WO2004030353A1

WO2004030353A1 - Method for selecting items from a list associated with automatic item insertion and device for carrying out said method

Info

Publication number: WO2004030353A1
Application number: PCT/EP2003/050647
Authority: WO
Inventors: Franck Hiron; Yves Maetz
Original assignee: Thomson Licensing Sa
Priority date: 2002-09-27
Filing date: 2003-09-23
Publication date: 2004-04-08
Also published as: FR2845181A1; WO2004030353A8; AU2003274120A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for selecting an audio-visual item from a predetermined items list with the aid of surfing control in the form of remote control buttons. Said surfing control activates the items selection according to a predetermined sequence, for example, according to the numbers of channels diffusing the items. The inventive method consists in selecting a new item which is not envisaged in the appearance list defined in the predetermined items list and exhibits characteristics equivalent to a terminal data. One of the item characteristics is, for example the fact that at least one of the attributes thereof corresponds to the preferences of a user. The inventive device for carrying out said method is also disclosed.

Description

METHOD FOR SELECTING ELEMENTS FROM A LIST WITH AUTOMATIC INSERTION OF ELEMENTS AND DEVICE USING

WORKING THE PROCESS

The invention relates to a method for browsing among a set of multimedia documents accessible using a multimedia receiver and a multimedia receiver provided with a user interface for implementing the method. The invention applies in particular in the case where descriptive data associated with audiovisual documents are available. Nowadays, a user interface uses descriptive data to develop menus that can be displayed on a television screen, thus allowing the user to choose audiovisual documents. European patent application EP 822 713 under priority of French application FR96 / 09679 filed by the applicant describes a method for selecting television programs and a device incorporating a graphical interface allowing the user to navigate through lists of programs. The menus allow the user to know the general content of an audiovisual program and thus to select it according to his tastes. The descriptive data, called "service information" is described in the standard relating to DVB-SI (acronym from English "Digital Video Broadcast - specification for Service Information") established by ETSI ("European Telecommunications Standards Institute") published in September 1997 under the reference EN300 468 - V1.3.1 or under the reference REN / JTC-00DVB-43. This descriptive data of the documents disseminated is stored in a local database and constantly updated according to the accessibility of the associated documents.

These documents either downloaded, or using a broadcasting network, or by a bidirectional link with a network, or by reading them from a medium capable of containing audiovisual broadcasts, a DVD (from English "Digital Video Disk ”) for example. The elements of the database are grouped according to certain criteria defined by the document supplier and contained in the service information such as: the subject, the language, the character level, etc. This information is used by the user interface to determine the profile of the user, this profile being for example the list of service information characterizing the broadcasts generally selected by the user. The user interface receives navigation commands in order to present the user with the different programs available. The identifiers of the available programs are contained in a list and are displayed. The user uses two keys on a remote control associated with the receiver to navigate in this list, either forward or backward and select a so-called “current” program. In the case of a television receiver, the user navigates from one channel to another using the "P +" or "P-" keys to increment or decrement the number of the current channel. By pressing an "OK" key or by leaving the same channel selected for a certain time, the selected channel is activated, the user can see the event broadcast on this channel.

With the increase in the number of audiovisual documents and broadcasting channels, the user can access a very large number of documents. As a result, searching for documents with current user interfaces can be time-consuming and tedious, as the user has to search through a long list of documents. The screen size being limited, it only shows part of this list, the user must therefore go from one screen page to another if he wants to find the right document. With the introduction of digital networks, massive storage means have appeared, such as hard disks in digital decoders or fast communication interfaces allowing access to Internet-type networks. The user therefore has access to a very large quantity of multimedia documents of different types, such as audio, video, image, text, application / service, etc.

The present invention provides a new user interface for navigating among numerous audiovisual documents, and offering the user greater speed in finding documents and in particular to find documents faster than the user wants, and this in a powerful and user-friendly way.

The subject of the invention is a method of selecting an audiovisual element in a terminal comprising a first selection step activated by a navigation command selecting the element close to the current element in a predetermined list of elements, characterized in what it comprises a second step of selecting an element not provided for in the appearance list defined in the predetermined list of elements and which has a characteristic equivalent to data specific to the terminal, said second step being activated by a navigation control.

In this way, the method according to the invention makes it possible to develop a new way of navigating by inserting from the usual list of audiovisual elements, for example documents, programs or channels, elements which correspond to data specific to the terminal. . In this way, navigation is personalized at the terminal.

According to another refinement, the document selected during the second selection step has at least one element attribute which is equivalent to a criterion characterizing a preference of the user. Thus, during navigation, the terminal selects elements which correspond to the preferences of the user, which favors his choice. The determination of a preferred element can be a calculation which takes into account a certain number of attributes of the elements, these attributes being correlated with a set of criteria characterizing the preferences of the user.

According to another improvement, the second selection step occurs each time a predetermined number of first steps have been carried out. According to another refinement, two new second selection steps are separated by a determined duration. According to another refinement, the second selection step occurs randomly. According to another improvement, the available elements are received from a broadcasting network, the order of the ordered list of elements being defined by the identification numbers of the different channels broadcasting the elements.

According to another improvement, a second selection step is signaled by an optical or audible signal. Thanks to this improvement, the user is not confused by the unusual behavior of his navigation program because he immediately knows that an element not provided for in conventional navigation is inserted.

The invention also relates to an audiovisual receiver comprising a central unit, a means of receiving audiovisual elements, a means of introducing a navigation command activating a means of selecting an audiovisual element within a predetermined list of elements, characterized in that the selection means comprises means for inserting an element not provided for in the appearance list defined in the predetermined list of elements, this element having a characteristic equivalent to a datum terminal specific.

According to an improvement, the receiver compares the user's preference criteria with the attributes linked to the audiovisual elements, and determines whether each of the elements corresponds to the user's preferences. Then, the receiver inserts such elements into the navigation using the insertion means so that from time to time, the user finds an element which corresponds to preferences. According to another refinement, the elements selected by the insertion means are ordered in a list, the first elements having the most attributes equivalent to the criteria defining the preferences of the user.

According to an improvement, the receiver counts the number of navigation commands, and inserts an element not provided for in the appearance list defined in the predetermined list of elements following a certain number of commands. According to another improvement, the receiver inserts an element not provided for and preferred by the user at regular times. According to another improvement, the receiver inserts an element unexpected and preferred by the user at random. According to an improvement, the receiver manages a list of preferences containing the elements having a characteristic equivalent to data specific to the terminal. This list of preferences is updated with each navigation command. In this way, the list is updated when it is needed, that is to say during a navigation command.

According to an improvement, the receiver emits an optical or audible signal signaling the insertion of an element not provided for in conventional navigation.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will now appear in greater detail in the context of the following description of exemplary embodiments given by way of illustration with reference to the appended figures which represent:

FIG. 1 presents a block diagram of a multimedia receiver for the implementation of an exemplary embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2a is a chronogram presenting the various programs broadcast and the list of programs preferred by the user,

FIG. 2b shows an example of a list of preferred programs according to an improvement of the exemplary embodiment, FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment in software form of the present invention,

- Figure 4 is a timing diagram showing an example of the various selections when the present embodiment of the invention is used.

We will first describe the operation of a multimedia receiver 1 fitted with a display device 2. The receiver comprises a central unit 3 connected to a program memory 12, and an interface 5 for communication with a digital bus local broadband 6 for transmitting audio / video data in real time. This network is for example an IEEE 1394 network. The receiver can also receive audio / video data from a broadcasting network through a reception antenna associated with a demodulator 4. The receiver further comprises a receiver of infrared signals 7 for receiving the signals from a remote control 8, a memory 9 for storing a database, and an audio / video decoding logic 10 for the generation of audiovisual signals sent to the television screen 2 The remote control has the direction keys JS≤, JS≤, & and & and the keys: "OK" and "Select", the function of which we will see later.

The receiver also includes a circuit 11 for displaying data on the screen, often called an OSD circuit, from the English "On Screen Display" (literally meaning "display on the screen"). The OSD circuit 11 is a text and graphics generator which makes it possible to display on the screen menus, pictograms (for example, a number corresponding to the chain viewed) and which makes it possible to display the navigation menus in accordance with the present invention. The OSD circuit is controlled by the Central Unit 3 and a navigation user interface 12. This interface 12 is advantageously produced in the form of a program module recorded in a read only memory. It can also be produced in the form of a specialized circuit of the ASIC type for example.

The digital bus 6 and / or the broadcasting network transmit to the receiver data comprising multimedia documents and descriptive data of these documents. This data comes either from the broadcasting network or from the digital network 6. The descriptive data includes classification elements also called "attributes", accessible multimedia documents. The descriptive data is for example contained in the service information specified in the DVB-SI standard. These data are stored in the storage memory 9 and are continuously updated. The memory 9 can advantageously consist of a hard disk capable of recording audiovisual broadcasts, these broadcasts in addition to those available via the broadcasting network and via the digital bus 6. The receiver can also be connected to a digital player. medium such as a DVD player, magnetic cassette, magneto-optical disc, ... also making it possible to increase the number of audiovisual programs available. The navigation user interface then extracts the information of this database and spawns them to carry out the navigation menus displayed on the screen.

In the following embodiment, the navigation user interface takes into account five types of attributes contained in the descriptive data: the language, the theme, the sub-theme, the source and the producer.

The following are examples of attributes set by the document provider to classify available documents: language: English, French, German, Italian, Arabic, others; theme: film, information, documentary, sport, game / show; sub-theme:

^ film: {adventure, drama, erotic, detective, fiction, others}; - ^ information: {newspaper, radio, weather, stock exchange, sport, other}; ^ documentary: {general, nature, culture, social, history}; & game / show: {general, variety, circus, Talk Show}; JÊ≤ sport: {General, football, tennis, basketball, athletics, nautical}; source: TPS ™, Canal Satellite ™, living room DVD, VCR, Web. producer: Spielberg, Coppola, Besson, Kubrick, Truffaud.

The user interface can also take into account the title and the summary contained in identified fields of descriptive data. The title and the summary consist of strings that can be processed digitally. For example, the title of the film "The Teeth of the Sea" contains the significant words "teeth" and "Sea". The meaning of these words generally makes it possible to identify one or more subject (s) addressed in the document.

The receiver filters the strings by retaining only the significant words. Filtering is done using a list of words that have specific semantic content. If a word from the title or abstract is present in the list, then it is retained, otherwise it is not taken into account. The receiver associates a sixth type of attribute called “Title and summary” with the five previously mentioned to classify each document. An important aspect of the present invention is the fact that navigation from one document to another takes place locally and dynamically.

Insofar as the receiver gives access to numerous documents including availability changes over time, the navigation user interface constantly receives and analyzes descriptive information from these different sources and processes it to determine the user's preferred documents so as to offer them in a privileged manner. All the documents and sources giving access to these documents constitute the list of preferences. During navigation, the user can display an identifier of a document or an identifier of the source broadcasting this document.

The present invention covers either one or the other of the variants, since in the end, the user views the current document identified by its title or by the source which distributes it.

Take for example the case of a receiver that only allows to receive broadcasts from a broadcasting network, six communication channels being available: TF1, FR2, FR3, C +, La5, M6. Figure 2a presents a chronogram of the audiovisual broadcasts broadcast on these six channels. There are broadcasts of different types and themes:

Film: BAMBI, Terminator, Léon, TV movie

Information: teleshop, newspaper

Documentary: gardening, economy

Sport: Wimbledon, Formula 1, Football (OM - PSG), skating Let’s assume that the user’s selection criteria are football, tennis, cartoons, music shows and news (newspaper, weather, etc.) .). The emissions corresponding to the user's criteria are underlined in FIG. 2a. At time T1, among the six channels, only two programs a priori interest the user: WIMBLEDON and the cartoon BAMBI. At time T2, the football program OM - PSG is then broadcast and is added to the list. Then BAMBI ends (instant T3), there are only the two tennis and football programs in the list of preferences. Just now

T4, the football show ends, there is only the show on tennis. At time T5, WIMBLEDON ends and is replaced by an interesting program: the newspaper which becomes the only item on the preference list.

A first improvement consists in integrating a priority in the preferences of the user and to insert in the traditional navigation all first audiovisual documents which correspond to the preferences of the user having a higher priority. This improvement is implemented when there is a choice, that is to say when several preferred documents are available at the same time. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2a, between times T2 and T3, three documents correspond to user preferences. Suppose that the criteria for selecting the user are in order: football (first preference), tennis (second preference), cartoons, music programs and lastly the information (the newspaper, weather, etc.). .). Then, at time T2, the football program is placed first in the list of preferences, which puts the tennis program WIMBLEDON second. Figure 2b shows the evolution of the list of preferences as a function of time and according to this improvement.

A variant consists in fixing priorities in the choice of the inserted programs, that is to say that during the first insertion one can only insert a document corresponding to the first preference of the user (football). During the second insertion, a document corresponding to one of the first two user preferences can be inserted. This implies that if, at a certain moment when the system provides for an insertion, no document corresponds to the criterion, there will be no insertion. Another variant consists in calculating the relevance of each available document, ie its interest for the user, by taking into account all the attributes of each document, and thus draw up an ordered list of preferences for each given instant. . The same document can be preferred by a user for several reasons, for example its theme and its producer are part of the preference criteria defined by the user. The relevance calculation consists of assigning a score for each user preference criterion, and adding up all the scores. Suppose that the user defines five criteria noted from 5 to 1 starting with the most interesting, a document whose attributes correspond to the first, third and fifth criteria, is assigned the value of relevance 9 (5 + 3 + 1 ). In the examples illustrated by FIGS. 2a and 2b, it can be seen that, as a function of time, the list of available and preferred events of the user evolves, and therefore the list of services broadcasting a preferred program evolves similarly. In traditional navigation, the user uses the P + and

P- of its remote control to switch from one service to another by incrementing or decrementing the channel number. The receiver then has no control over the scrolling of the documents appearing during navigation. It is usually the content providers who define an orderly sequence of documents. If, for example, the receiver has only the six channels shown in Figure 2 as the source of available programs, pressing the buttons scrolls: TF1, FR2, FR3, C +, La5, M6, then return to TF1 ( it is in reverse if you press the button P-). This example describes the main channels in France, the channel numbers associated with each of these six channels follow one another in order: 1, 2,3,4 .... According to this embodiment, the navigation interface will break the predetermined sequence by adding elements to the list of preferences in the navigation (source identifiers or document identifiers).

According to a first embodiment, the preference list is calculated during each navigation command. A variant consists in that this task is carried out permanently, independently of the commands of the user, by a background task running at regular time intervals. Another variant consists in launching this task when introducing new service data, that is to say for example, upon receipt of a new table describing the programs available or at the introduction of a DVD or else when connecting with a server via the communication network 6. In the same way as above, the determination of the elements of the list of preferences is carried out by analyzing the service data associated with the available programs and by comparing them with the profile of the user.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the characteristic peculiar to programs which allows the channels broadcasting them to be in the list of preferences, is not limited to a criterion depending on the user. This characteristic can depend on the nature of the audiovisual receiver, for example, if the receiver is a 16/9 television, channels broadcasting programs in 16/9 format can be inserted in the navigation. Or, channels broadcasting very important programs, such as warning news flashes, can also be included in the standard navigation sequence.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram for the implementation in software form of the navigation interface. This does not exclude that the interface can be produced in the form of a specialized electronic circuit.

In step 3.1, a "watchdog" (electronic device allowing to generate an alarm - "watchdog" according to English terminology) is launched. When the user remains for a certain time (3 seconds for example) on a selection without launching commands, it makes it possible to detect the end of the zapping sequence. In step 3.2, the program broadcast by the current service is displayed. Then, the navigation interface waits for a navigation command activated using the P + or P- keys (step 3.3). As soon as this command is received in step 3.4, the navigation interface updates the list of services or sources giving access to programs that correspond to the user's profile, the "watchdog" is launched again . In step 3.5, the interface determines whether to insert an element preferred by the user in traditional navigation. The mechanism for triggering an insertion can be triggered in different ways. A simple way is to insert a preferred item each time a specified number of navigation commands have been executed by the user. For example, every four activations of the "P +" or "P-" keys, the interface inserts a preferred element. A variant consists in inserting a preferred element after a determined navigation time. This variant requires another "watchdog" device which is initialized during insertion and subsequently decremented. If its value is zero, a new insertion is triggered. Another variant consists in triggering the insertion when the user while browsing has just select a determined number of elements which do not correspond to any criteria selected by the user. For example, after selecting three shows that do not match the profile, the interface will insert a preferred item. This variant requires testing whether the program associated with the current item corresponds to the profile of the user and recording the number of uninteresting programs. If the counter reaches a determined value, the navigation interface triggers the insertion of an interesting program taken from the list of preferences. Another variant consists in inserting an element inserted at random, either after a randomly defined navigation duration, or after a random number of navigation commands.

If in step 3.5, the interface does not trigger an insertion, then the user navigates in the traditional way and switches to the service by incrementing or decrementing the service number (step 3.6). Then the program loops to step 3.2 of viewing the program broadcast by this service, and waits for a new command (step 3.3). If in step 3.5, the interface triggers an insertion, then the navigation interface searches for an item in the list of preferences (step 3.7), this item (a service for example) becomes the means of accessing the user's favorite program. This program is then displayed in step 3.2.

After explaining how the elements cooperate, we will show an example of navigation. FIG. 4 presents a timing diagram showing an example of the various selections when the present exemplary embodiment of the invention is used. Suppose for simplicity that the multimedia receiver only gives access to 6 documents, broadcast by the six channels referenced by their acronyms: TF1, FR2, FR3, C +, La5, M6, or their respective channel numbers: 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6. Traditional navigation consists in respecting this order each time you press the P + key, pressing P + with the program broadcast on M6 selects the program broadcast on TF1. The succession of program selections thus loops in itself in one direction (by “P +”) or in the other (by “P-”). According to the present exemplary embodiment, the navigation interface will disturb this succession of transmissions.

Figure 4 shows the succession of channel and program selections when pressing the "P +" key, for each of the four moments presented in Figure 2. At time T1, there are two preferred programs of l 'user, the system decides to insert one at the first navigation command. So a command "P +" with the first channel (TF1) as current channel triggers the insertion of the third channel FR3 broadcasting a favorite program on tennis instead of channel 2. Then the following two navigation commands follow a normal course: first channel 2, then channel 3 having just been broadcast, we go to channel 4. In accordance with the insertion strategy used: after two channels that are not preferred , the system inserts a preferred chain if the normal order chain is not a preferred chain. However in the present example, the following chain in the normal order: the Fifth is precisely a preferred chain. The system therefore does not need to insert other strings. The latter being a preferred channel, the system allows navigation on two non-preferred channels: the sixth, then the first before inserting a preferred channel extracted from the list: the third. By this example, we see that the system manages two circular lists of documents, the first containing all the documents in a logical order, the second contains the preferred elements. Each of the lists is managed by a circular pointer. With each navigation command, one of the pointers searches for the document to be selected and the other pointer is inactive and does not change its value. Similarly, at time T2, three documents are also in the list of preferred documents. In this case, the interface does not need to insert documents because half of them correspond to the user's preferences. The instant T2 is remarkable in that the order in the list of channels broadcasting favorite programs can change, as shown in Figure 2b. In fact, at this moment a football program is broadcast, it is the user's preferred reference, so this document is put at the top of the list and will appear on the first navigation command. The moment T3 laughs nothing particular compared to the two previous moments described. At times T4 and T5, there is only one preferred document in the list of preferences, depending on the strategy used, this document is inserted every three navigation commands.

An improvement consists in displaying an indicator when the navigation interface inserts a new element in the navigation. For example, the service number is generally displayed for a certain period of time on the screen, if the program broadcast by this service is inserted by the navigation interface, then the displayed number of the service flashes or is highlighted. In this way, the user knows that the interface has not carried out a traditional navigation command, but has inserted an element which should correspond to his tastes. A variant consists in that the indicator is a sound signal emitted by the loudspeaker of the multimedia receiver 1. Although the present invention has been described with reference to the particular embodiments illustrated, it is in no way limited by these embodiments, but is only so by the appended claims. Note that changes or modifications may be made by those skilled in the art.

Claims

claims

1. Method for selecting an audiovisual element in a terminal comprising a first selection step activated by a navigation command selecting the element close to the current element in a predetermined list of elements, characterized in that it comprises a second step of selecting an element not provided for in the appearance list defined in the predetermined list of elements and which has a characteristic equivalent to data specific to the terminal, said second step being activated by a navigation command.

2. Selection method according to claim 1, characterized in that the element selected during the second step has at least one attribute equivalent to a criterion characterizing a preference of the user.

3. Selection method according to claim 2, characterized in that the element selected during the second step is determined according to the number of times that an attribute of the element is equivalent to a criterion characterizing a preference of the user.

4. Selection method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the second selection step takes place each time a predetermined number of first steps have been carried out.

5. Selection method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that two new second selection steps are separated by a determined duration.

6. Selection method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that priorities are fixed and define the order of appearance of the elements selected during the second steps, and in that the second selection step does not occur when nothing available matches the current priority.

7. Selection method according to claim 1, characterized in that the second selection step occurs randomly.

8. Method for selecting an element according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the audiovisual elements are received from a broadcasting network having several channels, the order of the list being defined by the number of identification of the channel broadcasting this element.

9. A navigation method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a step of transmitting a signal indicating that the current element is selected during a second selection step.

10. Audiovisual receiver comprising a central unit (3), means for receiving audiovisual elements (4), means for entering a navigation command (7,8) activating a selection means (3,12) of an audiovisual element within a predetermined list of elements, characterized in that the selection means comprises means for inserting (3,12) an element not provided for in the appearance list defined in the predetermined list of elements, this element having a characteristic equivalent to data specific to the terminal (1).

1 1. Multimedia receiver according to claim 10, characterized in that the insertion means (3,12) comprises a means of comparison between at least one user preference and attributes related to audiovisual elements, the means of insertion selecting an element having at least one attribute equivalent to a criterion.

12. Multimedia receiver according to claim 11, characterized in that the insertion means selects in priority an element having the most attributes equivalent to the criteria defining the preferences of the user.

13. Multimedia receiver according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the insertion means comprises a counter counting the number of navigation commands, the insertion means inserting an element not provided in the list of appearance defined in the predetermined list of elements when the counter reaches a predetermined value.

14. Multimedia receiver according to any one of claims

10 to 12, characterized in that the insertion means comprises a watchdog, the insertion means inserting an element not provided for in the appearance list defined in the predetermined list of elements when the value of the watchdog reaches a predetermined value.

15. Multimedia receiver according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the insertion means comprises a generator of random data, the insertion means inserting an element not provided for in the appearance list defined in the predetermined list of elements when predetermined data is generated by this generator.

16. Multimedia receiver according to any one of claims from 10 to 15, characterized in that it comprises a means of managing a list of preferences identifying the elements having a characteristic equivalent to a data specific to the terminal, said list of preferences being updated with each navigation command.

17. Multimedia receiver according to any one of claims from 10 to 16, characterized in that it comprises means for managing a list of preferences identifying the elements having a characteristic equivalent to data specific to the terminal, said list of preferences being updated when a new item becomes available to the receiver.

18 Multimedia receiver according to any one of claims from 10 to 17, characterized in that it comprises means for transmitting an audible or visual signal signaling that the insertion means has inserted an element not provided for afterwards a navigation command.