Terminal apparatus and method for achieving interactive operations by displaying a desired piece of image information at high speed using cache memories, out of a large amount of image information sent in a one-way direction

A terminal apparatus for displaying an image by reproducing one out of m pieces of image information and for interactively changing the image using n pieces of navigation information wherein the image is one of a moving picture, a still picture, and a mixture of a moving picture and a still picture, wherein the m pieces of image information and the n pieces of navigation information together are broadcast by a broadcasting station to the terminal apparatus, wherein each piece of navigation information is related to an origin piece of image information and indicates a plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein m and n are each an integer either of being equal to and larger than “1,” the terminal apparatus comprising:

• reproducing means for reproducing the one out of the m pieces of image information;
• cache means for storing one out of the n pieces of navigation information which corresponds to the one out of the m pieces of image information;
• monitoring means for monitoring whether an operator has performed a certain operation responding to the image displayed;
• first receiving means for, before the monitoring means determines that the operator has performed the certain operation, receiving, based on the piece of navigation information stored in the cache means, t pieces of navigation information which are respectively related to s pieces of image information having possibility of being displayed, and storing the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means, wherein s is an integer satisfying 1≦s<m, and t is an integer satisfying 1≦t<n;
• specifying means for specifying one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information based on the certain operation when the monitoring means monitors that the operator has performed the certain operation;
• identifying means for identifying a piece of navigation information corresponding to the one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information specified by the specifying means as one out of the t pieces of navigation information stored in the cache means;
• and
• second receiving means for receiving the piece of link-target image information based on the piece of navigation information in the cache means corresponding to the piece of link-target image information specified by the specifying means, and storing the piece of link-target image information in the cache means, wherein
• the reproducing means reproduces the piece of link-target image information received by the second receiving means.

A terminal apparatus for displaying an image by reproducing one out of m pieces of image information and for interactively changing the image using n pieces of navigation information wherein the image is one of a moving picture, a still picture, and a mixture of a moving picture and a still picture, wherein the m pieces of image information and the n pieces of navigation information together are broadcast by a broadcasting station to the terminal apparatus, wherein each piece of navigation information is related to an origin piece of image information and indicates a plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein m and n are each an integer either of being equal to and larger than “1,” the terminal apparatus comprising:

• cache means for storing one out of the m pieces of image information;
• reproducing means for reproducing the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• monitoring means for monitoring whether an operator has performed a certain operation responding to the image displayed;
• first receiving means for, before the monitoring means determines that the operator has performed the certain operation, receiving, based on a piece of navigation information corresponding to the one out of the m pieces of image information, s pieces of image information which have possibility of being displayed, and storing the s pieces of image information in the cache means, wherein s is an integer satisfying 1≦s<m;
• specifying means for specifying one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information based on the certain operation when the monitoring means monitors that the operator has performed the certain operation;
• identifying means for identifying the one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information specified by the specifying means as one out of the s pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• and
• second receiving means for receiving the one out of the s pieces of image information from the cache means, wherein
• the reproducing means reproduces the one out of the s pieces of image information received by the second receiving means.

A terminal apparatus for displaying an image by reproducing one out of m pieces of image information and for interactively changing the image using n pieces of navigation information, wherein the image is one of a moving picture, a still picture, and a mixture of a moving picture and a still picture, wherein the m pieces of image information and the n pieces of navigation information together are broadcast by a broadcasting station to the terminal apparatus, wherein each piece of navigation information is related to an origin piece of image information and indicates a plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein m and n are each an integer either of being equal to and larger than “1,” the terminal apparatus including:

• cache means for storing a pair of one out of the m pieces of image information and one out of the n pieces of navigation information;
• reproducing means for reproducing the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• monitoring means for monitoring whether an operator has performed a certain operation responding to the image displayed;
• receiving means for, before the monitoring means determines that the operator has performed the certain operation, receiving s pieces of image information which have possibility of being displayed and t pieces of navigation information respectively related to the s pieces of image information based on the one out of the n pieces of navigation information stored in the cache means, and storing the s pieces of image information and the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means, wherein s is an integer satisfying 1≦s<m, and t is an integer satisfying 1≦t<n;
• specifying means for specifying one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information based on the certain operation when the monitoring means monitors that the operator has performed the certain operation;
• identifying means for identifying the one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information specified by the specifying means as one out the s pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• first controlling means for reading the piece of link-target image information identified by the identifying means and instructing the reproducing means to reproduce the piece of link-target image information, and instructing the receiving means to receive other s pieces of image information and other t pieces of navigation information based on one out of the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means corresponding to the piece of link-target image information identified by the identifying means;
• rank setting means for setting ranks of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means based on possibility of being displayed;
• and
• cache table registering means for registering identifiers of high ranking s pieces of image information in a cache table, out of the m pieces of image information and registering identifiers of t pieces of navigation information corresponding to the high ranking s pieces of image information, wherein
• the receiving means receives the s pieces of image information whose identifiers are registered by the cache table registering means and receives t pieces of navigation information corresponding to the s pieces of image information.

A terminal apparatus for displaying an image by reproducing one out of m pieces of image information and for interactively changing the image using n pieces of navigation information, wherein the image is one of a moving picture, a still picture, and a mixture of a moving picture and a still picture, wherein the m pieces of image information and the n pieces of navigation information together are broadcast by a broadcasting station to the terminal apparatus, wherein each piece of navigation information is related to an origin piece of image information and indicates a plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein m and n are each an integer either of being equal to and larger than “1,” the terminal apparatus including:

• cache means for storing a pair of one out of the m pieces of image information and one out of the n pieces of navigation information;
• reproducing means for reproducing the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• monitoring means for monitoring whether an operator has performed a certain operation responding to the image displayed;
• receiving means for, before the monitoring means determines that the operator has performed the certain operation, receiving s pieces of image information which have possibility of being displayed and t pieces of navigation information respectively related to the s pieces of image information based on the one out of the n pieces of navigation information stored in the cache means, and storing the s pieces of image information and the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means, wherein s is an integer satisfying 1≦s<m, and t is an integer satisfying 1≦t<n;
• specifying means for specifying one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information based on the certain operation when the monitoring means monitors that the operator has performed the certain operation;
• identifying means for identifying the one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information specified by the specifying means as one out the s pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• first controlling means for reading the piece of link-target image information identified by the identifying means and instructing the reproducing means to reproduce the piece of link-target image information, and instructing the receiving means to receive other s pieces of image information and other t pieces of navigation information based on one out of the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means corresponding to the piece of link-target image information identified by the identifying means;
• superimposing means for superimposing, based on a piece of navigation information corresponding to the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means, a plurality of icons on the image which is displayed when the reproducing means reproduces the one out of the m pieces of image information;
• rank setting means for setting ranks of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means based on possibility of being displayed;
• cache table registering means for registering identifiers of high ranking s pieces of image information in a cache table, out of the m pieces of image information and registering identifiers of t pieces of navigation information corresponding to the high ranking s pieces of image information;
• and
• weighting means for weighting, with a highest value, the one out of the plurality of icons made to be in focus by the focus setting means, and for weighting, with a second highest value, icons adjacent to the one in focus, wherein
• the reproducing means includes:
• focus setting means for making one out of the plurality of icons be in focus, wherein
• the monitoring means includes:
• a determination operation detecting unit for detecting a determination operation performed on one out of the plurality of icons;
• a cursor move operation detecting unit for detecting a cursor move operation;
• and
• a focus changing unit for making another one out of the plurality of icons be in focus based on the cursor move operation detected by the cursor move operation detecting unit, wherein
• the identifying means identifies one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information detected by the determination operation detecting unit, wherein
• the determination operation detecting unit detects a determination operation performed on the other one out of the plurality of icons in focus, wherein
• the receiving means receives the s pieces of image information whose identifiers are registered by the cache table registering means and receives t pieces of navigation information corresponding to the s pieces of image information, and wherein
• the rank setting means sets ranks, of the m pieces of image information based on values weighted by the weighting means.

A terminal apparatus for displaying an image by reproducing one out of m pieces of image information and for interactively changing the image using n pieces of navigation information, wherein the image is one of a moving picture, a still picture, and a mixture of a moving picture and a still picture, wherein the m pieces of image information and the n pieces of navigation information together are broadcast by a broadcasting station to the terminal apparatus, wherein each piece of navigation information is related to an origin piece of image information and indicates a plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein m and n are each an integer either of being equal to and larger than “1,” the terminal apparatus including:

• cache means for storing a pair of one out of the m pieces of image information and one out of the n pieces of navigation information;
• reproducing means for reproducing the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• monitoring means for monitoring whether an operator has performed a certain operation responding to the image displayed;
• receiving means for, before the monitoring means determines that the operator has performed the certain operation, receiving s pieces of image information which have possibility of being displayed and t pieces of navigation information respectively related to the s pieces of image information based on the one out of the n pieces of navigation information stored in the cache means, and storing the s pieces of image information and the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means, wherein s is an integer satisfying 1≦s<m, and t is an integer satisfying 1≦t<n;
• specifying means for specifying one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information based on the certain operation when the monitoring means monitors that the operator has performed the certain operation;
• identifying means for identifying the one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information specified by the specifying means as one out the s pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• first controlling means for reading the piece of link-target image information identified by the identifying means and instructing the reproducing means to reproduce the piece of link-target image information, and instructing the receiving means to receive other s pieces of image information and other t pieces of navigation information based on one out of the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means corresponding to the piece of link-target image information identified by the identifying means;
• superimposing means for superimposing, based on a piece of navigation information corresponding to the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means, a plurality of icons on the image which is displayed when the reproducing means reproduces the one out of the m pieces of image information;
• rank setting means for setting ranks of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means based on possibility of being displayed;
• cache table registering means for registering identifiers of high ranking s pieces of image information in a cache table, out of the m pieces of image information and registering identifiers of t pieces of navigation information corresponding to the high ranking s pieces of image information;
• and
• deleting means for deleting, out of the identifiers of high ranking s pieces of image information and t pieces of navigation information in the cache table, identifiers of pieces of image information and pieces of navigation information which have been stored in the cache means, wherein
• the monitoring means includes:
• a determination operation detecting unit for detecting a determination operation performed on one out of the plurality of icons, wherein
• the identifying means identifies one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information detected by the determination operation detecting unit, wherein
• the receiving means receives the s pieces of image information whose identifiers are registered by the cache table registering means and receives t pieces of navigation information corresponding to the s pieces of image information.

A terminal apparatus for displaying an image by reproducing one out of m pieces of image information and for interactively changing the image using n pieces of navigation information, wherein the image is one of a moving picture, a still picture, and a mixture of a moving picture and a still picture, wherein the m pieces of image information and the n pieces of navigation information together are broadcast by a broadcasting station to the terminal apparatus, wherein each piece of navigation information is related to an origin piece of image information and indicates a plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein m and n are each an integer either of being equal to and larger than “1,” the terminal apparatus including:

• cache means for storing a pair of one out of the m pieces of image information and one out, of the n pieces of navigation information;
• reproducing means for reproducing the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• monitoring means for monitoring whether an operator has performed a certain operation responding to the image displayed;
• receiving means for, before the monitoring means determines that the operator has performed the certain operation, receiving s pieces of image information which have possibility of being displayed and t pieces of navigation information respectively related to the s pieces of image information based on the one out of the n pieces of navigation information stored in the cache means, and storing the s pieces of image information and the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means, wherein s is an integer satisfying 1≦s<m, and t is an integer satisfying 1≦t<n;
• specifying means for specifying one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information based on the certain operation when the monitoring means monitors that the operator has performed the certain operation;
• identifying means for identifying the one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information specified by the specifying means as one out the s pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• first controlling means for reading the piece of link-target image information identified by the identifying means and instructing the reproducing means to reproduce the piece of link-target image information, and instructing the receiving means to receive other s pieces of image information and other t pieces of navigation information based on one out of the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means corresponding to the piece of link-target image information identified by the identifying means;
• superimposing means for superimposing, based on a piece of navigation information corresponding to the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means, a plurality of icons on the image which is displayed when the reproducing means reproduces the one out of the m pieces of image information;
• rank setting means for setting ranks of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means based on possibility of being displayed;
• cache table registering means for registering identifiers of high ranking s pieces of image information in a cache table, out of the m pieces of image information and registering identifiers of t pieces of navigation information corresponding to the high ranking s pieces of image information;
• and
• rank information detecting means for detecting a piece of rank information from the piece of navigation information corresponding to the one out of the m pieces of image information reproduced by the reproducing means, wherein the piece of rank information includes ranks of the plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein
• the monitoring means includes:
• a determination operation detecting unit for detecting a determination operation performed on one out of the plurality of icons, wherein
• the identifying means identifies one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information detected by the determination operation detecting unit, wherein
• the receiving means receives the s pieces of image information whose identifiers are registered by the cache table registering means and receives t pieces of navigation information corresponding to the s pieces of image information, and wherein
• the rank setting means sets ranks of the m pieces of image information based on the piece of rank information.

A reproduction method used in a terminal apparatus for displaying an image by reproducing one out of m pieces of image information and for interactively changing the image using n pieces of navigation information wherein the image is one of a moving picture, a still picture, and a mixture of a moving picture and a still picture, wherein the m pieces of image information and the n pieces of navigation information together are broadcast by a broadcasting station to the terminal apparatus, wherein each piece of navigation information is related to an origin piece of image information and indicates a plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein m and n are each an integer either of being equal to and larger than “1,” the terminal apparatus comprising:

• cache means for storing a pair of one out of the m pieces of image information and one out of the n pieces of navigation information, wherein
• the reproduction method comprising:
• a reproducing step of reproducing the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• a monitoring step of monitoring whether an operator has performed a certain operation responding to the image displayed;
• a receiving step of, before it is determined in the monitoring step that the operator has performed the certain operation, receiving s pieces of image information which have possibility of being displayed and t pieces of navigation information respectively related to the s pieces of image information based on the one out of the n pieces of navigation information stored in the cache means, and storing the s pieces of image information and the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means, wherein s is an integer satisfying 1≦s<m, and t is an integer satisfying 1≦t<n;
• a specifying step of specifying one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information based on the certain operation when the monitoring step monitors that the operator has performed the certain operation;
• an identifying step of identifying the one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information specified in the specifying step as one out the s pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• and
• a first controlling step of reading the piece of link-target image information identified in the identifying step and instructing the reproducing step to reproduce the piece of link-target image information, and instructing the receiving step to receive other s pieces of image information and other t pieces of navigation information based on one out of the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means corresponding to the piece of link-target image information identified in the identifying step.

A record medium in which a reproduction program is recorded, the reproduction program being used in a terminal apparatus for displaying an image by reproducing one out of m pieces of image information and for interactively changing the image using n pieces of navigation information wherein the image is one of a moving picture, a still picture, and a mixture of a moving picture and a still picture, wherein the m pieces of image information and the n pieces of navigation information together are broadcast by a broadcasting station to the terminal apparatus, wherein each piece of navigation information is related to an origin piece of image information and indicates a plurality pieces of link-target image information, wherein m and n are each an integer either of being equal to and larger than “1,” the terminal apparatus comprising:

• cache means for storing a pair of one out of the m pieces of image information and one out of the n pieces of navigation information, wherein
• the reproduction program comprising:
• a reproducing step of reproducing the one out of the m pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• a monitoring step of monitoring whether an operator has performed a certain operation responding to the image displayed;
• a receiving step of, before it is determined in the monitoring step that the operator has performed the certain operation, receiving s pieces of image information which have possibility of being displayed and t pieces of navigation information respectively related to the s pieces of image information based on the one out of the n pieces of navigation information stored in the cache means, and storing the s pieces of image information and the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means, wherein s is an integer satisfying 1≦s<m, and t is an integer satisfying 1≦t<n;
• a specifying step of specifying one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information based on the certain operation when the monitoring step monitors that the operator has performed the certain operation;
• an identifying step of identifying the one out of the plurality pieces of link-target image information specified in the specifying step as one out the s pieces of image information stored in the cache means;
• and
• a first controlling step of reading the piece of link-target image information identified in the identifying step and instructing the reproducing step to reproduce the piece of link-target image information, and instructing the receiving step to receive other s pieces of image information and other t pieces of navigation information based on one out of the t pieces of navigation information in the cache means corresponding to the piece of link-target image information identified in the identifying step.