JP2824579B2 - CATV system terminal controller - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a remote controller type operating device for switching between free channel broadcasting and pay channel broadcasting in a bidirectional or unidirectional CATV system. The present invention relates to a terminal control device of a CATV system that can be operated by being shared with a television receiver.

2. Description of the Related Art CATV systems for large-scale facilities such as hotels and hospitals and in certain areas are becoming widespread. These CATV systems transmit television broadcast programs that are broadcast as public broadcasts, some independent broadcast programs, and the like as free channel broadcasts, and also transmit specific information and other independent broadcast programs to pay channels. By transmitting the information together as a broadcast, a more advanced information service can be provided to the viewer.

In such a CATV system, when a viewer views a broadcast of a pay channel, a so-called pay-as-you-go system in which a viewing fee is charged in accordance with the viewing time is usually adopted.

When a viewer watches a paid channel broadcast, the two-way CATV
In the system, it is necessary to send information indicating the start and stop of charging from the terminal device installed on the viewer side to the center side having a computer system for performing the total calculation of the viewing fee for each viewer. is there. That is, the center polls each terminal device as to whether or not the broadcast of the pay channel is being viewed, and in response to this, sends back information as to whether the accounting should be totaled from the terminal device to the center side. Polling systems are known.

In such a system, a terminal device is configured by combining a television receiver and a terminal control device, and a general commercial product is used as it is, while the terminal control device is provided between the transmission path and the television receiver. In this case, it is only necessary to switch between the free channel broadcast and the pay channel broadcast transmitted via the transmission path and realize a predetermined response function to polling from the center.

According to the conventional technique, the viewer suspends the operation of the converter in the terminal control device, and selects a receiving channel of the television receiver to perform a predetermined broadcast of the free channel. When a user can receive one wave and watch a pay-channel broadcast, the user selects a reception channel of the television receiver to a specific channel corresponding to the output channel of the converter, and operates the terminal control device to operate the converter. It is necessary to have a procedure for selecting the reception channel to be a predetermined one of the pay channel broadcasts.

On the other hand, recently, most television receivers have been operated by a remote controller type operation device using infrared rays. In order to operate the terminal control device in this way, another remote controller type is required. Since it is necessary to prepare an operation device of the above or to directly operate the panel surface of the terminal control device, the television receiver and the terminal control device must be operated individually, and the operation is extremely complicated. There was a problem.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a CATV system capable of greatly simplifying the operation content by sharing and using a remote controller type operation device for operating a television receiver in view of the problems of the related art. To provide a terminal control device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a learning and memory device that is compatible with a television receiver to be combined in view of the fact that the signal specifications of a controller of a commercially available television receiver are not uniform depending on the manufacturer and model of the television receiver. An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal control device of a CATV system having a function.

Means for Solving the Problems According to a configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object, a tuner whose channel can be operated by a remote controller type operation device for operating a television receiver, and an output of the tuner can be received by the television receiver And a pay storage unit for storing that the pay channel broadcast has been selected, and the tuner is provided with a specific operation device assigned to select the pay channel broadcast. By operating the channel selection switch, the user tunes to the pay guide broadcast, and by operating an arbitrary channel selection switch of the operation device, the broadcast of the free channel assigned to the channel selection switch according to the stored contents of the pay storage unit, The gist is to tune to any one predetermined wave of the broadcast.

It should be noted that a learning storage unit for conforming to the optical signal specification of the operating device can be additionally provided.

According to the structure of the present invention, the viewer can control the television receiver and the terminal control device simultaneously by the remote controller-type operation device for operating the television receiver, so that the broadcasting of the free channel and the paying can be performed. Channel broadcasts can be selected and viewed. That is, the television receiver is adjusted so as to receive a predetermined specific channel regardless of which receiving channel is switched by the operation device. Then, when the broadcast of the free channel is selected, the tuner tunes to an arbitrary wave designated by the channel selection switch of the operation device among the broadcasts of the free channel transmitted via the transmission path. The one wave is converted to a specific channel, and the television receiver can receive any one wave of the free channel broadcast (state 1 in FIG. 5).

In this state, when a specific channel selection switch of an operating device assigned for selection of a pay channel broadcast is operated, the television receiver is switched to a reception channel corresponding to the channel selection switch. The channel is also the specific channel. On the other hand, the pay storage unit stores that the broadcast of the pay channel has been selected, that is, that the pay has been selected, and the tuner tunes to the pay guide broadcast transmitted via the transmission path. Converts the pay guide broadcast to a specific channel, and the television receiver can receive the pay guide broadcast (state 2 in the figure).

Subsequently, when the channel selection switch of the operation device is operated to select one of the broadcasts of the pay channel,
The tuner tunes to one broadcast wave of the pay channel assigned to the channel selection switch, and the television receiver is ready to view the program (state 3 in the figure). At this time, the pay storage unit stores that the pay is selected.

Finally, when you select a free channel broadcast,
The pay storage unit resets the storage indicating that the pay selection has been made. Then, the tuner tunes to one wave of the free channel broadcast, and the television receiver returns to a state in which any one wave of the free channel broadcast can be viewed (state 1 in the figure).

When the broadcast of the pay channel is selected, the effect is stored in the pay storage unit. Therefore, there is no problem even if the channel selection switch of the operating device is assigned to the broadcasting of each channel of paid and free of charge.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

The terminal control device 10 of the CATV system includes a mixer / demultiplexer 11, a tuner 12, a converter 13, and a control unit 15 (FIG. 1). However, the terminal control device 10 forms a terminal device of a CATV system in combination with a remote control type television receiver TV with an operation device S in a terminal of a transmission line TR connected to a center (not shown).

The transmission line TR is a coaxial cable network, for example, low-band VHF television broadcast signals CH1, CH2.
…, High-band VHF television broadcast signals CH4, CH5… CH1
2. A multiplex television broadcast signal including a pay channel independent broadcast signal P10, P11..., A free channel independent broadcast signal P21, P22..., A UHF television broadcast signal CHu1, CHu2. Figure). Here, it is assumed that viewing of all broadcast contents other than the pay channel independent broadcast signals P10, P11,.
Free channel broadcasting), and all paid channel voluntary broadcast signals P11, except the paid guide broadcast signal P10,
It is assumed that viewing of the broadcast content transmitted by P12 ... is charged (hereinafter referred to as pay channel broadcast). However, it is assumed that the pay guidance broadcast signal P10 constantly broadcasts guide information indicating a method of operating a terminal device and the like necessary when a viewer selects broadcast of a pay channel (hereinafter, referred to as a “pay guide broadcast signal P10”).
One of these waves is called Paid Guide Broadcasting P10).

Low-band VHF television broadcast signals CH1, CH2 ..., high-band VHF television broadcast signals CH4, CH5 ... CH12, UHF
The television broadcast signals CHu1, CHu2... Broadcast retransmission programs of general public television broadcasts, and the pay channel independent broadcast signals P11, P12..., The free channel independent broadcast signals P21, P22. It is usually an independent broadcast program unique to the system. In FIG. 2, it is assumed that actual broadcasting is performed only on the shaded channel, and that the other channels are empty channels.

The transmission line TR is introduced into the terminal control device 10, and
11 (FIG. 1). The output of the mixer / demultiplexer 11 passes through a tuner 12 and a converter 13 and is transmitted to a terminal controller 10.
Is connected to the antenna terminal ANT of the television receiver TV.

The mixer / demultiplexer 11 transmits the multiplex television broadcast signal transmitted via the transmission line TR to the tuner 12,
The terminal control signal transmitted from the center is separated, and a data signal generated inside the terminal control device 10 and transmitted to the center is transmitted to the transmission line TR. Also, tuner 12
Selects and tunes a designated wave from a multiplexed television broadcast signal and sends it to a converter 13. The converter 13 outputs the output of the tuner 12 to a specific channel (hereinafter, referred to as a predetermined channel) selected in the television receiver TV. The frequency is converted to a specific channel and output. However, the specific channel is any one of the reception channels that can be received by the commercially available television receiver TV, and the television receiver TV is switched to any reception channel by the operation device S. It is assumed that adjustment is made in advance to receive a specific channel.

The control unit 15 includes a light receiving unit 16, a timer 17, a current detecting unit 31,
The sound alarm unit 32 is connected. Control unit 15, mixing duplexer
A two-way data bus is provided between the tuner 11 and the modem 14, and a control signal path is provided between the tuner 12 and the tuner 12 via a pay storage unit 19. A video memory 33 is connected between the control unit 15 and the video input terminal AV of the television receiver TV, and a channel setting storage unit 18 is connected to the light receiving unit 16.

The light receiving section 16 receives the infrared light signal Ls from the remote controller type operation device S and receives it as an electric signal.
The light signal Ls from the operation device S is transmitted to the light receiving unit 16 and the television receiver TV.
And light are simultaneously incident on both of them. The current detection unit 31 detects the current from the power supply AC supplied to the television receiver TV via the current transformer CT, and can determine whether or not the television receiver TV is used. Also,
Using the buzzer or the voice synthesis memory or the like, the sound alarm unit 32 can output a message prompting to turn on the power of the television receiver TV in response to a command from the center.

The operating device S has 12 channel selection switches S1, S2 ...
It has S12 (FIGS. 3 and 4). The channel selection switches S1, S2,..., S12 correspond to the respective receiving channels 1, 2,..., 12 of the television receiver TV, and a specific one of them, for example, the one corresponding to the receiving channel 12, is a pay channel. Allocated to select a broadcast, and others are allocated to respective broadcast signal channels of public television broadcasts among free channel broadcasts. Note that the channel selection switches S1, S2, S3
Channel number P11, P of the broadcast of the pay channel respectively
12, P13 is assigned redundantly.

Also, a channel up switch S13 on the operation device S,
The channel down switch S14 corresponds to additional reception channels 13, 14,... N other than the reception channels 1, 2,..., 12 corresponding to the channel selection switches S1, S2,. Receive channel
13, 14,... N can be changed in the normal order, and by operating the latter, they can be changed in the reverse order. Further, in both cases, when the pressing operation time is sufficiently long, the changing operation of the receiving channels 13, 14,... N can be cyclically repeated. The receiving channels 13, 14,... N are assigned to the channel numbers of the free channel independent broadcast signals P21, P22,.

In addition, the receiving channel allocated in this way,
The correspondence between the free channel broadcast and the pay channel broadcast is stored in the channel setting storage unit 18 of the terminal control device 10.

The operation device S further includes a video changeover switch S15, an off-timer switch S16, and a power switch S17 (FIG. 3). The functions of these switches are completely different from those of a normal commercially available television receiver. The same is true. That is, the video changeover switch S15 is a changeover switch for receiving a video signal input to the video input terminal AV of the television receiver TV, and the off timer switch S16 is used to turn off the power of the television receiver TV when a set time elapses. Is automatically turned off, and the power switch S17 is for opening and closing the power of the television receiver TV.

The operation of the terminal control device 10 of the CATV system having such a configuration is as follows.

Now, when the television receiver TV is watching any channel of the free channel broadcast, the terminal control device 10
The pay storage unit 19 is in a state where the storage of the pay selection is reset. Further, the tuner 12 at this time includes the reception channels 1, 2,..., 12 selected by any of the channel selection switches S1, S2,.
13 ... tunes to an arbitrary wave of a free channel broadcast corresponding to one channel of N and outputs it to the converter 13. Converter 13 converts this to a specific channel and outputs it to television receiver TV, while television receiver TV is adjusted to receive the specific channel for all reception channels. Therefore, the viewer selects the channel select switches S1, S2,.
By operating S13 and the channel down switch S14, one arbitrary wave of the free channel broadcast can be selected and viewed (state 1 in FIG. 5).

Next, when the channel selection switch S12 of the operation device S is operated to view the broadcast of the pay channel, the television receiver TV switches to the reception channel corresponding to the channel selection switch S12. The channel is also a specific channel.

On the other hand, by operating the operation device S, the optical signal Ls is detected by the television receiver TV, and at the same time, the control unit
Reach 15 too. Then, the program shown in FIG. 6 is started in the control unit 15, and the program first stores in the pay storage unit 19 that the broadcast of the pay channel has been selected, that is, the fact that the pay channel has been selected (the program step in FIG. 6). (1) Hereinafter, simply described as (1)). At the same time, the tuner 12 tunes to the paid guide broadcast P10 (1),
The television receiver TV can view the guide information constantly transmitted through the pay guide broadcast P10 (state 2 in FIG. 5).

Subsequently, the channel selection switches S1 and S of the operation device S
2. Operate either S3 or S3 to select a pay channel broadcast corresponding to any one of the pay channel independent broadcast signals P11, P12 and P13. This allows tuner 12
Is tuned to one broadcast wave of the pay channel corresponding to the operated channel selection switch ((2), (3)),
The television receiver TV can watch it (No. 5
State 3) in the figure.

In this state, the control unit 15 responds to the polling transmitted from the center via the transmission line TR, the mixer / demultiplexer 11, and the modem 14 to the effect that the pay broadcast is being watched, and the center responds thereto. Then, charge calculation for the terminal device is performed. However, at this time, when the current detection unit 31 detects that the power of the television receiver TV is turned off, the accounting calculation is stopped. This is to eliminate the possibility that the billing calculation is erroneously continued even though the television receiver TV is inactive due to the off timer switch S16 or the power switch S17 of the operation device S.

To return from the state of watching the broadcast of the pay channel to the state of watching the broadcast of the free channel, one of the channel selection switches S1, S2... S11 of the operation unit S, or the channel up switch S13 and the channel down switch S
Operate any of 14 to select the broadcast of the free channel (4). As a result, the television receiver TV is switched to the receiving channel corresponding to the operated switch, and at the same time, the memory indicating that the pay selection is made in the pay storage unit 19 is reset (5), and the tuner 12 is operated. Tunes to one predetermined wave of the free channel broadcast corresponding to the switch (5). Then, the television receiver TV can view the broadcast of the free channel thereafter (state 1 in FIG. 5).

The timer 17 in FIG. 1 defines a predetermined time in the program step (6) in FIG. That is, in state 2 in FIG. 5, if the time until the next operation to be performed is longer than the predetermined time (6), it is regarded as an erroneous operation, all operations are cleared, and the program ends (5). In addition, the television receiver TV can automatically return to the state of viewing the broadcast of the free channel.

The video memory 33 shown in FIG. 1 handles the case where the video switch S15 of the operation device S is operated and the television receiver TV is switched to the video signal receiving side. That is, the video memory 33 at that time inputs the stored operation guide information to the video input terminal AV of the television receiver TV, and operates the video changeover switch S15 again to send the television receiver TV to the television broadcast receiving side. Guidance information indicating a normal operation procedure including a message indicating that the operation should be returned can be broadcast.

In the above description, the operating device S may include other operating functions. For example, operation functions for only the television receiver TV, such as volume control and bilingual selection, can be effectively used regardless of the terminal control device 10. The channel selection switches S1, S2,.
The number may be any number other than three, and the number of programs for pay channel broadcasting may be any number other than three. Further, the correspondence between the reception channel and the channel number shown in FIG. 4 can be arbitrarily determined by changing the storage contents of the channel setting storage unit 18.

Further, the operating device S is premised on the common use of a TV receiver TV with a remote controller type operating device that is commercially available, but this device has a channel switching function of the combined TV receiver TV. Any other type can be used as long as it has.

Another Embodiment A learning storage unit 20 can be added to the terminal control device 10 of the CATV system (FIG. 7). The learning storage unit 20 updates the storage content of the terminal control device 10 so as to conform to the signal specification of the optical signal Ls of the operation device S.

The learning storage unit 20 includes a memory 21 forming the channel setting storage unit 18 in FIG. 1, a buffer memory 22, a learning storage mode switch S20, and a counter 23, all of which are connected to the light receiving unit 16. The switch number indicator 24 is connected to the counter 23. Further, a display lamp L20 formed of a light emitting diode is connected to the light receiving unit 16.

When the learning memory mode switch S20 is turned on, the light receiving
Starts the program shown in FIG.

First, the program initializes the contents of the counter 23 (program step (1) in the figure, hereinafter simply referred to as (1)), and the switch number display 24 displays the number 1 which is the initial contents of the counter 23. Is displayed. Then, when the first channel selection switch S1 of the operation device S is operated to make the light signal Ls enter the light receiving unit 16, the program becomes:
This is detected (2), and the content of the optical signal Ls is stored in the buffer memory 22 (3). When the end of the optical signal Ls is detected (4), the content of the buffer memory 22 is transferred to the memory 21 (5), and the fact that the content of the optical signal Ls indicates the channel selection switch S1 of the operation device S is also stored. .

Subsequently, the program turns on the display lamp L20 to display the completion of storage of the channel selection switch S1 (6),
It is checked whether the processing has been completed for a predetermined number of points (7), and after an appropriate time delay (8), the counter
23 is added and storage completion is reset, and the display lamp L20 is turned off (9).

When the counter 23 is incremented, the number 2 is displayed on the switch number display 24, so that the content of the optical signal Ls corresponding to the next channel selection switch S2 of the operation device S is stored in the memory 21 in the same manner. Hereinafter, if the contents of the counter 23 are changed in the order of 1, 2, 3,... 12, and the same operation is repeated, each signal specification of the optical signal Ls corresponding to each channel selection switch can be learned and stored. Channel up switch S13, channel down switch S
The same applies to 14 as well, and by operating these switches, the signal specifications of the respective optical signals Ls when the receiving channels 13, 14,... N are set to predetermined numbers may be stored in the memory 21 in order.

Using the contents stored in the memory 21 in this manner,
When reading and determining the reception channel set by the operation device S, the contents of the optical signal Ls stored in the buffer memory 22 via the light receiving unit 16 and the contents stored in the memory 21 are compared, and both are compared. What is necessary is just to find a match and specify the reception channel number at that time.

In general, the operation device S is commercially available with the television receiver TV. Therefore, the signal specifications of the optical signal Ls are unified depending on the manufacturer and model of the television receiver TV. On the other hand, the terminal control device 10 can easily adapt to the signal specifications of the operation device S by adding the learning storage unit 20, and configures the terminal device in combination with a television receiver TV of any manufacturer and type. can do.

Note that the program of FIG. 8 that defines the operation of the learning storage unit 20 is merely an example, and in particular, the display contents and timing to the outside may be arbitrarily determined.

Instead of performing the charge calculation online at the center side, the charge calculation can be performed offline at each terminal device (FIG. 9). That is, the coin timer 41 is connected to the control unit 15, and only when the coin remains in the coin timer 41, the pay selection is selected in the pay storage unit 19 in response to the operation of selecting the broadcast of the pay channel. If the number of coins in the coin timer 41 becomes insufficient while watching the broadcast of the pay channel, the storage of the pay selection may be forcibly reset. Depending on whether or not there is a memory indicating that the pay selection has been made in the pay storage unit 19,
Since the tuner 12 tunes to a predetermined one of the broadcast of the pay channel and the broadcast of the free channel, the charge calculation can be performed only by the coin timer 41. If you run out of coils while watching a pay channel, without resetting the memory of pay selection,
The tuner 12 may simply be switched to the pay guidance broadcast P10 and synchronized therewith.

Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a tuner whose channel can be operated by a remote controller-type operation device for operating a television receiver, a converter, and information that a broadcast of a pay channel is selected are stored. With the provision of the pay storage unit, the tuner tunes to one predetermined wave of either a free channel broadcast or a pay channel broadcast assigned to the channel selection switch of the operation device according to the stored contents of the pay storage unit, and the converter Since this is converted to a specific channel and output to the television receiver, the operation required for each viewing selection of the free channel broadcast and the pay channel broadcast is only the switching operation of the receiving channel by the common operating device, and There is an extremely excellent effect that the operation content can be extremely simplified.

Further, if a learning storage unit is added, there is an effect that it can be easily adapted when combined with a television receiver of a different manufacturer and model.

Further, according to the present invention, a commercially available television receiver can be used as it is, and it is not necessary to perform any modification, so that the system can be easily constructed and the performance of the television receiver can be guaranteed. There is also a practically excellent effect that it is advantageous to obtain.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 6 show an embodiment, FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram, FIG. 2 is a broadcast channel arrangement diagram on a frequency axis, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an operation device, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the correspondence between the receiving channel and the broadcast channel of the receiver, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation state, and FIG. 6 is a program flowchart. 7 and 8 show another embodiment, FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a main part, and FIG. 8 is a program flowchart. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a main part showing still another embodiment. TV… TV receiver TR… Transmission path S …… Operation device S1, S2… S12 …… Channel selection switch P10 …… Paid guidance broadcast 10 …… Terminal control device 12 …… Tuner 13 …… Converter 19 …… Paid Storage unit 20: Learning storage unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-254898 (JP, A) JP-A-64-244580 (JP, U) JP-A-62-159091 (JP, U) (58) Investigation Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04N 7/16

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tuner capable of operating a channel by a remote controller type operating device for operating a television receiver, a converter for converting an output of the tuner into a specific channel receivable by the television receiver and outputting the same, and a pay channel. And a pay storage unit for storing that the broadcast has been selected.The tuner operates a specific channel selection switch of the operation unit assigned for selection of the broadcast of the pay channel, so that the pay guidance broadcast is provided. Synchronized
By operating an arbitrary channel selection switch of the operation device, it is possible to tune to a predetermined one of a free channel broadcast and a pay channel broadcast assigned to the channel selection switch in accordance with the stored contents of the pay storage unit. A terminal control device for a CATV system, characterized by the following. 2. A terminal control device for a CATV system according to claim 1, further comprising a learning storage unit for adapting to the optical signal specification of said operating device.