JP2001119678A - Broadcast system, transmitter and receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a viewer to freely select continuation or discontinuation of viewing, when a reception state of a received broadcast signal is deteriorated while viewing a broadcast program. SOLUTION: A view limit information multiplexer section 104 of a transmitter 1 in a broadcasting station multiplexes view limit information generated by a view limit information generating section 103 onto a broadcast signal and a check signal multiplexer section 106 multiplexes check information generated by a check information generating section 105 onto the broadcast signal and transmits the multiplexed signal. A reception device 301 of the receiver 3 receives a reception signal, discriminates the reception level of the received signal, by using the check information and the view limit information detected from the received signal to discriminate the level of the received signal, displays a message onto a television receiver 302 inquiring whether the viewer continues the viewing of the program when discriminating that the reception state is poor, on the basis of the result of discrimination of the received level and the viewer viewing the message selects freely whether the viewer continuously views the program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcasting system, a transmitting apparatus, and a receiving apparatus for monitoring viewing of a pay broadcast in a digital broadcasting service or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional pay-broadcasting system measures a reception state based on a C / N level of a received broadcast wave signal as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-255047. The viewing fee is changed according to the C / N level.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

[0003] In a conventional broadcasting system, once viewing is started, even when the reception state of a received broadcast wave signal is not good, the viewing cannot be canceled halfway, and the viewing fluctuates uniformly according to the reception state. Fees are now being applied. Therefore, there is a problem that the viewer cannot freely select whether or not to continue viewing. That is, in the case where the reception state is slightly poor, if there are some viewers who continue watching and others who want to stop watching, control to cancel the viewing itself cannot be performed for each viewer individually.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to determine whether a viewer can continue viewing when the reception state of a broadcast wave signal received during viewing of a pay broadcast deteriorates. Broadcasting system that allows you to freely choose whether or not
An object is to obtain a transmitting device and a receiving device.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a broadcasting system according to the present invention, a receiving apparatus determines a receiving section for receiving a broadcast program transmitted from a transmitting apparatus, a receiving state in the receiving section, and a receiving state determination result. And a viewing condition control unit that controls whether or not to continue viewing based on the result of the receiving condition determination and, when viewing is stopped, transmits information indicating the viewing stop to the transmitting device. And a part.

[0006] Further, the transmission device generates viewing restriction information used when inquiring the viewer whether or not to continue viewing the program, and monitors the reception state of the broadcast program. And a multiplexing unit that multiplexes the viewing restriction information and the test information into the transmission signal.

Further, the receiving apparatus further includes a viewing restriction information detecting section for detecting viewing restriction information from the received signal, a display section, and a descrambling section. And an inquiry as to whether or not to continue viewing based on the reception state signal is displayed on the display unit,
When the viewing is stopped using the inquiry displayed by the display unit and the detected viewing restriction information, information indicating the viewing stop is transmitted to the transmitting device, and the descrambling process in the descrambling unit is stopped. It is intended to be.

Further, the viewing restriction control section transmits the information to the transmitting device via the telephone line when the viewing is stopped.

[0009] The reception state determining section classifies the reception state based on the time length in which the abnormality of the reception signal is detected, and determines the reception state based on the level.

[0010] The viewing restriction control unit is configured to cause the display unit to display the content of the inquiry generated based on the type based on the content of the broadcast program and the level of the reception state of the received signal.

[0011] The viewing restriction information generating section can change the type and viewing restriction information based on the content of the broadcast program during the broadcast of the broadcast program.

The viewing restriction control unit classifies the reception state determination result into levels, and inquires whether or not to continue viewing generated in a plurality of stages in accordance with the level fluctuation on the display unit. This is displayed.

[0013] In the transmitting apparatus according to the present invention,
A transmission section for transmitting a broadcast program, a viewing restriction information generating section for generating viewing restriction information used when inquiring a viewer whether or not to continue program viewing, and for monitoring the reception state of the broadcast program And a multiplexing unit that multiplexes the viewing restriction information and the test information into a transmission signal.

Further, in the receiving apparatus according to the present invention,
A receiving unit that receives the broadcast program transmitted by the transmitting device, a reception state determination unit that detects and determines a reception state, and outputs a reception state determination result, and continues viewing the broadcast program based on the reception state determination result And a control unit for controlling whether or not this is the case.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an entire system of a pay broadcasting system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a transmitting device for transmitting paid and free broadcast programs at a transmitting station or the like, 2 denotes a broadcasting satellite for relaying broadcast waves, and 3 denotes a receiving device. Broadcasting device 1 such as a transmitting station
Includes a program transmission unit 101, a scramble unit 102, a viewing restriction information generating unit 103 for generating viewing restriction information, a viewing restriction information multiplexing unit 104, a test signal generating unit 105, a test signal multiplexing unit 106, a broadcast wave transmitting unit 107, The receiving device 3 includes a receiving antenna 301 and a receiver 3
02, a television (display unit) 303. The viewing restriction information is used to inquire whether or not to continue viewing when the broadcast program is a pay program. In the first embodiment, the viewing restriction correspondence table T1, the reception level correspondence table T2, and the program type Information T3. Further, in the first embodiment, when broadcast program is a pay program, control section 108 controls scramble section 102 and viewing restriction information generating section 1
03, while controlling the viewing restriction information multiplexing unit 104,
Although the history of the possibility of continuation of viewing is accumulated from the receiving device and plays a role as a customer management center, it may be used for charging processing such as charging only the time during which the viewer has continued viewing.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the receiver 302. 2, reference numeral 401 denotes a reception unit, 402 denotes a test signal detection unit, 403 denotes a viewing restriction information detection unit, 404 denotes a descrambling unit, 405 denotes a reception state determination unit, 406 denotes a reception level correspondence table T1 memory, and 407 denotes a viewing restriction. The correspondence table T2 memory, 408 is a program type T3 memory, 409 is a parental control section, 410 is a message display section, 411 is a main memory, 412 is a remote control signal receiving section, 413 is a modem, 414 is a video signal reproducing section, and 415 is a video signal reproducing section. This is a video signal synthesis unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the reception level correspondence table T1. Reception level correspondence table T1 in FIG.
Indicates six levels according to the reception state, and corresponds to one of the levels according to the length of time during which the reception has become abnormal. For example, during the broadcast of the pay program,
If there is an abnormal reception for one minute, it corresponds to “level 4”.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the viewing restriction correspondence table T2. The parental level correspondence table T2 in FIG. 4 shows the parental level control contents corresponding to the "program type" indicating the category based on the program contents and the "reception level" indicating the broadcast wave reception state in the receiving device 3. Things. For example, when the “program type” is “type 2”, the following is performed. That is, when the “reception level” is “level 1” or “level 2”, “no viewing restriction” is set, and viewing of the pay program is continued unconditionally. At the time of “level 3”, “selective viewing restriction (A)” is set, and it is possible to urge the viewer to select whether or not to continue viewing. "Level 4", "Level 5", and "Level 6" indicate "selective viewing restriction (B)", and the viewer continues to watch in the same manner as "selective viewing restriction (A)". It is possible to prompt the selection of whether or not. The selective parental control is set in two stages, A and B, in order to perform fine parental control in accordance with the reception state of the broadcast wave. In the above description, the case where the selective parental control is set in two stages of A and B has been described. However, in the present invention, the parental control may be performed only in one stage at a time or in order to further restrict the parental control. You may set more than a stage.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the program type information T3. The program type information T3 in FIG. 5 indicates which “program type” each broadcast program is designated according to the program content. For example, “type 1” is set for sports broadcasting, and “type 2” is set for movies.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of a broadcast control operation of the control unit 108 in the broadcast system of the present invention. The control operation of the control unit 108 will be described based on FIG. First, the control unit 108 checks whether or not the reception level correspondence table T1 has been transmitted (Step 1), and if not, instructs to start transmission (Step 2). The subsequent processing is divided depending on whether or not the broadcast program is a pay program (Step 3). If the program is not a pay program, the control unit 108 instructs to immediately start transmitting the program. (Step 8). In the case of a pay broadcast, the control unit 108 checks whether or not the viewing restriction correspondence table T2 has been transmitted (Step 4), and if not transmitted, instructs to start transmission (Step 5). Next, the control unit 108 instructs to start transmission of the program type information (Step 6), instructs to start the scramble operation of the scrambler 102 (Step 7), and then instructs to transmit the program. (Step 8).

Next, the operation of the entire system will be described with reference to FIG. In the transmitting device 1 such as a transmitting station, the program transmitting unit 101 transmits a video / audio signal of a broadcast program. Under the control of the control unit 108, the scramble unit 102 scrambles the video / audio signal sent from the program sending unit 101 as it is when the broadcast program is not a pay program, and when the broadcast program is a pay program. Output.

The parental control information generating unit 103 includes the control unit 10
Under the control of 8, when the broadcast program is a pay program, the viewing restriction information is generated at regular time intervals. When the broadcast program is a pay program, the viewing restriction information multiplexing unit 104 multiplexes the viewing restriction information generated by the viewing restriction information generation unit 104 on the video / audio signal output from the scramble unit 102. If the broadcast program is not a pay program, the program sending unit 1
The video and audio signals of the broadcast program transmitted from the program 01 are output as they are.

The test signal generator 105 generates a test signal for checking the reception state of the broadcast wave. As the test signal used here, a signal for which a bit error can be measured by the receiving device 3, for example, a PN pattern or the like is used. The test signal multiplexing section 106 always multiplexes the test signal generated by the test signal generating section 105 with the video / audio signal output from the viewing restriction information multiplexing section 104.

In the receiver 3, the receiver 302 receives a broadcast wave from the broadcast satellite 2 via the receiving antenna 301, and reproduces a video / audio signal. The reproduced video / audio signal can be viewed on a television (display unit) 303.

Next, the operation inside the receiver 302 will be described with reference to FIG.
It will be described based on. The receiving unit 401 includes the receiving antenna 30
In step 1, the station selects and digitally demodulates the broadcast signal S101 received in step 1 to output a received signal S102.

The test signal detecting section 402 receives the received signal S10
2, and outputs the inspection signal to the reception state determination unit 405 as the reception inspection signal S105.

[0027] The viewing restriction information detecting unit 403 receives the received signal S
From 102, a reception level correspondence table T1, which is viewing restriction information,
It detects and outputs the viewing restriction correspondence table T2 and the program type information T3. The reception level correspondence table T1 is stored in the reception level correspondence table T1 memory 406, the viewing restriction correspondence table T2 is stored in the viewing restriction correspondence table T2 memory 407, and the program type information T3 is stored in the program type T3 memory 408.

The reception state determination unit 405 measures the bit error rate using the reception check signal S105 in order to monitor the reception state during the viewing of the program. Judge as abnormal. In addition, the reception time is determined based on the reception level correspondence table T1 acquired from the reception level correspondence table memory 406 by measuring the accumulated time during which the reception becomes abnormal during the broadcast of the program. For example, when an abnormal reception for eight minutes is detected, the reception level becomes “4”. The determination result is output to the viewing restriction control unit 409 as the reception level determination result S106.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of a broadcast control operation of the parental control unit 409 in the pay broadcasting system of the present invention. The control operation of the viewing restriction control unit 409 will be described based on FIG. First, the parental level control unit 409 checks whether the reception level correspondence table T1 is stored in the reception level correspondence table memory 406. If not, the parental level detection unit 403 detects the reception level correspondence table T1 from the received signal and accumulates it. (Step 11). In addition, the parental control unit 4
09 indicates that the parental level correspondence table T2 is the parental level correspondence table memory 4
07 is checked, and if not stored, the parental level information detection unit 403 detects from the received signal and instructs to store it (Step 12). The subsequent processing is divided depending on whether the broadcast program is a pay program or not (S
tep13). In the case of pay broadcasting, the viewing restriction control unit 409
Confirms whether the program type information is stored in the program type memory 408, and if not, instructs the viewing restriction information detecting unit 403 to detect and store the received information from the received signal (Step 14).

The parental level control unit 409 controls the reception test signal S
An instruction is given to start monitoring the reception status during program viewing using 105 (Step 15). That is, the reception state determination unit 4
At 05, the measurement of the bit error rate is started using the reception test signal S105.

Next, when the reception level determination result determined based on the reception level correspondence table T1 indicates that the reception is abnormal,
That is, the viewing restriction control unit 409 sets the reception state determination unit 4
When "reception abnormal" is received as the reception level determination result S106 in Step 05 (Step 16), the viewing restriction control unit 409 determines the reception level determination result S106, the viewing restriction correspondence table S107 read from the viewing restriction correspondence table memory T2,
Using the program type information S108 read from the program type information T3 memory, an instruction is given to output a message signal S109 to be presented to the viewer to the message display unit 410. For example, if the program type S108 is "type 2"
When the reception level determination result S106 is “level 3”,
The selective viewing restriction (A) is obtained from the viewing restriction correspondence table S107, and a message for selective viewing restriction (A) for inquiring whether or not to continue viewing is a message signal S109.
The message display unit 410 becomes the message signal S10.
9 is converted into a video signal to generate a message display signal S110. The video signal synthesizing unit 415 outputs the video signal S1 of the program.
04 and the message display signal S110, and the television input signal S115 is displayed on the television (display unit) 303 as a message asking the viewer whether the user wants to continue viewing (Step 17).

Then, the remote control signal receiving section 412 receives, as a remote control response signal S111, the content of the response to the inquiry message as to whether or not to continue viewing by the viewer,
It outputs a remote control response signal S112. The viewing restriction control unit 409 checks whether or not the remote control response signal S112 has been received, and if not, instructs to wait until it is received. (Step 18) The viewing restriction control unit 409 determines whether or not to continue viewing based on the remote control response signal S112, and stores the viewing restriction determination information S113 in the main memory 41.
1 (Step 19).

If the viewer does not want to continue viewing, the viewing restriction control unit 409 immediately instructs the descrambling unit 404 to stop the descrambling operation, and ends viewing the program (Step 20). On the other hand, when the viewer desires to continue viewing, the viewing restriction control unit 409
The descrambling unit 404 instructs the received signal S102 via the main memory 411 to perform a descrambling operation and output a descrambled video signal S103. Further, a parental control unit 409
Is converted from the video signal S103 descrambled by the video signal reproducing unit 414 to the baseband video signal S104.
Is reproduced and output to the video signal synthesizing unit 415 is instructed to continue, and subsequently, the monitoring of the reception state is instructed to continue.

Finally, the parental control unit 409 stores the history of the parental lock determination information in the main memory 411 together with the determination time, and transmits the history to the control unit 108 of the transmitting device 1 via the telephone line via the modem 413. To instruct.

As described above, the reception state of the received broadcast wave signal is constantly monitored during viewing of the pay broadcast, and when the reception state deteriorates, the viewer can freely select whether or not to continue viewing. As a result, a detailed service corresponding to each viewer can be realized.

In the first embodiment, during broadcasting of a broadcast program, the reception level correspondence table T1, the viewing restriction information correspondence table T2 and the program type information T based on the contents of the broadcast program have the same contents.
Although the third embodiment has been described in which the viewing restriction information is generated and transmitted, in the present invention, even when a broadcast program is being broadcast, the viewing restriction information may be changed and transmitted when desired.

Also, in the first embodiment, an inquiry has been made as to whether or not to continue viewing depending on the level of the reception state detection result. In the present invention, the reception state detection result is divided into levels. Inquiries as to whether or not to continue viewing in multiple stages may be made in accordance with the level fluctuation. . That is, the inquiry message may be changed depending on whether the reception level gradually deteriorates or rapidly decreases.

In the first embodiment, the parental control information multiplexing unit 104 and the test signal multiplexing unit 106 have been described as being configured separately, but in the present invention, they may be configured as one multiplexing unit. good.

In the first embodiment, the control unit 108
Has been described as being configured inside the transmission device 1, but in the present invention, it may be configured outside the transmission device 1 via a telephone line or the like.

In the first embodiment, the reception state is monitored for each receiving apparatus. However, in the present invention,
This may be performed for each area in a certain range having a plurality of receiving devices.

In the first embodiment, the history of the parental level determination information and the determination time are stored in the main memory 411, and are transmitted to the control unit 108 of the transmission device 1 via the telephone line via the modem 413. According to the present invention, the history of the parental level determination information stored in the main memory 411 and the determination time are summarized at midnight or the like and transmitted to the control unit 108 of the transmission device 1 via the telephone line via the modem 413. May be.

[0042]

According to the broadcasting system of the present invention, the receiving apparatus determines the receiving state and inquires of the viewer whether or not to continue viewing based on the receiving state. The viewer can freely stop viewing when the reception condition deteriorates.

Further, according to the broadcasting system of the present invention, since the viewing restriction information and the inspection information are multiplexed and transmitted in the transmitting device, it is possible to determine whether or not to continue viewing by inquiring of the viewer. it can.

Further, according to the broadcasting system of the present invention, the reception state is determined based on the inspection information detected from the received signal, and whether to continue viewing is determined based on the viewing restriction information and the reception state detected from the received signal. Whether or not the viewing has been stopped is displayed, the viewer is inquired of the viewer to determine the time, and the result is transmitted to the transmitting device.

Further, according to the broadcasting system of the present invention, when the viewing is stopped, information indicating that the viewing is stopped is transmitted to the transmitting device using the telephone line. And as a result,
It can be used for accounting processing based on viewing time.

Further, according to the broadcasting system of the present invention, the level is divided based on the time length in which the abnormality of the reception state is detected, and the judgment result is output. You can inquire.

According to the broadcasting system of the present invention, the type based on the content of the broadcast program and the inquiry content generated from the reception state level of the received signal are displayed.
The content of the inquiry can be easily changed depending on the type of the broadcast program.

Further, according to the broadcasting system of the present invention, the type and the viewing restriction information based on the content of the broadcast program can be changed even during the program, so that the control content can be changed even during the broadcast.

Further, according to the broadcasting system of the present invention, since the level is divided into a plurality of levels according to the fluctuation of the reception state level, it is possible to change the content of the inquiry as to whether or not to continue the viewing at that level. it can.

Further, according to the transmitting apparatus of the present invention, since the viewing restriction information and the inspection information are multiplexed and transmitted, it is possible to inquire of the viewer whether or not to continue viewing and decide.

Further, according to the receiving apparatus of the present invention, the receiving state is detected and the viewer is inquired to determine whether or not to continue viewing based on the receiving state.
The viewer can freely stop the viewing when the reception condition deteriorates.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the entire system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiver according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a reception level correspondence table.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a parental level correspondence table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of program type information.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a transmission-side operation flow of viewing monitoring in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation flow on the receiving side of viewing monitoring in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 transmitting station (transmitting device), 2 broadcasting satellite for relaying broadcast waves, 3 receiving device, 101 program transmitting unit, 102 scramble unit, 103 viewing restriction information generating unit, 104 viewing restriction information multiplexing unit, 105 test signal generating unit, 106
Test signal multiplexing section, 107 broadcast wave transmitting section, 108 control section, 301 receiving antenna, 302 receiver, 303
TV (display unit), 401 reception unit, 402 inspection signal detection unit, 403 viewing restriction information detection unit, 404 descramble unit, 405 reception state determination unit, 406 reception level correspondence table memory, 407 viewing restriction correspondence table memory, 40
8 program type memory, 409 viewing restriction control unit, 410
Message display section, 411 main memory, 412
Remote control signal receiving unit, 413 modem, 414 video signal reproducing unit, 415 video signal synthesizing unit

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A transmitting device for transmitting a pay broadcast program,
A receiving system for receiving and viewing a broadcast program transmitted from the transmitting device, the receiving device comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive a broadcast program transmitted from the transmitting device; And a reception state determination unit that outputs a reception state determination result, and controls whether or not to continue viewing the broadcast program based on the reception state determination result. And a viewing restriction control unit that transmits information indicating the viewing stoppage to the transmitting device. 2. A transmission device, comprising: a viewing restriction information generating unit for generating viewing restriction information used when inquiring a viewer whether or not to continue program viewing; and a monitoring unit for monitoring a reception state of a broadcast program. The broadcast system according to claim 1, further comprising: a test information generating unit configured to generate test information used for a broadcast program; and a multiplexing unit configured to multiplex the viewing restriction information and the test information into a transmission signal of a broadcast program. 3. The receiving apparatus further includes: a viewing restriction information detecting unit that detects viewing restriction information from the received signal;
A descrambling unit, wherein the viewing restriction control unit displays an inquiry on whether to continue viewing based on the detected viewing restriction information and the reception state determination result on the display unit, and stops viewing. In
3. The broadcast system according to claim 2, wherein the information indicating the viewing stop is transmitted to the transmitting device, and the descrambling process in the descrambling unit is stopped. 4. The viewing restriction control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the viewing is stopped, the information indicating the stopping of the viewing is transmitted to the transmitting device via the telephone line. Broadcast system as described. 5. The reception state determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the reception state is classified based on a time length in which an abnormality of the reception signal is detected, and the reception state is determined based on the level. The receiving device according to any one of the above. 6. The display control unit according to claim 1, wherein the viewing restriction control unit causes the display unit to display an inquiry content generated based on a type based on the content of the broadcast program and a reception signal level. The broadcast system according to any one of the above. 7. The broadcast according to claim 1, wherein the viewing restriction information generating unit changes the type and the viewing restriction information based on the content of the broadcast program during the broadcast of the broadcast program. system. 8. The viewing restriction control section performs level division of the reception state determination result, and causes the display section to display an inquiry content generated in a plurality of stages according to the fluctuation of the level. The broadcast program receiving device according to any one of claims 2 to 7. 9. A transmitting apparatus for transmitting a pay broadcast program, comprising: transmitting means for transmitting a pay broadcast program; and viewing restriction information used for inquiring of a viewer whether or not to continue viewing the program. Viewing restriction information generating means; test information generating means for generating test information used to monitor the reception state of a broadcast program; and multiplexing means for multiplexing the viewing restriction information and the test information on a transmission signal. A transmission device characterized by the above-mentioned. 10. A receiving apparatus for receiving a pay-broadcast program transmitted by a transmitting apparatus, a receiving unit for receiving a broadcast program transmitted from the transmitting apparatus, and detecting and judging a reception state of the receiving unit. A receiving apparatus comprising: a reception state determination unit that outputs a state determination result; and a control unit that controls whether to continue viewing a broadcast program based on the reception state determination result.