INFORMATION PROVIDING SYSTEM, INFORMATION RECEIVING TERMINAL, INFORMATION PROVIDING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROVIDING METHOD AND PROGRAM

• US 20090031353A1
• Filed: 06/02/2008
• Published: 01/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Fukuda, Kazuhiro, Maruyama, Tetsuo, Honjo, Asako
• Granted Patent: US 8,510,776 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• 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 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An information receiving terminal includes a designation information transmitting portion to transmit designation information designating a program and a related information receiving portion. The information providing apparatus includes a related information storage portion to store related information containing a plurality of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program, a designation information receiving portion, a related information extracting portion to extract the related information appropriate for a designated program, and a related information transmitting portion to transmit the extracted related information. The information receiving terminal or the information providing apparatus includes an information selecting portion to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of information constituting the received/extracted related information as information constituting the related information. An information providing system effectively providing program-related information is provided.

Claims

1. An information providing system where an information receiving terminal for receiving a program and an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program are connected through a communication network, wherein

the information receiving terminal includes:

a designation information transmitting portion to transmit designation information designating a program to the information providing apparatus; and

a related information receiving portion to receive the related information appropriate for a designated program from the information providing apparatus,

the information providing apparatus includes;

a related information storage portion to store the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program;

a designation information receiving portion to receive the designation information from the information receiving terminal;

a related information extracting portion to extract the related information appropriate for a designated program from the related information storage portion; and

a related information transmitting portion to transmit the extracted related information to the information receiving terminal, and

at least one of the information receiving terminal and the information providing apparatus includes;

an information selecting portion to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the related information received by the information receiving terminal or the related information extracted by the information providing apparatus as information constituting the related information.

2. An information receiving terminal for receiving a program, connected with an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program through a communication network, comprising:

a designation information transmitting portion to transmit designation information designating a program to the information providing apparatus;

a related information receiving portion to receive the related information extracted to be appropriate for a designated program from related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable and stored in association with a program from the information providing apparatus; and

an information selecting portion to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the received related information as information constituting the related information.

3. The information receiving terminal according to claim 2, wherein

a program is scheduled with time, and

the related information contains information in which each provision period is set to a period of a program scheduled time and a period at least before or after a program scheduled time.

4. The information receiving terminal according to claim 3, further comprising:

a display/playback portion to display/playback the received related information,

wherein the related information is composed of one or more scenario information in a scenario form so as to sequentially display/playback a plurality of pieces of information.

5. An information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program, connected with an information receiving terminal for receiving a program through a communication network, comprising:

a related information storage portion to store the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program;

a designation information receiving portion to receive designation information designating a program from the information receiving terminal;

a related information extracting portion to extract the related information appropriate for a designated program from the related information storage portion;

an information selecting portion to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the extracted related information as information constituting the related information; and

a related information transmitting portion to transmit the related information composed of selected information to the information receiving terminal.

6. The information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

a program is scheduled with time, and

the related information contains information in which each provision period is set to a period of a program scheduled time and a period at least before or after a program scheduled time.

7. The information providing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the related information is composed of one or more scenario information in a scenario form so as to sequentially display/playback a plurality of pieces of information by the information receiving terminal.

8. An information providing method applied to an information providing system where an information receiving terminal for receiving a program and an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program are connected through a communication network, comprising the steps of:

storing the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program in the information providing apparatus;

extracting the related information appropriate for a program designated by the information receiving terminal in the information providing apparatus;

transmitting the extracted related information to the information receiving terminal from the information providing apparatus; and

selecting information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the related information received by the information receiving terminal or the related information extracted by the information providing apparatus as information constituting the related information in the information receiving terminal or the information providing apparatus.

9. A program applied to an information receiving terminal for receiving a program included in an information providing system where the information receiving terminal and an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program are connected through a communication network, the program causing a computer to implement functions comprising:

a designation information transmitting means to transmit designation information designating a program to the information providing apparatus;

a related information receiving means to receive the related information extracted to be appropriate for a designated program from the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable and stored in association with a program from the information providing apparatus; and

an information selecting means to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the received related information as information constituting the related information.

10. A program applied to an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program included in an information providing system where an information receiving terminal for receiving a program and the information providing apparatus are connected through a communication network, the program causing a computer to implement functions comprising:

a related information storage means to store the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program;

a designation information receiving means to receive designation information designating a program from the information receiving terminal;

a related information extracting means to extract the related information appropriate for a designated program from the related information storage means;

an information selecting means to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the extracted related information as information constituting the related information; and

a related information transmitting means to transmit the related information composed of selected information to the information receiving terminal.

11. An information providing system where an information receiving terminal for receiving a program and an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program are connected through a communication network, wherein

the information receiving terminal includes:

a designation information transmitting portion to transmit designation information designating a program to the information providing apparatus; and

a related information receiving portion to receive the related information appropriate for a designated program from the information providing apparatus,

the information providing apparatus includes;

a related information storage portion to store the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program;

a designation information receiving portion to receive the designation information from the information receiving terminal;

a related information extracting portion to extract the related information appropriate for a designated program from the related information storage portion; and

a related information transmitting portion to transmit the extracted related information to the information receiving terminal, and

at least one of the information receiving terminal and the information providing apparatus includes;

an information selecting portion to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the related information received by the information receiving terminal or the related information extracted by the information providing apparatus as information constituting the related information; and

an operation information generating portion to generate operation information appropriate for function information specifying a function of the information receiving terminal and a temporal relationship between a scheduled time of a program and a provision time point of the related information for operation regarding the related information.

12. An information receiving terminal for receiving a program, connected with an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program through a communication network, comprising:

a designation information transmitting portion to transmit designation information designating a program to the information providing apparatus;

a related information receiving portion to receive the related information extracted to be appropriate for a designated program from the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable and stored in association with a program from the information providing apparatus;

an information selecting portion to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the received related information as information constituting the related information; and

an operation information generating portion to generate operation information appropriate for function information specifying its own function and a temporal relationship between a scheduled time of a program and a provision time point of the related information for operation regarding the related information.

13. The information receiving terminal according to claim 12, wherein

a program is scheduled with time, and

the related information contains information in which each provision period is set to a period of a program scheduled time and a period at least before or after a program scheduled time.

14. An information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program, connected with an information receiving terminal for receiving a program through a communication network, comprising:

a related information storage portion to store the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program;

a designation information receiving portion to receive designation information designating a program from the information receiving terminal;

a related information extracting portion to extract the related information appropriate for a designated program from the related information storage portion;

an information selecting portion to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the extracted related information as information constituting the related information;

a related information transmitting portion to transmit the related information composed of selected information to the information receiving terminal;

a function information receiving portion to receive function information specifying a function of the information receiving terminal from the information receiving terminal;

an operation information generating portion to generate operation information appropriate for the received function information and a temporal relationship between a scheduled time of a program and a provision time point of the related information for operation regarding the related information; and

an operation information transmitting portion to transmit the generated operation information to the information receiving terminal.

15. The information receiving terminal according to claim 14, wherein

a program is scheduled with time, and

the related information contains information in which each provision period is set to a period of a program scheduled time and a period at least before or after a program scheduled time.

16. An information providing method applied to an information providing system where an information receiving terminal for receiving a program and an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program are connected through a communication network, comprising the steps of:

storing the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program in the information providing apparatus;

extracting the related information appropriate for a program designated by the information receiving terminal in the information providing apparatus;

transmitting the extracted related information to the information receiving terminal from the information providing apparatus;

selecting information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the related information received by the information receiving terminal or the related information extracted by the information providing apparatus as information constituting the related information in the information receiving terminal or the information providing apparatus; and

generating operation information appropriate for function information specifying a function of the information receiving terminal and a temporal relationship between a scheduled time of a program and a provision time point of the related information for operation regarding the related information in the information receiving terminal or the information providing apparatus.

17. A program applied to an information receiving terminal for receiving a program included in an information providing system where the information receiving terminal and an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program are connected through a communication network, the program causing a computer to implement functions comprising:

a designation information transmitting means to transmit designation information designating a program to the information providing apparatus;

a related information receiving means to receive the related information extracted to be appropriate for a designated program from the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable and stored in association with a program from the information providing apparatus;

an information selecting means to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the received related information as information constituting the related information; and

an operation information generating means to generate operation information appropriate for function information specifying its own function and a temporal relationship between a scheduled time of a program and a provision time point of the related information for operation regarding the related information.

18. A program applied to an information providing apparatus for providing related information associated with a program included in an information providing system where an information receiving terminal for receiving a program and the information providing apparatus are connected through a communication network, the program causing a computer to implement functions comprising:

a related information storage means to store the related information composed of a plurality of pieces of information to which each provision period is settable in association with a program;

a designation information receiving means to receive designation information designating a program from the information receiving terminal;

a related information extracting means to extract the related information appropriate for a designated program from the related information storage means;

an information selecting means to select information to which a provision period corresponding to a provision time point of the related information is set from a plurality of pieces of information constituting the extracted related information as information constituting the related information;

a related information transmitting means to transmit the related information composed of selected information to the information receiving terminal;

a function information receiving means to receive function information specifying a function of the information receiving terminal from the information receiving terminal;

an operation information generating means to generate operation information appropriate for the received function information and a temporal relationship between a scheduled time of a program and a provision time point of the related information for operation regarding the related information; and

an operation information transmitting means to transmit the generated operation information to the information receiving terminal.