JPH11186978A - Information processor, its method and serving medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To relieve the load of a broadcast enterprise, when adding event detail information to an electronic program guide(EPG) and storing the resulting guide. SOLUTION: A broadcast enterprise receives a program source via a program source reception terminal 45-1 and provides a source identification code to the source and registers the resulting source to a broadcast data processing system(BDPS) server 43. The broadcast enterprise receives source detail information of the program source via the program source reception terminal 45-1 and provides the source ID to the information and registers the result to the BDPS server 43. The broadcast enterprise uses any one of resource detailed information for event detail information of an event, when the event is decided. The broadcast enterprise uses the source ID of resources which is selected as the event detailed information as a representative resource ID and registers it to the BDPS server 43, as soon as the event is registered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a providing medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for registering a broadcast program material, and by inputting corresponding detailed information at the same time. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a providing medium that can manage and operate the information processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experrts Group)
Phase 2) is, for example, HDTV (High Definion Television)
Has been adopted as an encoding method for digital television broadcasting represented by Digital television broadcasting can have more channels than analog television broadcasting. As a result, not only can the cost per channel be reduced, but also not only video and audio but also various types of data broadcasting, etc. Enable service.

For example, regarding satellite broadcasting, in North America Di
Digital broadcasts using MPEG2 are becoming more and more popular, with some plans being implemented, including recTv and PerfecTv and JSkyB in the country.

[0004] In the above satellite broadcasting, multi-channel broadcasting exceeding 100 channels is also possible. As the number of programs increases, the operation of selecting a desired program from the programs becomes complicated. So we support the selection of programs
It has been proposed to transmit EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information from a program provider to a viewer.

[0005] In addition to the main program, an event includes a commercial message (CM) attached before and after the main program frame. As information accompanying the program,
When the data is converted into data as EPG information (program guide) and detailed event information (detailed information such as a synopsis of a program) and provided to a viewer, the receiving apparatus receives the EPG information and detailed event information when receiving the data. By extracting the program title (EPG information), the broadcast time of the program (EPG information), and the synopsis of the program (detailed event information)
Is displayed on the display screen, and a desired program can be quickly and reliably selected.

[0006] The event detailed information includes detailed information for an event (program) of several hundred characters (generally 200 to 40 characters).
(0 characters), and is an effective means of knowing on a screen the outline of a program or the like that was obtained only in newspapers and TV guide magazines in terrestrial broadcasting.

[0007]

By the way, unless a program (event) to be broadcast is determined, detailed event information corresponding to the event cannot be determined.
Therefore, the event detailed information contains various program materials and commercials (Com
A merchant message (mercial message) information is received, a program is organized, and a broadcasting company (sending side) for broadcasting prepares the program. If the length of the event (program) is one hour, there are 24 event detailed information per day, and if the length of the event is 5 minutes, the number of event detailed information to be transmitted per day is Will be considerable.

Further, in a multi-channel broadcast having more than 100 channels, the number of events handled per day becomes enormous. If the detailed event information is input for each of these huge events, not only is a great deal of work required, but also the work becomes complicated, and this input work places a heavy burden on the broadcaster. I have.

That is, in multi-channel digital broadcasting, how to efficiently input, manage, and operate EPG information is an important factor.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in particular, it is possible to input detailed information of a program material together with registration of the program material, and use the information as event detailed information. By doing so, it becomes possible to eliminate the necessity of inputting event detailed information for each of a huge number of events as an EPG after programming.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: an accepting unit for accepting a broadcast program material;
Registration means for registering the broadcast program material accepted by the accepting means; input means for inputting detailed information of the broadcast program material accepted by the accepting means; It is characterized by comprising registration control means for registering in the registration means corresponding to the program material, and setting means for setting detailed information registered in the registration means as event detailed information.

[0012] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method for receiving a broadcast program material, a registration step for registering the broadcast program material accepted in the accepting step, and a broadcast program material accepted in the accept step. An input step of inputting detailed information of the event, a registration control step of registering the detailed information input in the input step in correspondence with the broadcast program material from which the information is based, Setting step for setting as detailed information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving medium for receiving a broadcast program material, a registration step for registering the broadcast program material accepted in the receiving step,
An input step of inputting detailed information of the broadcast program material accepted in the receiving step, a registration control step of registering the detailed information input in the input step in correspondence with the original broadcast program material, and a registration control step And a setting step of setting the detailed information registered in (1) as event detailed information.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 and claim 2.
In the information processing method described in the item (1) and the providing medium described in the item (3), the broadcast program material is accepted, the accepted broadcast program material is registered, and detailed information of the accepted broadcast program material is input. The detailed information provided
The registered detailed information is registered corresponding to the source broadcast program material, and the registered detailed information is set as event detailed information.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In order to clarify the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments, each means is described. When the features of the present invention are described by adding the corresponding embodiment (however, an example) in parentheses after the parentheses, the result is as follows. However, of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to those described.

That is, the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a receiving means for receiving a broadcast program material (for example,
A program material receiving terminal 45 shown in FIG. 2 and a registration unit (for example, a registration unit for registering the broadcast program material accepted by the receiving unit)
The BDPS server 43 in FIG. 2), input means (for example, the program material receiving terminal 45 in FIG. 2) for inputting detailed information of the broadcast program material received by the receiving means, and the detailed information input by the input means Registration control means (eg,
It is characterized by comprising a composition input terminal 46 in FIG. 2) and setting means (for example, step S7 in FIG. 5) for setting detailed information registered in the registration means as event detailed information.

Hereinafter, an information transmission system including an information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. In this specification, the term “system” refers to an entire apparatus or an entire apparatus including a plurality of apparatuses.

Program material receiving terminals 45-1 to 45-3
Performs an accepting process on the video tapes 21-1 to 21-3 on which images and sounds serving as program materials are recorded. The registration devices 41-1 to 41-3 register and manage program materials input from the video tapes 21-1 to 21-3 via the program material receiving terminals 45-1 to 45-3,
Based on the information, event detailed information is generated and output to the database 12. The database 12 stores the registration device 41
The detailed event information supplied from -1 to 41-3 is accumulated. Note that among the registration devices 41-1 to 41-3,
For example, the registration device 41-1 is NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), the registration device 41-2 is Fuji TV, and the registration device 41-3 is TBS.
(Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation) (both are trademarks) are supported by each program supply company.

The generation timing management section 15 generates a predetermined timing signal and outputs it to the EPG table generation section 13. The EPG table generator 13 generates an EPG table from the data stored in the database 12 under the control of a predetermined timing signal from the generation timing manager 15 and outputs the EPG table to a TS (Transport Stream) packetizer 14. I do. The EPG transmission controller 16 supplies the EPG data supplied from the TS packetizer 14 to the encoder and multiplexer 10. Also, the registration device 41-1
To 41-3 are encoder and multiplexer 10
Then, the video and audio (information of the main part) of each event are output.

The encoder and multiplexer 10
The video signal and the audio signal from the registration devices 41-1 to 41-3 are input from the input terminal of each channel of the video 1 to 3 and the input terminal of each channel of the audio 1 to 3, and for each channel, After encoding in the MPEG2 system, the data is multiplexed and output to the modulator 11.

The modulator 11 converts the stream supplied from the encoder and multiplexer 10 into an FEC (Forw
ard Error Collection) and QPSK
(Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Keying) modulation and output to the output amplifier 17. The output amplifier 17 amplifies the modulated signal supplied from the modulator 11 and outputs the amplified signal to the satellite via the transmission antenna 18.

FIG. 2 shows the registration device 41-1 (41-) of FIG.
2 and 41-3 are the same). FIG. The registration device 41-1 is provided for processing a signal provided by one predetermined program supply company. Upon receiving the provision of the tape 21-1 from the program supply company, the broadcaster transfers the tape 21-1 to the program material receiving terminal 4.
5-1, read the material such as program material and promotion material recorded in it, and read the BDPS (Broadca
(st Data Processing System) server 43 for registration. At this time, each material has a material ID (Identtificati
on Code). The broadcaster is the BDPS server 43
The detailed material information is input to a predetermined one of the materials registered in the BDPS server 43, and is linked to the above-described material ID and registered in the BDPS server 43.

This material detailed information introduces the contents of the material in hundreds of characters, and is prepared by a program supplier.
It can be used as it is.

As described above, the material ID is linked to the material and its detailed information.

The organizer of the broadcaster operates the organization input terminal 46.
To select an event (a material to be actually broadcast among the materials) from the materials of the program materials and the promotion materials registered in the BDPS server 43, and create a composition table.

A common DB (Data Base) server 44 centrally manages common promotion materials and commercial message materials that can be used in common by services of any program supply company. When creating a composition table,
In addition to the material for each program supply company, a common promotion material or a commercial message material held in the common DB server 44 is appropriately combined and used. The created composition table, material detailed information, and other information necessary for creating EPG (program guide) and event detailed information are sent to an NMD (Network Management Database) 48 of the database 12 and held.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of the event detailed information. In this example, the content of the event (program) having the title of “Heigata Heiji” is 200 to 400 characters,
"This program is a 60-minute historical drama program set in the Edo era. Heiji Heiji, the main character, solves a case that occurs in Edo ...."

Next, the ID will be described with reference to FIG. The event frame is defined by adding CMs attached before and after the main program frame in addition to the main program frame. For example,
As shown on the left side of the figure, as an event frame of a program (event) titled “Sengata Heiji”, 20:00:
Assume that a frame from 00 to 20:58:00 is taken. This event slot, as shown in the center broadcast program slot in the figure,
It is composed of a night spot CM frame 1, a “Sengata Heiji” program frame (frame of the main part), a night spot CM frame 2, and a weather forecast program frame. An event ID is assigned to the event frame to identify this. For example, as shown on the left side of the figure,
The event ID of the event frame of “Heigata Heiji” is “001”
It is. The event ID is linked to rough information (for example, title) of the event.

A broadcast program frame is given to each program such as a commercial and a main program constituting an event, and a program ID is given to each broadcast program frame (program). For example, as shown in the center of the figure, the program ID of “night spot CM frame 1” is “10011”, the program ID of “Sengata Heiji” of the main program is “10012”, and the program of “night spot CM frame 2”. The ID is “10013”, and the program ID of the “weather forecast program frame” is “10014”.

Each broadcast program frame is composed of a predetermined number of broadcast formats. Each broadcast format is assigned a format ID, a format code, and a format number. For example, as shown on the right side of the figure, the format ID, format code, and format number of the broadcast format corresponding to “Night Spot CM Frame 1” are (F00001 + CC01).

As described above, the material detailed information corresponding to the material is linked by the material ID. In the example at the center of FIG. 4, the material ID of the “Sengata Heiji” program frame is “0010020”.
030 ". Also, the material ID of the weather forecast program frame is
“0040050060”. The organizer selects a program that is considered to be representative of the event from the programs that make up the event frame (usually the main program)
Is selected as the representative program of the event. Then, the material ID of the representative program is set as the representative material ID of the event. For example, when the program of the “Sengata Heiji” program frame is selected, the material ID is registered in the BDPS server 43 as the representative material ID.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the BDPS server 43 for registering detailed event information. The organizer determines an event frame in step S1 and inputs the event frame to the BDPS server 43 via the formation input terminal 46. In step S2, the BDPS server 43 adds and registers an event ID to the event frame. The organizer determines the broadcast program frame in the event frame in step S3, and through the formation input terminal 46,
Input to the BDPS server 43. The organizer further inputs the material to be inserted into the broadcast program frame in the event frame to the BDPS server 43 via the schedule input terminal 46 in step S4. In step S5, the BDPS server 43 assigns a corresponding program ID to the material of the broadcast program frame in the event frame and registers it.

In step S6, the organizer determines whether there is appropriate material detailed information as event detailed information. If it is determined that there is appropriate material detailed information, the process proceeds to step S7, and the organizer selects the material ID of the material having the material detailed information as the representative material ID, and the BDPS server 4
Register to 3. If it is determined that there is no appropriate material detailed information, the process proceeds to step S8, and the knitting person enters the knitting input terminal 4
6 or through the program material receiving terminal 45, the user directly inputs appropriate event detailed information corresponding to the event. That is, the processing in this case is the same as in the conventional case. In step S9, the organizer assigns a dummy material ID to be used as the representative material ID to this event detailed information, and registers it in the BDPS server 43.

The relationship between the material ID and the program ID registered in step S5 will be described below with reference to FIG. When the material of each broadcast program frame constituting the event is determined, the organizer assigns a program ID to each broadcast program frame via the formation input terminal 46 and registers the program ID in the BDPS server 43. In the case of the example of FIG. 4, the four program IDs “10011” to “10014” are assigned as shown in FIG. These four program IDs are events of "001"
Corresponds to ID.

The program ID is linked with the material ID at the time of registration. For example, in the example of FIG. 4, a program ID (= 1001
When 2) is registered, this includes the corresponding material ID (=
0010020030).

By the way, as described above, the material ID includes
The detailed material information of the corresponding material is linked. Accordingly, by linking the event ID and the material ID (representative material ID), the material detailed information of the material corresponding to the material ID is registered as the event detailed information.

However, in some cases, it is difficult to determine a representative material ID because material suitable for event detailed information is not found in the detailed material information.
In this case, the knitting person performs the processing of steps S8 and S9 described above.

The above-described embodiment can be applied to a case where the transmission path is not limited to a satellite but is another transmission path such as a terrestrial wave, an optical cable, and a coaxial cable.

Further, as a providing medium for providing a user with a computer program for performing the above-described processing,
In addition to recording media such as magnetic disks, CD-ROMs, and solid-state memories, communication media such as networks and satellites can be used.

[0040]

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the information processing method according to the second aspect, and the providing medium according to the third aspect, when a broadcast program material is received. , Enter the details of the accepted broadcast program material,
Since a predetermined one is selected from among them and set as the event detailed information, it is necessary to input the event detailed information every time a program is organized for each huge event. The burden on the broadcaster can be reduced. The information processing apparatus of the present invention is particularly suitable for NVOD (N
This is effective when the same material is used many times in ear video on demand (service). In addition, the organizer can easily confirm the detailed event information for each program material, and the efficiency of the knitting work can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an embodiment of an information transmission system including an information processing apparatus to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a registration device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of event detailed information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an ID.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of registering detailed event information of the BDPS server 43 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation of registering detailed event information of the BDPS server 43 of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 encoder and multiplexer, 11 modulator, 12 database, 13 EPG table generation unit, 14 TS packetization unit, 15 generation timing management unit, 16 EPG transmission controller, 17
Output amplifier, 18 transmitting antenna, 21-1 to 21-21
-3 video tape, 41-1 to 41-3 registration device, 43 BDPS server, 44 common DB server, 4
5-1 to 45-3 program material receiving terminal, 46 organization input terminal, 48 NMD

Claims (3)

[Claims] A receiving unit for receiving a broadcast program material; a registration unit for registering the broadcast program material accepted by the accepting unit; and inputting detailed information of the broadcast program material accepted by the accepting unit. Input means for performing registration; registration control means for registering the detailed information input by the input means with the registration means in association with the broadcast program material from which the detailed information is input; and the details registered in the registration means. An information processing apparatus comprising: setting means for setting information as event detailed information. 2. An accepting step of accepting broadcast program material; a registration step of registering the broadcast program material accepted in the accepting step; and inputting detailed information of the broadcast program material accepted in the accepting step. An input step, a registration control step of registering the detailed information input in the input step in association with the broadcast program material from which the detailed information is input, and the detailed information registered in the registration control step as an event. A setting step for setting as detailed information. 3. An accepting step of receiving broadcast program material, a registration step of registering the broadcast program material accepted in the accepting step, and inputting detailed information of the broadcast program material accepted in the accepting step. An input step, a registration control step of registering the detailed information input in the input step in association with the broadcast program material from which the detailed information is input, and the detailed information registered in the registration control step as an event. A providing medium for providing a computer program comprising a setting step of setting as detailed information.