JP3607570B2 - Electronic program guide receiver - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic program guide receiving apparatus that receives program guide data used in EPG.
[0002]
[Prior art]
System for transmitting program guide data (hereinafter referred to as EPG data) used in EPG (Electronic Program Guide) using VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval) of terrestrial television broadcast radio waves. There is.
[0003]
The user can obtain information necessary for selecting a program from the electronic program guide by receiving the EPG data by the receiving device, extracting the electronic program guide from the EPG data, storing and displaying it.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, conventionally, with respect to the reception of EPG data, it is necessary to always place the receiving apparatus in the EPG data receiving state during the EPG data transmission time. Therefore, traffic increases in a personal computer equipped with such a receiving apparatus. There was a problem.
[0005]
In addition, there is no confirmation that the received EPG data is complete with no shortage. If incomplete EPG data is stored, incorrect data is displayed the next time the application is started, or an extra disk capacity is consumed. There was a problem such as.
[0006]
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic program guide receiving apparatus that does not need to be placed in an extra EPG data reception state and can determine that all EPG data has been received.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The electronic program guide receiver of the present invention is
An EPG data reception start determination unit that determines from the file type and date whether the EPG data file should be received first;
If it is an EPG data file to be received first, a receiving flag setting unit for setting a receiving flag;
If there is an interruption during the reception of EPG data, the reception flag is reset, and if the final EPG data file is confirmed, an EPG reception interruption detection unit that sets the final file reception flag;
When recognizing that both the reception flag and the final file reception flag are set, it is determined that the EPG data can be received without interruption, and an EPG data reception completion determination unit for storing the EPG data;
It is characterized by providing.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic program guide receiver of the present invention. The electronic program guide receiving device is configured by software (program) recorded on a recording medium, and the function is realized by the arithmetic processing device executing the program.
[0010]
In FIG. 1, an electronic program guide receiver 100 sets an EPG data reception start determination unit 101 having an EPG data type confirmation means, a days information acquisition means, and a means for checking whether the file is the first file, and an EPG data reception start receiving flag. If there is an interruption during reception of EPG data and the reception flag setting unit 102 to be reset, the reception flag set by the reception flag setting unit 102 is reset. If the final file is confirmed, the final file reception flag is set. EPG reception interruption detecting unit 103, EPG data reception completion determining unit 104 having means for checking a reception flag and final file reception flag, means for saving or discarding EPG data, and means for clearing the flag .
[0011]
When transmission of EPG data is started, the EPG data reception start determination unit 101 receives EPG data, checks whether the EPG data type should be the first file, calculates the final date after obtaining the day information, The date of the last day of the program guide is checked, that is, it is determined whether the file is to be received first.
[0012]
In the case of a file to be received first, the receiving flag setting unit 102 sets a receiving flag.
[0013]
Data reception may be interrupted for some reason during EPG data reception. The EPG data reception interruption detection unit 103 that detects this checks for interruptions due to application operations such as channel switching and switching to video input, or interruptions due to messages from the OS such as application termination or power interruption. If it is determined that there is an interruption, the reception flag is reset. Also, it is determined whether the last file has been received. If it has been received, a final file reception flag is set.
[0014]
Finally, the EPG data reception completion determination unit 104 checks the flag to determine that EPG data has been received. If reception is interrupted, the EPG data is discarded. If it is determined that reception has been completed, the EPG data is saved and finally the flag is cleared.
[0015]
Note that the first file and the last file use the transmission order of EPG data.
[0016]
Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the EPG data reception start determining unit 101, FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the EPG data reception interruption detecting unit 103, and FIG. 4 is an EPG data reception completion determining unit. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of 104.
[0017]
In FIG. 1, when the EPG broadcast time comes, the EPG data reception start determination unit 101 accepts the EPG data in the VBI. The EPG data reception start determination unit 101 starts an operation based on the flow of FIG. First, the EPG data type is acquired (step 201), and it is checked whether the data should be received first (step 202). If it is not the EPG data to be received first, it is notified that reception is not started (step 203), and the process is terminated.
[0018]
If it is determined in step 202 that the file is the first EPG data file to be received, EPG data days information indicating how many days there are is acquired (step 204), and the current date and date information acquired in step 204 are acquired. Is added to calculate the date data to be received first (step 205). This is because the EPG data is sent in descending order from the data of the farthest future day toward the present, and therefore the file to be received first is calculated by the execution of step 205.
[0019]
Next, the date information of the received EPG data is acquired (step 206), and the date calculated in step 205 is compared with the date information acquired in step 206 (step 207). The start is notified (step 208). If they are not the same, notification that is not reception start is performed (step 203).
[0020]
Next, when reception start is notified from the EPG data reception start determination unit 101, the reception flag setting unit 102 sets a reception flag.
[0021]
During the start of EPG data reception, the EPG data reception interruption detection unit 103 polls EPG data reception interruption. In this polling, in FIG. 3, first, a timer for determining reception interruption when the final file cannot be received is set (step 301).
[0022]
Next, the EPG data type is acquired (step 302), it is checked whether the EPG data type is the final file (step 303), and if it is the final file, a final file reception flag is set (step 304).
[0023]
If it is not the final file, it is checked whether it is timed out (step 305). If it is timed out, it is determined that the final file could not be received, and the receiving flag is reset (step 310).
[0024]
If it is not time-out, the interruption by the message notified from the OS is checked based on whether or not the own application is finished (step 306), and then checked based on whether or not the power is cut off (step 307). Then, the interruption due to the application operation is checked based on whether or not channel switching has occurred (step 308), and then checked based on whether or not switching to video input has been performed (step 309). If the checked event has occurred, the reception flag is reset in the same manner as when the time-out in step 305 has occurred (step 310). If the checked event has not occurred, polling is resumed from the acquisition of the EPG data type in step 302.
[0025]
Finally, the EPG data reception completion determination unit 104 checks whether the reception flag is set based on the flow of FIG. 4 (step 401). If the flag is reset, the acquired EPG data is discarded (step 401). 406), the reception interruption notification is executed to the caller of the mechanism (step 405). If the reception flag is set, the final file reception flag is checked (step 402). If it is reset, the acquired EPG data is discarded (step 406), and a reception interruption notification is performed (step 406). 405). If the final file reception flag is set, EPG data is stored (step 403), and a reception completion notification is performed (step 404). Finally, the flag is cleared and the process is terminated (step 407).
[0026]
Even if the file transmission order is changed, the transmission order is not limited as long as the file to be received first and the file to be received last are clear.
[0027]
Further, in the embodiment described above, the example configured by software has been described. However, it is needless to say that it may be configured to operate in the same manner as software by hardware corresponding to the software. .
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, incomplete EPG data can be removed. As a result, incomplete EPG data is stored, so that incorrect data is displayed when an application is started next time, or an extra DISK capacity is stored. However, these effects can be prevented.
[0029]
Further, according to the present invention, since the reception interruption can be detected in real time, an extra program is not operated, and traffic of the personal computer can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic program guide receiver of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an EPG data reception start determination unit.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an EPG data reception interruption detection unit.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an EPG data reception completion determination unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Electronic Program Guide Reception Device 101 EPG Data Reception Start Determination Unit 102 Receiving Flag Set Unit 103 EPG Data Reception Interruption Detection Unit 104 EPG Data Reception Completion Determination Unit

Claims (6)

An EPG data reception start determination unit that determines from the file type and date whether the EPG data file should be received first;
If it is an EPG data file to be received first, a receiving flag setting unit for setting a receiving flag;
If there is an interruption during the reception of EPG data, the reception flag is reset, and if the final EPG data file is confirmed, an EPG reception interruption detection unit that sets the final file reception flag;
When recognizing that both the reception flag and the final file reception flag are set, it is determined that the EPG data can be received without interruption, and an EPG data reception completion determination unit for storing the EPG data;
An electronic program guide receiving device comprising: 2. The electronic program guide receiving device according to claim 1, wherein the EPG data reception completion determining unit discards the acquired EPG data when the receiving flag is reset. The EPG data reception start determination unit obtains EPG data days information indicating how many days there are, and calculates the date data to be received first by adding the date of the reception day to the obtained days information. 3. The electronic program according to claim 1, wherein the date data and date information of the received EPG data are compared to determine whether the data is an EPG data file to be received first. Table receiver. The EPG reception interruption detection unit determines that there has been an interruption during EPG data reception when the final EPG data file is not received for a certain period of time, channel switching, switching to video input, application termination, or power interruption. The electronic program guide receiver according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Judge whether it is an EPG data file to be received first from the file type and date,
If it is the first EPG data file to be received, set the receiving flag.
If there is an interruption during EPG data reception, reset the reception flag,
If the final EPG data file is confirmed, set the final file reception flag,
An EPG data reception completion judging method, comprising: recognizing that EPG data has been received without interruption when it is recognized that both a reception flag and a final file reception flag are set. 6. The EPG data reception completion determination method according to claim 5, wherein when the reception flag is reset, the acquired EPG data is discarded.

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