INFORMATION RECEIVING APPARATUS

• US 20020016963A1
• Filed: 08/07/1997
• Published: 02/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/1996
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: INOUE, HIDEKI, SAKAGUCHI, ETSUYOSHI, HENMI, HIDEMI
• Application Number:
  US08/908,424
• Publication Number:
  US 20020016963A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/39
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0882 for the transmission of character code signals, e.g. for teletext circuits for the digital non-picture data signal H04N7/035
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0884 for the transmission of additional display-information, e.g. menu for programme or channel selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals

Abstract

An information receiving apparatus is for storing service information in a memory, selecting the time information, service information storage time information, count information, service of using service information, price information for using service information, service information update attribute information, and others added to the service information in the input and output control unit, processing them appropriately, and presenting the contents of the service information in electronic program guide, merchandise catalog information, user survey, or other places. The stored service information is deleted depending on specified condition determined by the sender or receiver of the service information, so that the user of service information may be facilitated, while the memory capacity of the memory may be kept small.

Claims

1. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least time information as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

time information reading means for reading out said time information from the service information stored in the memory means,

comparator means for comparing said time information being read out by said time information reading means and set time information kept in said receiving apparatus, and

information processing means for processing part or all of the service information corresponding to said time information, on the basis of result of comparison by said comparator means.

8. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 1, wherein said set time information is the present time determined by the clock.

15. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 1, wherein said set time information is entered by the data user.

22. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 1, wherein said set time information is entered from the sender of the service information through broadcast or telephone line.

2. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

time information adding means for adding time information to said service information as additional information,

time information reading means for reading out said time information from the service information stored in the memory means,

comparator means for comparing said time information being read out by said time information reading means and set time information kept in said information receiving apparatus, and

information processing means for processing part or all of the service information corresponding to said time information, on the basis of result of comparison by said comparator means.

3. An information receiving apparatus of claim 2, wherein said time information adding means adds the time when storing said received service information in said memory means as additional information.

4. An information receiving apparatus of claim 2, wherein said time information adding means stores the time when reading out said service information stored in said memory means in the memory means as additional information.

5. An information receiving apparatus of claim 2, wherein said time information adding means stores the time when first reading out said service information stored in said memory means in the memory means as additional information.

9. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 2, wherein said set time information is the present time determined by the clock.

10. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 3, wherein said set time information is the present time determined by the clock.

11. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 4, wherein said set time information is the present time determined by the clock.

12. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 5, wherein said set time information is the present time determined by the clock.

16. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 2, wherein said set time information is entered by the data user.

17. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 3, wherein said set time information is entered by the data user.

18. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 4, wherein said set time information is entered by the data user.

19. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 5, wherein said set time information is entered by the data user.

23. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 2, wherein said set time information is entered from the sender of the service information through broadcast or telephone line.

24. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 3, wherein said set time information is entered from the sender of the service information through broadcast or telephone line.

25. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 4, wherein said set time information is entered from the sender of the service information through broadcast or telephone line.

26. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 5, wherein said set time information is entered from the sender of the service information through broadcast or telephone line.

6. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

time information adding means for adding time information to said service information as additional information,

a reference period holding unit for holding reference time information showing a valid term for specific service information,

time information reading means for reading out said reference period information of said specific service information from the service information stored in the memory means,

comparator means for judging if the time indicated by set time information kept in said information receiving apparatus has passed or not the valid term held by said reference period holding unit from the time indicated by said time information, and

information processing means for processing part or all of the service information corresponding to said time information, on the basis of result of comparison by said comparator means.

7. An information receiving apparatus of claim 6, wherein the reference time information held in the reference period holding unit is transmitted from the sender as additional information of said specific service information as being added to said specific service information.

13. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 6, wherein said set time information is the present time determined by the clock.

14. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 7, wherein said set time information is the present time determined by the clock.

20. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 6, wherein said set time information is entered by the data user.

21. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 7, wherein said set time information is entered by the data user.

27. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 6, wherein said set time information is entered from the sender of the service information through broadcast or telephone line.

28. An information receiving apparatus of any one of claim 7, wherein said set time information is entered from the sender of the service information through broadcast or telephone line.

29. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least information showing the data size added to the service information as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

data size comparator means for reading out the information about said data size of said plural pieces of service information from the service information stored in the memory means, and mutually comparing the data size added to said plural pieces of service information, and

information processing means for selecting any service information from said plural pieces of service information, on the basis of result of comparison by said data size comparator means processing part or all of the service information.

30. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least information showing the data size added to the service information as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

data size comparator means for reading out the information about said data size from the service information stored in the memory means, and comparing the data size being read out with predetermined specific reference data size, and

information processing means for processing part or all of the service information, on the basis of result of comparison by said data size comparator means.

31. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

re-storing count information adding means for reading said service information from the memory means, and adding the count information of re-storing the service information in said memory means as additional information when re-storing the corresponding service information and re-storing said service information,

re-storing count information reading means for reading said re-storing count information from the service information stored in the memory means,

comparator means for comparing said re-storing count information being read out by said re-storing count information reading means with predetermined set count information, and

information processing means for processing part or all of the service information corresponding to said re-storing count information, on the basis of result of comparison by said comparator means.

32. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

reading count information adding means for adding the count information of reading said service information from the memory means as additional information to the corresponding service information, and storing said service information with said count information in said memory means,

reading count information reading means for reading out said reading count information from the service information stored in the memory means,

comparator means for comparing said reading count information being read out by the reading count information reading means with predetermined set count information, and

information processing means for processing part or all of the service information corresponding to said reading count information, on the basis of result of comparison by said comparator means.

33. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least price information for using the information as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

price comparator means for reading out said price information of said plural pieces of service information out of the service information stored in the memory means, and comparing the prices of said plural pieces of service information mutually, and

information processing means for selecting some of certain service information out of said plural pieces of service information, on the basis of result of comparison by said price comparator means and processing part or all of said service information.

34. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least price information of the information as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

price comparator means for reading out said price information from the service information stored in the memory means, and comparing it with a predetermined reference price, and

information processing means for processing part or all of said service information, on the basis of result of comparison by said price comparator means.

35. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with update attribute information including at least data name and flag showing presence or absence of update, as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information, and

information processing means for storing only said received service information in the memory means when the service information in the same data name as the service information subject to update attribute information of the received service information is not stored in the memory means,

storing the received service information in the memory means when the service information in the same data name as the service information subject to update attribute information of the received service information is stored in the memory means, and the flag showing presence or absence of update of the update attribute information of the corresponding received service information shows presence of update, and

deleting the service information which has the same data name as the service information subject to update attribute information of the received service information and has been stored in the memory means before receiving said update attribute information.

36. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with data name and point information including at least data usable points, accumulated points of used data points, and using point table, as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information, and

information processing means for adding points determined in said using point table to the accumulated points of used data points when using the data of the service information stored in the memory means, and

processing part or all of the corresponding service information when the accumulated points of used data points have reached the data usable points.

37. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with data name and point information including at least data usable points, accumulate points of used data points, and using point table, as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information, and

information processing means for subtracting points determined in the using point table from the data usable points when using the data of the service information stored in the memory means, and

processing part or all of the corresponding service information when the data usable points have become zero.

38. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with data name and point information including at least using point table, as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

data usable point holding unit for holding data usable points to be used for plural service information commonly, and

information processing means for subtracting points determined in the using point table from the data usable points held in the data usable point holding unit when using the data of the service information stored in the memory means, and

processing part or all of the service information to which the point information is added when the data usable points have become zero.

39. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with data name and point information including at least using point table, as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

data usable point holding unit for holding data usable points,

accumulated points of used data point holding unit for holding the accumulated points of used data points, and

information processing means for adding points determined in the using point table to the accumulated points of used data point held in the accumulated points of used data point holding unit when using the data of the service information stored in the memory means, and

processing part or all of the service information to which said point information is added when the accumulated points of used data points have reached the data usable points held in the data usable point holding unit.

40. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least information classification information showing whether the information is main information or subsidiary information, as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information, and

information processing means for receiving first service information to which information classification information showing that the information is subsidiary information is added, storing it in the memory means, and processing the information in part or all of the first service information stored in the memory means when receiving second service information having information classification information showing that the second service information is main information relating to the first service information.

41. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with data name and link information including at least related information designation column for entering the information for specifying other related service information at the information receiving apparatus side, as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information,

means for entering the information for specifying other related service information in said related information designation column, and

information processing means for reading out service information from memory means and processing same as in the pertinent service information, on other service information indicated by the link information of the same service information, out of other service information stored in the memory means, when said service information read out is processed.

42. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least link information showing other related service information as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information, and

information processing means for reading out service information from memory means processing same as in the pertinent service information, on other service information indicated by the link information of the same service information, out of other service information stored in the memory means, when said service information read out is processed.

43. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least information processing condition information as additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information, and

information processing means for processing part or all of the service information, when the receiving apparatus side operates by satisfying the condition specified in the information processing condition information on the service information stored in the memory means.

44. An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising:

memory means for storing said received service information, and

information processing means for reading out the service information from the memory means, and processing part or all of the service information, when a specified action preset in the information receiving apparatus is done relating to this service information.

An information receiving apparatus for receiving service information sent from a sender side together with data name and processing setting information including at least processing designation column showing the object to be done specified processing when specified information processing instruction is entered in the information receiving apparatus, as additional information, comprising;

memory means for storing said received service information, and

information processing means for processing as specified on the service information to be the object of processing described in the information processing instruction data out of the service information stored in the memory means, when the specified information processing instruction designated by the processing setting information is entered in the information receiving apparatus.

47. An information receiving method of claim 46, wherein said time information has the time storing said received service information added as additional information.

48. An information receiving method of claim 46, wherein the time when reading out said service information is described as additional information.

49. An information receiving method of claim 46, wherein the time when first reading out said service information is described as additional information.

45. An information receiving method, being a method of receiving service information sent from a sender side together with at least time information as additional information, comprising the steps of:

storing said received service information,

reading out said time information from said stored service information,

comparing said time information and set time information, and

processing part or all of the service information corresponding to the time information, on the basis of the result of comparison.

46. An information receiving method, being a method of receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising the steps of:

storing said received service information,

adding time information to said service information as additional information,

reading out said time information from said stored service information,

comparing said time information and set time information, and

processing part or all of the service information corresponding to the time information, on the basis of the result of comparison.

50. An information receiving method of receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising the steps of:

adding time information to said service information as additional information,

storing said service information to which the additional information is added,

holding reference time information showing a valid term about specific service information,

reading out said time information added to said specific service information out of stored service information,

judging if the time indicated by the predetermined set time information has passed or not the held valid term from the time indicated by the time information, and

processing part or all of said service information to which said time information is added, on the basis of the result of comparison.

51. An information receiving method of claim 50, wherein the reference time information is sent as being added at the sender side to the specific service information as additional information of the specific service information.

52. An information receiving method of receiving service information sent from a sender side together with information showing at least the data size of the information as additional information, comprising the steps of:

storing said received service information,

reading out the information relating to the data size of said plural pieces of service information out of stored service information,

comparing the data sizes of the plural pieces of service information mutually,

selecting some of certain service information out of said service information on the basis of the result of comparison of data size, and

processing part or all of said selected service information.

53. An information receiving method of receiving service information sent from a sender side together with information showing at least the data size of the information as additional information, comprising the steps of:

storing said received service information,

reading out the information relating to the data size from said stored service information,

comparing the read-out data size with specific reference data size, and

processing part or all of said service information on the basis of the result of comparison of data size.

54. An information receiving method of receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising the steps of:

storing said received service information,

reading out said service information, and adding the count information of the re-storing actions of the service information as additional information to said service information when re-storing said service information,

storing said service information together with said count information,

reading out said re-storing count information from said stored service information,

comparing the re-storing count and a predetermined set count, and

processing part or all of the service information corresponding to said re-storing count, on the basis of the result of comparison.

55. An information receiving method of receiving service information sent from a sender side together with additional information, comprising the steps of:

storing said received service information,

adding the count information of reading actions of the service information to the corresponding service information as additional information,

storing said service information together with said count information,

reading out said read count information from said stored service information,

comparing said reading count and a predetermined set count information, and

processing part or all of the service information corresponding to said read count information, on the basis of the result of comparison.

56. An information receiving method of receiving service information sent together with the data name and update attribute information including at least flag indicating presence or absence of update, as additional information, comprising the steps of:

storing said received service information,

storing said received service information when the service information having the same data name as the service information to be the object of update attribute information of the received service information is not stored,

storing said received service information when the service information having the service information in the same data name as the service information to be the object of update attribute information of the received service information is stored, and the flag indicating presence or absence of update of the corresponding received service information shows presence of update, and

processing the information for deleting the service information having the same data name as the service information to be the object of update attribute information of the received service information.