JP2002057639A - Receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a receiver capable of preventing generation of bias in audition contents of programs in a charge-free term. SOLUTION: A receiving state analyzing part 22 monitors a receiving state of program information in the charge-free term, examines program classification information corresponding to a program which is auditioned by a user and analyzes listening time of individual program classification information. A program proposing part 30 extracts a program (not yet received program) which corresponds to program classification information wherein listening time is long, i.e., frequency of receiving is high and is not yet received by the user, by a prescribed timing which is operated inversely by using an end point of time of the charge-free term as a reference on the basis of analyzed result regarding listening time of individual program classification information, and proposes receiving the extracted program which is not yet received.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a receiver for receiving a pay broadcast free of charge for a certain period of time at the time of contract.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a transition from an analog system of various broadcasting to a digital system has been advanced. For example, BS (Br
oadcasting Satellite) There are plans to shift from analog to digital broadcasting. For audio broadcasting, digital audio broadcasting DA
Digital broadcasting such as B (Digital Audio Broadcasting) has been put to practical use. In general, digital broadcasting forms allow more effective use of radio waves than conventional analog broadcasting forms, so that many programs can be multiplexed into one broadcast wave.

[0003] The above-mentioned various digital broadcasts are generally pay-broadcasts in many cases, and users who want to receive programs provided by these pay-broadcasts receive a predetermined contract with the program provider. By paying a fee or the like, a program can be received. In many cases, a contract for receiving a pay broadcast can be made for each program. For this reason, many program providers provide a free trial period (free period) in which each program can be received for a fixed period free of charge at the time of contract or the like so that the user can select a program that suits his or her preference. . Therefore, during this free trial period, the user searches for and listens to a program that suits his / her taste, and if he / she likes it, makes a contract specifying the program, so that even after the free trial period has elapsed, The reception of the program can be continued.

[0004]

In the meantime, despite the fact that each program can be freely received during the above-mentioned free trial period, when a user finds his or her favorite program, he or she only receives the program. In many cases, the free trial period ends before all the receivable programs are received and evenly listened to. For example, when a favorite program type (genre) includes a plurality of programs, and a user listens to programs in order from the program with the smallest channel number, first carefully listen to the contents of each program. In many cases, however, as the channel number of a program increases, the time for confirming the content becomes shorter or the content cannot be confirmed at all. As described above, since the trial listening of the program during the free trial period is left to the user's will, there is a problem that the trial listening content is biased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a receiver capable of preventing a bias in a preview content of a program during a free period. It is in.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a receiver according to the present invention receives, within a free period, any one of a plurality of pieces of program information corresponding to program type information. In the case of selectively receiving the program information, the program type information determining means monitors the reception status of the program information by the receiving means and analyzes the contents of the program type information corresponding to the received program information, thereby reducing the frequency of reception. Program type information corresponding to high program information is determined, and reception of unreceived program information corresponding to the program type information determined by the program type information determination unit is proposed by the program proposal unit. The tendency of programs frequently listened to by the user during the free period is analyzed, and the reception of other programs having the same program type information is proposed, so that the user can select his or her preference without performing complicated operations. You can know the existence of other programs that were there. Therefore, by listening to a program that has not been received in accordance with this proposal, it is possible to prevent a bias in the preview content of the program during the free period.

[0007] Further, a display means for displaying an outline of one or a plurality of pieces of program information proposed by the program suggestion means, and any one of the one or a plurality of pieces of program information whose outline is displayed by the display means are arbitrarily selected. It is desirable to further comprise an operation means that can be selected. Since the outline of the proposed program is displayed and any program can be selected from it, we will respect the user's free will and prevent bias in the content of trial listening of programs during the free period. can do.

[0008] Further, there is further provided a reception instruction means for transmitting a reception instruction of one or a plurality of pieces of program information proposed by the program proposal means to the reception means, wherein the reception means receives the reception instruction sent from the reception instruction means. Accordingly, it is desirable to receive the program information suggested by the program suggesting means. The receiving instruction is sent to the receiving means, and the proposed program is automatically received, so that the user can receive a program that suits his or her preference without performing complicated operations. It is possible to prevent the content of the trial listening of the program during the period from being biased.

It is desirable that the program proposal means makes a proposal at a predetermined timing within the free period in consideration of the reception frequency of the program information by the reception means. If you propose programs too often, users who are trying to listen to only the program you selected will need extra operations to cancel the display and reception of the proposed program, For example, it is desirable to make the above-described proposal only for a certain period calculated backward with reference to the end point of the free period. Further, it is necessary to set the certain period to a length that allows the user to know the contents of the proposed program without fail. In the present invention, a proposal can be made at an appropriate timing based on the end point of the free period by considering the reception frequency (whether daily or once a week) within the free period.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiver according to an embodiment. The receiver shown in FIG. 1 is for receiving an audio broadcast, and includes an antenna 1, a front end unit (F / E) 2,
It comprises a signal demodulation unit 3, a program selection unit 4, an audio decoding unit 5, a digital-analog (D / A) conversion unit 6, an amplifier 7, a speaker 8, a control unit 9, an operation unit 10, and a display unit 11. I have.

The front end unit 2 extracts a desired reception frequency (tuning frequency) component from a signal received via the antenna 1 and converts an intermediate frequency signal obtained by performing frequency conversion on the extracted signal. Output. The signal demodulation unit 3 demodulates the interleaved transmission data by performing a predetermined demodulation process after converting the intermediate frequency signal output from the front end unit 2 into digital data.

[0012] The program selection unit 4 performs a predetermined error detection and correction process after deinterleaving the transmission data output from the signal demodulation unit 3 to return to the original data sequence, and performs program information corresponding to a plurality of programs. It restores program data including (audio data) and the like, extracts and outputs program information corresponding to one program based on an instruction from the control unit 9.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the program data in the present embodiment. As shown in the figure,
In the present embodiment, a plurality of programs are multiplexed in one broadcast signal and transmitted in a predetermined frame unit. (1) Synchronization signal, (2) program type information, (3) program information It is included. The synchronization signal is used to recognize the start point of the frame. The program information is audio data of the program, and includes a plurality of program information # 1, # 2, # 3,..., #N corresponding to the plurality of programs.
It is assumed that the program information in the present embodiment uses audio data compressed by a predetermined compression method (for example, a method of MPEG1 audio layer III or the like). Further, the program type information is information indicating a schematic content of the program, that is, the type, and the corresponding program type information is added to each program information.

The data structure of the program data shown in FIG. 2 is an example and is not limited to this. The form according to the gist of the present invention, that is, the program type information Can be taken in various data structures according to the broadcast form of the program or the like.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between program information and program type information. As shown in FIG.
Program type information “A” is associated with program information # 1 of program 1. Similarly, the program information # 2 of the program 2 is associated with the program type information “B”. The same applies to program 3 and thereafter. Specifically, it is assumed that these pieces of program type information A, B,... Correspond to the types of programs, for example, A is “sports” and B is “news”.

The audio decoding unit 5 includes a program selection unit 4
The PCM audio data is output by performing a predetermined decompression process on the program information output from the PCM. The digital-analog converter 6 converts the PCM audio data output from the audio decoder 5 into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal.

The amplifier 7 includes a digital-analog conversion unit 6
Is amplified by a predetermined gain and output to the speaker 8. The speaker 7 outputs a sound corresponding to the amplified analog signal. The control unit 9 controls the overall operation of the receiver according to the present embodiment. The detailed configuration of the control unit 9 will be described later.

The operation unit 10 includes various operation keys such as a power key and a program designation key, and outputs an operation instruction signal corresponding to the operation state of the operation keys to the control unit 9. Display unit 11
Displays various information such as the channel number and program name of the program currently being received, the operation status of the operation unit 10 by the user, and the current time.

Next, the detailed configuration of the control unit 9 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 9 includes a program type information extraction unit 20, a reception state analysis unit 22, an analysis result storage unit 24, a clock 26, a reception instruction unit 28, a program proposal unit 30, and a display processing unit 32. It is composed of

The program type information extracting section 20 includes a signal demodulating section 3
The program type information is extracted from the program data output from. The reception state analysis unit 22 monitors the reception state of the program information during the free trial period (free period), checks the program type information corresponding to the program information of the program received by the user, and listens to each program type information. Analyze time.
In the present embodiment, for example, the following description will be made assuming that a free trial period of three weeks (21 days) is provided.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an analysis result regarding the listening time for each program type information. As shown in the figure,
For example, the reception state analysis unit 22 determines that the total listening time of the program associated with the program type information B is 129 minutes,
The program listening time is analyzed for each program type information such that the total listening time of the program associated with the program type information is 100 minutes.

The reception condition analysis unit 22 analyzes and records the channel number of the program actually received for each program type information. In the example shown in FIG. 4, as the programs associated with the program type information B, the program with the channel number 2 (program 2) and the program with the channel number 6 (program 6) have already been received, and the program C As a program associated with the information, an analysis result has been obtained that a program with channel number 3 (program 3) has already been received.

Further, the reception state analysis unit 22 counts the number of days that the user has received any program using the receiver within a predetermined period from the start of the free trial period.
In the present embodiment, as a period for counting the number of program reception days,
For example, two weeks from the start date of the free trial period (1
The following description will be made assuming that a period of (4 days) is set.

The analysis result storage unit 24 stores the reception state analysis unit 2
2, the analysis result of the listening time for each program type information, the counting result of the number of program reception days within a predetermined period from the start date of the free trial period, and the like are stored. The clock 26 measures the date and the current time, and outputs the current date and current time in response to a request from the reception state analysis unit 22 or the like.

The reception instruction section 28 selects a program to be received based on an operation instruction from the user or an instruction from the program proposal section 30 (details will be described later), and receives the selected program. An instruction is given to the program selection unit 4. The program suggestion unit 30 is a program corresponding to the program type information having a long listening time (that is, frequently received) based on the analysis result regarding the listening time for each program type information, and is still received by the user. For a program that has not been received, a proposal for reception is made to the user. This proposal is made at a predetermined timing set based on the result of counting the number of program reception days within a predetermined period from the start of the free trial period.
Details of the operation procedure of the program proposing unit 30 will be described later.

The display processing section 32 displays on the display section 11 various information such as information (program name, program type information, etc.) relating to the program currently being received, operation status using the operation section 10, or current time. Is performed. The antenna 1, the front end unit 2, the signal demodulation unit 3, the program selection unit 4, and the control unit 9 described above are used as the reception unit, the reception state analysis unit 22 is used as the program type information determination unit, and the program proposal unit 30 is used as the program proposal unit. , The display unit 11 and the display processing unit 32 correspond to the display unit, the operation unit 10 corresponds to the operation unit, and the reception instruction unit 28 corresponds to the reception instruction unit.

The receiver according to the present embodiment has such a configuration, and its operation will be described in detail below. FIG.
5 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation procedure of the receiver of the present embodiment. First, the receiver analyzes the listening time of the program for each program type information (step 100). Specifically, this processing is mainly performed by the reception state analysis unit 22 in the control unit 9 throughout the free trial period.

In parallel with the processing shown in step 100, the receiver analyzes the reception frequency by counting the number of program reception days within a predetermined period from the start of the free trial period (step 101). This process also
This is mainly performed by the reception state analysis unit 22.

When a predetermined period elapses from the start of the free trial period and an analysis result of the reception frequency is obtained, the receiver sets a timing for proposing a recommended program to the user (step 102). This process is mainly performed by the program proposal unit 30. The program suggestion timing is set, and when the set suggestion timing arrives, the receiver proposes a recommended program to the user (step 103). This process is also performed mainly by the program proposal unit 30.

Next, the processing shown in steps 100 to 103 will be described in detail for each step. (A) Procedure for analyzing program listening time for each program type information FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for analyzing the program listening time for each program type information. Is described in

The reception state analysis unit 22 determines whether or not the operation unit 10 has been operated to start the reception of the program (step 200). , The current time is obtained, and this time, that is, the reception start time is stored (step 201).

Next, the reception state analysis unit 22 acquires program type information corresponding to the program being received (step 202).
The channel number of the program currently being received is stored in the analysis result storage unit 24 in association with the program type information (step 20).
3). Next, the reception state analysis unit 22 determines whether the reception of the program selected so far has been completed, for example, when the power of the receiver is switched off or the program to be received is changed. (Step 204) If the reception of the program is completed, an affirmative judgment is made and the listening time of this program is calculated (Step 205). Specifically, the program listening time can be calculated based on the current time acquired from the clock 26 and the reception start time stored in the above-described step 201.

When the listening time of the program is calculated, the reception state analysis unit 22 updates the contents of the analysis result on the program type information and the listening time stored in the analysis result storage unit 24 (step 206). (B) Procedure for analyzing reception frequency FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for analyzing reception frequency.
The processing content shown in step 101 described above is described in detail.

The reception state analysis unit 22 determines whether or not the power of the receiver is turned on (step 300), and when the power is turned on, obtains the current date and time (date and time) from the clock 26 (step 300). Step 301). Next, the reception state analysis unit 22 performs step 3 based on the acquired current date and time.
It is determined whether the power-on at 00 is the first power-on on that day (step 302). If the power is turned on for the first time on that day, an affirmative determination is made in step 302, and the reception state analysis unit 22 sets the number of program reception days to one.
It increases (step 303).

If the power is not turned on for the first time on that day, a negative determination is made in step 302, and the reception state analysis unit 22 proceeds to step 304 without increasing the number of program reception days. If a negative determination is made in step 302 or the processing shown in step 303 is performed,
Next, the reception state analysis unit 22 determines whether the power of the receiver has been cut off (step 304). As long as the power is not cut off, the determination in step 304 is repeated. When the power is turned off, an affirmative determination is made in step 304, and the reception state analysis unit 22 proceeds to step 30 described above.
After returning to 0, the subsequent processing is repeated.

(C) Procedure for Setting Proposal Timing of Program
Forward Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure for setting the proposed timing of the program, the processing contents shown in step 102 described above is described in detail. The program proposal unit 30 determines whether or not the analysis period of the reception frequency has elapsed (step 40).
0), when it has passed, a positive determination is made, and the analysis result of the reception frequency is read from the analysis result storage unit 24 (step 401).

Next, the program proposal section 30 sets a program proposal timing in accordance with the analysis result of the read reception frequency (step 402). FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a program proposal timing set according to the reception frequency analysis result. In the example shown in the figure, (1) the next power-on when the number of program reception days is 2 days or less, and (2) the free trial period end date 3 when the number of program reception days is 3 to 7 days. (3) Program receiving days from 8 days
In the case of 12 days, the power is turned on two days or more before the end date of the free trial period. (4) When the number of program reception days is 13 days or more, the power is turned on after the day before the end date of the free trial period. Thus, the proposal timing of the recommended program is set according to the reception frequency. As described above, the program proposal unit 30 sets the proposal timing earlier as the reception frequency is lower (the number of program reception days is smaller) based on the end date of the free trial period, and the reception frequency is higher (the number of program reception days). (There are many), the proposal timing is set to a later time.

Thereafter, the program proposal section 30 stores the set proposal timing in the internal memory (step 403),
The operation of setting the proposal timing ends. (D) Procedure for Proposing Reception of Unreceived Program FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for proposing reception of an unreceived program, and the processing content shown in step 103 described above is described in detail.

The program proposal section 30 determines whether or not the power of the receiver has been turned on (step 500). While the power is not turned on, the determination of step 500 is repeated.
When the power is turned on, the program proposal unit 30 acquires the current date and time from the clock 26, and determines whether it is the proposal timing (step 501). If it is not the suggestion timing, a negative determination is made in step 501, and the program suggestion unit 30 returns to step 500 and repeats the subsequent processing.

If it is the proposal timing, an affirmative decision is made in step 501, and the program proposal unit 30
The analysis result regarding the listening time for each program type information is read from the analysis result storage unit 24 (step 502). Next, the program suggestion unit 30 sets the program type information of interest in the order of the total listening time (step 503), and among the programs corresponding to the program type information of interest, the programs that have not yet been received (unreceived programs) Is determined (step 5).
04). Specifically, steps 503 to 504 described above are performed.
At first, attention is paid to the program type information having the longest total listening time, and it is determined whether there is any unreceived program among the programs having the program type information. If there is no unreceived program, a negative determination is made in step 504, and the program proposal unit 3
If the value is 0, the process returns to step 503, and the program type information having the second or longer total listening time is sequentially set as the target of interest.

If there is a program that has not been received, an affirmative determination is made in step 504 described above, and the program proposal unit 30
A process for suggesting reception of an unreceived program is performed (step 5).
05). Specifically, the program proposal unit 30 includes the display processing unit 3
2 to the user by displaying on the display unit 11 the fact that there is a program to be proposed for reception and the outline of the proposed program (for example, the channel number or program name of the program) on the display unit 11. Then, the reception of the unreceived program is proposed.

Thereafter, program suggestion section 30 determines whether or not an instruction to receive the proposed program has been given by the user (step 506), and if the instruction has been given, makes an affirmative determination. By transmitting an instruction to the reception instruction unit 28, the proposed program is received (step 507).

If no instruction to receive the proposed program is given, a negative determination is made in step 506, and the program proposing section 30 transmits a program other than the proposed program (another program). It is determined whether or not an instruction to receive is given by the user (step 508). If no instruction to receive another program is given, step 508
Is negative, and the program proposal unit 30 returns to the above-described step 506, and repeats the processing after the determination as to whether or not an instruction to receive the proposed program has been given.

When an instruction to receive another program is given, an affirmative determination is made in step 508 described above, and the program proposal unit 30 sends an instruction to the reception instruction unit 28 to use it. The program corresponding to the user's operation instruction is received (step 509). FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example when suggesting reception of a program that has not been received. As shown in the figure, a character string such as "There is a recommended program!" Is displayed on the screen of the display unit 11, so that the user is notified that there is a program to be proposed for reception. Is done. Also, by displaying the channel number and the program name of the proposed program, the user is notified of the outline of the program. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the program 12 (the channel number is “Ch. 12” and the program name is “OOO”) or the program 20
(The channel number is “Ch.20” and the program name is “xxx.
× ”) or the like. Proposal is made to select one of the programs by moving the position of reverse display (represented by hatching in the figure) using the operation unit 10. You can do it.

As described above, in the receiver of the present embodiment, during the free trial period, the listening time of the program for each program type information is examined to analyze the tendency of the user to listen to the program. Is proposed at a predetermined timing, so that the user can know the existence of another favorite program without having to perform any complicated operation. Therefore, by listening to unreceived programs in accordance with this proposal, it is possible to prevent a bias in the preview contents of the programs within the free period.The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, when a user proposes another program having the same program type information in accordance with the user's tendency to listen to a program, whether or not to receive the program to be proposed is determined by the user. Although it has been determined based on the operation instruction, the program to be proposed may be automatically received. In this case, after the program to be proposed is extracted, the program suggestion unit 30 receives the program without asking the user for an operation instruction.
You can send the instructions to When the program to be proposed is automatically received, there is an advantage that the operation content can be further simplified and that the user can reliably listen to the program to be proposed. In this case, the fact that the program is being proposed is displayed on the screen of the display unit 11 so that the user can easily grasp that the program to be proposed is being automatically received. Is preferred.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the broadcast signal is digitized and transmitted has been described.
Basically, if the broadcast signal is in a form in accordance with the gist of the present invention, specifically, in a form in which program type information is associated with program information, a receiver for receiving various broadcasts Thus, the present invention can be applied.

Therefore, for example, the present invention is applied to a receiver such as an FM multiplex broadcast in which an audio signal is transmitted as an analog signal, and predetermined additional information including program type information is digitized and multiplexed and transmitted. be able to. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the description has been made by taking an example of an audio broadcast receiver. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is intended to receive various broadcasts including video such as BS digital broadcast and CS digital broadcast. The present invention can be similarly applied to the receiver of (1). In this case, the video signal reproduction system may be included in the configuration of the receiver in addition to the audio signal reproduction system.

The transmission form of the broadcast signal is not limited to the wireless system using radio waves, but may be a wired system.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, the tendency of a program frequently listened to by a user in a free period is analyzed, and reception of another program having the same program type information is performed at a predetermined timing. Therefore, the user can know the existence of another program that he / she likes without having to perform a complicated operation by himself / herself. Therefore, by listening to a program that has not been received in accordance with this proposal, it is possible to prevent a bias in the preview content of the program within the free period.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiver according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of program data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between program information and program type information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an analysis result regarding a listening time for each program type information;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation procedure of the receiver.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for analyzing a program listening time for each program type information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for analyzing a reception frequency.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure for setting a suggested timing of a program.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a proposed timing of a program set according to the analysis result of the reception frequency.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for suggesting reception of a program that has not been received.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example when suggesting reception of an unreceived program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 antenna 2 front end section (F / E) 3 signal demodulation section 4 program selection section 5 audio decoding section 9 control section 10 operation section 11 display section 20 program type information extraction section 22 reception state analysis section 24 analysis result storage section 26 clock 28 reception instruction unit 30 program suggestion unit 32 display processing unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means capable of selectively receiving any of a plurality of pieces of program information each corresponding to program type information during a free period, and monitoring a reception state of the program information by the receiving means. And
Program type information determining means for analyzing the content of the program type information corresponding to the received program information to determine the program type information corresponding to the program information having a high reception frequency; and determining the program type information. And a program proposal means for proposing reception of the unreceived program information corresponding to the program type information determined by the means. 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein display means for displaying the outline contents of one or a plurality of the program information proposed by the program proposal means, and one or a plurality of the outline contents displayed by the display means. An operation means capable of arbitrarily selecting any one of the program information. 3. The receiving means according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving instruction means for transmitting one or a plurality of program information receiving instructions proposed by said program suggesting means to said receiving means. Receiving the program information suggested by the program suggesting means in response to a reception instruction sent from the receiver. 4. The program suggesting means according to claim 1, wherein said program suggesting means makes said suggestion at a predetermined timing within said free period in consideration of a frequency of receiving said program information by said receiving means. Receiver.