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United States Patent
6532591
Arai , ; et al.
March 11, 2003
Title
System for downloading computer software with broadcasting program
Abstract
A guide of a broadcasting program with a computer software product, in which a transmission start time, a name of the broadcasting program, a name of the computer software product, a version number of the computer software product and a terminal type required of a terminal are listed, is transmitted from a center station to each terminal. Also, files of the computer software product are transmitted from the center station to each terminal with video-audio data of the broadcasting program at the transmission start time. In each terminal, a particular terminal type of the terminal and a particular version number of the computer software product downloaded in the terminal are managed. In cases where the particular terminal type of the terminal agrees with the terminal type listed in the guide and the particular version number of the computer software product is higher than the version number listed in the guide, the downloading of the computer software product is judged, and the computer software product is downloaded to the terminal at the transmission start time. Accordingly, the computer software product can be downloaded to user's terminal without requiring a special frequency band used only for the computer software product. Also, because the computer software product received in the terminal is updated, the user can always execute the updated computer software product.
Inventors:
Arai; Yuko
(Tokyo,
JP
)
, Suzuki; Takayuki
(Tokyo,
JP
)
, Karibe; Tomoyuki
(Tokyo,
JP
)
, Shinohara; Hiroki
(Yokohama,
JP
)
, Hikita; Hiroyuki
(Tokyo,
JP
)
Assignee:
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
(Osaka,
JP
)
Appl. No.:
158492
Filed:
September 23, 1998
Foreign Application Priority Data
Sep 24, 1997 [JP] 9-258127
Current U.S. Class:
725/132
725/37
725/86
725/91
725/98
725/114
Field of Search:
725/60,61,67,68,86,105,117,132,140,152,114-118,90-93,98,37
U.S. Patent Documents
5003591
March 1991
Kauffman et al.
5367571
November 1994
Bowen et al.
5635979
June 1997
Kostreski et al.
5666293
September 1997
Metz et al.
5687331
November 1997
Volk et al.
5729549
March 1998
Kostreski et al.
5734589
March 1998
Kostreski et al.
5951639
September 1999
MacInnis
6061449
May 2000
Candelore et al.
Foreign Patent Documents
0723372
Jul., 1996
EP
19642558
Apr., 1997
DE
8-195952
Jul., 1996
JP
WO97/30549
Aug., 1997
WO
Primary Examiner:
Faile; Andrew
Assistant Examiner:
Bui; Kieu-Oanh
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Lowe Hauptman Gilman & Berner, LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A software download system for downloading a software product from a center station to a terminal through a transmission channel, the system comprising: broadcast program guide preparing means, located in the center station, for preparing at least one guide of broadcast program(s) accompanied by the software product whose version number is a first version number, wherein the version number is changed each time the software product is revised in the center station; broadcast program data storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of the broadcast program listed in the prepared guide of the broadcast program; software storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of the software product listed in the prepared guide of the broadcast program; transmitting means, located in the center station, for transmitting the prepared guide of the broadcast program accompanied by the software product, and transmitting the data of the software product with the data of the broadcast program during a time period of transmission of the broadcast program through the transmission channel under the control of the broadcast program guide preparing means; receiving means, located in the terminal, for: receiving the guide to the broadcast program, accompanied by the software product, from the transmitting means transmitted through the transmission channel, and receiving the data of the software product with the data of the broadcast program during the time period of transmitting from the transmitting means through the transmission channel; version number managing means, located in the terminal, for managing a second version number of the software product previously downloaded from the center station to the terminal; download judging means, located in the terminal, for checking whether or not the first version number of the software product of the received guide differs from the managed second version number of the software product and deciding whether to download the received data of the software product to the terminal, where the first version number differs from the second version number; downloading means, located in the terminal, for extracting the data of the software product from the received broadcast program in cases where the downloading of the software product has been accepted by the download judging means and for storing the data of the software product whereby to download the received software product from the center station to the terminal and to use the software product on a user's side; download completion notice means, located in the terminal, for transmitting information about a download completion notice to the center station where the downloading of the software product performed by the downloading means is completed; and download record managing means, located in the center station, for managing a record of the downloading of the software product performed in the terminal by using the information contained in the download completion notice.
2. A software download system, according to claim 1, further comprising: set up information storing means, located at the center station, for storing set up information indicating a first version number of the software product and a first version numbers of files of which the software product is comprised, wherein the set up information is added to the guide prepared by the broadcast program guide preparing means, wherein the appropriateness of downloading each file of the software product from the center station to the terminal is determined by the download judging means where the first version number of the file differs from the second version number of the file, and wherein the file that has been selected to be downloaded is extracted from the program being broadcast by the downloading means and is stored.
3. A software downloading system according to claim 2 in which the appropriateness of downloading a particular file of the software product from the center station to the terminal is judged by the download judging means where the first version number of the software product listed in the guide is newer than the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means and the first version number of the file is a newer than the second version number of the file managed by the version number managing means.
4. A software downloading system according to claim 1, further comprising: set up information storing means, located at the center station, for storing set up information indicating a required specific terminal type, wherein the set up information is added to the guide prepared by the broadcast program guide preparing means; and terminal information managing means for managing a particular type of the terminal, wherein the appropriateness of downloading the software product from the center station to the terminal is determined by the download judging means where the particular terminal type agrees with the specific terminal type listed in the guide, and wherein the software product is extracted from the broadcast program by the downloading means and is stored.
5. A software download system according to claim 1, further comprising: software download reservation managing means, located at the terminal, for managing the reservation of the software product to be transmitted for downloading with the broadcast program where the downloading of the software product is selected by the download judging means, and means for instructing the downloading means to download the software product to the terminal during the time period that the broadcast program is being transmitted.
6. A software download system according to claim 1, wherein the download record managing means comprises: download completion notification judging means for judging whether or not the downloading of the software product performed by the downloading means has been completed; and download completion notice transmitting means for transmitting a download completion notice comprising: an identification number of the terminal and a name of the software product downloaded by the downloading means, to the center station where the download completion notification judging means has determined that the downloading of the software product performed by the downloading means has been completed.
7. A software download system according to claim 6, wherein: said download record managing means is configured to manage the record of the downloading of the software program corresponding to the identification number of the terminal and the name of the software product transmitted from the download completion notice transmitting means.
8. A software download system according to claim 6, further comprising: set-up information storing means, located in the center station,, for storing set-up information including a download completion notification flag, wherein the set-up information is included in the guide prepared by the broadcast program guide preparing means, and wherein the notification of the downloading of the software product is adapted to be judged by the download completion notification judging means according to the download completion notification flag.
9. A software download system for downloading a software product from a center station terminal through a transmission channel, the system comprising: broadcast program guide preparing means, located in a center station, for preparing first guides of a first group of broadcast programs and second guides of a second group of broadcast programs, each broadcast program of the first group being accompanied by a software product having a first version number, each broadcast program of the second group being unaccompanied by any software product, wherein the version number of the software product is adapted to be changed each time the software product is revised in the center station; broadcast program data storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of each broadcast program; a program guide preparing means adapted to prepare a program guide from said stored broadcast program data; software storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of a software product, corresponding to the first version number of each software product, from which the guide is prepared by the broadcast program guide preparing means: transmitting means, located in the center station, for transmitting the prepared guides to the broadcast programs, and adapted to transmit the data, of each broadcast program stored in the broadcast program data storing means, during a time period of transmitting the broadcast program, wherein said transmitting means is under the control of the program guide preparing means and is adapted transmit the data of each software product stored in the software storing means with the data of a broadcast program through the transmission channel of the broadcasting means under the control of the broadcasting program preparing means; receiving means, located in the terminal, for receiving the guides of the broadcast programs from the transmitting means, and for receiving the data of the broadcast programs and the data of the software products from the transmitting means; version number managing means, located in the terminal, for managing a second version number corresponding to each software product previously downloaded from the center station to the terminal; broadcasting software program extracting means, located in the terminal, for extracting the guide of each broadcast program of the first group from the received guides as a guide of a broadcast software program; download judging means, located in the terminal, for checking whether or not the first version number of the software product of the software program being broadcast differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means and extracted by the broadcast software program extracting means, and for determining whether to download the software product of each broadcast software program received by the receiving means to the terminal where the first version number of the software product differs from the second version number of the software product; downloading means, located in the terminal, for extracting the data of the software product from the received broadcast program during the transmission time period where downloading of the software product is permitted by the download judging means and for storing the data of the software product to download the received software product from the center station to the terminal and to use the software product on a users side; software download reservation managing means, located in the terminal, for managing recording of a reservation for one or more recording-reserved broadcast programs selected from the second group of broadcast programs; and download-reserved broadcast program determining means, located in the terminal, for selecting a guide of a download-reserved broadcast program from among guides to one or more broadcast programs, of which software products are judged, by the download judging means, to be downloaded to the terminal, on condition that a transmission time period of the download-reserved broadcast program does not overlap with the transmission time period of any recording-reserved broadcast program managed by the software download reservation managing means, wherein the software product transmitted with the download-reserved broadcast program is downloaded by the downloading means.
10. A software download system according to claim 9, in which the guide of the download-reserved broadcast program is selected on condition that a transmission start time of the download-reserved broadcast program is later than the current date and time.
11. A software download system according to claim 9, in which a plurality of guides to broadcast programs with the same particular software product are prepared by the broadcast program guide preparing means, data of the broadcast programs stored in the broadcast program data storing means are transmitted by the transmitting means during different transmission time periods, at least one name-checked broadcast program with the particular software product being selected from the broadcast programs with the same particular software product by the download-reserved broadcast program determining means on condition that a transmission time period of each name-checked broadcast program does not overlap with the transmission time period of any recording-reserved broadcast program, and the download-reserved broadcast program with the particular software product being selected from the name-checked broadcast programs by the download-reserved broadcast program determining means on condition that the download-reserved broadcast program is the earliest in its transmission start time from among the name-checked broadcast programs.
12. A software download system for downloading a software product from a center station to a terminal through a transmission channel, the system comprising: broadcast program ,guide preparing means, located in a center station, for preparing guides of a first group of broadcast programs and guides of a second group of broadcast programs, each broadcast program of the first group being accompanied by the software product of which version number is a first version number, each broadcast program of the second group being unaccompanied by any software product, and a version number of the software product being changed each time the software product is revised in he center r station; broadcast program data storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of each broadcast program from which the guide is prepared by the broadcast program guide preparing means; software storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of a software product corresponding to the first version number for each software product of which the guide is prepared by the broadcast program guide preparing means; transmitting means, located in the center station, for transmitting the prepared guides of the broadcast programs, transmitting the data of each broadcast program stored in the broadcast program data storing means, during a transmission time period of the broadcast program, under the control of the broadcast program guide preparing means, and transmitting the data of each software product stored in the software storing means with the data of a broadcast program under the control of the broadcast program guide preparing means; receiving means, located in the terminal, for receiving the guides of the broadcast programs from the transmitting means, and for receiving the data of the broadcast programs and the data of the software products from the transmitting means; version number managing means, located in the terminal, for managing a second version number corresponding to each software product previously downloaded from the center station to the terminal; broadcast software program extracting means, located in the terminal, for extracting the guide of each broadcast program of the first group from the received guides as a guide of one broadcast software program; download judging means, located in the terminal, for checking whether or not the first version number of the software product of the broadcast software program of each guide, that is extracted by the broadcast software program extracting means, differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means and determining whether to download the software product of a broadcast software program received by the receiving means to the terminal where the first version number of the software product differs from the second version number of the software product; downloading means, located in the terminal, for extracting the data of the software product from the received broadcast program during the transmission time period where the downloading of the software product is judged by the download judging means and for storing the data of the software product to download the received software product from the center station to the terminal and to use the software product on user's side; software download reservation managing means, located in the terminal, for managing the recording reservation for one or more first recording-reserved broadcast programs selected from the second group of broadcast programs, and newly managing the recording reservation for a second recording-reserved broadcasting program selected from the second group of broadcasting programs; download-reserved broadcast program determining means, located in the terminal, for selecting a guide of a first particular download-reserved broadcast program from guides of one or more particular broadcasting programs, which include the same particular software product determined by the download judging means to be downloaded to the terminal, on condition that a transmission time period of the first download-reserved broadcasting program does not overlap with the transmission time period of any of the first recording-reserved broadcast program managed by the software download reservation managing means; and duplication reservation detecting means, located in the terminal, for detecting that a transmission time period of the first particular download-reserved broadcasting program overlaps with the transmission time period of the second recording-desired broadcast program newly managed by the software download reservation managing means, transmitting information indicating the duplication reservation of the first particular download-reserved broadcast program to the download-reserved broadcast program determining means to select a guide of a second particular download-reserved broadcast program relating to a specific transmission time period from the guides of the particular broadcast programs in the download-reserved broadcasting program determining means on condition that the specific transmission time period of the second particular download-reserved broadcasting program does not overlap with the transmission time period of any first recording-desired broadcast program or the second recording-desired broadcasting program, and transmitting the guide of the second particular download-reserved broadcast program relating to the specific transmission time period to the software product transmitted with the second particular download-reserved broadcasting program downloaded by the downloading means at the specific transmission time period under the control of the software download reservation managing means.
13. A software download system according to claim 12, in which the guide of the first particular download-reserved broadcast program and the guide of the second particular download-reserved broadcast program are selected on condition that a transmission start time of each download-reserved broadcast program follows current date and time.
14. A software download system for downloading a software product from a center station to a terminal through a transmission channel, the system comprising: broadcast program guide preparing means, located in the center station, for preparing a guide of a broadcast program accompanied by the software product whose version number is a first version number, the version number being adapted to be changed each time the software product is revised in the center station; broadcast program data storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of the broadcast program listed in the prepared guide of the broadcasting program; software storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of the software product listed in the prepared guide of the broadcast program; transmitting means, located in the center station, for transmitting the prepared guide of the broadcast program accompanied by the software product, and transmitting the data of the software product with the data of the broadcast program during a transmission time period of the broadcast program through the transmission channel of the broadcast program under the control of the broadcast program guide preparing means; receiving means, located in the terminal, for receiving the guide of the broadcast program accompanied by the software product from the transmitting means transmitted through the transmission channel, and receiving the data of the software product with the data of the broadcast program, during the transmission time period, from the transmitting means and transmitted through the transmission channel; version number managing means, located in the terminal, for managing a second version number of the software product previously downloaded from the center station to the terminal, download judging means, located in the terminal, for checking whether or not the first version number of the software product of the received guide differs from the managed second version number of the software product and determining whether to download the received data of the software product to the terminal where the first version number differs from the second version number; downloading means, located in the terminal, for extracting the data of the software product from the received broadcast program in cases where the downloading of the software product is judged by the download judging means and for storing the data of the software product from the center station to the terminal and to use the software product on a user's side; protocol processing means, located in the center station, for processing the stored data of the software product according to a particular software communication protocol to produce a particular protocol-processed software product that is communicable according to the particular software communication protocol, a name of the particular software communication protocol being listed in the prepared guide of the broadcast program, the particular protocol-processed software product being adapted to be transmitted from the transmitting means to the receiving means of the terminal though the transmission channel, and the particular protocol-processed software product being adapted to be received by the receiving means; protocol processing program storing means, located in the terminal, for storing one or more protocol processing programs respectively used for a protocol processing in which one protocol-processed software product, communicable according to one software communication protocol, is changed to data of one software product; protocol correspondence table holding means, located in the terminal, for holding a protocol correspondence table in which the correspondence of one software communication protocol and one protocol processing program is listed for each protocol processing program stored in the protocol processing program storing means; software communication protocol judging means, located in the terminal, for checking whether or not the particular software communication protocol, whose name is listed in the guide of the received broadcast program, is listed in the held protocol correspondence table in cases where the download judging means decides to download the software product, and adapted to output the name of the particular software communication protocol in cases where the particular software communication protocol is listed in the protocol correspondence table; and protocol processing performing means, located in the terminal, for receiving the name of the judged particular software communication protocol, extracting a particular protocol processing program corresponding to the particular software communication protocol from the protocol processing program storing means, performing a protocol processing for the received particular protocol-processed software product according to the particular protocol processing program to change the particular protocol-processed software product to the software product being downloaded by the downloading means.
15. A software download system for downloading a software product from a center station to a terminal through a transmission channel, the system comprising: broadcast program guide preparing means, located in a center station, for preparing at least one guide comprising a first group of programs for broadcasting and at least one guide comprising a second group of programs for broadcasting, wherein each program of the first group is accompanied by a software product having a version number that is a first version number, wherein each program of the second group is unaccompanied by any software product, and wherein a version number of the software product is changed each time the software product is revised in the center station; broadcast program data storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of each broadcast program that has a guide that has been prepared by the broadcast program preparing means; software storing means, located in the center station, for storing data of a software product corresponding to the first version number for each software product from which the guide has been prepared by the broadcast program; guide preparing means; transmitting means, located in the center station, through the transmission channel, for transmitting the prepared guides of the broadcast programs, adapted to transmit the data of each broadcast program that has been stored in the broadcast program data storing means during a time period of the transmission of a broadcast program under the control of the broadcast program guide preparing means, and adapted to transmit the data of each software product stored in the software storing means with the data of one broadcast program through the transmission channel of the broadcast program under the control of the broadcast program guide preparing means; receiving means, located in the terminal, for receiving the guide(s) related to the broadcast programs from the transmitting means, and adapted to receive the data of the broadcast programs and the data of the software products from the transmitting means; version number managing means, located in the terminal, for managing a second version number corresponding to each software product previously downloaded from the center station to the terminal; broadcast software program extracting means, located in the terminal, for extracting the guide related to each broadcast program of the first group from the received guides of one broadcasting software program; download judging mean, located in the terminal, for checking whether or not the first version number of the software product of the broadcasting software program of each guide, that has been extracted by the broadcast software program extracting means, differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means and deciding whether to download the software product of each broadcasting software program received by the receiving means to the terminal where the first version number of the software product differs from the second version number of the software product; downloading means, located in the terminal, for extracting the data of the software product from the received broadcast program during the transmission time period where the downloading of the software product is judged by the download judging means and adapted to store the data of the software product to download the received software product from the center station to the terminal and to use the software product on a user's side; and audience rating managing means, located in the center station, for managing a broadcast program audience rating table in which an audience rating of each broadcast program whose guide has been prepared by the broadcast program guide preparing means is listed, wherein the broadcast program guide preparing means includes means for setting a broadcast program having a high audience rating as a specific broadcast program not accompanied by a software product on condition that the particular broadcast program with the particular software product is in a different transmission channel from each other channel and in
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a software download system in which a computer software product such as a computer program is downloaded with a broadcasting program from a center station to each terminal through a communication satellite, a broadcasting satellite or a terrestrial television broadcasting service in a digital broadcasting.
2. Description of the Related Art
A broadcasting system, in which a video signal and an audio signal composing a broadcasting program are digitized and the digital signals of the broadcasting program are transmitted from a transmitting station to a receiving apparatus through a broadcasting satellite, has been spread. Because digital data is transmitted through a satellite or a terrestrial television broadcasting service, it becomes possible that a digitized computer program is transmitted through a satellite or a terrestrial television broadcasting service in addition to the digital video signal and the digital audio signal and is stored in a storing unit of the receiving apparatus.
2.1. Previously Proposed Art
A broadcasting method, in which a computer program (or a computer software product) transmitted through a satellite is received in a receiving apparatus and is stored in a storing unit of the receiving apparatus, is disclosed in a Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. H8-195952 (1996). The broadcasting method is described with reference to FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a digital data receiving and processing apparatus 2000 of a user, an electric wave indicating a broadcasting signal is transmitted through a satellite and is received in an antenna 2001, the electric wave received in the antenna 2001 is converted into the broadcasting signal in a converter 2002 by changing a frequency of the electric wave, the demodulation and error correction are performed for the broadcasting signal in a front end 2003 to obtain a digital signal, and the digital signal is transmitted to a transport block 2004. In the transport block 2004, the digital signal is divided into video data, audio data and conditional access data including a computer program. Because the broadcasting signal is enciphered, the conditional access data is transmitted to an IC card 2006 through an IC card interface 2005, and the judgement whether or not the user has an access right for the broadcasting signal is performed according to the conditional data by the IC card 2006. In cases where the user has an access right for the broadcasting signal, a cryptograph key used for the cryptanalysis is delivered from the IC card 2006 to the transport block 2004, and the video data, the audio data and the conditional access data are deciphered in the transport block 2004 by using the cryptograph key. The video data deciphered is decoded in a video decoder 2007 to produce decoded video data, the decoded video data is encoded in an NTSC encoder 2008 to produce an National Television System Committee (NTSC) type video signal, and the NTSC type video signal is output. The audio data deciphered is decoded in an audio decoder 2009 to produce audio signal, and the audio signal is output. Also, the computer program included in the deciphered conditional access data is stored in an electrically erasable and programmable read only memory (EEPROM) 2100 under control of a central processing unit (CPU) 2101. The processing of the CPU 2101 is performed according to a processing program stored in a ROM 2102, and data necessary for the processing of the CPU 2101 is stored in a RAM 2103.
2.2. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
However, because the computer program is included in the conditional access data and because the computer program included in the conditional access data is always broadcasted with the video and audio data, a special frequency band used only for the computer program is required. Therefore, there is a problem that a frequency band required for the transmission of the broadcasting signal is widened.
Also, because any computer program (or any computer software product) for presenting a broadcasting program guide including a broadcasting schedule and downloading one broadcasting program is not transmitted to the digital data receiving and processing apparatus 2000, the user cannot select a desired broadcasting program from a plurality of broadcasting programs by watching a plurality of broadcasting program guides displayed on an image screen.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide, with due consideration to the drawbacks of such a conventional broadcasting method, a software download system in which a software product such as a computer software product is downloaded to user's terminal without requiring a special frequency band used only for the software product.
The object of the present invention is achieved by the provision of a software download system, comprising:
broadcasting program guide preparing means of a center station for preparing a guide of a broadcasting program accompanied by a software product corresponding to a first version number, a version number of the software product being changed each time the software product is revised in the center station;
broadcasting program data storing means of the center station for storing data of the broadcasting program which is listed in the guide prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
software storing means of the center station for storing data of the software product which is listed in the guide prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
transmitting means of the center station for transmitting the guide of the broadcasting program with the software product prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, and transmitting the data of the software product stored in the software storing means with the data of the broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting program data storing means during a transmission time period of the broadcasting program through the same transmission channel as that of the broadcasting program under the control of the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
receiving means of a terminal for receiving the guide of the broadcasting program with the software product from the transmitting means, and receiving the data of the software product with the data of the broadcasting program during the transmission time period from the transmitting means;
output means of the terminal for outputting the data of the broadcasting program received by the receiving means during the transmission time period;
version number managing means of the terminal for managing a second version number corresponding to the software product previously downloaded from the center station to the terminal;
download judging means of the terminal for checking whether or not the first version number of the software product of the guide received by the receiving means differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means and judging to download the data of the software product received by the receiving means to the terminal in cases where the first version number of the software product listed in the guide differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means; and
downloading means of the terminal for extracting the data of the software product from the broadcasting program received by the receiving means during the transmission time period in cases where the downloading of the software product is judged by the download judging means and storing the data of the software product to download the software product received by the receiving means from the center station to the terminal and to use the software product on user's side.
In the above configuration, a guide of a broadcasting program is prepared in the broadcasting program guide preparing means. In the guide, a software product to be transmitted with the broadcasting program is listed, a first version number indicating the version of the software product is listed, and a transmission time period of the broadcasting program is listed. The guide is transmitted from the transmitting means to the receiving means.
Also, data of the software product stored in the software storing means is transmitted from the transmitting means to the receiving means with data of the broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting program data storing means during the transmission time period through the same transmission channel as that of the broadcasting program under the control of the broadcasting program guide preparing means.
In the terminal, a second version number indicating the version of the software product previously downloaded is managed in advance by the version managing means. When the guide is received by the receiving means, it is checked by the download judging means whether or not the first version number of the software product of the guide differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version managing means. In cases where the first version number of the software product of the guide differs from the second version number of the software product, because the software product is renewed in the center station, it is judged to download the software product received by the receiving means to the terminal. Therefore, in the downloading means, the data of the software product is extracted from the broadcasting program received by the receiving means during the transmission time period, so that the software product is downloaded from the center station to the terminal and is stored. Therefore, the user can use the software product. For example, in cases where a computer software product representing the software product is downloaded to user's terminal, the user can execute the computer software product in user's computer.
Accordingly, because data of the software product is transmitted from the center station to the terminal with data of the broadcasting program, the software product can be downloaded to user's terminal without requiring a special frequency band (or a special transmission channel) used only for the software product.
Also, in cases where the software product is revised in the center station, because the first version number of the software product of the guide differs from the second version number of the software product already managed by the version managing means, the revision of the software product can be detected by the download judging means, so that the software product can be downloaded from the center station to the terminal. Therefore, the user can always use the updated software product.
It is preferred that the software download system further comprise:
set-up information storing means of the center station for storing set-up information indicating a download completion notification flag, the set-up information being included in the guide prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
download completion notification judging means of the terminal for judging whether or not the downloading of the software product performed by the downloading means is to be notified to the center station, the notification of the downloading of the software product being judged by the download completion notification judging means according to the download completion notification flag;
download completion notice transmitting means of the terminal for transmitting an identification number of the terminal and a name of the software product downloaded by the downloading means as a download completion notice to the center station in cases where the download completion notification judging means judges that the downloading of the software product performed by the downloading means is to be notified; and
download record managing means of the center station for managing a record of the downloading of the software product performed in the terminal according to the identification number of the terminal and the name of the software product transmitted from the download completion notice transmitting means.
In this configuration corresponding to a second embodiment, in cases where a software product supplier wants to know that the software product transmitted with the broadcasting program is downloaded from the center station to the user's terminal, because a download completion notice flag corresponding to the software product is set in the set-up information, the request of a download completion notice can be recognized in the terminal by checking the download completion notice flag of the software product written in the guide of the broadcasting program.
Accordingly, in cases where the software product is actually downloaded from the center station to the terminal, the software product supplier can know the downloading of the software product by checking the identification number of the terminal.
It is also preferred that the software download system further comprise:
protocol processing means of the center station for processing the data of the software product stored in the software storing means according to each of a plurality of software communication protocols to produce a plurality of protocol-processed software products, each protocol-processed software product being communicable with a type of terminal according to one software communication protocol, the protocol-processed software products being transmitted from the transmitting means to the receiving means of the terminal, and a particular protocol-processed software product selected from the protocol-processed software products being received by the terminal on condition that a type of the terminal matches with a particular software communication protocol corresponding to the particular protocol-processed software product.
In this configuration corresponding to a seventh embodiment, even though a plurality of terminals are classified into a plurality of groups respectively corresponding to one software communication protocol, because a plurality of protocol-processed software products corresponding to a plurality of software communication protocol types are prepared from each software product and are transmitted to the terminals, one type protocol-processed software product can be reliably received in each terminal.
It is also preferred that the software download system further comprise:
protocol processing means of the center station for processing the data of the software product stored in the software storing means according to a particular software communication protocol to produce a particular protocol-processed software product communicable according to the particular software communication protocol, a name of the particular software communication protocol being listed in the guide of the broadcasting program prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, the particular protocol-processed software product being transmitted from the transmitting means to the receiving means of the terminal, and the particular protocol-processed software product being received by the receiving means;
protocol processing program storing means of the terminal for storing one or more protocol processing programs respectively used for a protocol processing in which one protocol-processed software product communicable according to one software communication protocol is changed to data of one software product;
protocol correspondence table holding means of the terminal for holding a protocol correspondence table in which the correspondence of one software communication protocol and one protocol processing program is listed for each protocol processing program stored in the protocol processing program storing means;
software communication protocol judging means of the terminal for checking whether or not the particular software communication protocol, of which the name is listed in the guide of the broadcasting program received by the receiving means, is listed in the protocol correspondence table held by the protocol correspondence table holding means in cases where the download judging means judges to download the software product, and outputting the name of the particular software communication protocol in cases where the particular software communication protocol is listed in the protocol correspondence table; and
protocol processing performing means of the terminal for receiving the name of the particular software communication protocol output from the software communication protocol judging means, extracting a particular protocol processing program corresponding to the particular software communication protocol from the protocol processing program storing means, performing a protocol processing for the particular protocol-processed software product received by the receiving means according to the particular protocol processing program to change the particular protocol-processed software product to the software product, the software product being downloaded by the downloading means.
In this configuration corresponding to an eighth embodiment, even though a particular protocol-processed software product communicable according to a particular software communication protocol is transmitted with one broadcasting program from the center station to the terminal, in cases where a particular protocol processing program for changing the particular protocol-processed software product to a software product is arranged in the terminal, the particular protocol-processed software product can be changed to the software product by executing the particular protocol processing program, and the software product can be downloaded to the terminal.
The object of the present invention is also achieved by the provision of a software download system, comprising:
broadcasting program guide preparing means of a center station for preparing guides of a first group of broadcasting programs and guides of a second group of broadcasting programs, each broadcasting program of the first group being accompanied by a software product corresponding to a first version number, each broadcasting program being not accompanied by any software product, and a version number of the software product being changed each time the software product is revised in the center station;
broadcasting program data storing means of the center station for storing data of each broadcasting program of which the guide is prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
software storing means of the center station for storing data of one software product corresponding to the first version number for each software product of which the guide is prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
transmitting means of the center station for transmitting the guides of the broadcasting programs prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, transmitting the data of each broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting program data storing means during a transmission time period of the broadcasting program under the control of the broadcasting program guide preparing means, and transmitting the data of each software product stored in the software storing means with the data of one broadcasting program through the same transmission channel as that of the broadcasting program under the control of the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
receiving means of a terminal for receiving the guides of the broadcasting programs from the transmitting means, and receiving the data of the broadcasting programs and the data of the software products from the transmitting means;
output means of the terminal for outputting the data of each broadcasting program received by the receiving means during the transmission time period;
version number managing means of the terminal for managing a second version number corresponding to each software product previously downloaded from the center station to the terminal;
broadcasting software program extracting means of the terminal for extracting the guide of each broadcasting program of the first group from the guides received by the receiving means as a guide of one broadcasting software program;
download judging means of the terminal for checking whether or not the first version number of the software product of the broadcasting software program of each guide extracted by the broadcasting software program extracting means differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means and judging to download the software product of each broadcasting software program received by the receiving means to the terminal in cases where the first version number of the software product differs from the second version number of the software product; and
downloading means of the terminal for extracting the data of the software product from the broadcasting program received by the receiving means during the transmission time period in cases where the downloading of the software product is judged by the download judging means and storing the data of the software product to download the software product received by the receiving means from the center station to the terminal and to use the software product on user's side.
In the above configuration, guides of a plurality of broadcasting programs are prepared in the broadcasting program guide preparing means. The guides are transmitted from the transmitting means to the receiving means.
Also, data of each broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting program data storing means is transmitted from the transmitting means to the receiving means during its transmission time period, and data of each software product stored in the software storing means is transmitted with one broadcasting program from the transmitting means to the receiving means during the transmission time period of the broadcasting program through the same transmission channel as that of the broadcasting program under the control of the broadcasting program guide preparing means.
In the terminal, a second version number indicating the version of the software product previously downloaded is managed in advance by the version managing means. When the guides are received by the receiving means, the guide of each broadcasting program with one software product is extracted from all guides by the broadcasting software program extracting means as a guide of one broadcasting software program, and it is checked by the download judging means whether or not the first version number of one software product transmitted with each broadcasting software program differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version managing means. In cases where the first version number of the software product differs from the second version number of the software product, because the software product is renewed in the center station, it is judged to download the software product received by the receiving means to the terminal. Therefore, in the downloading means, the data of the software product is extracted from the broadcasting program received by the receiving means during the transmission time period, so that the software product is downloaded from the center station to the terminal and is stored. Therefore, the user can use the software product. For example, in cases where a computer software product representing the software product is downloaded to user's terminal, the user can execute the computer software product in user's computer.
Accordingly, because data of each software product is transmitted from the center station to the terminal with data of the broadcasting program through the same transmission channel as that of the broadcasting program, the software product can be downloaded to user's terminal without requiring a special frequency band (or a special transmission channel) used only for the software product.
Also, in cases where one software product is revised in the center station, because the first version number of the software product of the guide differs from the second version number of the software product already managed by the version managing means, the revision of the software product can be detected by the download judging means, so that the software product can be downloaded from the center station to the terminal. Therefore, the user can always use the updated software product.
It is preferred that the software download system further comprise:
set-up information storing means of the center station for storing set-up information indicating a software type of one software product for each software product of the guides prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, each software product being set to a first software type or a second software type, and the pieces of set-up information of the software products being added to the guides by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
display broadcasting program extracting means of the terminal for extracting one or more guides of display broadcasting programs with software products set to the first software type from the guides of the broadcasting programs received by the receiving means;
display broadcasting program displaying means of the terminal for displaying the guides of the display broadcasting programs extracted by the display broadcasting program extracting means for a user to select one or more download-candidate display broadcasting programs from the display broadcasting programs, all guides of broadcasting programs with software products set to the second software type being extracted from the guides of the broadcasting programs received by the receiving means as one or more guides of broadcasting software programs by the broadcasting software program extracting means, the guides of the broadcasting software programs being added to the guides of the download-candidate display broadcasting programs, the downloading of the software product transmitted with each download-candidate broadcasting program being judged by the download judging means in cases where the first version number of the software product differs from the second version number of the software product, and the downloading of the software product transmitted with each download-candidate broadcasting program being performed by the downloading means.
In this configuration corresponding to a third embodiment, a software product supplier of the center station sets one software product to a first type in cases where the software product supplier desires a user to judge whether or not the downloading of the software product from the center station to user's terminal is to be performed. Accordingly, a guide of a broadcasting program with the software product can be displayed, and the user can judges the downloading of the software product.
It is also preferred that the software download system further comprise:
software download reservation managing means of the terminal for managing the recording reservation for one or more recording-reserved broadcasting programs selected from the second group of broadcasting programs, of which the guides are prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means; and
download-reserved broadcasting program determining means of the terminal for selecting a guide of a download-reserved broadcasting program from guides of one or more broadcasting programs, of which the software products are judged by the download judging means to be downloaded to the terminal, on condition that a transmission time period of the download-reserved broadcasting program does not overlap with that of any recording-reserved broadcasting program managed by the software download reservation managing means, the software product transmitted with the download-reserved broadcasting program being downloaded by the downloading means.
In this configuration corresponding to a fourth embodiment, even though the recording of one or more broadcasting programs respectively accompanied by no software product is reserved, one or more download-reserved broadcasting programs can be selected from the broadcasting programs on condition that a transmission time period of each download-reserved broadcasting program does not overlap with that of any broadcasting program, and the download-reserved broadcasting programs can be downloaded to record the software product of each download-reserved broadcasting program during its transmission time period.
It is also preferred that the software download system further comprise:
software product displaying and selecting means of the terminal for displaying names of the software products of the broadcasting software programs, which are listed in the guides extracted by the broadcasting software program extracting means, and receiving names of one or more particular software products selected from the software products, the downloading of each particular software product being judged by the download judging means, and the particular software product being downloaded by the downloading means in cases where the download judging means judges to download the particular software product.
In this configuration corresponding to a fifth embodiment, names of software products transmitted with the broadcasting software programs are displayed. Accordingly, the user can select one or more particular software products in cases where the user desires to download the particular software products from the center station.
Also, because only the software name is displayed, the user can select each particular software product without considering the transmission time period.
It is also preferred that the software download system further comprise:
software download reservation managing means of the terminal for managing the recording reservation for one or more first recording-reserved broadcasting programs selected from the second group of broadcasting programs, of which the guides are prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, and newly managing the recording reservation for a second recording-reserved broadcasting program selected from the second group of broadcasting programs, of which the guides are prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
download-reserved broadcasting program determining means of the terminal for selecting a guide of a first particular download-reserved broadcasting program from guides of one or more particular broadcasting programs, which include the same particular software product judged by the download judging means to be downloaded to the terminal, on condition that a transmission time period of the first download-reserved broadcasting program does not overlap with any of the first recording-reserved broadcasting program managed by the software download reservation managing means; and
duplication reservation detecting means of the terminal for detecting that a transmission time period of the first particular download-reserved broadcasting program overlaps with that of the second recording-desired broadcasting program newly managed by the software download reservation managing means, transmitting information indicating the duplication reservation of the first particular download-reserved broadcasting program to the download-reserved broadcasting program determining means to select a guide of a second particular download-reserved broadcasting program relating to a specific transmission time period from the guides of the particular broadcasting programs in the download-reserved broadcasting program determining means on condition that the specific transmission time period of the second particular download-reserved broadcasting program does not overlap with that of any first recording-desired broadcasting program or the second recording-desired broadcasting program, and transmitting the guide of the second particular download-reserved broadcasting program relating to the specific transmission time period to the software download reservation managing means, the particular software product transmitted with the second particular download-reserved broadcasting program being downloaded by the downloading means at the specific transmission time period under the control of the software download reservation managing means.
In this configuration corresponding to a sixth embodiment, even though the user reserves the recording of a second recording-desired broadcasting program of which a transmission time period overlaps with a transmission time period of a first particular download-reserved broadcasting program registered in a reservation table, the first particular download-reserved broadcasting program relating to the transmission time period is removed, and a second particular download-reserved broadcasting program relating to a specific transmission time period is selected on condition that the specific transmission time period of the second particular download-reserved broadcasting program does not overlap with that of any recording-desired broadcasting program. Accordingly, the recording of the second recording-desired broadcasting program and the downloading of the second particular download-reserved broadcasting program can be performed.
It is also preferred that the data of each broadcasting program is transmitted by the transmitting means at a transmission channel, the data of each software product transmitted with one broadcasting program is transmitted by the transmitting means at the same transmission channel as that of the broadcasting program, the data of a group of broadcasting programs corresponding to a plurality of transmission channels and the data of one or more software products respectively transmitted with one broadcasting program of the group are transmitted as a transport stream, a plurality of transport streams are transmitted from the transmitting means to the receiving means, one of the transport streams is received by the receiving means, one transmission channel and a transport stream identifier are listed in the guide of each broadcasting program by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, and the software download system further comprise:
audience rating managing means of the center station for managing a broadcasting program audience rating table in which an audience rating of each broadcasting program, of which the guide is prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, is listed, a broadcasting program of a high audience rating being set as a specific broadcasting program transmitted at a first transmission channel by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, and a transmission channel of a particular broadcasting program with a particular software product being set to a second transmission channel differing from the first transmission channel by the broadcasting program guide preparing means to transmit the particular broadcasting program with the specific broadcasting program as a specific transport stream;
channel setting means of the terminal for setting a transmission channel of one broadcasting program, of which the data is output to the output means, to the first transmission channel of the specific broadcasting program, the specific transport stream, in which the data of the specific broadcasting program transmitted at the first transmission channel is included, being specified by the receiving means; and
transmission channel checking means of the terminal for receiving a specific transport stream identifier of the specific transport stream listed in a guide of the specific broadcasting program, of which the data is transmitted at the first transmission channel and is received by the receiving means to be output to the output means, from the receiving means, checking whether or not a particular transport stream identifier listed in the guide of the particular broadcasting program with the particular software product, which is transmitted at the second transmission channel and at the same transmission start time as that of the specific broadcasting program and is judged by the download judging means to be downloaded, agrees with the specific transport stream identifier of the specific transport stream, and transmitting a download-performable notice and the guide of the particular broadcasting program to the downloading means in cases where the particular transport stream identifier agrees with the specific transport stream identifier, the particular software product being downloaded by the downloading means according to the download-performable notice and the guide of the particular broadcasting program.
In this configuration corresponding to a ninth embodiment, the broadcasting of a particular broadcasting program with a particular software product is set to the same transmission time period as that of a specific broadcasting program not accompanied by any software product in the center station on condition that the transmission channel of the particular broadcasting program and the transmission channel of the specific broadcasting program differ from each other and are included in the same transport stream to simultaneously receive the particular broadcasting program and the specific broadcasting program in the terminal.
Accordingly, even though a user does not select the particular broadcasting program but select the specific broadcasting program, the particular software product transmitted with the particular broadcasting program can be downloaded to the terminal.
Also, because a broadcasting program expected to be watched by users at high audience rating is set as the specific broadcasting program, the specific broadcasting program is expected to be watched by users at high probability, so that the particular software product transmitted with the particular broadcasting program can be downloaded to the terminal at high probability.
It is also preferred that the software download system further comprise:
software product displaying and selecting means of the terminal for displaying names of the software products of the broadcasting software programs, which are listed in the guides extracted by the broadcasting software program extracting means, receiving a name of a particular software product selected from the software products and receiving a former-version selecting instruction, the name of the particular software product selected and the former-version selecting instruction being received by the download judging means; and
software product renewal managing means for managing a software product renewal table in which a renewed version number of one software product currently downloaded by the downloading means and a former version number of the software product previously downloaded by the downloading means before the renewal to the software product of the renewed version number are listed for each software product of which the guide is prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, the former version number of the particular software product being recognized by the download judging means according to the former-version number selecting instruction, a guide of the particular software product of the former version number being transmitted from the broadcasting software program extracting means to the download judging means, the downloading of the particular software product of the former version number being judged by the download judging means, and the particular software product of the former version number being downloaded by the downloading means.
In this configuration corresponding to a tenth embodiment, even though the user is not satisfied with an updated software product obtained by renewing a software product of the former version number, because the software product of the former version number is transmitted with one broadcasting program, the user can download the software product of the former version number to replace the updated software product with the software product of the former version number. Therefore, the user can again use the software product of the former version number. For example, in cases where a computer software product representing the software product is downloaded to user's terminal, the user can again execute the computer software product of the former version number in user's computer to perform a computer operation.
The object of the present invention is also achieved by the provision of a software download system, comprising:
broadcasting program guide preparing means of a center station for preparing a guide table in which guides of one or more broadcasting programs and a guide of a software product corresponding to a first version number are listed, a version number of the software product being changed each time the software product is revised in the center station;
broadcasting program data storing means of the center station for storing data of each broadcasting program which is listed in the guide table prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
software storing means of the center station for storing data of the software product of which the guide is listed in the guide table prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means;
transmitting means of the center station for transmitting the guide table prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, transmitting the data of each broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting program data storing means during a transmission time period of the broadcasting program under the control of the broadcasting program guide preparing means and transmitting the data of the software product stored in the software storing means through the same transmission channel as that of one broadcasting program during a specific time period in which any broadcasting program is not transmitted through the transmission channel;
receiving means of a terminal for receiving the guide table from the transmitting means, receiving the data of each broadcasting program from the transmitting means during the transmission time period and receiving the data of the software product from the transmitting means during the specific time period;
output means of the terminal for outputting the data of each broadcasting program received by the receiving means during the transmission time period;
version number managing means of the terminal for managing a second version number corresponding to the software product previously downloaded from the center station to the terminal;
download judging means of the terminal for checking whether or not the first version number of the software product of the guide received by the receiving means differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means and judging to download the data of the software product received by the receiving means to the terminal in cases where the first version number of the software product listed in the guide differs from the second version number of the software product managed by the version number managing means; and
downloading means of the terminal for downloading the data of the software product received by the receiving means to the terminal during the specific time period in cases where the downloading of the software product is judged by the download judging means, the software product being used on user's side.
In the above configuration, a guide of a software product corresponding to a first version number are listed in the guide table prepared by the broadcasting program guide preparing means, and the data of the software product is transmitted from the center to the terminal through a transmission channel (or a frequency band) during a specific time period in which any broadcasting program is not transmitted through the transmission channel.
Accordingly, the software product can be downloaded from the center to the terminal without any private frequency band.
Also, in cases where the software product is revised in the center station, because the first version number of the software product of the guide differs from the second version number of the software product already managed by the version managing means, the revision of the software product can be detected by the download judging means, so that the software product can be downloaded from the center station to the terminal. Therefore, the user can always use the updated software product.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional digital data receiving and processing apparatus used for a broadcasting method disclosed in the Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. H8-195952 (1996);
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows a table of pieces of set-up information of computer software products stored in a set-up information storing unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 4 shows a broadcasting program schedule table managed in a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit;
FIG. 5 shows a broadcasting program guide table prepared from the broadcasting program schedule table and the set-up information in the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 6 shows a table of broadcasting software programs extracted from the broadcasting program guide table in a broadcasting software program extracting unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 7 shows a terminal management table managed in a terminal information managing unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 8 shows a version management table managed by a version managing unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 9 shows a download candidate table prepared in a download judging unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 10 shows a download table prepared in a download judging unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 11 shows a new version management table renewed by a download performing unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 12 shows pieces of video data managed in a video data server;
FIG. 13 shows pieces of audio data managed in an audio data server;
FIG. 14 shows a plurality of files managed in a computer software server;
FIG. 15 shows an image of the broadcasting program guide table displayed in a broadcasting program guide displaying unit;
FIG. 16 shows a broadcasting software program extracting process performed in the download judging unit;
FIG. 17 shows a download table preparing process performed in the download judging unit;
FIG. 18 shows information of a download broadcasting program transmitted from a broadcasting program reservation managing unit to the download performing unit according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 20 shows a table of pieces of set-up information of computer software products stored in a set-up information storing unit according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 21 shows a broadcasting program guide table prepared from the broadcasting program schedule table and the set-up information in a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 22 shows a terminal management table managed in a terminal information managing unit according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 23 shows a download table prepared in a download judging unit according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 24 shows information of a download broadcasting program transmitted from a broadcasting program reservation managing unit to a download performing unit according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 25 shows a table of download records of a plurality of terminals prepared in a download records managing unit according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a third embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 27 shows a table of pieces of set-up information of computer software products stored in a set-up information storing unit according to the third embodiment;
FIG. 28 shows a broadcasting program guide table prepared from a broadcasting program schedule table and the set-up information in a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the third embodiment;
FIG. 29 shows a display broadcasting program guide table prepared in a display broadcasting program extracting unit according to the third embodiment;
FIG. 30 shows an image of the broadcasting program guide table displayed in a broadcasting program guide displaying unit according to the third embodiment;
FIG. 31 shows a guide table of download-candidate broadcasting programs selected by a user according to the third embodiment;;
FIG. 32 shows a broadcasting software program guide table prepared in a broadcasting software program extracting unit according to the third embodiment;
FIG. 33 shows a message expressing the completion of a download reservation according to a download reservation notice;
FIG. 34 shows a message expressing no download reservation according to a download no-reservation notice;
FIG. 35 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 36 shows-a reservation table of recording-reserved broadcasting programs originally stored in a broadcasting program recording reservation managing unit;
FIG. 37 shows a current date and time managed in a download-reserved broadcasting program determining unit;
FIG. 38 shows a download table prepared in a download judging unit;
FIG. 39 is a flow chart showing a download-reserved broadcasting program determining process;
FIG. 40 is a flow chart showing a broadcasting program name checking process performed in the download-reserved broadcasting program determining process;
FIG. 41 is a flow chart showing a transmission start time checking process performed in the download-reserved broadcasting program determining process;
FIG. 42 is a flow chart showing a duplication checking process performed in the transmission start time checking process;
FIG. 43 shows a guide table of name-checked broadcasting programs prepared in the broadcasting program name checking process;
FIG. 44 shows another guide table of name-checked broadcasting programs prepared in the broadcasting program name checking process;
FIG. 45 shows another guide table of name-checked broadcasting programs prepared in the broadcasting program name checking process;
FIG. 46 shows a guide table of time-checked broadcasting programs prepared in the transmission start time checking process;
FIG. 47 shows a reservation table of download-reserved broadcasting programs prepared in the download-reserved broadcasting program determining unit;
FIG. 48 shows a time-checked broadcasting program guide table;
FIG. 49 shows a renewed reservation table of recording reserved broadcasting programs prepared in the download-reserved broadcasting program determining unit;
FIG. 50 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 51 shows a guide table of broadcasting software programs;
FIG. 52 is a flow chart showing a computer software selecting process performed in a computer software selecting unit;
FIG. 53 shows a computer software name table prepared in a computer software name extracting process;
FIG. 54 shows a broadcasting software program output guide table prepared in the computer software selecting unit;
FIG. 55 is a flow chart showing a computer software name extracting process of the computer software selecting process;
FIG. 56 shows a computer software name table prepared in the middle of the computer software name extracting process;
FIG. 57 shows an image of the computer software name table;
FIG. 58 is a flow chart showing a computer software name receiving process;
FIG. 59 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 60 shows a recording table of a recording-desired broadcasting program newly input by a user;
FIG. 61 is a flow chart showing a duplication reservation detecting process performed in a duplication reservation detecting unit;
FIG. 62 shows a duplication-reserved broadcasting program table prepared in a duplication reservation detecting unit;
FIG. 63 shows a renewed download table;
FIG. 64 shows a renewed reservation table of download-reserved broadcasting programs prepared in a duplication reservation detecting unit;
FIG. 65 shows a revised reservation table of revised download-reserved broadcasting programs;
FIG. 66 shows a reservation renewing process performed in a broadcasting program reservation managing unit;
FIG. 67 shows a second renewed reservation table;
FIG. 68 shows a finally renewed reservation table;
FIG. 69 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 70 shows the processing performed for files of a computer software product in a first protocol processing unit;
FIG. 71 is a block diagram of a software download system according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 72 shows a broadcasting program guide table prepared in a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 73 shows a broadcasting software program guide table prepared in a broadcasting software program extracting unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 74 shows a protocol correspondence table held in a protocol correspondence table holding unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 75 shows a download broadcasting program table prepared in a download judging unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 76 shows a new download broadcasting program table prepared in a software communication protocol judging unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 77 is a flow chart showing a download broadcasting program extracting process performed in a software communication protocol judging unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 78 shows information of a download broadcasting program prepared in a broadcasting program reservation managing unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 79 shows another broadcasting program guide table prepared in the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 80 shows information of another download broadcasting program prepared in the broadcasting program reservation managing unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 81 is a flow chart showing a protocol processing program setting process according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 82 shows a revised protocol correspondence table held in the protocol correspondence table holding unit according to the eighth embodiment;
FIG. 83 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 84 shows a broadcasting program audience rating table stored in an audience rating managing unit according to the ninth embodiment;
FIG. 85 shows a broadcasting program guide table stored in a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the ninth embodiment;
FIG. 86 shows a revised broadcasting program guide table stored in a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the ninth embodiment;
FIG. 87 shows a download broadcasting program table prepared in a download judging unit according to the ninth embodiment;
FIG. 88 shows data included in two transport streams transmitted from a transmitting unit according to the ninth embodiment;
FIG. 89 is a block diagram of a receiving unit according to the ninth embodiment;
FIG. 90 is a flow chart showing a transmission channel checking process performed in a transmission channel checking unit according to the ninth embodiment;
FIG. 91 shows information of a download broadcasting program transmitted to a download performing unit according to the ninth embodiment;
FIG. 92 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 93 shows a broadcasting program guide table prepared in a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the tenth embodiment;
FIG. 94 shows an image of a plurality of computer software names displayed in a computer software selecting unit according to the tenth embodiment;
FIG. 95 shows a computer software renewal log table initially managed in a computer software renewal log managing unit according to the tenth embodiment;
FIG. 96 shows a version management table managed by a version managing unit according to the tenth embodiment;
FIG. 97 shows a broadcasting software program guide table prepared in a broadcasting software program extracting unit according to the tenth embodiment;
FIG. 98 shows a download broadcasting program table prepared in a download judging unit according to the tenth embodiment;
FIG. 99 is a flow chart showing a download broadcasting program table preparing process performed in the download judging unit according to the tenth embodiment;
FIG. 100 shows a computer software renewal log table renewed in a computer software renewal log managing unit according to the tenth embodiment;
FIG. 101 is a block diagram of a software download system according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 102 shows a broadcasting program schedule table managed in a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the eleventh embodiment; and
FIG. 103 shows a broadcasting program guide table prepared from the broadcasting program schedule table and the set-up information in the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit according to the eleventh embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
Preferred embodiments of a software download system according to the present invention are described with reference to the drawings.
In the present invention, a computer software product (or a piece of computer software) denotes a computer program executed in each user's terminal. Also, in cases where a volume of a computer software product executed to perform a certain function is too large, the computer software product is divided into a plurality of computer software products. Also, a broadcasting program (or a television program) is, for example, defined in accordance with the provisions of the moving Picture Experts Group 2 (MPEG 2) and is displayed on a screen during a prescribed time period.
(First Embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a software download system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, a software download system 100 comprises a center station 115 for outputting a broadcasting program guide table (or television program information, a program guide for television service, channel guide information or an electronic program guide) in which guides of a first group of broadcasting programs respectively not accompanied by any computer software product and guides of a second group of broadcasting programs respectively accompanied by a computer software product are listed, outputting audio/video data of each broadcasting program during its transmission time period (from a transmission start time to a transmission finish time), and outputting each computer software product transmitted with one broadcasting program at the same transmission channel (corresponding to one frequency band) as that of the broadcasting program; a plurality of terminals 116 for respectively receiving the audio/video data of the broadcasting programs, the broadcasting program guide table and the computer software products from the center station 115, outputting the audio/video data, and downloading updated computer software products selected from the computer software products, the terminals 116 being classified into a plurality of groups, and each group of terminals 116 being identified by a terminal type; and a transmission station 107, arranged in a broadcasting satellite or a communication satellite, for transmitting the audio/video data of the broadcasting programs, the broadcasting program guide table and the computer software products output from the center station 115 to the terminals 116.
The center station 115 comprises:
a computer software-server 102 for storing one or more files composing one computer software product for each of computer software products, each computer software product being transmitted to each terminal 116 with one broadcasting program;
a set-up information storing unit 121 for storing a table of pieces of set-up information (refer to FIG. 3) in which a name of one computer software product, a version number identifying a revised version of the computer software product, a terminal type fit for the computer software product, names of one or more files composing the computer software product and version numbers identifying revised versions of the files are listed for each computer software product stored in the computer software server 102;
a software managing unit 101 for managing the relationship between each computer software product stored in the computer software server 102 and the piece of set-up information of the computer software product stored in the set-up information storing unit 121;
a video data server 105 for storing video data of one broadcasting program for each broadcasting programs;
an audio data server 106 for storing audio data of one broadcasting program for each broadcasting programs;
a broadcasting program guide table preparing unit 103 for managing a broadcasting program schedule listed in a schedule table (refer to FIG. 4) in which a date, a transmission channel, a transmission start time of one broadcasting program, a transmission finish time of the broadcasting program, a name of the broadcasting program, elements of the broadcasting program and a name of a computer software product transmitted with the broadcasting program are listed for each broadcasting program, preparing a broadcasting program guide table (refer to FIG. 5) from the pieces of set-up information of the computer software products managed in the software managing unit 101 and the broadcasting program schedule, and controlling the computer software server 102, the video data server 105 and the audio data server 106 to output the audio/video data of one broadcasting program listed in the broadcasting program guide table during its transmission time period for each broadcasting program and to output the files of the computer software product listed in the broadcasting program guide table with one broadcasting program during its transmission time period for each computer software product; and
a transmitting unit 104 for transmitting the broadcasting program guide table prepared in the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit 103 to each terminal 116 through the transmission station 107, transmitting the audio/video data of one broadcasting program output from the video data server 105 and the audio data server 106 to each terminal 116 through the transmission station 107 for each broadcasting program and transmitting the files of one computer software product output from the computer software server 102 with one broadcasting program to each terminal 116 through the transmission station 107 for each computer software product.
Each terminal 116 comprises:
a receiving unit 108 for receiving the broadcasting program guide table transmitted through the transmission station 107, receiving the audio/video data of one broadcasting program transmitted through the transmission station 107 during its transmission time period for each broadcasting program and the files of the computer software product transmitted with one broadcasting program during its transmission time period for each computer software product;
a broadcasting software program extracting unit 109 for extracting guides of one or more broadcasting programs respectively accompanied by a computer software product (called one or more broadcasting software programs) from the broadcasting program guide table received in the receiving unit 108, and preparing a broadcasting software program guide table (refer to FIG. 6) in which a date, a transmission channel, a transmission start time of one broadcasting software program, a transmission finish time of the broadcasting software program, a name of the broadcasting software program, a name of a computer software product corresponding to the broadcasting software program, names of one or more files composing the computer software product, version numbers of the files, a version number of the computer software product and a terminal type fit for the computer software product are listed for each broadcasting software program;
a terminal information managing unit 110 for managing a terminal management table (refer to FIG. 7) in which a particular terminal type of the terminal 116 is written;
a version managing unit 112 for managing a version management table (refer to FIG. 8) in which a version number of one computer software product and version numbers of all files composing the computer software product are listed for each computer software product;
a download judging unit 111 for receiving the terminal management table managed by the terminal information managing unit 110, the version management table managed by the version managing unit 112 and the broadcasting software program guide table prepared by the broadcasting software program extracting unit 109, extracting guides of one or more download-candidate broadcasting software programs from the guides of the broadcasting software programs listed in the broadcasting software program guide table on condition that the terminal types fit for computer software products transmitted with the download-candidate broadcasting software programs agree with a particular terminal type of the terminal 116 written in the terminal management table, preparing a download candidate table (refer to FIG. 9) in which information of one download-candidate broadcasting software program is listed for each download-candidate broadcasting software program, judging each download-candidate broadcasting software program as a download broadcasting program in cases where a version (refer to FIG. 9) of a computer software product corresponding to the download-candidate broadcasting software program in the download candidate table is newer (or the version number is higher) than that (refer to FIG. 8) of a computer software product corresponding to the same download-candidate broadcasting software program in the version management table already stored in the version managing unit 112, judging each file of a download computer software product corresponding to one download broadcasting program as a download file for each download broadcasting program in cases where a version of the file in the download candidate table is newer (or the version number is higher) than that (refer to FIG. 8) of a computer software product corresponding to the same download broadcasting program in the version management table, preparing a download broadcasting program table (refer to FIG. 10) in which a date, a transmission channel, a transmission start time of one download broadcasting program, a transmission finish time of the download broadcasting program, a name of the download broadcasting program, a name of the download computer software product corresponding to the download broadcasting program, names of one or more download files composing the download computer software product, version numbers of the download files and a version number of the download computer software product are listed for each download broadcasting program;
a software download reservation managing unit 120 for managing the download broadcasting program table from the download judging unit 111 to reserve the downloading of one download computer software product transmitted with one download broadcasting program during the transmission time period of the download broadcasting program for each download broadcasting program of the table, outputting information (a transmission channel, a name of one download broadcasting program, a name of the download computer software product corresponding to the download broadcasting program, names of one or more download files composing the download computer software product, version numbers of the download files and a version number of the download computer software product) of the download broadcasting program written in the download broadcasting program table during the transmission time period of the download broadcasting program for each download broadcasting program, and outputting a download instruction each time the information of the download broadcasting program is output;
a download performing unit 113 for receiving the information of each download broadcasting program and the download instruction from the software download reservation managing unit 120 during the transmission time period of the download broadcasting program, extracting the download files of one download computer software product from each download broadcasting program received in the receiving unit 108 according to the download instruction to download the download files of the download computer software product from the center station 115 to the terminal 116, and transmitting a name of the download computer software product corresponding to each download broadcasting program, a version number of the download computer software product, names of the download files composing the download computer software product and version numbers of the download files to the version managing unit 112 to prepare a new version management table (refer to FIG. 11) in which the version number of the download computer software product corresponding to one download broadcasting program and the version numbers of the download files composing the download computer software product are renewed for each download broadcasting program;
a computer software storing unit 114 for storing the download files of each download computer software product transmitted to the download performing unit 113, a user executing the download computer software product to perform a computer operation;
a video data outputting unit 117 for outputting the video data of the broadcasting program received by the receiving unit 108 as an image during its transmission time period for each broadcasting program to record the broadcasting programs;
an audio data outputting unit 118 for outputting the audio data of the broadcasting program received by the receiving unit 108 as a voice during its transmission time period for each broadcasting program to record the broadcasting programs; and
a broadcasting program guide displaying unit 119 for displaying the broadcasting program guide table received by the receiving unit 108 on a screen.
In the above configuration, an operation of the software download system 100 is described.
The video data server 105 manages pieces of video data Dv1, Dv2, Dv3, - - - shown in FIG. 12, the audio data server 106 manages pieces of audio data Da1, Da2, Da3, - - - shown in FIG. 13, and the computer software server 102 manages a plurality of files Fl1, Fl2, Fl3, - - - shown in FIG. 14.
The broadcasting program guide table preparing unit 103 manages a broadcasting program schedule of a schedule table shown in FIG. 4. For example, in a broadcasting program having a name "morning news", a transmission channel is "CH1", a transmission start time is 6 o'clock (6:00) of June 25 in 1997, a transmission finish time is 7:00 of June 25 in 1997, elements composing the broadcasting program are the video data Dv1 managed by the video data server 105 and the audio data Da1 managed by the audio data server 106, and any computer software name is not registered because no computer software product is transmitted with the broadcasting program. Also, in a broadcasting program having a name "morning download", a transmission channel is `CH1", a transmission start time is 7:30, a transmission finish time is 8:00, elements composing the broadcasting program are the files Fl1 and Fl5 managed by the computer software server 102, and a computer software name is "CA".
The software managing unit 101 manages the pieces of set-up information of the computer software products stored in the set-up information storing unit 121. As shown in FIG. 3, a version number of a computer software product having a name "CA" is 7, a terminal type corresponding to the computer software product is "M", the computer software product is composed of a file Fl1 and a file Fl5, a version number of the file Fl1 is 3, and a version number of the file Fl5 is 4. In cases where the version of a file of one computer software product is up (the version number is increased), the version of the computer software product is up.
In the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit 103, the pieces of set-up information managed by the software managing unit 101 are inserted into a broadcasting program schedule table shown in FIG. 4, and a broadcasting program guide table shown in FIG. 5 is prepared. In the broadcasting program schedule table, because each broadcasting program, to which one computer software name is attached, is one broadcasting software program corresponding to one computer software product, the set-up information corresponding to the computer software name "CA" is added to the broadcasting program "morning download", to which the computer software name "CA" is attached, and the set-up information corresponding to the computer software name "OS" is added to the broadcasting program "download A" to which the computer software name "OS" is attached. The broadcasting program guide table is output to the transmitting unit 104.
Also, the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit 103 instructs the computer software server 102, the video data server 105 and the audio data server 106 to output the video data of one broadcasting program, the audio data of the broadcasting program and the files of one software to the transmitting unit 104 according to the broadcasting program schedule. For example, because a transmission start time of the broadcasting program "morning news" is 6:00 of June 25 in 1997 and a transmission finish time of the broadcasting program "morning news" is 7:00 of June 25 in 1997, the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit 103 controls the video data server 105 and the audio data server 106 to output the video data Dv1 and the audio data Da1 to the transmitting unit 104 at the transmission channel CH1 between 6:00 to 7:00. Also, because a transmission start time of the broadcasting program "morning download" is 7:30 and a transmission finish time of the broadcasting program "morning download" is 8:00, the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit 103 controls the computer software server 102 to output the files Fl1 and Fl5 to the transmitting unit 104 at the transmission channel CH1 between 7:30 to 8:00.
Thereafter, the transmitting unit 104 transmits the broadcasting program guide table prepared in the broadcasting program guide table preparing unit 103, the files of the computer software product output from the computer software server 102 and the audio/video data of the broadcasting program output from the video data server 105 and the audio data server 106 to the receiving unit 108 of each terminal 116 through the transmission station 107.
In the receiving unit 108, when the video data of one broadcasting program is received, the video data is transmitted to the video data outputting unit 117 and is output from the outputting unit 117 to a television set or a recording apparatus (not shown) as an image. When the audio data of one broadcasting program is received, the audio data is transmitted to the audio data outputting unit 118 and is output from the outputting unit 118 to the television set or the recording apparatus as a voice. Therefore, the user can watch the broadcasting program during its transmission time period, or the user can reproduce the image and voice of the broadcasting program at user's desired time. When the broadcasting program guide table is received, the broadcasting program guide table is transmitted to the broadcasting program guide displaying unit 119 and the broadcasting software program extracting unit 109, and the broadcasting program guide table is displayed on a screen as shown in FIG. 15 in the displaying unit 119. When the files of one computer software product are received with the audio/video data of one broadcasting program, the files of the computer software product are downloaded to the download performing unit 113 when the downloading operation is instructed by the software download reservation managing unit 120 at the transmission start time of the broadcasting program.
In the broadcasting software program extracting unit 109, one or more broadcasting software programs respectively accompanied by a computer software product are extracted from the broadcasting programs of the broadcasting program guide table, and a guide table of the broadcasting software programs (or a broadcasting software program guide table) is prepared. Because a computer soft name is attached to each broadcasting software program, the broadcasting software program can be distinguished from other broadcasting programs. For example, in cases where the broadcasting program guide table is shown in FIG. 5, the broadcasting software program guide table shown in FIG. 6 is prepared. Thereafter, the broadcasting software program guide table is transmitted to the download judging unit 111.
In the download judging unit 111, the terminal types fit for computer software products transmitted with the broadcasting software programs of the guide table is collated with a particular terminal type of the terminal 116 which is written in the terminal management table managed by the terminal information managing unit 110, and one or more download-candidate broadcasting software programs corresponding to one or more computer software products, which are fit for terminal types agreeing with the particular terminal type, are extracted from the broadcasting software programs of which the names are listed in the broadcasting software program guide table. This download-candidate broadcasting software program extracting process is described with reference to FIG. 16.
As shown in FIG. 16, it is checked whether or not one terminal type fit for one computer software product transmitted with one broadcasting software program agrees with the particular terminal type of the terminal 116 (step S1601). In the example of the broadcasting software program guide table shown in FIG. 6, because the particular terminal type of the terminal 116 is "M" as shown in FIG. 7, the terminal type fit for one computer software product transmitted with the broadcasting software program "morning download" agrees with the particular terminal type of the terminal 116, and the broadcasting software program "morning download" is set as a download-candidate broadcasting software program. Thereafter, information (a date, a transmission channel, a transmission start time of one broadcasting software program, a transmission finish time of the broadcasting software program, a name of the broadcasting software program, names of one or more files composing the broadcasting software program, version numbers of the files, a name of a computer software product corresponding to the broadcasting software program, a version number of the computer software product and a terminal type fit for the computer software product) of the download-candidate broadcasting software program is stored as a candidate for a broadcasting program downloaded (step S1602). In this example, though only one broadcasting software program is extracted as a download-candidate broadcasting software program, in cases where terminal types fit for computer software products transmitted with a plurality of broadcasting software programs agree with the particular terminal type of the terminal 116, the broadcasting software programs are extracted as a plurality of download-candidate broadcasting software programs. Therefore, the steps S1601 is performed for each broadcasting software program listed in the broadcasting software program guide table (step S1603).
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, a download candidate table of information (a date, a transmission channel, a transmission start time of one broadcasting software program, a transmission finish time of the broadcasting software program, a name of the broadcasting software program, names of one or more files composing the broadcasting software program, version numbers of the files, a name of a computer software product corresponding to the broadcasting software program and a version number of the computer software product) of the download-candidate broadcasting software programs is prepared.
Thereafter, the download candidate table is collated with a version management table managed by the version managing unit 112, and a download broadcasting program table is prepared while judging whether or not a computer software product of each download-candidate broadcasting software program is to be downloaded from the receiving unit 108 to the download performing unit 113. This download broadcasting program table preparing process is described with reference to FIG. 17.
As shown in FIG. 17, it is judged whether or not a version number of a download-candidate computer software product corresponding to one download-candidate broadcasting software program in the download candidate table is higher than a version number of a computer software product corresponding to t