WO2015110253A1

WO2015110253A1 - Method of generating a resource identifier, receiver, communication device and system

Info

Publication number: WO2015110253A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/000082
Authority: WO
Inventors: Arne BÖSS; Frank Pohlmann; Armin Mank; Rolf Noethlings
Original assignee: Sony Corporation; Sony Deutschland Gmbh
Priority date: 2014-01-21
Filing date: 2015-01-19
Publication date: 2015-07-30

Abstract

A method of generating a resource identifier related to broadcast content comprises receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content, and composing the resource identifier using the extracted first information.

Description

METHOD OF GENERATING A RESOURCE IDENTIFIER, RECEIVER, COMMUNICATION

DEVICE AND SYSTEM

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a method of generating a resource identifier, a receiver, a communication device and a system.

Communication systems, which offer a complementary use of television and internet, are becoming increasingly used. Due to this complementary use, TV program related additional information may be accessed. Further, social TV, game show voting, chats, quizzes and others may be performed, these additional applications being linked to a TV program that is currently watched.

Attempts are being made in order to further improve existing systems.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment, a method of generating a resource identifier related to broadcast content comprises receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content, and composing the resource identifier using the first information.

According to an embodiment, a receiver is configured to receive broadcast content. The receiver comprises a processor to receive first information descriptive of the broadcast content. The processor is further configured to compose a resource identifier using the first information.

According to a further embodiment, a receiver is configured to receive broadcast content. The receiver comprises a processor configured to receive information descriptive of the broadcast content. The processor is further configured to analyze the received information to extract first information, the first information being usable to compose a resource identifier using the first information.

According to an embodiment, a communication device is configured to be operated in combination with a receiver. The communication device comprises a receiving unit configured to receive information descriptive of broadcast content received by the receiver, a processor to analyze the received information to extract first information, and to compose a resource identifier using the extracted first information.

According to an embodiment, a computer program includes computer-program instructions which when executed on a data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform a method of generating a resource identifier related to broadcast content. The method comprises receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content, and composing the resource identifier using the first information.

According to an embodiment, a system comprises a receiver and the communication device as defined above.

The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of general introduction, and are not intended to limit the scope of the following claims. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1A illustrates an example of a communication system including elements according to embodiments;

Fig. 1 B illustrates a method of generating a resource identifier according to an embodiment;

Fig. 1C illustrates a further method of generating a resource identifier according to an embodiment;

Fig. 2 illustrates a television set implementing a receiver according to an embodiment;

Fig. 3A illustrates a communication device according to an embodiment in combination with a television set; Fig. 3B illustrates a communication device according to a further embodiment in combination with a television set;

Fig. 4 illustrates elements of a communication device according to a further embodiment; and

Fig. 5 illustrates a method of generating a resource identifier according to a further embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The described embodiments may be combined in an arbitrary manner. For example, elements of disclosed embodiments may be combined with elements of other embodiments.

Fig. 1A illustrates a communication system that may be used for viewing a special program or channel and, at the same time, retrieving additional applications that may be related to the broadcast content. In the context of the present specification, the term "channel" is intended to mean that what is conventionally understood by the user, e.g. BBC1 , ZDF, TV1 or Fox News which is termed as a service in the DVB environment. The term "program" or "event" should be understood as broadcast of a finite duration on a channel such as "Desperate Housewives" or "Tagesschau" or "Heute Journal".

The term "broadcast" is intended to mean any kind of broadcast, that may be transmitted by arbitrary methods. According to embodiments, the TV programs may be broadcast using digital or analog signals. The term "broadcast" relates to any kind of transmission of signals including video or audio signals. The channels do not only refer to television channels but also may refer to radio channels. In a corresponding manner, the programs may also refer to radio programs. In the following description, in which specific reference is made to a television apparatus or to a television receiver, it is clearly to be understood, that the television apparatus or television receiver may be replaced by a radio, a radio set assembly or an arbitrary kind of audio receiver.

The system illustrated in Fig. 1A comprises a receiver 100, a communication device 120 which may be connected via a network 130 to a server 140. The receiver 100 may be a commonly used television receiver including a display device 101 , and various components for processing incoming signals. The receiver 100 may further comprise one or more loudspeakers 102. The display device 101 may be integrated with the components for processing incoming signals. It is to be clearly understood that the components for processing incoming signals may be housed in special housing so as to form a set-top box or other processing device which is not integrated with the display device 10 .

Broadcast content is delivered via a broadcast signal (e.g. a broadcast television signal) 116 that may be transmitted by a broadcast station 115. The broadcast signal may be an analog or digital television broadcast signal, e.g. in accordance with a DVB, ATSC, ISDB, DMB, DAB or DRM standard. Accordingly, transmission of the broadcast signal may be realized by any of the generally known methods that are usually employed. The broadcast signal 116 may be received at the receiver 100 e.g. by an antenna 108 that transmits the broadcast signal 116 to a tuner 106. The tuner 106 may tune to channels and/or services transmitted by the broadcast signal 116, and may decode the channels. As is to be clearly understood, depending on the transmission mechanism of the broadcast signals, the broadcast signal may be received in a different manner, for example using a satellite dish or other devices as is commonly known.

The receiver 100 may further comprise components to process, to demodulate, and to decode the received signals. For example, the received broadcast signals 116 may be in the form of a transport stream as is common for received signals according to the MPEG2 or PEG4 standard. The receiver 100 may further comprise a demultiplexer 107 that may divide an input transport stream into a video transport packet, and an accompanying information packet which may, for example, comprise service information that is related to the currently received program. As a result of the processing of the broadcast signal received by the receiver, the broadcast content is reproduced.

A user who watches the program or the broadcast content on the display 101 , further uses a communication device 120. For example, the communication device 120 may comprise a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet computer, a laptop or any other suitable device that may be connected to the internet via a communication unit 121. The communication unit 121 may be a generally employed web browser, for example. The communication device 120 may comprise further components which will be explained later. The communication device 120 may communicate via a network 130, with a server 140, for example. The server 140 may, for example, be provided by a general internet service provider. The server 140 may deliver information upon entering a specific URL. Fig. 1B illustrates a method of generating a resource identifier according to an embodiment. A method of generating a resource identifier related to broadcast content comprises receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content (S110), and composing the resource identifier using the first information (S120). As will be further explained in the following, this method may be performed by the communication device 120, or may be performed by a receiver which will be explained with reference to Fig. 2.

The term "resource identifier" generally defines an address by which the respective resource may be located. For example, the resource identifier may be a URL (uniform resource location), a URI (uniform resource identifier) or a URN (uniform resource name). For example, the resource identifier may define an address in a network, in the world wide net or in any arbitrary environment.

According to an implementation, the broadcast content refers to a program on a certain channel that is currently received by the receiver 100, for example, Tagesschau (program) is watched on ARD (channel). The broadcast content may be represented by a broadcast signal. Components of this signal are analyzed by the communication device 120. For example, when broadcasting a signal 116 by a broadcast station 115, the broadcast station 115 transmits channel and/or program information with a transmitted signal. Accordingly, in this example, the receiver 100 knows the name of the currently selected channel. This information is, for example, displayed in channel selection menus, when operating the receiver. In this embodiment, the broadcast signal representing the broadcast content comprises the first information. According to an implementation, receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content may comprise analyzing a component of a broadcast signal representing the broadcast content to extract first information such as the channel information or the program information. For example, the first information may comprise or may be a first character string and the resource identifier may comprise or may be a second character string. The first information or the first character string may be different from the resource identifier or the second character string. According to an implementation, composing the resource identifier may comprise adding a prefix and/or a suffix to the first character string. For example, when the selected channel is "ARD", a resource identifier may be composed by adding "www." before the channel name and appending ".de" after the channel name. When the receiver also knows the name of the running program, for example "Sportschau", then more detailed web links such as "www.sportschau.de" or "www.ard.de/sportschau" can be generated. Still further, after extracting the first information, additional information may be retrieved from e.g. a database or a look-up table, when names of the channels do not map one to one to the name of the broadcasting station. For example, instead of "ARD" the character string "daserste" may be used for composing the resource identifier. In this case, a look-up table may include corresponding names of the channels or programs. According to this implementation, the generated resource identifier refers to the channel or the program that is watched.

According to an embodiment, the method of generating a resource identifier may be performed by the receiver 100, which then transmits the generated resource identifier via a transmitter 104 to the communication device 120. The receiving unit 126 of the communication device 120 receives the generated resource identifier. The communication unit 121 of the communication device 120 uses the resource identifier for accessing the corresponding website on the server 140. For example, when accessing the website on the server 140 additipnal information related to the channel or the program watched may be accessed.

For example, communication between the receiver 100 and the communication device 120 may be accomplished using wire based or wireless communication method. For example, the communication may be based on near field communication (NFC), Bluetooth communication, a UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) networking protocol, any further kind of transmission of an electromagnetical signal, such as an electrical voltage, radiowave, microwave, or infrared signal, mobile telephony, third-generation (3G) mobile phone system based on Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) specifications, or LTE ("Long Term Evolution") wireless communication standard and others which are commonly known. According to an implementation, the communication device 120 may be connected, for example, with a signal output of the receiver 100, for example, with the audio output. The transmitter 104 of the receiver 100 and the receiving unit 126 of the communication device 120 are adapted to the specific communication method employed. As is to be clearly understood, any other kind of communication between a communication device 120 and a receiver 100 may be employed.

According to a further embodiment, the channel and/or program information may be analyzed by analyzing meta data which is broadcast with the video data and the audio data. For example, the SI ("Service Information") data may be analyzed in order to extract the specification information. In case the broadcast signal 116 is a digital television signal, service information (SI) may be transmitted within broadcast signal 116, for example DVB-SI according to the DVB standard. The service information may include various data, such as network information, channel information, program information, time and date information and/or running status information descriptive of programs that are currently aired or that will start in the near future. Hence, according to this embodiment, the broadcast signal comprises the first information.

According to an implementation, the demultiplexer 107 of the television receiver may demultiplex the SI data from the incoming transport stream and may transmit this as the information via a transmitter 104 to the communication device 120. The receiving unit 126 of the communication device 120 may receive the service information. For example, the communication device may further comprise a processor 125 that is configured to analyze the service information.

When the first information is extracted from the SI data, the data indicating the name of the channel or the program that is watched may be extracted as the first information. For example, if certain bits within the SI data indicate the name of the channel or the program, these bits are extracted as the first information, e.g. as a bit code. For example, a look-up table or a database may be used in order to store the correspondence between certain bit codes and a channel name or a program name. Accordingly, after extracting the bit code, the channel and/or the program name may be determined using this look-up table or database. Then, using this channel and/or program name, a resource identifier may be composed in the manner as has been explained above.

Further, any kind of electronic program guide or navigation software such as EPG data may correspondingly be analyzed. Such electronic program guides are typically available for television and radio. The electronic program guides comprise a digitally displayed, non- interactive menu of Broadcast programming scheduling information which may be provided by a cable or satellite TV provider to its viewers on a dedicated channel. Generally, by tuning into an EPG channel, a menu is displayed that lists current and upcoming television programs on all available or on selected channels. Still further, teletext data may analyzed.

According to an implementation, EPG data or teletext data may be received by the processor 125 of the communication device. For analyzing this meta data, for example, a text analyzer including a semantic analyzer may be applied so as to extract the channel and/or program information included in the meta data. Thereafter, the processor may be configured to compose the resource identifier using the extracted first information. Alternatively, the bit codes corresponding to the channel and/or program information may be extracted. Using a look-up table or a database as has been described above, the channel and/or program names may be determined and used for composing the resource identifier. The first information that can be extracted from the meta data is not restricted to channel or program information. Any kind of information that the user might be interested in could be extracted. For example, when a news magazine or a documentary magazine show a specific person, a specific situation, or a specific location or others, often a subtitle indicating information relating this person, situation or location is displayed such as "Ms. X" or "Head of Firm Y", "Oktoberfest" or "Berlin". This first information may be extracted from components of the broadcast signal and resource identifiers such as "www.X.de", "www.Y.de", "www.Oktoberfest.de" or "www.Berlin.de" may be generated.

For example, in case of radio broadcast, additional information according to the radio data system or any other communication protocol may be used for accessing the name of the channel or the program that is currently listened to.

According to the embodiment described above, a character string representing the first information is extracted. The channel/program information transmitted from the broadcasting station 115 to the receiver 1 10 or included in the meta data may not include the character string representing the resource identifier.

This character string may be "directly" determined, e.g. using a speech or a text analysis device. Alternatively, the first information may include a number code or any other kind of information that unambiguously identifies the currently broadcast channel and/or program. According to an embodiment, using this number code or other kind of information, the character string representing the first information may be determined. The first information extracted from the broadcast signal component may be a character string such as "ARD" or "Sportschau".

The character string representing the first information does not correspond to a character string representing the resource identifier. Rather, the resource identifier is composed on the basis of the first information. In this context, the term "composing" relates to adding further parts or information to the first information. These further parts might be selected or created automatically (e.g. because the device or method knows the country, for example). According to a further embodiment, the further parts may be predetermined (e.g. by parameters set by the manufacturer, or by user input). According to a further interpretation, the term "composing" may comprise "translating" the extracted information into different information which then used as a part of the resource identifier instead of the first information. For example, the first information "ard" may be extracted and translated into "daserste", e.g. by means of look-up tables. According to a further embodiment, different pieces of first information may be used for composing the resource identifier. For example, a first piece of first information may relate to a channel name such as "ard", and a second piece of first information may relate to a program name such as "sportschau". The resource identifier may be composed by creating a character string including these two pieces of information. According to still a further embodiment, "composing" may mean that the character string representing the first information is entered into a search program. In response, the search program will output several proposals for resource identifier.

According to an embodiment, the resource identifier may be composed by attaching, for example, the prefix "www.", "https:" or any other commonly used prefix in front of the first information and the suffix ".de" or ".com" or any other suitable country code behind the character string representing the extracted first information. For example, the country code may be determined from a location of the receiver 100 or the communication device 120 which may be known from the settings of the receiver 100 or communication device 120. According to a further option, the receiver 100 or the communication device 120 may include a kind of device for assessing positional information such as a GPS (global positioning system) sensor or the like. According to another implementation, the country code may be assessed from the broadcast signal, for example, if the broadcast signal includes information about the language of the broadcast content and the language of the broadcast content is the language of the country corresponding to the country code. Still further, the country code may be assessed by analyzing the language of the broadcast content. This may be useful when the language of the broadcast content is the language of the country corresponding to the country code. According to a further example, the extracted character string may be input into a search program and the search results may be used. Generally speaking, the processor, e.g. being a component of the receiver 100 or of the communication device 120, may guess or suggest examples of resource identifiers. Then, the communication unit 121 for communicating with the server 140 may try these resource identifiers in order to access the corresponding web pages and determine whether these are web pages corresponding to the currently watched program or channel. This may be done automatically for verification purposes, and a selection may be presented to the user after the verification. In other embodiments, the system may compose a lot of different links, not only based on different additions, but also based on different extracted information. Finally, a selection, or all of the links may be presented to the user. According to a further option, only one link which was evaluated by some algorithm as the best one may be presented to the user. Further, user input, e.g. settings made at an earlier time or current input, may be used to discard/select links, and the system may learn using direct or indirect user feedback. According to a further embodiment, the received broadcast content is displayed on a display. In this embodiment, receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content may comprise capturing an image displayed on the display and analyzing the captured image. For example, the communication device 120 may comprise a camera 122 that may take a picture of the image displayed by the display 101. Using image recognition technologies, the logo of the watched TV channel may be detected from the displayed image and extracted as first information. According to a more general embodiment, a visual feature may be extracted as first information from a component (e.g. the video signal) of the broadcast signal. For example, such a visual feature may also be extracted by recognizing a certain person or a certain site in the broadcast content using generally known methods. Then, the name of the person or of the site may be extracted as the first information. According to an embodiment, recognition of the visual feature may be initiated by starting a corresponding program or pressing a corresponding (virtual) button.

According to a further embodiment, the broadcast content comprises audio data. In this embodiment, receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content may comprise extracting an audio fingerprint or an audio feature. For example, a specific sound or jingle may be associated with a specific channel or program. In more detail, the processor may include a sound recognition device that may detect the specific sound or jingle. For example, after optionally performing any kind of further processing of the detected sound or jingle, the processor may retrieve a corresponding identifier from a database which may be accessed by the processor. Thereafter, the processor may guess the name of the program or the channel that is currently watched or listened to. According to a further implementation, the processor may include a speech recognition device that may detect the speech or portions of the speech. For example, if the newscaster says "Hello, welcome to program xy", the speech recognition device may detect the name"xy" and extract "xy" as the first information. Then, the processor may generate a corresponding resource identifier from this extracted first information. According to a further approach, the processor may analyze the newscaster's voice and detect from his or her voice that he or she is the showmaster C of program WZ. In a similar manner, the processor may create a resource identifier using "WZ" or the showmaster's name "C" as the extracted first information. According to a further implementation, the audio fingerprint or audio feature may be sent to an external server, e.g. via the internet, to extract the first information. According to a further implementation, the recognition may be triggered by user, e. g. by starting a corresponding process and not by continuously listening. As has been explained above, according to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1A, the receiver 100 may comprise a processor 103 that is configured to receive first information descriptive of the broadcast content that is currently received. The processor 103 is further configured to compose a resource identifier using the first information. The receiver 100 further comprises a transmitter 104 to transmit the composed resource identifier to a communication device. According to a further embodiment, the receiver 105 may further comprise a web browser for accessing a website that corresponds to the composed resource identifier.

According to a further embodiment, the communication device 120 is configured to be operated in communication with a receiver 100. The communication device 120 comprises a receiving unit 126 configured to receive first information descriptive of the broadcast content from the receiver 100. For example, the receiving unit 126 of the communication device 120 may receive signal components from the receiver. The signal components are a component of broadcast data received by the receiver such as the SI information as has been explained above. The communication device 120 may further comprise a processor to analyze the signal components to extract first information. The processor 125 further is configured to compose a resource identifier using the extracted first information.

According to a further embodiment, a system comprises a receiver 100 and a communication device 20. The communication device 120 may be implemented in the manner as has been explained above. According to an embodiment, the receiver 100 may include a transmitter 104 that transmits the components of the broadcast content to the communication device 120. According to embodiments which will be explained with reference to Figs. 3A and 3B, the transmitter 104 may be a display transmitting video data or a loudspeaker transmitting audio data. According to these embodiments, the receiving unit 126 of the communication device 120 may be an image capturing device 322 or a sound receiving device 332.

According to a modification of the method shown in Fig. 1 B, the generated resource identifier may be transmitted to the communication device (S130), for example, in a case, in which the resource identifier is generated by the receiver.

According to an alternative embodiment, components of a broadcast signal representing the broadcast content are transmitted to the communication device before the components are analyzed (S110) to extract the first information and the resource identifier is composed (S120). The website which is retrieved using the generated resource identifier may be accessed (S140) and displayed on a display (S145). For example, a user may input (S160) a kind of acknowledgement in case the shown website is considered to match the shown channel or program. Thereafter, the generated resource identifier may be stored (S150) in connection with the channel and/or program that is broadcast. Using a database, the step of composing the resource identifier may be accelerated. According to a further embodiment, the visual feature or the audio fingerprint or audio feature may be stored in connection with the generated resource identifier.

Example 1

A user of a system including the receiver 100 and the communication device 120 as illustrated in Fig. 1A watches a certain television program, e.g. a documentary program, in which a certain location, e.g. the city of Dresden, is introduced by a person, e.g. the reporter XY. The receiver 100 and the communication device 120 are connected to the Internet. The user may select a specific item displayed on the display 101 , e.g. by actuating the communication device 120 that displays a mouse pointer, e.g. a cursor on the display 101. Upon selecting the specific item by the communication device 120, for example, a famous building shown or a specific person such as the reporter XY, the communication device may send a specific selection signal to the receiver 100 that uses the selection signal and extracts first information related to the selected item or person.

Due to the analysis of the SI information, the processor 103 of the receiver 100 "knows" that the present television program deals with the city of Dresden. Thereby, recognizing the selected building may be facilitated. From a pattern recognition method, the processor 103 may recognize that the building selected by the user is the Frauenkirche. Accordingly, the transmitter 104 of the receiver 100 may transmit the character string "Frauenkirche" to the receiving unit 126 of the communication device 120. According to a further implementation, the processor 103 may generate a plurality of character strings such as "Frauenkirche", "Frauenkirche Dresden", "Cathedral", "Florence Cathedral" or "dome" and others. The transmitter 104 may send this plurality of character strings to the communication device 120. The communication device 120 may receive this plurality of character strings and may display these character strings as a list on a display 124 of the communication device 120. The user may select one or more of these character strings. For example, this selection may refine the analysis result. Alternatively, this selection may be based on the user's current interest. For example, the user may select "Frauenkirche Dresden" to refine the analysis result or may select "dome" since he is currently interested in getting more knowledge about the architectural aspects of domes.

According to a further implementation, when starting the analysis and extraction procedure, the user may select a category what he or she is particularly interested in. Examples of categories may be "Famous Buildings", "Architecture", "Cities", "Animals", "People", "Shopping", "Holiday Destination" and others. When the user has selected an item or a person, the display 124 of the communication device 120 may show a character string matching to the category selected by the user. E.g. returning to the above example, when the user has selected "Architecture", the character strings "Frauenkirche", "dome", "sandstone" or "George Baehr" may be displayed, whereas, when the category "Cities" has been selected, the character strings "Dresden", "Frauenkirche Dresden", and "Semperoper" may be displayed. Accordingly, by performing a selection of the category, the context of the extracted first information may be determined. Filtering the extracted first information in accordance with the selected category may be performed at the receiver 100 or at the communication device 120. Due to the above-described selection, computational time may be saved. When the extracted first information is filtered at the receiver 100, additionally transmission bandwidth between the receiver 100 and the communication device 120 may be saved.

Following the selection, the processor 125 of the communication device 120 may compose a resource identifier using one of the methods explained above, for example. According to an implementation, the display 124 of the communication device 120 may display a website corresponding to the composed resource identifier. If the website does not match with the selected item or person, the user may actuate a corresponding button or function on the communication device, and the processor 125 may compose a resource identifier using a different method, until a matching website has been displayed.

According to an alternative implementation, the transmitting unit 123 of the communication device 120 may transmit the selected character string to the receiver 100 that receives the selected character string and composes a resource identifier in the manner as has been described above. The receiver sends the character string representing the composed resource identifier back to the communication device 120 which may retrieve a website using the resource identifier. According to a further implementation, the receiver 100 may compose a plurality of character strings corresponding to the character string corresponding to the first information using different methods of composing the resource identifier. This plurality may be transmitted to the communication device 120, where the corresponding websites are retrieved. According to a further modification, in case a category is selected by the user, the composed resource identifiers may be selected so as to match to the selected category. For example, when the user has selected the category "Shopping", a resource identifier will be composed that is different from the resource identifier that will be composed when the user has selected the category "Architecture". The selection of the resource identifier so as to match to the selected category may be performed at the receiver 100 or at the communication device 120.

Fig. 1C illustrates a general method according to this embodiment. As is illustrated, a method of generating a resource identifier related to displayed content may comprise selecting an item from the content displayed on a display (S 210), receiving a character string representing first information descriptive of the item (S 220), and composing the resource identifier using the received character string (S 230). According to an embodiment, these methods may be performed by the receiver 100 alone or by the communication device 120 alone. According to a further implementation, this method may be performed by a system including the receiver 100 and the communication device 120. For example, some of these methods may be performed by the receiver 100 and others of these methods may be performed by the communication device 120. Optionally, the method may comprise filtering obtained results in accordance with a user's preferences. For example, filtering (S 215) may be performed before receiving the character string, e.g. at the receiver. According to further example, filtering (S 225) may be performed before composing the resource identifier, e.g. at the communication device 120. According to a further implementation, filtering the composed resource identifiers (S235) may be performed after composing the resource identifier, e.g. at the receiver 100 or at the communication device 120.

Example 2

A system includes the receiver 100 and the communication device 120 as illustrated in Fig. A. Differing from Example 1 , the communication device 120 has an increased functionality. For example, as long as the method of generating a resource identifier is not performed, the user may watch a sketchy copy of the television program displayed by the receiver. The communication device may further comprise a graphical user interface, for example, a touchscreen. The receiver 100 and the communication device 120 are connected to the Internet. The user may select a specific item displayed on the display 101 , e.g. by actuating the touchscreen. Upon selecting the specific item by the communication device 120, for example, a famous building shown or a specific person such as the reporter XY, the communication device 120 may extract first information related to the selected item or person in a similar manner as has been described above in Example 1.

Character strings may be assigned to the selected item or person and the plurality of character strings may be displayed as a list on a display 124 of the communication device 120. The user may select one or more of these character strings. For example, this selection may refine the analysis result. Alternatively, this selection may be based on the user's current interest. For example, the user may select "Frauenkirche Dresden" to refine the analysis result or may select "dome" since he is currently interested in getting more knowledge about the architectural aspects of domes.

According to a further implementation, when starting the analysis and extraction procedure, the user may select a category what he or she is interested about. Accordingly, by performing a selection of the category, the context of the extracted first information may be determined in a similar manner as has been described above. Filtering the extracted first information in accordance with the selected category may be at the communication device 120.

According to a further modification, in case a category is selected by the user, the composed resource identifiers may be selected so as to match to the selected category, in a similar manner as has been described above. The selection of the resource identifier so as to match to the selected category may be performed at the receiver 100 or at the communication device 120.

As has been discussed above, according to an embodiment, a resource identifier may be easily composed without the need of accessing external databases and without the need that the resource identifier is broadcast by the broadcast station. Accordingly, the method may be implemented in an easy manner without the need of correspondingly adapting the broadcast signals or providing external services. Fig. 2 illustrates an example of a receiver 200, e.g. a television receiver, that may perform the method that has been explained above with reference to Fig. 1 B. For example, a receiver 200 may comprise a first display 210 and, optionally, a second display 215. For example, the second display 215 may display a web page assigned to the composed resource identifier. As is to be clearly understood, the second display 215 may be dispensed with. For example, the generated resource identifier or the corresponding web may be displayed on the first display or in a certain window or portion of the first display 210. The receiver 200 further comprises components which have been explained with reference to Fig. 1A. For example, the receiver may comprise a tuner 206 and a demultiplexer 207 having the same functionality as the tuner 106 and the demultiplexer 107 shown in Fig. 1A. The receiver 200 further may comprise a processor 203 that is configured to receive first information descriptive of the broadcast content. For example, the processor 203 may analyze signal components representing the broadcast content that is received by the receiver to extract the first information in the manner as has been explained above with reference to Figs. 1 B and 1A. The processor 203 is further configured to compose a resource identifier using the extracted first information. The receiver 200 further comprises a communication device 204 such as a web browser in order to access the website corresponding to the composed resource identifier. Moreover, the receiver 200 may comprise a memory 205 for storing a look-up table or a database, which may store the correspondence between channel and/or programs and the composed resource identifiers. The receiver 200 according to this embodiment may also be implemented by any kind of communication device, such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet computer, a laptop, a computer and others.

Figs. 3A and 3B illustrate a communication device 320 according to a further embodiment that may be used in combination with a receiver which does not support the method according to an embodiment. According to this embodiment, the receiving unit of the communication device 320 is configured to receive an analog signal that is a component of the broadcast signal. The receiving unit may be implemented as a camera 322 or as a sound receiving device 332 such as a microphone. The processor 325, 335 is configured to extract the first information by analyzing the received analog signal. As is to be clearly understood, the communication device 320 may also be used in combination with a receiver that supports the method according to an embodiment.

For example, the receiver 300 may be an old-fashioned television set including operating buttons 310 without special components to process the input information. When watching a television program on such a receiver 300, often a logo of the channel or the program such as "ARD" or "Tagesschau" is displayed on a portion of the display. Such a logo may be an example of a visual feature 305. Further examples may be a special color code or any kind of visual perceptive identifier which may be unique to the currently watched channel or program.

The communication device 320 shown in Fig. 3A may comprise a camera 322 for taking a photograph of the display. The communication device 320 further comprises a processor 325 that may analyze a captured image to receive first information descriptive of the broadcast content. The processor 325 further is configured to compose a resource identifier from the first information. For example, the communication device 320 may include a character recognition device 326, e.g. including a graphics to text converter that may supply a machine readable text from the taken photograph. When the processor 325 analyzes the machine readable text, the name of the channel or the program may be identified and used for composing the resource identifier. According to a further embodiment, teletext, EPG information, subtitles may be included in the visual feature and using the character recognition device 326, the text included in the teletext may be analyzed to provide the name of the program or the channel. In a similar manner as has been discussed above, the first information is not restricted to the name of the program or the channel. The first information may relate to any kind of information that may be of interest to the user. For example, this first information may be extracted by reading the subtitles of the images shown in the display.

The communication device further may comprise a communication unit such as a web browser 321 for accessing the internet and a memory 324 that may store a look-up table including for example, names of the programs or channels and the corresponding resource identifiers.

The communication device 330 of Fig. 3B may comprise a sound receiving device 332 such as a microphone for receiving audio data played by the receiver. The communication device 330 further comprises a processor 335 that may analyze a received sound to receive the first information descriptive of the broadcast content, for example an audio fingerprint or an audio feature. The processor 335 further is configured to compose a resource identifier from the first information. For example, the communication device 330 may include a sound recognition device 336, in order to detect a certain jingle, the voice of a showmaster or any other kind of audio fingerprint or audio feature as has been explained above. In more detail, the sound recognition device 336 may perform a spectral analysis of the received sound. The processor 335 is configured to extract the audio fingerprint or audio feature and to determine the name of the channel or the program based on this audio fingerprint or audio feature. Alternatively, the communication device 330 may include a speech recognition device 337 that may identify, for example, the name of the program and/or the channel from the speech. The correspondingly extracted first information may be used for composing the resource identifier.

The communication device 330 further may comprise a communication unit such as a web browser 331 for accessing the internet and a memory 334 that may store a look-up table including for example, names of the programs or channels and the corresponding resource identifiers.

Fig. 4 illustrates a communication device 420 according to a further embodiment that may be used, for example, in a case, when a consumer sees items having any kind of visual features 412. In a similar manner as has been explained with reference to Fig. 3, such a visual feature 412 may be trademark of a product or a brand name of a product such as "Superski" or a "S" having a specific shape. In such a case, a communication device 420 including a camera 422 may take a photograph of the item 410. The communication device further may include a character recognition device 426, for example, including a graphics to text converter which recognizes the name "Superski". Accordingly, the character recognition device 426 or the processor 425 of the communication device 420 analyzes the received data to extract first information. Then, the processor 425 of the communication device 420 may be configured to generate a resource identifier using this extracted first information. The communication unit 421 may access a website using this resource identifier. Accordingly, a consumer in a shop may quickly access the website of the Superski and may view additional information regarding this item 410. Further, the specific mark "S" having the special shape may as well be analyzed in order to extract the first information and compose the resource identifier. Also according to this embodiment, the receiving unit of the communication device 420 is configured to receive an analog signal. The receiving unit that receives the analog signal is implemented as a camera 422. The processor 425 is configured to extract the first information by analyzing the received analog signal.

Also according to this embodiment, it is possible to perform a pre-selection of first information by selecting a category. For example, the user may use the category "Sports" or "Shopping" when viewing the set of skis illustrated in Fig. 4. According to a further embodiment, the user may select the category "Animal" when viewing an animal that the user wants to get more information about.

Fig. 5 illustrates a method of generating a resource identifier related to received data. The method comprising analyzing the received data to extract first information (S510) and composing the resource identifier (S520) using the first information. According to an embodiment, the received data may be analog signal components.

Thus, the foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting of the scope of the disclosure, as well as other claims. The disclosure, including any readily discernible variants of the teachings herein, define, in part, the scope of the foregoing claim terminology such that no inventive subject matter is dedicated to the public.

Further embodiments are reflected by the following itemized list:

Item 1. A method of generating a resource identifier related to broadcast content comprising: receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content; and

composing the resource identifier using the first information.

Item 2. The method according to item 1 , wherein a broadcast signal representing the broadcast content comprises the first information.

Item 3. The method according to item 1 or 2, wherein the first information comprises a first character string and the resource identifier comprises a second character string, the first information being different from the resource identifier.

Item 4. The method according to item 2 or 3, wherein composing the resource identifier comprises transforming the first character string into the second character string, using a database, a look-up table or a search method having the first character string as an input.

Item 5. The method according to any of items 1 to 4, wherein the broadcast content is transmitted using a data stream including channel and/or program information, and the first information comprises the channel and/or program information.

Item 6. The method according to any of items 1 to 5, wherein the broadcast content is transmitted using a broadcast signal comprising meta data, and the first information is channel and/or program information extracted from the meta data. Item 7. The method according to any of items 1 to 6, wherein the broadcast content comprises video data, the first information is a visual feature, and composing the resource identifier comprises assigning a character string to the visual feature.

Item 8. The method according to any of items 1 to 7, wherein the broadcast content is displayed on a display, and receiving the first information comprises capturing an image displayed on the display and analyzing the captured image.

Item 9. The method according to any of items 1 to 8, wherein the broadcast content comprises audio data, the first information is an audio fingerprint and composing the resource identifier comprises assigning a character string to the audio fingerprint.

Item 10. The method according to any of items 1 to 9, wherein the broadcast content is reproduced as sound, and receiving the first information comprises receiving the reproduced sound, and analyzing the received sound.

Item 11. The method according to any of items 1 to 10, further comprising selecting an item before receiving the first information, wherein the first information is related to the item.

Item 12. A receiver, configured to receive broadcast content, the receiver comprising: a processor to receive first information descriptive of the broadcast content, the processor being further configured to compose a resource identifier using the first information.

Item 13. The receiver according to item 12, further comprising a transmitter to transmit the composed resource identifier to a communication device.

Item 14. A receiver, configured to receive broadcast content, the receiver comprising: a processor configured to receive information descriptive of the broadcast content, the processor being further configured to analyze the received information to extract first information, the first information being usable to compose a resource identifier using the first information.

Item 15. A communication device configured to be operated in combination with a receiver, the communication device comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive information descriptive of broadcast content received by the receiver, a processor to analyze the received information to extract first information, and to compose a resource identifier using the extracted first information.

Item 16. The communication device according to item 15, wherein the receiving unit comprises an image capturing device to capture an image displayed by the receiver as the broadcast content, and

the processor is configured to analyze the captured image to extract the first information.

Item 17. The communication device according to item 15 or 16, wherein the receiving unit comprises a microphone to receive a sound reproduced by the receiver, and

the processor is configured to analyze the received sound to extract the first information.

Item 18. A computer program including computer-program instructions which when executed on a data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform a method of generating a resource identifier related to broadcast content comprising:

receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content; and

composing the resource identifier using the first information.

Item 19. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium including the computer program according to item 18.

Item 20. A system comprising:

a receiver; and

the communication device according to any of items 15 to 17.

Item 21. A method of generating a resource identifier related to received data, comprising:

analyzing components of a signal representing the received data to extract first information; and

composing the resource identifier using the first information.

Item 22. The method according to item 21 , wherein the components of the signal are analog signal components.

Item 23. The method according to item 3, wherein composing the resource identifier comprises adding a prefix and/or a suffix to the first character string.

Claims

1. A method of generating a resource identifier related to broadcast content comprising: receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content; and

composing the resource identifier using the first information.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a broadcast signal representing the broadcast content comprises the first information.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first information comprises a first character string and the resource identifier comprises a second character string, the first information being different from the resource identifier.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein composing the resource identifier comprises transforming the first character string into the second character string, using a database, a look-up table or a search method having the first character string as an input.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the broadcast content is transmitted using a data stream including channel and/or program information, and the first information comprises the channel and/or program information.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the broadcast content is transmitted using a broadcast signal comprising meta data, and the first information is channel and/or program information extracted from the meta data.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the broadcast content comprises video data, the first information is a visual feature, and composing the resource identifier comprises assigning a character string to the visual feature.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the broadcast content is displayed on a display, and receiving the first information comprises capturing an image displayed on the display and analyzing the captured image.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the broadcast content comprises audio data, the first information is an audio fingerprint and composing the resource identifier comprises assigning a character string to the audio fingerprint.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the broadcast content is reproduced as sound, and receiving the first information comprises receiving the reproduced sound, and analyzing the received sound.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising selecting an item before receiving the first information, wherein the first information is related to the item.

12. A receiver, configured to receive broadcast content, the receiver comprising:

a processor to receive first information descriptive of the broadcast content, the processor being further configured to compose a resource identifier using the first information.

13. The receiver according to claim 12, further comprising a transmitter to transmit the composed resource identifier to a communication device.

14. A receiver, configured to receive broadcast content, the receiver comprising:

a processor configured to receive information descriptive of the broadcast content, the processor being further configured to analyze the received information to extract first information, the first information being usable to compose a resource identifier using the first information.

15. A communication device configured to be operated in combination with a receiver, the communication device comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive information descriptive of broadcast content received by the receiver,

a processor to analyze the received information to extract first information, and to compose a resource identifier using the extracted first information.

16. The communication device according to claim 15, wherein the receiving unit comprises an image capturing device to capture an image displayed by the receiver as the broadcast content, and

17. The communication device according to claim 15, wherein the receiving unit comprises a microphone to receive a sound reproduced by the receiver, and

18. A computer program including computer-program instructions which when executed on a data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform a method of generating a resource identifier related to broadcast content comprising:

receiving first information descriptive of the broadcast content; and

composing the resource identifier using the first information.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium including the computer program according to claim 18.

20. A system comprising:

a receiver; and

the communication device according to claim 15.