further, the additional information embedding section 58 receives the additional information (additional information) S 52 input via the terminal 52 to the multiplication circuit 54. The multiplication circuit 54 multiplies the additional information S52 by a PN (Pseudo Noise: pseudo-random noise) sequence signal S57 having a small amplitude to obtain the additional information S5.
2 is spread spectrum over a wide frequency band to generate an additional information signal S54 having a minute level of amplitude.
54 is output to the variable filter circuit 55.

The variable filter circuit 55 has a filter characteristic according to the frequency spectrum S53 and has an additional information signal S54.
Is filtered to generate an additional information signal S55, which is output to the addition circuit 56.

The addition circuit 56 has the additional information S51 from the terminal 51 and the additional information signal S5 from the variable filter circuit 55.
5 is added to the video signal S3 with additional information.
1 is generated and sent to the modulator 24 (FIG. 3).

By the way, even if the signal input through terminal 51 is an audio signal,
7, the same processing as described above is performed.

On the other hand, in the IRD 3 (FIG. 4), which is a device on the receiving side, the additional information is extracted and the extracted additional information is sent to the RGB encoder 35 (FIG. 4). Is provided. In this case, as shown in FIG. 28, the additional information extracting unit 101 extracts a broadcast wave of a channel on which the additional information is superimposed by the front end 30 from broadcast waves received by a receiving antenna (not shown). Then, a video signal S75 with additional information is input by demodulating the broadcast wave of the extracted channel.

The additional information extracting section 101 outputs the input additional information-added video signal S75 to the FFT processing section 70 and the variable filter 71.

The FFT processing circuit 70 converts the video signal S75 with additional information from the time domain to the frequency domain to generate a frequency spectrum S70,
Output to The variable filter 71 has a filter characteristic corresponding to the frequency spectrum S70,
The additional information S71 included in 70 is extracted, and the extracted additional information S71 is output to the multiplying circuit 72.

The multiplying circuit 72 multiplies the additional information S71 by the same PN sequence code S57 as that on the transmitting side to generate the original additional information S72 from which the PN sequence code has been removed, and outputs this to the RGB encoder 35 (FIG. 4). To send to.

The RGB encoder 35 generates an additional information signal by converting the additional information S72 supplied from the additional information extraction unit 101 into an analog signal, and the generated additional information signal and the supplied additional information signal from the front end 30 at this time. A mixed signal obtained by mixing the video signal with the video signal is output to the television apparatus 11 (FIG. 2), and the television apparatus 11 displays a program screen with an icon 80 as shown in FIG. indicate.

By embedding the additional information in the video signal or the audio signal as the additional information in this manner, the receiving side can visually recognize the presence or absence of the additional information of the program viewed by the user by using the icon 80. .

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where a stick-shaped portable recording medium (removable medium) having a built-in IC memory is used has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a CD-R ( Compact
Various recording media, such as a Disk Recordable and a hard disk drive, and various shapes may be used. In short, various types of recording media can be applied as long as the recording media can be uniquely possessed by the user.

In the above-described embodiment, when the user mounts the removable medium 5 uniquely owned by the user on the IRD 3, personal computer 6, mobile phone 7, PDA 8, navigation device 9, and multimedia terminal device 18 as terminal devices. , But
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be widely applied to various terminal devices such as a video tape recorder.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where television broadcast station 10 distributes broadcast waves has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, various other broadcast stations such as radio stations, Can be widely applied to various broadcasting systems (for example, terrestrial broadcasting).

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which XML is used as a language for describing additional information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, SGML (Sy
nchronized Multimedia Int
In other words, a language that can be described in a variable length can be widely applied.

In the above embodiment, the IRD
3 has been described in the case of recording in the memory 5B of the removable medium 5, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a device such as a television device that can receive broadcast waves or a device that can receive the broadcast waves The present invention can be applied to a device that is connected through a connection unit.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the EP
Although the case where the G generation unit 25 is provided in the transmission device 15 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the additional information management server 16
May be provided. In this case, effects similar to those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

[0211]

As described above, according to the present invention, the information transmitting apparatus distributes an arbitrary number of unit information related to an article together with the position information of the article as the provided information by describing the provided information in a variable length. The information receiving apparatus selects arbitrary unit information from the distributed unit information, and sets the selected unit information and the specific information used to specify the position as an available state on a predetermined recording medium. By recording, the information provided by the broadcasting station can be used effectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an example of an information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmission device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiving device (IRD).

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an EPG data structure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a file structure of additional information.

FIG. 7 shows Event-ID and LocalEvent-
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between an ID and each item of additional information.

FIG. 8 is a sequence chart showing an additional information entry procedure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an additional information management server.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of an additional information entry screen.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an EPG data generation processing procedure;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a file structure of EPG data.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a file description of EPG data.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a removable medium.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of an additional information selection screen.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an additional information recording processing procedure.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of a registration screen.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of a search designation screen.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of an additional information selection screen.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a personal computer.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile phone.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a PDA.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multimedia terminal device.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an IRD.

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of a program screen.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an additional information embedding unit.

FIG. 28 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an additional information extraction unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information providing system, 2 ... Broadcasting station, 3 ... Receiving device (IRD), 4 ... Information providing advertiser, 5 ... Removable media, 5A ... Connector, 5B ... Memory, 6
...... Personal computer, 6A, 7A, 8A, 9
A, 36 ... CPU, 6D, 7C, 8D, 9D, 43 ...
… Removable media interface, 6J, 7
N, 8J, 9J, 44 Interface processing unit, 7
... Mobile phone, 8 PDA, 9 Navigation device, 11 Television device, 15 Transmitting device, 1
6 additional information management server, 18 multimedia terminal device, 23 multiplexer, 25 EP
G generation unit, 31 demultiplexer, 41 flash memory, 58 additional information embedding unit, 101
Additional information extraction unit.

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 8, 2000 (2006.8.8)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 7

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 7

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat II (reference) H04N 5/445 H04N 5/445 Z 7/025 7/08 A 7/03 Z 7/035 7/08 7/081 F Terms (reference) 5C025 BA25 BA27 BA28 BA30 CA02 CA09 DA01 DA04 DA05 DA10 5C063 AA02 AA20 AB01 AB03 AC01 AC05 CA11 CA23 CA29 CA40 DA07 DB02 DB10 5C064 BA07 BB01 BB10 BC10 BC16 BC20 BC23 BC25 BC27 5K061 BB17 DD00 FF11

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An information providing system for distributing various kinds of provided information from an information transmitting device to an information receiving device, wherein the information transmitting device describes the provided information in a variable length so that any information related to an article is provided as the provided information. Is distributed together with the position information of the article, and the information receiving device selects arbitrary unit information from the distributed unit information, and specifies the selected unit information and its position. An information providing system characterized by recording specific information used for the purpose in a usable state on a predetermined recording medium. 2. The information providing system further comprises a terminal device for displaying the position of the article based on the specific information by reading the specific information from the recording medium on which the unit information and the position information are recorded. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein a user having the recording medium grasps the position of the article based on a display on the terminal device. 3. An information receiving apparatus for receiving provided information composed of an arbitrary number of unit information described in a variable length, wherein said selecting means selects arbitrary unit information from the unit information on the distributed articles; Recording means for recording, on a predetermined recording medium, unit information relating to the selected article and specific information used for specifying the position of the article distributed along with the unit information, in a usable state. An information receiving device, comprising: 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said selecting means extracts and selects the unit information and the specific information which are superimposed on the broadcast wave and delivered from a predetermined television program broadcast wave. Information receiving device. 5. An information receiving method for receiving provided information composed of an arbitrary number of unit information described in a variable length, wherein a step of selecting arbitrary unit information from the unit information relating to the distributed article; Recording unit information on the selected article and specific information used to specify the position of the article distributed along with the unit information as a usable state on a predetermined recording medium. An information receiving method, comprising: 6. In the step of selecting the unit information, the unit information and the specific information, which are superimposed on the broadcast wave and distributed, are extracted and selected from a predetermined television program broadcast wave. The information receiving method according to claim 5.