JP2006197121A - Digital television broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To positively prevent stored personal information from leaking to many and unspecified users in a digital television broadcast receiver which is installed in a facility and used by the many and unspecified users. <P>SOLUTION: The receiver includes a remote controller pad 2 for inputting data of a user of data broadcast and a remote control light-receiving unit 22, a user memory 23 for storing the inputted data, and a control unit 20 for deleting the personal data of a user stored in the user memory 23 at a predetermined timing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital TV broadcast receiving apparatus for business use in which an unspecified user views a digital TV broadcast on which viewing is restricted in an accommodation facility such as a hotel or an inn or a hospitalized facility such as a hospital.

Television receivers and tuner devices compatible with digital broadcasting that receive BS digital broadcasting, 110 ° CS digital broadcasting, and terrestrial digital broadcasting have a built-in viewing control system function called CAS (Conditional AS). When a dedicated IC card (hereinafter referred to as “CAS card”) is inserted into a predetermined card slot, a pay-per-view is included by contracting or registering with a broadcaster in addition to releasing the scramble. It becomes possible to participate in interactive programs such as viewing of pay broadcasting and data broadcasting. The technology relating to the CAS card is described in detail in the following patent documents. (For example, Patent Document 1)
JP 04-138735 A

  In order to use the interactive program of data broadcasting, it is necessary to connect to the telephone line or LAN line (through the Internet line) which is the upstream communication function of these devices. By registering as a member, interactive programs can be used.

  When a member of a desired data broadcast is registered from a television receiver or tuner device compatible with digital television broadcasting, the personal information such as the address, name, age, and telephone number entered is the data storage area of the television receiver or tuner device. In this case, the personal information stored in the data storage area may be displayed on the screen for confirmation when a two-way program of data broadcasting is selected.

  Normally, when the above apparatus is used in a general home, even if the personal information stored in the apparatus is displayed, the contents are for the self or family, and there is no problem.

  On the other hand, for digital TV broadcast receivers for business use such as accommodation facilities such as hotels and inns, etc. where the unspecified number of users use the device, or hospitalized facilities such as hospitals, a two-way program for data broadcasting was selected. If the personal information of the user is displayed without any darkness as described above, the personal information is easily leaked, and such a situation is unacceptable.

  For this reason, in the past, the interactive function was not used by disconnecting the telephone line or the like so as not to view the interactive program. However, even with a device that has performed such a procedure, the upstream transmission operation itself cannot be performed, but the user selects a two-way program for data broadcasting, and the personal information is displayed with a screen such as member registration displayed. Is entered, the entered personal information is stored in a nonvolatile manner in the data storage area of the apparatus. Therefore, if another user performs the same channel selection operation, the stored personal information is read and displayed on the screen, and as a result, there is a possibility that the personal information leaks.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to reliably prevent leakage of personal information stored by an unspecified number of users. The object is to provide a digital television broadcast receiver.

  The invention described in claim 1 is a digital television broadcast receiving apparatus installed in a facility and used by an unspecified number of users, the input means for inputting user data related to data broadcasting, and the input means. A storage means for storing input data and an erasure means for erasing data stored in the storage means at a predetermined timing are provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the predetermined timing includes the time when the apparatus is turned on, the time when the apparatus is turned off, a preset time, and an erase instruction signal input from the outside of the apparatus. It is at least one of the times.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent leakage of personal information stored by an unspecified number of users by appropriately setting a predetermined timing for erasing data. It becomes possible.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 above, if user data is erased when the apparatus is turned on or off, two-way communication of data broadcasting is practically performed. The data can be held only once from the time the power is turned on until the time it is turned off, and the user's data can be erased according to the time. If data can be erased every day without human intervention, and data can be erased from the outside of the device, data can be erased from the hotel front, for example, at the hotel front desk. User data can be erased at an appropriate timing by flexibly responding to the situation.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in the case where the present invention is applied to, for example, a digital television broadcast receiving apparatus installed in a hotel facility will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Configuration of one embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a functional circuit configuration of a digital television broadcast receiver that receives broadcast signals via a digital television broadcast system (not shown) in a hotel building.

  In the figure, BS · 110 ° CS digital broadcast and terrestrial digital broadcast are received by dedicated antennas respectively, and their outputs and connected to the front computer that manages the in-house broadcast and all digital television broadcast receivers. After the signals from the data line are arranged and mixed on the same frequency axis by the mixer, the digital television broadcast received in each guest room in the hotel hall through the coaxial transmission line 11 constituting the distribution network of this system Transmit to device 1.

  The digital television broadcast receiver 1 performs a channel selection operation corresponding to the operation on the remote control pad 2, and the signal sent from the coaxial transmission line 11 is transmitted to the BS · 110 ° CS digital broadcast by the duplexer 12. Intermediate frequency signal, terrestrial digital broadcast reception signal, in-house independent broadcast, and signal from the data line connected to the front computer are demultiplexed, BS / CS digital broadcast intermediate frequency signal, terrestrial digital broadcast The received signal and the independent broadcast are sent to the digital television broadcast receiver 13 and the signal from the data line connected to the front computer is sent to the high frequency modem 19.

  The digital television broadcast receiving unit 13 includes a BS · 110 ° CS digital tuner and a terrestrial digital tuner inside, and a channel corresponding to the channel selection operation on the remote control pad 2 based on a signal from the control unit 20 described later. Is selected by the BS · 110 ° CS digital tuner or the terrestrial digital tuner, and the transport stream (TS) of the corresponding channel is demodulated and output.

  In the digital television broadcast receiving unit 13, video / audio information of MPEG (Moving Picture Coding Expert Group) 2 standard multiplexed with a demultiplexer with respect to the demodulated transport stream and EMM (Entlement Management Message) of individual information. ) Information, program information, and control signal ECM (Entirement Control Message) information.

  Then, in accordance with the information stored in the CAS card, which will be described later, the ECM information is scrambled as a decoding process, and the video / audio signal is descrambled to generate temporally continuous video data and stereo audio data. The generated video data is output from the D output terminal 14, the stereo audio data is output from the audio output terminal 15, and the composite video signal is output from the composite output terminal 16.

  The D output terminal 14, the audio output terminal 15, and the composite output terminal 16 are connected to a liquid crystal monitor device (not shown) installed in the guest room together with the digital television broadcast receiver 1, and are used for viewing by the user. .

  Further, the digital television broadcast receiver 1 includes a CAS card slot 17. This CAS card slot 17 is used to install a B-CAS card in which a manager of this hotel stores information such as a master key based on a contract with a BS / CS digital broadcasting company. It is assumed that it is not exposed at all on the outer surface of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 so that it cannot be easily pulled out by the user (guest) who uses it.

  The B-CAS card installed in the CAS card slot 17 stores a unique master key in advance as described above, and uses this master key to release scramble when receiving digital television broadcasts. Contract information at the time of program contract is also stored in the CAS card slot 17.

  Further, the digital television broadcast receiver 1 is also provided with a telephone line connection terminal 18. The telephone line connection terminal 18 is connected to the digital TV broadcast receiving unit 13 inside the digital TV broadcast receiving apparatus 1, and is connected to a telephone line (not shown) on the outside of the apparatus, and is based on a data broadcasting interactive service. Request information, questionnaire information, etc. are sent to the broadcaster via the telephone line.

  The signal from the data line connected to the front computer via the coaxial transmission line 11, which is demultiplexed from the television broadcast reception signal by the duplexer 12, is demodulated by the high frequency modem 19 and reaches the control unit 20.

  This high frequency modem 19 performs modulation / demodulation operation of data communication in each direction of uplink / downlink by FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) system, and realizes data communication with a front computer. In downlink communication from the computer to the control unit 20, control information such as viewing restrictions and various setting information are received and transmitted to the control unit 20, and in uplink communication from the control unit 20, charging information for viewing a pay program or interactive The response information of the communication service is received and transmitted to the front computer.

  The control unit 20 executes the control operation of the entire digital television broadcast receiver 1 including the high-frequency modem 19 and the digital television broadcast receiver 13.

  The control unit 20 includes a CPU and a flash memory and a work memory that store the operation program of the CPU in a nonvolatile manner. The flash memory further includes a unique address of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1. The number is stored, and the front computer can identify the digital television broadcast receiver 1 installed in each guest room by the address number.

  However, in addition to the digital television broadcast receiver 13 and the high-frequency modem 19, a timer 21, a remote control light receiver 22, and a user memory 23 are connected to the controller 20.

  The timer 21 is an RTC (Real Time Clock) that keeps counting the current time regardless of the power on / off state of the digital television broadcast receiver 1, and the time information is read to the control unit 20 as necessary. The

  The remote control light receiving unit 22 receives an infrared modulation signal corresponding to various key operations on the remote control pad 2, demodulates it, and sends a corresponding key code signal to the control unit 20.

  The user memory 23 is composed of, for example, a flash memory that stores data in a nonvolatile manner. When the user of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1, that is, a guest uses a data broadcasting interactive communication service, personal information of the user is stored. Remember.

  In the functional circuit configuration as described above, when a telephone line is connected to the telephone line connection terminal 18, the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 is operated to participate in a data broadcast quiz program or to apply for a viewer present. It has a function that enables the use of interactive programs.

  However, in order to use an interactive program in data broadcasting, it is necessary to register as a member with a desired data broadcasting company. During the registration procedure, the data broadcasting viewing screen of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 can be used. The user's personal information, specifically, address, postal code, name, gender, age, occupation, telephone number, e-mail address, etc. are input by operating the remote control pad 2.

  However, the business-use digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 used in accommodation facilities such as hotels and inns or hospitalized facilities such as hospitals is intended for an unspecified number of users, and has inherent functions. Above, we would like to be able to use interactive programs for data broadcasting by utilizing the interactive communication function, but for ethical issues such as making it difficult to identify individuals, here we are connecting to a telephone line. It is assumed that the telephone line is disconnected from the terminal 18 so that bidirectional communication cannot be used.

  Therefore, it is difficult to prohibit the above-mentioned member registration work itself by two-way communication of data broadcasting, and the user inputs various personal information from the viewing screen of data broadcasting and transmits to register the input information. At the time of instructing, it is recognized that the telephone line connection terminal 18 is not connected to the telephone line and the upstream communication cannot be performed, but the inputted personal information itself is stored in the user memory 23. As long as the control unit 20 does not erase it, it is held in the user memory 23.

  Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

(First operation example of one embodiment)
Here, the power key provided on the remote control pad 2 from the standby state of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 (the standby state where the AC power is energized but the power of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 is apparently turned off). It is assumed that the contents of the user memory 23 are erased when the power-on is instructed by the above operation.

  FIG. 2 shows the processing contents when the control unit 20 of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 erases the user memory 23 as a part of the operation program. By repeatedly determining whether or not the timing for erasing the memory 23 is reached, the system waits for the timing (step S01).

  In this example of operation, the control unit 20 always determines whether or not the power key of the remote control pad 2 has been operated while the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 is in a standby state, based on a signal from the remote control light receiving unit 22. It waits until the erasure timing of the user memory 23 is reached.

  If it is determined that the user memory 23 has actually been erased, the control unit 20 determines this in step S01 when the power key of the remote control pad 2 is operated from the standby state of the device 1, in this case. The contents of the user memory 23 are erased all at once (step S02). This process is completed as described above, and the process returns to step S01 to wait for the next erase timing.

  As described above, the data (personal information) registered by the guest who is the user of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 is deleted by setting an appropriate timing at an appropriate time to the user memory 23 by an unspecified number of users. It is possible to reliably prevent the stored personal information from leaking.

  In this case, the contents of the user memory 23 are erased particularly when the digital television broadcast receiver 1 is turned on. When a new user turns on the power of the digital television broadcast receiver 1, the digital television broadcast is received before that. Since the registered contents of the user who uses the device 1 are to be deleted, the operation of holding the data of the personal information is effectively cut off after the power is turned on for the use of two-way communication of data broadcasting. It can be limited to once, and the content of the user memory 23 can be more reliably prevented from leaking.

  In the above operation example, the case where the contents of the user memory 23 are erased when the digital television broadcast receiver 1 is turned on has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the user memory 23 is turned off when the power is turned off. Or the user memory 23 may be erased at each power on / off operation.

(Second operation example of one embodiment)
Here, it is assumed that the contents of the user memory 23 are erased at a predetermined time, for example, “AM06: 00”, by the timer 21 provided in the digital television broadcast receiver 1.

  FIG. 2 shows the processing contents when the control unit 20 of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 erases the user memory 23 as a part of the operation program. By repeatedly determining whether or not the timing for erasing the memory 23 is reached, the system waits for the timing (step S01).

  In this operation example, the control unit 20 always determines that the time information stored and set in the flash memory inside the control unit 20 matches the content of the current time measured by the timer 21, so that the user memory 23 is erased. Wait for the timing.

  Thus, when it is determined that the user memory 23 is actually erased, the control unit 20 determines this in step S01, and erases the contents of the user memory 23 collectively (step S02). The process ends, and the process returns to step S01 again to wait for the next erase timing.

  As described above, the contents of the user memory 23 are erased at a predetermined time regardless of whether the power of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 is turned on or off. Regardless of the above, data can be surely erased every day without any human intervention.

  In the above operation example, the case where “AM06: 00” is set as the predetermined time, that is, the user memory 23 is erased at a fixed frequency once a day has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, it depends on the environment in which the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 is installed, such as a time element other than the daily cycle, for example, a 12-hour cycle (once every half day), a weekly cycle (weekly condominium, etc.), or a specific day of the week. The user memory 23 may be erased by setting in consideration of various temporal factors.

(Third operation example of one embodiment)
Here, it is assumed that a guest room is designated from the front computer at the time of guest check-in or check-out and the contents of the user memory 23 of the digital television broadcast receiver 1 installed in the guest room are erased.

  FIG. 2 shows the processing contents when the control unit 20 of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 erases the user memory 23 as a part of the operation program. By repeatedly determining whether or not the timing for erasing the memory 23 is reached, the system waits for the timing (step S01).

  In this operation example, at the time of check-in or check-out of this guest room, a command for instructing erasure of the user memory 23 after designating the address number of the digital television broadcast receiver 1 from the front computer installed at the front of the hotel When the signal is transmitted, when the control unit 20 receives the command signal in the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 1 in the corresponding guest room, it is determined that the erasure timing of the user memory 23 is reached in step S01, and the contents of the user memory 23 are determined. Are collectively erased (step S02). This process is completed as described above, and the process returns to step S01 to wait for the next erase timing.

  As described above, since the contents of the user memory 23 are erased when an instruction is given from the front computer outside the digital television broadcast receiver 1, regardless of user operation, for example, forgetting to turn off the power, User data can be deleted at an appropriate timing flexibly corresponding to the usage environment.

  In the above operation example, the user memory 23 is erased at the time of check-in or check-out according to an instruction from the hotel front computer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the contents of the user memory 23 are erased. The erasing operation may be executed by giving an appropriate instruction from the outside of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus when it becomes necessary to do so.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  Further, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiment, at least one of the problems described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and described in the column of the effect of the invention. In a case where at least one of the obtained effects can be obtained, a configuration in which this configuration requirement is deleted can be extracted as an invention.

The block diagram which shows the functional circuit structure of the digital television broadcast receiver installed in each guest room of the hotel facility which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the processing content of the content deletion of the user memory which concerns on the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital television broadcast receiver, 2 ... Remote control pad, 11 ... Coaxial transmission line, 12 ... Splitter, 13 ... Digital television broadcast receiver, 14 ... D output terminal, 15 ... Audio | voice output terminal, 16 ... Composite output terminal 17 ... CAS card slot, 18 ... telephone line connection terminal, 19 ... high frequency modem, 20 ... control unit, 21 ... timer, 22 ... remote control light receiving unit, 23 ... user memory.

Claims (2)

A digital television broadcast receiver installed in a facility and used by an unspecified number of users,
Input means for inputting user data relating to data broadcasting;
Storage means for storing data input by the input means;
A digital television broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: erasing means for erasing data stored in the storage means at a predetermined timing.   2. The predetermined timing is at least one of when the apparatus is turned on, when the apparatus is turned off, for a preset time, and when an erase instruction signal is input from outside the apparatus. Digital TV broadcast receiver.

Images