JP2000308035A - Catv system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a viewer to easily book a program in advance. SOLUTION: In a CATV system in which a plurality of channels of TV data are transmitted from station equipment to household equipment 4 through a cable 5 and the household equipment 4 selects one channel for televising, a program list memory which stores the program list of the TV data provided to subscriber's homes and a program list transmitting means which transmits the program list stored in the program list memory to the household equipment 4 are added to the station equipment. In addition, a program list displaying means 26 which displays the program list received from the station equipment on the screen of a TV receiver, a program booking means 22 which books a selected program in advance in accordance with the program selecting operation performed for the program list displayed on the screen of the TV receiver by means of the displaying means 26, and a booking executing means 19 which selects the channel of the TV data in accordance with the program booked by means of the booking means 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a CATV system, and more particularly, to a CATV system that enables program reservation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a CATV system,
The CATV station device and the home device provided at each subscriber's home are connected by a cable such as an optical cable, and
A V receiver is connected. For example, TV data for 30 to 50 channels is transmitted from the station device to the home device to each home device. Then, in each home device, the viewer selects one channel with the remote control device and broadcasts the program on the TV receiver to view the program.

[0003] In such a CATV system, a viewer confirms a program he / she wants to view from a paper program guide mailed from a CATV station once a month or once a week, and checks the program each time. The channel was selected on the device. Therefore, when one program ends, the viewer has performed a channel switching operation to a channel on which the next program is broadcast by the remote control device.

[0004]

However, as described above, the number of channels of TV data provided from CATV stations is as large as 30 to 50. Therefore,
It is very troublesome for the viewer to perform the channel selection operation for the next program while viewing the paper program guide every time one program ends.

[0005] Also, in general, when a program guide is mailed from a CATV station once a month or once a week, the viewer examines the program guide and determines a program to be viewed in advance. When the broadcast date and time of the program arrives, it is necessary to perform an operation of selecting a channel on which the program is broadcast. Therefore, the viewer has to confirm the program and the channel twice, which is very troublesome.

In addition, there is a concern that a program which the user decides to watch at the time of checking the program table at first may be forgotten and missed.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and without using a program guide printed on paper,
Program reservation can be easily performed, and when the reserved date and time comes, the reserved program is automatically broadcasted.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a CATV system which can prevent missed programs to be watched, can be easily used, and can greatly improve the service for viewers by only performing the program check operation of the first time.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a plurality of channels of TV data are transmitted from a station device installed in a CATV station to a home device installed in each subscriber's house via a cable, and the data is transmitted to the home device. The present invention is applied to a CATV system in which one channel is selected and broadcasted on a TV receiver.

[0009] In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the present invention, the T
A program table memory for storing a program table of V data and a program table transmitting means for transmitting the program table stored in the program table memory to the home device are added. The program table display means for displaying and outputting the program table on the TV screen of the TV receiver, and the selected program table is displayed in response to a program selection operation performed on the program table displayed on the TV screen by the program table display means. And a program execution means for selecting a TV data channel in accordance with the program reserved by the program reservation means.

In general, a cable for connecting a station device of a CATV station and a home device of each subscriber's house has a TV channel for transmitting TV data of a plurality of channels common to each subscriber's house and a cable of each subscriber's house. A data channel is included for individually exchanging information with each home device in order to control the operation of the home device and to monitor the viewing time of programs requiring an additional fee. The present invention performs program reservation using this data channel.

[0011] In the CATV system of the present invention,
Since the station apparatus is provided with a program table memory, when a viewer makes a program reservation, the user operates his / her own home apparatus to download the program table from the station apparatus to his / her home apparatus,
It is displayed on the TV screen of the V receiver. In this state, the viewer reserves the program by simply selecting and specifying a desired program in the displayed program table by using, for example, a remote controller. Then, the TV data channel is automatically selected according to the reserved program.

As described above, program reservation can be performed by a simple operation without using a program table described on paper.

Another invention is a CAT of the invention described above.
For the station devices in the V system, a summary memory for storing a summary of each program in the program table stored in the program table memory, and a summary memory in response to a specified summary request from the home device for a program. And a summary transmitting means for transmitting the summary of the specified program. Further, the program guide display means displays T to the home device.
In response to a program selection operation performed on the program table displayed on the V screen, a summary request transmitting means for transmitting a summary request for the selected program to the station device, and a summary received from the station device being transmitted to the TV. A summary broadcasting means for broadcasting on a receiver is added.

In the CATV system configured as described above, a summary memory for storing a summary of each program in the program table stored in the program table memory is provided in the station device. When a viewer designates an arbitrary program in a state where the program guide is displayed on the TV screen, a summary of the designated program is obtained from the station apparatus and is broadcast on the TV receiver. Therefore, the viewer can make a program reservation while referring to the summary of each program.

Further, another invention is directed to the CA of the above-described invention.
For a station device in the TV system, program reservation registration means for registering a program reservation for each subscriber transmitted from each home device in a schedule memory for each subscriber, and An average program reservation calculating means for obtaining an average program reservation in consideration of the preference of each subscriber and writing the average program reservation in the average schedule memory for each subscriber, An average program reservation transmitting means for transmitting the stored average program reservation to the corresponding home device is added. Also, a program reservation result request transmitting means for transmitting a program reservation result request to the station device to the home device, and an average program reservation display means for displaying the average program reservation transmitted from the station device on the TV screen. Has been added.

In the CATV system configured as described above, the station apparatus is provided with a subscriber-specific average schedule memory for storing an average program reservation in consideration of the preference of each subscriber. If the viewer (subscriber) inputs a program reservation result request to the home device before executing the program reservation, the corresponding viewer (subscriber) is based on the contents of the program reserved by the relevant viewer (subscriber) in the past. TV average program reservation
Displayed on the screen.

[0017] Therefore, the viewer can execute the current program reservation with reference to the average program reservation that is his or her own reservation result.

Further, another invention relates to the CA of the above-described invention.
A program reservation registering means for registering a program reservation for each subscriber transmitted from each home device in a schedule memory for each subscriber, and a program from a storage content of the schedule memory for each subscriber. Expected audience rating calculating means for calculating an expected audience rating of each program stored in the program table stored in the table memory, and transmitting the expected audience rating of each program calculated by the expected audience rating calculating means to the home device. An expected audience rating transmission means is added. In addition, the estimated audience rating of each program received from the
An expected audience rating display means for displaying on the V screen is added.

In the CATV system configured as described above, a subscriber-specific schedule memory for storing a program reservation for each subscriber transmitted from each home apparatus is provided in the station apparatus. It is possible to calculate the expected audience rating for each program based on the program reservation status. Then, the calculated expected audience rating is transmitted to each home device. As a result, the viewer can check the expected audience rating of the program before each program is broadcast.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a CATV system according to the embodiment.

The station apparatus 2 comprising a host computer provided in the CATV station 1 is connected by an optical cable 5 to a home apparatus 4 comprising a computer provided in each subscriber's house 3. The station device 2 incorporates a program D / B (database) 7 and a contractor D / B 6. A TV receiver 8 is connected to the home device 4, and the home device 4 is remotely controlled by a remote control device 9 using infrared rays.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are front views of the remote controller 9. FIG. FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a state where the cover 10 is closed, and FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a state where the cover 10 is opened.

A program guide button 11, a schedule button 12, and a transmission button 13 are provided on the front, and a selection button 14 is provided on the outer surface of the cover 10. Further, a numeric key 15 for directly inputting a channel or directly inputting various data to a portion hidden by the cover 10.
Are arranged.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of each home device 4. Optical cable 5 connected to CATV station 1
As described above, various data transmission and information exchange are performed between the TV channel for transmitting TV data of a plurality of channels common to each subscriber home 3 and the home device 4 of each subscriber home 3 as described above. An individual data channel for each home device 3 to be implemented is included.

The optical cable 5 from the station device 2 of the CATV station 1
TV data output through the optical interface 1
At 6, the electric signal is converted into TV data, received by the TV data receiving unit 17, and input to the TV channel selecting unit 18. The TV channel selecting unit 18 is a TV channel specifying unit 1
The TV signal of the channel designated by 9 is transmitted to the TV receiver 8. The TV receiver 8 broadcasts a TV signal of the input channel.

The data transmission / reception unit 20 is connected to the CAT via the optical interface 16 and the data channel of the optical cable 5.
Various types of information exchange are performed with the station device 2 of the V station 1. The command receiving unit 21 receives various commands from the remote control device 9 operated by the viewer (contractor), determines the type of the command, and sets the TV channel designation unit 19, the schedule creation unit 22, the summary, respectively. It is sent to the processing unit 23.

In the schedule memory 24, a program reservation made by a viewer (contractor) at the home device 4 is temporarily stored. Further, in the home device 4, a rating receiving unit 25 and a program guide obtaining and displaying unit 26 are provided.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the station device 2 provided in the CATV station 1. In the program D / B (database) 7, a program content file 27, a program table memory 28, and a summary memory 29 are formed.

In the program content file 27, the broadcast contents (contents) of all programs to be broadcast on all channels included in the TV data transmitted to each subscriber's home 3 via the optical cable 5 are stored. . The broadcast content (content) of each program of each channel stored in the program content file 27 is incorporated into the TV data by the TV data transmission unit 30 and transmitted to the subscriber home 3 via the optical interface 31 and the optical cable 5. .

As shown in FIG. 5, in the program table memory 28, for example, the programs 34 of each channel 33b on each day (day of the week) 32a for one week are listed in time series with the time 33c as the vertical axis. The stored program table 28a is stored. When a program table request is input from the home device 4 via the optical interface 31, the program table transmitting unit 35 reads out the program table 28a for one week shown in FIG. 5 to the home device 4 via the data channel 5.

In the summary memory 29, each program 34 in the program table 28a shown in FIG.
Summary is stored. The summary is a synopsis of the broadcast of the day if the program is a drama, and information on the performer and a song for one phrase if the program is a song program. The required time is 1-2 minutes.

When a summary request is input from the home device 4 and a summary request is input via the optical interface 31, the summary transmitting unit 36 reads a summary of the specified program from the summary memory 29, and reads the summary of the specified program from the optical memory 31. 5 to the home device 4 via the data channel 5.

In the contractor D / B (database) 6,
Schedule memory 37 for each subscriber, expected audience rating memory 3
8. An average schedule memory 39 for each subscriber is formed.

In the contractor-specific schedule memory 37,
For example, a program reservation (schedule) for one week performed by each viewer (contractor) on his / her home device 4 is stored. The schedule receiving unit 40 writes the program reservation (schedule) for one week received from the home device 4 via the data channel of the optical cable 5 in the schedule memory 37 for each subscriber.

The channel designation transmitting section 41 monitors the program reservation (schedule) for each viewer (contractor) stored in the contractor-specific schedule memory 37.
When the broadcast time of the reserved program 34 is reached, the corresponding reserved program 3 is sent to the home device 4 of the subscriber home 3 of the corresponding viewer (contractor).
The channel designation for designating the channel No. 4 is transmitted to the optical interface 31 and the data channel of the optical cable 5.

The expected audience rating calculating section 42 calculates an expected audience rating of each program from a program reservation (schedule) for each viewer (subscriber) stored in the schedule memory 27 for each subscriber. Write to the expected audience rating memory 38. Specifically, every day after the broadcast ends, the expected audience rating of each program is calculated from the program reservation (schedule) for each viewer (subscriber) stored in the schedule memory 27 for each program subscriber. Therefore, the expected audience rating memory 38
Inside, the latest expected audience rating is always stored. The expected audience rating transmitting unit 43 sends the estimated audience rating of the program 34 of each channel being broadcast in the corresponding time zone to each subscriber's home in the time zone when each program of the calculated expected audience rating is actually being broadcast. 3 to the home device 4.

The average program reservation calculation unit 44 calculates the program reservation (schedule) contents for each viewer (contractor) stored in the contractor-specific schedule memory 27 for each viewer (contractor). An average program reservation (schedule) is calculated in consideration of the program reservation results and preferences, and is written in the average schedule memory 39 for each subscriber. In other words, in the average schedule memory 39 for each subscriber, a program reservation (schedule) that the corresponding viewer (subscriber) will perform next for each viewer (subscriber) is stored.

When an average schedule request (program reservation result request) designating a viewer (subscriber) is input from home device 4, average schedule transmission section 45 reads the corresponding viewer from average schedule memory 39 for each subscriber. The average program reservation (schedule) of (contractor) is read and transmitted to the corresponding home device 4.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a program reservation processing operation performed by home device 4 shown in FIG.

The remote control device 9 is transmitted via the command receiving unit 21.
Is detected (S)
1), the program guide acquisition / display unit 26 is activated, and transmits a program guide request to the station apparatus 2 of the CATV station 1 via the data transmitting / receiving unit 20, the optical interface 16, and the optical cable 5 (S).
2). One-week program table 28a shown in FIG.
Is input via the data transmitting / receiving unit 20 (S3),
The program guide acquisition and display unit 26 displays the program guide 28a for the one week on the TV screen of the TV receiver 8 (S4).

Next, the reservation operation flag is cleared to 0 (S5). Then, by operating the selection button 14 of the remote control device 9, one program 34 in the program table 28 a displayed on the TV screen of the TV receiver 8 is designated by the cursor, and the transmission button 13 is pressed (S 6). ), The summary processing unit 23 is activated, and transmits a summary request designating the program 34 to the station device 2 via the data transmission / reception unit 20 (S7). When the summary of the program 34 is received from the station device 2 (S8), the summary is broadcast on the TV receiver 8 (S9).

Since the process of broadcasting the summary of one program 34 to the TV receiver 8 has been completed, the process returns to S4 and waits for a selection operation for obtaining the summary of the next program 34.

When the process of broadcasting the summary of the necessary program 34 to the TV receiver 8 is completed and the schedule button 12 of the remote controller 9 is pressed (S9), the viewer (subscriber) starts the program reservation operation. Then, the reservation operation flag is set to 1 (S11).

Next, the average schedule request (program reservation result request) of the corresponding viewer (contractor) is transmitted to the station device 2 (S12). When an average program reservation (schedule) of the corresponding viewer (contractor) is received from the station apparatus 2 by the data transmission / reception unit 20 (S13), the received average program reservation (schedule) is transmitted to the TV set of the TV receiver 8. It is displayed on the screen for a fixed time (S14).

When the average program reservation (schedule) is deleted from the TV screen, the original program table 28a is displayed, and the schedule creation section 22 starts. Then, when the viewer (contractor) designates the program 34 with the selection button 14 of the remote control device 9 (S15), the reservation operation flag is set to 1 this time, so that the program name, channel,
The date and time are written in the schedule memory 24 as a program reservation (S16).

As described above, the reservation processing of one program 34 has been completed, the flow returns to S15, and the reservation processing of the next program 34 by operating the selection button 14 is started.

When the viewer (contractor) presses the send button 13 of the remote control device 9 (S17), it is determined that the reservation operation for all the necessary programs 34 for one week has been completed, and is stored in the schedule memory 24. The stored program reservation (schedule) for one week is transmitted to the station device 2 (S1).
8).

Further, the home device 4 performs the channel control of the TV data to be broadcast on the TV receiver 8 in a normal time zone other than the above-described program reservation processing period in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG.

When a channel designation is input from the station device 2 via the data transmission / reception unit 20 (Q1), the TV channel designation unit 19 starts up and performs the channel designation for the TV channel selection unit 18. As a result, the TV receiver 8
Broadcasting of the program previously reserved by the corresponding viewer (contractor) is started (Q2).

When the audience rating receiving section 25 receives the expected audience rating of each program at the current time from the station apparatus 2 via the data transmitting / receiving section 20 (Q3), each of the programs other than the program currently being broadcast on the TV receiver 8 is received. The program, that is, the estimated audience rating of each counterprogram is displayed at one corner of the TV screen (Q4). It should be noted that the estimated audience rating of the program currently being broadcast can also be displayed at the same time.

When a channel designation is input from the remote controller 9 via the command receiving section 21 (Q5), the viewer (contractor) tries to watch a program different from the program 34 reserved by himself or It is determined that a channel designation operation has been performed with the numeric key 15 of the remote controller 9 in an attempt to watch a new program in a time slot where no reservation has been made.

In this case, the current broadcast channel in the TV receiver 8 is switched to the designated channel, giving priority to the channel designation input by the remote controller 9 (Q6). Then, the changed channel is transmitted to the station device 2 (Q7). The station device 2 that has received the channel change notification corrects the program reservation (schedule) of the corresponding viewer (contractor) in the contractor-specific schedule memory 37. further,
Correct the expected audience rating of the program.

In the CATV system configured as described above, since the station apparatus 2 is provided with the program table memory 28 shown in FIG. 5, when the viewer (subscriber) makes a program reservation, the remote controller 9 is operated. Then, the user simply selects and selects the program 34 he wants to watch in the program table 28a displayed on the TV screen of the TV receiver 8, and the program 34 is reserved. Then, when the broadcast time of the reserved program arrives, the channel of the TV receiver 8 is automatically selected, and the program is automatically broadcast. Thus, the viewer (contractor)
Can make a program reservation by a simple operation without using a program guide described on paper.

Further, the station apparatus 2 is provided with a summary memory 29 for storing a summary of each program. Then, when the viewer designates the program 34 using the remote control device 9 at the time of program reservation, a summary of the designated program 34 is automatically broadcast on the TV receiver 8. Therefore, the viewer (contractor) can execute the program reservation while referring to the summary of each program, thereby preventing an unintended program from being reserved.

Further, the station apparatus 2 is provided with a subscriber-specific average schedule memory 37 for storing an average program reservation (schedule) in consideration of the preference of each viewer (subscriber). Then, before the viewer executes the program reservation, the average program reservation schedule of the corresponding viewer (subscriber) stored in the average schedule memory 37 for each subscriber can be confirmed on the TV screen of the TV receiver 8. . Therefore, the viewer (contractor) can execute the current program reservation with reference to the average program reservation (schedule), which is his / her own reservation result.

Further, the station device 2 calculates an expected audience rating for each program based on the reservation status of each program, and transmits the calculated estimated audience ratings to each home device 4. Therefore, each viewer (contractor) can check the expected audience rating of the program and the expected audience rating of the counterprogram before or at the time of broadcasting each program 34 reserved by him / her.

[0056]

As described above, the CATV of the present invention
In the system, a program table memory storing a program table is provided in the station apparatus of the CATV station, and the program table memory is provided to the home apparatus at each subscriber's house via a cable.

Accordingly, each viewer (contractor) can easily make a program reservation without using a program guide printed on paper. Then, when the reserved date and time comes, the reserved program is automatically broadcast. As a result, only one program check operation is required for the viewer, the desired program can be prevented from being missed, the usability is good, and the service for the viewer can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a CATV system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a remote control device for remotely controlling a home device of the CATV system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a home device incorporated in the CATV system;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a station device incorporated in the CATV system;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing storage contents of a program guide memory formed in the station apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a program reservation processing operation of a home device incorporated in the CATV system.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a channel control processing operation of the home device incorporated in the CATV system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CATV station 2 ... Station apparatus 3 ... Contractor's house 4 ... Home apparatus 5 ... Optical cable 6 ... Contractor database 7 ... Program database 8 ... TV receiver 9 ... Remote control device 14 ... Selection buttons 16,31 ... Light Interface 19 TV channel designation unit 22 Schedule creation unit 28 Program table memory 29 Summary memory 37 Schedule memory per subscriber 38 Expected audience rating memory 39 Average schedule memory per subscriber

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/445 H04N 5/445 Z

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of channels of TV data are transmitted from a station device installed in a CATV station to a home device installed in each subscriber's house via a cable, and one channel is selected by the home device to transmit the TV data. In the CATV system for broadcasting on a TV set, the station device transmits a program table stored in the program table memory to the home device and stores a program table of TV data provided to the subscriber's house. The home device includes: a program table display unit that displays and outputs a program table received from the station device to a TV screen of the TV receiver; and the program table display unit displays the program table on the TV screen. Program reservation means for reserving the selected program in response to a program selection operation performed on the displayed program table; and a TV data chunk according to the program reserved by the program reservation means. CATV system characterized by having a reservation execution means to continue to select the Le. 2. The station device according to claim 2, wherein the station device stores a summary of each program in the program table stored in the program table memory, and the summary memory in response to a summary request designating the program from the home device. And a summary transmitting unit that transmits a summary of the program stored in the home device. The home device responds to a program selection operation performed on the program table displayed on the TV screen by the program table display unit. And a summary request transmitting means for transmitting a summary request for the selected program to the station device, and a summary broadcasting means for broadcasting the summary received from the station device on the TV receiver. The CATV system according to claim 1. 3. The station apparatus, comprising: a program reservation registering means for registering a program reservation for each subscriber transmitted from each of the home devices in a schedule memory for each subscriber; and a storage means for storing the schedule memory for each subscriber. An average program reservation calculation means for obtaining an average program reservation in consideration of the preference of each subscriber and writing the average program reservation in the average schedule memory for each subscriber; and Average program reservation transmitting means for transmitting the average program reservation stored in the schedule memory to the home device, wherein the home device transmits a program reservation result request to the station device. 2. An average program reservation display means for displaying an average program reservation transmitted from the station device on the TV screen.
Or the CATV system according to 2. 4. The station apparatus, comprising: a program reservation registration unit for registering a program reservation for each subscriber transmitted from each of the home devices in a schedule memory for each subscriber; and a storage unit of the schedule memory for each subscriber. An expected audience rating calculating means for calculating an expected audience rating of each program stored in the program guide stored in the program guide memory; and an estimated audience rating of each program calculated by the expected audience rating calculating means. And a predicted audience rating transmitting unit for transmitting the predicted audience rating of each program received from the station device to the TV screen. The CATV according to claim 1 or 2.
system.