JP5409071B2 - Transmission device, reception device, and transmission / reception system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transmission device, a reception device, and a transmission / reception system. In particular, the present invention relates to a transmission device that provides a multi-channel broadcast service, a reception device that receives the broadcast, and a transmission / reception system including these transmission device and reception device.

  Currently, various broadcasting services such as terrestrial digital television broadcasting and one-segment partial reception service (so-called one-segment broadcasting) for mobile phones and mobile terminals are provided by various companies. In particular, recently, with services such as One-Seg broadcasting, not only watching broadcasting using a stationary television receiver, but also watching broadcasting easily using a small mobile terminal such as a mobile phone Be able to. Hereinafter, “broadcast service” or “broadcast” means a broadcast such as a program by a general television broadcast including video and audio. It is also possible to include broadcasts with only audio such as radio broadcasts.

  As such broadcasting services become widespread, the contents (programs) provided by each broadcasting service have also been enhanced. In the future, the number of programs provided will increase as a result of the development of not only the key stations that provide broadcasts across the country, but also local stations (local stations) that distribute regional broadcasts and their affiliated stations. Expected to do.

  However, the richer the attractive programs, the higher the probability that these multiple attractive programs will be broadcast in the same time zone. In this way, when two programs to be viewed are broadcasted at the same time, for example, one program is recorded on the media and then played back and viewed, and the other program is viewed by the viewer in real time. A method of viewing is conceivable.

  In addition, as another method of viewing two programs in the same time zone, for example, when the viewer thinks that the program is not as important as recording, the two channels on which each program is broadcast are frequently switched alternately. Thus, there is a method of viewing two programs in parallel. Such a viewing mode is known as channel flipping, and is a viewing method that has been generally performed in conventional television broadcasting and the like. In general, a mode in which a plurality of (especially three or more) channels are viewed while being frequently switched is called channel zapping (also referred to as channel surfing). Such viewing is also generally performed for a long time in normal television broadcasting and the like.

  However, by performing channel zapping and channel flipping in this way, when trying to view a program based on terrestrial digital television broadcasting such as one-segment broadcasting, it is not possible to switch channels as fast as the viewer desires. Can not.

  That is, in terrestrial digital television broadcasting, since it takes some time to decode data based on the radio wave after the receiving device receives the radio wave, there is a situation that it takes time to switch channels. Therefore, in a receiving apparatus that receives one-segment broadcasting, it takes a maximum of several seconds from when the viewer performs a channel switching operation until the video of the channel after the actual switching is displayed. For this reason, it is practically very difficult to perform channel zapping or channel flipping using such a receiving apparatus, or the viewer feels significant stress.

  MediaFLO (registered trademark) is being commercialized as a multimedia distribution platform for mobile phones that can cope with such circumstances. MediaFLO is a service that simultaneously realizes multi-channel broadcasting in a single frequency band. Since it is a technology suitable for a mobile environment, it has recently attracted attention as a multi-channel broadcasting service that distributes video, music, etc. to receiving terminals such as mobile terminals. The basic features of MediaFLO will be described below.

  The air interface of MediaFLO is called FLO (Forward Link Only), and OFDM is adopted in the physical layer of FLO. As an example, the specification of MediaFLO in the United States that currently provides commercial services will be described. As shown in FIG. 13, FLO uses a bandwidth of 6 MHz, and the number of subcarriers is 4096. Of these 4096 subcarriers, the actual subcarriers used are 4000 excluding 96 guard subcarriers. MediaFLO divides 4000 subcarriers into groups called 8 interlaces. Each interlace is composed of 500 subcarriers selected every 8 out of 4000 subcarriers. Since one interlace is used as a pilot symbol, the remaining seven interlaces are used for data transmission. In MediaFLO, a service (video, audio, caption, etc.) is assigned to a frequency band with one interlace as the minimum unit.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of service allocation to interlace. The vertical axis interlace represents division on the frequency axis, and the horizontal axis represents division on the time axis. Each service of MediaFLO is carried on a logical channel called MLC (Multicast Logical Channel). An MLC is composed of one or more interlaces and one or more OFDM symbols. The ranges surrounded by thick lines in FIG. 14 represent different MLCs, and data such as video, audio, and subtitles is stored (arranged) in each MLC. Further, for example, in order to view a service composed only of MLC indicated by hatching in FIG. 14, it is only necessary to decode (intermittent reception) only the interlace and OFDM symbol constituting the MLC.

  In this way, MediaFLO assigns services in which the time domain and frequency domain are finely divided. By selectively decoding only the necessary MLC (intermittent reception), the receiving unit of the broadcast receiving terminal can be saved. Electricity can be achieved. In MediaFLO, all interlaces can be received by a single tuner, so it is possible to simultaneously decode a large number of MLCs and simultaneously view a plurality of services such as multi-channel content. That is, even when data of a plurality of channels are received simultaneously, it can be received by one tuner.

  MediaFLO can also broadcast different area type programs such as wide area transmission and local area transmission. For this reason, MediaFLO uses a single frequency band for the time to broadcast content for “Wide Area” corresponding to wide area broadcasting and content for “Local Area” corresponding to regional broadcasting. It has a signal area separated on the axis. A wide area broadcast in which all information in a program is the same in a plurality of areas transmits a broadcast signal in the wide area. On the other hand, a regional broadcast in which content information is not the same in a plurality of regions transmits a broadcast signal in the region of the local area.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a simplified structure of a frame used for MediaFLO. A frame used in MediaFLO is composed of a frame called a superframe having a period of 1 second. As shown in FIG. 15, one superframe includes four time-divided frames. In one superframe, each frame has the same program arrangement. The arrangement of such programs can be changed on the transmission device (broadcast station) side. Each frame is further divided in time into content data for a wide area (wide area data) and content data for a local area (local area data). The boundary between the wide area data and the local area data can be set freely.

  An area called OIS (Overhead Information Symbol) is prepared to indicate what information is arranged in each of the wide area data and the local area data. This OIS is also divided into a wide area and a local area in terms of time. When playing back content using the receiving device, by referring to the OIS of the received superframe, select only the ones required for playback from among the four MLCs of the next received superframe. Therefore, it can be received at the same timing. Further, since the receiving apparatus performs the program receiving process based on the result of analyzing the OIS channel, the user of the receiving apparatus who views the program does not need to perform any special operation.

  As described above, MediaFLO can receive and play any one or a plurality of contents among the contents for the wide area and the contents for the local area using the receiving device. In addition, a MediaFLO transmission apparatus (broadcast station) that broadcasts such content can perform wide-area broadcasting and regional broadcasting in multiple channels in a single frequency band.

  As described above, in broadcasting by MediaFLO, a plurality of programs are transmitted in a time-sharing manner from a transmission device (broadcast station). Since the receiving device can simultaneously receive a plurality of programs transmitted from the transmitting device (broadcast station), it simply receives a plurality of programs at a time, and then performs a process of switching the display thereafter. Thus, the program can be switched instantly. Therefore, since the program can be switched instantaneously when the channel is switched, operations such as the above-described channel zapping and channel flipping can be performed without causing the viewer to feel stress.

Patent publication 2008-536361

MediaFLO website (http://www.mediaflo-info.com/index.html)

  As described above, in MediaFLO, when a program such as a television broadcast is broadcast, a transmission apparatus (broadcast station) arranges and transmits data constituting the program in MLC. The receiving device that receives such data receives only the MLC in which the data of the program to be viewed is arranged among the MLCs arranged in each frame. The selective reception of MLC in the MediaFLO receiving apparatus in this case will be further described below.

  FIG. 16 is a conceptual diagram illustrating timings at which the receiving circuit is turned on / off when the MediaFLO receiving apparatus receives the MLC. Actually, when data such as a program is arranged in the MediaFLO MLC, it can be arranged in a two-dimensional manner as shown in FIG. However, in the present application, for simplification of explanation, as shown in FIG. 16, the data arranged in the MLC is described as a one-dimensional arrangement in the horizontal direction (time axis direction). In FIG. 16, data of a program to be viewed (viewed program) is arranged between data of programs that are not viewed. Note that the program arrangement shown in FIG. 16 represents a partial arrangement in the wide area data or the local area data of each of the four frames constituting the superframe shown in FIG. Therefore, the “viewing program” shown in FIG. 16 forms a fragmentary part of the data constituting the program that is actually played back. In addition, since MLC arranged at a place of a program that is not viewed is not received (the reception circuit is turned off), power consumption can be reduced as compared with a state where the reception circuit is kept on all the time.

  When the transmitting device receives the MLC of the “viewing program” portion shown in FIG. 16, a VC-TCXO (crystal oscillator with voltage-controlled temperature compensation circuit), PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) circuit, A / D ( It is necessary to operate each receiving circuit such as an analog / digital converter. These receiving circuits require a little time from the moment when the current flowing in the circuit is turned on until the operation of the circuit is stabilized.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, when receiving the MLC of the “viewing program” portion from time t1 to time t2 on the axis indicating the passage of time, the receiving circuit is turned on at time t1. Instead, it must be turned on at time t0, which is a little before actually starting reception. As described above, in order for the receiving circuit to perform a stable receiving operation, a set-up time of several tens of microseconds is usually provided. The timing for starting such reception can be determined by grasping the arrangement of the MLC with reference to the OIS of the superframe described above. In addition, setting up a setup time for such reception is not a situation specific to MediaFLO. Generally, when receiving data mapped in a time division manner, such reception is performed.

  As described above, since a plurality of programs are arranged at the same frequency in MediaFLO, channel zapping and channel flipping can be performed quickly by receiving a plurality of MLCs at the receiving apparatus. In order to cope with a quick channel switching operation, for example, when performing channel flipping, two programs to be flipped are simultaneously received. The situation at that time will be further described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 17 is a conceptual diagram illustrating timings for turning on / off a receiving circuit when a MediaFLO receiving apparatus receives a plurality of MLCs. Normally, each of the four frames constituting the MediaFLO superframe is transmitted including all programs that can be received by the receiving apparatus. Therefore, when two programs are received simultaneously when performing channel flipping, for example, as shown in FIG. 17, MLCs of both the viewing program 1 and the viewing program 2 are received.

  However, as described above, in practice, it is necessary to provide a setup time for each MLC of a program to be received. Therefore, power for the setup time is consumed even at a location where reception is not performed. That is, in order to receive the MLC of the “viewing program 1” portion from time t1 to time t2 in FIG. 17, it must be turned on at time t0 just before actually starting reception. Similarly, in order to receive the MLC of the “viewing program 2” portion from time t4 to time t5 in FIG. 17, it must be turned on at time t3 a little before actually starting reception.

  For this reason, the receiving circuit must be turned on during the period from time t0 to t1 and time t3 to t4 in FIG. I don't get it. In this way, the power consumed in the setup time does not result in a large power consumption if the number of times is small, but in actual viewing, such a setup time is repeated extremely many times. Further, the above-described power consumption is taken into consideration for one receiving device, and actually, there are an extremely large number of receiving devices that receive broadcasts transmitted from one transmitting device (broadcast station). Since each of these receiving devices consumes the power described above, it can be said that a considerable amount of power is consumed overall. If power consumption that is not actually used for reception can be reduced simultaneously by a large number of receiving apparatuses, it can be expected that a considerable power saving will be achieved as a whole.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention made in view of such circumstances is a transmission apparatus, a reception apparatus, and a transmission / reception capable of saving power consumption when channel flipping is performed in a broadcast mode for receiving a plurality of programs transmitted by time division. To provide a system.

The invention of the receiving apparatus according to claim 1 that achieves the above object is as follows:
A receiving unit capable of receiving a plurality of programs transmitted by time division from a transmitting device;
A transmitter capable of communicating with the transmitter;
When two programs out of the plurality of programs are alternately selected a predetermined number of times so that the programs being flipped are arranged adjacent to each other on the time axis and transmitted by the transmitter , the two programs are being flipped. A control unit that controls the transmission unit to transmit information indicating that the transmission unit is transmitted to the transmission device;
Is provided.

The invention of the transmitter according to claim 2 that achieves the above object is as follows:
A transmission unit that transmits a plurality of programs to the receiving device in a time-sharing manner;
A receiving unit that receives information indicating a program being flipped, transmitted from the receiving device;
Based on the information indicating the program being flipped received by the receiver, among the multiple programs transmitted by the transmitter, the program being flipped is arranged and transmitted so as to be adjacent on the time axis A control unit for controlling the transmission unit;
Is provided.

The invention of the transmission device according to claim 3
A transmitter that transmits a plurality of programs to a plurality of receiving devices in a time-sharing manner;
A receiving unit for receiving information indicating a program being flipped, transmitted from the plurality of receiving devices;
Based on the information indicating the program being flipped received by the receiving unit, among the multiple programs transmitted by the transmitting unit, the program that is the most by the receiving device among the plurality of receiving devices is given priority. A control unit for controlling the transmission unit to arrange and transmit so as to be adjacent on the time axis; and
Is provided.

Furthermore, the invention of the transmission / reception system according to claim 4 that achieves the above object is as follows:
A transmission device for transmitting a plurality of programs by time division;
A receiving device for receiving a plurality of programs transmitted from the transmitting device;
In a transmission / reception system including
When two of the plurality of programs are alternately selected a predetermined number of times, the receiving device transmits information indicating that the two programs are being flipped to the transmitting device,
Based on the information indicating the program being flipped transmitted from the receiver, the transmitter is configured so that the program being flipped is adjacent on the time axis among a plurality of programs to be transmitted to the receiver. It arrange | positions and transmits, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

The invention of the transmission / reception system according to claim 5 is:
A transmission device that transmits a plurality of programs to a plurality of reception devices in a time-sharing manner;
A plurality of receiving devices for receiving a plurality of programs transmitted from the transmitting device;
In a transmission / reception system including
Each of the plurality of receiving devices transmits information indicating that the two programs are being flipped to the transmitting device when two of the plurality of programs are alternately selected a predetermined number of times.
The transmission device receives the largest number of receptions in the plurality of reception devices among the plurality of programs to be transmitted to the plurality of reception devices based on the information indicating the program being flipped transmitted from the plurality of reception devices. The apparatus is characterized in that the program being flipped is preferentially arranged so as to be adjacent on the time axis and transmitted.

  According to the present invention, the transmission device (broadcast station) receives information on the channel on which the flipping is performed from the reception device, so that the programs on the two channels on which the flipping is performed on the reception device are temporally transmitted. The probability of arranging adjacently can be increased. In this way, it is possible to reduce the number of times the setup time occurs in each receiving apparatus. Therefore, the viewer who watches the program can reduce the power consumption of many receiving apparatuses without performing any operation or procedure. Considering the power consumption of a large number of receiving apparatuses that receive broadcasts as a whole, it can be expected to save considerable energy.

It is the schematic which shows the whole structure containing the transmission / reception system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the receiver which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the transmitter which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram explaining the timing which turns on / off a receiving circuit when a receiving apparatus receives MLC about the example which arranged the program according to this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the flipping information generation process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the flipping information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the flipping information transmission process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the flipping list production | generation process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the flipping list which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the program arrangement | positioning process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram explaining the arrangement | positioning of the program in the state before performing the program arrangement | positioning process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram explaining the arrangement | positioning of the program in the state after performing the program arrangement | positioning process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the subcarrier of OFDM. It is a figure which shows the example of allocation of the service with respect to an interlace. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the flame | frame (super frame) used for MediaFLO. It is a conceptual diagram explaining the timing which turns on / off a receiving circuit when the receiving apparatus of MediaFLO receives MLC. It is a conceptual diagram explaining the timing which turns on / off a receiving circuit, when the receiving apparatus of MediaFLO receives several MLC.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, as an embodiment of the present invention, a transmitter (broadcast station) compatible with MediaFLO, a receiver compatible with MediaFLO, and a transmission / reception system including these transmitter and receiver are assumed. explain. However, the transmission / reception system to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to MediaFLO, and in general, it can be applied to any broadcasting format as long as it is between devices that transmit / receive data obtained by mapping a plurality of program data in a time division manner. Can do.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an entire broadcasting system including a transmission / reception system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the transmission / reception system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a reception device 10 and a transmission device 30 functioning as a broadcasting station as its minimum configuration. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, the transmission device 30 will be described as constituting a MediaFLO broadcasting station.

  The transmission device 30 broadcasts (transmits) a MediaFLO program (content) to the reception device 10 via the MediaFLO network. The transmission device 30 is connected to a program provider (content provider) 200 via the network 100. The program provider 200 provides various programs (contents) to the transmission device 30. The transmission device 30 is also connected to the mobile phone carrier 300 via the network 100 as an element that complements communication with the reception device 10.

  The mobile phone carrier 300 is a business operator that provides a mobile phone communication service. Here, a mobile phone base station related to a communication service provided by the business operator will be particularly described. Accordingly, the cellular phone carrier 300 can communicate various data such as voice call data and control data with the receiving device 10 via the cellular phone network.

  When the transmission device 30 transmits a MediaFLO program to the reception device 10, information constituting this program is usually encrypted. Accordingly, the receiving apparatus 10 performs processing related to viewing of a program after decryption using a specific key code. At this time, the receiving apparatus 10 acquires a key code for decrypting from the mobile phone carrier 300 via the mobile phone network. In addition, the transmitting device 30 that is a MediaFLO broadcasting station and the mobile phone carrier 300 transmit and receive various information in addition to key code information for decryption via the network 100.

  Next, the receiving apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be further described.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the receiving apparatus 10 shown in FIG. The receiving apparatus 10 is compatible with two wireless communication systems, that is, reception of MediaFLO broadcast and wireless communication using a mobile phone function. As shown in FIG. 2, the receiving device 10 includes a control unit 12, a MediaFLO reception antenna 14, a MediaFLO reception unit 16, a video / audio decoder 18, a video / audio output unit 20, a wireless communication antenna 22, A cellular phone network transmission / reception unit 24 and a storage unit 26 are provided.

  The control unit 12 performs various controls of the entire receiving device 10 including each functional block of the receiving device 10. In particular, in the present embodiment, the control unit 12 also performs processing of flipping information and control to turn on / off the reception circuit of the MediaFLO reception unit 16. The flipping information according to the present invention will be described later.

  The MediaFLO reception antenna 14 receives MediaFLO radio waves transmitted from the transmission device 30. The MediaFLO receiving unit 16 performs various processes on the received signal received by the MediaFLO receiving antenna 14. Therefore, in the present embodiment, MediaFLO receiving unit 16 constitutes a receiving unit of the receiving device. The video / audio decoder 18 decodes the reception signal processed by the MediaFLO reception unit 16. The video / audio output unit 20 outputs the program information decoded by the video / audio decoder 18 in a format that can be recognized by the viewer (user). For example, the video / audio output unit 20 is assumed to be a display unit such as a display that outputs video and an audio output unit such as a speaker that outputs audio.

  The wireless communication antenna 22 transmits various data from the mobile phone network transmission / reception unit 24 to the mobile phone carrier 300 (mobile phone base station), and receives various data from the mobile phone carrier 300. The cellular phone network transmission / reception unit 24 transmits / receives information to / from the cellular phone carrier 300 via the wireless communication antenna 22. In particular, in the present embodiment, the cellular phone network transmission / reception unit 24 transmits flipping information to the cellular phone carrier 300. As shown in FIG. 1, the information transmitted to the mobile phone carrier 300 can be transmitted to the transmission device 30 via the network 100. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the mobile phone network transmission / reception unit 24 constitutes a transmission unit of the reception device, and this reception unit can communicate with the transmission device 30. The storage unit 26 stores flipping information, timing information for turning on / off the receiving circuit, and the like.

  Next, the transmission device 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be further described.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the transmission device 30 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the transmission device 30 is connected to the network 100. The transmission device 30 can also be connected to the program provider 200 and the mobile phone carrier 300 via the network 100. With this connection, the transmission device 30 can acquire information on the broadcast program from the program supplier 200 and can acquire flipping information from the plurality of reception devices 10 from the mobile phone carrier 300.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the transmission device 30 includes a control unit 32, a network transmission / reception unit 34, a MediaFLO transmission unit 36, a MediaFLO transmission antenna 38, and a storage unit 40.

  The control unit 32 performs various controls of the entire transmission device 30 including each functional block of the transmission device 30. In particular, in the present embodiment, the control unit 32 performs processing such as mapping of a broadcast program, scheduling of each channel, encoding, and modulation processing. In the present embodiment, the control unit 32 generates the flipping list by processing the flipping information of the plurality of receiving apparatuses 10 received from the mobile phone carrier 300, and arranges the program to be broadcast on the channel based on the flipping list. Perform the process. Details of these processes will be described later.

  The network transmission / reception unit 34 transmits / receives information to / from the program provider 200 and the mobile phone carrier 300 via the network 100 as described above. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the network transmission / reception unit 34 constitutes a reception unit of the transmission device. The MediaFLO transmission unit 36 broadcasts (transmits) a MediaFLO program (a signal based on the MediaFLO specification) to the plurality of receiving apparatuses 10 via the MediaFLO transmission antenna 38. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the MediaFLO transmission unit 36 constitutes a transmission unit of the transmission device. The storage unit 40 holds various data exchanged by the transmission device 30. In particular, in the present embodiment, the storage unit 40 holds a flipping list. This flipping list will be described later.

  Next, program arrangement performed in the program arrangement processing by the transmission apparatus 30 according to the present invention will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the program arrangement performed in the conventional MediaFLO broadcasting station is not particularly arranged in consideration of channel flipping. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the programs of the two channels to be flipped are arranged at locations separated on the time axis. In such a case, the setup time is generated twice and the power of the receiving circuit is consumed accordingly. This is as described above.

  On the other hand, the transmission device 30 of the present invention arranges the programs of channels in which flipping has occurred in many reception devices 10 so as to be adjacent on the time axis in each frame constituting the super frame described above. After that, send it. By this process, the programs of two channels to be subjected to channel flipping are arranged adjacent to each other on the time axis as much as possible to reduce the number of times that the setup time described above occurs.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the timing for turning on / off the receiving circuit when the receiving device 10 receives MLC in the example in which the transmitting device 30 arranges programs according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the program arrangement processing performed by the transmission apparatus 30 according to the present invention arranges programs on channels in which flipping has occurred in many reception apparatuses 10 so as to be adjacent on the time axis. In the example of FIG. 4, since there are many receiving apparatuses 10 that perform flipping between channels that broadcast viewing program 1 and viewing program 2, viewing apparatus 1 and viewing program 2 (FIG. 17) is shown adjacently arranged on the time axis.

  In this way, the number of times the setup time is generated can be reduced by performing the process of arranging the program of the channel in which the flipping occurs adjacently. That is, for example, in the arrangement of the program shown in FIG. 17, since the viewing program 1 and the viewing program 2 are spaced apart, the setup time occurs twice (period from time t0 to t1 and from time t3 to t4). Was. However, in the program arrangement shown in FIG. 4, since the viewing program 1 and the viewing program 2 are arranged adjacent to each other, it can be seen that the setup time occurs only once (only during the period from time t0 to t1). With such a program arrangement, the receiving device 10 that has received the broadcast simply turns on the receiving circuit at the beginning of the setup time (time t0), and thereafter, the viewing program 1 and the viewing program 2 are collected together until the time t3. Can be received. Therefore, since the second setup time can be omitted, the power consumption can be saved.

  Next, the flipping information generation process by the receiving apparatus 10 according to the present invention will be described. This process is a process for generating information for notifying the transmitting apparatus 30 of the channel on which the flipping has been performed when the receiving apparatus 10 performs the channel flipping.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining flipping information generation processing performed in the receiving apparatus 10 according to the present invention. When this process starts, first, the control unit 12 of the receiving device 10 initializes each variable (step S11). The variables used in this process are tmp indicating the number of flipping, curr indicating the current channel number, old1 indicating the previous channel number, old2 indicating the previous channel number, and the number of times to determine the flipping operation. TH, etc. The “current channel number” means the number of the channel currently being reproduced by the video / audio output unit 20 by the user's operation, that is, the number of the currently selected channel. Also, “the previous channel number” means the number of the channel that was selected before the channel number that is currently being played is selected. The “second channel number” means the channel number selected before the previous channel number is selected.

  In step S11, initial values appropriate for subsequent processing are set in these variables. In particular, the curr, old1, and old2 values are different from the actual channel numbers in the initial value stage, and are set to channel numbers that do not overlap each other. Allows setting of number values. Further, in this example, assuming that the user has first started viewing the broadcast (that is, a state where flipping has not been performed yet), tmp indicating the number of flipping is set to 0. Further, the number of times TH determined to be the flipping operation is set to 2 here as an example. That is, if the operation of switching between channels alternately is performed twice, it is determined that channel flipping has occurred.

  When the initialization of each variable is completed in step S11, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the channel that is being reproduced is switched in the video / audio output unit 20 (step S12). That is, in step S12, it is determined whether the channel currently being reproduced has been changed to another channel by the user's operation.

  When the channel is switched in step S12, the control unit 12 updates various variables (step S13). Specifically, the value of the current channel that is being played after the channel is switched is set to curr, the value that was originally curr is set to old1, and the value that was originally old1 is set to old2. To do.

  When the variable is updated in step S13, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the value (curr) indicating the current channel is equal to the value (old2) indicating the previous channel (step S14). That is, in this step, it is determined whether or not the user has switched the channel being played back to another channel and then returned to the original channel.

  If it is determined in step S14 that the value (curr) indicating the current channel is not equal to the value (old2) indicating the previous channel, the control unit 12 sets the value of the number of flips tmp to 0. (Step S15), the process returns to Step S12. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S14 that the value (curr) indicating the current channel is equal to the value (old2) indicating the previous channel, it is determined that the flipping has occurred, and the control unit 12 determines the number of flipping tmp. Is incremented (step S16).

  When the value of tmp is incremented in step S16, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the value of the number of flipping tmp exceeds the number of times TH for determining the flipping operation (step S17). That is, it is determined whether or not it is determined that the flipping operation is performed (that is, the flipping is being performed) when the number of occurrences of the flipping exceeds a predetermined number. When the value of the flipping count tmp does not exceed the count TH for determining the flipping operation in step S17, the control unit 12 returns to step S12 and continues the processing. On the other hand, when the value of the number of flipping tmp exceeds the number of times TH determined to be the flipping operation in step S17, the control unit 12 updates the flipping information (step S18). Further, in step S18, the control unit 12 controls the MediaFLO receiving unit 16 to simultaneously receive the programs of the two channels for which the flipping operation is performed.

  The flipping information updated in step S18 refers to the flipping operation (that is, during the flipping) when the receiving apparatus 10 exceeds a predetermined number of times, and regards the time when the flipping operation has occurred and the flipping operation. This is information that summarizes the channel numbers and the like related to.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of flipping information. In step S18 described above, the control unit 12 temporarily stores the “receiving device ID”, “flipping information generation time”, “flipping channel number”, and the like in the storage unit 26 as flipping information. Here, the receiving device ID is a unique identification number that can identify the receiving device 10 as an individual. The flipping channel number is the number of two channels where flipping has occurred a predetermined number of times or more, and is information indicating that two programs out of a plurality of programs are programs being flipped.

  Next, the flipping information transmission process by the receiving apparatus 10 according to the present invention will be described. This process is a process of transmitting the flipping information generated by the above-described flipping information generation process to the transmission device 30.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining flipping information transmission processing performed in the receiving apparatus 10 according to the present invention. When this process starts, first, the control unit 12 of the receiving apparatus 10 determines whether or not the current time is the transmission time of flipping information (step S21). That is, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the current time is a timing at which the flipping information should be transmitted to the transmission device 30 based on a notification from a built-in clock or counter. The transmission time of the flipping information can be set at a timing set in advance in the receiving apparatus 10 or set based on information transmitted from the transmitting apparatus 30 as a timing when transmission of the flipping information is requested. You can also.

  In step S21, the control unit 12 waits until the current time becomes the transmission time of the flipping information. When the current time becomes the transmission time of the flipping information, the control unit 12 reads the latest flipping information from the storage unit 26 and transmits it. (Step S22). In this embodiment, when transmitting the flipping information in step S22, the control unit 12 controls the mobile phone network transmitting / receiving unit 24 so as to transmit the flipping information via the mobile phone network. Further, in the present embodiment, when transmitting the flipping information from the receiving device 10 to the transmitting device 30, first, the flipping information is transmitted to the mobile phone carrier 300 via the mobile phone network, and then transmitted to the transmitting device 30 via the network 100. Sent to.

  Through the above processing, the receiving apparatus 10 monitors the channel flipping status by the user's operation, and updates the flipping information when it is determined that the flipping operation has been performed exceeding the predetermined number of times. The flipping information updated as needed in this way is transmitted to the transmission device 30 at a predetermined timing.

  Next, a flipping list generation process by the transmission device 30 according to the present invention will be described. This process is a process in which the transmission device 30 receives the flipping information transmitted by a large number of reception devices 10 and generates a flipping list for arranging programs based on the flipping information.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining flipping list generation processing performed in the transmission device 30 according to the present invention. When this process is started, first, the control unit 32 of the transmission device 30 deletes information on the reception device that has already been aged (step S31). The processing in this step S31 is for deleting information that has passed over a predetermined time when information based on the flipping information already transmitted from the receiving device is stored in the storage unit 40 of the transmitting device 30. This is a measure. This processing is performed in order to remove information on a receiving apparatus that is not considered to be involved in the flipping operation when the transmitting apparatus 30 generates a flipping list.

  For example, of the information included in the above-described flipping information, it is conceivable to delete information on a receiving device that has already been stored in the storage unit 40 and has passed a predetermined time based on the item “Flipping information generation time”. In addition, based on the “flipping information generation time” and the current time and the items of “flipping channel number”, the program broadcast at the time of “flipping information generation time” has already ended. It is also possible to delete the flipping information that becomes.

  Next, the control unit 32 of the transmission device 30 determines whether the network transmission / reception unit 34 has received the flipping information transmitted from the reception device (step S32). In the present embodiment, as described above, the flipping information transmitted from the receiving device is first transmitted to the mobile phone carrier 300 via the mobile phone network. Therefore, the network transmission / reception unit 34 of the transmission device 30 receives the flipping information from the mobile phone carrier 300 via the network 100.

  When the flipping information is received in step S32, the control unit 32 determines whether or not the information of the receiving device that has transmitted the received flipping information is information registered in the transmitting device 30 (step S33). That is, by referring to the receiving device ID included in the received flipping information, it is determined whether or not the receiving device ID is already registered in the transmitting device 30.

  In step S33, when the information of the receiving device that has transmitted the flipping information is already registered in the transmitting device 30, the flipping information of the receiving device already exists (in the storage unit 40). Therefore, in this case, the control unit 32 updates the flipping information of the receiving device stored in the storage unit 40 (step S34). On the other hand, in step S33, when the information of the receiving device that has transmitted the flipping information is not yet registered in the transmitting device 30, the information on the receiving device is newly registered in the storage unit 40 of the transmitting device 30 ( Step S35).

  In this way, the transmission device 30 receives and updates or additionally registers the flipping information transmitted from many reception devices, thereby adding up the flipping information from each reception device and generating a flipping list. The “flipping list” indicates a channel number for which a flipping operation is performed (that is, during flipping) in each receiving device that receives a broadcast transmitted by the transmitting device 30. By analyzing this flipping list, it is possible to know channels on which flipping operations are performed by a large number of receiving devices, such as channels on which flipping operations are performed by the largest number of receiving devices.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of the flipping list generated by the above-described flipping list generation processing. In practice, each item is stored in the storage unit 40 in association with each other.

  In the example shown in FIG. 9, the flipping information received from each receiving device, that is, each information such as the receiving device ID, the flipping information generation time, and the flipping channel number are listed in the order registered in the storage unit by the transmitting device 30. ing. For example, the terminal with the registration number 1 has a terminal ID of 002153, the time when the flipping information is generated in the receiving device is 6:12, and the flipping channel numbers are 1 channel and 4 channels. . From this, it can be seen that at the time when this flipping information was generated, the receiving apparatus was performing a flipping operation between channel 1 and channel 4.

  Next, program arrangement processing by the transmission device 30 according to the present invention will be described. This process is a process of arranging the program of each channel in consideration of the flipping situation based on the result of analyzing the flipping list generated by the above-described flipping list generation process.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a program arrangement process performed in the transmission device 30 according to the present invention. When this process starts, first, the control unit 32 of the transmission device 30 determines whether or not it is time to analyze the flipping list (step S41). That is, the control unit 32 determines whether or not it is time to analyze the flipping list based on a notification from a built-in clock or counter. Such flipping list analysis timing can be set to a timing preset in the transmission apparatus 30 or can be set to be performed when the received flipping information reaches a predetermined quantity.

  In step S41, the control unit 32 waits until the flipping list analysis timing comes, and when the flipping list analysis timing comes, reads the latest flipping list from the storage unit 26 and performs analysis (step S42). In the present embodiment, the analysis of the flipping list performed in step S42 determines the channel on which the flipping operation is performed by the most receiving devices at the time when the analysis is performed.

  For example, in the example of the flipping list shown in FIG. 9, in the receiving apparatuses having the registration numbers 1 to 5, the receiving apparatus performing the flipping operation between the channel 1 and the channel 4 is the registration number 1. No. 2, and No. 4 are the most common. Actually, there are an extremely large number of receiving apparatuses registered in the flipping list as shown in FIG. 9, and the counting is performed in order from the flipping channel in which there are many terminals performing the flipping operation, and the result is tabulated. Analyzes are performed.

  When the analysis of the flipping list is completed in step S42, the control unit 32 controls to arrange the program of each channel in consideration of the flipping situation based on the analysis result (step S43). In the program arrangement process performed in step S43, as described with reference to FIG. 4, the control unit 32 causes the programs being flipped among the plurality of programs transmitted by the MediaFLO transmission unit 36 to be adjacent on the time axis. The MediaFLO transmission unit 36 is controlled so as to transmit after being arranged. In particular, the analysis of the flipping list reveals the channel on which the flipping operation is performed by the largest number of receiving devices, so programs broadcast on such a channel are preferentially adjacent on the time axis. Place it in and send it. That is, the control unit 32 arranges the programs that the most receiving devices among the plurality of receiving devices among the plurality of programs transmitted by the MediaFLO transmitting unit 36 are preferentially adjacent on the time axis. The MediaFLO transmission unit 36 is controlled so as to transmit from.

  Thus, after the arrangement of each program is performed in step S43, the control unit 32 causes the MediaFLO transmission unit 36 to broadcast (transmit) the program to a number of receiving devices via the antenna 38. Control. As a result, each of the multiple receiving devices can reproduce the broadcast in each receiving device by performing normal reception processing on the broadcast program. Since the flipping information received by the transmission device 30 is constantly updated, the transmission device 30 sets the analysis performed in step S41 to arrive at an appropriate timing. As a result, the arrangement of the MediaFLO broadcast program transmitted from the transmission device 30 is dynamically changed at an appropriate timing.

  Hereinafter, the effect of the present invention will be described by showing an example of a state before and after performing the above-described program arrangement processing in step S43.

  FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram for explaining program arrangement in a state before the above-described program arrangement processing is performed. FIG. 11 shows a state in which a program broadcast by MediaFLO is broadcast (transmitted) from the transmission device 30 to the plurality of reception devices 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, and 10E. As a program broadcast from the transmission apparatus 30, a case where a drama is broadcast on channel 1, an animation is displayed on channel 2, news is broadcast on channel 3, and a sport is broadcast on channel 4 will be described as an example.

  As described above, the program arrangement usually performed at the MediaFLO broadcasting station is not an arrangement that considers channel flipping. That is, according to the normal program arrangement performed in the transmission device 30, the arrangement of the programs is not necessarily arranged adjacently on the time axis. Therefore, as shown on the left side of FIG. 11, programs may be arranged adjacent to each other as in channel 1 and channel 2, but programs are arranged apart from each other as in channel 3 or channel 4. It is thought that there are many cases.

  When such a program arrangement is performed by the transmission device 30 and distributed (transmitted) to each of the reception devices 10A to 10E, in each reception device, a channel on which a flipping operation is performed is performed according to user preference. It is assumed that they are different. In the right side of FIG. 11, each of the receiving apparatuses 10A to 10E represents that a flipping operation is performed on a channel indicated by the content of the program among the arranged programs. That is, in the receiving device 10A, a flipping operation is performed between the channel 1 drama and the channel 4 sport, and in the receiving device 10B, a flipping operation is performed between the channel 1 drama and the channel 2 animation. It has been broken.

  In this state, after the flipping information generation process described in FIG. 5 is performed in each of the receiving apparatuses 10A to 10E, the flipping information transmission process described in FIG. 7 is performed. Next, in the transmission device 30, after the flipping list generation process described with reference to FIG. 8 is performed, the program arrangement process described with reference to FIG. 10 is performed. The table shown below the receiving device 30 in FIG. 11 shows an example of the analysis result of the flipping list performed in step S42 in FIG. Among the receiving terminals 10A to 10E, when the channels on which the flipping operation is performed are aggregated, the flipping operation is performed between the channel 1 and the channel 4 in the two terminals, and the receiving device that performs the other flipping operations The number of is the same. Based on such an analysis result, the transmission device 30 changes the arrangement of the program to be transmitted thereafter on the time axis.

  FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram for explaining program arrangement in the state after the above-described program arrangement processing is performed. After analyzing the flipping list and performing the program arrangement processing performed in step S43 in FIG. 10, the transmitting device 30 takes into account the flipping conditions in the receiving devices 10A to 10E as shown on the left side of FIG. Channel programs are arranged. With the program layout changed in this way, the program is distributed (transmitted) from the transmission device 30 to the reception devices 10A to 10E.

  Then, as shown on the right side of FIG. 12, when two programs are received at the same time in order to perform flipping in the receiving apparatuses 10A to 10E, many receiving apparatuses (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D) receive 2 Data of two programs are adjacent on the time axis. Therefore, the programs that were not arranged adjacently in FIG. 11 are arranged adjacently in FIG. 12, so that the number of occurrences of setup time can be reduced by that amount. For example, the setup time that occurs nine times in FIG. 11 occurs only six times in FIG. In this way, by reducing the occurrence of the setup time, it is possible to save the power required to flow through the receiving circuit during the setup time.

  As described above, the transmission apparatus 30 of the present invention dynamically changes the arrangement of programs based on the flipping information received from the reception apparatus 10 so that a large number of reception apparatuses can receive with low power consumption. Since there are deviations in the channels to which many receiving apparatuses perform flipping, priority is given to the channel having the largest number of receiving apparatuses in which flipping has occurred, and the two channels related to the flipping are arranged adjacent to each other in time. By analyzing the flipping list performed at this time, the transmission device 30 rearranges the program so that the number of occurrences of the setup time related to the flipping of each reception device is minimized. Thereby, after the program rearrangement, it is possible to reduce the total number of occurrences of setup time of each receiving apparatus. Therefore, according to the present invention, the total power consumption of the entire receiving apparatus can be reduced.

  If the above-described processing is performed, the power consumption as a whole can be reduced by reducing the number of occurrences of the setup time, but at the same time, it relates to processing for transmitting flipping information to a receiving device (broadcast station), etc. Electricity consumption will occur. However, by taking the following measures, the power consumption necessary to save power consumption can be prevented from increasing.

  For example, when the rearrangement of a program is performed based on the flipping information in the transmission device 30, it is not essential to obtain the flipping information from all the reception devices that receive the broadcast from the transmission device 30. This is because it is assumed that the program that the viewer performs flipping often has a similar pattern to some extent due to a general tendency and preference. In such a case, based on the flipping information from 50% or less of the total number of receiving devices that receive the broadcast from the transmitting device 30, the transmitting device 30 rearranges the program. Even if it goes, it is thought that sufficient effect is acquired. In this case, for example, it may be possible to request transmission of flipping information from only the receiving apparatuses of some users from the transmitting apparatus 30 side.

  In addition, since it is assumed that flipping is often performed while a certain program is being broadcast, the frequency at which each receiving apparatus transmits the flipping information to the transmitting apparatus 30 is a short time such as every second. The need to do in units of intervals is not considered high. In such a case, it is possible to make adjustments such that the time interval for updating the flipping information and / or transmitting to the transmission device 30 is set to a certain length of time. Further, the transmitting device 30 requests each receiving device to update the flipping information and / or transmit to the transmitting device 30 triggered by the end of the broadcast program and the start of the next program. You can also.

  By doing so, it is possible to balance so that the power consumption that can be reduced as a whole is larger than the power consumption that is generated.

  In addition, this invention is not limited only to each embodiment mentioned above, Many changes or deformation | transformation are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the number of programs related to the channel to be flipped is two. However, the number of programs can be extended when flipping is performed on two or more channels. In the description of FIG. 5, the variable (TH) of the number of flipping times for determining that the flipping operation is performed is set to 2, but this numerical value also indicates the tendency of the viewer to perform the flipping, the power consumption to be reduced, and the like. It can be changed as appropriate by considering the various factors.

  7 and 10, the mode of performing processing based on the arrival of a predetermined time or timing is merely an example of the simplest case in the present embodiment. In actual operation, this embodiment can be modified as appropriate so that a predetermined time or timing is generated at an appropriate time according to various specifications or requirements. Further, in step S21 of FIG. 7, if the flipping information to be transmitted is not updated even at the time when the flipping information is transmitted, the flipping information may not be transmitted in order to reduce power consumption. .

  Note that a receiving apparatus that can apply a process for arranging programs so as to reduce the number of occurrences of setup time, such as the transmitting apparatus 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention, is flipped like the receiving apparatus 10 described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the case where the program is reproduced.

  For example, the present invention can be applied to a receiving apparatus that can reproduce two programs simultaneously by dividing the display on one display screen into two without performing channel flipping operation in the receiving apparatus. In this case, when simultaneous playback of two programs is selected, information on the two channels related to the simultaneous playback is transmitted to the transmission device 30 as the “flipping information” described above. Thereby, in the transmission apparatus 30, the arrangement | positioning of the program which reduces the frequency | count of occurrence of setup time by the process mentioned above can be performed.

  By doing in this way, the receiving device side that receives the broadcast in which the program is rearranged can reduce the number of occurrences of the setup time without performing a special operation. Therefore, even in such a receiving apparatus, it is possible to divide one display screen into two and display and reproduce two programs at the same time while saving power consumption in the same manner as the receiving apparatus 10 described above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Receiving device 12 Control part 14 MediaFLO receiving antenna 16 MediaFLO receiving part 18 Video / audio decoder 20 Video / audio output part 22 Wireless communication antenna 24 Mobile phone network transmission / reception part 26 Storage part 30 Transmitting apparatus 32 Control part 34 Network transmission / reception part 36 MediaFLO Transmission unit 38 MediaFLO transmission antenna 40 Storage unit 100 Network 200 Program provider 300 Mobile phone carrier

Claims (5)

A receiving unit capable of receiving a plurality of programs transmitted by time division from a transmitting device;
A transmitter capable of communicating with the transmitter;
When two programs out of the plurality of programs are alternately selected a predetermined number of times so that the programs being flipped are arranged adjacent to each other on the time axis and transmitted by the transmitter , the two programs are being flipped. A control unit that controls the transmission unit to transmit information indicating that the transmission unit is transmitted to the transmission device;
A receiving device. A transmission unit that transmits a plurality of programs to the receiving device in a time-sharing manner;
A receiving unit that receives information indicating a program being flipped, transmitted from the receiving device;
Based on the information indicating the program being flipped received by the receiver, among the multiple programs transmitted by the transmitter, the program being flipped is arranged and transmitted so as to be adjacent on the time axis A control unit for controlling the transmission unit;
A transmission apparatus comprising: A transmitter that transmits a plurality of programs to a plurality of receiving devices in a time-sharing manner;
A receiving unit for receiving information indicating a program being flipped, transmitted from the plurality of receiving devices;
Based on the information indicating the program being flipped received by the receiving unit, among the multiple programs transmitted by the transmitting unit, the program that is the most by the receiving device among the plurality of receiving devices is given priority. A control unit for controlling the transmission unit to arrange and transmit so as to be adjacent on the time axis; and
A transmission apparatus comprising: A transmission device for transmitting a plurality of programs by time division;
A receiving device for receiving a plurality of programs transmitted from the transmitting device;
In a transmission / reception system including
When two of the plurality of programs are alternately selected a predetermined number of times, the receiving device transmits information indicating that the two programs are being flipped to the transmitting device,
Based on the information indicating the program being flipped transmitted from the receiver, the transmitter is configured so that the program being flipped is adjacent on the time axis among a plurality of programs to be transmitted to the receiver. A transmission / reception system characterized by arranging and transmitting. A transmission device that transmits a plurality of programs to a plurality of reception devices in a time-sharing manner;
A plurality of receiving devices for receiving a plurality of programs transmitted from the transmitting device;
In a transmission / reception system including
Each of the plurality of receiving devices transmits information indicating that the two programs are being flipped to the transmitting device when two of the plurality of programs are alternately selected a predetermined number of times.
The transmission device receives the largest number of receptions in the plurality of reception devices among the plurality of programs to be transmitted to the plurality of reception devices based on the information indicating the program being flipped transmitted from the plurality of reception devices. A transmission / reception system characterized in that a program being flipped by an apparatus is preferentially arranged so as to be adjacent on the time axis.

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