JP2003319279A - Digital tv broadcasting receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital TV broadcasting receiver capable of easily accessing a URL transmitted as incidental information. <P>SOLUTION: The digital TV broadcasting receiver is provided with a URL information extraction part 53 for extracting URL information from the incidental information transmitted in a transport stream of digital TV broadcasting, a URL information storage part 55 for storing a URL database formed on the basis of extracted URL information, and an Internet access means 46 for accessing URLs recorded in the URL database. A user designates a URL as an access object out of the URLs in the URL database which are displayed on a monitor 51 as a list, and the Internet access means 46 accesses the URL designated by the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a receiver for digital television broadcasting transmitted via a satellite, a cable or the like, and more specifically to a digital television broadcasting reception which allows a user to use accompanying information transmitted by digital television broadcasting. It is about machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In digital television broadcasting, a large number of programs are superimposed and transmitted, and video information, audio information, and associated information of each program are packetized and transmitted. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional digital television broadcast receiver. The transmission signal of the digital television broadcast is input to the digital television broadcast receiver 20 via the antenna 24. Digital television broadcast receiver 20
Performs signal processing on the received signal and displays the video and audio of the received program on a television monitor (not shown).

A digital television broadcast receiver 2 shown in FIG.
At 0, the tuner 26 selects the frequency of the transmission signal of the received digital television broadcast and outputs the intermediate frequency signal to the demodulation unit 28. The demodulation unit 28 includes an OFDM demodulator, an analog / digital converter (ADC), and an FEC.
(Forward Error Correction) A digital data demodulation circuit that performs error correction and the like, and generates a data string in a format called a transport stream. The output of the demodulator 28 is given to the demultiplexer 32 via the descrambler 30 which restores the data order.

The demultiplexer 32 divides the input transport stream into MPEG2 Video transport packets, Audio transport packets, and associated information packets, and reconstructs them. The accompanying information packet is a packet for transmitting accompanying information, and is, for example, PSI (Program Specific Information) or SI.
It is a system transport packet that transmits information called (Service Information).

Programs of one or a plurality of channels are multiplexed in one transport stream, and a plurality of the transport streams are transmitted from the broadcasting company. To select a channel, data such as which transport stream an arbitrary channel is transmitted and which packet ID in the transport stream is multiplexed is extracted from PSI or SI, and the demultiplexer 32 A packet of a program to be received is extracted from the transport stream.

The PSI or SI is one of the accompanying information transmitted by the transport stream, and the information given from the demultiplexer 32 to the OSD processing section 37 may include information other than PSI or SI. is there. The demultiplexer 32 uses the separated MPEG2 video stream, MPEG2 audio stream, P
The SI or the accompanying information such as SI is respectively supplied to the video decoder 34.
a, the audio decoder 34b, and the OSD processing unit 37. In the MPEG2 decoder 34, the video decoder 34a decodes the MPEG2 video stream, and the OSD processing unit 3
7, and the MPEG2 audio stream is decoded by the audio decoder 34b and output to the digital / analog converter (DAC) 48.

The OSD processing section 37 converts character data of EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information extracted from PSI or SI into a video signal, and the video decoder 34a.
And output to DAC39. The EPG information is information transmitted to build a program guide for digital television broadcasting, which will be described later. DAC3
The output of 9 is given to a monitor (not shown), and its image is displayed. The output of the DAC 48 is given to a monitor (not shown), and sound is output from the speaker of the monitor.

Each channel (each program) in digital television broadcasting can be reproduced (output) by making a contract, and the information thereof is CAT (Conditional Ac) in the accompanying information of the transport stream.
cess Table) included in the data. CAT data is I
The data is sent to the C card interface 44, and the IC card interface 44 sends predetermined data to the descrambler 30 in light of the data read from the IC card.・ Be able to scramble. MPU40
Is for controlling each component of the digital television broadcast receiver 20. User interface 42 connected to MPU 40 via serial connection or bus
Is for the user to select a receiving channel on the screen on which the EPG is displayed, and is composed of a remote controller and a keyboard.

Digital television broadcasting has an advantage that programs of 100 channels or more can be simultaneously broadcast by using the image compression technology of MPEG2. In this case, due to the increase in the number of channels, it becomes complicated for the viewer to search for a channel in the program guide of a print medium such as a newspaper or a magazine and make a channel reservation or a recording reservation. Therefore,
As a countermeasure, data necessary for creating a program guide, such as program information, is also multiplexed and broadcast on the MPEG2 transport stream so that the viewer can search and select programs on the monitor screen. This program guide is EPG
(Electronic Program Guide). This EPG information is included in the above-mentioned PSI or SI.

[0010]

The MPEG2 transport stream may include teletext information and subtitle information as additional information in addition to EPG information. These are transmitted as part of the PSI or SI by the MPEG2 transport stream, or transmitted as separate packets as separate accompanying information. Teletext information and subtitle information are used to display textual information. The above EPG information, teletext information, and subtitle information are URLs.
(Uniform Resource Locator) information may be included, in which case the URL information is displayed on the display screen together with the video information.

By the way, when the URL information transmitted by the transport stream is displayed on the display screen, the user can visually grasp the information.
However, in order to access the URL displayed on the display screen, the user must first record the displayed URL on a memo sheet or record it as video information, and then access the memo or recorded URL information on the Internet. Must be manually entered and accessed by means. Therefore, there is a problem that the URL information is erroneously read when reading the memo or the reproduced image, or an input error is made when manual input is performed. And
Accessing the URL displayed on the monitor is a troublesome task that requires a considerable amount of time for the user, and the URL transmitted by the transport stream is required.
Information was less effectively utilized.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital television broadcast receiver which can easily access a URL transmitted as accompanying information.

[0013]

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first invention is a URL information extraction unit for extracting URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information from a transport stream, The digital television broadcast receiver is provided with a URL information storage unit for storing a URL database generated based on the URL information and Internet access means for accessing the URL recorded in the URL database.

A second aspect of the present invention is the digital television broadcast receiver of the first aspect, wherein the URL information extracting section is subtitle information, teletext information, or EPG.
A digital television broadcast receiver adapted to extract URL information from (Electronic Program Guide) information.

A third invention is the digital television broadcast receiver according to the first invention or the second invention, further comprising display means for displaying a URL database stored in the URL information storage section, and the display is provided. The digital television broadcast receiver is configured to store a URL database edited on the display screen of the means in the URL information storage unit.

A fourth invention is the digital television broadcast receiver according to the first invention or the second invention, further comprising display means for displaying a URL database stored in the URL information storage section, and the display is provided. The means is the URL
A list of URLs in the database is displayed, and the Internet access means is a digital television broadcast receiver adapted to access the URL selected on the display screen from the list of displayed URLs.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In the present invention, URL information is extracted from the transport stream, and a URL database is created and stored based on the URL information. The URLs in the stored database are displayed as a list on the monitor in response to the user's request. The user specifies the URL to be accessed from the URLs displayed in the list, and the WWW access means (Internet access means) accesses the URL specified by the user. As a result, it becomes possible to access the URL accurately and easily without writing down the URL information transmitted by the digital television broadcast.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital television broadcast receiver of the present invention. The main difference between the digital television broadcast receiver 10 shown in FIG. 1 and the digital television broadcast receiver 20 shown in FIG. 3 is that the digital television broadcast receiver 10 has a WWW access means 46, a URL information extraction unit 53, and a URL information storage unit. 55 is provided. Others are substantially the same in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

The WWW access means 46 is means for connecting to the Internet and has a browser (Web browser) for displaying the received Web information on a monitor. The URL information extraction unit 53 extracts the URL information included in the accompanying information separated by the demultiplexer 32, and U
The RL information storage unit 55 creates a database of the URL information extracted by the URL information extraction unit 53 and stores it in a memory.
The URL information extraction unit 53 extracts URL information from the EPG information, teletext information, and subtitle information separated by the demultiplexer 32. The extraction of the URL information is performed, for example, by detecting a specific character string that indicates the URL information.

In FIG. 1, the demultiplexer 32 converts the input transport stream into a V2 of MPEG2.
video transport packets, audio transport packets, and PSI (Program Specific Infor)
mation) or SI, etc. Then, the divided accompanying information is provided to the OSD processing unit 37 and the URL information extracting unit 53. The OSD processing unit 37 converts character data of EPG information extracted from PSI or SI into a video signal, and the video decoder 34
It is combined with the output of a and output to the DAC 39. DAC39
And the output of the DAC 48 are given to the monitor 51,
The video and sound are output from the display screen of the monitor 51 and the speaker.

The URL information extraction section 53 extracts URL information from the EPG information, teletext information and subtitle information and outputs it to the URL information storage section 55. The URL information storage unit 55 creates a URL database on the basis of the URL information input from the URL information extraction unit 53 or a URL in which the input URL information is already stored.
It is added to the database and saved in the memory of the URL information storage unit 55. If necessary, the user sends a command to the MPU 40 via the user interface 42, and the URL
The URL information stored in the information storage unit 55 is monitored by the monitor 5
Display on 1. Then, the UR displayed on the monitor 51
When the user selects the URL of the access target from the list of L, the selected URL is sent from the MPU 40 to the WWW access means 46, and the WWW access means 46 receives the U.
Access the RL. W received by the access
The eb information is displayed on the monitor 51 via the browser.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing related to URL information relating to the digital television broadcast receiver of the present invention. The processing shown in FIG. 2 is performed by the digital television broadcast receiver 10
It starts when the power is turned on. In FIG.
In step S11, the EPG is displayed on the monitor and the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, if there is a browser activation request, the process proceeds to step S29. If there is no activation request, the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, the reception channel is set to the program selected by the user, and the process proceeds to step S19.

In step S19, the program being received is displayed on the monitor, and the process proceeds to step S21. In step S21, it is determined whether or not the URL information is included. If the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S22.
Go to 25. In step S22, the URL information is extracted from the accompanying information, and the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, the extracted URL is added to the URL database and U is added.
Save in the memory of the RL information storage unit 55, and step S25
Go to. In step S25, if there is a power-off operation, the power is turned off in step S27, and this flow is ended. If no power-off operation is performed, the process proceeds to step S13.

When the process proceeds from step S13 to step S29, the browser is activated in step S29 and the process proceeds to step S31. In step S31, the URL database stored in the memory of the URL information storage unit 55 is read, the URLs recorded in the URL database are displayed as a list on the monitor 51, and the process proceeds to step S33. In step S33, it is determined whether the browsing mode or the edit mode is designated as the operation mode. Then, in the browse mode, the process proceeds to step S35, and in the edit mode, step S4.
Go to 1.

In step S35, the URLs displayed as a list
The WWW access means 46 accesses the URL selected from among the URLs, and the process proceeds to step S37. In step S37, the Web information of the accessed URL is displayed on the monitor 51, and the process proceeds to step S39. In step S39, if there is a browser end operation, the process proceeds to step S25, and if not, the process proceeds to step S31. In step S41, the URL database is reconstructed based on the editing operation of the URL database performed by the user.
Then, the updated URL database is stored in the memory and the process proceeds to step S31 to repeat the editing process or the browsing process.

As described above in detail, according to the embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the URL information is extracted from the incidental information transmitted by the transport stream of the digital television broadcast, and based on the extracted URL information. Generated URL
Store the database in memory. Then, the display means reads the UR in the URL database read from the memory.
L is displayed as a list, and the Internet access means accesses the URL selected by the user from the listed URLs. Therefore, the URL transmitted as the accompanying information and displayed on the monitor can be accessed accurately and easily without recording or recording the URL.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital television broadcast receiver of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a UR relating to the digital television broadcast receiver of the present invention.
It is a flow chart which shows processing concerning L information.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional digital television broadcast receiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

30 Descrambler 32 Demultiplexer 34 MPEG2 Decoder 37 OSD Processor 39, 48 Digital / Analog Converter (DAC) 40 Microprocessor (MPU) 42 User Interface 42 46 WWW Access Means (Internet Access Means) 51 Monitor 53 URL information extraction unit 55 URL information storage unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) H04N 7/035

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A URL (Un
URL information extracting section for extracting iform resource locator) information, a URL information storing section for storing a URL database generated based on the extracted URL information, and an internet access means for accessing the URL recorded in the URL database. A digital television broadcast receiver comprising :. 2. The URL information extracting unit is configured to provide subtitle information, teletext information, or EPG (Electronic P
2. The digital television broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein URL information is extracted from the Rogram Guide) information. 3. The U stored in the URL information storage section
Further comprising display means for displaying the RL database,
The digital television broadcast receiver according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a URL database edited on the display screen of the display means is stored in the URL information storage unit. 4. The U stored in the URL information storage section
Further comprising display means for displaying the RL database,
The display unit displays a list of URLs in the URL database, and the Internet access unit accesses the URL selected on the display screen from the list of displayed URLs. 2. The digital television broadcast receiver described in 2.