JP4885669B2 - Recording reservation management server, communication terminal, recording reservation system, and recording reservation method. - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording reservation management server, a communication terminal, a recording reservation system, and a recording reservation method.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording reservation system that can change a recording reservation time corresponding to a change in the broadcast time of a program is known. For example, in the program reservation system described in Patent Document 1 below, program reservation information is downloaded again from the WWW server a predetermined time before the program start time of the program reservation information downloaded from the WWW server by the personal computer. If there is a change in the start time or the like, an instruction to change the reservation content is transmitted to the video. Currently, one-segment broadcasting transmitted to a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone is being performed. It is required that a program can be recorded on the mobile communication terminal. Is also available.
JP-A-10-177777

  However, in the program reservation system described in Patent Document 1, the personal computer makes an inquiry to the WWW server every time in order to check whether the program reservation information has been changed, and downloads the program reservation information again. There is a risk that the load on the network connecting the two will increase.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and is a recording reservation management capable of reducing the load on the network when changing the recording reservation time in accordance with the change in the broadcast time of the program. It is an object to provide a server, a communication terminal, a recording reservation system, and a recording reservation method.

The recording reservation management server of the present invention can be connected to a portable terminal having a program recording and recording reservation function via a network, and the program information from a program distribution device that distributes program information including the broadcast time of the program. Is a recording reservation management server capable of receiving a program information storing means for storing program information received from a program distribution device, and a reservation including a recording reservation time of a recording reservation program transmitted by a portable terminal Reservation information receiving means for receiving information, broadcast time of the program included in the program information stored in the program information storage means, and broadcast time of the program included in the program information received from the program distribution device after storage In a case where the broadcast time of the program is changed, the determination unit determines that the broadcast time of the program has been changed, and the determination unit determines that the broadcast time of the program has been changed. Extracting means for extracting a mobile terminal having a recording reservation of the program on the basis of the reservation information received by the information receiving means, from the position storage means for storing position information indicating the current position of the mobile terminal, extracted by the extraction means One or more location information corresponding to one or more mobile terminals is acquired, and based on the acquired location information, the grouping means for grouping the one or more mobile terminals for each corresponding relay device; Corresponding to the group generated by the grouping means to transmit the change notice including the broadcast time after the change of the program to the mobile terminal extracted by the extracting means when it is determined that the broadcasting time of the program is changed and a change notification transmitting means for transmitting one of the change notification to each relay apparatus for the relay apparatus, one or more corresponding change notifications received from change notification transmitting unit And transfers to the mobile terminal, characterized in that.

According to such a recording reservation management server, the broadcast time of the program is changed by comparing the broadcast time of the already stored program with the broadcast time of the program received from the program distribution device after storage. It is grasped that. Then, a change notification indicating that the broadcast time of the program has been changed is transmitted to the portable terminal that reserved the recording of the program, that is, the portable terminal that is the transmission source of the reservation information for the program received by the recording reservation management server. The As a result, only when the broadcast time of the program is changed, the change notification can be transmitted via the network only for the portable terminal that reserved the recording of the program. Further, the recording reservation management server does not require an inquiry from the portable terminal via the network when transmitting the change notification. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load on the network when changing the recording reservation time in accordance with the change in the broadcast time of the program. Further, even when the broadcast time of a program reserved for recording is changed, the program reserved for recording can be reliably recorded. Note that changing the broadcast time of a program means changing at least one of the start time and the end time of the program.

In this case, the change notification is not transmitted for the number of destination mobile terminals , but is transmitted for the number of groups after the destination mobile terminals are grouped into one or more groups. Thereby, the total transmission amount of the change notification flowing through the network can be further reduced. That is, it is possible to further reduce the load on the network when changing the recording reservation time in accordance with the change in the broadcast time of the program.

A portable terminal of the present invention is a portable terminal that can be connected to the recording reservation management server via a network and has a function of recording a program and recording reservation, and includes a reservation information storage means for storing reservation information, Reservation information transmitting means for transmitting information to the recording reservation management server, and change notification receiving means for receiving a change notification transmitted by the recording reservation management server when the broadcast time of the program is changed , wherein the change notification is: The change notification receiving means that has been transmitted via the relay device corresponding to one group generated by the grouping means, and the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage means is changed notification receiving means Update means for updating the broadcast time after the change included in the change notification received by.

According to such a portable terminal , the reservation information is stored and transmitted to the recording reservation management server. When the broadcast time of the program reserved for recording is changed, a change notification transmitted from the recording reservation management server is received, and the stored reservation information is updated to the changed broadcast time included in the change notification. Thereby, only when the broadcast time of the program reserved for recording is changed, a change notification indicating the change can be transmitted to the mobile terminal via the network. Further, the mobile terminal can receive the change notification without inquiring of the recording reservation management server via the network whether or not the broadcast time of the program reserved for recording has been changed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load on the network when changing the recording reservation time in accordance with the change in the broadcast time of the program. Further, even when the broadcast time of a program reserved for recording is changed, the program reserved for recording can be reliably recorded.

  The recording reservation system of the present invention includes the recording reservation management server, the communication terminal, and a program distribution device that distributes program information including the broadcast time of a program.

The recording reservation method of the present invention includes a recording reservation management server capable of receiving program information from a program distribution device that distributes program information including the broadcast time of the program, and the recording reservation management server via a network. A recording reservation method executed by a portable terminal that can be connected and has a program recording and recording reservation function , wherein the portable terminal stores reservation information including a recording reservation time of a program reserved for recording. An information storage step, a reservation information transmission step in which the mobile terminal transmits reservation information to the recording reservation management server, a program information storage step in which the recording reservation management server stores program information received from the program distribution device, and a recording reservation The reservation information receiving step in which the management server receives the reservation information transmitted in the reservation information transmission step, and the recording reservation management server has the program information If the broadcast time of the program included in the program information stored in the payment step is different from the broadcast time of the program included in the program information received from the program distribution device after storage, the broadcast time of the program is changed. And a recording reservation management server that determines that the broadcast time of the program has been changed in the determination step, the mobile phone that reserved the recording of the program based on the reservation information received in the reservation information receiving step An extraction step for extracting a terminal, and one or more position information corresponding to the one or more portable terminals extracted in the extraction step from a position storage unit in which the recording reservation management server stores position information indicating the current position of the portable terminal And grouping the one or more mobile terminals for each corresponding relay device based on the acquired location information A step, the recording reservation management server, if the broadcast time of the program in the determination step is determined to have been changed, and transmits a change notification including the broadcast time after the change of the program to the portable terminal that is extracted in the extraction step Therefore, a change notification transmission step for transmitting one change notification for each relay device corresponding to the group generated in the grouping step, and the relay device receives the change notification transmitted in the change notification transmission step. A transfer step of transferring the change notification to one or more corresponding mobile terminals, a change notification receiving step of receiving the change notification transmitted in the transfer step and transferred by the mobile terminal in the change step, and a mobile terminal The reservation information stored in the reservation information storage step is received in the change notification reception step. And an update step for updating the broadcast time after the change included in the changed notification.

According to these recording reservation systems and recording reservation methods, the mobile terminal stores the reservation information and transmits it to the recording reservation management server. Then, the recording reservation management server grasps that the broadcast time of the program has been changed by comparing the broadcast time of the already stored program with the broadcast time of the program received from the program distribution device after storage. To do. Furthermore, the recording reservation management server transmits a change notice indicating that the broadcast time of the program has changed mobile terminal which recording reservation of the program, i.e., the mobile terminal transmitting the reservation information about the program. Thereafter, the mobile terminal receives the change notification and updates the recording reservation time included in the stored reservation information to the changed broadcast time included in the change notification.

Thereby, only when the broadcast time of the program reserved for recording is changed, a change notification indicating the change can be transmitted to the mobile terminal via the network. At this time, the change notification is transmitted only to the portable terminal that has reserved the recording of the program whose broadcast time has been changed. The portable terminal can receive the change notification without inquiring of the recording reservation management server via the network whether or not the broadcast time of the program reserved for recording has been changed. On the other hand, the recording reservation management server does not require an inquiry from the mobile terminal via the network when transmitting the change notification. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load on the network when changing the recording reservation time in accordance with the change in the broadcast time of the program. Further, even when the broadcast time of a program reserved for recording is changed, the program reserved for recording can be reliably recorded.

  According to such a recording reservation management server, communication terminal, recording reservation system, and recording reservation method, it is possible to reduce the load on the network when the recording reservation time is changed in accordance with the change of the broadcast time of the program.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  First, the configuration of the recording reservation system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording reservation system 1 according to the embodiment. In this recording reservation system 1, a cellular phone (communication terminal) 10 and a recording reservation management server group (recording reservation management server) 2 perform data transmission / reception via a network 70, and the recording reservation management server group 2 includes a broadcasting device ( By receiving the program information from the (program distribution device) 60, the recording reservation executed by the mobile phone 10 is managed. The recording reservation management server group 2 includes a control node 20, a reservation information management server 30, a program guide management server 40, and a position information management server 50.

  The mobile phone 10 can receive a broadcast wave from the broadcast device 60 and display a program (television program), and can record the received program. Furthermore, the mobile phone 10 can reserve recording of a program.

  When it is determined in the program guide management server 40 that the broadcast time of the program has been changed, the control node 20 transmits the changed broadcast time to the mobile phone that reserved the recording of the program. The reservation information management server 30 receives and stores the contents of the recording reservation executed by the mobile phone 10. The program guide management server 40 stores an electronic program guide (hereinafter referred to as “EPG”) transmitted from the broadcasting device 60, that is, program information, and determines whether or not the broadcast time of the program has been changed. To do. The location information management server 50 receives and stores the current location of the mobile phone 10.

  The broadcast device 60 distributes programs and EPGs using broadcast waves. The distribution form of the program and the EPG is not limited to this, and for example, the EPG may be distributed via a communication line such as the Internet while the program is distributed by broadcast waves. Moreover, you may deliver both a program and program information via a communication line.

  The network 70 is configured by a mobile communication network and the Internet, but the configuration of the network 70 is not limited to this, and may be configured by, for example, a mobile communication network and a local communication network (LAN).

  In FIG. 1, for convenience, the mobile phone 10, each server constituting the recording reservation management server group 2, and one broadcasting device 60 are illustrated, but a plurality of them may be provided.

  Next, the functional configuration and hardware configuration of the mobile phone 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the mobile phone 10. FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the mobile phone 10.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cellular phone 10 includes, as functional components, a broadcast wave receiving unit 111, an image display unit 112, a recording reservation receiving unit 113, a recording reservation registration unit (reservation information storage unit) 114, and a recording unit 115. A reservation information transmission unit (reservation information transmission unit) 116, a change notification reception unit (change notification reception unit) 117, a recording reservation update unit (update unit) 118, a recording unit 119, and an EPG acquisition unit 120.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cellular phone 10 includes a CPU 101 that executes an operating system, application programs, and the like, a main storage unit 102 that includes ROM and RAM, an auxiliary storage unit 103 that includes memory, and a network 70. A communication control unit 104 that performs data communication via a display, a display unit 105 that includes a liquid crystal monitor, and an operation unit 106 that includes keys for inputting characters and numbers and executing instructions. Each function described with reference to FIG. 2 reads predetermined software on the CPU 101 and the main storage unit 102 shown in FIG. 3, operates the communication control unit 104 under the control of the CPU 101, and operates the main storage unit 102. Or by reading and writing data in the auxiliary storage unit 103.

  The broadcast wave receiving unit 111 demodulates the broadcast wave received by the broadcast antenna (not shown), acquires broadcast data of the program, and outputs the broadcast data to the image display unit 112 and the recording unit 115.

  The image display unit 112 displays the broadcast data input from the broadcast wave receiving unit 111.

  The recording reservation accepting unit 113 provides an interface (for example, an operation panel) for reserving a recording of a program to the user of the mobile phone 10, and accepts a recording reservation instruction input by the user to receive a recording reservation registering unit 114. And output to the reservation information transmission unit 116. This recording reservation instruction includes at least a broadcast station (channel) that broadcasts a program reserved for recording, a program name of the program, and a recording reservation time (broadcast time of the program). The recording reservation accepting unit 113 may use the EPG when providing an interface for recording reservation.

  The recording reservation registration unit 114 acquires the recording reservation instruction input from the recording reservation reception unit 113 and creates reservation information based on the recording reservation instruction. Then, the recording reservation registration unit 114 causes the recording unit 119 to store the created reservation information. The reservation information indicates the content of the recording reservation, and at least the broadcasting station (channel) that broadcasts the program reserved for recording, the program name of the program, and the recording reservation time are associated with each other. For example, reservation information (hereinafter referred to as “reservation 1”) associated with a broadcast station “TV station A”, a program name “program A”, and a recording reservation time “9: 00-10: 00” is created and stored. The As shown in this example, the scheduled recording time is represented by a recording start time (for example, “9:00”) and a recording end time (for example, “10:00”).

  The recording unit 115 causes the recording unit 119 to store the broadcast data input from the broadcast wave receiving unit 111 in accordance with the reservation information stored in the recording unit 119 by the recording reservation registration unit 114.

  The reservation information transmitting unit 116 acquires the recording reservation instruction input from the recording reservation receiving unit 113, and creates reservation information based on the recording reservation instruction in the same manner as the recording reservation registration unit 114. Then, the reservation information transmitting unit 116 modulates data in which the created reservation information is associated with a terminal ID for identifying a mobile phone, and the reservation information transmitting unit 116 of the reservation information management server 30 via a communication antenna (not shown). It transmits to the reservation information registration part 31.

  The change notification receiving unit 117 receives a change notification indicating that the broadcast time of the program has been changed by demodulating a radio wave received by a communication antenna (not shown), and sends the change notification to the recording reservation updating unit. It outputs to 118.

  The recording reservation update unit 118 includes broadcast stations and programs included in the change notification in which the broadcast station and the program name are input from the change notification reception unit 117 among the reservation information stored in the recording unit 119 by the recording reservation registration unit 114. Update the one that matches the name. For example, the reservation information “reservation 1” is already stored, and a change notification in which the broadcast station “TV station A”, the program name “program A”, and the recording reservation time “9: 15-10: 15” are associated with each other is received. If it is input, the recording reservation update unit 118 updates the recording reservation time of the reservation information “Reservation 1” to “9: 15-10: 15”.

  The recording unit 119 is a part that stores reservation information and broadcast data.

  The EPG acquisition unit 120 transmits an EPG request for acquiring an EPG to the program guide management server 40, and receives and holds the EPG provided from the program guide management server 40 in response to the EPG request. The stored EPG is used by the recording reservation receiving unit 113. In addition, the form which requests | requires EPG is not limited. For example, it is conceivable to request an EPG by an HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) request, mail transmission, or bar code information transmission.

  Next, the functional configuration and hardware configuration of the control node 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the control node 20. FIG. 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the control node 20.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control node 20 includes, as functional components, a broadcast time change information reception unit 21, a reservation information extraction unit (part of extraction means) 22, a group information creation unit 23, and a change notification generation unit 24. And a change notification transmission unit (change notification transmission means) 25.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the control node 20 includes a CPU 201 that executes an operating system, an application program, etc., a main storage device 202 composed of ROM and RAM, an auxiliary storage device 203 composed of a hard disk, a network card, etc. Communication control device 204, output device 205 such as a monitor and printer, and input device 206 such as a keyboard and mouse. Each function described with reference to FIG. 4 reads predetermined software on the CPU 201 and the main storage device 202 shown in FIG. 5 and operates the communication control device 204 under the control of the CPU 201. And by reading and writing data in the auxiliary storage device 203.

  The broadcast time change information receiving unit 21 receives broadcast time change information indicating that the broadcast time of the program has been changed, and outputs this broadcast time change information to the reservation information extracting unit 22 and the change notification generating unit 24. The broadcast time change information is associated with at least a broadcast station (channel) that broadcasts a program whose broadcast time has been changed, a program name of the program, and a broadcast time after the change of the program.

  The reservation information extraction unit 22 instructs the reservation information management server 30 to extract a mobile phone that has reserved recording of a program whose broadcast time has been changed based on the broadcast time change information input from the broadcast time change information reception unit 21. Create a reservation information acquisition instruction. In this reservation information acquisition instruction, a broadcast station and a program name included in the broadcast time change information are associated with each other. For example, if the contents of the input broadcast time change information are the broadcast station “TV station A”, the program name “program A”, and the changed broadcast time “9: 15-10: 15”, the broadcast station “TV The reservation information acquisition instruction in which the “station A” is associated with the program name “program A” is created. Then, the reservation information extraction unit 22 transmits the created reservation information acquisition instruction to the reservation information acquisition unit 33 of the reservation information management server 30. In addition, the reservation information extraction unit 22 receives the reservation terminal information transmitted from the reservation information acquisition unit 33 of the reservation information management server 30 in response to the transmission of the reservation information acquisition instruction, and uses this reservation terminal information as the group information creation unit 23. Output to.

  The group information creation unit 23 transmits the reservation terminal information input from the reservation information extraction unit 22 to the position information acquisition unit 53 of the position information management server 50. Then, the group information creation unit 23 receives the position information transmitted from the position information acquisition unit 53 of the position information management server 50 in response to the transmission of the reserved terminal information. Thereafter, the group information creation unit 23 creates group information in which the mobile phones included in the position information are grouped for each corresponding base station, and outputs the group information to the change notification transmission unit 25. The group information is information in which one or more mobile phones existing in the area of the base station are associated with the base station. For example, when the received location information is “mobile phone 1, base station A”, “mobile phone 2, base station B” and “mobile phone 3, base station A”, “base station A, mobile phone 1 and Group information “mobile phone 3” and “base station B, mobile phone 2” is created.

  The change notification generator 24 generates a change notification based on the broadcast time change information input from the broadcast time change information receiver 21. This change notification indicates that the broadcast time of the program has been changed. At least the broadcast station (channel) that broadcasts the program whose broadcast time has been changed, the program name of the program, and the changed broadcast time. It is included in a corresponding form. For example, if the contents of the input broadcast time change information are as described above, the broadcast station “TV station A”, the program name “program A”, and the changed broadcast time “9: 15-10: 15” are supported. An attached change notification is generated. Then, the change notification generation unit 24 outputs the generated change notification to the change notification transmission unit 25.

  The change notification transmission unit 25 transmits the change notification input from the change notification generation unit 24 to the mobile phone included in the group information input from the group information creation unit 23. At this time, the change notification is transmitted not for each mobile phone but for each base station included in the group information. For example, when group information “base station A, mobile phone 1 and mobile phone 3” and “base station B, mobile phone 2” is input, a change notification is transmitted to base station A and base station B. The Among these, one change notification transmitted to the base station A is duplicated at the base station A and transmitted to the mobile phone 1 and the mobile phone 3. That is, the change notification transmission unit 25 multicasts a change notification.

  Next, the functional configuration of the reservation information management server 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the reservation information management server 30. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of storing reservation information.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the reservation information management server 30 includes a reservation information registration unit (reservation information receiving unit) 31, a recording unit 32, and a reservation information acquisition unit (part of extraction unit) 33 as functional components. ing.

  The hardware configuration of the reservation information management server 30 is the same as that of the control node 20, and how the functions of the reservation information management server 30 are realized on the hardware is the same as that of the control node 20.

  The reservation information registration unit 31 receives the reservation information transmitted from the mobile phone 10 and stores it in the recording unit 32. For example, the reservation information including the broadcasting station “TV station A”, the program name “program A”, and the recording reservation time “9: 00-10: 00” is received in association with the terminal ID “mobile phone 1”. In such a case, the data is stored in the recording unit 32 while maintaining this association.

  The recording unit 32 is a part that stores reservation information. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 7, three pieces of reservation information associated with the terminal ID are stored, two of which are for “mobile phone 1” and the other one is “mobile phone 2”. Is about.

  The reservation information acquisition unit 33 receives the reservation information acquisition instruction transmitted from the reservation information extraction unit 22 of the control node 20, and makes a recording reservation for the program specified by the broadcasting station and the program name included in the reservation information acquisition instruction. Extract mobile phones. Then, the reservation information acquisition unit 33 creates reservation terminal information including the extracted mobile phone, and transmits this reservation terminal information to the reservation information extraction unit 22 of the control node 20. For example, when the reservation information stored in the recording unit 32 is as shown in FIG. 7 and a reservation information acquisition instruction including the broadcast station “TV station Z” and the program name “program Y” is received, the terminal ID “Mobile phone 1” and terminal ID “mobile phone 2” are extracted, and reserved terminal information including these terminal IDs is created and transmitted.

  Next, the functional configuration of the program guide management server 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the program guide management server 40. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an EPG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the program guide management server 40 includes, as functional components, a program information receiving unit 41, a recording unit 42, a program information management unit (program information storage unit and determination unit) 43, and a program information providing unit 44. It has.

  The hardware configuration of the program guide management server 40 is the same as that of the control node 20, and how the functions of the program guide management server 40 are realized on hardware is also the same as that of the control node 20.

  The program information receiving unit 41 acquires EPG (program information) by receiving and demodulating a broadcast wave transmitted from the broadcasting device 60. The EPG is associated with a plurality of pieces of information (for example, a program name, a broadcast time, and an outline of a program) related to a program broadcast by the broadcast station for each broadcast station (channel), and is shown in FIG. 9, for example. Thereafter, the program information receiving unit 41 outputs the acquired EPG to the program information management unit 43. Note that the program information receiving unit 41 can acquire the latest EPG.

  The recording unit 42 is a part that stores an EPG.

  The program information management unit 43 determines the difference between the EPG input from the program information reception unit 41 and the EPG already stored in the recording unit 42, and updates the EPG stored in the recording unit 42 to the latest state. Update to Further, the program information management unit 43 stores the input EPG in the recording unit 42 after determining whether or not the EPG has been changed. As a result, the EPG is updated to the latest state. When the EPG is not stored in the recording unit 42, the program information management unit 43 stores the input EPG as it is in the recording unit 42. When a new EPG is input from the program information receiving unit 41 while the EPG is stored in the recording unit 42, the program information management unit 43 compares the input EPG with the EPG stored in the recording unit 42. If these EPGs do not match (one or more information related to the program has been changed), it is determined that the information related to the program has been changed.

  For example, when the stored EPG is the one shown in FIG. 9 and the broadcast time of the program A included in the newly input EPG is “9: 15-10: 15”, the program A It is determined that the broadcast time (broadcast start time and broadcast end time) has been changed. Then, the program information management unit 43 transmits broadcast time change information indicating that the broadcast time of the program has been changed to the broadcast time change information receiving unit 21 of the control node 20. The broadcast time change information is associated with at least a broadcast station (channel) that broadcasts a program whose broadcast time has been changed, a program name of the program, and a broadcast time after the change of the program. For example, if it is determined as described above, the broadcast time change associated with the broadcast station “TV station A”, the program name “program A”, and the changed broadcast time “9: 15-10: 15”. Information is sent. Note that the change of the broadcast time is not limited to the case where both the start time and the end time are changed as in the above example. In addition, when only one of the start time and the end time is changed, the broadcast time is also changed.

  The program information providing unit 44 acquires the EPG from the recording unit 42 when receiving the EPG request transmitted from the recording reservation receiving unit 113 of the mobile phone 10. Then, the program information providing unit 44 transmits the acquired EPG to the recording reservation receiving unit 113 of the mobile phone 10 that is the transmission source of the EPG request.

  Next, the functional configuration of the location information management server 50 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the location information management server 50. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of storing position information.

  As illustrated in FIG. 10, the location information management server 50 includes a location information registration unit 51, a recording unit 52, and a location information acquisition unit 53 as functional components.

  The hardware configuration of the location information management server 50 is the same as that of the control node 20, and how each function of the location information management server 50 is realized on hardware is also the same as that of the control node 20.

  The position information registration unit 51 receives position information indicating the current position of the mobile phone 10 transmitted from a base station (not shown) constituting the network 70 and stores it in the recording unit 52. For example, the location information registration unit 51 receives location information in which the terminal ID “mobile phone 1” and the base station ID “base station A” are associated with each other and stores the location information in the recording unit 52. In addition, the acquisition method of position information is not limited to this, For example, the latitude and longitude which the mobile telephone 10 acquired using the global positioning system (GPS: Global Positioning System) is transmitted to the position information registration part 51, and position information is acquired. The registration unit 51 may store the latitude and longitude in the recording unit 52 as position information.

  The recording unit 52 is a part that stores position information. In the example illustrated in FIG. 11, three pieces of position information in which terminal IDs and base station IDs are associated are stored.

  The location information acquisition unit 53 receives the reserved terminal information transmitted from the group information creation unit 23 of the control node 20, and extracts location information including a terminal ID that matches the terminal ID included in the reserved terminal information. Then, the position information acquisition unit 53 transmits the extracted position information to the group information creation unit 23 of the control node 20.

  Next, the operation of the recording reservation system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the recording reservation system 1.

  First, an EPG is transmitted from the program information providing unit 44 of the program guide management server 40 in response to the EPG request transmitted from the recording reservation accepting unit 113 of the mobile phone 10 (step S01). The EPG is stored by the program information management unit 43 of the program guide management server 40 (program information storage step). Thereafter, the recording reservation is received by the recording reservation receiving unit 113, and the reservation information is stored by the recording reservation registration unit 114 (step S02, reservation information storage step). That is, a recording reservation is made. Furthermore, the reservation information transmission unit 116 creates reservation information corresponding to the reservation information (step S03) and transmits it to the reservation information management server 30 (step S04, reservation information transmission step). The transmitted reservation information is received by the reservation information registration unit 31 of the reservation information management server 30 (reservation information receiving step) and stored in the recording unit 32 (step S05).

  Thereafter, when the broadcast time of the program reserved for recording by the mobile phone 10 is changed, first, the latest EPG is distributed from the broadcast device 60 to the program guide management server 40 (step S06). In the program guide management server 40, the program information receiving unit 41 receives the EPG. Then, the program information management unit 43 determines that the broadcast time of the program has been changed, and based on this determination, broadcast time change information is created and transmitted to the control node 20 (step S07, determination step).

  The transmitted broadcast time change information is received by the broadcast time change information receiving unit 21 of the control node 20. Then, a reservation information acquisition instruction is transmitted from the reservation information extraction unit 22 to the reservation information management server 30 based on the broadcast time change information (step S08). In the reservation information management server 30, the reservation information acquisition unit 33 extracts reservation terminal information based on the received reservation information acquisition instruction and transmits it to the control node 20 (step S09, extraction step). The reservation terminal information includes the mobile phone 10.

  The transmitted reservation terminal information is received by the reservation information extraction unit 22 of the control node 20. In the control node 20, the group information creation unit 23 transmits a location information acquisition instruction created based on the reserved terminal information to the location information management server 50 (step S10). Then, in the position information acquisition unit 53 of the position information management server 50, the current position of the mobile phone included in the received position information acquisition instruction is acquired and transmitted to the control node 20 as position information (step S11).

  The transmitted location information is received by the group information creation unit 23 of the control node 20, and group information is created based on this location information (step S12).

  In the control node 20, a change notification is generated in the change notification generation unit 24 in parallel with the processing of steps S08 to S12 (step S13). The generated change notification is transmitted to each mobile phone to be transmitted including the mobile phone 10 according to the created group information (step S14, change notification transmission step).

  Finally, a change notification is received by the change notification receiving unit 117 of the mobile phone 10 (change notification receiving step), and the recording reservation update unit 118 updates the reservation information stored in the recording unit 119 according to the received change notification. (Step S15, update step).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, first, when a program recording reservation is made in the mobile phone 10, the recording reservation registration unit 114 stores the reservation information including the recording reservation time, and the reservation information transmission unit 116. Transmits the reservation information to the reservation information management server 30. Then, in the reservation information management server 30, the reservation information registration unit 31 receives and stores the reservation information. Thereafter, when a change in the broadcast time of the program occurs, the program information management unit 43 of the program guide management server 40 reflects the change in the broadcast time of the program already stored in the recording unit 42 and the broadcast time of the program. The broadcast time of the program included in the latest EPG is compared. If these broadcast times are different, the program information management unit 43 sends a change notification indicating that the broadcast time of the program has been changed to a mobile phone that has reserved recording of the program, that is, reservation information about the program. Is transmitted to the mobile phone (for example, the mobile phone 10) that has transmitted. Finally, in the mobile phone 10, the change notification receiving unit 117 receives the change notification, and the recording reservation update unit 118 updates the recording reservation time included in the stored reservation information to the changed broadcast time included in the change notification. To do.

  As a result, only when the broadcast time of the program reserved for recording is changed, a change notification indicating the change can be transmitted to the mobile phone 10 via the network 70. At this time, the change notification is transmitted only to the mobile phone that has reserved the recording of the program whose broadcast time has been changed. The mobile phone 10 can receive the change notification without inquiring of the recording reservation management server group 2 via the network 70 whether or not the broadcast time of the program reserved for recording has been changed. On the other hand, the recording reservation management server group 2, especially the control node 20, does not require an inquiry from the mobile phone 10 via the network 70 when transmitting the change notification. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load on the network 70 when changing the recording reservation time in accordance with the change in the broadcast time of the program. Further, even when the broadcast time of a program reserved for recording is changed, the program reserved for recording can be reliably recorded.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the change notification is transmitted by the number of group information generated by the group information creation unit 23 of the control node 20. This means that the number of change notifications transmitted from the control node 20 is equal to or less than the number of destination mobile phones. Thereby, the total transmission amount of the change notification flowing through the network 70 can be reduced. That is, it is possible to further reduce the load on the network 70 when changing the recording reservation time in accordance with the change in the broadcast time of the program.

  In this embodiment, the recording reservation management server is configured by the recording reservation management server group 2 including a plurality of servers. Therefore, when the service of the recording reservation system 1 is extended in the future, the service extension can be easily performed. Can do.

  The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be modified in various ways as described below without departing from the scope of the invention.

  In this embodiment, the recording reservation management server group 2 including the control node 20, the reservation information management server 30, the program guide management server 40, and the location information management server 50 is adopted as the recording reservation management server. The configuration is not limited to this. For example, the functions of the control node 20 and the reservation information management server 30 may be implemented in a single server, or the functions of the control node 20, the reservation information management server 30, the program guide management server 40, and the location information management server 50 may be implemented. You may mount in one server.

  In this embodiment, the mobile phone 10 is used as a communication terminal. However, a personal computer, a simple mobile phone (PHS: Personal Handy-phone System), a portable information terminal (PDA: Personal Digital Assistant), or the like is used. It may be used as a communication terminal.

  In the present embodiment, the change notification transmission unit 25 of the control node 20 transmits the change notification for each base station using the group information, but the change notification transmission mode is not limited to this. For example, group information may be generated for each base station controller that manages a plurality of base stations, and a change notification may be transmitted in units of base station controllers. In this case, the total transmission amount of the change notification flowing through the network is further reduced as compared with the present embodiment. Further, the change information may be transmitted by the number of mobile phones to be transmitted without using group information.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the video recording reservation system which concerns on embodiment. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the mobile telephone shown in FIG. It is a hardware block diagram of the mobile telephone shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the control node shown in FIG. It is a hardware block diagram of the control node shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the reservation information management server shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of storing reservation information. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the program schedule management server shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of EPG. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the positional infomation management server shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a storage of positional information. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the video recording reservation system shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording reservation system, 2 ... Recording reservation management server group (recording reservation management server), 10 ... Mobile telephone (communication terminal), 20 ... Control node, 22 ... Reservation information extraction part (a part of extraction means), 25 ... Change notification transmission unit (change notification transmission unit), 30 ... reservation information management server, 31 ... reservation information registration unit (reservation information reception unit), 33 ... reservation information acquisition unit (part of extraction unit), 40 ... program guide management Server, 43 ... Program information management unit (program information storage means and determination means), 50 ... Position information management server, 60 ... Broadcast apparatus (program distribution apparatus), 70 ... Network, 114 ... Recording reservation registration part (reservation information storage means) 116... Reservation information transmission unit (reservation information transmission unit) 117... Change notification reception unit (change notification reception unit) 118.

Claims (4)

A recording reservation that can be connected to a portable terminal having a program recording and recording reservation function via a network and that can receive the program information from a program distribution device that distributes the program information including the broadcast time of the program. A management server,
Program information storage means for storing the program information received from the program distribution device;
Reservation information receiving means for receiving reservation information transmitted by the mobile terminal and including a recording reservation time of a program reserved for recording;
When the broadcast time of the program included in the program information stored in the program information storage means is different from the broadcast time of the program included in the program information received from the program distribution device after storage, Determining means for determining that the broadcast time has been changed;
An extraction means for extracting the portable terminal that reserved the recording of the program based on the reservation information received by the reservation information receiving means when it is determined by the determination means that the broadcast time of the program has been changed;
One or more position information corresponding to one or more portable terminals extracted by the extraction means is acquired from a position storage unit that stores position information indicating the current position of the portable terminal, and based on the acquired position information, Grouping means for grouping the one or more mobile terminals for each corresponding relay device;
When the determination unit determines that the broadcast time of the program has been changed , the grouping is performed to transmit a change notification including the broadcast time after the change of the program to the mobile terminal extracted by the extraction unit . Change notification transmitting means for transmitting one change notification for each relay device corresponding to the group generated by the means ,
The relay device transfers the change notification received from the change notification transmission means to one or more corresponding mobile terminals;
A recording reservation management server characterized by the above. A portable terminal that can be connected to the recording reservation management server according to claim 1 via a network and has a function of recording a program and recording reservation ,
Reservation information storage means for storing the reservation information;
Reservation information transmitting means for transmitting the reservation information to the recording reservation management server;
Change notification receiving means for receiving the change notification transmitted by the recording reservation management server when the broadcast time of a program is changed , wherein the change notice corresponds to one group generated by the grouping means The change notification receiving means that is transmitted via the relay device ;
A portable terminal comprising: update means for updating reservation information stored in the reservation information storage means to a broadcast time after change included in a change notification received by the change notification receiving means. Recording reservation system comprising a recording reservation management server, comprising: a portable terminal according to claim 2, and a program distribution device for distributing program information including a broadcast time of the program in claim 1. A recording reservation management server capable of receiving the program information from the program distribution device for distributing program information including a broadcast time of the program, can be connected via a network to該録picture reservation management server, recording of the program and A recording reservation method executed by a portable terminal having a recording reservation function ,
Reservation information storing step in which the mobile terminal stores reservation information including a recording reservation time of a program reserved for recording;
Reservation information transmission step in which the portable terminal transmits the reservation information to the recording reservation management server;
A program information storage step in which the recording reservation management server stores the program information received from the program distribution device;
Reservation information receiving step in which the recording reservation management server receives the reservation information transmitted in the reservation information transmitting step;
The recording reservation management server includes a broadcast time of the program included in the program information stored in the program information storage step and a broadcast time of the program included in the program information received from the program distribution device after storage. A determination step for determining that the broadcast time of the program has changed, if different,
When the recording reservation management server determines that the broadcast time of the program has been changed in the determining step, the portable terminal that has reserved the recording of the program based on the reservation information received in the reservation information receiving step An extraction step to extract;
The recording reservation management server acquires one or more pieces of position information corresponding to one or more portable terminals extracted in the extraction step from a position storage unit that stores position information indicating the current position of the portable terminal. A grouping step of grouping the one or more mobile terminals for each corresponding relay device based on the location information obtained;
When the recording reservation management server determines that the broadcast time of the program has been changed in the determination step, a change notification including the broadcast time after the change of the program is transmitted to the mobile terminal extracted in the extraction step. In order to do so, a change notification transmission step for transmitting one change notification for each relay device corresponding to the group generated in the grouping step;
A transfer step in which the relay device receives the change notification transmitted in the change notification transmission step and transfers the change notification to one or more corresponding mobile terminals;
A change notification receiving step in which the mobile terminal receives the change notification transmitted in the change notification transmitting step and transferred in the transfer step;
The mobile terminal includes an update step of updating the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage step to the changed broadcast time included in the change notification received in the change notification reception step. Recording reservation method.

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