JP4045440B2 - Program identification device, program identification method, program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a program identification apparatus, a program identification method, and a program for identifying a desired program that is reserved for recording or viewing from electronic program guide (EPG) data (hereinafter referred to as EPG data). About.

  In this specification, the program identification is the same as the desired program from the latest EPG data when the desired program is selected from the EPG data and then the EPG data is updated to the latest data. Say to search and confirm a program that is supposed to be.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a recording apparatus for recording a TV broadcast program, if a recording reservation is set for a certain program, if the broadcast time of the program to be recorded is changed, another program is recorded instead of the program to be recorded. Recording sometimes failed, such as a program being recorded.

  Therefore, in a recording apparatus that can use EPG data, if the program to be recorded can be identified from the latest EPG data, the reservation content is corrected to record the identified program, thereby avoiding a recording failure. I think it can be done.

  In recent years, many techniques for identifying a desired program from EPG data have been disclosed. For example, in Patent Document 1, a program is identified from EPG data by using a program ID added to EPG data and set for each program.

  In addition, a number of techniques for identifying continuous programs such as news and dramas that are broadcast continuously at regular intervals (every day, every specific day of the week, etc.) from EPG data are also disclosed. For example, in Patent Document 2, a continuous program is identified using a title of the continuous program. In Patent Document 3, a program is identified using a continuous program ID that is added to EPG data and set for each continuous program.

Note that the program ID used in the present specification is an ID set for identifying each program, and the program ID is different every time even for a continuous program. On the other hand, the continuous program ID is an ID set to identify the continuous program itself, and the continuous program ID is common to each time of the continuous program.
JP 2000-236501 A JP 2001-036846 A JP 2003-087675 A

  By the way, at present, there are a plurality of types of EPG data coexisting, and it is left to the manufacturer that manufactures / sells the recording apparatus to select which EPG data is selected. Further, when a plurality of EPG data are adopted by a manufacturer, it is left to the user which EPG data is to be used.

  However, depending on the type of EPG data, the program ID may not be originally added, or even if the program ID is added, the program ID may be lost for some reason. In addition, since a continuous program has a different program ID each time, when performing continuous recording for continuously recording a continuous program, the program ID of the subsequent continuous program may not be known after the continuous program is recorded for the first time. is there. Further, there is a case where the continuous program ID is not originally added. In such a case, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 3, even if the program ID or the continuous program ID is used, the program to be recorded cannot be identified from the EPG data.

  Therefore, in the above case, it is considered effective to apply the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 and perform the identification process using the program title.

  However, depending on the type of EPG data, when the EPG data is updated to the latest data, the title of the program may be changed. For example, the program title may be changed from katakana to alphabet or abbreviation. In such a case, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, even if the title of the program is used, the program to be recorded is identified from the EPG data by simply comparing the character strings of the title. I can't.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a program identification apparatus, a program identification method, and a program that can identify a desired program reserved for recording from EPG data regardless of the type of EPG data. There is to do.

In order to achieve the above object, the program identification device of the present invention provides:
In a program identification device for identifying a desired program that is reserved for recording or viewing from electronic program guide data, reservation information including at least the title of the desired program is used as information indicating the reservation content of the desired program. Reservation information storage means for storing and when the reservation information does not include an identification number for identifying the desired program, or the reservation information includes the identification number but matches the identification number If the program to be is not included in the electronic program guide data, said from the electronic program guide data, searches the highest title of the program is the similarity between the desired program title included in the reservation information, the retrieved program identified as the desired program, the similarity of the identified program title and the desired program title is the threshold value or more set in advance situ Only, at least one of the identification number and the title of the identified program, and having a program identifying means for adding stored in the reservation information storing unit as the reservation information of said desired program.

  According to this configuration, even when the identification number of the desired program is not known, the desired program can be selected by searching the electronic program guide data for the program having the highest title similarity to the desired program. Can be identified.

  The reservation information storage means stores broadcast station, broadcast date, and broadcast time zone information of the desired program as the reservation information, and the program identification means stores the identification of the desired program in the reservation information. When the number is not included, or when the reservation information includes the identification number but the program that matches the identification number is not included in the electronic program guide data, From the narrowed search target program, the desired program is narrowed down to the search target, and the desired program, the broadcasting station, and the broadcast date coincide with each other and the broadcast time zone is close to the desired program. It is characterized by that. Alternatively, the reservation information storage means stores broadcast station, broadcast date, broadcast time zone, and genre information of the desired program as the reservation information, and the program identification means stores the desired program information in the reservation information. When the identification number is not included, or when the reservation information includes the identification number but the program that matches the identification number is not included in the electronic program guide data, the electronic program guide data The desired programs and broadcast stations, broadcast dates, and genres match, and the programs whose broadcast times are close to the desired programs are narrowed down to search targets, and the desired programs are selected from the narrowed search target programs. It is characterized by identifying a program.

  According to this configuration, after narrowing down the search target program from the electronic program guide data based on the reservation content of the desired program, the identification process of the desired program is performed. It is possible to reduce the possibility of erroneous identification.

Furthermore, the program identification means searches the program If the contains the identification number of the desired program in the reservation information, the from the electronic program guide data, the identification number and the desired program matches The searched program may be identified as the desired program.

  Alternatively, when the reservation information does not include the identification number of the desired program, or the reservation information includes the identification number but a program that matches the identification number is included in the electronic program guide data. If not included, the identification number and title information of each program included in the electronic program guide data when the program identification means narrows down the search target program from the electronic program guide data is stored. Learning target program information storage means, and when the reservation information does not include the identification number of the desired program, or the reservation information includes the identification number but matches the identification number Is not included in the electronic program guide data, the program title identified from the electronic program guide data by the program identifying means and the desired Only when the degree of similarity with the program title is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value, the identified program and the program having the same identification number are searched from the learning target program information storage means, and the searched program title And a program learning means for additionally storing the identification number of the program identified by the program identification means in the reservation information storage means as the reservation information of the desired program. The program identification means searches the electronic program guide data for a program having the same identification number as the desired program when the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program. Then, the searched program is identified as the desired program, and the program learning means, when the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program, the title of the program identified by the program identification means Is included in the reservation information as the title of the desired program. If not, the title of the program identified by the program identification means is used as the reservation information of the desired program. It may be additionally stored in the reservation information storage means.

  According to this configuration, since a title different from the title included in the reservation information is learned and added to the reservation information as the title representing the desired program, the identification process is performed using the title of the desired program. When performing, even if the title of the desired program has been significantly changed in the electronic program guide data, there is a high possibility that the desired program can be identified.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the reservation information does not include the desired identification number, or the reservation information includes the identification number but the program matching the identification number is included in the electronic program guide data. If not, the desired program is identified by searching the electronic program guide data for the program whose title is most similar to the desired program, and the desired identification number is included in the reservation information. In this case, the desired program is identified by searching the electronic program guide data for a program whose identification number matches the desired program.

  As a result, even if the electronic program guide data to which the identification number is not originally added or the electronic program guide data in which the identification number is lost for some reason is used, the desired program title is used. Can be identified.

  In addition, even if electronic program guide data that may change the title of the program when the electronic program guide data is updated is adopted, the program having the most similar title to the desired program is identified as the desired program. can do.

  Therefore, for example, when a continuous recording reservation for continuously recording a continuous program is set, an identification number is obtained from the electronic program guide data or the like when the recording reservation is set until the continuous recording is first recorded. Since the identification number is known, the identification process may be performed using the identification number. On the other hand, after the continuous program is recorded for the first time, the subsequent continuous program has a different identification number and the identification number is not known. Therefore, the identification process may be performed using the title.

  In addition, when the configuration is such that, from the electronic program guide data, the search target program is narrowed down based on the reservation contents of the desired program, and the desired program identification process is performed from the narrowed search target program, The possibility of erroneously identifying another program with a similar title can be reduced.

  Furthermore, a title different from the title included in the reservation information is learned as a title representing the desired program by using the program identification number identified from the electronic program guide data, and added to the reservation information. In this case, when the identification process is performed using the title of the desired program, there is a possibility that the desired program can be identified even if the title of the desired program is significantly changed in the electronic program guide data. Get higher.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a program identification apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the program identification device according to the present embodiment includes a tuner 101, an EPG data acquisition unit 102, an EPG data storage unit 103, an operation unit 104, a recording reservation unit 105, and a reservation information storage unit 106. A program recording unit 107 and a program identification unit 108.

  The tuner 101 receives a broadcast wave of an analog broadcast or a digital broadcast including a program and EPG data via an antenna (not shown).

  The EPG data acquisition unit 102 extracts EPG data included in the broadcast wave received by the tuner 101 and stores it in the EPG data storage unit 103. The EPG data acquisition unit 102 always updates the EPG data stored in the EPG data storage unit 103 to the latest data by performing the above-described operation when it is detected that the EPG data has been updated to the latest data. And

  The recording reservation unit 105 acquires reservation information indicating reservation contents of a recording target program reserved for recording by the user via the operation unit 104 from the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 and stores the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106. To do. Note that the reservation information includes information such as the title, genre, broadcast date (day of the week), broadcast time zone, broadcast station, and program ID of the program to be recorded.

  Further, the recording reservation unit 105 performs reservation setting of the recording target program to the program recording unit 107 based on the reservation information of the recording target program in the reservation information storage unit 106. When the recording of the program instructed to the program recording unit 107 is finished, the recording reservation unit 105 deletes the program ID of the program from the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106. This is an ID that is set to identify individual programs, and the program ID is different every time even if it is a continuous program. Therefore, it is necessary to store the program ID as reservation information. This is because it disappears.

  The program recording unit 107 records a recording target program included in the broadcast wave received by the tuner 101 on a recording medium (not shown) based on the reservation setting content set by the recording reservation unit 105. For example, the program recording unit 107 may perform digital recording on a recording medium such as a DVD, or may perform analog recording on a recording medium such as a video tape represented by VHS.

  The program identification unit 108 identifies the recording target program from the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 by using the program ID or title of the recording target program in the reservation information storage unit 106. Then, the program identification unit 108 notifies the recording reservation unit 105 of information such as the title, genre, broadcast date (day of the week), broadcast time zone, broadcast station, and program ID identified from the EPG data. Instructs the reservation contents to be recorded.

  Note that the program identification unit 108 performs identification processing in order to prevent identifying another program with a similar title when performing identification processing using a title as reservation information of a program to be recorded. Before the search target program is narrowed down from the EPG data, the recording target program is identified from the narrowed search target program.

  Hereinafter, a program identification method by the program identification apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

  In this embodiment, when the program ID of the program to be recorded is known, the program to be recorded is identified by using the program ID to be recorded by the process (1) below. On the other hand, when the program ID of the program to be recorded is not known, the program is identified using the title of the program to be recorded by the process (2) below. If the program to be recorded can be identified by the process (2) below, the ID of the program can be acquired from the EPG data. Perform identification processing.

  For example, in a situation where a recording reservation for recording a program only once is set, until the program is recorded, or in a situation where a continuous recording reservation for continuously recording a continuous program is set, the continuous program Until the first recording, the program ID acquired from the EPG data at the time of recording reservation setting is included in the reservation information, so that the program ID of the program to be recorded is known.

On the other hand, in a situation where continuous recording reservation is set, after the continuous program is recorded for the first time, the subsequent continuous program becomes another program ID, and as described above, the recording reservation unit 105 determines from the reservation information. Since the program ID is deleted, the program ID of the program to be recorded is not known. Even if deletion of the program ID by the recording reservation unit 105 is not executed for some reason, a program that matches the program ID is not included in the EPG data, and the program ID of the program to be recorded is unknown. It has become.
(1) First, processing when the program ID of a program to be recorded is known will be described with reference to FIG. As a precondition here, it is assumed that the reservation information storage unit 106 stores the reservation information acquired from the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 by the recording reservation unit 105 when the recording reservation is set. The program ID here is the program ID included in the reservation information acquired from the EPG data when the recording reservation is set.

  Referring to FIG. 2, when the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 is updated to the latest data, the program identification unit 108 sets the program ID of the program to be recorded included in the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106. Based on the latest EPG data, a program whose program ID matches the program to be recorded is searched, and the searched program is identified as a program to be recorded (step 201).

Thereafter, the program identification unit 108 notifies the recording reservation unit 105 of information such as the title, genre, broadcast date (day of the week), broadcast time zone, broadcast station, and program ID identified in step 201, and the program is An instruction is given to modify the reservation contents so as to record (step 202).
(2) Next, processing when the program ID of a program to be recorded is not known will be described with reference to FIG. As a precondition here, it is assumed that the reservation information storage unit 106 stores the reservation information acquired from the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 by the recording reservation unit 105 when the recording reservation is set. However, here, even if the program ID included in the reservation information acquired from the EPG data at the time of recording reservation setting is deleted, or the program ID is included in the reservation information, the program that matches the program ID Are not included in the EPG data.

  Referring to FIG. 3, when the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 is updated to the latest data, the program identification unit 108 broadcasts a broadcast station of a recording target program included in the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106. Based on the information on the broadcast day (day of the week), genre, and broadcast time zone, the program to be recorded and the broadcast station, the broadcast day (day of the week), and the genre match from the latest EPG data. The programs close to the broadcast time zone are narrowed down to search targets (step 301). This reduces the possibility that another program with a similar title will be erroneously searched in the next identification process for the program to be recorded.

  Next, for each of the search target programs narrowed down in step 301, the program identification unit 108 calculates the similarity of the title to the recording target program at the time of recording reservation setting. When calculating the similarity of a title to a program to be recorded, for example, the higher the number of characters and character strings that match the title of the program to be searched, the higher the similarity is calculated, and conversely the title of the program to be searched The degree of similarity is calculated to be lower as there are more characters and character strings not included in.

  Next, the program identification unit 108 searches for the program having the highest title similarity from the search target programs narrowed down in step 301 based on the above-described similarity calculation result, and records the searched program. The program is identified as a target program (step 302).

  Next, the program identification unit 108 notifies the recording reservation unit 105 of information such as the title, genre, broadcast date (day of the week), broadcast time zone, broadcast station, and program ID identified in step 302, and the program The reservation contents are instructed to be recorded (step 303).

  If the similarity between the title of the program identified in step 302 and the title of the program to be recorded is not equal to or greater than a preset threshold, the program identification unit 108 may not instruct the modification of the reservation content.

  Thereafter, the program identification unit 108 determines the program ID of the identified program only when the similarity between the title of the program identified in step 302 and the title of the program to be recorded is equal to or greater than a preset threshold. It adds to the reservation information in the reservation information storage part 106 (step 304).

  Here, the process of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 with a specific example. Here, when setting a recording reservation for a program to be recorded, the broadcast station is “X broadcast station”, the broadcast day (day of the week) is “Sunday”, the broadcast time zone is “20: 0 to 20:45”, and the genre is “hobby”. ”, The title is“ Hobby A ”, and the reservation setting is made, and the reservation information is stored in the reservation information storage unit 106.

  Referring to FIG. 4, first, the program identifying unit 108 matches the broadcasting station “X broadcasting station”, the broadcasting date (day of the week) “Sunday”, and the genre “hobby” from the latest EPG data and broadcasting. As programs to be broadcast within N hours before and after the time period “20:00 to 20:45”, two programs with titles “Hobby A” and “Hobby ABC” are narrowed down to search targets.

  Next, the program identification unit 108 calculates the similarity to the title “Hobby A” at the time of recording reservation setting for two programs whose titles are “Hobby A” and “Hobby ABC”, respectively.

  Then, based on the above-described similarity calculation results for the two programs “hobby A” and “hobby ABC”, the program identification unit 108 selects the program having the highest similarity as the above-mentioned two programs. The program whose title is “Hobby A” is identified as the program to be recorded.

  Thereafter, if the similarity degree of the title “hobby A” of the program identified above is equal to or higher than a preset threshold, the program identification unit 108 sets the program ID of the program to the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106. Add to. Thereby, the program to be recorded can be subsequently identified using the program ID.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a program identification apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, in addition to the identification processing similar to that in the first embodiment, based on the result of the identification processing, the title representing the recording target program is different from the title stored as the reservation information at the time of recording reservation setting. A learning process for learning the title is performed, and the learned new title is added to the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the program identification apparatus according to the present embodiment is different from the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that a learning target program information storage unit 109 and a program learning unit 110 are added. . In addition, since it is the same as that of FIG. 1 about another component, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  When the search target program is narrowed down from the EPG data (see step 301 in FIG. 3), the program identification unit 108 is the first stage of performing the identification process using the title for the program to be recorded (see step 301 in FIG. 3). Is stored in the learning target program information storage unit 109.

  The program learning unit 110 learns a title different from the title stored in the reservation information storage unit 106 as reservation information at the time of recording reservation setting, as a title representing a program to be recorded, and uses the learned title as a reservation information storage unit It is added to the reservation information in 106.

  Hereinafter, a program identification method by the program identification apparatus shown in FIG. 5 will be described.

In this embodiment, when the program ID of the program to be recorded is known, the program to be recorded is identified by using the program ID to be recorded by the process (3) below, and then the program to be recorded is recorded. Learn different program titles. On the other hand, if the program ID of the program to be recorded is not known, the program is identified using the title of the program to be recorded by the process (4) below, and then another title of the program to be recorded is learned. To do. If the program to be recorded can be identified by the process (4) below, the ID of the program can be acquired from the EPG data. An identification process and a learning process are performed. Further, examples of the case where the program ID of the program to be recorded is known or not known include the same examples as those described in the first embodiment.
(3) First, processing when the program ID of a program to be recorded is known will be described with reference to FIG. As a precondition here, it is assumed that the reservation information storage unit 106 stores the reservation information acquired from the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 by the recording reservation unit 105 when the recording reservation is set. The program ID here is the program ID included in the reservation information acquired from the EPG data at the time of recording reservation setting, or the program ID acquired by the program learning unit 110 by the process (4) below. To do.

  Referring to FIG. 6, when the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 is updated to the latest data, the program identification unit 108 sets the program ID of the program to be recorded included in the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106. Based on the information, a program whose program ID matches the program to be recorded is searched from the latest EPG data, and the searched program is identified as a program to be recorded (step 601).

  Thereafter, the program identification unit 108 notifies the recording reservation unit 105 of information such as the title, genre, broadcast date (day of the week), broadcast time zone, broadcast station, and program ID identified in step 601, An instruction is given to modify the reservation contents so as to record (step 602).

  The procedure of the identification processing so far is the same as the procedure of steps 201 and 202 in FIG. 2 in the first embodiment.

  On the other hand, the program learning unit 110 confirms whether the title of the program identified in step 601 is included in the reservation information of the program to be recorded in the reservation information storage unit 106 as a title. If not included, the title of the program identified in step 601 is added to the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106 (step 603).

  Here, the process of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, when setting a recording reservation for a program to be recorded, the program ID is “1234”, the broadcasting station is “X broadcasting station”, the broadcasting day (day of the week) is “Sunday”, and the broadcasting time zone is “20: 00 to 20”. : 45 ”, the genre is“ hobby ”, the title is“ hobby A ”, and the reservation setting is made, and the reservation information is stored in the reservation information storage unit 106.

  Referring to FIG. 7, first, when EPG data is updated to the latest data on 8/5 (Tue), the program identification unit 108 determines that the program ID “1234” matches from the latest EPG data. , A program whose broadcast station is “X broadcast station”, broadcast day (day of week) is “Sunday”, broadcast time zone is “20: 0 to 21:00”, and title is “sumiA” is identified as a program to be recorded. .

  Next, the program identification unit 108 sets the reservation contents of the program to be recorded as “X broadcast station” for the broadcast station, “Sunday” for the broadcast day (day of the week), and “20:00 to 21:00” for the broadcast time zone. The recording reservation unit 105 is instructed to correct it.

  On the other hand, the program learning unit 110 confirms whether the program title “shumiA” identified from the latest EPG data is included as the title in the reservation information of the recording target program in the reservation information storage unit 106. . If it is not included, the title “sumiA” is added to the reservation information of the program to be recorded. As a result, the program to be recorded can be identified using the title “sumiA”.

Further, when the EPG data is updated to the latest data on 8/6 (Wednesday), the program learning unit 110 identifies the program whose title is “Shumi A” from the latest EPG data. Further, since the identified program title “Shumi A” is not included in the recording target program reservation information, the title “Shumi A” is added to the recording target program reservation information. As a result, the program to be recorded can be identified using the title “Shumi A” thereafter.
(4) Next, processing when the program ID of the program to be recorded is not known will be described with reference to FIG. As a precondition here, it is assumed that the reservation information storage unit 106 stores the reservation information acquired from the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 by the recording reservation unit 105 when the recording reservation is set. However, here, even if the program ID included in the reservation information acquired from the EPG data at the time of recording reservation setting is deleted, or the program ID is included in the reservation information, the program that matches the program ID Are not included in the EPG data.

  Referring to FIG. 8, when the EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 103 is updated to the latest data, the program identification unit 108 broadcasts the broadcast station of the program to be recorded included in the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 106. Based on the information on the broadcast day (day of the week), genre, and broadcast time, the program to be recorded matches the broadcast station, broadcast day (day of the week), and genre from the latest EPG data. The programs close to the broadcast time zone are narrowed down to search targets (step 801). This reduces the possibility that another program with a similar title will be erroneously searched in the next identification process for the program to be recorded.

  Next, the program identification unit 108 searches for the program having the highest similarity in the title among the search target programs narrowed down in step 801, and identifies the searched program as a recording target program (step 802).

  Next, the program identification unit 108 notifies the recording reservation unit 105 of information such as the title, genre, broadcast date (day of the week), broadcast time zone, broadcast station, program ID, etc. of the program identified in step 802, and the program The reservation content is instructed to be recorded (step 803).

  If the similarity between the title of the program identified in step 802 and the title of the program to be recorded is not equal to or greater than a preset threshold, the program identification unit 108 may not instruct modification of the reservation content.

  The procedure of the identification processing so far is the same as the procedure of steps 301 to 303 in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment.

  On the other hand, when the search target program is narrowed down from the EPG data in step 801, the program identification unit 108 obtains the title and program ID information of each program included in the EPG data at the time of step 801. It is stored in the learning target program information storage unit 109 (step 804).

  Next, only when the similarity between the title of the program identified in step 802 and the title of the program to be recorded is equal to or greater than a preset threshold, the program learning unit 110 determines that the title and program ID are in step 804. From the programs stored in the learning target program information storage unit 109, a program whose program ID matches the program identified in step 802 is searched (step 805).

  Thereafter, the program learning unit 110 adds the program ID of the program identified in step 802 and the title of the program searched in step 805 to the reservation information of the program to be recorded in the reservation information storage unit 106 (step 806). ).

  Here, the process of FIG. 8 will be described with reference to FIG. 9 with a specific example. Here, when setting a recording reservation for a program to be recorded, the broadcast station is “X broadcast station”, the broadcast day (day of the week) is “Sunday”, the broadcast time zone is “20:00 to 20:45”, and the genre is “ It is assumed that reservation setting is made with “hobby” and title “hobby A”, and the reservation information is stored in the reservation information storage unit 106.

  Referring to FIG. 9, first, when the EPG data is updated to the latest data on 8/5 (Tuesday), the program identification unit 108 selects the broadcast station “X broadcast station”, the broadcast date from the latest EPG data. (Day of the week) “Sunday” and genre “hobby” match and the broadcast time zone is close to “20:00 to 20:45”, the title is “Shumi C”, and the program ID is “0123” A total of three programs, ie, a program with the title “shumiA”, a program ID “1234”, a title “Shumi B”, and a program ID “2345”, are narrowed down to search targets. Further, when the search target program is narrowed down from the EPG data, the program identification unit 108 stores information on the title and program ID of each program included in the EPG data at that time, as learning target program information. Stored in the unit 109.

  Next, the program identification unit 108 has the title “shumiA” and the program ID “1234” as the program having the highest similarity of the title “Hobby A” at the time of recording reservation setting among the above three programs. The program is identified as the program to be recorded, and the recording reservation unit 105 is instructed to modify the reservation contents so as to record the identified program. However, here, it is assumed that the degree of similarity of the identified program title “sumiA” is not greater than or equal to a preset threshold value.

  In addition, when the EPG data is updated to the latest data on 8/6 (Wednesday), the program identification unit 108 selects a program having the title “sumiC” and the program ID “0123” from the latest EPG data. EPG data at that time is narrowed down to a total of three programs, the title “Shumi A”, the program ID “1234”, the title “Shumi B”, and the program ID “2345”. The information on the titles and program IDs of the programs included in is stored in the learning target program information storage unit 109. Then, the program identification unit 108 identifies the program having the title “Shumi A” and the program ID “1234” as a recording target program, and corrects the reservation contents so as to record the identified program. To instruct. However, also here, it is assumed that the degree of similarity of the identified program title “Shumi A” is not greater than or equal to a preset threshold value.

  Further, when the EPG data is updated to the latest data on 8/7 (Thursday), the program identification unit 108 selects the program with the title “Shumi C” and the program ID “0123” from the latest EPG data. , A total of three programs, the program with the title “Hobby A”, the program ID “1234”, the title “shumiB”, and the program ID “2345”, are narrowed down to search targets, and the EPG data at that time Information of each title and program ID of the included program is stored in the learning target program information storage unit 109. Then, the program identification unit 108 identifies the program with the title “Hobby A” and the program ID “1234” as the recording target program, and corrects the reservation contents so as to record the identified program. To instruct. Here, it is assumed that the degree of similarity of the identified title “Hobby A” is greater than or equal to a preset threshold value.

  Next, the program learning unit 110 selects the program ID “1234” of the program whose title similarity is equal to or greater than a threshold value from the six programs whose titles and program IDs are stored in the learning target program information storage unit 109. Two programs having titles “sumiA” and “Shumi A” are searched for as programs with the same.

  Thereafter, the program learning unit 110 adds the program ID “1234” to the reservation information of the program to be recorded in the reservation information storage unit 106 and also adds the titles “sumiA” and “Shumi A”. As a result, the program to be recorded can be identified using the program ID “1234” and the program to be recorded is identified using the titles “sumiA” and “Shumi A”. You will also be able to.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the recording target program reserved for recording is identified from the EPG data. However, in the present invention, a desired program reserved for viewing is selected. Any configuration can be applied as long as it is identified.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the tuner 101 receives programs and EPG data from broadcast waves. However, the present invention is different from broadcast waves such as the Internet and cable TV. The present invention is also applicable to a configuration for receiving programs and EPG data via communication media.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, it is assumed that the above-described operation is performed before recording a program to be recorded. However, the present invention is recording a program to be recorded. But it is possible. For example, when the EPG data is updated to the latest data during recording of the program to be recorded, and the broadcast time zone of the program to be recorded identified from the latest EPG data is changed, the program recording unit is adjusted accordingly. The reservation content set in 107 can be corrected.

  In the present invention, the processing in the program identification device is recorded on a recording medium readable by the program identification device, in addition to the processing realized by the dedicated hardware described above. The program recorded on the recording medium may be read by the program identification device and executed. The recording medium readable by the program identification device refers to a transfer medium such as a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, a DVD, a CD, and a Blu-ray disc, as well as an HDD built in the program identification device.

1 is a block diagram of a program identification device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the flow in case the program ID of the program to be recorded is known in the program identification method by the program identification device shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the flow in case the program ID of the program to be recorded is not known in the program identification method by the program identification device shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the program identification method shown in FIG. 3 by giving a specific example. It is a block diagram of the program identification apparatus by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the flow in case the program ID of the program to be recorded is known in the program identification method by the program identification device shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the program identification method shown in FIG. 6 by giving a specific example. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a flow when a program ID of a program to be recorded is not known in the program identification method by the program identification device shown in FIG. 5. It is a figure explaining a program identification method shown in FIG. 8 by giving a specific example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Tuner 102 EPG data acquisition part 103 EPG data storage part 104 Operation part 105 Recording reservation part 106 Reservation information storage part 107 Program recording part 108 Program identification part 109 Learning target program information storage part 110 Program learning part

Claims (18)

In a program identification device for identifying a desired program that is reserved for recording or viewing from electronic program guide data,
Reservation information storage means for storing reservation information including at least the title of the desired program as information indicating the reservation content of the desired program;
When the reservation information does not include an identification number for identifying the desired program, or a program that includes the identification number in the reservation information but matches the identification number is the electronic program guide data If not included in the from the electronic program guide data, searches the highest title of the program is the similarity between the desired program title included in the reservation information, the searched program of the desired program It possesses a program identification means to identify as,
Only when the degree of similarity between the title of the identified program and the title of the desired program is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, at least one of the identification number and title of the identified program is set to the desired program. A program identification device for additionally storing in the reservation information storage means as reservation information . The reservation information storage means stores, as the reservation information, broadcast station, broadcast date, and broadcast time zone information of the desired program,
The program identification means may be configured such that when the reservation information does not include the identification number of the desired program, or the reservation information includes the identification number but the program that matches the identification number is the electronic If not included in the program guide data, the electronic program guide data is narrowed down to the search target programs whose broadcast station and broadcast date are the same as the desired program and whose broadcast time zone is close to the desired program. The program identification device according to claim 1, wherein the desired program is identified from the narrowed search target programs. The reservation information storage means stores, as the reservation information, broadcast station, broadcast date, broadcast time zone, and genre information of the desired program,
The program identification means may be configured such that when the reservation information does not include the identification number of the desired program, or the reservation information includes the identification number but the program that matches the identification number is the electronic If not included in the program guide data, the electronic program guide data is searched for a program whose broadcast station, broadcast date, and genre match with the desired program and whose broadcast time zone is close to the desired program. The program identifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the desired program is identified from the narrowed search target programs. The program identifying means, when the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program, searches the electronic program guide data for a program whose identification number matches the desired program, The program identification device according to claim 1, wherein the searched program is identified as the desired program. When the reservation information does not include the identification number of the desired program, or the reservation information includes the identification number but a program that matches the identification number is included in the electronic program guide data. If not, the learning target program information storage means for storing said each of the identification number and title information of the electronic program guide program contained in narrowed the search target program from the data by the program identifying means ,
When the reservation information does not include the identification number of the desired program, or the reservation information includes the identification number but a program that matches the identification number is included in the electronic program guide data. If the similarity between the title of the program identified from the electronic program guide data by the program identification means and the title of the desired program is not less than a preset threshold, the identified program Is searched from the learning target program information storage means, and the title of the searched program and the identification number of the program identified by the program identification means are reserved in the reservation of the desired program. 4. The program identification apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising program learning means for additionally storing information as information in the reservation information storage means. The program identifying means, when the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program, searches the electronic program guide data for a program whose identification number matches the desired program, Identify the searched program as the desired program,
When the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program, the program learning means includes the title of the program identified by the program identification means as the title of the desired program in the reservation information. check is, if not, the title of the program identified by said program identification means, adding and stored in the reservation information storing unit as the reservation information of said desired program, to claim 5 The program identification device described. In a program identification method by a program identification device for identifying a desired program that is reserved for recording or viewing from electronic program guide data,
A first step of storing reservation information including at least a title of the desired program as information indicating reservation contents of the desired program in the program identification device;
When the reservation information does not include an identification number for identifying the desired program, or a program that includes the identification number in the reservation information but matches the identification number is the electronic program guide data If not included in the from the electronic program guide data, searches the highest title of the program is the similarity between the desired program title included in the reservation information, the searched program of the desired program a second step of identifying as,
Only when the similarity between the title of the program identified from the electronic program guide data in the second step and the title of the desired program is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the identified program And a third step of additionally storing at least one of an identification number and a title in the program identification device as the reservation information of the desired program . In the first step, information on a broadcast station, broadcast date, and broadcast time zone of the desired program is stored in the program identification device as the reservation information,
In the second step, the electronic program guide data is narrowed down by narrowing down the search target program to a program whose broadcast station and broadcast date are the same as the desired program and close to the desired program. The program identification method according to claim 7 , wherein the desired program is identified from the search target programs. In the first step, information on the broadcast station, broadcast date, broadcast time zone, and genre of the desired program is stored in the program identification device as the reservation information,
In the second step, from the electronic program guide data, the desired program and broadcast station, broadcast date, and genre match, and the program close to the desired program is narrowed down to search targets, The program identification method according to claim 7 , wherein the desired program is identified from the narrowed search target programs. When the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program, the electronic program guide data is searched for a program whose identification number matches the desired program, and the searched program is the desired program The program identification method according to any one of claims 7 to 9 , further comprising a fourth step of identifying as a program. A fourth step of storing the each of the identification number and title information of the electronic program guide program contained in narrowed the search target program from the data in said second step to said program identification device Further comprising
In the third step, only when the similarity between the title of the program identified from the electronic program guide data in the second step and the title of the desired program is greater than or equal to a preset threshold value. A program whose identification number matches the identified program is searched from the programs stored in the program identification device in the fourth step, and the title of the searched program and the second step are searched. The program identification method according to claim 8 or 9 , wherein the identification number of the identified program is additionally stored in the program identification device as the reservation information of the desired program. When the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program, the electronic program guide data is searched for a program whose identification number matches the desired program, and the searched program is the desired program A fifth step of identifying the program as
Check whether the title of the program identified from the electronic program guide data in the fifth step is included in the reservation information as the title of the desired program, and if not included, The program identification method according to claim 11 , further comprising a sixth step of additionally storing the title of the program identified in the fifth step as the reservation information of the desired program in the program identification device. In a program to be executed by a program identification device for identifying a desired program that is reserved for recording or viewing from electronic program guide data,
A first step of storing reservation information including at least a title of the desired program as information indicating reservation contents of the desired program in the program identification device;
When the reservation information does not include an identification number for identifying the desired program, or a program that includes the identification number in the reservation information but matches the identification number is the electronic program guide data If not included in the from the electronic program guide data, searches the highest title of the program is the similarity between the desired program title included in the reservation information, the searched program of the desired program a second step of identifying as,
Only when the similarity between the title of the program identified from the electronic program guide data in the second step and the title of the desired program is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the identified program And a third step of additionally storing at least one of an identification number and a title in the program identification device as the reservation information of the desired program. In the first step, information on a broadcast station, broadcast date, and broadcast time zone of the desired program is stored in the program identification device as the reservation information,
In the second step, the electronic program guide data is narrowed down by narrowing down the search target program to a program whose broadcast station and broadcast date are the same as the desired program and close to the desired program. The program according to claim 13 , wherein the desired program is identified from among the search target programs. In the first step, information on the broadcast station, broadcast date, broadcast time zone, and genre of the desired program is stored in the program identification device as the reservation information,
In the second step, from the electronic program guide data, the desired program and broadcast station, broadcast date, and genre match, and the program close to the desired program is narrowed down to search targets, The program according to claim 13 , wherein the desired program is identified from the narrowed search target programs. When the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program, the electronic program guide data is searched for a program whose identification number matches the desired program, and the searched program is the desired program The program according to any one of claims 13 to 15 , further comprising a fourth step of identifying the program as a program. A fourth step of storing the each of the identification number and title information of the electronic program guide program contained in narrowed the search target program from the data in said second step to said program identification device Further comprising
In the third step, only when the similarity between the title of the program identified from the electronic program guide data in the second step and the title of the desired program is greater than or equal to a preset threshold value. A program whose identification number matches the identified program is searched from the programs stored in the program identification device in the fourth step, and the title of the searched program and the second step are searched. The program according to claim 14 or 15 , wherein the identification number of the identified program is additionally stored in the program identification device as the reservation information of the desired program. When the reservation information includes the identification number of the desired program, the electronic program guide data is searched for a program whose identification number matches the desired program, and the searched program is the desired program A fifth step of identifying the program as
Check whether the title of the program identified from the electronic program guide data in the fifth step is included in the reservation information as the title of the desired program, and if not included, The program according to claim 17 , further comprising a sixth step of additionally storing the title of the program identified in the fifth step as the reservation information of the desired program in the program identification device.

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