JP5022754B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that acquires digital broadcast program information and displays program guide information.

Conventionally, a digital broadcast receiver described in Patent Document 1 below is known as a technology in such a field. In this receiver, when acquisition of program information from a digital broadcast wave is stopped or failed, the receiver is connected to a program information storage server through a telephone line to acquire program information that needs to be updated. With such a mechanism, it has been proposed to reliably update the program guide and to avoid oversight of the viewer's program and failure of recording reservation.
JP-A-2005-51613

  However, in general, since program information distributed by digital broadcast waves is easier to update on the information transmission side than server information, program information from broadcast waves is more program information from the program information storage server. More often than new. In the receiver, when acquisition of program information from a digital broadcast wave is stopped or failed, program information from the program information storage server is used as substitute information. Therefore, in the above receiver, when information acquisition from a digital broadcast wave is stopped or failed, the alternative information may not always be the latest, and as a result, the program information stored and displayed on the receiver is not the latest information. There may be cases.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an information processing apparatus capable of displaying new program information.

The information processing apparatus of the present invention, a broadcast wave information acquiring means for acquiring program electronic information including turn sets information of each broadcast time period from a broadcast wave of digital broadcasting, the turn sets information of each broadcast time slot over the network Internet information acquisition means for acquiring the included program electronic information, a program guide information database in which program information is recorded for each broadcast time frame of digital broadcasting, and a broadcast wave obtained from the program electronic information from the broadcast wave information acquisition means Broadcast wave information recording means for writing the program information derived from the program in the corresponding broadcast time frame of the program guide information database, and the program information derived from the net obtained from the program electronic information from the net information acquisition means in the program guide information database Includes program information for each broadcasting time frame of digital broadcasting based on the net information recording means for writing in the corresponding broadcasting time frame and the program guide information database Program information display means for displaying group guidance information, and the broadcast wave information recording means broadcasts broadcast time frames in the absence of program information among broadcast time frames to be recorded in the program guide information database. The program information derived from the wave is recorded, the program information derived from the new broadcast wave is overwritten and recorded in the broadcast time frame in which the program information is already written, and the net information recording means is recorded in the program guide information database. Of the broadcast time frames, the program information derived from the net is recorded in the broadcast time frame in which the program information is absent, and the new program derived from the net is recorded in the broadcast time frame in which the program information derived from the net is already written. Program information is recorded by overwriting, and program information derived from a new network is not recorded in a broadcast time frame in which program information derived from broadcast waves has already been written .

  According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, new program information can be displayed.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  A notebook personal computer 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a computer main body 3 and a display unit 5 that can be opened and closed with respect to the computer main body 3. In the display unit 5, a TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) 7 is incorporated as a display device, and the display screen of the LCD 7 is located substantially at the center of the display unit 5.

  The display unit 5 is attached to the computer main body 3 so as to be rotatable between an open position and a closed position. The computer main body 3 has a thin box-shaped housing, and a keyboard 9, a power button 11 for powering on / off the computer 1, a touch pad 15, and a click button 17 are arranged on the upper surface thereof. Has been.

  Further, the computer 1 can play back audio / video (AV) content (in HD DVD Video standard) stored in DVD media in the HD DVD standard. A slot 19 for inserting and removing DVD media is provided on the front surface of the computer main body 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the computer 1 includes a CPU 101, a north bridge 103, a main memory 105, a graphics controller 107, a video memory (VRAM) 107a, a south bridge 109, a BIOS-ROM 111, a sound controller 113, a hard disk drive (HDD). ) 117, HD DVD drive 119, embedded controller / keyboard controller IC (EC / KBC) 121, network controller 123, digital TV tuner 125, and the like.

  The CPU 101 is a processor that controls the operation of the computer 1 and executes various programs loaded from the HDD 117 to the main memory 105. Various programs executed by the CPU 101 include an operating system, an HD DVD player application program for reproducing AV content of HD DVD Video standard, a TV application for enabling viewing of digital TV broadcasts, an EPG processing program 131, and the like. To do. The CPU 101 also executes a BIOS (Basic Input Output System; a program for hardware control) stored in the BIOS-ROM 111.

  The north bridge 103 is a bridge device that connects the local bus of the CPU 101 and the south bridge 109. The north bridge 103 also includes a memory controller that controls access to the main memory 105. The north bridge 103 also has a function of executing communication with the graphics controller 107 via a PCI Express standard serial bus or the like.

  The graphics controller 107 is a display controller that controls the LCD 7 used as a display monitor of the computer 1. The graphics controller 107 has image processing functions such as blend processing, scaling processing, and luma key processing. A display signal generated by the graphics controller 107 is sent to the LCD 7. The display signal can also be sent to an external TV or HDMI monitor via an interface provided in the computer main body 3.

  The south bridge 109 controls each device on a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus and each device on an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus. The south bridge 109 includes an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) controller for controlling the HDD 117 and the HD DVD drive 119. Further, the south bridge 109 has a function of executing communication with the sound controller 113. The sound controller 113 is a sound source device and outputs audio data to be reproduced to the speaker 113a.

  The embedded controller / keyboard controller IC (EC / KBC) 121 is a one-chip micro integrated with an embedded controller for power management and a keyboard controller for controlling the keyboard 9, touch pad 15, and click button 17. It is a computer. When the touch pad 15 is operated, an operation signal is generated, and the cursor displayed on the display screen of the LDC 7 moves based on the operation signal. Further, the EC / KBC 121 has a function of powering on / off the computer 1 in accordance with the operation of the power button 11 by the user.

  The computer 1 includes a digital TV tuner 125 for enabling viewing of digital TV broadcasts. By causing the CPU 101 to execute the above-described TV application, TV images based on digital broadcast waves received by the tuner 125 are provided. Is displayed on the LCD 7. Since the digital broadcast wave includes EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data, it is possible to acquire this EPG data (program electronic information) from the tuner (broadcast wave information acquisition means) 125. Such EPG data can also be acquired from a program information storage server existing on a network such as the Internet. Therefore, in the computer 1, the network controller (net information acquisition means) 123 passes through the network. It is also possible to acquire EPG data from the program information storage server.

  An HDD (program information storage unit) 117 of the computer 1 is provided with a program table database (program guide information database) 117a for storing information obtained from the EPG data. This program table database 117a is provided for each virtual frame (hereinafter referred to as "broadcast time frame") obtained by dividing a matrix-like broadcast program table for each channel / each broadcast day / each broadcast time zone. It is a database that stores program information broadcast in a broadcast time frame in association with each other. In the computer 1, by causing the CPU 101 to execute the EPG processing program 131 loaded in the main memory 105, the program information of each broadcast time frame obtained from digital broadcast waves and EPG data from the network is recorded in the program table database 117a. To do. The EPG processing program 131 also has a function of outputting a program guide (program guide information) including program information for each broadcast time frame to the graphics controller 107 and displaying it on the LCD (program guide information display means) 7. ing.

  Hereinafter, processing of EPG data performed by the EPG processing program 131 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the EPG processing program 131, as described below, “net information recording processing” for recording program information for each broadcast time frame derived from EPG data acquired via the network in the program guide database 117a, and EPG acquired from broadcast waves. “Broadcast wave information recording processing” for recording program information for each broadcast time frame derived from data in the program guide database 117 a and “program guide display processing” for displaying the program guide on the LCD 7 are performed.

[Net information recording processing]
This net information recording process is performed at a frequency of about once a day, for example, while the computer 1 is activated. First, the CPU 101 (see FIG. 2) acquires the EPG data 211 from the program information storage server on the network 201 via the network controller 123 (S402). Here, EPG data for all channels of the digital TV broadcast is acquired at once. Hereinafter, the program information for each broadcast time frame derived from the EPG data acquired via the network is referred to as “net-derived information”. Next, the CPU 101 reads stored program information for each broadcast time frame (hereinafter referred to as “stored program information”) from the program table database 117a stored in the HDD 117 (S404).

  If the CPU 101 determines that there is no stored program information for all of the broadcast time frames in the program guide database 117a (S406), the CPU 101 obtains all the obtained net-derived information corresponding to the program guide database 117a. Writing in the broadcast time frame (S408), the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined in S406 that the stored program information of any broadcast time frame exists, the CPU 101 compares the acquired net-derived information and the stored program information for each broadcast time frame. (S412).

  In this comparison, the CPU 101 identifies a broadcast time frame in which stored program information is absent in the program guide database 117a. Here, for example, the CPU 101 may be specified by referring to an index file in the program guide database 117a. Then, data corresponding to the specified broadcast time frame is extracted from the obtained net-derived information (S414).

  Furthermore, the CPU 101 specifies a broadcast time frame in which the net-derived information by the previous net information recording process is recorded among the broadcast time frames in the program guide database 117a. Here, for example, the record corresponding to each broadcast time frame of the program table database 117a includes acquisition destination information indicating the acquisition destination of information, and the CPU 101 indicates that the acquisition destination information is “net-derived information”. What is necessary is just to specify the broadcast time frame of the record which shows that there exists. Then, data corresponding to the specified broadcast time frame is extracted from the obtained net-derived information (S416).

  Next, the CPU 101 overwrites and records only the data of the two types of broadcast time frames extracted from the net-derived information in S414 and S416 in the corresponding broadcast time frames of the program guide database 117a (S418), and performs the processing. finish.

  Through the processing as described above, data is newly recorded in the broadcast time frame in which the stored program information was originally absent among the broadcast time frames of the program guide database 117a, and the net-derived information is obtained by the previous net information recording process. In the broadcast time frame in which the broadcast wave information was recorded in the broadcast time frame in which the broadcast wave information was recorded by the previous broadcast wave information recording process (details will be described later). The data remains as it is without being performed.

[Broadcast wave information recording process]
This broadcast wave information recording process is performed on EPG data for one channel related to viewing, for example, when the user is viewing a digital TV broadcast. First, the CPU 101 acquires EPG data 213 from the digital broadcast wave 203 received by the digital TV tuner 125 (S502). Hereinafter, the program information for each broadcast time frame derived from the EPG data acquired from the digital broadcast wave is referred to as “broadcast wave-derived information”. Then, the CPU 101 records the broadcast wave-derived information that can be acquired by overwriting all the broadcast time frames of the corresponding program guide database 117a (S504), and ends the process. That is, according to the data overwrite recording in S504, the broadcast time frame in which the net-derived information or the broadcast wave-derived information originally existed is updated to the latest data with the new broadcast wave-derived information. In addition, broadcast wave-derived information is newly written in a broadcast time frame in which no stored program information originally exists.

[Program guide display processing]
This program information display process is started, for example, when a predetermined operation of the computer 1 by the user is accepted. The CPU 101 reads out the program table database 117a updated at any time by the net information recording process and the broadcast wave information recording process, outputs the program table database 117a to the graphics controller 107, and displays it on the LCD 7 as a matrix TV program table.

  In the computer 1, when the above-described net information recording process and broadcast wave information recording process are repeatedly performed, when both the net-derived information and the broadcast wave-derived information are obtained as program information in the same broadcast time frame, the program table database 117a. Broadcast wave-derived information is recorded in the broadcast time frame. Therefore, broadcast wave-derived information is accumulated in each broadcast time frame of the program guide database 117a with priority over the net-derived information. As a result, the information stored in the program guide database 117a has a large amount of broadcast wave-derived information. Broadcast wave-derived information obtained from EPG data distributed by digital broadcast waves is generally considered to be the latest information because it is easier to update on the information transmission side than net-derived information. Therefore, according to the above processing in the computer 1, the information stored in the program guide database 117a can always be the latest, and the latest program guide can be displayed on the screen based on the program guide database 117a.

  Further, in the program guide database 117a of the computer 1, the network-derived information acquired via the network is supplementarily stored in the broadcast time frame in which the broadcast wave-derived information is not acquired. Therefore, for example, when the user of the computer 1 is viewing only a broadcast of a specific channel, broadcast wave-derived information can be acquired only for the corresponding channel, but each broadcast time frame for other channels is supplemented with net-derived information. be able to.

  As a method for acquiring EPG data for all channels, for example, when the user is not using the computer, the computer is automatically started and the EPG for all channels is operated while the CPU operates the digital TV tuner. A mechanism for acquiring data from the broadcast wave of each channel is also conceivable. However, many notebook-type computers turn on the LCD when activated, and in this case, the user's inconvenience is great, so it is difficult to adopt the above mechanism. Therefore, according to the computer 1 described above, since broadcast wave-derived information and net-derived information are used in combination, program information for each broadcast time frame for all channels can be easily obtained.

  In addition, the notebook computer 1 that is easy to carry is often not connected to an antenna when carried. In this case, EPG data from broadcast waves cannot be acquired, but EPG data can be obtained via the network by connecting to the network.

It is a perspective view showing a computer concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the computer of FIG. It is a figure which shows the flow of the program information in the computer of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process which preserve | saves the internet origin program information acquired via the network in the computer of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process which preserve | saves the broadcast wave origin program information acquired from the digital broadcast wave in the computer of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Computer (information processing apparatus), 7 ... LCD (program guide information display means), 101 ... CPU (broadcast wave information recording means, net information recording means), 107 ... Graphics controller (program guide information display means), 117 ... Hard disk drive (program information storage unit), 117a ... Program guide database (program guide information database), 125 ... Digital TV tuner (broadcast wave information acquisition means), 123 ... Network controller (net information acquisition means), 131 ... EPG processing Program (broadcast wave information recording means, net information recording means, program guide information display means).

Claims (1)

And the broadcast wave information acquisition means from the broadcast wave of digital broadcasting to get the program electronic information, including a turn set information of each broadcast time frame,
And net information acquisition means for acquiring the program electronic information, including a turn set information of each broadcast time frame over the network,
A program guide information database in which program information is recorded for each broadcast time frame of the digital broadcast;
Broadcast wave information recording means for writing program information derived from broadcast waves obtained from program electronic information from the broadcast wave information acquisition means in the corresponding broadcast time frame of the program guide information database;
Net information recording means for writing the program information derived from the net obtained from the program electronic information from the net information acquisition means into the corresponding broadcast time frame of the program guide information database;
Program guide information display means for displaying program guide information including program information for each broadcast time frame of digital broadcasting based on the program guide information database;
With
The broadcast wave information recording means includes
Of the broadcast time frames to be recorded in the program guide information database, the broadcast time frame in which the program information is recorded in the broadcast time frame in which no program information is present and the program information is already written In the frame, the program information derived from the new broadcast wave is overwritten and recorded,
The net information recording means is
Among the broadcast time frames to be recorded in the program guide information database, the program information derived from the net is recorded in the broadcast time frame where the program information is absent, and the program information derived from the net is already written. In the broadcast time frame, the new program information derived from the net is overwritten, and the new program information derived from the net is not recorded in the broadcast time frame in which the program information derived from the broadcast wave is already written. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above.

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