JP2006279860A - Program broadcast schedule information rendering device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program broadcast schedule information rendering device which provides a program broadcast schedule, which is available while moving. <P>SOLUTION: A controller 17 of a vehicle-mounted system 1 obtains an area where one is supposed to drive, when he drives according to a recommended route 303 from a navigation processor, and a driving schedule time zone of the area. The controller 17 prepares a program table 401, in which program tables indicated by EPGs of areas where one is supposed to drive are combined to one so that time zones, indicated by the program broadcast schedule, will not overlap, on the basis of the EPGs of the areas obtained from an EPG server 4 through a wireless communications device 16. The program table 401 is prepared so that the time zone of the broadcast schedule of each area indicated by the program table 401 will match with a driving schedule time zone of the area, as much as possible. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for providing a user with program broadcast schedule information such as a TV broadcast program guide in a mobile object such as an automobile.

  As a technique for providing a user with program broadcast schedule information such as a TV broadcast program guide, a program guide based on an EPG (electronic program guide) provided from a server accessible via a WAN such as the Internet is presented to the user. A technique and a technique for presenting a program guide based on a broadcast EPG to a user are known.

Further, as a technique for presenting a program guide based on such an EPG to a user in a moving body such as an automobile, a destination receiver can be used for a broadcast receiver installed in the automobile from a navigation system installed in the automobile. Is known, and a program table based on the broadcast EPG is displayed so that a part after the destination arrival time and a part before the destination arrival time can be distinguished (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-260613 A

  For example, terrestrial broadcasts such as terrestrial TV broadcasts can be received in different regions. For this reason, for terrestrial broadcasting, it is common for a server that provides an EPG to provide an EPG that summarizes program broadcast schedules for broadcasts that can be received in each area.

On the other hand, when a terrestrial TV broadcast is viewed using a TV broadcast receiver mounted on a mobile object such as an automobile, the region where the current position is included as the mobile object moves May change.
Therefore, when a user moves across a plurality of areas over a long distance by a mobile body, and wants to know the broadcast schedule of terrestrial TV broadcasting that can be viewed while moving, all the areas scheduled to travel from the server It is necessary to carry out complicated work such as acquiring the EPG of each region, comparing the program table of each region represented by the acquired EPG with the scheduled traveling time zone of each region, and grasping the program that can be viewed while moving. It was.

  Therefore, the present invention provides the program broadcast schedule information to the user so that the user can easily grasp the program broadcast schedule that can be used during the movement even when the user moves a long distance by a moving body. It is an issue to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides, as a program broadcast schedule information providing apparatus for providing program broadcast schedule information representing a broadcast schedule of a broadcast program available to the user to a user who has boarded the mobile body. An estimation means for estimating a travel time zone of each travel schedule area as a travel schedule time zone of the travel schedule area and a program guide representing a program broadcast schedule of each travel schedule area Based on the program guide acquisition means and the program guide of each area acquired by the program guide acquisition means, a program in which the program broadcast schedules of the scheduled travel time zones of the planned travel areas in each travel planned area are combined in time series There is provided a program broadcast schedule information providing apparatus comprising program broadcast schedule information presenting means for generating broadcast schedule information and presenting it to the user.

  According to such a program broadcast schedule information providing device, for each time zone, the program broadcast schedule information representing the program broadcast schedule in the area where the mobile body is predicted to be located in the time zone is provided to the user. The user can easily grasp the program broadcast schedule that can be used while moving.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention calculates a route to a destination as a recommended route based on map information as a program broadcast schedule information providing device mounted on an automobile, and follows the calculated recommended route. A time zone estimated to travel in each planned travel area when the travel unit guides the user's travel and estimates the travel route area that the recommended route calculated by the navigation device passes through. Transfer estimation means for estimating the travel schedule time zone of the travel schedule area, program guide acquisition means for acquiring a program guide representing the program broadcast schedule of each travel schedule area, and each area acquired by the program guide acquisition means Based on the program guide, the program broadcast schedules for each scheduled travel area in the planned travel time zone are combined in chronological order. Generating a set broadcast schedule information to provide a program broadcast schedule information providing apparatus and a program broadcast schedule presentation means for presenting to the user.

According to such a program broadcast schedule information providing device, using the recommended route calculated by the navigation unit, for each time zone, the program broadcast schedule of the region where the automobile is predicted to be located in the time zone is represented. Since the program broadcast schedule information is provided to the user, the user can easily grasp the program broadcast schedule that can be used while moving.

  Here, the program broadcast schedule information providing device mounted on the above-mentioned automobile is provided with a wireless communication device, and the program guide acquisition means uses the wireless communication device to transmit the program guide in each region. The program guide providing server that provides the program guide may be accessed to obtain the program guide for each of the planned travel areas.

  Further, each of the above program broadcast schedule information providing apparatuses is configured such that, in order to improve the convenience of the user's use of the program broadcast schedule information, the estimation means is configured to divide the time between the scheduled travel time zones of each travel planned area. The program broadcast schedule table presenting means estimates the travel schedule time zone of each travel schedule area with 1 hour or 30 minutes as a unit of time zone so that the time becomes 0 minutes, 0 minutes or 30 minutes. In this case, a program guide in which program broadcast schedules in the scheduled travel time zone of each planned travel area in each travel planned area are arranged in time series may be generated and presented to the user.

  As described above, according to the present invention, even when the user moves a long distance with a moving body, the user can easily grasp the program broadcast schedule that can be used while moving. Program broadcast schedule information can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an in-vehicle system according to the present embodiment.
The in-vehicle system is a device mounted on an individual user's automobile. As illustrated, the in-vehicle system 1 includes an operation unit 11, a display device 12, a speaker 13, a navigation unit 14, and a TV broadcast receiver. 15, a wireless communication device 16, a control unit 17, a communication control unit 18 that controls communication via the wireless communication device 16, a storage device 19, a user using the operation unit 11 and the display device 12, and an in-vehicle system 1 A GUI control unit 20 that processes input / output between each unit is provided.

  The operation unit 11 and the display device 12 include a set of the operation unit 11 and the display device 12 for the user in the front seat of the car, and a set of the operation unit 11 and the display device 12 for the user in the back seat of the car. Two sets may be provided. During traveling, the TV broadcast received by the TV broadcast receiver 15 may be displayed only on the display device 12 for the user in the rear seat.

  Further, a part of the above in-vehicle system 1 may be configured as a CPU circuit having a general configuration including a microprocessor, a memory, and other peripheral devices in terms of hardware. Each unit as the CPU circuit is realized as a process embodied by the microprocessor executing a program prepared in advance. In this case, such a program may be provided to the CPU circuit via a recording medium or an appropriate communication path.

Here, the wireless communication device 16 is, for example, a mobile phone called a mobile phone, and the in-vehicle system 1 uses this wireless communication device 16 to connect to the Internet 2 via the mobile telephone network. Can be done.
The navigation unit 14 also includes various sensors for detecting the running state of the vehicle such as a vehicle speed sensor, a GPS receiver, and a storage unit that stores map data. Then, the current position is calculated by the map matching process between the output of the GPS receiver and various sensors and the map data, and the recommended route to the set destination is searched and set based on the map data. A guide image in which a graphic representing a current position, a set recommended route, and a destination is drawn on a map image indicating the map to be represented is generated and displayed on the display device 12 via the GUI control unit 20. .

The TV broadcast receiver 15 receives the terrestrial TV broadcast from the broadcast station 3.
Hereinafter, the operation of the in-vehicle system 1 will be described.
In the configuration of the in-vehicle system 1 as described above, the control unit 17 causes the TV broadcast receiver 15 to receive the TV broadcast of the channel specified by the user, and performs GUI control of the video of the broadcast program received by the TV broadcast receiver 15. A process for controlling the operation of outputting the sound of the broadcast program displayed on the display device 12 via the unit 20 or received by the TV broadcast receiver 15 to the speaker 13 is performed.

Further, the control unit 17 accesses the EPG server 4 on the Internet 2 via the communication control unit 18 and the wireless communication device 16 on a regular basis (for example, every day). An EPG (electronic program guide) is acquired and stored in the storage device 19.
Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the EPG server 4 includes an EPG database 41 storing an EPG for each region in the country and an EPG providing unit 42, and the EPG providing unit 42 is requested from the in-vehicle system 1. The local EPG is read from the EPG database 41 and provided to the in-vehicle system 1. Here, as a region corresponding to this EPG for each region, a prefecture or a region such as Tohoku / Kanto / Tokai can be used. However, in the following, as an example, the region is a unit for each region. The description will be made assuming that the EPG is provided from the EPG server 4.

Moreover, the control part 17 performs the program schedule preparation process shown below regularly (for example, every 5 minutes).
FIG. 2 shows the procedure of the program guide creation process.
As shown in the figure, in this process, first, the navigation unit 14 checks whether or not a recommended route is currently set (step 202).
If the recommended route is not set, the EPG of the area included in the current position calculated by the navigation unit 14 is read from the storage device 19, the program guide indicated by the read EPG is generated, and the generated program guide is The previously generated program table stored in the storage device 19 is updated (step 224).

  On the other hand, when the recommended route is set (step 202), first, an area where the recommended route after the current position set by the navigation unit 14 travels is acquired (step 204). That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the current position 301 is in Kanagawa Prefecture and a recommended route 303 from Kanagawa Prefecture to Tokyo, Chiba Prefecture to the destination 302 in Ibaraki Prefecture is set. , Kanagawa Prefecture, Tokyo, Chiba Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture are acquired as recommended travel areas.

  Next, the travel schedule time at the border of each region is obtained by inquiring of the navigation unit 14, and the travel schedule time zone of each region is calculated from the travel schedule time of the border of each region (here, the prefectural border) ( Step 206). The navigation unit 14 determines the travel distance of each point on the recommended route 303 according to the recommended route 303, the distance from the current position 301 to the point, and the type of road (highway or General roads), and the function to calculate according to the presence or absence of traffic to the point, etc., when receiving an inquiry from the control unit 17 about the scheduled travel time of the point corresponding to the boundary of each region, The scheduled passage time of the point corresponding to the point is calculated and notified to the control unit 17.

  Next, the control unit 17 stores, from the EPG of each region traveled by the recommended route 303 obtained in step 204, stored in the storage device 19, the time including the scheduled travel time zone and the surrounding time zone. EPG data representing the program broadcast schedule of the band is read out, and for each region, a program table representing the program broadcast schedule indicated by the EPG data read for the region is generated as a program guide for each region and stored in the storage device 19 ( Step 210). However, for the last region where the recommended route 303 travels, that is, the region to which the destination 302 belongs, EPG data representing the program broadcast schedule until the latest date and time is stored without the end time of the scheduled travel time zone. A program guide that is acquired from the device 19 and represents a program broadcast schedule indicated by the read EPG data is generated as a program guide for each region and stored in the storage device 19.

  Next, if the number of areas traveled by the recommended route 303 determined in step 204 is n, the variable i is 1 (step 214), and the vehicle travels i-th when traveling from the current position 301 according to the recommended route 303. The i-th region is defined as the i-th region boundary, and the i-th region boundary is defined as the i-th region boundary when traveling along the recommended route 303 from the current position 301. For the second region (steps 220 and 230), the following processing is performed.

  That is, first, the standard program boundary time closest to the scheduled passage time of the i-th regional boundary acquired in step 206 is calculated as the i-th segment time (step 212). Here, the standard program boundary time is a time that is often used as an end time or start time of a program in general, and in this embodiment, a time obtained by dividing 24 hours from 0:00 every 30 minutes. (0 o'clock, 0:30, 1 o'clock, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 2:30, ..., 23:30) are set as standard program boundary times. Therefore, if the scheduled passage time of the i-th regional boundary is 12:10, the standard program boundary time closest to 12:00 is calculated as the i-th segment time, and the i-th regional boundary is calculated. If the scheduled passage time is 12:20, 12:30, which is the nearest standard program boundary time, is calculated as the i-th delimiter time. Note that a time obtained by dividing the 24-hour time from 0:00 every hour (0-hour, 1:00, 2:00, 23:00) may be set as the standard program boundary time.

  Next, when i = 1 (step 214), that is, for the first region (the region including the current position 301), it is calculated in step 212 from the standard program boundary time immediately preceding the current time. A program table representing the program broadcast schedule indicated by the EPG data in the first region read in step 208 in the time zone up to the first break time is generated as a partial program table (step 226).

  If i = 1 and neither i = n, that is, for the area that is neither the first area nor the last area, the i-th area that has been calculated previously is designated as the i-th area. A program table representing a program broadcast schedule indicated by the EPG data of the i-th region read out in step 208 from the first partition time to the i-th partition time calculated in step 212 is generated as a partial program table ( Step 218).

  If i = n remains (step 216), that is, the last region (the region including the destination 302), it is as late as possible from the previously calculated n-1th delimiter time. Up to the date and time, a program table representing a program broadcast schedule indicated by the EPG data of the nth area read in step 208 is generated as a partial program table (step 228).

Then, if a partial program guide is generated for each region where the recommended route 303 travels as described above, a program guide is generated by combining the generated partial program guides in the order of corresponding time zones, and stored in the storage device 19. Store (step 222), and the process ends.
The program guide generation process performed by the control unit 17 has been described above.
In step 208 of the above program guide generation process, EPG data representing the program broadcast schedule in a time zone including the scheduled travel time zone and its surrounding time zone from the EPG of each region where the recommended route 303 travels. The time zone including the scheduled travel time zone and its surrounding time zone, that is, the time zone for creating the regional program table, is determined as follows. That is, for the first region (the region including the current position 301) that will travel first when traveling according to the recommended route 303 from the current position 301, the time zone for creating the regional program table is the current time zone. The time zone is from the standard program boundary time immediately before the time to the standard program boundary time immediately after the time 30 minutes after the first local boundary point passage time. In addition, for the nth area (area including the current position 301) that will be traveled last when traveling according to the recommended route 303 from the current position 301, the time zone for creating the program table for each area is The time zone from the standard program boundary time immediately before the n-1th region boundary point passage time to the last time of the scheduled program broadcast included in the n-1st region EPG. . For other i-th (1 <i <n) regions, the time zone for creating the regional program guide is the standard just before the time 30 minutes before the i-th region boundary point passage time. The time zone is from the program boundary time to the standard program boundary time immediately after the time 30 minutes after the i-th regional boundary point passage time.

Here, a processing example of the above program generation processing is shown.
Now, as shown in FIG. 3, when the current position 301 is in Kanagawa Prefecture at the current time 10:05 and the vehicle travels according to the recommended route 303, it proceeds to Tokyo at 10:37 minutes from Kanagawa Prefecture. A description will be given of a case where it is predicted that the vehicle will proceed to Chiba Prefecture at 11:47 minutes, proceed to Ibaraki Prefecture from Chiba Prefecture to 12:10 minutes, and arrive at the destination 302 in Ibaraki Prefecture at 14:10 minutes.

  In this case, as for Kanagawa Prefecture, in step 208, as shown in FIG. 4B, according to the Kanagawa Prefecture EPG acquired from the EPG server 4, the program for each region showing the program broadcast schedule from 10:00 to 11:30 in Kanagawa Prefecture A table is created. In addition, for Tokyo, a program guide for each region indicating the program broadcast schedule of Tokyo from 10:00 to 12:30 is created according to the EPG of Tokyo acquired from the EPG server 4. Similarly, for Chiba Prefecture, a program table for each region indicating a program broadcast schedule from 11:00 to 13:00 in Chiba Prefecture is created in accordance with the EPG of Chiba Prefecture acquired from the EPG server 4. And for Ibaraki Prefecture, the program table for each region showing the program broadcast schedule from 11:30 in Ibaraki Prefecture to the final time of the program broadcast schedule included in the EPG in Ibaraki Prefecture is obtained according to the EPG of Ibaraki Prefecture acquired from the EPG server 4. Created.

As can be understood from the correspondence with the scheduled travel time zone of each region shown in FIG. 4a, the regional program guide for each region created in this way indicates the planned travel time zone of that region for 30 minutes in the future. Generated to include a time zone that extends in the direction.
Next, 401 in FIG. 4 c represents the program table generated in step 222. As shown in the figure, this program guide 401 is a combination of the program guides for each region in each region into one program guide 401 so that the time zones do not overlap, and each region indicated by this program guide 401 The broadcast scheduled time zone is matched with the scheduled travel time zone of the region as much as possible within the range where the time zone break corresponding to each region matches the standard program boundary time. Normally, when you move from area A to area B, you will not be able to receive broadcasts for area A immediately after you leave area A. Broadcasts for area A can be received. Therefore, there is no problem even if the time zone scheduled for broadcasting in each region indicated by the program guide 401 does not exactly match the scheduled time zone for that region. In consideration of the possibility that the scheduled travel time zone and the actual travel time zone are deviated, the program schedule 401 is more consistent with the standard program boundary time in this way. Great convenience.

The control unit 17 displays the program guide shown in 401 of FIG. 4c stored in the storage device 19 on the display device 12 in response to the program guide display request via the operation unit 11 and the GUI control unit 20. Processing is also performed.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4c, the program for each region in the region corresponding to the operated tab 4011 in response to a user operation via the operation unit 11 of the tab 4011 indicating the region name corresponding to each time zone of the program guide. A process of reading the table 402 from the storage device 19 and displaying it on the display device 12 is also performed. When displaying the regional program guide, the scheduled travel time zone of the region may be displayed on the regional program guide 402. In the example shown in the drawing, this is shown by shaded display of the program broadcast schedule display portion in the time zone portion that does not correspond to the scheduled travel time zone in the region. Further, when displaying the program guide for each area, the time zone scheduled to broadcast the program in the area displayed in the program guide 401 may be shown on the program guide 402 for each area. In the illustrated example, this is represented by surrounding a display portion of the program broadcast schedule in the time zone displayed in the program guide 401 of the regional program guide 402 with a frame 4021.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
In the above embodiment, it has been described that the EPG server 4 is periodically accessed, and EPGs for each region in the country are acquired from the EPG server 4 and stored in the storage device 19. You may make it acquire as follows in a process. That is, if it is determined in step 202 that the recommended route 303 has not been set, the EPG server 4 is accessed to acquire an EPG in a region where the current position 301 is included. If it is determined in step 202 that the recommended route 303 is set, the EPG server 4 is accessed to obtain an EPG for each region where the travel route determined in step 204 travels.

In the above embodiment, the program table creation process has been described as being periodically performed. However, the program table creation process is performed when a program table display request is received from the user via the operation unit 11. You may do it.
Further, in the above, the program guide and the program guide for each region are generated in the in-vehicle system 1 mounted on the automobile. This is because the information on the recommended route 303 set by the navigation unit 14 in the EPG server 4 from the in-vehicle system 1. 4 is generated based on the information of the recommended route 303 received by the EPG server 4 and the EPG of each region stored in the EPG database 41, and the in-vehicle system is generated. 1 may be provided.

  Moreover, although the above embodiment demonstrated the case where the TV broadcast from which a program schedule differs for every area was received, this embodiment is the same about the case where arbitrary broadcasts, such as a radio broadcast, are received for every area. Can be applied to. In addition, the present embodiment can be similarly applied to provision of a program guide in an arbitrary moving body such as a train that can predict a travel route and a scheduled travel time of each point on the travel route other than an automobile.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, for each time period, the user is provided with a program guide representing a program broadcast schedule in a region where a mobile object is predicted to be located in the time period. It becomes possible to easily grasp the program broadcast schedule that can be used inside.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the program schedule preparation process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of the recommended route which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the process example of the program schedule preparation process which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... In-vehicle system, 2 ... Internet, 3 ... Broadcasting station, 4 ... EPG server, 11 ... Operation part, 12 ... Display apparatus, 13 ... Speaker, 14 ... Navigation part, 15 ... TV broadcast receiver, 16 ... Wireless communication apparatus DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 17 ... Control part, 18 ... Communication control part, 19 ... Memory | storage device, 20 ... GUI control part, 41 ... EPG database, 42 ... EPG provision part, 301 ... Current position, 302 ... Destination, 303 ... Recommended route.

Claims (5)

A program broadcast schedule information providing device for providing program broadcast schedule information representing a broadcast schedule of a broadcast program available to the user to a user who has boarded the mobile body,
Estimating means for estimating the travel time zone of each travel planned area as the travel planned time zone of the travel planned area, using the area where the mobile body travels as the planned travel area;
Program guide acquisition means for acquiring a program guide representing a program broadcast schedule in each planned travel area;
Based on the program guide of each region acquired by the program guide acquisition means, program broadcast schedule information is generated by combining the program broadcast schedules of the planned travel times in the planned travel regions of each travel planned region in time series. A program broadcast schedule information providing device comprising program broadcast schedule information presenting means for presenting to the user. A program broadcast schedule information providing device installed in an automobile,
A navigation unit that calculates a route to a destination based on map information as a recommended route and guides the user's travel according to the calculated recommended route;
When the recommended route calculated by the navigation device is estimated as a planned travel region, and when traveling according to the recommended route, a time zone estimated to travel in each planned travel region is a planned travel time zone of the planned travel region. Transfer estimation means to estimate as
Program guide acquisition means for acquiring a program guide representing a program broadcast schedule in each planned travel area;
Based on the program guide of each region acquired by the program guide acquisition means, program broadcast schedule information is generated by combining the program broadcast schedules of the planned travel times in the planned travel regions of each travel planned region in time series. A program broadcast schedule information providing apparatus comprising program broadcast schedule information presenting means for presenting to a user. The program broadcast schedule information providing device according to claim 2,
A wireless communication device,
The program guide acquisition means accesses a program guide providing server that provides the program guide in each region via wireless communication using the wireless communication device, and acquires the program guide in each planned travel region. An apparatus for providing program broadcast schedule information as a feature. The program broadcast schedule information providing device according to claim 1, 2, or 3,
The estimation means uses 1 hour or 30 minutes as a unit of time zone so that the minutes of the scheduled time zone of each scheduled travel region are 0 minutes, 0 minutes or 30 minutes, Estimate the scheduled driving time zone of each scheduled driving area,
The program broadcast schedule table presenting means generates a program schedule in which the program broadcast schedules in the scheduled travel time zone of the planned travel area of each travel planned area are arranged in time series and presents it to the user. Information providing device. A computer program that is read and executed by a computer,
In the computer,
Estimating a travel time zone of each travel planned area as a travel planned time zone of the travel planned area, with a region where a predetermined moving body travels as a travel planned region;
Obtaining a program guide representing a program broadcast schedule in each planned travel area;
Based on the acquired program guide for each region, program broadcast schedule information is generated by combining the program broadcast schedules of the planned travel times in the planned travel regions in each planned travel region in time series, and presented to the user. A computer program for executing the steps.