JP5358245B2 - Information processing apparatus, program, and program search method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a program, and a program search method, and more particularly, to a technique that is preferably applied to recording reservations for programs that are recognized not only regularly but irregularly. Is.

  Some TV broadcasts are broadcast on a one-off basis, but they are broadcast weekly on the same day of the week for quarters, years, or more, such as dramas, animations, variety shows, etc. There are many things. Also, although programs may be completed individually, such as sports programs such as sumo and Koshien, and special programs such as educational programs based on history, programs with related content will continue for a certain period of time. May be broadcast multiple times. These non-single programs have continuity and relevance in the broadcast content in a broad sense, and are often repeatedly broadcast as the same title. In this specification, a program in which continuity and relevance are recognized is referred to as a series program.

  Conventionally, in order to record a series program, the user selects one of the setting categories of daily, weekly, and day of the week, and schedules recording by designating the same start time and end time as the selected program. However, this method broadcasts on various days of the week and time zones, such as series programs that are not broadcast every week, such as dramas broadcast during baseball broadcast times, or sports programs such as baseball and soccer. It was difficult to record the series programs to be recorded with high accuracy.

  On the other hand, for example, in Patent Document 1, a program recording reservation having a function of extracting a program having a broadcast content that is continuous with the broadcast content of a recorded or reserved recording program from program information scheduled to be broadcast and recording the program An apparatus is disclosed. In the reservation apparatus, the title, continuation flag, and series number in the program information are used to determine whether the program is continuous.

  For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a program recording apparatus that can suppress erroneous recording and omission of recording even when a series program broadcast irregularly is recorded. The recording device detects a program title name substantially identical to the recorded program from the electronic program guide information, and updates the recording reservation information using the broadcast date, broadcast start time, and broadcast end time of the program with the detected program title name To do.

JP-A-11-252494 JP 2008-271111 A

  When the program title registered by the user is compared with the title of each program in the program guide and the matching program is reserved as a series program as in the inventions disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, only a specific broadcast time When the title is changed, it is determined that the program is a different program, and it is highly possible that the program is not regarded as the same series program.

  Further, as in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to determine a series program using a continuous flag or a series number included in program information even from the actual operation status of an EPG. Some EPGs specify IDs (continuous program IDs) for identifying the same continuous program depending on the type, and search for the same continuous program ID when reserving weekly continuous programs. By doing so, the same program as the reserved program information can be searched from the latest EPG. However, in an actual EPG, a continuous program ID is often not used, and program search using the continuous program ID is not realistic.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to accurately search for a series program that is broadcast not only regularly but irregularly and has continuity or relevance to the content of the broadcast.

An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention uses, for a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast, a broadcast content that is continuous or related to the broadcast content of a reference program specified by a user operation using the first reference. A first determination means for determining whether or not a series program has, and a second program for a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week as a broadcast program determined to be a series program, and a second judging means for judging whether or not a program, a second determination means, the second and subsequent, same same day and broadcast program determined series program using the second reference A broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast in time is also determined using the second reference to determine whether it is a series program.

A program according to one aspect of the present invention is a broadcast content that is continuous or related to a broadcast content of a reference program designated by a user operation using a first reference for a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast to a computer. First determination processing for determining whether or not a series program has a second program for a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week as a broadcast program determined to be a series program, a second determination process for determining whether or not a series program, is executed, the second determination process, the second and subsequent, the same day and broadcast program determined series program using the second reference The broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast at the same time is also characterized in that it is determined whether or not it is a series program using the second reference.

The program search method according to one aspect of the present invention uses a first reference for a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast, and the broadcast content of the reference program designated by a user operation is continuous or related. A first determination step for determining whether or not a series program is included, and a series of broadcast programs scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week as a broadcast program determined to be a series program, using the second standard, and a second determination step for determining whether or not a program, the second determining step, the second and subsequent, same same day and broadcast program determined series program using the second reference A broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast in time is also determined using the second reference to determine whether it is a series program.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately search for a series program that is broadcast not only regularly but irregularly and has continuity or relevance to the content of the broadcast.

It is a hardware block diagram of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of an information processor concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the program search reservation process in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the program search process (1st determination process) in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the program search process (2nd determination process) in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the reservation condition update process in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the series program determination in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the series program determination in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the series program determination in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the series program determination in embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. Unless otherwise stated, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

  First, the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 1, a memory 2, a receiving device 3, a hard disk 4, an input device 5, and an output device 6. The CPU 1 controls the overall operation of the information processing apparatus according to the OS stored in the memory 2 and the program specific to the present embodiment, and searches and reserves series programs. The memory 2 has a storage area (ROM) for storing the OS and programs unique to the present embodiment, and a work storage area (RAM) used for various processes of the CPU 1. The receiving device 3 receives a television broadcast wave and acquires program guide data (EPG) from the broadcast wave. The hard disk 4 is an external storage device that holds various data, and has an area for holding a broadcast program information database 41 and a reservation information database 42. The input device 5 is a device for inputting operation information by a user. The output device 6 is a device that performs screen output of various data.

  The broadcast program information database 41 is a database that holds program guide data (EPG) of broadcast programs acquired by the receiving device 3. The program guide data (EPG) is accumulated in the broadcast program information database 41 every time it is acquired by the receiving device 3. The reservation information database 42 is a database that holds data related to recording reservations for broadcast programs and condition data (data corresponding to series reservation conditions described later) used for searching for series programs. This condition data may be set by default, or may be arbitrarily changed on the user side, and is updated each time search processing is performed. In the present embodiment, the broadcast program information database 41 and the reservation information database 42 are configured using the storage area of the hard disk 3, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is provided in the memory 2 (RAM). It may be.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is a functional unit for the CPU 1 to read a program unique to the present embodiment stored in the memory 2 and search for a series program, reserve a searched program, and manage reservation information. A certain control unit 10 is configured. The control unit 10 logically includes a series program determination unit 11, a reservation unit 12, and a reservation information management unit 13. It should be noted that each of these means can be realized by hardware by configuring it with a circuit.

  The series program determining means 11 uses the first reference for the broadcast program other than the reserved program (reference program) designated by the user (the broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast before and after the reference program). A first program for determining whether or not it is a series program, and a standard program using the second standard for a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week as a broadcast program determined to be a series program And a second determination for determining whether the program is a series program. The reservation means 12 makes a recording reservation for a broadcast program determined as a series program by the series program determination means 11. The reservation information management unit 13 updates the series program search condition in the reservation information database 32 based on the result of the series program determination by the series program determination unit 11.

  Next, operations performed by the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of program search and program reservation in the present embodiment. First, the series program determination means 12 reads and acquires a series reservation condition from the reservation information database 42 (step S10). The series reservation condition is a series for identifying a series program based on a judgment standard used in a series program judgment process (first judgment process and second judgment process described later) and a day of the week or a time zone of a recorded or scheduled recording program. Information associated using an ID.

  Next, a first determination process is performed using the acquired series reservation condition (step S20). In the first determination process, the series program is determined according to the flow shown in FIG. In other words, when the broadcast station, genre, and title of the broadcast program to be determined match the broadcast program to be determined (step S21 / YES, step S22 / YES, step S23 / YES), the broadcast to be determined The program is determined to be a series program of the determination standard broadcast program (step S24). If even one broadcasting station, genre, and title do not match (step S21 / NO, step S22 / NO, step S23 / NO), it is determined that the determination target broadcast program is not a series program of the determination reference broadcast program. (Step S25).

  And the series program determination means 11 extracts the broadcast program determined as the series program in the first determination process from the broadcast program information database 41 (step S30). These processes (first determination process (step S20) and broadcast program extraction process (step S30)) are performed for all time zones (step S40 / NO).

  Here, the broadcast program to be determined in the first determination process is a broadcast program in all time zones in the program table data (EPG) other than the broadcast program of the determination reference. If the judgment standard broadcast program is a program in the first time zone of the program guide data (EPG), the judgment target broadcast program is a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast after the judgment standard broadcast program. In addition, if the broadcast program of the criterion is a program in a time zone in the middle of the program guide data (EPG), the broadcast program to be determined is not only a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast after the broadcast program of the criterion, Broadcast programs scheduled to be broadcast before the broadcast program of the judgment standard are also included.

  After the first determination process (step S20) and the broadcast program extraction process (step S30) are performed for all time zones (step S40 / YES), the series program determination unit 11 is the same as the broadcast program determined to be a series program. A second determination process is performed for broadcast programs that are scheduled to be broadcast on the same day of the week and are not extracted as series programs (step S50 / YES, step S60).

  Note that the broadcast program determined as the series program described in step S50 includes not only the broadcast program determined as the series program in the first determination process but also the broadcast program determined as the series program in the second determination process. That is, the broadcast program to be determined in the second determination process is scheduled to be broadcast on the same day of the week as the broadcast program determined to be a series program in the first determination process performed immediately after the second determination process. Broadcast programs that are scheduled to be broadcast on the same day of the week as the broadcast programs that have been determined as series programs in the first determination process or the second determination process in the past, and that are not extracted as series programs It is a program.

  In the second determination process, the series program is determined according to the flow shown in FIG. That is, when the broadcast program to be determined is the same as the genre of the broadcast program to be determined and the first two characters of the title (step S61 / YES, step S62 / YES), the determination target broadcast program is determined as the determination criterion. The broadcast program is determined to be a series program (step S63). If even the first two characters of the genre and title do not match (step S61 / NO, step S62 / NO), it is determined that the broadcast program to be judged is not a series program of the judgment standard broadcast program (step S64). .

  The second determination process will be supplementarily described. In the description of the flow of FIG. 5 described above, the broadcast program to be determined in the second determination process is broadcast on the same broadcast station as the determination reference broadcast program based on the series program determination result of the first determination process. It is a scheduled broadcast program. For this reason, in the flow of FIG. 5, the broadcast station match determination is not performed, and only the match determination of the first two characters of the genre and title is performed. As a method other than the above process, the broadcast program to be determined in the second determination process is set as a broadcast program in all time slots in the program guide data (EPG), as in the first determination process, and these broadcast programs are Of course, it is possible to determine whether the first two characters of the broadcasting station, genre, and title match.

  And the series program determination means 11 extracts the broadcast program determined as the series program by the second determination process from the broadcast program information database 41 as in the case of the first determination process (step S70). These processes (second determination process (step S60) and broadcast program extraction process (step S70)) are performed for all broadcast days of the broadcast program determined to be a series program, the same day of the week as the broadcast time period, and all the time slots ( Step S80 / NO).

  Then, the reservation unit 12 performs the series program determination in all the time zones of the held broadcast program information, and makes a recording reservation for the broadcast program extracted as the series program (step S90). After the recording reservation is made, the reservation information management means 13 writes the broadcast program and broadcast date information in the reservation information database 42 in association with the series ID. The series ID here is different from the EPG continuous program ID described above, and is identification information given after recording reservation as a result of the series program determination. Further, since the series ID is included in the series reservation condition as described above, it is possible to search from the broadcast program reserved for recording with the series reservation condition used in the determination of the program.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, for the broadcast program in the program guide data, the first determination process for determining the series program using a stricter criterion and the series program determination using a more relaxed criterion. The two-stage series program determination of the second determination process to be performed is performed. By performing the first determination process for all time zones, the series program broadcast not only regularly but irregularly is supplemented. In addition, when the second determination process is performed on a broadcast program broadcast on the same day of the week as the broadcast program determined to be a series program, the title is changed only for a specific broadcast time. Is surely able to supplement the series program.

  The reason why the judgment criteria are relaxed in the second judgment processing is that there is a high possibility that a broadcast program broadcast on the same day of the week as a broadcast program judged as a series program based on a stricter standard is a series program. This is because the broadcast program on the same day of the week and the same time zone is surely supplemented as a series program. In addition, since the second determination process is performed in a chain for broadcast programs on the same day of the week and the same time zone as the broadcast program that has been determined as a series program, the second determination process is performed each time the series program determination is performed. The target area will be expanded, and the series program can be supplemented more reliably. In contrast to the series program determination process described above, a determination process based on a more relaxed standard may be used as the first determination process, and a determination process based on a more strict standard may be configured as the second determination process.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the reservation condition update process in the present embodiment. The contents of the series reservation conditions are updated each time the series program determination is performed as follows. First, the reservation information management means 13 reads the series reservation conditions from the reservation information database 42 (step S101). Next, the reservation information management means 13 extracts a series reservation condition having the same series ID as the recorded or reserved broadcast program (step S102). Subsequently, the reservation information management unit 13 adds information on the day of the week and the broadcast time of the broadcast program recorded or reserved for recording to the extracted series reservation condition (step S103). Then, the reservation information management means 13 writes the series reservation condition with the added information in the reservation information database 42 (step S104).

  A specific example of series program determination in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 shows a learning example of a range that may be determined according to determination criterion 2 (a more relaxed criterion). For example, it is assumed that “HERO # 1” broadcast from 3/5 (Thursday) 15: 00 to 15:30 is selected as a reference program of a series program and recording or recording reservation is performed. First, program determination (first determination process) is performed for all time zones according to determination criterion 1 (stricter criterion), and “HERO # 2” to “HERO # 10” are determined as series programs as determination results. A recording reservation is made.

  Then, the same day of the week and the same time zone as the broadcast program determined as the series program are added to the series reservation condition as a range that may be determined by the determination criterion 2. Thereafter, for a broadcast program broadcast on a day of the week and a time zone added as a range that may be determined by the determination criterion 2, the determination program 2 (second determination process) is performed by applying the determination criterion 2. The range that may be determined according to the determination criterion 2 is expanded every time the series program determination is performed because the day of the week and the time period determined as the series program in the first determination process and the second determination process are added. .

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which a series program determination is performed on a weekly broadcast program, and shows a case where program names are different. For example, suppose that “Gutan Nouveau” broadcast from 3/11 (Wednesday) 23: 00 to 23:30 is selected as the standard program of the series program and recording or recording reservation is performed. First, the program determination (first determination process) based on the determination criterion 1 is performed for all time zones. However, since the determination criterion 1 is not satisfied, it is not determined as a series program in the first determination process. Next, for the broadcast program “Gutan” on the same day of the week as the reference program, program determination (second determination processing) is performed based on the determination criterion 2, and it is determined that the program is a series program and recording reservation is performed. .

  FIG. 9 shows an example in which a series program determination is performed on a program that is broadcast every day, and shows a case where programs having the same program name and different programs are mixed. For example, it is assumed that “Gekigenyo” broadcast from 3/16 (Monday) 13: 00 to 13:30 is selected as the standard program of the series program and recording or recording reservation is performed. First, program determination (first determination processing) is performed for all time zones according to the determination criterion 1. As a determination result, 3/17 (Tue) to 3/19 (Thu), 3/25 (Wed), 3/26 (Thu) “Gekigenyo” is determined to be a series program, and a recording reservation is made. Then, 13:00 to 13:30 from Tuesday to Thursday is added to the target range of the second determination process. This target range includes Mondays when the reference program is broadcast. Subsequently, the program determination (second determination process) according to the determination criterion 2 is performed on the broadcast program “Gokugen” broadcast from 13:00 to 13:30 on Monday and Tuesday. It is judged and a recording reservation is made.

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which a series program determination is performed on a program broadcast in various time zones. For example, it is assumed that “Brandy # 16” broadcast from 3/5 (Thu) 6:30 to 6:55 is selected as the standard program of the series program and recording or recording reservation is performed. First, program determination (first determination process) is performed for all time zones based on the determination criterion 1. As determination results, “brandy # 10”, “brandy # 2”, “brandy # 3”, “brandy # 1”, “Brandy # 11”, “Brandy # 4”, “Brandy # 5”, “Brandy # 24”, “Brandy # 25” are determined to be series programs, and a recording reservation is made. Then, the same day of the week and the same time zone as the broadcast program determined as the series program are added to the series reservation condition as a range that may be determined by the determination criterion 2.

  According to the present embodiment described above, a series program determination is first performed by applying a more strict determination criterion, and a broadcast program broadcast on the same day of the week and a same time period on which the broadcast program determined to be a series program is broadcast. On the other hand, since the series program determination is performed by applying a more relaxed determination criterion, it is possible to improve the supplementary accuracy of the series program while dealing with the appearance of a random series program.

  For example, if the broadcast time is off by 1 hour from 30 minutes and the title is changed (mostly in animation etc.), the overall organization has not changed, but the title of the target program and the broadcast time zone have changed. It is possible to increase the accuracy of determining whether the entire organization has changed, such as a special program at the time of program organization change.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment alone, and various modifications are made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Implementation is possible. That is, the present invention can be applied to a mobile phone, a PDA, etc. in addition to a PC as an information processing apparatus.

  In addition, the program executed by the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment has a module configuration including the above-described units (series program determination unit 11, reservation unit 12, reservation information management unit 13). Specific means are realized using hardware. That is, when the computer (CPU) reads a program from a predetermined recording medium and executes it, the above-mentioned means are loaded onto the main storage device and generated. Further, the means corresponding to each of the above parts can be realized by hardware by configuring the means with a circuit.

  The program executed by the information processing apparatus in the present embodiment may be configured to be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. Further, the program may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The program is a file in an installable or executable format, such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD, nonvolatile memory card, or the like. It may be configured to be provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Further, the program may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium or loaded and executed through the communication line realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments. And the recording medium which recorded the program code comprises this invention.

1 CPU
2 Memory 3 Receiving Device 4 Hard Disk 5 Input Device 6 Output Device 10 Control Unit 11 Series Program Determination Unit 12 Reservation Unit 13 Reservation Information Management Unit 41 Broadcast Program Information Database 42 Reservation Information Database

Claims (8)

For a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast, it is determined whether or not it is a series program having a broadcast content that is continuous or related to the broadcast content of the reference program designated by the user operation using the first reference. First determination means;
To the broadcast programs to be broadcast in the series program determined as said broadcast programs in the same time of the same day, using the second reference, a second judging means for judging whether or not the series program Have
From the second time onward, the second determination means also applies the second reference to a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week as the broadcast program determined to be the series program using the second reference. And determining whether the program is a series program . The second determination means determines whether the program is a series program using the second reference for a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week as the reference program. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a determination criterion for determining whether the second criterion is the series program is more relaxed than the first criterion. 4. The first reference is a coincidence of the title information and genre information included in the broadcast program information, the second criterion, according to claim 3, characterized in that the agreement part and genre information of the title information Information processing device. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a determination criterion for determining whether the first criterion is the series program is more relaxed than the second criterion. According to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises a reservation unit for performing recording reservation of the first judging means and broadcast program determines that the series program in the second judging means Information processing device. On the computer,
For a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast, it is determined whether or not it is a series program having a broadcast content that is continuous or related to the broadcast content of the reference program designated by the user operation using the first reference. A first determination process;
To the broadcast programs to be broadcast in the series program determined as said broadcast programs in the same time of the same day, using the second reference, a second determination process for determining whether or not it is the series program , Execute
In the second determination process, the second reference is also applied to a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week as the broadcast program determined to be the series program using the second reference. To determine whether the program is the series program . For a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast, it is determined whether or not it is a series program having a broadcast content that is continuous or related to the broadcast content of the reference program designated by the user operation using the first reference. A first determination step;
To the broadcast programs to be broadcast in the series program determined as said broadcast programs in the same time of the same day, using the second reference, a second determination step for determining whether or not it is the series program Have
In the second determination step, the second reference is also applied to a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week as the broadcast program determined to be the series program using the second reference after the second time. And determining whether or not the program is a series program .

Images