JP2002501343A - Video program guide apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] An apparatus for selecting a program to be viewed and a method related thereto are described. A plurality of programs and associated program information are received from a remote signal source. One program is first selected from the plurality of programs in response to a user input. The user inputs rating information for the selected program for each region. Next, another program is selected based on the input rating information and the associated program information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for guiding a video program, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for rating a program selected by a user.

[0002] Background of the Invention In recent years, by the number of channels available has increased significantly, selection work of the television program (program) to try to see are becoming increasingly complex. For example, an RCA (R) DSS (R) direct broadcast satellite receiver has as many as 150 channels for selection. Conventionally, a user who wants to know "what's on the air" is a television program printed on his local newspaper with the hope that one day he or she will find a program (program) that interests him. I could only look at the table.

[0003] In such a method, a television channel program table to be examined is 2-3.
Works well when there is only one, but the viewer can look at the entire program schedule for as many as 150 television channels only to find out what is broadcasting at a given time. It is hard to imagine. This is because even if all programs (programs) are created in the form of a list by category,
It's a daunting task. Viewers will find that there are only a few programs out of the large number of programs available that are of interest to them. As a result, as the number of channels increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to successfully locate the desired program in a short time.

An electronic program guide (EPG: Electronic Program Gu)
ide) can partially alleviate the above problem. The EPG features an interactive on-screen display that displays information equivalent to a TV program listing found in regional newspapers and other print media. In addition, the EPG contains the information needed to verify and decode (decode) the program. EPG is
Typically, it provides information about each program in the time frame encompassed by the EPG operating in the next hour up to a maximum of seven days. The information included in the EPG includes, for example, a channel number, a program title, a start time, an end time, an elapsed time, a remaining time, and a rating (if possible) (rating: rating)
g), features of programming (program creation) such as brief explanations on topics, themes, and the contents of the program. The EPG is usually arranged in a two-dimensional table or grid format similar to a printed TV guide, with time information on one axis and channel information on the other.

According to the EPG, unlike non-interactive guidance, which is on a dedicated channel and simply scrolls through the current programming on the other channel for the next few hours The viewer will be able to select any channel at any point in the future over a period of time, eg, up to seven days. In addition, the EPG function highlights individual cells of the grid containing program information.
(light: emphasis). Once highlighted, the viewer can perform the function associated with the selected program. For example, if the program is currently being broadcast, the viewer can instantly switch to the program. Also, if the television is properly configured and connected to a recording device, the viewer will have a one-touch video cassette recorder (VCR).
Or you can program something similar. Such an EPG
Are known in the art, and are provided, for example, to Young et al., StarSight Telecast, Inc. (StarSight).
Telecast, Inc. U.S. Patent Nos. 5,353,121, 5,479,268, and 5,479,266.

[0006] In addition, US Pat. No. 5,515,106, assigned to Chaney et al. And assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, discloses a method for implementing a typical program guide system. An exemplary embodiment including a detailed data packet configuration is described in detail. A typical data packet configuration includes channel information (eg, channel name, call letter, channel number, format, etc.) and program information about the program (eg, title, rating (star), star). (Actor names, etc.) are both designed to be efficiently sent from the program guide database provider to the receiving device.

[0007] Today, we monitor what the user has seen before, and the habits (trends) he sees
A system that proposes a similar programming based on the above is known. This is described, for example, by Wehmey on December 15, 1995.
er) and is described in US patent application Ser. No. 08 / 573,113, filed and patented in the name of another applicant, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. However,
This known system does not allow the user to change the monitoring process himself according to his preferences. That is, the user cannot indicate whether the user liked the program or not, and thus the monitoring / suggesting function cannot consider this information when making a program suggestion to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present inventors have obtained some positive feedback on a selected program so that all proposed programs more closely match the preferences of the user, ie, the propensity of the program content they want to watch. It has been recognized that it is advantageous. Therefore, a system and associated method for selecting a program to be viewed will be described. A plurality of programs from a remote source (remote signal source) and associated program information are received. In response to a user input, one program is first selected from the plurality of programs. The rating information for this selected program is locally (locally, locally) by the user.
Will be entered. Next, another program is selected based on the program information related to the input rating information.

RCA® DSS® Direct Broadcast Satellite System and Star
Television systems such as Sight® transmit channel guidance for display on a subscriber's television receiver. FIG. 1 shows, for example, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc., located in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
er Electronics Inc. 1) shows an electronic program guide (EPG) screen display 110 generated by the RCA® DSS® direct broadcast satellite receiving system produced by E.G. The user may enter a cell in the program guide screen display containing the name of the desired program (eg, up (up), down (down), right (right), left (left) on the remote control 450R of FIG. The user selects a television program to be viewed from the program guide by moving the cursor (by operating the direction control key). For example, the remote control device 4
When the SELECT key of 50R is pressed, the current x and y of the cursor are pressed.
Are evaluated to derive the virtual channel and program time information. In this example of FIG. 1, a particular television show, CINE SATURDAY NIGHT MOVIE in cell 105
E: ZULU (Cinema, Saturday Night Movie: Zulu) is highlighted for selection using cursor keys on a remote control unit (eg, 450R in FIG. 4). The highlight is indicated by the dark box (black box) surrounding the title in FIG. Normally, pressing the SELECT key transfers the data of the associated program to the programming unit. Note that an auxiliary text display 120 is also shown. The auxiliary text display 120 provides additional program data associated with the highlighted television program. Alternative uses of the data provided by the channel guide screen 110 and the auxiliary text display 120 are described in detail below in accordance with features of the present invention.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1 and described above, once a program (program) is highlighted, the user may also be watching, for example, he or she, according to features characteristic of the present invention. Evaluation input (evalu) for a specific show
The RAT on the remote control unit 450R to perform the
The ING (rating, rating) key can be pressed. This typical rating (
The rating (evaluation) key can be pressed during appreciation of the program as shown in FIG. Once this key is pressed, the user can enter how much he enjoyed the program. As shown in FIG. 2A, first, “I LO
VED THIS PROGRAM (I liked this program) "is shown on the exemplary embodiment.
The highest rating that can be given to If the user agrees with this rating,
The user confirms the rating for this program, for example, by pressing the RATING key again. The user can also enter a different rating for this program by selecting the left arrow 205 or the right arrow 206. The displayed rating is, for example, “I HATED” as shown in FIG.
THIS PROGRAM (I hated this program) ".

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary flowchart of a subroutine program executed by the exemplary microprocessor 415R (shown in FIG. 4) to perform the features of the present invention. The program is entered (entered) at step 300. Next, the microprocessor determines in step 305 whether a "Rating Mode" has been requested for the program (program) selected by the user. As described above, a "Rating Mode" is invoked by pressing a key such as RATING on a user input device such as the remote control unit 45OR again. Once a user requests a rating for a program, microprocessor 415R prompts the user to enter a rating. As shown in step 310 and previously described, one typical example for obtaining rating information by a user is "I" as shown in FIG. 2A.
LOVED THIS PROGRAM (I liked this program) by displaying a first rating. When the user requests another rating, as shown in FIG. Will display the other ratings selected.

Steps 310 to 320 show one embodiment of the input of the rating information by the user. Other embodiments require the user to enter a number, such as 1-5, giving 5 as the highest or lowest rating, for example. Other embodiments may give A as the highest or lowest rating, for example, so that the user can enter characters such as A, B, C, D.

Once the user has entered the rating information, the program causes the user to confirm the rating information by pressing a key, such as the RATING key, at step 323, as described above. As shown in step 330,
Once the user confirms the information, this information is stored in memory 421R of FIG. 4 along with other programming information related to the selected program, such as, for example, block 120 of FIG.

In step 335, the user can request the system to suggest a program based on the rating information entered by the user. The user
This can be requested, for example, by highlighting the icon SUGEST (suggestion) as shown in FIG. Once this request has been entered, the system proposes the program by comparing the rating information entered by the user with the program guide information, as shown in step 335.

Various methods can be performed based on the rating information entered by the user and the remotely received program guide data. A simple proposed algorithm is
For example, to propose to the viewer all programs having the same characteristics (characteristics) as the program that received the highest user rating based on the program information from the program guide. In other words, the system is, for example, the same actor, producer,
And / or propose to the viewer all programs (programs) that are considered to have a theme. Other methods include focusing on one particular feature of the programming information, such as THEME. This user rating is then used to create a histogram for each THEME format to see if there is a preference for that viewer. If a preference is detected, then a program with that particular theme is suggested. Another proposed method involves assigning several weighting factors to each programming characteristic of the rated program. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many methods can be developed using both the user-entered rating information on the viewed program (program) and the received program guide information to propose a new program to the user. If there is, it can be easily recognized.

As described above, according to a feature of the present invention, the program guide information used in the controller of the device of the present invention is received from a satellite television communication system. FIG. 4 shows such a satellite television communication system, wherein the satellite 40
0S receives a signal representing audio, video, or data information from the terrestrial base station transmitter 400T. The satellite amplifies this signal and operates at the designated frequency and is retransmitted via a transponder with a predetermined bandwidth to a plurality of receivers 400R located at the consumer's residence. Such systems include an uplink transmission portion (from terrestrial to satellite), an earth orbit satellite receiving and transmitting unit, and a downlink portion (from satellite to terrestrial) including a receiver located at the user's residence. I have.

In such a satellite system, information necessary for selecting a predetermined television program is not fixedly input to each receiver but is programmed.
Downloaded continuously from satellite to each transponder. Television program selection information can be found in the Master Program Guide (MPG: Master Prog)
ram Guide), which consists of the title of the television program, its start time and end time, the virtual channel number to be displayed to the user, the virtual It relates to the information that assigns the channel to the transponder frequency and location in the time division multiplexed data stream transmitted by the particular transponder. In such a system, the receiver (IRD or Integrated Receiver)
The Decoder (integrated receiver decoder) is the frequency and location (ie, data time slot: d) in the data stream of any transponder.
Regarding the data time slot, it is not possible to tune to any channel until the first master program guide is received from the satellite, because it is not possible to know exactly where the channel is located.

The master program guide is preferably transmitted on all transponders together with the television program video and audio data and is repeated periodically, for example every 2 seconds. Once received, the master program guide is held in a memory unit in the receiver and is updated periodically, for example, every 30 seconds. When the master program guide is saved, the necessary selection data is always available, so that the television program can be selected instantaneously. After using the master program guide to select a television program, if the master program guide is to be discarded, a new program guide is selected before any other television program selection is performed. You will receive a minimum delay of 2 seconds while acquiring the program guide.

Once the channel transponder carrying the desired television program is tuned, the data packets containing the audio and video information for that program are sent to the appropriate SCID (Service Component Id).
By examining the data packet for the 12-bit code of the entifier (service component identifier), it is possible to select from the transponder's received data stream. SIC of the desired television program whose SCID of the currently received data packet is listed in the program guide
If it matches D, the data packet is directed to the appropriate processing section of the receiver.
If the SCID of a particular packet does not match the SICD of the desired television program listed during the program guide, then the data packet is discarded.

A brief description of system hardware suitable for implementing the invention described above is provided below. In FIG. 4, transmitter 400T processes a data signal from signal source 401 (eg, a program signal source) and transmits it to satellite 400S. Satellite 40
OS receives the signal and broadcasts it to a receiving antenna 400A for supplying it to a receiver 400R. The transmitter 400T includes an encoder 40T and a modulator (ie, a modulator / forward error corrector (FEC)).
director) 420T, and an uplink unit 430T. The encoder 410T compresses and encodes the signal from the signal source 401 according to a predetermined standard such as MPEG. MPEG encodes moving pictures and associated audio stored on digital storage media (
International Standard Organization (International Standard)
rds Organization's Video Expert Group (Movi)
ng Picture Expert Group). The encoded signal from unit 410T is provided to the modulator / forward error corrector (FEC) 420T, which encodes the signal with the error correction data and converts it to a quarter transport shift key (QPSK: Quaternary).
Phase Shift Key modulates a carrier with an encoded signal.

Uplink unit 430T transmits the compressed and encoded signal to satellite 40
The satellite 400S broadcasts the signal to a selected geographical reception area. The signal from the satellite 400S is a so-called set top (set
-Top) Received by an antenna dish (parabolic reflector) 400A coupled to the input of a receiver 400R (ie, an interface device suitable for placement on a television receiver). The receiver 400R demodulates a signal and decodes (decodes) error correction data (demodulator / forward error corrector (FEC:
Forward Error Collector) 410R, an IR receiver for receiving IR remote control commands, a microprocessor 415R interacting with the demodulator / FEC unit 410R, and relying on signal content, ie, audio or video information And a suitable decoder 4 in the unit 400R.
It includes a transport (transfer) unit 42OR for transferring a signal to 30R. The NTSC encoder 44OR converts the decoded signal to a standard NTSC consumer VCR 402 and a standard NTSC consumer television receiver 40.
3. Encoding into a standard format suitable for processing by the signal processing circuit of 3. The microprocessor (or microcontroller, microcomputer) 415R is a SELE as described above from the remote control unit 45OR.
An IR (infrared) control signal indicating that a CT (selection) or RATING (rating) key has been pressed is received, and control information is sent to the VCR 402 via the IR link 418R. The microprocessor 415R provides an on-screen display (OSD: On- display) necessary to provide the user with an interactive or confirming EPG display screen, such as shown in FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B. Screen Display)
Generate a signal. Microprocessor 415R and cursor keys X for controlling highlighting and selection of user selections in the on-screen display screen
And Y information is received and decoded. Further, the microprocessor 415R can execute a subroutine of a program to provide its function according to features of the present invention, as shown by the flowchart in FIG.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a satellite television system, a terrestrial television broadcasting system, both digital and analog, set-top box type receivers, and other electronic programs ( It is equally applicable to any other type of electronic device capable of receiving and processing program information.

The details, materials, and arrangements of the parts described above and illustrated in order to explain the essence and characteristics of the present invention may be variously changed without departing from the principle and spirit of the present invention described in the appended claims. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications can be made.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example (illustration) of a screen display showing an EPG.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an example (illustration) of a typical screen display for rating a selected program (program) by a user. FIG. 2B is a diagram showing an example (illustration) of a typical screen display for rating a program (program) selected by the user.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flowchart effective for understanding the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an apparatus suitable for using the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 400A Antenna 400R Receiver 400S Satellite 400T Ground Station Transmitter 401 Signal Source 402 Set Top VCR 403 Television Receiver 410T Encoder 420T Modulator 430T Uplink Unit 410R Demodulator 412R IR Receiver 415R Microprocessor 418R Transmitter 420R Transport unit 421R Memory 430R Audio and video decoder 440R Encoder 450R Remote control

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (81) Designated country EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE ), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, CU, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE , KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZW (71) Applicant 46, Quai A, Le Gallo F-92648 Boulogne Cedex. France (72) Inventor Strong, Robert Jillon Carmel Arbor Drive, Indiana, USA 569 F-term (reference) 5C025 AA23 BA27 CA09 DA04 DA05 DA08

Claims (13)

[Claims] Receiving a plurality of programs and associated program information from a remote signal source; selecting a first program from the plurality of programs in response to a user input; A method for controlling a signal processing system, comprising: inputting rating information for one program; and selecting a second program in response to the input rating information and associated program information. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the rating information is indicative of a user preference for the first selected program. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said rating information includes at least a number. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said rating information includes at least alphanumeric characters. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing said rating information in a memory. 6. Receiving program guide information from a remote signal source;
A method for processing program guide information, comprising: storing the program guide information in a memory; obtaining a rating for a selected program for each region; and associating the rating with the selected program. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the rating information is indicative of a user preference for the selected information. 8. The method of claim 7, including the step of storing said rating with said selected program with only a portion of said program guidance information relating to said selected program. 9. A means for receiving a plurality of programs and associated program information from a remote signal source; means for selecting a first program from the plurality of programs in response to a user input; An apparatus for proposing a program to be viewed, comprising: means for inputting rating information for one program for each region; and means for selecting a second program based on program information related to the input rating information. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the rating information is indicative of a user preference for the first program. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said rating information includes at least a number. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said rating information includes at least alphanumeric characters. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of entering rating information is performed on a regional basis.