Information providing apparatus and method, display controlling apparatus and method, information providing system, as well as transmission medium

• US 20010016944A1
• Filed: 04/27/2001
• Published: 08/23/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kaihoko, Toshiya, Terakado, Tomoko, Hanai, Tomoyuki, Nishina, Yasutomo
• Granted Patent: US 8,104,062 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/43
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/262 Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2625 for delaying content or additional data distribution, e.g. because of an extended sport event
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6187 involving transmission via a telephone network, e.g. POTS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6547 comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44 Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards H04N5/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

The invention provides an information providing apparatus and method by which the amount of data to be transmitted when data of a program table composed of characters and images or the like are to be transmitted is reduced and it is made possible to cope with a change in contents of data rapidly. Data of an electronic program guide to be provided is hierarchized into data (A1 data) which may possibly be changed such as the broadcasting date, the start time and the end time, data (A2 data) which are not changed at all such as a program name, and data (A3 data) composed of still pictures, moving pictures, voice and so forth which have comparatively large data amounts, and for each medium, data of a hierarchy suitable for the medium is provided. Each A3 data is referred to by one or a plurality of A2 data, and each A2 data is referred to by one or a plurality of A1 data.

Claims

1. An information providing apparatus, comprising:

hierarchizing means for hierarchizing electronic program guide information to be provided into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information;

first providing means for providing at least one of the hierarchized first information and second information; and

second providing means for providing layout information from within the electronic program guide information which relates to a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen.

2. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein said first providing means provides the first information or the second information by radio or wire communication or by a recording medium, and said second providing means provides the layout information by radio or wire communication or by a recording medium.

3. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein said first providing means provides the first information by radio or wire communication when a broadcasting time of a program is changed.

4. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 3

, wherein said first providing means provides the first information in a superposed relationship with a vertical blanking period of a television signal.

5. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 3

, wherein said first providing means provides the first information digitally in a superposed relationship with a television signal.

6. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein said first providing means and said second providing means provide the first information and the second information as well as the layout information digitally by means of radio or wire communication.

7. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein said hierarchizing means determines that information of the electronic program guide information which is changed between regular broadcasting and rebroadcasting as the first information and determines that information of the electronic program guide information which is not changed as the second information.

8. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein said hierarchizing means determines that information of the electronic program guide information which is changed between key station broadcasting and local station broadcasting as the second information and determines that information of the electronic program guide information which is not changed as the second information.

9. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein said hierarchizing means hierarchizes the second information further into third information which is small in amount and is referred to by the third information and fourth information which is large in amount and is referred to by the first information or the third information.

10. An information providing apparatus according to

claim 9

, wherein the first information is information in units of a program to be broadcast and the third information of the second information includes information for identifying a performer who constructs the program while the fourth information of the second information includes information regarding details of a performer who performs in the program.

11. An information providing method, comprising the steps of:

hierarchizing electronic program guide information to be provided into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information;

providing the hierarchized first information or second information; and

providing layout information from within the electronic program guide information which relates to a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen.

12. A transmission medium which transmits a program, the program including the steps of:

hierarchizing electronic program guide information to be provided into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information;

providing at least one of the hierarchized first information or second information; and

providing layout information which relates to a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen.

13. A display controlling apparatus, comprising:

first acquiring means for acquiring, from within electronic program guide information hierarchized into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information, at least one of the first information and the second information;

second acquiring means for acquiring layout information of the electronic program guide information regarding a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen; and

producing means for producing display information to be used to display the electronic program guide information from at least one of the first information and the second information, and the layout information.

14. A display controlling apparatus according to

claim 13

, further comprising display means for displaying the electronic program guide information.

15. A display controlling apparatus according to

claim 13

, wherein said producing means retrieves information necessary to be displayed from the first information or the second information in response to the layout information and produces the display information in response to the retrieved information and the layout information.

16. A display controlling apparatus according to

claim 15

, wherein said producing means hierarchizes the retrieved information into first intermediate information regarding contents to be displayed at individual layout positions based on the layout information and second intermediate information to be referred to by the first intermediate information and designates the first information.

17. A display controlling apparatus according to

claim 16

, wherein said producing means sorts the first information to be designated as the second intermediate information.

18. A display controlling apparatus according to

claim 17

, further comprising instructing means for instructing sorting of the first information to be designated as the second intermediate information.

19. A display controlling apparatus according to

claim 13

, wherein said first or second acquiring means acquires at least one of the first information, the second information and the layout information from a recording medium.

20. A display controlling apparatus according to

claim 13

, wherein said first or second acquiring means fetches at least one of the first information, the second information and the layout information from data transmitted thereto by radio or wire communication.

21. A display controlling method, comprising the steps of:

acquiring, from within electronic program guide information hierarchized into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information, at least one of the first information and the second information;

acquiring layout information regarding a layout of the electronic program guide information when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen; and

producing display information to be used to display the electronic program guide information from at least one of the first information and the second information, and the layout information.

22. A transmission medium which transmits a program, the program including the steps of:

acquiring, from within electronic program guide information hierarchized into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information, at least one of the first information and the second information;

acquiring layout information regarding a layout of the electronic program guide information when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen; and

producing display information to be used to display the electronic program guide information from at least one of the first information and the second information, and the layout information.

23. An information providing systems comprising:

hierarchizing means for hierarchizing electronic program guide information to be provided into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information;

first providing means for providing at least one of the hierarchized first information or second information;

second providing means for providing layout information from within the electronic program guide information which relates to a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen;

first acquiring means for acquiring at least one of the first information and the second information;

second acquiring means for acquiring layout information of the electronic program guide information regarding a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen; and

producing means for producing display information to be used to display the electronic program guide information from at least one of the first information and the second information, and the layout information.

24. An information providing method, comprising the steps of:

hierarchizing electronic program guide information to be provided into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information;

providing at least one of the hierarchized first information and second information;

providing layout information from within the electronic program guide information which relates to a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen;

acquiring at least one of the first information and the second information;

acquiring layout information of the electronic program guide information regarding a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen; and

producing display information to be used to display the electronic program guide information from at least one of the first information and the second information, and the layout information.

25. A transmission medium which transmits a program, the program including the steps of:

hierarchizing electronic program guide information to be provided into first information which designates predetermined information and second information to be referred to by the first information;

providing at least one of the hierarchized first information and second information;

providing layout information from within the electronic program guide information which relates to a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen;

acquiring at least one of the first information and the second information;

acquiring layout information of the electronic program guide information regarding a layout when the electronic program guide information is to be displayed on a screen; and

producing display information to be used to display the electronic program guide information from at least one of the first information and the second information, and the layout information.