Patent ID: 8588577

Claim:
A timer-recording managing apparatus for managing timer-recording schedules of two or more broadcast programs using a recorder, the recorder including a plurality of recording resources configured to simultaneously record the broadcast programs, the apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory storing a computer program that, when executed by the processor, causes the apparatus to: register schedule information including starting times and end times of the broadcast programs in accordance with the respective timer-recording schedules; change the schedule information, wherein the schedule information includes a resource pattern for specifying an available group of the recording resources to record a broadcast program corresponding to each of the timer-recording schedules, and information as to an availability of re-allocation of the recording resources; extract timer-recording schedules that are affected by an allocation of the recording resources to a start-vertex timer-recording schedule in response to a change of the schedule information with respect to the start-vertex timer-recording schedule, wherein the start-vertex timer-recording schedule and the timer-recording schedules are connected in a schedule conflict network which is formed by mutually joining the timer-recording schedules overlapping with respect to recording time; reallocate the recording resources to the extracted timer-recording schedules based on the schedule information and resource exclusiveness data, wherein the resource exclusiveness data defines mutual exclusiveness among the recording resources; calculate a degree defined as a sum of weights of edges as to the respective timer-recording schedules in the schedule conflict network; determine a sequence of allocating the recording resources to the timer-recording schedules in accordance with the degree; and consecutively allocate the recording resources to the timer-recording schedules in accordance with the sequence so as to avoid exclusiveness between currently allocated recording resources and previously allocated recording resources.