JP4828909B2 - Playlist data generation method, data management server, and data management program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a playlist data generation method, a data management server, and a data management program in a digital broadcasting system.

  In a digital broadcasting system, in addition to receiving broadcast signals, a data management server is used that simultaneously receives broadcast progress data including the start time and end time of the program, description of the contents of the program, etc. from the broadcast station and manages them centrally. . In addition, there is a data management server that generates broadcast progress data in a data management server and centrally manages the data.

  Such a data management server generates and transmits necessary data to each control device connected from broadcast progress data received from a broadcasting station or generated in the data management server. An EPG device, which is one of control devices connected to the data management server, creates a program table called EPG (Electronic Program Guide) based on playlist data input from the data management server. The viewer uses the EPG displayed on a receiver such as a television as a reference for viewing the television program.

  Generally, a broadcast station broadcasts each program by transmitting broadcast progress data based on a predetermined program organization, that is, a broadcast schedule. However, there are cases where the broadcast time of a program predetermined in a broadcast schedule, such as a baseball broadcast, is extended and the program organization is changed. Therefore, in preparation for a case where a program is extended, a broadcasting station prepares a program organization that assumes several extension times in advance as an extension case, and flexibly supports the extension of the program.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of program organization in digital broadcasting. In FIG. 11, “Program 1” is a program to be extended whose broadcast time may be extended. 0-No. For each program scheduled to be broadcast at a predetermined time up to 9, there is a case where the program identifier and the start time and end time of this program are associated in time series. In each case shown in FIG. 11, “Program 1” starts from 19:30 after “Program A” ends. In the data management server, broadcast progress data consisting of these cases transmitted from the broadcasting station is received or generated in the data management server and stored and managed in the data management server.

  As described above, “program 1” is a program to be extended including the possibility that the broadcast time is extended. In view of this, the data management server first sets, as an initial setting, a case No. 1 in which the extension time of “program 1” that is the extension target program is the maximum extension case of the maximum extension time. In step 9, multi-confirmation is performed. Here, multi-determination is to determine one case as a program organization in order to determine the broadcast order of a program from among a plurality of cases. Therefore, the data management server generates necessary data in the maximum extension case in which the multi-determined extension time is maximum, and transmits it to each connected control device such as an EPG device.

  In this way, as an initial setting, a method of determining multiple in the maximum extension case is called a maximum extension method. In addition, the broadcast time of “program 1”, which is the program to be extended, is extended by the initial multi-determination as described above, and the broadcast start time of the program to be broadcast after that is automatically extended along with the extension. .

  In the data management server, the default multi-fix is determined in the maximum extension case, but the extension target program may end before the maximum extension time elapses. In such a case, when the data management server receives EPG reservation data including the end time at which the program to be extended ends, the data management server again performs multi-programming in the case of program organization in accordance with the end time included in the EPG reservation data. Determine. The EPG reservation data is data transmitted from the broadcast station to the data management server when the end time of the extension target program is determined.

  In addition, when the multi management is confirmed, the data management server again generates and transmits necessary data to each connected control device.

  For example, in FIG. 11, when the initial multi setting is confirmed in the maximum extension case, but “program 1” ends when the extension time is 35 minutes, the extension time of “program 1” is “No. The 40 minutes specified in case 4 is sufficient. Therefore, when the EPG reservation data indicating that “program 1” ends at the time of 21:35 when the extension time is 35 minutes, the data management server displays the case no. It is changed to 4 and multi is confirmed.

Conventionally, there is a technique that follows an extension case notified by broadcast progress data and the elapsed time of a program while the end time of the program is not fixed as described above (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-229827 A

  However, in such a conventional maximum extension method, an extension target program such as “Program 1” shown in FIG. 11 and a program after the extension target program broadcast such as “Program E” are displayed. Are subject to automatic extension, but the program broadcast after each program does not appear as an EPG display during the automatic extension process, and the viewer must know the order of the broadcasted program. Therefore, there is a problem that the viewer cannot know the program scheduled to be broadcast and the scheduled time when the viewer is automatically extended.

  In view of the above problems, there are provided a playlist data generation method, a data management server, and a data management program capable of grasping the order of programs scheduled to be broadcast even when they are automatically extended.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the playlist data generation method according to the feature of the present invention relates to a case where a program identifier and a start time and an end time of the program are associated with each program scheduled to be broadcast at a predetermined time. In the playlist data generation method for generating playlist data from the broadcast progress data stored in the case of a program to be extended including the possibility that the broadcast time of the program is extended, there is a case for each extension time of the program to be extended. A case extraction step for reading stored broadcast progress data from the storage device and extracting a maximum extension case with the maximum extension time of the program to be extended, and a program start time in the identifier of the program included in the extracted maximum extension case Playlist record generation step to generate playlist record that associates broadcast time with broadcast time, and extension target number of maximum extension case If the extension target program ends before the end time of, the identifier of the complementary program scheduled to be broadcast by the start time of the program scheduled to be broadcast after the extension target program ends, and the end in the maximum extension case of the extension target program Automatic extension shift amount that is the difference between the time and the end time of the program to be extended in other cases stored in the broadcast progress data, and the return destination program that is scheduled to be broadcast after the program to be extended is broadcast in the maximum extension case And an automatic extension record generation step for generating an automatic extension record associated with the program to be extended, including a return shift amount that is a difference time between the end time of the complementary program in each case and the start time of the return destination program in the maximum extension case It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention having the above configuration, there is provided a playlist data generation method, a data management server, and a data management program capable of grasping the order of programs scheduled to be broadcast even when automatically extended.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a playlist data generation method, a data management server, and a data management program capable of grasping the order of programs scheduled to be broadcast even when automatically extended.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a data management server 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

  The data management server 10 according to the best mode of the present invention generates broadcast data such as playlist data used for displaying an EPG based on broadcast progress data received from a connected broadcast station 20, It transmits to the connected EPG apparatus 30 and other control apparatuses 40a and 40b. Here, the broadcast progress data is data for storing a case in which a program identifier and a start time and an end time of the program are associated with each program scheduled to be broadcast at a predetermined time. The playlist data is data including a playlist record in which the broadcast start time and the broadcast time are associated with the identifier of the program scheduled to be broadcast.

  The data management server 10 includes a broadcast progress data receiving unit 11, a main control unit 12, a broadcast progress data developing unit 13, a developed data confirming unit 14, a distribution management unit 15, an EPG processing unit 16, and a broadcast progress data storage unit 17. is doing. The data management server 10 is connected to the broadcasting station 20, the EPG device 30, the control devices 40a and 40b, and the like.

  The broadcast station 20 generates broadcast progress data and transmits it to the data management server 10. Specifically, the broadcast station 20 performs program organization, management of broadcast materials or CM sales, etc., generates broadcast progress data, and transmits it to the data management server 10. In addition, when the end time of the extension target program is determined, the broadcasting station 20 transmits EPG reservation data including the end time of the extension target program used for multi-confirmation to the data management server 10.

  The EPG device 30 generates data for displaying an EPG based on the playlist data received from the data management server 10 and transmits the data to a television device or the like as a receiver.

  The control devices 40 a and 40 b are devices used in the digital broadcasting system 1 to perform digital broadcasting in addition to the EPG device 30.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing in the digital broadcast system 1 having the data management server 10. Data management server 10 receives the broadcast progress data D ₁ to be transmitted from the broadcast station 20 (S01), a broadcast progress data developing unit 13 develops the broadcast progress data D ₁ (S02). Subsequently, the developed broadcast progress data D ₂ is stored in the broadcast progress data storage unit 17 (S 03), and the playlist transmission instruction signal S ₆ is input to the EPG processing unit 16 by the distribution process in the distribution management unit 15. If (S04), EPG data is generated (S05) by the EPG processing section 16, the play list data D ₃ generated as data used to display the EPG is transmitted to the EPG device 30.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the data management server 10 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 connected via a bus 110. . The input / output interface 109 includes an input device 104, a display device 105, a communication control device 106, a storage device 107, and a removable disk 108.

  The central processing control device 101 reads and executes a boot program for starting the data management server 10 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 out 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 processing 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. This is a device that displays the processing results of the processing control device 101. The communication control device 106 is a device such as a LAN card or a modem, and is a device that connects the data management server 10 that executes a data management program 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, a magnetic disk device, or the like, 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. The broadcast progress data storage unit 17 corresponds to the storage device 107 of the data management server 10.

  In addition, the data management server 10 reads and executes a data management program in the central processing control device 101, so that the broadcast progress data receiving unit 11, the main control unit 12, the broadcast progress data developing unit 13, and the developed data confirmation unit 14, a distribution management unit 15 and an EPG processing unit 16 are implemented.

  The data management server 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention may be executed by a single computer or may be executed by a plurality of computers that can communicate with each other.

  Next, each configuration of the data management server 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described.

The broadcast progress data receiving unit 11 receives, from the broadcast station 20, for each program scheduled to be broadcast at a predetermined time, broadcast progress data D in which a case in which the program identifier and the start time and end time of the program are associated with each other is stored. Receive ₁ Also, EPG reservation data D _1a that is the end time of the program to be extended used for multi-confirmation is received from the broadcasting station 20. The received EPG reservation data D _1a is stored in the storage device 107. Furthermore, when the broadcast progress data receiving unit 11 receives the broadcast progress data D ₁ , the broadcast progress data receiving unit 11 outputs a reception notification signal S ₁ indicating that the broadcast progress data D ₁ has been received to the main control unit 12. Further, the broadcast progress data receiving unit 11 outputs the received broadcast progress data D ₁ to the broadcast progress data expanding unit 13.

The main control unit 12 outputs a development confirmation instruction signal S ₃ to the development data confirmation unit 14 based on the development notification signal S ₂ input from the broadcast progress data development unit 13. Further, the main control unit 12 outputs a data transmission instruction signal S ₅ to the distribution management unit 15 based on the confirmation end notification signal S ₄ input from the development data confirmation unit 14.

The broadcast progress data expanding unit 13 expands the broadcast progress data D ₁ input from the broadcast progress data receiving unit 11. In addition, the broadcast progress data expansion unit 13 stores the expanded broadcast progress data D ₂ in the broadcast progress data storage unit 17 and outputs the expansion notification signal S ₂ to the main control unit 12. Development is to decode encoded broadcast progress data.

When the development data confirmation unit 14 receives the development confirmation instruction signal S ₃ from the main control unit 12, the development data confirmation unit 14 reads out the broadcast progress data D ₂ stored in the broadcast progress data storage unit 17, and causes an error in the developed broadcast progress data D ₂ . Check if there is any. Further, when confirming that there is no error, the expanded data confirmation unit 14 outputs a confirmation end notification signal S ₄ to the main control unit 12. If there is an error, the data management server 10 receives the same broadcast progress data D ₁ again, and is expanded by the expanded data confirmation unit 14.

When the distribution management unit 15 inputs a data transmission instruction signal S ₅ for instructing data transmission to each control device connected to the data management server 10 such as the EPG device 30 from the main control unit 12, the distribution management unit 15 inputs the data to each processing unit. Instruct to send data. Hereinafter, only the EPG processing unit 16 will be described as a processing unit, but there are various other processing units.

EPG processing unit 16, when the distribution management unit 15 inputs the playlist transmission instruction signal S _6, reads the broadcast progress data D ₂ from the broadcast progression data storage unit 17, a broadcast extracted based on broadcast progression data D ₂ read The playlist data D ₃ according to the order is generated and transmitted to the EPG device 30. The EPG processing section 16 includes the EPG data generating means 16a for generating a play list data D _3, the EPG data transmitting unit 16b to transmit the play list data D ₃ which generated.

Specifically, the EPG data generating means 16a, a program identifier for each extension time of the extension target program to broadcast progression data D ₂ read out from the broadcast progression data storage unit 17 and the start time of the program and the end time is associated with If the extension case is stored, the maximum extension case with the maximum extension time of the program to be extended is extracted, and the program order of the extracted maximum extension case is set as the broadcast order. Thereafter, the identifier of the programs included in the broadcast order, and generates a play list data D ₃ comprising a plurality of play list record that associates the start time and the broadcast time of the program.

(Broadcast progress data)
Here, the organization of the program when the program is extended by the data management server 10 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following, “Program 1” is a program such as a baseball game, and the broadcast time may be extended.

  FIG. 4 shows the program organization from 19 o'clock to 23 o'clock in the regular case (case No. 0) where the broadcast time of “program 1” is not extended, and in the case (case No. a1 to No. a9) where the broadcast time is extended. An example is shown.

  Case No. 4 in FIG. In the case of 0, “Program A” is broadcast from 19:00 to 19:30, “Program 1” is broadcast from 19:30 to 21:00, and from 21:00 to 21:30 In the meantime, “Program E” is broadcast, “Program F” is broadcast from 21:30 to 22:00, “Program G” is broadcast from 22:00 to 22:30, and 22:30 It shows that “Program H” is scheduled to be broadcast between 12:00 and 23:00.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the case where “program 1” is extended by 10 minutes for “program 1” is shown in case No. a1, In case no. a2, In case of extension for 30 minutes, case no. a3, Case No. a4, Case No. a5, Case No. a6, Case No. as an extension of 70 minutes a7, Case No. a8, Case No. The program organization a9 is prepared and stored in the broadcasting station 20. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the maximum extension time of “program 1” is “90 minutes”. 9 is the maximum extension case.

FIG. 5 shows an example of broadcast progress data D ₂ transmitted from the broadcast station 20 to the data management server 10 and stored in the broadcast progress data storage device 17 in the case of the program organization shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the broadcast progression data D _2, the case No. Program frames of programs scheduled to be broadcast at each time are arranged in time series. The program frame is associated with a program identifier and the start time and end time of the program. In the data management server 10 inputs the broadcast progress data D ₂ shown in FIG. 5, the maximum extension case at maximum extension method Case No. At a9, the initial multi setting is confirmed. In this case, the EPG data generating means 16a, based on the maximum extension case broadcast progression data D _2, "program A" in the first, the second "program 1", the broadcast order of "program H" to the third It is determined. This “program 1” is a program frame of the program to be extended, and is called an automatic extension program frame.

  Case no. When “Program 1” ends before the end time of the maximum extension of “Program 1” elapses when multi-a9 is confirmed, case No. 5 is determined based on the end time included in the received EPG reservation data. b2-No. The multi is determined again at a8. In that case, case no. Each case No. following “Program 1” of a9. The “program 1” program frame is a part of the automatic extension program frame, and these program frames are called partial program frames. The partial program frame that is a part of the automatic extension program frame includes an identifier indicating that it is a partial program frame. In FIG. 5, an identifier indicating this partial program frame is shown as a partial mark P.

  In addition, in the partial program frame, when a program to be broadcast after the partial program frame is broadcast cannot be specified, such as a case where the program to be broadcast after the end of the program to be extended is different from the program determined in the broadcast order, this program is displayed. Contains an identifying identifier. For example, Case No. When multi-confirmation is made at 0, the program broadcast after “program 1” in the previously determined broadcast order is “program H”, but there is time before the start of “program H”. Therefore, it has complementary program frame data Q including an identifier of a complementary program that is a program to be broadcast before the start of “program H”. Specifically, a complementary program is a program that is broadcast until the start time of a program that is scheduled to be broadcast after the extension target program ends when the extension target program ends before the end time of the extension target program of the maximum extension case. is there. Further, in the complementary program frame data Q, the complementary program identifier is stored in association with the start time and end time of the complementary program.

Specifically, Case No. Complementary programs for b2 are “program 2”, “program E”, “program F”, and “program G”, which are not shown in FIG. 5, but are “program 2”, “program E”, “program” The identifiers of “F” and “Program G” are included as supplemental program frame data Q _b2 . Case No. When “Program 1” ends in b2, after “Program 2”, “Program E”, “Program F”, and “Program G” are broadcast, “Program H” defined in the broadcast order is broadcast. The

Case no. The complementary program frame data Q _b1 of _b1 is an identifier of “program 3”, “program E”, “program F”, and “program G”. Case No. When “Program 1” is ended in b1, “Program 3”, “Program E”, “Program F”, and “Program G” are broadcast, and then “Program H” defined in the broadcast order is broadcast. The

Thus, Case No. 0-No. The complementary program frame data Q _{0 to} Q _a2 of _a2 are identifiers of “program E”, “program F”, and “program G”. a3-No. The complementary program frame data Q _{a3 to} Q _a5 of _a5 are identifiers of “program F” and “program G”. a6-No. The complementary program frame data Q _{a6 to} Q _a8 of _a8 are identifiers of “program E”. When the program is ended in each case, after the complementary program is broadcast, “program H” determined to be broadcast after “program 1” in the broadcast order is broadcast.

Figure 6 shows an image diagram when the program is broadcast with the broadcast progress data D ₁ shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 6, in the initial state, “program 1” has a case No. The maximum extension of 9 is set and multi-confirmed. Here, when the EPG reservation data D _1a to the effect that “program 1” automatically extended is input to the data management server 10, the extension case is changed according to the end time and multi-confirmed.

  For example, when an end signal is input 25 minutes after “program 1” is extended, case no. a3 is applied, and “program F” starts after “program 1” ends.

(Playlist data)
Next, playlist data generated by the EPG data generation means 16a will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIGS. 7A to 7D show an example of part of the playlist data. FIG. 7A includes a header record, a playlist record PL, and a trailer record. Here, the header record and the trailer record are records attached to the playlist data. The header record is associated before the playlist record, and the trailer record is associated after the playlist record. The playlist record (PL) is a record including data relating to the program such as the start time and broadcast time of the program.

  Further, FIG. 7B includes a header record, a playlist record (PL), an automatic extension record SV, and a trailer record. Here, the automatic extension record SV is data relating to a complementary program, and includes “complementary program”, “automatic extension shift amount”, “return destination program”, and “return shift amount” described later. FIG. 7C and FIG. 7D are also examples of part of the playlist data.

FIG. 8 shows an example of details of data stored in a specific playlist record PL and automatic extension record SV. FIG. 8 shows an example of a play list data generated from the broadcast progression data D ₂ shown in FIG.

  In the automatic extension record SV shown in FIG. Includes “complementary program”, “automatic extension shift amount”, “return destination program”, and “return shift amount”. Case No. 2 shown in FIG. Is an extension case No. shown in FIG. Is the same.

  As the “complementary program”, an identifier of the complementary program is stored. The “automatic extension shift amount” is a difference time between the end time in the maximum extension case of the extension target program and the end time of the extension target program in other cases stored in the broadcast progress data. The “return destination program” is a program scheduled to be broadcast after the extension target program is broadcast in the maximum extension case. “Return shift amount” is the difference time between the end time of the complementary program in each case and the start time of the return destination program in the maximum extension case, and the start of the return destination program by the time stored as this “return shift amount” Adjust the time before or after.

(Playlist data generation process)
The playlist data generation process will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, below, it demonstrates along with the process which produces | generates the playlist data shown in FIG. 8 concretely based on the broadcast progress data shown in FIG.

EPG data generating means 16a, when the distribution management unit 15 inputs the playlist transmission instruction signal S ₆ of the program, reads the broadcast progress data D ₂ from the broadcast progression data storage unit 17, and extracts the broadcast sequence of the program (S001 ). Specifically, since the multi-determined by the maximum extension at the beginning, at step S001, a maximum extension case from the broadcast progression data D ₂ shown in FIG. 5 Case No. a9 is extracted, and based on this maximum extension case, the broadcast order of the program “program A” first, “program 1” second, “program H” third is extracted.

  Thereafter, the EPG data generation unit 16a generates a playlist record PL for all programs included in the extracted broadcast order (S002, S003). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not there is a partial program frame of the program that has generated the target playlist record PL, that is, whether or not the program is to be extended (S004). If it is determined that there is a partial program frame of the target program (YES in S004), the EPG data generation means 16a generates an automatic extension record SV (S005). The automatic extension record generation process in step S005 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  When the playlist record PL is generated for all the programs included in the broadcast order and the necessary automatic extension record SV is generated, the EPG data generation means 16a stores the generated playlist record PL and the automatic extension record SV. Based on this, playlist data is generated (S006).

In broadcast progression data D ₂ specifically shown in FIG. 5, in step S003 at the beginning, is the first broadcast sequence of the program for the "program A" is the play list record PL is generated. As shown in FIG. 8, this playlist record is data in which “program A” is associated with its broadcast start time and broadcast time. Also, the broadcasting progress data D ₂ shown in FIG. 5, the partial program frame of "program A" due to the absence, partial program frame of "program A" is determined to be absent in step S004, the "program A" This process ends.

  Next, in step S003 again, a playlist record PL is generated for “program 1” which is the second broadcast order of the program. As shown in FIG. 5, since “program 1” has a partial program frame, it is determined in step S004 that there is a partial program frame of “program 1”, and “program 1” is processed in step S005. An automatic extension record SV is generated. When the automatic extension record SV is generated, the processing for “program 1” is completed.

Subsequently, in step S003, a playlist record PL is generated for “program H” which is the third program in the broadcast order. Since the "program H" in the broadcast progression data D ₂ shown in FIG. 5 does not exist partial program frame, partial program frame of "program H" is determined to be absent in step S004, processing for the "program H" Ends.

  Thereafter, in step S006, playlist data is generated based on the playlist record PL of "Program 1", "Program A" and "Program H" and the automatic extension record SV of "Program A".

(Automatic extension record generation process)
The automatic extension record generation process in step S005 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to FIG. In the following specifically, based on the broadcast progression data D ₂ shown in FIG. 5, illustrating the automatic extension record generation process while exchanging the process of generating an automatic extension record SV shown in FIG.

EPG data generating means 16a, for the partial program frame included in the broadcast progression data D _2, sorts the end time order (S101). Specifically, in the case of the broadcast progress data D ₂ shown in FIG. b2-No. The end times of a9 are sorted in order from the earliest. That is, Case No. b2, No. b1, No. 0, No. a1, No. a2,. a8, no. Sorted in the order of a9.

Next, the EPG data generation unit 16a refers to the scheduled end time (fixed time) of the program that is input as the EPG reservation data _Da0 and stored in the storage device 107 (S102).

Subsequently, EPG data generating means 16a refers to the end time of maximum extension from the broadcast progression data D ₂ (S103). Specifically, when the broadcast progression data D ₂ shown in FIG. 8, a case is the maximum extension case No. The end time of a9 is 22:30, which is the maximum extension end time.

  After that, the EPG data generation means 16a performs all the case Nos. For the partial program frame of (S104), if it is after the scheduled time of EPG reservation (S105) and before the end time of the maximum extension acquired in step S103 (NO in S106), the EPG data generation means 16a Case No. Are added to the automatic extension target list (S107).

  Here, the automatic extension target list is a list generated by accumulating information included in a partial program frame which is a program to be automatically extended in each case.

  All case Nos. When the processing of steps S105 to S107 is performed on the partial program frame of EPG, the EPG data generation means 16a generates automatic extension records SV for all partial program frames included in the automatic extension target list generated in step S107. (S108).

First, a “complementary program” is extracted from one partial program frame included in the automatic extension target list in order to generate an automatic extension record SV (S109). Specifically, the supplement program frame data Q of the broadcast progress data D ₂ is referred to, and the program stored as the supplement program frame data Q is used as the supplement program. For example, in the broadcast progress data D ₂ shown in FIG. In the case of a4, “program F” and “program G” are complementary programs.

Thereafter, an “automatic extension shift amount” is calculated for the partial program frame targeted in step S109 (S110). Specifically, the automatic extension shift amount is determined based on the end time of the extension target program in the maximum extension case acquired in step S103 and the case No. It is calculated by obtaining the difference from the end time of the program to be extended in the partial program frame. For example, in the broadcast progress data D ₂ shown in FIG. In the case of a4, the automatic extension shift amount is 22:30, which is the end time of the maximum extension of “Program 1”. This is a difference from 21:40, which is the end time of “Program 1” in a4, and is 50 minutes.

Subsequently, “return destination program” is extracted for the partial program frame targeted in step S109 (S111). Specifically, the return destination program is a program scheduled to be broadcast after the extension target program is broadcast in the maximum extension case, and is a program broadcast after the extension target program is broadcast in the broadcast order. For example, in the broadcast progress data D ₂ shown in FIG. The return destination program in the case of a4 is “program H” broadcast after “program 1” is ended in the maximum extension case.

  Next, a “return shift amount” is calculated for the partial program frame targeted in step S109 (S112). Specifically, it is calculated by obtaining the difference between the end time of the complementary program and the start time of the return destination program in the maximum extension case. For example, in FIG. In the case of a4, the end time of “program G” as the complementary program is 22:40, and the start time of the return destination program in the maximum extension case is 22:30. When multi-confirmed in a4, “program H” needs to be broadcast 10 minutes later than in the case of the maximum extension method. Therefore, the return shift amount in this case is +10 minutes.

  Based on the “complementary program”, “automatic extension shift amount”, “return destination program” and “return shift amount” obtained in steps S109 to S112, an automatic extension record is generated (S113), and an automatic extension target list is generated. When the automatic extension record is generated for all the partial program frames included in, the automatic extension record generation process is terminated (S108).

  According to the data management server according to the above-described embodiment, the multi-confirmation is performed by the maximum extension method, the broadcast order is extracted using the broadcast progress data transmitted from the broadcast station, and the subsequent broadcast order is predicted. Thus, even if the broadcast time of the program is extended, the broadcast order corresponding to this extension can be displayed as an EPG.

(Modification)
Even in the case of a data management server that generates broadcast progress data within a data management server without receiving broadcast progress data from a broadcasting station, it is also possible to generate and transmit playlist data by the method described above. . In this case, the data management server includes a broadcast progress data generation unit that generates broadcast progress data in addition to the components described above with reference to FIG. As described above, the management server that generates broadcast progress data in the data management server also includes an EPG processing unit that generates and transmits playlist data including a playlist record and an automatic extension record from the broadcast progress data. Playlist data is generated in the same manner as the processing in the embodiment.

  Also in the data management server according to this modification, the broadcast time of the program is determined by performing multi-determination by the maximum extension method, extracting the broadcast order using the generated broadcast progress data, and predicting the subsequent broadcast order. Even when the extension is extended, it is possible to display the broadcast order according to the extension as an EPG.

  As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, it should not be understood that the descriptions and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. 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 matters described in the above description and the invention specific matters according to the obvious claims.

It is a block diagram which shows the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram explaining the process of the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a hardware block diagram of the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the automatic extension in the digital broadcasting system containing the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the broadcast progress data received with the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is an image figure of the broadcast progress data shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the playlist data produced | generated by the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the detail of the playlist data produced | generated by the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the play list data generation process in the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the automatic extension record production | generation process in the data management server which concerns on the best embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the automatic extension in the conventional digital broadcasting system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital broadcasting system 10 ... Data management server 11 ... Broadcast progress data receiving part 12 ... Main control part 13 ... Broadcast progress data expansion | deployment part 14 ... Expansion | deployment data confirmation part 15 ... Distribution management part 16 ... EPG process part 16a ... EPG data generation Means 16b ... EPG data transmission means 17 ... Broadcast progress data storage unit 20 ... Broadcast station 30 ... EPG device 40a, 40b ... Control device 101 ... Central processing control device 102 ... ROM
103 ... RAM
104 ... Input device 105 ... Display device 106 ... Communication control device 107 ... Storage device 108 ... Removable disk 109 ... Input / output interface 110 ... Bus

Claims (4)

In a playlist data generation method for generating playlist data from broadcast progress data in which a case in which a program identifier and a start time and an end time of the program are associated is stored for each program scheduled to be broadcast at a predetermined time,
In the case of a program to be extended including the possibility that the broadcast time of the program is extended, the broadcast progress data in which the case is stored for each extension time of the program to be extended is read from the storage device, and the extension time of the program to be extended is A case extraction step for extracting the maximum maximum extension case;
A playlist record generating step for generating a playlist record in which the program start time and the broadcast time are associated with the identifier of the program included in the extracted maximum extension case;
If the extension target program ends before the end time of the extension target program of the maximum extension case, the identifier of the complementary program scheduled to be broadcast by the start time of the program scheduled to be broadcast after the end of the extension target program; In the maximum extension case, an automatic extension shift amount, which is a difference time between the end time in the maximum extension case of the extension target program and the end time of the extension target program in another case stored in the broadcast progress data, A return program that is a program scheduled to be broadcast after the program to be extended, and a return shift amount that is a difference time between the end time of the complementary program in each case and the start time of the return program in the maximum extension case, An automatic extension record generation step for generating an automatic extension record associated with the program to be extended;
A playlist data generation method characterized by comprising: There is a plurality of program frames that associate the start time and end time of this program with the identifier of the program scheduled to be broadcast, and the extension time of the program to be extended including the possibility of extending the broadcast time is the maximum extension time A maximum extension case in which a plurality of program frames including program frames are arranged in time series, and a plurality of program frames including partial program frames in which the extension time of the program to be extended is shorter than the maximum extension time are arranged in time series In the playlist data generation method for generating playlist data from broadcast progress data in which a plurality of cases exist,
A broadcast order determination step of extracting the maximum extension case and determining a broadcast order of the program in the order of the start time of the program in the maximum extension case;
A playlist record generation step for generating a playlist record that associates the start time of the program and the broadcast time for the program included in the broadcast order;
When the extension target program ends before the end time of the extension target program of the maximum extension case, the program is scheduled to be broadcast by the start time of the program scheduled to be broadcast in the broadcasting order after the extension target program ends. An identifier of a complementary program, an automatic extension shift amount that is a difference time between an end time in the maximum extension case of the program to be extended and an end time included in the partial program frame stored in the broadcast progress data, and a broadcast order This is the difference between the return program that is scheduled to be broadcast after the program to be extended, the end time of the complementary program in each case and the start time of the return program in the maximum extension case, and the start time of the return program An automatic extension record generating step for generating an automatic extension record associated with the program to be extended, including a return shift amount adjusted before or after
A playlist data generation method characterized by comprising: In a data management device that generates playlist data from broadcast progress data in which a case in which a program identifier and a start time and an end time of the program are associated is stored for each program scheduled to be broadcast at a predetermined time.
In the case of a program to be extended including the possibility that the broadcast time of the program is extended, the broadcast progress data in which the case is stored for each extension time of the program to be extended is read from the storage device, and the extension time of the program to be extended is A playlist record generating means for extracting a maximum maximum extension case and generating a playlist record in which a program start time and a broadcast time are associated with an identifier of a program included in the maximum extension case;
If the extension target program ends before the end time of the extension target program of the maximum extension case, the identifier of the complementary program scheduled to be broadcast by the start time of the program scheduled to be broadcast after the end of the extension target program; In the maximum extension case, an automatic extension shift amount, which is a difference time between the end time in the maximum extension case of the extension target program and the end time of the extension target program in another case stored in the broadcast progress data, A return program that is a program scheduled to be broadcast after the program to be extended, and a return shift amount that is a difference time between the end time of the complementary program in each case and the start time of the return program in the maximum extension case, Automatic extension record generating means for generating an automatic extension record to be associated with the program to be extended;
A data management apparatus comprising: a data generation unit including: In a data management program for generating playlist data from broadcast progress data storing a case in which a program identifier and a start time and an end time of the program are associated with each program scheduled to be broadcast at a predetermined time,
In the case of a program to be extended including the possibility that the broadcast time of the program is extended, the broadcast progress data in which the case is stored for each extension time of the program to be extended is read from the storage device, and the extension time of the program to be extended is A case extraction step for extracting the maximum maximum extension case;
A playlist record generating step for generating a playlist record in which the program start time and the broadcast time are associated with the identifier of the program included in the extracted maximum extension case;
If the extension target program ends before the end time of the extension target program of the maximum extension case, the identifier of the complementary program scheduled to be broadcast by the start time of the program scheduled to be broadcast after the end of the extension target program; In the maximum extension case, an automatic extension shift amount, which is a difference time between the end time in the maximum extension case of the extension target program and the end time of the extension target program in another case stored in the broadcast progress data, A return program that is a program scheduled to be broadcast after the program to be extended, and a return shift amount that is a difference time between the end time of the complementary program in each case and the start time of the return program in the maximum extension case, An automatic extension record generation step for generating an automatic extension record associated with the program to be extended;
A data management program for causing a computer to execute.

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