Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Yoshiyasu Takeuchi

Ryota Tsukidate

Kenichi Fujita

Shigeki Kaneko

Takeshi Nagao

Takenosuke Harada

Toru Kawaguchi

Kazuhiro Machida

Masaaki Yoshikawa

Hayashi Ito

Hiroyuki Ito

Hiroyoshi Ishibashi

Masaki Kiyono

Ryuji Yasukohchi

Aki Nakagawa

Yoshimasa Goto

Toru Nakada

Kozi Hatano

Tsutomu Shigesawa

A program guide information producing apparatus outputs self-produced program guide information and other broadcaster's program guide information. In the program guide information producing apparatus, a common program guide information producing section generates self-produced common program guide information. Furthermore, a program guide information output section unites the self-produced common program guide information with other broadcaster's common program guide information received from a program guide information collecting/transmitting apparatus and outputs the united common program guide information. Thus, the self-produced common program guide information is surely output even when the program guide information collecting/transmitting apparatus or the like is in trouble.

Program guide information producing apparatus and related program guide information collecting/transmitting system

In a program information broadcasting system, it is aimed to minimize time for retrieval of program by viewers in operating an electronic program guide or time for waiting when applying for subscription. As a program information broadcasting system, program elements constituting a broadcasting program are divided into a plurality of items and are turned to data at a center, and a master data of a program information to recognize the program is prepared. From the data constituting the master data, minimal necessary items for preparation of a program table are extracted, and a program basic information is prepared. Said master data and said program basic information are transmitted simultaneously with the broadcasting, and said program basic information is received, reproduced and displayed before receiving of the master data at a receiving terminal unit is completed. As a result, the program basic information having far less amount of data than the master data can be incorporated, and it is possible to minimize the time required for storage of the data in memory of the receiving terminal unit.

Program information broadcasting system, broadcasting device, and receiving terminal unit

A control information generating apparatus is provided which is used in broadcast systems designed to transmit audio and video signals and/or teletext signals together with video control information and program information in multiplexed form. The control information generating apparatus transmits EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information (i.e., control information) for transmission of the audio and video signals and includes a control information generating circuit and a control information outputting circuit. The control information generating circuit receives program schedule information on a program from a broadcast database to generate and output control information. The control information outputting circuit receives and output the control information to a multiplexer in which the control information and a data signal from an audio/video data transmitter are multiplexed and transmitted on a carrier wave.

Control information generating apparatus for broadcast system

A digital broadcasting system capable of causing any of physical channels selected by a broadcaster to be received as one of the channels available to users which is different from the physical channel selected by the broadcaster. For each of programs of each of the channels available to said users, a program information record comprising PSI (program specific information) is stored in a data base. The broadcaster is permitted to include, in the PSI, channel mapping information whose mapping destination is a channel (or a program) to be received instead of the channel for which said program information is intended. The program information records is inserted in broadcast transport streams on schedule and, if necessary, immediately after the broadcaster have included the channel mapping information in the PSI data.

Digital broadcasting system using virtual channels

A digital television transmitter transmits a transport stream (hereinafter referred to as &ldquo;TS&rdquo;) comprising content data for a plurality of channels to receivers. In the transmitter, program information is periodically inserted in the TS; and an expected time of program alteration is included in said TS. A television receiver comprises a first portion always supplied with an electric power, a second portion which, if supplied with a second electric power, becomes capable of collecting program information included in said TS in corporation with said first portion, and a third portion which. if supplied with a third electric power, becomes capable of displaying said program. At an expected time of program alteration previously received, the second power is supplied to the second portion to collect program information, which is preferably stored in nonvolatile memory. The transmitter sending an alert signal to the receiver via a second transmission media ensures the reception of changed or special program information.

Digital television broadcasting system

Viewer individual attribute information indicating an attribute of a particular viewer such as an age, male or female, a resident district, a taste, an occupation and a life style is stored in a receiving terminal apparatus of the particular viewer. When a broadcasting program is transmitted from a service supply apparatus to the receiving terminal apparatus, service addition information indicating an attribute of the broadcasting program or an attribute condition required of viewers is transmitted to the receiving terminal apparatus with contents of the broadcasting program. In the receiving terminal apparatus, the service addition information is collated with the viewer individual attribute information of the particular viewer, and it is judged whether or not the broadcasting program is suitable for the particular viewer. In cases where the broadcasting program is suitable for the particular viewer, the broadcasting program is received by the receiving terminal apparatus and is reproduced and displayed. Therefore, the broadcasting program can be received by only a group of particular viewers desired on a side of the service supply apparatus even though the group of particular viewers is not specified.

Service supply apparatus for supplying a service of a broadcasting program with attribute information of the program

A system capable of storing the application packages and thereafter reproducing a desired one of the stored application packages at any time. The application package comprises a plurality of applications. Each of the applications comprises application data which comprises forms a main body of the application and service adding information (SAI) comprising various data including an application ID of the application. The SAIs are distributed independently from and prior to the application data. Each of the SAIs can include method IDs of methods for processing object data specified by a method processing program and a plurality of link data comprising application IDs of other applications. This permits the SAIs to form a tree structure of the applications. The methods are activated in a event driven manner.

System for storing and playing a multimedia application adding variety

An image editing apparatus includes a variable-sized image memory memorizing variable-sized image plane data, a variable-sized image plane administrator administering the size of the image plane data, and a variable-sized image editor editing the variable-sized image plane data.

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Tokyo, Japan

Yoshiyasu Takeuchi