JP2000201120A - Program transmitting method and device and program receiving method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure service to every user by setting a program to be transmitted, based on the program request information, and transmitting the program to the user in addition to the relative information on the program. SOLUTION: A received request information analysis circuit 20 retrieves a relative program from a transmitting program storage circuit 25, based on the program request information given from a user. A program transmitting information management circuit 21 composes the program, and a program relative information generation circuit 23 generates the relative information on the program to be transmitted to the user. These relative information include a prepared program, the transmitting circuit of the program, the transmitting channel, the transmitting time, the ending time, the quantity of data on the program, etc., and then are sent to the user in reply to his program request. Then the prepared program is transmitted via the designated transmitting circuit/channel at the designated program transmitting time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting a program, and a method for receiving a program.
When transmitting a program through a satellite broadcast, a CATV line, or a telephone line, or receiving the transmitted program, program-related information corresponding to the program to be transmitted, together with information for specifying a receiving station. , Or by receiving program-related information corresponding to a program to be received based on information for specifying a receiving station, thereby realizing efficient program distribution or efficient reception of the distributed program. And a program receiving method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional broadcast-type program transmission system, a program to be transmitted, such as video or music, is independently organized by a program transmission station such as a broadcast station.
For this reason, a receiver (viewer) who is a user can select and receive a sequentially broadcast program as needed based on his / her preference, or record using a video tape recorder device, an audio device, or the like. After all, it was played back at a convenient time later and enjoyed. In this type of program transmission system, the individual wishes of the recipient for the program have not been directly reflected. However, the program transmitting station receives a request for a broadcast desired program from a user and broadcasts a part of the program according to the content of the request.

[0003] In a local system such as a CATV system or a so-called karaoke broadcast, a program or a song requested by a user is mainly broadcasted. It is the fact that is not obtained. Regarding the improvement of this point, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-130776 discloses a method of transmitting a karaoke tune in such a manner that a request from a receiver is received and the karaoke tune is transmitted so that the karaoke tune is played in descending order of the number of requests. The configuration of the broadcast center is described.

[0004]

However, in such a configuration of the broadcasting center, there is no way for the receiver as a user to know when the program requested by him / her will be broadcasted. When trying to record this karaoke song on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, it was necessary to wait until the karaoke song was broadcast.

An object of the present invention is to provide a program transmission service for simultaneously providing a program to a large number of users, while enabling a service for each user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program transmitting method and apparatus capable of reliably acquiring a program desired by a user, and a program receiving method.

[0006]

That is, a program transmitting method and apparatus according to the present invention receive at least information for identifying a user and program request information transmitted from the user to identify the user and Recording request information, analyzing the plurality of recorded program request information, setting a program to be transmitted to the user in accordance with the program request information, and generating program-related information about the program; An object of the present invention is to solve the problem by transmitting information for specifying a user who has transmitted program request information and the program-related information and transmitting the program.

[0007] Also, at least information for specifying the user and program request information transmitted from the user are received to specify the user, record the program request information, and store a program related to the recorded program request information. And a program transmission method for generating program-related information about the program, transmitting information for specifying the user who transmitted the program request information and the program-related information, and transmitting the program. The above-mentioned subject is solved by providing.

Further, the program receiving method according to the present invention receives at least information for specifying a receiving station transmitted from a transmitting station and program-related information related to a program to be transmitted, and specifies the receiving station. When it is recognized that the information to perform indicates its own station, while receiving and recording the program-related information transmitted toward the own station, based on the recorded program-related information, from the transmitting station The above problem is solved by waiting and receiving and recording a program transmitted to its own station.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a program transmitting apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Each functional block is connected to a common bus line 1, and the operation of each functional block is controlled based on a control signal from an operation control circuit 2 having a CPU, thereby controlling a series of functions as a program transmission device. Is done. That is, the operation control circuit 2
It processes the status instruction signal and output data appropriately supplied from each functional block, issues an operation control instruction to a predetermined functional block, and supplies necessary data. The functional blocks connected to the bus line 1 include, for example, a memory circuit 3, a clock circuit 4, a telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit 5, a CATV
Transmission / reception circuit 7, satellite signal reception circuit 9, program transmission circuit 1
2, 15, a program-related information sending circuit 14, 18, a reception request information analyzing circuit 20, a data display circuit 22, a program-related information generating circuit 23, a program encrypting circuit 24, and a transmitted program storing circuit 25. The program transmission device to which the above-mentioned is applied may not have all of these, or may have other functional blocks.

The memory circuit 3 stores program software for operating a CPU constituting the operation control circuit 2. It is also used by the operation control circuit 2 for data arithmetic processing, and is also used to temporarily hold data taken in from the data bus 1 or data to be transmitted to the data bus 1.

The clock circuit 4 is a clock circuit or a clock circuit, and is provided for recording management of a time at which a program request from a user is received or managing time at which a program is transmitted from the program transmission device to the user. Have been.

The information supplied from the user is received via a telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit 5, a CATV transmitting / receiving circuit 7, or a satellite signal receiving circuit 9. The information provided by the user includes user identification information for specifying the user and program request information indicating a program desired by the user.

Here, the program means information that the user wants to obtain via the program transmission device, and refers to information stored and stored or information generated in real time. For example, in addition to video and audio information, information such as an electronic catalog, an electronic publication, and news is included.

When the information supplied from the user is received using the telephone line, the information from the user is received and decoded by the telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit 5 and transmitted to the data bus 1.

The telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit 5 is, for example, an ADSL
(Asymmetric Digital SubscriberLine) circuit. The telephone signal transmission / reception circuit 5 has a voice frequency band (0.3K
Hz to 3.4 KHz) and a discrimination circuit (splitter) for distinguishing between a frequency band higher than the frequency and a frequency band higher than the frequency band. , The user identification information and the program request information are supplied. The telephone signal transmission / reception circuit 5 is configured to transmit a program to a user at a high transmission rate (for example, 6 Mbps) using a frequency band higher than an audio frequency band. Therefore, the data rate of the program information transmitted from the program transmitting apparatus to the user is higher than the data rate of the information supplied from the user to the program transmitting apparatus. The telephone signal transmission / reception circuit 5 is controlled based on an operation control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 2 via the control signal line 6. The program-related information described later is also configured to be transmitted to a telephone line via the telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit. The telephone line is not limited to a copper wire, but may be an optical fiber. The telephone signal transmitting and receiving circuit 5 may be a circuit for transmitting and receiving a normal telephone signal without ADSL. Good.

The CATV transmission / reception circuit 7 receives and decodes user identification information and program request information from a user supplied via a CATV line, and supplies the received information to the bus line 1. The CA connected to the CATV transmitting / receiving circuit 7
The TV line has bidirectionality, receives information transmitted from the user using the CATV line, and transmits a program to the user connected to the CATV line. The CATV transmission / reception circuit 7 is controlled based on an operation control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 2 via the control signal line 8. Note that the program-related information described later also contains the CA
It is configured to be able to transmit to a CATV line via a TV transmission / reception circuit 7.

The satellite signal receiving circuit 9 receives and decodes the user identification information and the program request information supplied from the user via the antenna 10 and supplies them to the bus line 1. The reception channel of the satellite signal receiving circuit 9 is controlled based on an operation control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 2 via the control signal line 11. For a user connected via a satellite line and receiving program distribution, an antenna 10
The program is transmitted via the. That is, the program supplied to the program transmission circuit 12 via the bus line 1 is transmitted to the user using a predetermined transmission channel. The program transmission circuit 12 controls a transmission channel and the like by an operation control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 2 via the control signal line 13a.

The program-related information transmission circuit 14 receives the program-related information generated by the program-related information generation circuit 23 described later via the bus line 1 and supplies the program-related information to the user via the antenna 10. The program-related information transmission circuit 14 controls a transmission channel and the like based on an operation control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 2 via the control signal line 13b.

The program transmission circuit 15 is provided with the above-mentioned telephone line, C
A program prepared according to the above information supplied from the user via the ATV line or the satellite line is transmitted to the user using the antenna 16 provided for the terrestrial line. The program transmission circuit 15 includes a control signal line 17
The transmission channel and the like are controlled based on a control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 2 through the control circuit. As will be described later, the program-related information is also transmitted to the program-related information transmitting circuit 18.
Is supplied to the antenna 16 and transmitted to the user. The program-related information transmitting circuit 18 controls the control signal line 1
The transmission channel and the like are controlled based on an operation control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 2 via the control circuit 9.

As described above, the user transmits user identification (ID) information for identifying himself / herself and a request for a program desired by the user to the telephone line, CATV line,
Alternatively, it can be supplied to the program transmission device via a satellite antenna. For transmitting a program from the program transmitting apparatus to the user, a telephone line, a CATV line, a satellite line, or a terrestrial line is used. Further, program-related information described later is also transmitted to the user using a telephone line, a CATV line, a satellite line, or a terrestrial line.

The combination between the line used by the information supplied from the user to the program transmitting apparatus and the line used by the program and program-related information transmitted from the program transmitting apparatus to the user is as follows. Are appropriately selected and used in accordance with the line connection conditions between the user and the program transmission device.

That is, with a certain user, a telephone line is used for information supplied from the user, and a terrestrial line is used for transmitting a program and program-related information from the program transmitting apparatus to the user. Also, with another user,
Both the information supplied from the user and the program and program-related information provided to the user from the program transmission device use a telephone line. Further, different lines may be used for the program transmitted from the program transmitting device to the user and the program-related information. For example, information provided by a user is received via a telephone line, and program-related information is also supplied to the user using the audio frequency band of the telephone line. There is also.

The reception request information analysis circuit 20 collects and analyzes user identification information for identifying a user supplied from a user via a telephone line, a CATV line, or a satellite line, and program request information from the user. . When receiving and recording the program request information, the reception time information is added and recorded based on the time information generated by the clock circuit 4. The reception request information analysis circuit 20 has the following two modes for analyzing program request information from a user.

In the first analysis mode, a program related to the program request information is stored in a transmission program storage circuit 25 described later based on the program request information supplied from each user.
Search from. For example, if a program request for searching for music information related to "Christmas" is received from the user, the user accesses the transmission program storage circuit 25 to extract music information related to "Christmas",
The attribute information of the music such as the artist name and the data amount of the music is extracted and supplied to the program transmission information management circuit 21 together with the identification information of the user.

In the second analysis mode, when analyzing program request information from users, program request information from a plurality of users is grouped in predetermined units (for example, time or the number of reception requests), and data analysis is performed. Do. For example, program requests from users are totaled for each two-hour time period, and ranking is performed based on the number of requested programs. Further, by accessing the transmission program storage circuit 25, the attribute information of the program such as the title, the artist name, and the data amount of the program is extracted and supplied to the program transmission information management circuit 21 together with the identification information of the user.

Therefore, it is possible to know in what time period each program such as music and movie is requested by the user in large numbers. Further, the user who has provided each program request information can be specified.

When the number of received requests is used as a unit, for example, program requests of the user are totaled for every 10,000 received requests, and the number of requested programs is ranked according to the number of requested programs.

The program transmission information management circuit 21 receives the program information corresponding to the program request information from the user analyzed by the reception request information analysis circuit 20 together with the user identification information, and transmits the program information to be transmitted to the user. , The program including the transmission start time and the transmission end time of the program. The program transmission information management circuit 21
Contains information on which of a telephone line, a CATV line, a satellite line and a terrestrial line is to be used for the user. Further, not only the used line but also the used transmission channel are set.

The program scheduling information recorded in the program transmission information management circuit 21 is supplied to a program related information generation circuit 23. The program related information generating circuit 23 generates information related to a program to be transmitted to the user, for example, electronic program guide (EPG) information. The program-related information includes a program prepared corresponding to the user's program request information together with the user's identification information, a transmission line of the program, a transmission channel of the program,
The information includes information such as the transmission time of the program, the end time of the program, and the data amount of the program. The program-related information is transmitted to the user who made the program request via a telephone line or a CATV line according to the user's usage environment. Alternatively, the program is transmitted to the satellite line via the program-related information transmitting circuit 14 or to the terrestrial line via the program-related information transmitting circuit 18 and transmitted to the user who made the program request. Based on the information recorded in the program transmission information management circuit 21,
When the program transmission time comes, the program prepared in response to the program request information from the user,
Sent using outgoing channel. If necessary, the identification information of the user associated with the program is also added and transmitted.

In the second analysis mode, if a program is not scheduled to be transmitted due to a small number of requests even though program request information is supplied from a user, the request is added to the program-related information. A message indicating that the message was not answered is added and sent to the corresponding user. Further, selection of the first or second analysis mode is performed based on an instruction from the user. In the first analysis mode, program information corresponding to program request information of each user is provided to the user. In the second analysis mode, the organization of the program transmitted to the user based on the program request information supplied from the user is performed according to the number of program requests by analyzing program request information from a plurality of users. The program information preferred by many users is periodically provided to the users.

The data display circuit 22 displays the operation status of the program transmitting device. Also, a list of programs transmitted to the user, a program transmission time, and the number of requests for each program are displayed. In the transmission program storage circuit 25, a program to be transmitted to the user is stored together with attribute information such as a title using a recording medium such as a hard disk or an optical disk.

The program encryption circuit 24 encrypts a program read from the transmission program storage circuit 25 when transmitting the program to a line. The program encryption circuit 24 uses a common key system (for example, DES) or a public key system (for example, encryption). , RSA, elliptic curve cryptography). For example, a predetermined encryption key used to encrypt a program using a common key method is encrypted with the identification information of the user who has requested the program, and is included in the program-related information or the program information as decryption key information. Provided to the user. Accordingly, the user can extract the received program from the encryption key program related information or the program information of the program based on his / her identification information.
When the public key system is used, the program is encrypted using the public key corresponding to the user's identification information as the encryption key, and the program is transmitted. In this case, the public key does not always need to be provided to the user, and the user can decrypt the program with the private key possessed corresponding to the public key.

It should be noted that the program transmitted from the above-described program transmitting apparatus may be subjected to data compression encoding as necessary. This data compression encoding is performed by a so-called Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG).
p) A standard or the like can be adopted. In this case, an MPEG encoder may be provided on the program transmission device side, and a program to be transmitted may be compression-encoded by the MPEG encoder.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the transmission format of the program information transmitted from the program transmission device to the user. A header section is provided at the head of each program. The header section includes a synchronization signal 31 for synchronizing the reception of the program, a program identification code 32 for specifying the program, title information 33 of the program, and a decryption key necessary for decrypting the encrypted program. , And a data end mark 35 indicating the end of the header section. The program is transmitted to the user using a program transmission line / transmission channel corresponding to the user's use environment. Although not shown, identification information of a user who should receive the program is added as needed. When a program is compression-encoded, information indicating the compression-encoding method may be added to the header.

FIG. 3 shows a transmission format of the program-related information. Prior to transmission of the program, the program-related information transmitted to each user includes a synchronization signal 41, user identification information 42,
Program identification code 43, program title information 44, information 45 indicating whether the program is encrypted, program transmission start time 46, program transmission end time 47, program data capacity 48, program transmission channel number 49, encrypted program The information 50 includes a decryption key information 50 necessary for decrypting the program and a data end mark 51 indicating the end of the data of the program-related information. In addition, for a user who has not responded to the request despite having made a program request, this is indicated by transmitting a specially provided program identification code.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of an information transmission channel for program information and program-related information transmitted to a user via a telephone line, a CATV line, a satellite line, and a terrestrial line. The predetermined information transmission channel (# 0) is
Used to provide program related information to the user. In this example, only one channel is allocated, but if necessary, a plurality of transmission channels corresponding to the number of users can be used. Other information channels (# 1 to #
n) is provided for transmitting program information. If the user selects a desired or undesired program based on the received program-related information and supplies information to that effect to the program transmitting device, the program transmitting device transmits the information to the above-described method. To correct the information received and recorded in the program transmission information management circuit 21 shown in FIG. This allows
Only the programs desired by the user are transmitted to the user.

According to the above-described program transmitting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the relevant information on the program extracted corresponding to the program request information from the user is transmitted to the user. In addition, since such a program is transmitted, it is possible to provide a service for individual users while being a program transmission service for simultaneously providing programs to a large number of users.

Next, FIGS. 5 to 7 show a second embodiment according to the present invention.
And an information transmitting / receiving apparatus having at least a program receiving function corresponding to the program transmitting apparatus.

FIG. 5 shows an information transmission / reception device 60 for transmitting program request information to the program transmission device and receiving program-related information and program information transmitted from the program transmission device. The information transmitting / receiving device 60 includes a key input unit 61 for inputting data, a display unit 62 for displaying data input from the key input unit 61 and information received from the program transmitting device, and external devices and data. An infrared transmitting / receiving unit 63 for inputting / outputting the information, a power switch 64 of the information transmitting / receiving device, and an IC card insertion unit 65 are provided.

An IC card (not shown) is inserted into the IC card insertion section 65, and a billing process is performed in response to the reproduction of the received program information. The information transmitting / receiving device 60 records user identification information for identifying a user, and the user identification information is transmitted to the program transmission device together with the program request information.

[0042] Such an information transmitting and receiving apparatus is provided with an IRD (Integrated Receiver & decoder),
Because it is called STB (Set Top Box) or has a large-capacity data recording device, it is connected to satellite / terrestrial broadcasting lines, telephone lines, CATV lines, etc. to obtain and record desired information. Sometimes called a home server.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the information transmitting / receiving apparatus. In this information transmitting / receiving apparatus, the operation control circuit 102 includes a CPU, and controls the operation of the information transmitting / receiving apparatus by controlling data transmission / reception to / from each functional block via the bus line 101. The functional blocks connected to the bus line 101 include, for example, a memory circuit 103, a clock circuit 104, a telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit 105, and own-station identification signal detecting circuits 108 and 11.
1, 115, a CATV transmission / reception circuit 109, a satellite signal reception circuit 112, a program request information transmission circuit 116, a reception data storage circuit 118, an identification information management circuit 119, I
A C card read / write circuit 120, a data input / output interface circuit 121, an encryption / decryption circuit 122, a data display circuit 123, and a data input circuit 124. It should be noted that the information transmitting / receiving apparatus to which the program receiving method according to the present invention is applied may not have all of them, and may have other functional blocks.

The memory circuit 103 includes the operation control circuit 1
In addition, program software for driving the CPU constituting the CPU 02 is recorded and temporary data for data processing is stored. Also, data sent from each functional block or data to be supplied to each functional block is temporarily recorded.

The clock circuit 104 is provided for performing time management, and provides transmission time information of user program request information transmitted to the program transmission device.

The telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit 105 has an ADSL
(Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) circuit, and performs bidirectional communication with the above-mentioned program transmission device via a telephone line. When the user's information transmission / reception device is connected to a telephone line to transmit / receive information, the user identification information and the program request are transmitted to the program transmission device using the audio signal band (0.3 KHz to 3.4 KHz). In addition to transmitting the information, the program-related information transmitted from the program transmitting device is received.

The telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit 105 is connected to the control line 10
The operation is controlled based on a control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 102 via the control circuit 7. The own station identification signal detection circuit 108 checks the presence or absence of a user identification signal indicating the own station from the program-related information received via the telephone line, and receives the own station identification signal via the bus line 101. By instructing the operation control circuit 102 to that effect, it identifies that the information is program-related information transmitted to its own station and selectively receives it.

The program information sent from the program sending device is received using a wide frequency band higher than the audio signal band. Regarding the reception of the program information,
Instead of the telephone line, a CATV line, a satellite line, or a terrestrial line described later can be used.

The CATV transmission / reception circuit 109 is used when the user and the program transmission device are connected via a CATV line. The CATV transmission / reception circuit 109 can also perform two-way communication with the program transmission device. User is CATV
User identification information and program request information are transmitted to the program transmission device via the line, and program-related information and program information transmitted from the program transmission device are received. To this end, the CATV transmission / reception circuit is connected to the control line 11
The operation is controlled based on a control signal supplied from the operation control circuit 102 through the control signal 0.

The self-station identification signal detection circuit 111 has a CATV
The presence / absence of an identification signal indicating the own station is confirmed from the program-related information received via the line, and if the own station identification information is received, the operation control circuit 102 notifies the fact via the bus line 101.
, The program-related information transmitted to the own station is identified and selectively received.

The receiving circuit 112 receives program-related information or program information transmitted from a program transmitting apparatus via a satellite line or a terrestrial line via an antenna 113. The operation of the receiving circuit 112, such as the used receiving channel, is controlled based on the control of the operation control circuit 102 via the control line 114.

The self-station identification signal detection circuit 115 detects whether or not the program-related information received from the program transmission device via the antenna 113 is transmitted to the self-station. If the received identification signal is recognized as the identification signal assigned to the own station, the operation control circuit 102
, The program-related information transmitted to the own station is selectively received.

The program request information sending circuit 116 sends program request information from the user to the program sending device. The control such as the setting of the transmission channel is performed based on the control of the operation control circuit 102 via the control line 117.
Therefore, in the information transmitting / receiving device, the telephone line, the CA
The user identification information and the program request information are supplied to the program transmission device using a predetermined line among the TV line and the satellite line and a predetermined transmission channel. The program-related information and the program information transmitted from the information transmitting apparatus are transmitted to the user using a predetermined line among a telephone line, a CATV line, a satellite line or a terrestrial line, and a predetermined transmission channel. The lines used for the uplink to the program transmission device and the downlink from the program transmission device may be the same line or different lines.

The program transmitted to the own station via the telephone line, the CATV line, the satellite line or the terrestrial line by the own station identification signal detecting circuit 108, the own station identifying signal detecting circuit 111, and the own station identifying signal detecting circuit 115. If the received information is identified as the related information, the received information is recorded in the received data storage circuit 118 via the bus line 101 under the control of the operation control circuit 102.

In the case of the program information, as shown in FIG. 2, together with the program information, the program identification code 32, the program title information 33, and the information 34 of the decoding key of the program information which are the attribute information are also recorded. In the case of receiving the program-related information, the user identification information 4 in the program-related information according to the transmission format of the program-related information shown in FIG.
2, the program-related information is transmitted to its own station, and a program identification code 43, program title information 44, information 45 indicating whether the program is encrypted, and a program transmission start time 46 , The program transmission end time 47, the program data capacity 48, the transmission channel number 49 used for transmitting the program information, and the information of the decryption key 50 required for decrypting the encrypted program information. It is recorded in the reception data storage circuit 118. The program transmitted from the program transmission device is stored in the received data storage circuit 118.
The transmission start time of the program, the line to be used, and the reception channel to be used are set based on the program-related information recorded in the program, and are received in standby.

The identification information management circuit 119 is provided to hold the user identification information assigned to the information transmitting / receiving device in an encrypted form. The information transmitting / receiving device is assigned unique user identification information as an initial value. The user identification information managed by the identification information management circuit 119 is changed by reading information recorded on the IC card inserted from the IC card insertion unit through the IC card read / write circuit 120 as shown in FIG. it can.
The data input / output interface circuit 121 is provided for outputting program information or program-related information recorded in the reception data storage circuit 118 to an external device. An analog output terminal is provided in addition to the digital output terminal. Also, it receives program request information from an external device, for example, a remote controller.

The encryption / decryption circuit 122 decrypts the received program information using a decryption key included in the received program-related information. Also, without depending on receiving the decryption key,
When receiving the decryption key recorded on the IC card via the IC card read / write circuit 120, the program information is decrypted using the decryption key recorded on the IC card. That is, by decrypting the decryption key with the identification information assigned to the own station, a decryption key for decrypting the received encrypted program is extracted. Therefore, the decryption key information included in the program-related information and transmitted or the decryption key for decrypting the separately provided encrypted program is extracted by the identification information of the own station.

The encryption / decryption circuit 122 encrypts the encrypted program recorded in the received data storage circuit 118 with an encryption key prepared separately and transmits the encrypted program to an external device via a data input / output interface. . Therefore, the received data storage circuit 118 is used by using the identification information of the own station.
A decryption key for decrypting the encrypted program recorded in the storage device is extracted, and a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted program is received via the data input / output interface circuit 121. The encrypted program is transmitted to the external device together with the encrypted program.

FIG. 5 shows an infrared transmitting / receiving section as an example of the data input / output interface circuit 121. When transmitting the received program to an external device, the program information can be encrypted using a predetermined encryption key prepared separately. That is, the encryption key for encryption is input via the data input circuit 124,
The encryption key of the program is extracted from the decryption key information included in the program-related information, and the encryption key is extracted from the data input circuit 124.
Encrypts based on the encryption key entered via.
Therefore, without knowing the encryption key input through the data input circuit 124, the encryption key used when encrypting the program cannot be taken out. The data input circuit 124 has alphanumeric keys so that alphanumeric characters can be input. In addition, it designates one of the first analysis mode and the second analysis mode processed by the program transmission device. Further, it is used to input program request information to be transmitted to the program transmission device.

The data display circuit 123 displays program-related information sent from the program sending device and information based on the program information. The program-related information transmitted from the program transmitting apparatus in response to the program request information supplied from the information transmitting / receiving apparatus to the program transmitting apparatus is stored in the reception data storage circuit 118.
And display data is generated by the data display circuit 123 based on the recorded program-related information.

When a program transmitted from the program transmitting apparatus is compression-encoded by MPEG or the like, it is preferable to provide a decoder (MPEG decoder or the like) for decoding in the information transmitting / receiving apparatus. However, it is preferable to record the compressed and encoded program data as it is when decoding it in the received data storage circuit 118 and decode it when reproducing it in order to reduce the recording occupation amount. Further, a decoder such as an MPEG decoder may be provided separately from the information transmitting / receiving device.

FIG. 7 shows an arrangement of display data on the display unit shown in FIG. In this example, when five programs related to predetermined program request information supplied by one user to the program transmission device are displayed, or four programs with many requests are extracted from program request information supplied by a plurality of users Is shown. A serial number is attached to each program, and a check box is arranged on the left side of the serial number so that a user can select a desired program. In each program, columns indicating the program title, reception status, and memory occupancy when the program is received are arranged. The reception state is blank in the case of displaying the program-related information, but when the program is received, a display such as reception completion, reception, reception standby, and reception failure is performed.

The recording occupancy column is determined based on the data capacity (a) of the program indicated by the program-related information and the free recording capacity (b) of the reception data storage circuit 118 provided in the information transmitting / receiving apparatus. , Ie, (a / bx
100) is calculated, and the calculation result is displayed.
The check box provided at the left end is displayed with a check set in advance.

Therefore, in the setting shown in FIG. 7, in accordance with the program-related information recorded in the received data storage circuit 118, in order to wait for each program for which a check has been set, the used receiving line, the used receiving channel, and the receiving channel are set. Data for automatically waiting and receiving each program, such as a start time and a reception end time, are set. By setting these data, the program transmitted from the program transmission device on the predetermined reception line and reception channel is received and received in accordance with the reception start time, and included in the header portion added to the program. Confirm the coincidence of the program identification code to be received and record it in the received data storage circuit 118.

When the user finds a program that does not need to be received from the information displayed on the display screen, the user operates the data input circuit 124 to uncheck the check box attached to the program that does not need to be received. The program selection information indicating the unchecked program is supplied to the program transmission device via a predetermined line. Upon receiving this information, the program transmission device corrects the program transmission information for the user set in the program transmission information management circuit 21 shown in FIG. 1, and cancels the transmission of the program information to the user.

For the convenience of the user, information on the reception start time and reception end time of the program to be received is also displayed. Further, information on a line used for receiving a program or information on a reception channel is displayed as necessary.

According to the information transmitting and receiving apparatus to which the program receiving method according to the second embodiment of the present invention as described above is applied, the information related to the program extracted corresponding to the user's program request information is included in the information. The program can be automatically received and recorded based on the program.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified. For example, in the circuit configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, it is necessary to have all the functional blocks. However, it is needless to say that other functional blocks may be added as needed.

[0069]

According to the program transmitting method and apparatus of the present invention, at least the information for specifying the user and the program request information transmitted from the user are received, the user is specified, and the program request information is recorded. Analyzing the plurality of recorded program request information, setting a program to be transmitted to the user in accordance with the program request information, generating program-related information about the program, and transmitting the program request information; Transmitting the program-related information and the program-related information, and transmitting the program, the relevant information about the program extracted corresponding to the program request information from the user is transmitted to the user. And the program is transmitted to the public. While with the features of the program transmission method, it is possible to provide information services for individual users.

The program transmitted to the user is:
Encrypted to be decrypted based on the information transmitted from the user, or encrypted with a predetermined encryption key, and the encryption key is encrypted based on information for identifying the user, By being transmitted to the user, the program transmitted by only a specific user can be decoded, and application to a billing system can be easily realized.

Further, the program-related information and the information for specifying the user who transmitted the program request information are transmitted on a first transmission channel, and the program is transmitted on a second transmission channel different from the first transmission channel. , The transmission channel of the program and the transmission channel of the other information are separated from each other and do not interfere with each other.

Further, according to the program receiving method of the present invention,
When receiving at least the information for identifying the receiving station transmitted from the transmitting station and the program-related information related to the program to be transmitted, and recognizing that the information for identifying the receiving station indicates its own station. Receives and records the program-related information transmitted to the own station, and, on the basis of the recorded program-related information, waits for and receives and records the program transmitted from the transmitting station to the own station. By doing so, the program can be automatically received and recorded based on the relevant information about the program extracted in response to the user's program request information, so that the convenience for the user is extremely high.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a circuit configuration of a program transmission device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data format for transmitting a program according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data format of program-related information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an information transmission channel in the program transmission device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an external view of an information transmitting / receiving apparatus to which a program receiving method according to a second embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a circuit configuration of an information transmitting and receiving apparatus to which a program receiving method according to a second embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing display contents in an information transmitting / receiving device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 telephone signal transmitting / receiving circuit, 7 CATV transmitting / receiving circuit,
9 satellite signal receiving circuit, 12 program transmitting circuit, 1
4 program related information transmission circuit, 15 program transmission circuit,
18 program-related information transmission circuit, 20 reception request information analysis circuit, 21 program transmission information management circuit, 23
Program related information generation circuit, 24 program encryption circuit, 2
5 transmission program storage circuit, 105 telephone signal transmission / reception circuit, 108 own station identification signal detection circuit, 109 CA
TV transmission / reception circuit, 111 own station identification signal detection circuit,
115 own station identification signal detection circuit, 116 number request information transmission circuit, 118 received data storage circuit,
119 identification information management circuit, 120 IC card read / write circuit, 122 encryption / decryption circuit, 124 data input circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shuichi Ito 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Tatsuya Inoguchi 6-35, Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Kazuko Sakurai 6-35 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Corporation F-term (reference) 5C064 BA01 BB01 BB07 BC16 BC17 BC22 BC23 BD02 BD07 BD08

Claims (18)

[Claims] A receiving step of receiving at least user identification information for identifying the user and program request information transmitted from the user; a recording step of recording at least the program request information; A request information analysis step of analyzing program request information; a program setting step of setting a program to be transmitted based on an analysis result of the request information analysis step; and generation of program-related information about the program set in the program setting step. A program-related information generating step of transmitting the program-related information to a user and a transmitting step of transmitting the program. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the analyzing step searches for a program related to the program request information based on the program request information supplied from each user.
The described program transmission method. 3. The program transmitting method according to claim 1, wherein in the analyzing step, data analysis is performed by collecting and summing up program request information from a plurality of users for each predetermined unit. 4. The program transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the program-related information transmitted to the user includes information on a transmission time of the program. 5. The program transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the program transmitted to the user is encrypted to be decrypted based on information transmitted from the user and transmitted to the user. . 6. A program transmitted to a user is encrypted with a predetermined encryption key, and the encryption key is encrypted based on information for identifying the user and transmitted to the user. 6. The program transmitting method according to claim 5, wherein: 7. The program-related information and user identification information for identifying a user who transmitted the program request information are transmitted on a first transmission channel, and the program is transmitted on a first transmission channel. 2. The program transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission is performed on a different second transmission channel. 8. The program transmitting method according to claim 1, wherein the user identification information is predetermined code information assigned to a receiving device of the program operated by a user. 9. The program transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the information for specifying the user is predetermined code information set by the user. 10. Receiving means for receiving at least user identification information for identifying a user and program request information transmitted from a user; recording means for recording at least the program request information; Request information analysis means for analyzing program request information, program transmission information management means for setting and managing programs to be transmitted based on the analysis result by the request information analysis means, and programs organized by the program transmission information management means A program-related information generating step of generating program-related information for: a program storing means for storing a program organized by the program transmitting information managing means and transmitted to a user; Transmitting means for transmitting the program and transmitting the program. . 11. A program read from the program storage means is encrypted with a predetermined encryption key, and the encryption key is encrypted based on user identification information for specifying a user. 11. The program transmitting apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a program encrypting means for transmitting the output from the encrypting means to the transmitting means. 12. A receiving step of receiving at least information for specifying a receiving station transmitted from a transmitting station and program-related information related to a program to be transmitted, and wherein the information for specifying the receiving station includes: A recording step of receiving and recording the program-related information transmitted to the own station when recognizing that it indicates a station; and Waiting for a transmitted program to be received. 13. The program-related information is received on a first reception channel, and the program is received and recorded while waiting on a second reception channel different from the first reception channel. 13. The program receiving method according to claim 12, wherein: 14. Receiving and recording on the first reception channel the program-related information transmitted to the own station via a wired path or the program-related information transmitted via a wireless path, A program to be transmitted from the transmitting station to its own station on the second receiving channel in which a channel to be received is indicated by the recorded program-related information is standby-received and recorded. Claim 1
3. The program receiving method according to 3. 15. The program transmitted from the transmitting station to the own station is encrypted based on information for identifying the own station, and the encrypted program is recorded in an encrypted state. 13. The program receiving method according to claim 12, wherein decoding is performed based on the information for specifying the own station at the time of use. 16. The program transmitted from the transmitting station to the own station is encrypted based on information for specifying the own station, and the encrypted program is decrypted to decrypt the encrypted program. Decrypting the encryption key used at the time of encryption using information for identifying the own station, extracting the encryption key, and decrypting the encrypted program using the encryption key. The program receiving method according to claim 12, wherein: 17. When transferring the received program to another device, information for specifying a transfer destination device supplied from the transfer destination with respect to a program transmitted and recorded to the own station. 16. The program receiving method according to claim 15, wherein the program is encrypted based on the program and transferred together with the encrypted program. 18. An encryption key used for encrypting a program transmitted and recorded to the own station using information for identifying the own station, decrypting the encryption key, extracting the encryption key, and extracting the encryption key. 18. The program receiving method according to claim 17, wherein the encryption key is encrypted based on the information for specifying the transfer destination device supplied from the transfer destination, and the encrypted key is transferred together with the encrypted program. .