JP4607652B2 - Information system, information providing system, and information providing program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information system, an information providing system, and an information providing program that provide content recommendation data that is effectively used by a user.

  With the recent development of communication networks and information devices, it has become possible to provide information that can meet a variety of user hobbies. Specifically, in the broadcasting industry such as television, the number of channels that can be broadcast has increased due to improvements in broadcasting equipment and communication bands. As a result, the user has been able to view a program that matches the taste of each person, while previously viewing the program broadcast for everyone. Furthermore, with the spread of products such as hard disk recorders, users can record programs in a space-saving manner without changing media, and enjoy the programs at any time.

  On the other hand, with the increase in the number of programs, the degree of difficulty for users to search for programs that suit their tastes has increased. Furthermore, if only watching programs that meet the user's preference, searching for new programs may be costly. In view of such a situation, development of a method for providing a program recommended to a user is expected.

  In order to solve such a problem, there is a broadcast receiving device with a viewing information storage function and a recommended content display device that facilitate content that matches the user's preference (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the broadcast receiving apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the program information input unit inputs information from an external recording medium in which information related to a program viewed by the broadcast receiving apparatus with a viewing information storage function is written, and preference analysis recommendation information The generation unit generates recommended content information suitable for the user from the input information and displays the recommended content information on the recommended information display unit. The recommended content display device described in Patent Document 1 analyzes and analyzes the preference of a viewer from a program information input unit that captures program information and recorded program information recorded by a broadcast receiving device, and the input information. A preference analysis recommendation information generation unit that generates content recommendation information according to the result, and a recommendation information display unit that displays content recommendation information according to the content recommendation information generated by the preference analysis recommendation information generation unit.

Furthermore, there is an information search system that can recommend content in accordance with the user's purpose (see Patent Document 2). In this information retrieval system, the server acquires unique interest data of each device such as a personal computer and an HDD recorder via a network. The server analyzes the device characteristics and generates specific interest data of the device based on the device characteristics. The server receives an input of a purpose, extracts device-specific interest data of a plurality of devices corresponding to the purpose, and generates purpose-specific interest data based on the device-specific interest data.
JP 2005-94115 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-366991

  However, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above, there may be cases where optimal content recommendation data cannot be provided to the user.

  Specifically, in Patent Document 1, information is obtained from a digital broadcast receiving device operated by a user, and a recommended content display device analyzes the user's preferences to create content recommendation data. Therefore, in patent document 1, only the program regarding the keyword and genre relevant to the program which the user watched will be shown as content recommendation data. In many cases, the user has previously acquired information such as a program that the user is viewing and other programs related thereto. Therefore, even if the content recommendation data is generated only with the information related to the program viewed by the user, it may be a program that the user already knows and there is no need to bother the user.

  In Patent Document 2, interest data indicating the user's interest, purpose-specific interest data corresponding to the purpose designated by the user, and the like are extracted by a server, and content is recommended to the user via the network. Therefore, even if the content recommendation data is generated based on the preference information input by the user, the user needs to change the preference information when the user's preference changes midway. It is not very effective to force the user to change the preference information, and even if the preference information is generated, the user may not use it.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an information system, an information providing system, and an information providing program that provide content recommendation data that is effectively utilized by a user.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a first feature of the present invention is that information including a recorder, an electronic program information system, and an information providing system, and providing content recommendation data that is effectively used by a user of the recorder About the system. That is, an information system recorder according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a first storage device, means for storing broadcast content in the first storage device, and an electronic program information system via a communication network. If the recording device or the reservation instruction for storing the broadcast program in the first storage device is input from the input device by means of the means for receiving the program information from the first storage device and storing it in the first storage device, and the user's operation, The program information system includes means for transmitting a program ID of a program to be recorded or reserved together with an identifier of the recorder to the electronic program information system via a communication network. The electronic program information system includes a communication network based on a second storage device, a program ID, means for storing program information in which information related to the program is stored in the second storage device, and a request from the recorder. Means for transmitting the program information from the second storage device via the, and means for associating the identifier of the recorder received from the recorder with the program ID and storing it in the second storage device as recording reservation history information. The information providing system receives the program information and the recording reservation history information from the third storage device in which the normalized dictionary data including the excluded keyword is stored, and the electronic program information system, and stores the information in the third storage device Read the program information and the recording reservation history information from the acquisition unit and the third storage device, and output the content recommendation data based on the recording reservation history information acquired from a plurality of recorders, and the program ID included in the content recommendation data Content recommendation data output means for normalizing by excluding keywords excluded from normalized dictionary data from the program information, grouping content recommendation data for each normalized program information, and outputting the grouped content recommendation data to the storage device An information providing system.

  According to such an information system according to the first feature of the present invention, content recommendation data can be created based on a user's reservation history and recording history, and an appropriate program can be presented to the user.

Here, in detail, the content recommendation data output means of the information providing system reads the program information and the recording reservation history information from the third storage device, extracts the program IDs associated with the identifiers of all the recorders, The number of recorder identifiers associated with the ID is counted and stored in the third storage device as ranking data . Based on the ranking data, the ranking data obtained by grouping the ranking data for each normalized program information is obtained. It is means for outputting content recommendation data based on the content. The program information includes the program title, and the content recommendation data output means reads the program information and the recording reservation history information from the third storage device, extracts the program ID associated with the identifier of the predetermined recorder, and from the program information Extracting information associated with the extracted program ID, extracting a keyword from the extracted information, associating the identifier of the recorder with the keyword, inserting them into user keyword data, and storing them in the third storage device The user keyword data is read from the third storage device, the user keyword associated with the identifier of the recorder is extracted, the program ID including the extracted user keyword is extracted from the program information, and the keyword matched with the program information The score is output based on the number of recorders, including the recorder identifier and user keyword A pair ID, stored in the third storage device as a self recommendation data in association scores, based on self-recommendation data, based on the grouping already self recommendation data grouping self recommendation data for each program title normalized A means for outputting content recommendation data. The program information includes the program title, and the content recommendation data output means reads the program information and the recording reservation history information from the third storage device, extracts the program ID associated with the identifier of the predetermined recorder, and records the recording reservation history. The identifier of the recorder associated with the program ID extracted by the information is searched as a similar user, and when there is a similar user, the program ID associated with the identifier of the recorder of the similar user is extracted, and the similarity for each similar user And assigning a score to the program ID associated with the similar user based on the given score for each similar user, the recorder identifier, and the program ID of the program recorded or reserved by the similar user, It associates a score stored in the third storage device as others recommended data, based on the others recommended data, program tight normalized A means for outputting the content recommendation data based on the grouping already others recommended data grouping others recommendation data for each.

The second feature of the present invention relates to an information providing system for providing content recommendation data that is effectively utilized to a user who owns a recorder. That is, the information providing system according to the second feature of the present invention stores, in a storage device, a storage device that stores normalized dictionary data including excluded keywords , a program ID, and program information data that stores information related to the program. A means for storing, a means for associating the identifier of the recorder transmitted from the recorder and the program ID, storing the recording reservation history data in the storage device, reading program information data and recording reservation history data from the storage device; The content recommendation data is output based on the recording reservation history data acquired from the recorder, the program information of the program ID included in the content recommendation data is extracted, and the excluded keyword of the normalized dictionary data is extracted from the extracted program information. Exclude and normalize, group content recommendation data for each normalized program information, and storage device Comprising a content recommendation data output means for outputting the grouping already content recommendation data.

Here, in detail, the content recommendation data output means reads the program information data and the recording reservation history data from the storage device, extracts the program IDs associated with the identifiers of all the recorders, and records the program IDs associated with the program IDs. The number of identifiers is counted, stored as ranking data in a storage device, and content recommendation data based on the grouped ranking data obtained by grouping the ranking data for each normalized program information based on the ranking data is output. It is. The program information includes the program title, and the content recommendation data output means reads the program information data and the recording reservation history data from the storage device, extracts the program ID associated with the identifier of the predetermined recorder, and program information data And extracting the information associated with the extracted program ID, extracting the keyword from the extracted information, associating the identifier of the recorder with the keyword, inserting the keyword into the user keyword data, and storing it in the storage device. The user keyword data is read from the apparatus, the user keyword associated with the identifier of the recorder is extracted, the program ID including the extracted user keyword is extracted from the program information data, and the number of keywords matching the program information data is extracted. Output the score based on the recorder identifier and user key A program ID with over de, based on self-recommendation data in association scores, stored in the storage device as the normalized grouped already self recommendation data grouping self recommendation data for each program title for, based on the self-recommendation data Means for outputting the recommended content recommendation data. The program information includes the program title, and the content recommendation data output means reads the program information data and the recording reservation history data from the storage device, extracts the program ID associated with the identifier of the predetermined recorder, and records the recording reservation history. The identifier of the recorder associated with the program ID extracted by the data is searched as a similar user, and when there is a similar user, the program ID associated with the identifier of the recorder of the similar user is extracted, and the similarity for each similar user And assigning a score to the program ID associated with the similar user based on the given score for each similar user, the recorder identifier, and the program ID of the program recorded or reserved by the similar user, , stored in the storage device as the others recommended data in association scores, based on the others recommended data, program tie normalized A means for outputting the content recommendation data based on the grouping already others recommended data grouping others recommendation data for each Le.

  Also, the information providing system according to the second aspect of the present invention, when receiving a content recommendation data request from the recorder, reads the grouped content recommendation data from the storage device and includes the program ID included in the grouped content recommendation data. The broadcast start date / time includes information forming means for deleting data before the date / time when the request is received, outputting content recommendation information, and transmitting it to the recorder. As a result, grouped content recommendation data is created periodically and each time a request is made, grouped content recommendation data is formed according to the situation, so that the real-time performance of the process can be improved.

A third feature of the present invention relates to an information providing program for providing content recommendation data that is effectively utilized to a user who owns a recorder. That is, the information providing program according to the third feature of the present invention includes a program ID, means for storing program information data storing information related to the program in a storage device, an identifier of the recorder and a program transmitted from the recorder. Means for associating the ID with each other and storing them in the storage device as recording reservation history data; reading out the program information data and recording reservation history data from the storage device; and content recommendation based on the recording reservation history data obtained from a plurality of recorders Output the data, extract the program information of the program ID included in the content recommendation data, normalize by excluding the excluded keyword included in the normalized dictionary data from the extracted program information, normalized program information groups the content recommendation data for each, and outputs the grouped already content recommendation data storage device To execute the content recommendation data output unit to the computer.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information system, the information provision system, and information provision program which provide the content recommendation data utilized effectively for a user can be provided.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

(Best Embodiment)
(Information system)
As shown in FIG. 1, the information system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a hard disk recorder 9a and information terminal 10a possessed by user A, a hard disk recorder 9b and information terminal 10b possessed by user B, and hard disk recorders 9a and 9b. 2 includes an EPG system (electronic program information system) 8 that provides an electronic program guide (EPG), and an information providing system 1 that provides content recommendation data to the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b. The hard disk recorders 9a and 9b, the information terminals 10a and 10b, the EPG system 8, and the information providing system 1 can communicate with each other via a communication network 11 such as the Internet.

  The hard disk recorder 9a can record data such as a program broadcast on a broadcasting station, and includes a user instruction input unit, a tuner, an encoder, a program information acquisition unit, a control unit, a clock, a storage device, and the like. The user instruction input unit inputs an instruction to the hard disk recorder 9a to make a reservation for recording a program scheduled to be broadcast or to record a program currently being viewed. Based on the operation of the user instruction input unit, the tuner extracts the broadcast of the designated channel from the broadcast signal, extracts the image signal and the video signal, and inputs them to the encoder. The encoder receives the image signal and the audio signal input from the tuner, performs processing such as compression, generates image data and audio data, and stores them in the storage device. The program information acquisition unit receives program information from the EPG system 8 via the communication network and stores it in the storage device. Based on an instruction from the user instruction input unit, the control unit acquires a program at a designated time and stores the program in a storage device or records a currently viewed program in the storage device. When a recording or reservation instruction for storing a broadcast program in the storage device is input from the user instruction input unit by a user operation, the control unit stores the program ID of the program to be recorded or reserved in the EPG system 8 on the hard disk recorder. Are transmitted to the EPG system via the communication network 11. Although the hard disk recorder 9a has been described here, the same applies to the hard disk recorder 9b. The hard disk recorders 9a and 9b are examples of recorders, and may be replaced by a computer with a tuner, a television with a recording function, or the like, and may be any device that is connected to a communication network and can receive broadcasts.

  The information terminal 10a is an information processing terminal that includes devices such as a CPU and a storage device, executes predetermined processing, and can transmit and receive information via the communication network 11, and corresponds to a mobile phone, a personal computer, a PDA, and the like. The same applies to the information terminal 10b.

  The EPG system 8 includes means for storing a program ID and program information in which information related to the program is stored in the storage device 8a. The EPG system 8 transmits program information from the storage device 8a via the communication network 11 based on requests from the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b, and the identifiers of the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b received from the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b. The program ID is associated and stored in the storage device 8a as recording reservation history information.

  Here, the identifiers of the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b are the serial number assigned to the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b, the MAC address assigned to the communication control device provided for connection to the communication network 11, and the hard disk recorder 9a. 9b. In the present embodiment, a case where the identifier is a MAC address that can identify the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b will be described. Further, when a plurality of users use one hard disk recorder, such as when a hard disk recorder is installed at home, a user ID that can identify the user may be used instead of the hard disk identifier.

  The information providing system 1 includes an information generation server 2, an information formation server 4, and a front end server 6. The information providing system 1 receives program information and recording reservation history information from the EPG system, stores information in the storage device, reads program information and recording reservation history information from the storage device, and acquires the information from a plurality of hard disks. Content recommendation data output means for outputting content recommendation data based on the recording reservation history information is provided. The information providing system 1 will be described in detail later.

  Next, processing of the information system according to the best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 illustrates a case where the hard disk recorder 9a acquires a program guide (EPG) from the EPG system 8 and acquires reserved program information. First, in step S101, the hard disk recorder 9a transmits a program guide acquisition request to the EPG system. This program guide acquisition request includes a channel code of a receivable channel, a start date / time and an end date / time for acquiring a program, an identifier (device ID) of the hard disk recorder, and model information. When the program guide acquisition request is received by the EPG system 8, the EPG system 8 confirms the model, confirms the identifier of the hard disk recorder, extracts program information from the storage device 8a, and transmits the program to the hard disk recorder 9a. Generate information. When the program information is generated, the EPG system 8 transmits the program information to the hard disk recorder 9a in step S102. Specifically, the program information is a program in the channel code range from the start date to the end date specified in the program guide acquisition request in step S101. When the program information is received, the hard disk recorder 9a stores the program table in a storage device and displays it on a display device connected to the hard disk recorder.

  Furthermore, when reserving a program to be broadcast in the hard disk recorder 9a, first, the hard disk recorder 9a transmits a reserved program information acquisition request to the EPG system 8 in step S103. This reserved program information acquisition request includes the program ID for each reserved program, the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a, model information, and the area number where the hard disk recorder 9a is installed. When the reserved program information acquisition request is received by the EPG system 8, the EPG system 8 confirms the model, confirms the identifier of the hard disk recorder, and then extracts detailed program information of the reserved program from the storage device 8a. Program information to be transmitted to the hard disk recorder 9a is created. At this time, the program ID and area number of the reserved program included in the reserved program information acquisition request are stored in the storage device 8a as the reservation history information in association with the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a. When the detailed program information is generated, the EPG system 8 transmits the detailed program information of the reserved program to the hard disk recorder 9a in step S104, and stores it in the storage device as the program information of the reserved program for each program ID. The Here, it is assumed that the hard disk recorder 9a can make a reservation up to, for example, a program eight days ahead.

  FIG. 3 illustrates a case where the hard disk recorder 9a records a program currently being viewed. First, in step S121, the hard disk recorder 9a transmits a program information acquisition request to the EPG system 8. This program information acquisition request includes the currently viewed program ID, the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a, model information, and the area number where the hard disk recorder 9a is installed. When the EPG system 8 receives the program information acquisition request, the EPG system 8 confirms the model, confirms the identifier of the hard disk recorder, and then extracts the detailed program information of the program related to the program ID from the storage device 8a. Then, program information to be transmitted to the hard disk recorder 9a is created. At this time, the program ID and the region number included in the program information acquisition request are stored in the storage device 8a as recording history information in association with the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a. When the detailed program information is generated, in step S122, the EPG system 8 transmits the detailed program information of the reserved program to the hard disk recorder 9a and stores it in the storage device as the detailed program information of the program ID.

  FIG. 4 illustrates a case where the hard disk recorder 9 a receives content recommendation data from the information providing system 1. First, in step S141, the hard disk recorder 9a transmits a content recommendation data acquisition request to the front end server 6 of the information providing system 1. This content recommendation data acquisition request includes the channel identifier of the reception channel, the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a, and the model information. When receiving the content recommendation data acquisition request from the hard disk recorder 9a, the front-end server 6 transfers the content recommendation data acquisition request to the information forming server 4 in step S142. Upon receiving the content recommendation data acquisition request, the information forming server 4 confirms the model, confirms the identifier of the hard disk recorder, and then generates content recommendation data matching the receivable channel and the current time in the hard disk recorder 9a. When the content recommendation data is generated, the information forming server 4 transmits the content recommendation data to the front end server 6 in step S104. When the front end server 6 receives the content recommendation data, the front end server 6 transfers the received content recommendation data to the hard disk recorder 9a. When the hard disk recorder 9 receives the content recommendation data, the hard disk recorder 9 stores it in the storage device and displays it on a display device connected to the hard disk recorder 9.

  Next, the information providing system 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The information providing system 1 includes an information generation server 2, an information formation server 4, and a front end server 6.

  The information generation server 2 receives the program information from the EPG system 8, the recording reservation history information acquired from the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b, the user area information, etc., stores them in the storage device, and recommends content based on those information Data 1a is generated. Specifically, the content recommendation data 1a includes ranking data based on the number of reservations of programs, self-recommendation data based on reservation history of individual users, and recommending programs reserved by users having similar preferences to the users. Such as person recommendation data.

  Further, the information generation server 2 groups the program names after the normalization process, counts the number of reservations, and generates grouped content recommendation data 1b. At this time, since the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b can reserve, for example, programs up to 8 days ahead, programs such as varieties and dramas broadcasted at the same time on weekdays, programs such as continuous dramas broadcast every other week, etc. The same program may occur although the broadcast date and time are different. Here, the information generation server 2 can accurately estimate the popularity of the program by grouping with the normalized program name, and can count the number of reservations for each program regardless of the broadcast date and time.

  When the information forming server 4 is notified by the front end server 6 that the content recommendation data request has been received, the information forming server 4 has already broadcasted the program based on the grouped content recommendation data stored in the information generation server 2. Are deleted, duplicated programs are deleted, etc., and then output to the front-end server 6.

  The front-end server 6 is means for receiving the content recommendation data request transmitted from the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b and transmitting data desired by the user. The front end server 6 also transmits content recommendation data to the information terminals 10a and 10b owned by the user A and the user B.

The front-end server 6 receives a request for transmitting content recommendation data from the hard disk recorder 9 a to the information terminal 10 a and transmits the request to the information generation server 2. In the information generation server 2, the passphrase generation means 24 of the information generation server 2 creates a passphrase that is not easily guessed and can be uniquely identified, and the identifier of the hard disk recorder and the passphrase are associated with each other and the user device data 37 And the generated passphrase is transmitted to the front-end server 6. Front-end server 6 displays a pass phrase that is received display device connected to the hard disk recorder 9a, Ru is the passphrase that is displayed on the display device from the information terminal 10a. Furthermore, by transmitting the input pass phrase to the front-end server 6, it can be determined that the hard disk recorder 9a and the information terminal 10a are owned by the user A, and the user A recommends content to the information terminal 10a. Data can be transmitted.

  Here, the information generation server 2 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 6, the information generation server 2 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a central processing control device 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, and an input / output interface 109. Are connected via a bus 110. An input device 104, a display device 105, a communication control device 106, a storage device 107, and a removable disk 108 are connected to the input / output interface 109.

  The central processing control device 101 reads and executes a boot program for starting the information generation server 2 from the ROM 102 based on an input signal from the input device 104, and further reads an operating system stored in the storage device 107. Further, the central processing control device 101 controls various devices based on input signals from the input device 104, the communication control device 106, etc., and reads programs and data stored in the RAM 103, the storage device 107, etc. into the RAM 103. A processing device that loads and implements a series of processes to be described later, such as data calculation or processing, based on a program command read from the RAM 103.

  The input device 104 includes input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse through which an operator inputs various operations. The input device 104 generates an input signal based on the operation of the operator, and inputs via the input / output interface 109 and the bus 110. It is transmitted to the central processing control apparatus 101. The display device 105 is a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or the like. The display device 105 receives an output signal to be displayed on the display device 105 from the central processing control device 101 via the bus 110 and the input / output interface 109. It is a device that displays the processing result of the control device 101 and the like. The communication control device 106 is a device such as a LAN card or a modem, and is a device that connects the information generation server 2 to a communication network such as the Internet or a LAN. Data transmitted / received to / from the communication network via the communication control device 106 is transmitted / received to / from the central processing control device 101 via the input / output interface 109 and the bus 110 as an input signal or an output signal.

  The storage device 107 is a semiconductor storage device or a magnetic disk device, and stores programs and data executed by the central processing control device 101. The removable disk 108 is an optical disk or a flexible disk, and signals read / written by the disk drive are transmitted / received to / from the central processing control apparatus 101 via the input / output interface 109 and the bus 110.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an information generation program is stored in the storage device 107 of the information generation server 2 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and program information data 31, recording reservation history data 32, user area data are stored. 33, user reception channel data 34, user keyword data 35, normalized dictionary data 36, user device data 37, ranking data 38a and 39a, self-recommendation data 38b and 39b, and other person recommendation data 38c and 39c are stored. In addition, the information generation program is read and executed by the central processing control device 101 of the information generation server 2, thereby obtaining information acquisition means 21, content recommendation data output means 22, ranking data grouping means 23 a, self-recommended data grouping means 23 b, Other person recommendation data grouping means 23 c and passphrase generation means 24 are mounted on the information generation server 2.

  Here, the hardware configuration of the information generation server 2 has been described, but the information forming server 4, the front end server 6, and the EPG system 8 also have the same configuration, and a program for performing predetermined processing is executed by the central processing control device. As a result, the functions of the information forming server 4 and the front-end server 6 are determined. In the best mode of the present invention, the case where each of the information generation server 2, the information formation server 4, and the front end server 6 is configured by one piece of hardware has been described. The functions of each server may be configured by a single piece of hardware. Further, it may be mounted on the same hardware as the EPG system 8. The mounting format of the hardware can be arbitrarily changed according to the number of users and the number of accesses processed by the information providing system 1.

(Information generation server)
Next, a software configuration of the information generation server 2 according to the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The information generation server 2 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an information acquisition unit 21, a content recommendation data output unit 22, a ranking data grouping unit 23a, a self-recommended data grouping unit 23b, an other person recommended data grouping unit 23c, and a storage. Devices 107a to 107c are provided. In FIG. 5, the information generation server 2 includes storage devices 107a to 107c, but it is not necessary that each storage device stores data as shown in the figure, and all of them are stored in one storage device. These data may be stored, or each data may be stored in any number of storage devices.

  The storage device 107a stores program information data 31, recording reservation history data 32, user area data 33, user reception channel data 34, user keyword data 35, normalized dictionary data 36, user device data 37, and the like.

  The program information data 31 has an example of a data structure and data as shown in FIG. The program information data 31 is given a channel ID, a region number, a broadcast start date / time, a broadcast end date / time, a title, a subtitle, a performer name, a program commentary, and a genre ID using the program ID as a key. Here, the program ID is uniquely determined by the channel ID, the area number, and the broadcast start date and time. Different program IDs are assigned to programs such as varieties and dramas broadcast during the same time zone on weekdays and programs such as continuous dramas broadcast every other week. The genre ID can be converted into a genre name by a table (not shown) in which the genre ID and the genre name are associated with each other.

  The recording reservation history data 32 has an example of a data structure and data as shown in FIG. The recording reservation history data 32 includes recording reservation history data 32a related to a reserved program and recording reservation history data 32b related to a recorded program. In the recording reservation history data 32a, program IDs of a plurality of reserved programs are associated with each user ID indicated by the hard disk ID. In the recording reservation history data 32b, program IDs of a plurality of recorded programs are associated with each user ID indicated by the hard disk ID.

  The user area data 33 has an example of a data structure and data as shown in FIG. In the user area data 33, one area number is associated with the user ID. The area number can be converted into an area name by a table (not shown) in which the area number is associated with the area name.

  The user reception channel data 34 has an example of a data structure and data as shown in FIG. In the user reception channel data 34, a plurality of reception channel IDs are associated with the user ID.

  The user keyword data 35 has an example of a data structure and data as shown in FIG. In the user keyword data 35, a plurality of user keywords are associated with the user ID. As the user keyword, the keyword is extracted from the program information of the program recorded or reserved by the user and stored in the user keyword data 35. The user's preferred keyword may be quantified by associating the appearance frequency with the user keyword.

  The normalization dictionary data 36 is used to determine that a program of the same type from a program title for band programs such as varieties, dramas broadcast every other week, and continuous dramas broadcast every other week, This is dictionary data that is referred to when keywords are extracted. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the normalized dictionary data 36 includes “[rebroadcast]”, “[new program]”, “[news] ◇ 10”, “[final]”, “[weather]”. ”Or other negative keywords. Even if these excluded keywords are extracted as user keywords in the user keyword data 35, it is difficult to discriminate the user's preference, so it is preferable to provide excluded keywords. Further, when grouping the same type of programs in the band program, the same type of programs can be grouped by matching by removing these exclusion keywords from the program title.

  For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 12, when “[News] ◇ 10” is stored as the program title in the program information data 31, the program provides the information according to the best mode of the present invention. It is excluded from the content recommendation data provided by the system. When “Tomorrow's dinner [last round]” is stored as the program title in the program information data 31, the program is given a score as “Tomorrow's dinner”. Even if “[news] [weather] ◇ 10 [re] tomorrow dinner # 12” is stored in the program information data 31, the program is given a score as “tomorrow dinner”. Is done.

  The user device data 37 has an example of a data structure and data as shown in FIG. The user device data 37 is associated with a passphrase that can identify a user ID that is an identifier of the hard disk recorder.

  The information acquisition means 21 is means for storing information such as program information data 31, recording reservation history data 32, user area data 33, user reception channel data 34, etc. acquired from the EPG system 8 in the storage device 107a.

  The content recommendation data output means 22 reads the program information data 31 and the recording reservation history data 32 from the storage device 107a and outputs the content recommendation data 38 based on the recording reservation history information acquired from a plurality of hard disk recorders. is there. Here, the content recommendation data 38 is ranking data 38a, self-recommendation data 38b, and other person recommendation data 38c. The program information data 31, the recording reservation history data 32, the user area data 33, the user reception channel data 34, the user keyword data 35, and the normalized dictionary data 36 stored in the storage device 107a are read from the storage device, and content recommendation data is output. Means 22 are executed.

When the ranking data 38a is output, the content recommendation data output means 22 reads the program information data and the recording reservation history data from the storage device 107a, extracts the program IDs associated with the identifiers of all the hard disk recorders, and sets them as the program IDs. The number of identifiers of the associated hard disk recorder is counted and stored in the storage device 107b as ranking data 38a .
Here, the content recommendation data 38 may be calculated for each area information or channel. At this time, the content recommendation data output means 22 reads the program information data 31 and the recording reservation history data 32 from the storage device 107a, extracts the program ID associated with the identifier of the recorder relating to the predetermined area number, and associates it with the program ID. The number of recorded recorder identifiers is counted and stored in the storage device 107b as ranking data of a predetermined region. In addition, regardless of the regional information and the channel, a weight may be given to the score of the program according to the age and sex of the user who reserves the program.

  When outputting the self-recommendation data 38b, the content recommendation data output means 22 reads the program information data 31 and the recording reservation history data 32 from the storage device 107a, and extracts the program ID associated with the identifier of the predetermined hard disk recorder 9a. . Further, the content recommendation data output means 22 extracts information associated with the extracted program ID from the program information data 31, extracts keywords from the extracted information, and associates the identifier of the hard disk recorder with the keyword. The user keyword data 35 is inserted and stored in the storage device 107a. The content recommendation data output means 22 reads the user keyword data 35 from the storage device 107a, extracts the user keyword associated with the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a, and sets the program ID including the extracted user keyword as the program information data 31. And the score is output based on the number of keywords that match the program information data 31. Further, the content recommendation data output unit 22 stores the identifier of the hard disk recorder, the program ID including the user keyword, and the score in the storage device 107b as the self-recommendation data 38b.

  When outputting the other person recommendation data 38c, the content recommendation data output means 22 reads the program information data 31 and the recording reservation history data 32 from the storage device 107a, and extracts the program ID associated with the identifier of the predetermined hard disk recorder 9a. Then, the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a associated with the program ID extracted from the recording reservation history data is searched for as a similar user. The content recommendation data output means 22 extracts the program ID associated with the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a of the similar user when there is a similar user searched, and assigns a score based on the similarity for each similar user. Based on the score of each similar user, a score is assigned to the program ID associated with the similar user, the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a, the program ID of the program recorded or reserved by the similar user, and the score are associated with each other. Stored in the storage device 107c as person recommendation data 38c.

Next, a process in which the content recommendation data output unit 22 outputs the ranking data 38a will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in step S101, the content recommendation data output unit 22 reads the recording reservation history data 32 from the storage device 107, and the program IDs of all reserved programs of all users are acquired.
When the program ID of the reserved program is acquired, in step S202, the content recommendation data output unit 22 counts the number of users who reserved the program for each program ID and outputs it as points (recommendation degree). Further, in step S203, the content recommendation data output means 22 outputs ranking data 38a in which the program ID and the points are associated with each other and the program information data 31 is further associated.

  Here, the ranking data 38a output by the content recommendation data output means 22 has a configuration as shown in FIG. Specifically, the title, subtitle, broadcast start date / time, broadcast end date / time, genre, and points calculated in the flow of FIG. 14 are associated with the program ID as a key.

Next, a process in which the content recommendation data output unit 22 outputs the self recommendation data 38b will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in step S221, one user ID is selected by the content recommendation data output unit 22, and the program ID of the recording reservation history of the user ID is acquired from the recording reservation history data 32 from the storage device 107a. Further, in step S222, the content recommendation data output means 22 reads the program information data 31 from the storage device 107a based on the program ID extracted in step S221, and from the program information data associated with this program ID. , Keywords are extracted. Further, the content recommendation data output means 22 associates the user ID with the keyword and inserts it into the user keyword data 35.
In step S223, the content recommendation data output means 22 reads the user keyword data 35 from the storage device 107a. In step S224, the program information in the program information data 31 is searched for a program including the user keyword associated with the user. Is done. Further, in step S225, the content recommendation data output means 22 associates the program score by the keyword matched in step S222 with the program ID. Further, in step S226, a plurality of combinations in which the program ID searched in step S224 and the points given in step S225 are associated are associated with the user ID extracted in step S221, and the self-recommendation data 38b is output. Is done. The processing from step S221 to step S226 is repeated for all users, and the processing result is stored in the storage device 107b as self-recommendation data 38b.

Next, a process in which the content recommendation data output unit 22 outputs the other person recommendation data 38c will be described with reference to FIG.
In step S241, one user ID is selected by the content recommendation data output unit 22, and the program ID of the recording reservation history of the user ID is acquired from the recording reservation history data 32 from the storage device 107a. In step S242, the content recommendation data output unit 22 searches for similar users who are recording or reserving the same program. When a similar user is not searched, ID of the similar user memorize | stored in the past is searched in step S244. On the other hand, if there is a similar user, in step S245, the content recommendation data output unit 22 stores the user ID of the similar user in the temporary storage device.
Next, in step S246, reservation history data is extracted from the recording reservation history data 32 by the content recommendation data output means 22 based on the user ID of the similar user searched in step S244 or step S245. At this time, in step S247, the content recommendation data output means 22 gives points to similar users based on the number of recording reservations of the similar user and the number of recording reservations of the same program as the user. Specifically, it is assumed that the user extracted in step S241 makes a reservation for three recordings, and the similar user extracted in step S245 makes a reservation for five recordings. If two of the five programs recorded by a similar user have been reserved by the user, the score of the similar user is calculated as 2/5. The process in step S247 is executed for all similar users searched in step S245 or step S244. Further, in step S249, a plurality of combinations in which the user ID of the similar user extracted in step S244 or step S245 and the points given in step S247 are associated are associated with the user ID extracted in step S241. Other person recommendation data 38c is output. The processing from step S241 to step S249 is repeated for all users, and the processing result is stored in the storage device 107c as the other person recommendation data 38c.

  Next, a grouping unit that groups and outputs the content recommendation data output by the content recommendation data output unit 22 will be described. Grouping means such as ranking data grouping means 23a, self-recommended data grouping means 23b, and other person recommended data grouping means 23c, program information data 31 from storage device 107a, ranking data 38a, self-recommendation data 38b, etc. from storage device 107b. The content recommendation data such as the person recommendation data 38c is read out. Further, the grouping means extracts the program title of the program ID included in the content recommendation data, normalizes the extracted program title, groups the content recommendation data for each normalized program title, and stores the storage device 107c. Output grouped content recommendation data.

Next, the ranking data grouping unit 23a will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in step S301, the ranking data grouping means 23a reads the ranking data 38a from the storage device 107b. In step S302, the program information included in the ranking data 38a is normalized. In step S303, the ranking data 38a is normalized. Grouped by program information. In step S304, the ranking data grouping unit 23a, a normalized program information a group of identifiers, or program ID is a number associated with a group are counted, the point of the group is output. Further, in step S305, the ranking data grouping means 23a stores the grouped ranking data 39a in which the program information and the points are associated with each other using the normalized program information as a key in the storage device 107c.

  In this way, the ranking data grouping means 23a separates “different content programs of the same name” by making the same program not only the normalized program title but also the same broadcast information such as the broadcast start date and time. Can be counted as a group. In the ranking data grouping means 23a, since the broadcast start date and time is also a grouping key, for example, programs broadcast every day are counted as different programs. Furthermore, for example, even when the channel ID is different depending on the broadcast area with the same broadcast content, the number of reservations can be counted for each broadcast content. Therefore, the ranking data according to the best embodiment of the present invention is simply a program ID. It is possible to provide nationwide ranking data for the broadcast contents, not the ranking data assigned to the.

  Here, the grouped ranking data 39a output by the ranking data grouping means 23a has a configuration as shown in FIG. For example, the point for each group calculated in the flow of FIG. 18 is associated with the normalized program title as the group identifier. Furthermore, the title, subtitle, broadcast start date / time, broadcast end date / time, genre, and points calculated in the flow of FIG. 14 are associated with the program information of programs belonging to the group.

With reference to FIG. 20, the self-recommended data grouping means 23b will be described.
First, in step S321, the self-recommendation data grouping means 23b reads the self-recommendation data 38b from the storage device 107b. In step S322, the program title included in the self-recommendation data 38b is normalized. Grouped by the program titles. In step S324, the number of program IDs associated with the group is counted by the self-recommended data grouping means 23b using the normalized program title as the group identifier, and the group points are output. In step S325, the self-recommended data grouping unit 23b stores the grouped self-recommended data 39b in which program information and points are associated with each other using the normalized program title as a key in the storage device 107c.

The other person recommended data grouping means 23c will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in step S341, the other person recommendation data grouping means 23c reads the other person recommendation data 38c from the storage device 107b. In step S342, the program title included in the other person recommendation data 38c is normalized, and step S343 is performed. Are grouped by normalized program titles. In step S344, by others recommendation data grouping unit 23c, as normalized program title group identifier, or program ID is a number associated with a group are counted, the point of the group is output. Further, in step S345, the other person recommended data grouping unit 23c stores the grouped other person recommended data 39c in which the program information and the points are associated with each other using the normalized program title as a key in the storage device 107c.

  The information acquisition means 21, content recommendation data output means 22, ranking data grouping means 23a, self-recommendation data grouping means 23b, and other person recommendation data grouping means 23c by the information generation server are periodically executed once a day, for example, and grouped. Ranking data 39a, self-recommendation data 39b, and other person recommendation data 39c, which are content recommendation data, are output.

  In this way, the self-recommended data grouping means 23b and the other-person recommended data grouping means 23c count the same series as the same group by making the same normalized program title the same program. Can do. For example, rebroadcasts of dramas broadcast every day are counted in the same group as the same series even if the broadcast date and time are different. As a result, the self-recommended data grouping means 23b and the other person recommended data grouping means 23c can recommend a series of programs to the user.

  18, 20, and 21, the program title is normalized, but the timing for normalization is not limited to this. For example, when the program information is acquired by the information acquisition means 21, the normalized dictionary data 36 is read to normalize the program title, and the normalized program title is stored in the program information data 31 in association with the program ID. May be. As a result, it is not necessary to repeat the same process a plurality of times, so that the processing of the information generation server 2 is expected to be reduced.

  The passphrase generation unit 24 creates a passphrase that is easily guessed and can be uniquely identified, stores the identifier of the hard disk recorder and the passphrase in association with each other in the user equipment data 37, and the generated passphrase Send to server 6. The front-end server 6 displays the received passphrase on a display device connected to the hard disk recorder 9a, and inputs the passphrase displayed on the display device from the information terminal 10a. Furthermore, by transmitting the input pass phrase to the front-end server 6, it can be determined that the hard disk recorder 9a and the information terminal 10a are owned by the user A, and the user A recommends content to the information terminal 10a. Data can be transmitted.

(Information formation server)
When the information formation server 4 receives a request for content recommendation data from the hard disk recorder 9a via the front-end server 6, the ranking data 39a, self-recommendation data 39b, and other person recommendation data that are grouped content recommendation data from the storage device 107c. 39c is read out and formed into a format that can be presented to the hard disk recorder 9a. Specifically, the information forming server 4 deletes data whose broadcast start date and time of the program ID included in the grouped content recommendation data is earlier than the date and time when the request is received, and stores the formed content recommendation data 1b. The data is output and transmitted to the hard disk recorder 9b via the front end server 6.

  The information formation server 4 includes ranking information formation means 41a, self-recommendation information formation means 41b, and other person recommendation information formation means 41c according to the type of content recommendation data.

The processing of the ranking information forming unit 41a will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in step S401, the ranking information forming unit 41a determines whether the ranking information 51a to be output includes a predetermined number of programs. If the predetermined number is satisfied, the process is terminated as it is.
On the other hand, if the predetermined number is not reached, in step S402, the ranking information forming unit 41a reads the ranking data 39a from the storage device 107c, and in step S403, all the program information stored in the ranking data 39a is processed. It is determined whether it has been done. When all the program information has been processed, the processing is terminated as it is.
If all the program information has not been processed, one unprocessed program ID is extracted, and a determination is made for each determination condition as to whether or not to insert the program with that program ID into the ranking information 51a. Specifically, in step S405, if there is a condition that “the broadcast start date and time of the extracted program ID is 10 minutes or more from the current time”, the process returns to step S401 if the condition is not satisfied. On the other hand, if the condition is satisfied, the next determination condition is determined in step S404. Steps S404 and S405 are repeated until there is no determination condition. When there is no determination condition, the program information related to the program ID extracted in step S403 is inserted into the ranking information 51a in step S406, and the process returns to step S401.

With reference to FIG. 23, the process of the self-recommendation information forming unit 41b will be described.
First, in step S421, the self-recommendation information forming unit 41b determines whether a predetermined number of programs are included in the self-recommendation information 51b to be output. If the predetermined number is satisfied, the process is terminated as it is.
On the other hand, if the predetermined number is not reached, in step S422, the self-recommendation information forming unit 41b reads the self-recommendation data 39b from the storage device 107c, and in step S423, all the programs stored in the self-recommendation data 39b. It is determined whether the information has been processed. When all the program information has been processed, the processing is terminated as it is.
If all the program information has not been processed, one unprocessed program ID is extracted, and a determination is made for each determination condition as to whether or not to insert the program with that program ID into the self-recommendation information 51b. . Specifically, in step S425, if there is a condition that “the broadcast start date and time of the extracted program ID is 10 minutes or more from the current time”, the process returns to step S421 when the condition is not satisfied. On the other hand, if the condition is satisfied, the next determination condition is determined in step S424. Steps S424 and S425 are repeated until there is no determination condition. When there is no determination condition, the program information related to the program ID extracted in step S423 is inserted into the self-recommendation information 51b in step S426, and the process returns to step S421. .

With reference to FIG. 24, the process of the other person recommendation information formation means 41c is demonstrated.
First, in step S441, the self-recommendation information forming unit 41b determines whether a predetermined number of programs are included in the other person recommendation information 51c to be output. If the predetermined number is satisfied, the process is terminated as it is.
On the other hand, if the predetermined number is not reached, in step S442, the other person recommendation information forming unit 41c reads out the other person recommendation data 39c from the storage device 107c, and in step S443, the other person recommendation data 39c is stored. It is determined whether all program information has been processed. When all the program information has been processed, the processing is terminated as it is.
If all the program information has not been processed, one unprocessed program ID is extracted, and a determination is made for each determination condition as to whether or not to insert the program with that program ID into the other person recommended information 51c. Is called. Specifically, in step S445, if there is a condition that “the broadcast start date and time of the extracted program ID is 10 minutes or more from the current time”, the process returns to step S441 if the condition is not satisfied. On the other hand, if the condition is satisfied, the next determination condition is determined in step S444.
Steps S444 and S445 are repeated until there is no determination condition. When there is no determination condition, it is determined in step S446 whether the self-recommendation information 51b exists. When the self-recommendation information does not exist, in step S448, the other person recommendation information forming unit 41c inserts the program ID and the program information into the other person recommendation information 51c, and the process returns to step S441. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S446 that the self-recommendation information 51b exists, the other person recommendation information forming unit 41c determines whether or not the program ID is included in the self-recommendation information 51b in step S447. If the program ID is not included in the self-recommendation information 51b, in step S448, the other person recommendation information forming unit 41c inserts the program ID and the program information into the other person recommendation information 51c, and the process returns to step S441. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S447 that the program ID is included in the self-recommendation information, the process returns to step S441.

  Here, the self-recommendation information 51b is preferentially created and adjusted so that it does not overlap with the self-recommendation information 51b in the other-person recommendation information 51c. You may adjust so that it may not overlap with other person recommendation information 51c in 51b. Specifically, processing similar to that in steps S446 to S448 in FIG. 24 is executed instead of step S426 in FIG.

  In this way, the information forming server 4 determines whether or not the program recommendation information should be presented based on the request reception time for the content recommendation data once created, and further, the self-recommendation information 51b and others Since the recommendation information 51c is adjusted so that information does not overlap, appropriate content recommendation data can be provided to the user.

(Front-end server)
The front end server 6 includes request receiving means 61 and request response means 62. The request receiving means 61 receives requests from the hard disk recorders 9a and 9b and the information terminals 10a and 10b, and causes the information generating server 2 or the information forming server 4 to perform predetermined processing in response to the requests.

  For example, when a passphrase is requested, the request reception unit 61 causes the passphrase generation unit 24 of the information generation server 2 to generate a passphrase. Further, when content recommendation data is requested, one or more of ranking information forming means 41a, self-recommended information forming means 41b, and other person recommended information forming means 41c are processed.

  The request response unit 62 is a unit that returns the result of processing by the information generation server 2 or the information formation server 4 to the terminal that transmitted the request.

  Thus, when content recommendation data is transmitted from the information providing system 1, a recommended program list display screen P101 as shown in FIG. 25 is displayed on the display device connected to the hard disk recorder 9a. On the recommended program list display screen, information corresponding to each of the ranking information 51a, the self-recommended information 51b, and the other person recommended information 51c is displayed. For example, as the ranking information 51a, ranking ranking, broadcast date and time, start and end times, display channel, program name, and the like are displayed. In addition, when the “display after 6th place” button is clicked, programs after the 6th ranking are displayed.

  As described above, according to the information providing system according to the best mode of the present invention, the user is provided with the ranking information 51a calculated from the reservation histories of users nationwide, the user expected from the past reservation histories of the user. Self-recommendation information 51b that seems to match the user's preference, and other-person recommendation information 51c that is tabulated from the reservation history of other users who have the same preference as the user are output. Accordingly, it is possible to recommend to the user a popular program or a program that misses a reservation that suits the user's preference.

  Furthermore, according to the information providing system according to the best mode of the present invention, the user's preference is dynamically created from the user's reservation history and recording history, so even when the user's preference is changed. The user can recommend a program that matches the user's preference at any time without inputting the preference on the screen.

  Furthermore, according to the information providing system relating to the best mode of the present invention, the ranking data 39a, the self-recommendation data 39b and the other person recommendation data 39c for each user are created in advance, and a user requests a recommended program. Since the ranking information 51a, the self-recommendation information 51b, and the other person recommendation information 51c are created based on the date and time of the request, appropriate program information can be provided from time to time. In addition, it is possible to adjust the time zone and the number of the recommended programs displayed using the characteristics of the hard disk recorder, mobile phone, computer and the like.

(Variation 1 of the best embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIGS. 26 to 28, a first modification of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a part of the information generation server 2 according to the first modification of the best embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 26, only the part according to the first modification of the best mode for carrying out the present invention is described, but it is needless to say that each element of the information providing system shown in FIG. 5 is also present.

  In the information generation server 2 according to the first modification of the best mode of the present invention, the ranking data 38a, the self-recommendation data 38b, and the other person recommendation data 38c are stored in the storage device 107b by the content recommendation data output unit 22. Thereafter, based on the category determination condition data 40 stored in the storage device 107b, the respective data are classified into categories.

  The ranking data category determination means 25a reads the ranking data 38a and the category determination condition data 40 from the storage device 107b, and stores the program ID and program information of the program that matches the category determination condition data as the ranking data 39d in the storage device 107d. To do. The ranking data 39d stored in the storage device 107d may be read by the ranking information forming unit 41a as it is, or further grouped by the ranking data grouping unit 23a.

  The self-recommendation data category determination means 25b reads the self-recommendation data 38b and the category determination condition data 40 from the storage device 107b, and stores the program ID and program information of the program that matches the category determination condition data as the self-recommendation data 39e. Store in 107d. The self-recommendation data 39e stored in the storage device 107d may be read by the self-recommendation information forming unit 41b as it is, or further grouped by the self-recommendation data grouping unit 23b.

  The other person recommendation data category determination means 25c reads the other person recommendation data 38c and the category determination condition data 40 from the storage device 107b, and sets the program ID and program information of the program that matches the category determination condition data as the other person recommendation data 39f. And stored in the storage device 107d. The other person recommendation data 39f stored in the storage device 107d may be read as it is by the other person recommendation information forming unit 41c, or may be further grouped by the other person recommendation data grouping unit 23c.

  Here, the category determination condition data 40 will be described in detail. The category determination condition data 40 includes an example of a data structure and data as shown in FIG. Specifically, the first condition and the second condition are described for each category identifier, and by selecting the category identifier by the user, a program of only the category desired by the user is provided as content recommendation data. Can do.

Next, with reference to FIG. 28, the category classification processing according to the first modification of the best embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, the ranking data category determining unit 25a will be described, but the same applies to the self-recommended data category determining unit 25b and the other person recommended data category determining unit 25c.
First, in step S501, the ranking data category determination unit 25a reads the ranking data 38a and the category determination condition data 40, which are one of the content recommendation data, from the storage device 107b. At this time, it is preferable that the category determination condition data 40 is read only from the category determination condition of a category ID predetermined by the user.
In step S502, the ranking data category determination unit 25a determines whether or not all program IDs stored in the ranking data 38a meet the category determination condition. Specifically, in step S502, it is determined by the ranking data category determination means 25a whether or not there is a next determination condition. If there is no next determination condition, the program ID and the program information are stored in the ranking data 39d. Is stored in the storage device 107d. On the other hand, if the next determination criterion exists, it is determined in step S503 whether or not the program ID and the program information match the next determination criterion. If they do not match, the process ends. If they match, the process returns to step S502 to search for the next determination condition. The processing from step S502 to step S504 is executed for each program ID stored in the ranking data 38a.

  As described above, according to the information system according to the first modification of the best embodiment of the present invention, the user can receive only program information that matches a predetermined category.

(Modification 2 of the best embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG. 29 and FIG. 30, the modification 2 of the best embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. Here, the case where the ranking for each region is displayed on the display device connected to the hard disk recorder 9a will be described.

  When accessing from the information terminal 10a or the like, the user can obtain ranking information regardless of the position where the hard disk recorder 9a exists. In order to investigate the ranking of other regions, the ranking information of other regions may be displayed regardless of the position where the hard disk recorder 9a exists. At this time, since rankings in other regions are displayed based on program IDs valid in other regions, when recording reservations are made to the hard disk recorder 9a owned by the user, recording reservations with program IDs that are invalid in those regions are made in normal operation. There is a risk that the user may search for a program that is effective in the area where the hard disk recorder 9a is located from the program content. Therefore, the second modification of the best embodiment of the present invention solves such a problem.

  The information providing system according to the second modification of the best embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 29 is different from the information providing system according to the best embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. The difference is that a region-designated program search means 42 is provided. In FIG. 29, only the part related to the modification 2 of the best mode for carrying out the present invention is described, but it is needless to say that each element of the information providing system shown in FIG. 5 is also present.

  When the program ID is selected from the ranking data of a predetermined region by the user's operation, the region designation program searching means 42 reads the program information data 31 and the user region data 33 from the storage device 107a, and from the program information data 31, The program ID that matches the program information of the program ID selected by the user and is associated with the area number where the hard disk recorder 9a is located is extracted and output. At this time, the program information is preferably searched using the normalized program title, program start date and time as a key.

  Since the information terminal 10a and the hard disk recorder 9a are associated with each other by a passphrase, the information providing system 1 receives the passphrase from the information terminal 10a, so that the identifier of the hard disk recorder 9a owned by the user is obtained from the user device data 37. Can be extracted. Therefore, the program information in another area may be transmitted from the hard disk recorder 9a or may be transmitted from the information terminal 10a.

  The request receiving means 61 receives the program ID of another area from the hard disk recorder 9 a or the information terminal 10 a owned by the user and inputs it to the area designated program searching means 42. The request response means 62 responds to the hard disk recorder 9a or the information terminal 10a to which the request is transmitted with the program ID in the area to which the user belongs searched by the area designated program search means 42.

Next, with reference to FIG. 30, the process of the area designation program search start means 42 will be described.
First, ranking data for other regions is displayed on the information terminal 10a. In step S501, an arbitrary program ID selected by the user's operation from the ranking data for other regions is acquired. Next, in step S502, the program information data 31 is read from the storage device, and program information such as the program title of the program ID acquired in step S501 and the broadcast start date and time is acquired.
Next, in step S503, the region number to which the user belongs is extracted from the user region data 33, and the program ID of the region number to which the user belongs is searched in accordance with the acquired program information. In step S504, it is determined whether or not the same program has been searched. If the same program has not been searched, the information terminal 10a is notified that there is no same program in the region to which the user belongs, and the process ends. On the other hand, when the search is made, the program ID in the area to which the user belongs as the reservable program is transmitted to the information terminal 10a.

  As described above, according to the second modification of the best embodiment of the present invention, the user acquires the ranking of an arbitrary place from the information terminal 10a located at an arbitrary place, and then the hard disk recorder 9a owned by the user. The program ID in the area where is located can be acquired and reserved for recording.

(Other embodiments)
As described above, the best embodiment of the present invention and the first and second modifications of the best embodiment of the present invention have been described. However, the description and the drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. It should not be understood to be. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples, and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  It goes without saying that the present invention includes various embodiments not described herein. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the invention specifying matters according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

It is a figure explaining the system configuration | structure of the information system which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. In the information system which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention, it is a sequence diagram explaining the process in the case of transmitting the program information of a reserved program to a hard disk recorder. In the information system which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention, it is a sequence diagram explaining the process in the case of transmitting the program information of a recorded program to a hard disk recorder. In the information system which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention, it is a sequence diagram explaining the process in the case of transmitting content recommendation data to a hard disk recorder. It is a figure explaining the system configuration | structure of the information provision system which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention, and each functional block of an information generation server, an information formation server, and a front end server. It is a figure explaining the hardware constitutions of the information generation server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data structure and data of program information data concerning the best embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining an example of data structure and data of recording reservation history data concerning the best embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data structure and data of user area data which concern on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of a data structure and data of user reception channel data concerning the best embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining an example of a data structure and data of user keyword data concerning a best embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data structure and data of normalization dictionary data concerning the best embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining an example of a data structure and data of user equipment data concerning the best embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which outputs ranking data in the content recommendation data output means based on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the ranking data output by the content recommendation data output means based on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which outputs self recommendation data in the content recommendation data output means based on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which outputs others recommendation data in the content recommendation data output means based on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which groups and outputs ranking data in the ranking data grouping output means which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the ranking data output by the ranking data grouping means based on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which groups and outputs self-recommendation data in the self-recommendation data grouping output means which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which groups and outputs other person recommendation data in the other person recommendation data grouping output means which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which forms and outputs ranking data to the format shown to a user in the ranking information formation means based on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which forms and outputs self-recommendation data in the format shown to a user in the self-recommendation information formation means which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process which forms and outputs other person recommendation data in the format shown to a user in the other company recommendation information formation means which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. In the information providing system according to the best mode of the present invention, the recommended program list is displayed on a display device connected to a hard disk recorder. It is a figure explaining the one part functional block of the information provision system which concerns on the modification 1 of the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data structure of the category determination condition data of the information provision system which concerns on the modification 1 of best embodiment of this invention, and data. It is a flowchart explaining the category classification | category process which concerns on the modification 1 of best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the one part functional block of the information provision system which concerns on the modification 2 of the best embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the area designation | designated program search process which concerns on the modification 2 of the best embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information provision system 1a, 1b ... Content recommendation data 2 ... Information generation server 4 ... Information formation server 6 ... Front end server 8 ... EPG system 8a ... Storage device 9a, 9b ... Hard disk recorder 10a, 10b ... Information terminal 11 ... Communication Network 21 ... Information acquisition means 22 ... Content recommendation data output means 23a ... Ranking data grouping means 23b ... Self-recommended data grouping means 23c ... Other person recommended data grouping means 24 ... Passphrase generation means 25a ... Ranking data category determination means 25b ... Self Recommended data category determining means 25c ... Other person recommended data category determining means 31 ... Program information data 32 ... Recording reservation history data 33 ... User area data 34 ... User reception channel data 35 ... User key Data 36 ... Normalized dictionary data 37 ... User device data 38 ... Content recommendation data 38a, 39a, 39d ... Ranking data 38b, 39b, 39e ... Self-recommendation data 38c, 39c, 39f ... Others recommendation data 40 ... Category determination condition data 41a ... Ranking information forming means 41b ... Self-recommended information forming means 41c ... Other person recommended information forming means 42 ... Area designation program search means 51a ... Ranking information 51b ... Self-recommended information 51c ... Other person recommended information 61 ... Request receiving means 62 ... Request response means 101 ... Central processing control device 102 ... ROM
103 ... RAM
104 ... Input device 105 ... Display device 106 ... Communication control device 107, 8a ... Storage device 108 ... Removable disk 109 ... Input / output interface 110 ... Bus

Claims (12)

An information system comprising a recorder, an electronic program information system, and an information providing system, and providing content recommendation data that is effectively utilized by a user who owns the recorder,
The recorder is
A first storage device;
Means for storing content to be broadcast in the first storage device;
Means for receiving program information from the electronic program information system via a communication network and storing it in the first storage device;
When a recording or reservation instruction for storing the broadcast program in the first storage device is input from the input device by the user's operation, the program ID of the program to be recorded or reserved in the electronic program information system Means for transmitting to the electronic program information system via the communication network together with the identifier of the recorder,
The electronic program information system includes:
A second storage device;
Means for storing the program ID and the program information in which information related to the program is stored in a second storage device;
Means for transmitting program information from the second storage device via the communication network based on a request from the recorder;
Means for associating the identifier of the recorder received from the recorder with the program ID and storing it in the second storage device as recording reservation history information;
The information providing system includes:
A third storage device in which normalized dictionary data including the excluded keyword is stored ;
Information acquisition means for receiving the program information and the recording reservation history information from the electronic program information system and storing them in the third storage device;
The program information and the recording reservation history information are read from the third storage device, content recommendation data is output based on the recording reservation history information acquired from a plurality of recorders, and the program ID included in the content recommendation data Content recommendation data which excludes the excluded keyword of the normalized dictionary data from the program information, normalizes the content recommendation data for each normalized program information, and outputs the grouped content recommendation data to the storage device An information system comprising an output means. The content recommendation data output means of the information providing system includes:
Reading the program information and the recording reservation history information from the third storage device, extracting program IDs associated with all recorder identifiers, counting the number of recorder identifiers associated with the program IDs, and ranking Means for outputting the content recommendation data based on the grouped ranking data stored in the third storage device as data and grouping the ranking data for each normalized program information based on the ranking data. The information system according to claim 1. The program information includes a program title,
The content recommendation data output means of the information providing system includes:
The program information and the recording reservation history information are read from the third storage device, a program ID associated with an identifier of a predetermined recorder is extracted, and information associated with the extracted program ID is extracted from the program information. A keyword is extracted from the extracted information, the identifier of the recorder is associated with the keyword, inserted into user keyword data, stored in the third storage device, and the user is stored in the third storage device. Based on the number of keywords that match the program information, read out the keyword data, extract a user keyword associated with the identifier of the recorder, extract a program ID including the extracted user keyword from the program information, and The program ID including the identifier of the recorder and the user keyword , Stored in said third memory device as a self recommendation data in association with the score, on the basis of the self-recommendation data, based on the normalized grouped already self recommendation data grouping self recommendation data for each program title for The information system according to claim 1, wherein the information system is means for outputting the content recommendation data. The program information includes a program title,
The content recommendation data output means of the information providing system includes:
The program information and the recording reservation history information are read from the third storage device, a program ID associated with an identifier of a predetermined recorder is extracted, and a recorder associated with the program ID extracted by the recording reservation history information If there is a similar user, the program ID associated with the identifier of the recorder of the similar user is extracted, and a score based on the similarity is given to each similar user. A score is assigned to the program ID associated with the similar user based on the score for each similar user, the identifier of the recorder, the program ID of the program recorded or reserved by the similar user, and the score are associated with each other. stored in said third memory device as recommendation data, on the basis of the others recommendation data, normalized others recommended data for each program title for Information system according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for outputting the content recommendation data based on the grouping already others recommended data grouping. An information providing system for providing content recommendation data that is effectively utilized to a user who owns a recorder,
A storage device in which normalized dictionary data including excluded keywords is stored ;
Means for storing the program ID and the program information data in which information related to the program is stored in the storage device;
Means for associating the identifier of the recorder and the program ID transmitted from the recorder, and storing them in the storage device as recording reservation history data;
The program information data and the recording reservation history data are read from the storage device, content recommendation data is output based on the recording reservation history data acquired from a plurality of recorders, and the program with the program ID included in the content recommendation data The information is extracted, the extracted keyword is excluded from the normalized dictionary data and normalized, the content recommendation data is grouped for each normalized program information, and the grouped content recommendation is stored in the storage device. information providing system characterized in that it comprises a content recommendation data output means for outputting the data. The content recommendation data output means includes
The program information data and the recording reservation history data are read from the storage device, program IDs associated with all recorder identifiers are extracted, the number of recorder identifiers associated with the program IDs is counted, and ranking data is obtained. The means for outputting the content recommendation data based on the grouped ranking data stored in the storage device and grouping the ranking data for each normalized program information based on the ranking data. Item 6. The information providing system according to Item 5. Means for storing in the storage device user area data associating an identifier of the recorder with an area number where the recorder is located;
The content recommendation data output means reads out the program information data and the recording reservation history data from the storage device, extracts a program ID associated with the identifier of the recorder relating to a predetermined area number, and records in the recorder associated with the program ID information providing system according to claim 6 in which the count of the identifiers, and to store in the storage device as the ranking data of the predetermined area. In the program information data, an area number where the program with the program ID is broadcast is associated with the program ID.
When a program ID is selected from the ranking data of the predetermined area by the user's operation, the program information data and the user area data are read from the storage device, and the user selects the program information data from the program information data. The information providing system according to claim 7, further comprising: a region designation program search unit that extracts and outputs a program ID that matches the program information of the program ID and is associated with the region number where the recorder is located. The program information includes a program title,
The content recommendation data output means includes
The program information data and the recording reservation history data are read from the storage device, a program ID associated with a predetermined recorder identifier is extracted, and information associated with the extracted program ID is extracted from the program information data The keyword is extracted from the extracted information, the identifier of the recorder is associated with the keyword, inserted into user keyword data and stored in the storage device, and the user keyword data is read from the storage device and the recorder The user keyword associated with the identifier is extracted, the program ID including the extracted user keyword is extracted from the program information data, and the score is output based on the number of the keywords matched with the program information data. , Including the identifier of the recorder and the user keyword A pair ID, stored in the storage device as a self recommendation data in association with the score, on the basis of the self-recommendation data, based on the grouping already self recommendation data grouping self recommendation data for each program title normalized The information providing system according to claim 5, wherein the information providing system is means for outputting the content recommendation data. The program information includes a program title,
The content recommendation data output means includes
The program information data and the recording reservation history data are read from the storage device, a program ID associated with a predetermined recorder identifier is extracted, and a recorder identifier associated with the program ID extracted in the recording reservation history data If there is a similar user, the program ID associated with the identifier of the recorder of the similar user is extracted, a score based on the similarity is given to each similar user, and the given similar user Based on each score, a score is assigned to the program ID associated with the similar user, and the identifier of the recorder, the program ID of the program recorded or reserved by the similar user, and the score are associated with each other and recommended data stored in the storage device as, on the basis of the others recommendation data, others recommendation data for each program title normalized Information providing system according to claim 5, characterized in that the means for outputting the content recommendation data based on looping the grouping already others recommendation data. Upon receiving a request for the content recommendation data from the recorder reads the grouping already content recommendation data from the storage device, the broadcast start date and time of the program ID included in the grouping already content recommendation data, receives a request date 6. The information providing system according to claim 5 , further comprising information forming means for deleting data earlier than the output data, outputting content recommendation information, and transmitting the content recommendation information to the recorder. An information providing program for providing content recommendation data to be used effectively to a user who owns a recorder,
Means for storing a program ID and the program information data in which information about the program is stored in a storage device;
Means for associating the identifier of the recorder and the program ID transmitted from the recorder, and storing them in the storage device as recording reservation history data;
The program information data and the recording reservation history data are read from the storage device, content recommendation data is output based on the recording reservation history data acquired from a plurality of recorders, and the program with the program ID included in the content recommendation data Information is extracted, the excluded keywords included in the normalized dictionary data are excluded from the extracted program information, normalized, content recommendation data is grouped for each normalized program information, and grouped in the storage device information providing program for causing to execute a content recommendation data output means for outputting the content recommendation data to the computer.

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