JP4580963B2 - Broadcast program receiving electronic device, preference program selecting method and program thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention collects preference information for a user's program using electronic information for broadcast program reception, in particular, a program transmitted to select a program to be broadcast, and the user's The present invention relates to an electronic device for receiving a broadcast program, a favorite program selection method, and a program thereof that can present only desired information.

  In recent years, with the development of broadcasting technology, in addition to broadcast programs, that is, video / audio, an electronic program guide (EPG) is transmitted as broadcast program information. Corresponding to this, a broadcast receiver having a function of displaying an EPG on the screen has been put into practical use.

Since EPG has program information of many programs, it is necessary to comprehensively check all programs from the program table on which the program information is displayed in order to find out the programs that the user needs. From such a background, development of a technique for presenting only a program required by a user is underway.
For example, a technique has been developed in which a user inputs only desired programs by inputting program attributes such as keywords and genres as preference information that the user likes and performing searches from EPG programs. As one of such techniques, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-261733 discloses a program having the same program attribute by extracting program attributes, such as a genre, of a program frequently viewed by a user from an EPG program. Thus, a broadcast receiving apparatus that displays a list of programs that may be requested by the user is disclosed.

  With the technology disclosed in the above publications and the like, there is a possibility that a program not desired by the user will be presented together with a program close to the user's preference. This problem is caused by the fact that the correspondence between the user's preference and the preference information in the EPG cannot be simply taken.

  As a cause of the difficulty in associating the user's preference with the preference information in the EPG, firstly, for a program having information extracted from the EPG, a program suitable for preference information and preference information are used. There are some programs that are not suitable. For example, even if the user extracts the performer information from a type of program that is not judged to be viewed by the performer information, it is not appropriate preference information, so even if the program matching the preference information is presented, the user does not ask for it. There is a high possibility that it is a program.

Secondly, the preference information includes preference information that is suitable for determining similarity and presenting a search result program to the user, and preference information that is not suitable.
For example, when there are a large number of programs having the same preference information, even if it is a program of the type desired by the user, the number of cases is large, and further narrowing down is necessary.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and when selecting a program that likes viewing from a broadcast program, only the program that the user wants can be obtained with high accuracy without imposing a great deal of labor on the user. The purpose is to present.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, a program information storage unit that stores program information, a program specification unit that specifies at least one program from program information stored in the program information storage unit, and a program specification unit A specific program storage unit that stores the information of the program specified in the above as a specific program, and preference extraction for limiting the extraction of preference information based on the type of genre information included in the program information stored in the specific program storage unit The preference extraction restriction information stored in the preference extraction restriction information storage unit is identified based on the preference extraction restriction information storage unit that stores the restriction information and the genre information attached to the information of the specific program stored in the specific program storage unit. A preference information extraction unit that extracts preference information according to the specified preference extraction restriction information, and an extraction preference information record that stores the preference information extracted by the preference information extraction unit as extraction preference information A program search restriction information storage unit for storing program search restriction information for restricting program search based on the type of genre information included in the program information stored in the program information storage unit, and program information Based on the attached genre information, program search restriction information stored in the program search restriction information storage unit is specified, and a program having program information that matches or is similar to the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit is specified. A program search unit for searching from a program stored in the program information storage unit according to the program search limit information, and an output unit for outputting the program searched by the program search unit. Electronic equipment is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, a program information storage unit for storing program information, a program specification unit for specifying at least one program from program information stored in the program information storage unit, and a program specification unit A specific program storage unit that stores the information of the program specified in the above as a specific program, and preference extraction for limiting the extraction of preference information based on the type of genre information included in the program information stored in the specific program storage unit The preference extraction restriction information stored in the preference extraction restriction information storage unit is identified based on the preference extraction restriction information storage unit that stores the restriction information and the genre information attached to the information of the specific program stored in the specific program storage unit. A preference information extraction unit that extracts preference information according to the specified preference extraction restriction information, and an extraction preference information record that stores the preference information extracted by the preference information extraction unit as extraction preference information And a program search unit for searching for a program having program information that matches or is similar to the extracted preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit, and a program search unit There is provided an electronic apparatus for receiving a broadcast program, comprising an output unit for outputting a program.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, a program information storage unit that stores information on a program to be transmitted, a program specification unit that specifies at least one program from program information stored in the program information storage unit, Program information stored in the program information storage unit, a program information storage unit that stores information on the program specified by the program specification unit as a specific program, a preference information storage unit that stores user preference information extracted from the specific program A program search restriction information storage unit for storing program search restriction information for restricting program search based on the type of genre information included in the genre information, and genre information attached to the program information stored in the program information storage unit On the basis of the program search restriction information stored in the program search restriction information storage unit, and a program having program information that matches or is similar to the preference information stored in the preference information storage unit is specified. A program search unit for searching from a program stored in the program information storage unit according to the program search limit information, and an output unit for outputting the program searched by the program search unit. Electronic equipment is provided.

  Examples of the program information of the present invention include program information broadcast by terrestrial analog broadcast and analog satellite broadcast, and program information broadcast by digital transmission such as CS digital broadcast and BS digital broadcast. The program information is composed of a plurality of components indicating the attributes of the program in order to facilitate selection of the program. Each program broadcast date, broadcast start time, broadcast end time, channel, program title, genre, program content Components such as (headings, subtitles, etc.) are included.

  The preference information of the present invention refers to constituent elements of program information that can be set separately, but are not included in the program information, but the attributes of the programs that the user classifies into the constituent elements. Means a combination with a condition or a keyword indicating Examples of such preference information include “broadcast start time is 10:00 pm” and “genre is baseball”.

The preference extraction restriction information of the present invention is a two-dimensional table format in which the genre for classifying the program is on one axis and the type of preference information to be extracted is on the other axis, and from the type of genre and preference information This means that all combinations have data that restricts the extraction of preference information.
The program search restriction information of the present invention is similar to the preference extraction restriction information, and is a two-dimensional table format in which the genre for classifying the program is on one axis and the type of preference information to be extracted is on the other axis. In other words, all combinations of genres and preference information types have data that restricts the extraction of favorite programs.

The program search restriction information and the preference extraction restriction information are common in that both exist as binary information or multi-value information, but are different in that they narrow down extraction of preference information and narrow down preference programs, respectively. .
The difference between the preference extraction restriction information and the program search restriction information is shown as a specific example.
The preference extraction restriction information is created based on an answer to the question “whether or not to extract one or more types of preference information for a certain genre”. The question is performed in the form of a questionnaire for a plurality of subjects, for example. Preference extraction restriction information is created by extracting a number of opinions from the answers to this questionnaire.

The preference extraction restriction information is, for example, a program information composed of all combinations of a genre and the type of preference information. For a genre of “drama”, the tendency to judge viewing of the program by the type of preference information of “performer” For the genre “drama”, there is information that allows the preference information “performer” to be extracted.
In the case of multi-value information, for the genre “drama”, a plurality of weighted types of preference information, for example, the first type of preference information “performer”, the first type of preference information “broadcast start time”. There is information that allows preference information having importance to be extracted in the order of the second type and the third type of preference information “channel”.
On the other hand, the program search restriction information is created based on a statistical tendency based on “whether or not to determine the viewing of a certain genre with emphasis on the extracted preference information”.

The output unit of the present invention means display means for displaying program information of a selected program.
The electronic apparatus for receiving a broadcast program according to the present invention includes a personal computer and an apparatus equipped with an electronic device having a control and storage function of the personal computer, such as a CS digital broadcast tuner.

  According to the present invention, program information is stored, at least one program is specified from the stored program information, the specified program information is stored as a specified program, and the genre included in the stored program information Storing preference extraction restriction information for restricting extraction of preference information based on the type of information, specifying stored preference extraction restriction information based on genre information attached to information of the stored specific program, To extract preference information according to the specified preference extraction restriction information, store the extracted preference information as extraction preference information, and limit program search based on the type of genre information included in the stored program information The program search restriction information is stored, the stored program search restriction information is identified based on the genre information attached to the program information, and matches or resembles the stored preference information A program having a program information that, according to the program search limit information identified, retrieved from the stored program, preference program selection method and outputting the retrieved program is provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, program information is stored, at least one program is specified from the stored program information, the specified program information is stored as a specific program, and is included in the stored program information The preference extraction restriction information for restricting the extraction of preference information is stored based on the type of genre information to be stored, and the stored preference extraction restriction information is stored based on the genre information attached to the stored specific program information. Specifying and extracting preference information according to the specified preference extraction restriction information, storing the extracted preference information as extraction preference information, and storing a program having program information that matches or is similar to the stored extraction preference information There is provided a method for selecting a favorite program, characterized in that a searched program is searched and the searched program is output.

  Further, according to the present invention, information on a program to be transmitted is stored, at least one program is specified from the stored program information, information on the specified program is stored as a specific program, and extracted from the specific program The user's preference information is stored, program search restriction information for limiting the search of the program is stored based on the type of genre information included in the stored program information, and attached to the stored program information Based on the genre information, the stored program search restriction information is specified, and a program having program information matching or similar to the stored preference information is searched from the stored program according to the specified program search restriction information. There is provided a method for selecting a favorite program characterized by outputting the searched program.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, program information is stored, at least one program is specified from the stored program information, the specified program information is stored as a specific program, and is included in the stored program information Storing preference extraction restriction information for restricting the extraction of preference information based on the type of genre information to be stored, and specifying the stored preference extraction restriction information based on the genre information attached to the information of the stored specific program Then, preference information is extracted in accordance with the specified preference extraction restriction information, the extracted preference information is stored as extraction preference information, and program search is restricted based on the type of genre information included in the stored program information Program search restriction information is stored, the stored program search restriction information is specified based on the genre information attached to the program information, and the stored preference information is matched. Is a program with program information similar, according to the program search limit information identified, retrieved from the stored program, a program for implementing by a search computer a function of outputting a program is provided.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, program information is stored, at least one program is specified from the stored program information, the specified program information is stored as a specific program, and is included in the stored program information The preference extraction restriction information for restricting the extraction of preference information is stored based on the type of genre information to be stored, and the stored preference extraction restriction information is stored based on the genre information attached to the stored specific program information. Specifying and extracting preference information according to the specified preference extraction restriction information, storing the extracted preference information as extraction preference information, and storing a program having program information that matches or is similar to the stored extraction preference information A program for realizing a function of searching for a searched program and outputting the searched program by a computer is provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, information on a program to be transmitted is stored, at least one program is specified from the stored program information, information on the specified program is stored as a specific program, and extracted from the specific program The user's preference information is stored, program search restriction information for limiting the search of the program is stored based on the type of genre information included in the stored program information, and attached to the stored program information Based on the genre information, the stored program search restriction information is specified, and a program having program information matching or similar to the stored preference information is searched from the stored program according to the specified program search restriction information. A program for realizing the function of outputting the searched program by a computer is provided.

In this invention, it is possible to suppress the extraction of preference information that is not suitable as user preference information or the presentation of a program that is not suitable for presentation to the user, and it is possible to present only the program desired by the user with high accuracy. It becomes.
In particular, by creating preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information according to program information such as EPG to be used, it is possible to present a preference program adapted to the characteristics of the program information.

Furthermore, even when the content of the distributed EPG changes, the preference program can be presented in an optimal state by replacing the preference extraction restriction information or the program search restriction information with the latest information.
Further, when using program information such as EPG of a plurality of standards, preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information is created for each program information to be used, or adapted to user preferences in an environment used by a plurality of users. By creating preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information, it becomes possible to present a program desired by the user with higher accuracy.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, this does not limit the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a broadcast program receiving electronic device for presenting a favorite program according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a broadcast program receiving electronic device includes an antenna 10, a tuner unit 11, a program information extracting unit 12, a program information storage unit 13, a display unit 14, a central processing unit 15, an information receiving unit 16, and an input. It comprises means 60, first storage means 70 and second storage means 80.
The display means 14 is composed of a CRT, LCD (liquid crystal monitor device), or the like.
The information receiving means 16 is composed of a network interface card for connecting to a network such as the Internet and has a function of receiving information.

The input unit 60 includes a program specifying unit 601, a user login unit 602, and the like, and includes a mouse, a keyboard of a personal computer, a remote controller such as a CS digital broadcast receiver, and the like.
The first storage means 70 is composed of a semiconductor memory such as a ROM, and stores processing operation programs and data for electronic devices. The first storage means 70 stores a program guide display processing unit 701, a preference information extraction unit 702, a program search unit 703, a preference program display processing unit 704, an information reception unit 705, and the like.
The second storage means 80 is composed of a readable / writable semiconductor memory such as a RAM, and stores different data to be stored depending on the processing operation. The second storage means 80 includes a specific program storage unit 801, an extracted preference information storage unit 802 (preference information storage unit 802a), a preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803, a program search restriction information storage unit 804, a preference program storage unit 805, A memory that functions an electronic device such as a primary work area (not shown) is stored.

  The central processing unit 15 functions as a control unit that controls the above-described units. Broadcast radio waves are received by the antenna 10, and broadcast radio waves of a specific channel (frequency) can be extracted from the broadcast radio waves by the function of the tuner unit 11. The broadcast radio wave to be received is composed of broadcast video and audio and EPG (program information) superimposed thereon, and the program information extraction unit 12 extracts the program information, and the extracted program information is stored in the program information storage unit 13. The

The EPG is usually composed of information such as the example shown in FIG. 2, and includes the broadcast date 13a, start time 13b, end time 13c, channel 13d, program title 13e, genre 13f, program content 13g, etc. of each program. It has information and is stored in the program information storage unit 13.
The program information stored in the program information storage unit 13 is converted into a format that can be displayed in accordance with an instruction of the program guide display processing unit 701 stored in the first storage means 70, and the channel axis 701a is converted as shown in the example of FIG. Are displayed on the display means 14 in a two-dimensional table format having a time axis 701b.

  The program specifying unit 601 uses the mouse to move the pointer displayed on the screen displaying the program information in FIG. 3 on the display means 14, the user points to the display range of the program, and presses the mouse button Then, the program is stored in the specific program storage unit 801 as a program preferred by the user.

The user login unit 602 is a unit for authenticating a user by inputting a user ID. Details of the user login unit 602 will be described later.
The specific program storage unit 801 stores programs preferred by the user in a format as shown in FIG. The data structure shown in FIG. 4 stores programs that the user likes in a format similar to the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13. The broadcast date 801a, start time 801b, end time 801c, and channel 801d of each program are stored. , Information such as program title 801e, genre 801f, and program content 801g.

The extracted preference information storage unit 802 stores preference information extracted from the program information stored in the specific program storage unit 801 according to an instruction from the preference information extraction unit 702. The data structure of data stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 will be described later.
Details of the operation of the preference information extraction unit 702 will be described later.

The preference program storage unit 805 searches the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13 for a program that matches the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 in accordance with an instruction from the program search unit 703, and searches for the program information in FIG. Store in the format shown in
The data structure in FIG. 5 has a format similar to that of the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13, and each program has a broadcast date 805a, a start time 805b, an end time 805c, a channel 805d, a program title 805e, and a genre 805f. , Has information such as program content 805g.
Details of the operation of the program search unit 703 will be described later.

The preference program display processing unit 704 displays a list of the preference programs stored in the preference program storage unit 805 and presents it to the user.
Details of the operation of the information receiving unit 705 will be described later.

An embodiment of an electronic device for receiving broadcast programs according to the present invention will be described below.
Example 1
FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the control operation of the favorite program presentation by the broadcast program receiving electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the control of the electronic device for receiving broadcast programs is performed by controlling at least one program from a program information storage unit 13 that stores information on programs to be transmitted and program information stored in the program information storage unit 13. The program identification unit 601 for identifying the program, the specific program storage unit 801 for storing the program identified by the program identification unit 601 as a specific program, and the type of genre information included in the program information stored in the specific program storage unit 801 A preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 for storing preference extraction restriction information for restricting extraction of preference information based on the preference information based on genre information attached to information on a specific program stored in the specific program storage unit 801. A preference information extraction unit 702 that identifies preference extraction restriction information stored in the extraction restriction information storage unit 803 and extracts preference information according to the identified preference extraction restriction information; An extraction preference information storage unit 802 that stores the preference information extracted by the information extraction unit 702 as extraction preference information, and searches for programs based on the type of genre information included in the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13. The program search restriction information storage unit 804 that stores program search restriction information for restriction and the program search restriction information stored in the program search restriction information storage unit 804 are specified based on genre information attached to the program information. A program search unit 703 for searching for a program having program information matching or similar to the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 from the programs stored in the program information storage unit 13 according to the specified program search restriction information; In order to output a favorite program stored in the favorite program storage unit 805 and a favorite program storage unit 805 that stores the searched program as a favorite program Performed by the display unit 14 (output unit).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for extracting preference information from a program (specific program) including user preference information in accordance with an instruction from the preference information extraction unit 702.
As shown in FIG. 7, in step S101, it is determined according to the information stored in the preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 whether the specific program is a program belonging to a genre from which preference information is to be extracted. Here, the preference information represents, for example, information belonging to a type such as a performer name or a keyword.

  The information recorded in the preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 has a plurality of types of genres 803a and binary information 803b as shown in FIG. The binary information 803b corresponds to each of the genres 803a, and indicates that the preference information is extracted when the value is 1, and the preference information is not extracted when the value is 0. FIG. 8 shows an example in which binary information 803b exists for a plurality of types of preference information.

In FIG. 7, if it is determined in step S101 that preference information should be extracted, the process proceeds to step S102. If the preference information should not be extracted, the process ends.
In step S102, preference information is extracted from the specific program stored in the specific program storage unit 801, the preference information is stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802, and the process ends.
Note that the process composed of step S101 and step S102 is repeatedly executed for the number of types of preference information for one specific program, and in some cases, multiple types of preference information are extracted. Further, the above process is repeated for all specific programs.

  The data stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 is stored in a format as shown in FIG. The data structure in FIG. 9 is an example in the case of having a plurality of preference information, and lists preference information 802a and last update date 802b representing the date when the preference information last appeared in a specific program for each type. .

FIG. 10 shows a process flow for searching for a program that matches the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 among the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13 in accordance with an instruction from the program search unit 703. It is the flowchart which showed.
As shown in FIG. 10, in step S201, it is valid if the preference information stored in the program information storage unit 13 is more than a certain past (for example, 10 days) compared to the last update date and the current date. It is determined that the preference information is not correct, and the process ends. If it is determined that the preference information is less than a certain value (for example, 10 days) compared to the last update date and the current date, the preference information is considered valid and the process proceeds to step S202.

In step S202, according to the program search restriction information stored in the program search restriction information storage unit 804, a program stored in the program information storage unit 13 belongs to a genre to be searched for a certain type of preference information. It is determined whether or not.
The information recorded in the program search restriction information storage unit 804 includes a plurality of types of genres 804a and binary information 804b as shown in FIG. The binary information 804b corresponds to each of the genres 804a. When the value is 1, the program search is performed, and when the value is 0, the program search is not performed. FIG. 11 illustrates an example in which the binary information 804b exists for a plurality of types of preference information.

In FIG. 10, when it is determined in step S202 that a program search should be performed, the process proceeds to step S203. If it is determined not to search for a program, the process ends.
In step S203, a program search is performed, and it is determined whether the program information includes information that matches the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802. If the program information includes information that matches the preference information, the process proceeds to step S204. If no matching information is included in the program information, the process ends.
In step S204, program information including information that matches the preference information is stored in the preference program storage unit 805, and the process ends.

  The processing performed in steps S201 to S204 is performed for all programs stored in the program information storage unit 13, and is repeated for all preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802. A program with the same preference information is stored in the preference program storage unit 805 as a preference program.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, preference extraction restriction information for extracting only programs suitable for preference information and program search restriction information for searching for a type of program desired by the user can be provided. The program that the user wants can be presented with high probability.

Example 2
FIG. 12 is a block diagram for explaining a preferred program presentation control operation by the broadcast program receiving electronic device of the present invention in the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the control of the electronic device for receiving broadcast programs is performed by controlling at least one program from a program information storage unit 13 that stores information on transmitted programs and program information stored in the program information storage unit 13. A program specifying unit 601 that specifies the program information, a specific program storage unit 801 that stores information on the program specified by the program specifying unit 601 as a specific program, and genre information included in the program information stored in the specific program storage unit 801 A preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 for storing preference extraction restriction information for restricting extraction of preference information based on the type, and genre information attached to information on a specific program stored in the specific program storage unit 801 The preference information extraction unit 70 that specifies the preference extraction restriction information stored in the preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 and extracts the preference information according to the specified preference extraction restriction information. And an extraction preference information storage unit 802 that stores the preference information extracted by the preference information extraction unit 702 as extraction preference information, and program information that matches or is similar to the extraction preference information stored in the extraction preference information storage unit 802. A program search unit 703 for searching for a program from programs stored in the program information storage unit 13, a favorite program storage unit 805 for storing the searched program as a favorite program, and a favorite program stored in the preference program storage unit 805. This is performed by the display means 14 (output unit) for outputting.

  That is, in the second embodiment, the program search restriction information storage unit 804 of the first embodiment is omitted, and the program search restriction information storage unit 804 is stored based on the genre information attached to the program information of the first embodiment. A program stored in the program information storage unit 13 according to the specified program search restriction information is specified for the program search restriction information, and a program having program information that matches or is similar to the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 The program search unit 703 for searching for a program having program information matching or similar to the extracted preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 from the programs stored in the program information storage unit 13. It has been replaced with.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, preference extraction restriction information for extracting only programs suitable for extracting preference information can be provided, so that programs desired by the user can be presented with high probability.

Example 3
FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining the control operation of the favorite program presentation by the broadcast program receiving electronic device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the control of the broadcast program receiving electronic device is performed by controlling at least one program from a program information storage unit 13 that stores information on a program to be transmitted and program information stored in the program information storage unit 13. A program identification unit 601 for identifying the program, a specific program storage unit 801 for storing information on the program identified by the program identification unit 601 as a specific program, and a preference information storage unit 802a for storing user preference information extracted from the specific program A program search restriction information storage unit 804 for storing program search restriction information for restricting program search based on the type of genre information included in the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13, and program information Based on the genre information attached to the program information stored in the storage unit 13, the program search limitation information stored in the program search limitation information storage unit 804 is identified, and the preference information storage A program search unit 703 for searching for a program having program information matching or similar to the preference information stored in the storage unit 802a from the program stored in the program information storage unit 13 according to the specified program search restriction information; This is performed by a preference program storage unit 805 that stores a program as a preference program, and display means 14 (output unit) for outputting the preference program stored in the preference program storage unit 805.

  That is, in the third embodiment, the preference information extraction unit 702 and the preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 of the first embodiment are omitted.

  As described above, in the third embodiment, the preference information is extracted from the program desired by the user and the program search restriction information for searching for the type of program desired by the user can be provided. Can be presented with high probability.

Example 4
In the fourth embodiment, an example in which the preference extraction restriction information or the program search restriction information is weight information will be described.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for extracting preference information from a program (specific program) including user preference information in accordance with an instruction from the preference information extraction unit 702.

As shown in FIG. 14, first, in step 301, preference information is extracted from the specific program stored in the specific program storage unit 801, and the process proceeds to step 302. In step 302, the preference information is stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802, and weight information having different values for each genre is added to obtain a weight score, which is stored in a state corresponding to the preference information.
Note that the processing in steps S301 and S302 is repeated for all types of preference information for one specific program, and in some cases, extraction of a plurality of types of preference information and calculation of weight points are performed. Moreover, the above process is repeated with respect to all the specific programs. At this time, when the same preference information appears from different specific programs, the weight points are accumulated.

As shown in FIG. 15, the information recorded in the preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 has a plurality of types of genres 803c and corresponding multi-value weight information 803d.
FIG. 15 illustrates an example in which the weight information 803d exists for a plurality of types of preference information.

  Data stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 is stored in a format as shown in FIG. The data structure of FIG. 16 is an example in the case of having a plurality of preference information. The weight point number 802d to which the weight information corresponding to the preference information 802c is added, and the last update date 802e representing the date when the weight point number was added last. Are listed for each type.

  FIG. 17 is a flow of processing for searching for a program that matches the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 among the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13 in accordance with an instruction from the program search unit 703. It is the flowchart which showed.

  First, in step S401, the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 is compared with the last update date and the current date, and when it is determined that the information is past information for a certain (for example, 10 days) or more. If it is determined that the preference information is not valid, the process ends. When the difference between the last update date and the current date is less than a certain value (for example, 10 days), the preference information is set as valid and the process proceeds to step S402.

  In step S402, program search is performed based on the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802, targeting the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13 according to the information stored in the program search restriction information storage unit 804. It is determined whether the program belongs to the genre to be performed.

The information recorded in the program search restriction information storage unit 804 has a plurality of types of genres 804c and corresponding weight information 804d as shown in FIG.
FIG. 18 illustrates an example in which the weight information 804b exists for a plurality of types of preference information.

In step S402, if the weight score 802c stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 is greater than or equal to the weight information 804d, a program search is performed. If the weight point 802c is smaller than the weight information 804d, the program search is not performed.
If it is determined in step S402 that a program search should be performed, the process proceeds to step S403. If it is determined not to search for a program, the process ends.
In step S403, a program search is performed using the preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 for the program information stored in the program information storage unit 13.
If the program information includes information that matches the preference information, the process proceeds to step S404. If no matching information is included, the process ends.

  In step S404, program information including information that matches the preference information is stored in the preference program storage unit 805, and the process ends. The process composed of the above step S401 or step S404 is performed on all program information stored in the program information storage unit 13. In addition, a program that is repeated for all preference information stored in the extracted preference information storage unit 802 and matches at least one preference information is stored in the preference program storage unit 805 as a preference program.

  In the fourth embodiment, since the preference extraction restriction information or the program search restriction information is weight information, the preference extraction restriction information for extracting only the programs suitable for the preference information and the type of program desired by the user are searched. Since the program search restriction information can be provided with a stricter accuracy than the methods of the first to third embodiments, the program desired by the user can be presented with a higher probability.

Example 5
In the fifth embodiment, an example in which the broadcast program receiving electronic device is an electronic device that can acquire and update preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information from a network such as the Internet. explain.

  The information receiving unit 705 periodically uses the information receiving means 16 to connect to the network, and downloads preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information prepared in an external server or the like if it exists. In the preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 or the program search restriction information storage unit 804, the preference extraction restriction information or the program search restriction information already stored is overwritten. The preference program is obtained from new preference extraction restriction information updated by the above means or program search restriction information. The preference program is presented by the method shown in the first or fourth embodiment.

  As described above, in the fifth embodiment, since the information receiving unit 16 that functions as an acquisition unit that acquires the preference extraction restriction information or the program search restriction information from the outside is further provided, the preference extraction is performed even when the content of the delivered EPG changes. By replacing the restriction information or the program search restriction information with the latest information, it is possible to present a favorite program in an optimal state.

Example 6
In the sixth embodiment, the broadcast program receiving electronic device has a plurality of patterns of preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information, and replaces the preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information that is actually used for presenting the favorite program. An example of an electronic device that can be made will be described.

The preference extraction restriction information storage unit 803 and the program search restriction information storage unit 804 store preference extraction restriction information and program search restriction information corresponding to the user ID in a one-to-one correspondence in advance for the number of user IDs. The converted preference extraction restriction information and program search restriction information are used for presentation of preference programs.
When the user inputs a user ID from the user login unit 602, the preference extraction restriction information and the program search restriction information corresponding to the user ID are validated. A preference program is obtained using the validated preference extraction restriction information and program search restriction information. The preference program is presented by the method shown in the first or fourth embodiment.

  In this embodiment, the user ID is associated with the preference extraction restriction information and the program search restriction information. However, the present invention is not limited to this method. The present invention can also be applied to various methods such as correspondence between the type of EPG to be received, preference extraction restriction information, and program search restriction information.

  As described above, in the sixth embodiment, the preference extraction restriction information or the program search restriction information includes a plurality of types of information sets, and further includes a user login unit 602 that functions as a selection unit that selects these restriction information sets. Therefore, when using program information such as EPG of a plurality of standards, preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information is created for each program information to be used, or in accordance with user preferences in an environment used by a plurality of users. By creating preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information, it becomes possible to present a program desired by the user with higher accuracy.

In the present invention, as shown in the above-described embodiment, by having preference extraction restriction information or program search restriction information, it becomes possible to satisfactorily associate user preference with preference information in the EPG.
That is, the information extracted from the EPG includes a program suitable for preference information and a program not suitable for preference information, but only programs suitable for preference information based on preference extraction restriction information are included. Can be extracted. Therefore, for example, since the program to be presented is narrowed down by extracting the program based on the preference extraction restriction information from the type of program in which the user selects viewing only with the performer information, the program desired by the user is presented with a high probability. Can do.

  In addition, the preference information includes preference information that is suitable for presentation to the user and preference information that is not suitable even if the similarity is determined. However, for example, programs having the same preference information can be obtained by the program search restriction information. Even if there are many types of programs desired by the user, the programs to be presented are further narrowed down by the program search control based on the program search restriction information, so the programs desired by the users are presented with high probability. be able to.

In the embodiment described above, a description is given assuming a personal computer as an electronic device for receiving a broadcast program for presenting a favorite program. However, an electronic device targeted by the present invention is an electronic device other than a personal computer. For example, it may be an electronic device incorporated in a CS digital broadcast receiver or the like.
The embodiments of Examples 4 to 6 can be applied to the embodiments of Examples 1 to 3.

  As mentioned above, the content in embodiment described so far is not limited to each example of the said description, unless the main point of this invention is changed.

It is the block diagram which showed the function of the electronic device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the program information memorize | stored in the program information storage part of FIG. It is the figure which showed the image of the program information displayed on a display part by the instruction | indication of a program schedule display process part. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the program information of the specific program memorize | stored in a specific program memory | storage part. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the program information of the favorite program memorize | stored in a favorite program memory | storage part. FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the control operation of the preference program presentation by the broadcast program receiving electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the process of a preference information extraction part. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the preference extraction restriction | limiting information memorize | stored in a preference extraction restriction | limiting information storage part. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the preference information memorize | stored in an extraction preference information storage part. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the process of a program search part. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the program search restriction information memorize | stored in a program search restriction information storage part. FIG. 10 is a block diagram for explaining a preferred program presentation control operation by the broadcast program receiving electronic device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; It is a block diagram for demonstrating Example 3 about the control operation of the favorite program presentation by the electronic device for broadcast program reception of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the process of a preference information extraction part. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the preference extraction restriction | limiting information memorize | stored in a preference extraction restriction | limiting information storage part. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the preference information memorize | stored in an extraction preference information storage part. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the process of a program search part. It is the figure which showed the data structure of the program search restriction information memorize | stored in a program search restriction information storage part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Antenna 11 Tuner part 12 Program information extraction part 13 Program information storage part 15 Display means (output part)
16 Central processing unit 17 Information receiving means (acquisition part)
60 Input means 70 First storage means 80 Second storage means 601 Program identification unit 602 User login means (selection unit)
701 Program guide display processing unit 702 Preference information extraction unit 703 Program search unit 704 Preference program display processing unit 705 Information reception unit 801 Specific program storage unit 802 Extraction preference information storage unit 802a Preference information storage unit 803 Preference extraction restriction information storage unit 804 program Search restriction information storage unit 805 Preference program storage unit

Claims (6)

A program information storage unit for storing program information including a plurality of data items including a genre of a program;
A program specifying unit for specifying a program selected by the user from among the programs indicated by the program information stored in the program information storage unit;
A preference extraction information storage unit that stores preference extraction information that specifies data items for extracting preferences for each genre;
The data item for extracting the preference is specified with reference to the genre information included in the program information of the program specified by the program specifying unit and the preference extraction information stored in the preference extraction information storage unit, and the preference is obtained from the program information. A preference extraction unit to extract;
An electronic device for receiving a broadcast program, comprising: a preference information storage unit that stores information extracted from specific data items as preference information.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the preference extraction information is weight information for each data item.   The electronic device of Claim 1 further provided with the acquisition part which acquires preference extraction information from the outside. An authentication unit for identifying a plurality of users by authentication;
A selection unit for selecting preference extraction information;
The preference extraction information storage unit stores a plurality of preference extraction information corresponding to each user, and the selection unit selects preference extraction information corresponding to the user from the stored preference extraction information. The electronic device described. Storing program information consisting of a plurality of data items including the genre of the program in the program information storage unit;
Identifying the program selected by the user from the programs indicated by the program information stored in the program information storage unit;
Storing preference extraction information for specifying data items for extracting preferences for each genre in the preference extraction information storage unit;
The data item for extracting the preference is specified with reference to the genre information included in the program information of the program specified by the program specifying unit and the preference extraction information stored in the preference extraction information storage unit, and the preference is obtained from the program information. Extracting, and
Storing information extracted from specific data items in the preference information storage unit as preference information,
A method for retrieving a favorite program, characterized in that a computer executes each step. A program information storage unit for storing program information including a plurality of data items including a genre of a program;
A program specifying unit for specifying a program selected by the user from among the programs indicated by the program information stored in the program information storage unit;
A preference extraction information storage unit that stores preference extraction information that specifies data items for extracting preferences for each genre;
The data item for extracting the preference is specified with reference to the genre information included in the program information of the program specified by the program specifying unit and the preference extraction information stored in the preference extraction information storage unit, and the preference is obtained from the program information. A preference information extraction unit to extract;
A program for controlling a broadcast program receiving device for causing a computer to function as each unit of a preference information storage unit that stores information extracted from specific data items as preference information.

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