JP2003163748A - Remote picture recording reservation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote picture recording reservation system excellent in economical efficiency for enabling the remote operation of an electric appliance for domestic use by effectively utilizing the environmental facilities of existing telephone sets and public line network or the like, and the electric appliances for domestic use without requiring much costs and time for arranging an environment and without specially incorporating a control circuit or communication circuit in an electric appliance to newly become an operating object. <P>SOLUTION: A public telephone network 2 is connected with a telephone set 1 including a portable telephone set via a telephone line 7. A home area 3 is connected with the public telephone network 2 via a telephone line 8 and has a terminal adapter 4 connected with the telephone line 8, an infrared terminal 5 connected with the terminal adapter 4 via a cable 9 for emitting infrared rays 10 and a video deck 6 for performing picture recording/reproducing operation according to the control signal of the infrared rays 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote recording reservation system, and particularly to a public telephone network and a terminal adapter (T).
The present invention relates to a remote recording reservation system that enables reservation of TV program recording by combining an in-house communication terminal such as A) and a VCR of a home electric appliance and using an infrared terminal by remote control from a telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a wide variety of electric appliances have been used in ordinary households, and it would be convenient if such electric appliances can be remotely controlled from outside. For example, when you go home, you may want to set a comfortable room temperature before you go home, operate the air conditioning equipment before you go home, set a TV program recording reservation on the VCR, or turn off the lights that you forgot to turn off. .

As an example of remote control of such home appliances, a push button signal (P) input through a telephone or a mobile phone by connecting a telephone line to each of the appliances is provided.
There are appliances that can be operated remotely according to the B signal).

In order to enable remote control by using such a telephone line, each electric appliance to be operated must have a control circuit or communication circuit built-in, and one electric appliance must be provided. The current situation is that the control circuits and communication circuits provided cannot be applied to other electric appliances.

Therefore, generally, the structure of an electric appliance is complicated and the product price is increased. In addition, all the electric appliances that are the target of remote control require wiring work for the telephone line, which requires a great deal of cost and time for environment maintenance.

[0006] As an example of such a technique, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 200
A "remote operation device for an electric appliance including an infrared receiving section" described in JP-A-0-209673 is known.

[0007] In this publication, a plurality of electric appliances having a built-in infrared receiver are identified in advance by a code, and the code of the electric appliance stored in a single remote control device is designated.
A technique for collectively operating a plurality of electric appliances remotely from the outside via a communication line is described.

[0008]

In the above-mentioned conventional remote recording reservation system, in order to enable remote operation by using a telephone line, the electric appliances to be operated each have a control circuit and a communication circuit built-in. In addition, since the wiring work for the telephone line is required for all the electric appliances to be remote-controlled, there is a disadvantage that a great deal of cost and time are required for the environment maintenance.

Further, since the control circuit and the communication circuit provided in one electric appliance cannot be applied to another electric appliance, there are drawbacks that the structure of the electric appliance is complicated and the economy is not excellent. There is.

An object of the present invention is to effectively utilize existing telephones, environmental facilities such as public line networks, and home appliances.
Enables remote operation of home electric appliances existing in the home without requiring a large amount of time and money for environment maintenance and without newly incorporating a control circuit or communication circuit in an electric appliance to be operated. It is to provide a remote recording reservation system with excellent economical efficiency.

[0011]

A remote recording reservation system of the present invention is a telephone, a public telephone network connected to the telephone via a telephone line, and a home connected to the public telephone network via a telephone line. The home area is a terminal adapter connected to the telephone line, an infrared terminal connected to the terminal adapter via a cable for transmitting infrared rays, and recording / playback according to the infrared control signal. When receiving a telephone call from the telephone to the infrared terminal in the home area via the telephone line, the public telephone network and the telephone line, the infrared terminal having an operating video deck. According to the voice notification transmitted from the telephone to the telephone, the recording reservation information necessary for recording the TV program is displayed by pressing the number button of the telephone. Is transmitted to the terminal, the infrared terminal by sending the recording reservation information transmitted to the VCR using the infrared, is characterized in that to complete the recording of a television program.

The infrared terminal is an S / S interface for interfacing with the terminal adapter and the cable.
T interface section; S / T interface control section for controlling the S / T interface section; Infrared interface section having an interface for transmitting the infrared rays to the video deck; Infrared interface control for controlling the infrared interface section And an infrared terminal setting interface section for setting the function of the infrared terminal itself; an infrared terminal setting interface control section for controlling the infrared terminal setting interface section; and an infrared communication confirmation for confirming the communication operation by the infrared rays A switch section; a memory section for holding setting information and recording reservation information of the infrared terminal; a main section for controlling the S / T interface control section, the infrared terminal setting interface control section, the memory section and the infrared interface control section With a control unit; It is characterized by a door.

A telephone number with a sub address is given to the infrared terminal, a user uses the infrared terminal setting interface section to set the infrared terminal, and the set setting information is set to the infrared terminal setting. It is characterized in that it is held in the memory section under the control of the interface control section and the main control section.

The infrared communication confirmation switch section transmits the infrared rays for turning on and off the power of the video deck set in advance each time the switch is pressed, thereby transmitting the infrared rays to the infrared terminal and the video. The feature is to confirm that the deck can communicate with infrared rays.

In accordance with the voice notification instruction transmitted from the infrared terminal to the telephone, the number button and the "#" symbol prepared for the telephone used by the user for each item are depressed. , When the infrared terminal recognizes that the "#" symbol has been input and transmits it as recording reservation information to the infrared terminal, the infrared terminal determines that the input of the item designated by the user is completed, and the input is correct. Send a voice notification to the user to check if there is no mistake in the input contents and proceed to input of the next item with "0", if there is an error and enter the recording reservation information again "1" It is characterized by transmitting a voice notification for inputting.

The recording reservation information of the television program transmitted from the telephone is held in the memory section of the infrared terminal, and the infrared terminal obtains all the recording reservation information by voice notification and holds it in the memory section. Instructing to disconnect the telephone by the voice notification, the telephone is disconnected according to the voice notification, the infrared terminal confirms the disconnection of the telephone, and then the recording reservation information is transmitted to the VCR by the infrared ray. It is characterized by transmitting light.

Light transmission of the recording reservation information to the VCR is executed by the main control unit, and the main control unit takes out the recording reservation information held in the memory unit,
It is characterized in that the data is converted into the data format of the VCR manufacturer preset in the infrared terminal.

The terminal adapter is built in the infrared terminal as a terminal adapter controller.

The S / T interface section and the S / T
It is characterized in that the T interface control section is replaced with the terminal adapter control having a built-in telephone line interface section.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a remote recording reservation system of the present invention.

An example of a system configuration is shown in which an infrared terminal is used to make a reservation for recording a television program by remote control.

In this embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a telephone 1 including a mobile telephone, a public telephone network 2 connected to the telephone 1 via a telephone line 7, and a public telephone network 2 and a telephone line 8 are used. The home area 3 is connected to the home area 3. The home area 3 is connected to the telephone line 8 and the terminal adapter 4 is connected to the home area 3.
It has an infrared terminal 5 which is connected to the terminal adapter 4 via a cable 9 and transmits infrared rays 10, and a video deck 6 which performs recording / playback operations by a control signal of the infrared rays 10.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.

The user uses the telephone 1 to make a telephone call to the infrared terminal 5 in the home area 3 through the telephone line 7, the public telephone network 2 and the telephone line 8. Here, the telephone line 7 is wired (telephone line) or wireless. Phone 1
, The recording reservation information necessary for recording the TV program is transmitted to the infrared terminal 5 by pressing the number button of the telephone 1 in accordance with the notification of the voice guidance transmitted from the infrared terminal 5 to the telephone 1. . When all necessary items have been sent, disconnect the phone.

After that, the infrared terminal 5 transmits the contents of the transmitted recording information to the video deck 6 using the infrared rays 10. This completes the TV program recording reservation.

The infrared terminal 5 is wire-connected to the terminal adapter 4 as a home communication terminal by a cable 9, and the existing video deck 6 is installed at a position where the infrared rays 10 can be received. As described above, since the infrared rays 10 are used, the existing VCR 6 can be used, and recording reservation by remote control of a TV program can be performed without newly installing the VCR 6.

Since the existing video deck 6 is usually operated by infrared rays by an attached remote controller, it has an infrared ray receiving portion.

As described above, by using the domestic communication terminal of the public telephone network 2 and the terminal adapter 4 which are the existing communication infrastructure and the VCR 6 of the home electric appliance in combination, the recording reservation of the TV program can be remotely performed. It will be possible.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram showing the infrared terminal of FIG.

In FIG. 2, components corresponding to those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals or symbols, and their description will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 2, the infrared terminal 5 includes an S / T interface section 11 for interfacing with the terminal adapter 4 via a cable 9 and an S / T interface control section for controlling the S / T interface section 11. 12, an infrared interface section 19 having an interface for transmitting infrared rays 10 to the video deck 6, an infrared interface control section 18 for controlling the infrared interface section 19, and an infrared terminal setting interface for setting the function of the infrared terminal 5. Unit 16, an infrared terminal setting interface control unit 17 that controls the infrared terminal setting interface unit 16, an infrared communication confirmation switch unit 13 that confirms communication operation by the infrared ray 10,
A memory unit 15 for holding setting information and recording reservation information of the infrared terminal 5, an S / T interface control unit 12,
An infrared terminal setting interface controller 17, a memory 15 and a main controller 14 for controlling the infrared interface controller 18 are included.

Next, the operation will be described.

The infrared terminal 5 is provided with a telephone number accompanied by a sub address. The user uses the infrared terminal setting interface unit 16 to set the infrared terminal 5.

The main setting content is the manufacturer name of the VCR 6. The setting information here is held in the memory unit 15 inside the infrared terminal 5 under the control of the infrared terminal setting interface control unit 17 and the main control unit 14.

After the setting of the infrared terminal 5 is completed, the infrared terminal 5
Decide where to install. The infrared terminal 5 is installed so that the infrared interface section 19 provided in the infrared terminal 5 faces the infrared receiving section of the video deck 6.

When the installation position of the infrared terminal 5 is determined, the infrared communication confirmation switch section 1 provided in the infrared terminal 5 is provided.
Press 3. The infrared communication confirmation switch section 13 sends out infrared rays 10 for turning on and off the power of the preset VCR 6 of the manufacturer each time the switch section 13 is pressed. If the power of the video deck 6 is turned on and off each time the switch is pressed, the infrared terminal 5 and the video deck 6 can perform infrared communication, and the installation position of the infrared terminal 5 is appropriate.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of this embodiment of FIG.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

First, the setting of the infrared terminal 5 will be described.

The infrared terminal 5 usually comprises an S / T interface section 11, an infrared interface section 19, an infrared terminal setting interface section 16 and an infrared communication confirmation switch section 13. The infrared terminal 5 is given a telephone number accompanied by a sub address.

The user uses the infrared terminal setting interface section 16 in advance to set the operation of the infrared terminal 5. The main setting content is the manufacturer name of the VCR 6. The setting information here is held in the memory unit 15 inside the infrared terminal.

After the setting of the infrared terminal 5 is completed, the installation place of the infrared terminal 5 is determined. The infrared terminal 5 is installed so that the infrared interface section 19 provided in the infrared terminal 5 faces the infrared receiving section of the video deck 6. When the approximate installation position is determined, the infrared communication confirmation switch unit 13 provided in the infrared terminal 5 is pressed in order to perform an infrared communication confirmation test.

The infrared communication confirmation switch section 13 transmits the infrared ray 10 for turning on and off the power of the preset VCR 6 of the manufacturer each time the switch section 13 is pressed.

Therefore, if the power of the video deck 6 is turned on and off each time this switch is pressed, the infrared terminal 5 and the video deck 6 can perform infrared communication,
This indicates that the installation position of the infrared terminal 5 is proper.

Next, a method for making a recording reservation of a television program using the infrared terminal 5 and an operation of the infrared terminal 5 will be described.

When the user uses the telephone 1 to make a call to a telephone number associated with a sub-address preset in the memory section 15 of the infrared terminal 5, the infrared terminal is passed through the telephone 1, the public telephone network 2 and the terminal adapter 4. 5. The S / T interface unit 11, the S / T interface control unit 12, and the main control unit 14 inside the unit 5 react to enter the communication state with the user's telephone 1.

Data for voice notification prepared in advance in the memory unit 15 is passed through the main control unit 14, the S / T interface control unit 12 and the S / T interface unit 11 through the terminal adapter 4 and the public telephone network 2. , To the user's phone 1.

Examples of the contents of the voice notification are the current recording reservation information, the recording start date of the reservation information to be newly registered, the recording start time, the recording end time, the recording target channel, and the standard / standard.
There is a triple recording mode. The user sends these contents as recording reservation information to the infrared terminal 5 by pressing the number buttons and the # symbol provided on the telephone 1 used by the user for each item according to the voice notification instruction. To do.

For example, when providing information on the recording start date,
If it is September 26, 2001, the number buttons of the telephone are pressed in the order of 2001926, and finally, # indicating the completion of the input of the recording start date information is input. When the infrared terminal 5 recognizes that this # has been input, it determines that the user has entered the specified recording reservation information item (in this case, the recording start date), and confirms that the input was correct. Send a voice notification to the user for confirmation.

As an example of this confirmation, the input contents (here, the recording start date is shown) is notified to the user by voice. If there is no mistake in the contents and you can proceed to input the next item, send a voice notification to prompt the user to enter "0", and if there is a mistake and enter the recording start date again, enter "1". . When all the items have been input in this way, a voice notification for confirming the entire contents is finally given, and if there is no error in the desired recording reservation information, the recording reservation operation is completed.

The recording reservation information of the television program transmitted by these users is stored in the memory unit 1 of the infrared terminal 5.
Held at 5. When the infrared terminal 5 obtains all the recording reservation information by voice notification and retains it in the memory unit 15, it instructs the user to disconnect the call by voice notification. The user disconnects the phone according to this voice notification.
After confirming that the user has hung up the phone, the infrared terminal 5 sends the recording reservation information to the VCR 6 via the infrared 1
Light is transmitted by 0.

The main controller 14 executes the transmission of the recording reservation information to the video deck 6. The main control unit 14 takes out the recording reservation information held in the memory unit 15 and converts it into the data format of the VCR manufacturer preset in the infrared terminal 5.

After that, the infrared interface controller 18
Data is transmitted by infrared rays 10 to the video deck 6 via the infrared interface section 19. At this time, it is assumed that the VCR is already turned on. FIG. 3 shows a series of operations for these recording reservations.
Shown in.

That is, a telephone call is made from the telephone 1 to the infrared terminal 5 (step 1: S1). The infrared terminal 5 receives an incoming call from the telephone 1 (step 2: S2). At this point, the telephone 1 and the infrared terminal 5 are in a communication state (step 3: S3).

Next, voice notification indicating the operating procedure is started from the infrared terminal 5 to the telephone 1 (step 4: S
4). The user of the telephone 1 transmits the information of the infrared terminal 5 by pressing the button of the telephone 1 for the information necessary for recording reservation according to the voice notification (step 5:
S5). When the information transmission is completed, the telephone call is disconnected according to the voice notification (step 6: S6).

When the call origination is cut off, the data of the recording reservation information is transmitted from the infrared terminal 5 to the video deck 6 by the infrared rays 10 (step 7: S7). As a result, remote control from the telephone 1 completes the recording reservation of the VCR 6 (step 8: S8).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the remote recording reservation system of the present invention.

In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a telephone 1 including a mobile telephone, a public telephone network 2 connected to the telephone 1 via a telephone line 7, and a public telephone network 2 and a telephone line 22 are used. The home area 23 is connected to the home area 23. The home area 23 has a built-in terminal adapter control unit 21 to connect to the telephone line 22 and sends an infrared signal 10 and an infrared terminal 20 for recording / playback operation. And a video deck 6 for performing. Here, the telephone line 7 is wired (telephone line) or wireless.

FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram showing the infrared terminal of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 5, the infrared terminal 20 includes an infrared ray on the VCR 6 and a terminal adapter control section 21 including a telephone line interface section 25 for interfacing with the telephone set 1, the public telephone network 2 and a telephone line 22. An infrared interface section 19 having an interface for transmitting the signal 10, an infrared interface control section 18 for controlling the infrared interface section 19, an infrared terminal setting interface section 16 for setting the function of the infrared terminal 5, and the infrared terminal. Infrared terminal setting interface section 17 for controlling setting interface section 16, infrared communication confirmation switch section 13 for confirming communication operation by infrared ray 10, memory section 15 for holding setting information of infrared terminal 5, and infrared interface Control unit 18, memory unit 15, red Line terminal setting interface control unit 17, and a main controller 14 for controlling the terminal adapter control unit 21.

The difference from FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is that the terminal adapter control unit 21 is incorporated into the infrared terminal 20 and the recording reservation of the TV program by remote control is performed without preparing the terminal adapter 4 in addition to the infrared terminal 20. Is the point that enables.

As described above, according to the present invention, recording reservation of a television program can be performed by remote control by using in combination with a domestic communication terminal such as a public telephone network and a terminal adapter which are existing communication infrastructures and a VCR of a home electric appliance. It will be possible.

The infrared terminal is connected to a home communication terminal such as a terminal adapter by wire, installed at a position where the existing video deck can receive infrared rays, and the existing video deck can be used because infrared rays are used. It is possible to schedule recording of TV programs by remote control without installing a new VCR.

[0065]

As described above, the remote recording reservation system of the present invention allows remote recording reservation of a television program using the existing communication infrastructure, terminal adapter, and VCR, so that the infrastructure can be used. It does not require a great deal of expense and time for environment maintenance, and does not require a dedicated control circuit or communication circuit to be newly built into the electric appliances to be operated. It has the effect of being possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a remote recording reservation system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram showing the infrared terminal of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the remote recording reservation system of the present invention.

5 is a detailed block diagram showing the infrared terminal of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 telephone 2 public telephone network 3 Home area 4 terminal adapter 5 infrared terminals 6 VCR 7 telephone lines 8 telephone lines 9 cables 10 infrared 11 S / T interface section 12 S / T interface controller 13 Infrared communication confirmation switch 14 Main control unit 15 Memory section 16 Infrared terminal setting interface section 17 Infrared terminal setting interface controller 18 Infrared interface controller 19 Infrared interface section 20 infrared terminals 21 Terminal adapter controller 22 telephone lines 23 Home area 25 Telephone line interface section

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A telephone, a public telephone network connected to the telephone via a telephone line, and a home area connected to the public telephone network via a telephone line, wherein the home area is the The telephone line has a terminal adapter connected to a telephone line, an infrared terminal connected to the terminal adapter via a cable to transmit infrared rays, and a video deck for recording / playback operation by the infrared control signal. When receiving a telephone call from the telephone with respect to the infrared terminal in the home area via the public telephone network and the telephone line, according to a voice notification transmitted from the infrared terminal to the telephone, Recording reservation information necessary for recording a TV program is transmitted to the infrared terminal by pressing the number button on the telephone, and the infrared terminal is transmitted before the transmission. The recording reservation information, by sending to the VCR using the infrared,
A remote recording reservation system characterized by completing recording reservations for TV programs. 2. The infrared terminal includes an S / T interface section for interfacing with the terminal adapter via the cable;
An S / T interface control section for controlling the T interface section; an infrared interface section having an interface for transmitting the infrared rays to the video deck; an infrared interface control section for controlling the infrared interface section; a function of the infrared terminal itself Infrared terminal setting interface section for setting; infrared terminal setting interface control section for controlling the infrared terminal setting interface section; infrared communication confirmation switch section for confirming communication operation by the infrared; setting of infrared terminal A memory section for holding information and recording reservation information; a main control section for controlling the S / T interface control section, the infrared terminal setting interface control section, the memory section and the infrared interface control section; 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein隔録 picture reservation system. 3. The infrared terminal is provided with a telephone number accompanied by a sub address, the user uses the infrared terminal setting interface unit to set the infrared terminal, and the set information is set to the infrared terminal. 3. The remote recording reservation system according to claim 2, wherein the remote recording reservation system is held under the control of the terminal setting interface control unit and the main control unit. 4. The infrared communication confirmation switch unit transmits the infrared light for turning on / off a preset power of the VCR each time the switch is pressed, thereby transmitting the infrared light to the infrared terminal. The remote recording reservation system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein it is confirmed that the video deck is capable of infrared communication. 5. The number button and the “#” symbol prepared for the telephone used by the user for each item are pressed in accordance with the voice notification instruction transmitted from the infrared terminal to the telephone. By doing so, the recording reservation information is transmitted to the infrared terminal, and the infrared terminal transmits the “#”.
When we recognize that the symbol has been entered, we judge that the user has completed input of the specified item, and send a voice notification to the user to confirm that there is no mistake in the input, and the entered content is incorrect. The voice notification for inputting "0" if there is no error and proceeding to the input of the next item and "1" for inputting recording reservation information again due to an error is transmitted. Remote recording reservation system. 6. The recording reservation information of the television program transmitted from the telephone is held in the memory section of the infrared terminal, and the infrared terminal acquires all recording reservation information by voice notification and stores it in the memory section. When held, an instruction to disconnect the telephone is given by the voice notification, the telephone is disconnected according to the voice notification, the infrared terminal confirms the disconnection of the telephone, and then the recording reservation information is written to the VCR. 3. The remote recording reservation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein light is transmitted by infrared rays. 7. The transmission of the recording reservation information to the VCR is performed by the main control unit, and the main control unit takes out the recording reservation information held in the memory unit and outputs the infrared terminal. 3. The remote recording reservation system according to claim 2, wherein the data recording format is converted into a data format of the VCR manufacturer set in advance. 8. The remote recording reservation system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal adapter is built in the infrared terminal as a terminal adapter controller. 9. The S / T interface unit and the S
9. The remote recording reservation system according to claim 2, wherein the / T interface control unit is replaced with the terminal adapter control having a telephone line interface unit built therein.