Abstract: A conditional access broadcast system for realizing conditional access while maintaining the safety level is disclosed. A contract management device at a broadcast station side delivers a reception contract information containing at least a contract information for controlling decryption of encrypted contents information delivered from a broadcast station by broadcast and a reception device ID in correspondence, which is encrypted using a master key which is commonly provided with respect to all the broadcast reception devices. At each broadcast reception device, whether or not to give a channel key for decrypting the encrypted contents information to the decryption unit is controlled according to the contract information for own broadcast reception device which is acquired from the encrypted reception contract information.

Abstract: A common dictionary management system that can reduce the work of data registration into dictionaries. Exchange data generated in any local dictionary of a natural language processing system is sent to the local dictionaries of other natural language processing systems automatically. A local dictionary management portion and a common dictionary management portion collect updated dictionary data from a plurality of local dictionaries and updating time information. The local dictionary management portion updates the common dictionary and the local dictionaries according to the collected dictionary data and the time information. The local dictionary management portion compares the information with the latest time on which dictionary data was distributed to the local user dictionaries with the updating time information of the dictionary data in the common dictionary to distribute the dictionary data of the common dictionary selected according to the result of the comparison, to the local dictionaries.

Abstract: An information recording apparatus comprises an encryption section encrypting contents information and also a license condition referred to to limit use of the contents information and a decoding key for decoding the encrypted contents information to generate license information, and a recording section recording the encrypted contents information and the generated license information on a recording medium. An information reproducing apparatus comprises a decoder unit decoding the license information recorded on the recording medium using a second decoding key for decoding the license information and deciding on the basis of the license condition contained in the decoded license information whether the contents information can be used. If it is decided that the contents information can be used, the encrypted contents information recorded on the recording medium is decoded using the first decoding key contained in the decoded license information.

Abstract: A navigation communication system in which a plurality of clients access information stored in a server via a network, having a personal information control section provided in the server and controls the personal information of the users of the clients which access the same information and a personal information display section provided in the client and displays the personal information controlled by the personal information control section, a selector for selecting one of the personal information displayed, and a communication application section for communicating with a client corresponding to the selected personal information.

Abstract: A human interface system constructed by connecting systems containing a plurality of computers via a network includes site building means for building a plurality of sites that either retain or manage a plurality pieces of data and a plurality of programs, and access managing means for managing users' access to each site. The access managing means has a communication channel between the users established by accessing the sites via the data and programs.

Abstract: A document image processing apparatus is provided, which comprises a structure analyzing unit for analytically dividing an input document image into sub-blocks having a specificed physical positional relationship to each other, a structure forming unit for forming a representation form corresponding to the physical positional relationship between the sub-blocks obtained by the structure analyzing unit, and a structure understanding unit for transforming the representation form obtained by the structure forming unit into a modified document image having a predetermined relationship between the sub-blocks.

Abstract: Each row of characters is extracted from document data representing rows of characters by a character row extracting circuit. The characters are separated from the row by a character separating circuit. In a reference line detecting circuit two histograms are formed, one pertaining to the upper sides of the rectangles bordering the extremities of the characters, and the other pertaining to the lower sides of these rectangles. Two reference lines are defined from the histogram. The characters are sorted intoseveral categories, in accordance with their sizes and the positions they take with respect to the reference lines. The pattern of each character is compared with the dictionary patterns of the same category.

Abstract: An image processing method which includes a step for obtaining projections formed on coordinate axes having a predetermined inclination with respect to the coordinate axes of the horizontal and vertical directions. The projections are obtained run by run from image data coded in run length representation. The method also includes a step for adding the respective run-by-run projections through the entire image so as to obtain the projections of image data on the inclined coordinate axes. This method enables the image data to be processed without decoding. Further, the method allows a significant reduction in the amount of processing and also allows high-speed processing.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus comprises an input image memory for storing input image data obtained by coding original image data with run length codes for a first direction, a reading circuit for sequentially reading from the input image memory the data of every two lines which are adjacent to each other in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, an exclusive OR processing circuit for carrying out an exclusive OR operation on the data of the every two lines read by the reading circuit to detect second directional endpoint positions of the original image data without decoding the input image data into the original image data, and a second directional processing circuit for carrying out a predetermined image process for the second direction according to the first directional endpoint positions detected by the exclusive OR processing circuit.

Abstract: A image inclination detecting method and an apparatus achieving the method calculate distances between leading edges or between trailing edges of runs (consecutive white or black pixels) that are located on adjacent two scanning lines respectively. From occurrence frequencies of these edge distances, a representative value that may indicate an inclination of the image most clearly is found, and, based on the representative value, the inclination of the image is computed.