Broadcast Program Scene Report System and Method, Mobile Terminal Device, and Computer Program

• US 20090042607A1
• Filed: 06/13/2006
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Access Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Access Company Limited
• Inventors: Adachi, Yosuke, Komatsuda, Kaoru, Inoguchi, Yohei
• Granted Patent: US 8,577,411 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/556.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/40 Arrangements for broadcast specially adapted for accumulation-type receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/57 for mobile receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/40 characterised in that additional data relating to the broadcast data are available via a different channel than the broadcast channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/40 for identifying broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/74 using programme related information, e.g. title, composer or interpreter
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/91 Mobile communication networks for accessing the Internet H04H60/85
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4227 Providing Remote input by a user located remotely from the client device, e.g. at work
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• 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 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 : End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 : for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• 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

A mobile terminal 20 receives a scene notification message via a communication network 10. The scene notification message at least includes scene identification information for identifying a scene corresponding to a part of a broadcast program, broadcast identification information on the time-difference broadcast of the scene, and URL information for accessing a server in which scene data is stored. Based on the scene notification message, the mobile terminal 20 receives a time-difference broadcast if it is a time at which the scene can be viewed by the time-difference broadcast and, if not, accesses a server 48, in which the data of the scene is stored, to acquire the data of the scene.

Claims

1-12. -12. (canceled)

13. A mobile terminal device, comprising:

broadcast reception means that receives a broadcast;

viewing means used to view the received broadcast;

communication means connected to a communication network for receiving a notification message that includes broadcast unit identification information, which identifies a broadcast unit that includes a scene corresponding at least to a part of a broadcast program, and a start time and an end time of the broadcast unit; and

control means that, in response to the notification message, starts receiving a broadcast by said broadcast reception means at the start time of the broadcast unit with a video and audio output function thereof suppressed and, after that, compares desired scene information received by the broadcast with desired scene information stored in the terminal, releases the suppression of the video and audio output function of said viewing means while a match between both information is confirmed, and suppresses the video and audio output function of said viewing means again if the match is not confirmed.

14-18. -18. (canceled)

19. A mobile terminal device, comprising:

broadcast reception means that receives a broadcast;

viewing means used to view the received broadcast;

communication means that receives a notification message that includes scene identification information, which identifies a scene corresponding at least to a part of a broadcast program, and start/end time information thereof; and

control means that compares a current time with the start/end time of the scene when a user confirms the notification message and switches user-selectable processing based on a relation between the current time and the start/end time.

20. The mobile terminal device according to claim 19, wherein when the current time is between a predetermined time earlier than the start time and the start time, said control means prompts the user to immediately view the program.

21. The mobile terminal device according to claim 19, wherein when the current time is earlier than a predetermined time earlier than the start time, said control means prompts the user to timer-record the scene.

22. The mobile terminal device according to claim 19, wherein when the current time is between the start time and the end time of the scene, said control means prompts the user to select at least one of immediately viewing the program, viewing a time-difference broadcast of the scene, and accessing a server in which data of the scene is stored.

23. The mobile terminal device according to claim 22, wherein the notification message includes at least one of identification information on the time-difference broadcast and information on access to said server.

24. The mobile terminal device according to claim 23, wherein

the broadcast of the program is a digital broadcast;

and

the time-difference broadcast is lower than a corresponding real-time broadcast in an information amount per unit time.

25. The mobile terminal device according to claim 19, wherein when the current time is later than the end time of the scene, said control means prompts the user to select at least one of accessing a server, in which data of the scene is stored, by said communication means and viewing a time-difference broadcast of the scene.

26. The mobile terminal device according to claim 25, wherein the notification message includes at least one of access information for accessing said server and identification information on the time-difference broadcast.

27. The mobile terminal device according to claim 19, wherein when the current time is later than the end time of the scene, said control means prompts the user to access a server, in which result information related to the scene is stored, by said communication means.

28. The mobile terminal device according to claim 19, further comprising display means as a part of said viewing means for listing contents of a plurality of received notification messages on a display screen, wherein when the user selects a display item of one of notification messages from the list, said control means switches user-selectable processing depending upon a relation between the start/end time of the scene specified by the notification message and the current time.

29. The mobile terminal device according to claim 28, wherein said display means displays information, which indicates whether or not the user has viewed the scene, for each notification message on the display screen of the list.

37. The mobile terminal device according to claim 25, wherein when the current time is later than the end time of the scene, said control means prompts the user to access a server, in which result information related to the scene is stored, by said communication means.

30. A broadcast program scene notification system that notifies a broadcast program scene to a terminal device that has a data communication capability and a broadcast reception/playback capability, said broadcast program scene notification system, comprising:

broadcast means that broadcasts a program;

registration means, connected to said terminal device via a communication network, for registering desired-scene information, which identifies a scene in a broadcast program desired by a user, together with communication address information on the terminal device;

scene information transmission means that checks if an actual scene appearing in a broadcast program corresponds to the desired scene and, if the actual scene corresponds to the desired scene, transmits scene information, which indicates to the user that a broadcast of the actual scene will be or has been started, to the terminal device of the user via said communication network; and

a server having a database in which generated actual scenes are stored in such a way that the terminal device can access the actual scenes via communication;

wherein said scene information transmission means creates a notification message and transmits the created notification message to the user, said notification message including broadcast identification information and start/end time information on a notifying scene as well as access information for accessing said server, in which data of the scene is stored, after the broadcast of the scene is ended.

31. The broadcast program scene notification system according to claim 30, wherein said broadcast means transmits a time-difference broadcast in which at least a part of a real-time broadcast content is delayed for a predetermined time and said scene information transmission means transmits the notification message to the user with time-difference broadcast identification information on the notifying scene added to the notification message.

32. The broadcast program scene notification system according to claim 31, wherein the addition of the time-difference broadcast identification information to the notification message is performed for the notification message created after a scene, whose generation time cannot be predicted, is generated.

33. The broadcast program scene notification system according to claim 32, wherein the broadcast of the program is a digital broadcast;

and

the time-difference broadcast is lower than a corresponding real-time broadcast in an information amount per unit time.

34. A computer program executed on a mobile terminal device comprising a broadcast reception capability that receives a broadcast;

a viewing capability used to view the received broadcast; and

a communication function that receives a notification message that includes scene identification information, which identifies a scene corresponding at least to a part of a broadcast program, and start/end time information thereof, said computer program executing the steps of;

comparing a current time with the start/end time of the scene when a user confirms the notification message; and

switching user-selectable processing based on a relation between the current time and the start/end time.

35. A recording device that notifies a broadcast program scene to a terminal device that has a data communication capability, said recording device, comprising:

recording means that records a broadcast;

registration means that registers desired-scene information, which identifies a scene in a broadcast program desired by a user of said terminal device, together with communication address information on the terminal device;

transmission means that checks if an actual scene appearing in a broadcast program corresponds to the desired scene and, if the actual scene corresponds to the desired scene, transmits a notification message, which includes URL information on the scene, to the user; and

output means that outputs the recorded actual scene to the communication address of said terminal device in response to a user'"'"'s actual scene request based on the notification message.

36. (canceled)