JPH0965317A - Catv system having control means for utilizing device for home terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a conventional system in which all control codes different from manufacturers and models are to be stored in a remote control transmitter with a low efficiency and hardly having provision for a new model in the case of controlling altogether utilizing equipments such as a video recorder for a CATV home terminal by means of the remote control transmitter. SOLUTION: A center has a library of control codes depending on models and the center sends th control codes on request from a home terminal 10 and stores them to an EEPROM 21. A remote control transmitter 24 is a means to enter a control instruction to a control circuit 19 to conduct request of control codes, operation of the home terminal 10 and operation of a utilizing equipment such as a video recorder 17. An instruction from the remote control transmitter 24 to the video recorder 17 is given to the control circuit 19 via a remote control reception section 22 and converted into a control code in matching with the model and stored in the EEPROM 21 and provided via a terminal 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a CATV system, and more particularly to a CATV home terminal having a control means for controlling equipment such as a video recorder in a CATV home terminal.
Regarding the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system showing the relationship between a conventional CATV home terminal, a video recorder and a remote control transmitter. This is the remote control transmitter 24
Also, the CATV home terminal 10 can be operated from the video recorder 17, and its operation procedure is as follows. First, to set so that the remote control transmitter 24 can transmit a remote control signal that matches the manufacturer of the CATV home terminal 10 (the control code by the remote controller currently has a different code for each manufacturer). Then, the number corresponding to the manufacturer of the CATV home terminal 10 is input to the remote control transmitter 24. The remote control transmitter 24 is prepared in advance with remote control signals for CATV home terminals of each manufacturer. Next, the setting contents of the remote controller transmitter 24 are transmitted to the video recorder 17 so that the video recorder 17 transmits a control signal matching the manufacturer of the CATV home terminal 10 to the home terminal in the same manner as the remote controller transmitter 24. To do. With the above settings, the CATV home terminal 10 can be controlled by the remote control transmitter 24 and the video recorder 17.

By the way, a number of video recorders for recording television broadcasts and CATV broadcasts have already been released by various manufacturers. When the above means is used to control these video recorders from the remote control transmitter, the CATV of each manufacturer is stored in the storage device of the remote control transmitter.
In addition to the control code for generating the remote control signal for the home terminal, all the control codes corresponding to various functions of many video recorders of each manufacturer must be stored. Therefore, in the storage device of the remote control transmitter, there is a problem that even a control code of an unused device is stored and a large amount of memory is consumed. Also, new devices will be shipped even after the remote control transmitter is shipped. Therefore, in order to control the CATV home terminal or video recorder from the remote control transmitter, the manufacturer or CATV operator will have to install the remote control transmitter every time a new device is released. There is a problem that the control code storage device of the above must be updated or replaced.
It is obvious that the above-mentioned problem of storing the control code will become serious as new CATV home terminals and video recorders having various functions continue to be released.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and is different depending on the manufacturer or model when a CATV home terminal and a video recorder are collectively operated by a remote control transmitter. The challenge is to improve the conventional system, which has low usage efficiency because all different control codes are stored in the memory of the remote control transmitter and it is difficult to support new models.

[0005]

According to the invention of claim 1, CA
In a CATV system including a TV broadcasting center, a home terminal for two-way CATV broadcasting, and a use device that operates according to a broadcast signal and a control signal from the home terminal, the home terminal controls the home terminal itself and the use device. Control means for
The CATV broadcast is provided with a control command input device for inputting a control command to the control device, a memory device for storing a control code of the utilization device, and a transmission device for requesting data to the CATV broadcasting center. The center has control code data for various types of equipment, and transmits the control code specified by the request from the home terminal from the control code data. The home terminal receives the control code received from the center. After the code is stored in the memory means, the control code of the utilizing device is transmitted to the utilizing device according to the instruction input of the control instruction inputting means, and the memory means of the home terminal is used by the user of the home terminal. Stored only the control code of the currently used device, and regarding the correspondence to the new used device, The control code data of the new models ATV broadcast center is prepared to send the request of the home terminal, by incorporating in said memory means,
By the minimum necessary means on the terminal side, it is possible to operate according to the control command of the terminal and the equipment to be used and to support various kinds of equipment.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned first aspect of the invention, the control command input means is a remote control device including a remote control transmitter and a remote control receiving section for receiving a signal from the remote control transmitter. It is not necessary to prepare control codes for all models in the remote control transmitter, the built-in memory capacity is small, and the CATV system can be simplified as the entire configuration of the remote control transmitter.

The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, the utilization device is a video recorder, which is most often utilized as a utilization device of the CATV system. The practical effect by specifying the video recorder as having a variety of models or control instructions becomes great.

[0008]

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a CATV system according to the present invention, which is a device relating to transmission and reception on the CATV broadcasting station side for storing a video recorder control signal in a home CATV home terminal. It is a block diagram which shows a structure in detail. In FIG. 2, 1 is
It is a CATV broadcasting station, and CATV is connected via the input / output terminal 8.
Connected to cable 9. This CATV cable 9
Is branched and the terminal has a CA installed in each subscriber's home.
The TV home terminals 10 are connected to each other.
The CATV broadcasting station 1 is provided with a broadcast receiving device 2 and a satellite receiving device 3. The broadcast receiving device 2 and the satellite receiving device 3 are connected to the mixing unit 7. Further, 4 is a video recorder control signal library, and 5 is a data modulator / demodulator. Reference numeral 6 denotes a CATV communication control device, which manages the response of each subscriber.

The data modulation / demodulation unit 5 demodulates the video recorder control code request signal from the CATV home terminal 10 installed in the CATV subscriber's house, and CATs it.
It is sent to the V communication control device 6. The CATV communication control device 6 is
The requested data is called from the video recorder control signal library 4, modulated by the data modulator / demodulator 5, and input to the mixer 7. The output of the mixing unit 7 is output via the input / output terminal 8 of the CATV broadcasting station 1 to the CATV.
It is connected to the cable 9 and transmitted to each subscriber.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of a system on the side of a subscriber who receives a CATV broadcasting service in the CATV system of the present invention. In the CATV home terminal 10, the CATV cable 9 is connected to the input / output terminal 11 as shown in FIG. The input / output terminal 11 is connected to the branch circuit 12, and one of the outputs is
It is connected to the converter 13. This converter 13
Is connected to the output terminal 16 via the descrambler 14 and the on-screen controller 15. The output terminal 16 is connected to the video recorder 17. The other output of the branch circuit 12 is connected to a control circuit (microcomputer) 19 via a data modulator / demodulator 18. The control circuit (microcomputer) 19 includes a display unit 20,
A storage unit (EEPROM) 21, a remote control reception unit 22, and a control signal input / output terminal 23 are connected. The remote controller receiver 22 is wirelessly connected to a remote controller transmitter 24, and the output of the remote controller transmitter 24 controls the video recorder 17 and the CATV home terminal 10.
The control signal input / output terminal 23 is connected to the video recorder 17 wirelessly or by wire, and the video recorder control command input from the remote control transmitter 24 is CA.
Control circuit (microcomputer) 19 of TV home terminal 10
Is input to the video recorder 17 via the control signal input / output terminal 23. The video recorder 17 is connected to the television 25.

The operations of the CATV broadcasting station 1 for storing the video recorder control code in the in-house CATV home terminal 10 and the CATV home terminal 10 in the above configuration will be described below. Subscriber installs new video recorder 17 in CATV home terminal 10
When connecting to, the subscriber connects to the video recorder 17
The remote controller transmitter 24 is input with a number that can identify the manufacturer and model of the video recorder 17 described in (4).
Next, the remote control transmitter 24 is operated so that the inputted model identification number is transmitted to the CATV broadcasting station. The signal from the remote controller transmitter 24 is sent to the control circuit (microcomputer) 19 via the remote controller receiver 22. The control circuit (microcomputer) 19 stores the input model identification number in the storage unit (EE
It is sent to the data modulation / demodulation unit 18 together with the CATV home terminal identification number stored in the PROM) 21. The video recorder model identification number and the CATV home terminal identification number are modulated by the data modulator / demodulator 18 and transmitted to the CATV broadcasting station via the CATV cable 9 via the branch circuit 12 and the input / output terminal 11.

[0012] In the CATV broadcasting station 1, the broadcasting waves input from the broadcasting receiving device 2 and the satellite receiving device 3 are mixed in the mixing section 7 and sent to the CATV cable. When sending, the video recorder control code requested by the subscriber is mixed and sent to the subscriber who requested the control code. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the signal transmitted to each CATV broadcasting station 1 by each subscriber is demodulated by the data modulation / demodulation unit 5. When the CATV communication control device 6 detects the CATV home terminal identification number of the subscriber and the video recorder model identification number for which the subscriber requests the control code from the signal, the CATV communication control device 6
Accesses the video recorder control signal library 4 and retrieves the video recorder control code requested by the subscriber. The CATV communication control device 6 performs processing of modulating the called video recorder control code by the data modulation / demodulation unit 5 and sending back the video recorder control signal together with the requested subscriber identification number.

The signal to the subscriber generated here is 7
Is mixed with each broadcast wave input from the broadcast receiving device 2 and the satellite receiving device 3, and transmitted to the subscriber via the CATV cable 9. The CATV home terminal 10 requesting the video recorder control code determines the transmitted video recorder control code by the CATV home terminal identification number, and the video recorder control code data transmitted as a response to its own request is transmitted to the data modulator / demodulator. Demodulate at 18. The demodulated control code data of the video recorder 17 is stored in the storage unit (EEPROM) 21 of the CATV home terminal 10 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of operations from the video recorder control code request transmission to the control code reception by the CATV home terminal described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a number identifying the model of the video recorder 17 is input to the remote control transmitter 24 (S1), and the control code of the video recorder 17 is stored in the storage unit (S1) using the video recorder model identification number. If it is confirmed that the data is not stored in the EEPROM 21 (S2), the CAT
The V-home terminal 10 performs a process for requesting a control code from the CATV broadcasting station 1 (S3). After receiving the request (S4), the CATV broadcasting station 1 confirms that the video recorder control signal library 4 has the requested control code (S5), and then performs the process of transmitting the control code to the CATV home terminal 10. (S7). CAT
After demodulating (S8), the V-home terminal 10 stores the control code in the storage unit (EEPROM) 21 (S9).

Next, a video recorder control method using the video recorder control code stored in the storage unit (EEPROM) 21 of the CATV home terminal will be described.
The operation will be described. The video recorder control command transmitted to the CATV home terminal 10 by the subscriber pressing the key of the remote control transmitter 24 is transmitted to the control circuit (microcomputer) 19 via the remote control receiver 22. The storage unit (EEPROM) 21 has a remote control key and a C key.
A correspondence table of the video recorder control code received from the ATV broadcasting station 1 is generated. Control circuit (microcomputer) 19
Refers to the correspondence table of the EEPROM to call the video recorder control code corresponding to the video recorder control command sent by the key operation of the remote controller. This video recorder control code is transmitted to the video recorder 17 via the control signal input / output terminal 23, and the video recorder 17 is controlled.

In this embodiment, the device used is controlled as a video recorder, but the present invention is
It can be applied when controlling devices other than the video recorder from the CATV home terminal. For example, in the case of operating an audio device or operating a function such as picture-in-picture of the television itself, a control code corresponding to the function is stored in a storage unit (EEPRO) in the CATV home terminal.
If a table is stored in M) and the remote control and its control code are associated with each other on the EEPROM, it is possible to operate other devices with one remote control via the CATV home terminal.

[0017]

【The invention's effect】

Invention of Claim 1: Only the control code of the utilization device used by the user of the home terminal need be stored in the memory means of the home terminal, and all the data of the utilization device already on sale are stored. Since there is no need, the capacity of the memory means for the control code can be small. The control code of a new device released after the shipment of the home terminal can be solved by obtaining a new control code from the CATV broadcasting center and updating the control code without replacing the control code storage unit as in the conventional case. In addition, control codes for other home appliances are CA
By receiving from the TV broadcasting station and storing it in the CATV home terminal, it is possible to operate other devices in the home from the control command input means of the CATV home terminal.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the above effect of the invention of claim 1, it is not necessary to store the control codes of all the models of the utilization device in the internal memory of the remote control transmitter, so the memory capacity is small. Also, the overall configuration of the remote control transmitter can be simplified.

Invention of claim 3: In addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1 or 2, the present invention, which corresponds to the specification of a video recorder having a variety of models or control commands as a device used by the CATV system, It will bring great practical effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a system on a home terminal side in a CATV system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of a system on the CATV broadcasting station side in the CATV system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a video recorder control code request to a CATV broadcasting station and a control code storing operation in a CATV home terminal.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional system on the CATV home terminal side.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CATV broadcasting station, 2 ... Broadcast receiving device, 3 ... Satellite receiving device, 4 ... Video recorder control signal library, 5 ... Data modulation / demodulation unit, 6 ... CATV communication control device, 7 ... Mixing unit, 8 ... Input / output terminal, 9 ... CATV cable, 10 ... C
ATV home terminal, 11 ... I / O terminal, 12 ... Branch circuit, 13 ... Converter, 14 ... Descrambler, 1
5 ... On-screen control section, 16 ... Output terminal, 17 ... Video recorder, 18 ... Data modulation / demodulation section, 19 ... Control circuit, 20 ... Display section, 21 ... Storage section, 22 ... Remote control receiving section, 23 ... Control signal input / output Terminals, 24 ... Remote control transmitter, 25 ... Television, S1 to S9 ... Operation steps.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A CATV broadcasting center and a bidirectional CATV.
In a CATV system comprising a home terminal for broadcasting and a utilization device which operates according to a broadcast signal and a control signal from the home terminal, the home terminal includes a control means for controlling the home terminal itself and the utilization device, The CATV broadcasting center is provided with a control command inputting means for inputting a control command to the control means, a memory means for storing a control code of the utilization device, and a transmitting means for requesting data from the CATV broadcasting center. Has control code data for various types of equipment, and transmits the control code specified by the request from the home terminal from the control code data, and the home terminal receives the control code received from the center. Is stored in the memory means, the command of the control command input means is stored. CA characterized in that so as to transmit the control code utilizing apparatus to use device according to the input
TV system. 2. The CATV system according to claim 1, wherein the control command input means is a remote control device including a remote control transmitter and a remote control receiver that receives a signal from the remote control transmitter. 3. The CATV system according to claim 1, wherein the utilization device is a video recorder.