JPS59174039A - Wire broadcasting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To assure the charging to the reception of a chargeable broadcast by transmitting a charging signal while each terminal device is receiving a chargeable broadcast. CONSTITUTION:A hybrid transmitter 6 mixes the free commercial broadcasts and chargeable independent broadcasts and transmits them to terminal devices 7-1 and 7-2 respectively. A central control room 1 transmits a reception permission signal to a terminal device which allows the reception of a chargeable broadcast, e.g., the device 7-1. Then a terminal controller 71 of the device 7-1 controls a converter 72 and prepares for reception of a chargeable broadcast. When a terminal receiver 73 starts reception, the controller 71 transmits a charging signal to the room 1 during reception of a chargeable broadcast. Thus the room 1 executes charging to the device 7-1. Thus the charging is assured to a chargeable broadcast.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field to which the invention pertains] The present invention provides a system for broadcasting a mixture of paid independent broadcasting and free commercial broadcasting relay broadcasts at the same time, and charging only for reception of independent broadcasting. In particular, the present invention relates to a cable broadcasting system suitable for in-house cable TV broadcasting in hotels, inns, etc.

[Prior art and its problems]

Generally, in hotels, inns, etc., in order to provide services to guests, a broadcasting line for transmitting broadcast waves is wired to each guest room in the hotel, and commercial television broadcasts are relayed and transmitted to the storage room via this broadcasting line. In addition, a cable broadcasting device N is installed which transmits independent broadcasts such as independently produced video broadcasts and allows receivers installed in each guest room to selectively receive either commercial broadcasts or independent broadcasts. In this case, since the independent broadcasts are produced by the venue itself, they are generally broadcast for a fee.

Conventionally, a coin timer has been used to charge and collect fees for receiving such paid independent broadcasting.

In other words, a converter is installed between the receiving device such as a television receiver installed in each guest room and the broadcast line to control the passage or blocking of specific broadcast signals, and the converter is operated for a certain period of time by inserting coins and tokens. A coin timer is provided for controlling the converter, and the converter is controlled by the coin timer so that while the coin timer is injected with coins and the coin timer is operating, the converter passes the self-broadcasting signal from the broadcasting line to the receiving device. and make it possible for the receiving device to receive paid independent broadcasts.

However, such conventional methods have the following drawbacks.

■It cannot be used unless the user puts coins into the coin timer, so it cannot be used unless the user has the coins to put into the coin timer.

■Since the convenience fee has to be collected from each room in the building from the 1 in-timer, it takes a lot of time and effort for the administrator to collect the fee.

■The coin timer operates independently of the operation of the receiving device, so if the independent broadcast is enabled to be received by the operation of the coin timer, the fee will be charged regardless of whether the independent broadcast is actually received by the receiving device. will be collected.

■Since the coin timer is easily tampered with, there are many opportunities for people to pay for the reception of independent broadcasts.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional system described above, and to provide a wired broadcasting system including paid broadcasting that is reliable for the reception of paid independent broadcasting and is convenient for both users and administrators. That is.

[Key points of the invention]

The present invention relays a mixture of free broadcasting and publication fee broadcasting from the center to a plurality of terminals via a broadcast line, selects reception of the picture broadcasting at each terminal, and selects each terminal to receive the picture broadcasting. The device charges for reception of paid broadcasting at a terminal, and the central management device and each terminal are provided with a central management device and a terminal control device that are connected to each other via control lines, and the central management device charges a fee for receiving paid broadcasting at a terminal. Only when each terminal is permitted to receive paid broadcasting during broadcasting, a pay broadcast reception permission signal is given to each terminal control device, and billing processing is performed based on a billing signal from each terminal control device. When each terminal control device receives the reception permission signal from the central management device, it enables the reception of the separate broadcast that was previously disabled at each terminal. By sending the billing signal to the central management device while the pay broadcast is being received, billing processing is reliably performed centrally only while the pay broadcast is actually being received at the terminal, and the terminal's hotel In each room, without using currency,
Enables reception of paid broadcasts.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the entire cable television broadcast system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this figure, Tokatsura 1 is a central management device installed in the center for performing billing processing, etc., and 2 is a central pipe embedded @ 1 and a terminal control device 71 installed in each terminal 7-1, 7-2. 4 is a commercial TV broadcast relay receiver installed in the center that receives commercial TV broadcasts and transmits them to the inside of the building; 5 is an independently produced video An independent broadcast transmitter 6 for broadcasting programs for a fee mixes the commercial broadcast signal from the receiver 4 and the independent broadcast signal from the independent broadcast transmitter 5 and transmits the mixture to the broadcast line 3 for transmitting broadcast signals. It is a mixer. Television receivers 73 in a plurality of terminal devices Ft7-1, 7-2 installed in each guest room of a hotel are connected to the broadcasting line 3 via converters 72, respectively. Converter 72 is also connected to terminal control device 71 and controlled thereby.

In such a depiction, when the present invention is used as a broadcasting device in a hotel, inn, etc., the central management device-1 is placed at the front desk where guests are contacted for check-in and check-out. And from the central management device 1,
When the independent broadcast transmitter 5 is in broadcast operation, it sends a broadcasting signal indicating that the independent broadcast is being broadcast to the terminal control device 71 of each terminal device 7 via the control line 2. In addition, when check-in is performed and the guest room is used, an independent broadcast reception permission signal is sent to the terminal device 7 of the guest room via the control line 2 in order to allow the reception of independent broadcasts. send. The terminal control bag w71 in each terminal device 7 has control A
The converter 72 is controlled to be in a state where it can receive an independent broadcast signal from the receiver 73 or the broadcast line 3 by receiving the broadcasting signal and reception permission signal from the central management device 1 via the 11 line 2. do. Therefore, details of the configuration and operation of converter 72 will be described later. Thereby, the receiver 73 can receive the independent broadcast signal from the broadcast line 3 by selecting the selecting device for the independent broadcast band.

In the receiver 73, when the selection device selects the independent broadcasting band and starts receiving independent broadcasting, this is the converter 7.
2 and from the converter 72 to the terminal control bag @7
A receiving signal indicating that an independent broadcast is being received is sent to No. 1. The terminal control device 71 that has received the receiving signal operates to send a billing signal to the central inertia control device 1 via the control line 2.

The central management device 1 counts billing signals from the terminal control device 71 for each terminal device, and executes billing processing to obtain usage fees.

Note that the converter 72 has a control function of blocking or canceling the passage of only paid independent broadcasting signals to the receiver 73, but allows free commercial broadcasting signals to pass through. The receiver 73 can freely receive free commercial broadcast signals.

Although the configuration and operation of the present invention are outlined above, the present invention can be better understood by explaining detailed embodiments of the terminal device 7. Next, we will explain the embodiments of the terminal device 7 according to the present invention. explain.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the terminal device 7 according to the present invention, and in this figure, 71 is a terminal control device with a function of communicating with the central management device 1 and a converter 72, as in the case of FIG. It has the function to control. The converter 72 is an analog converter.

OR gate α, not Kate N1, N2, N3, switch SW L, SW 2, LED indicator light 721,
It consists of a flip-flop 722, an active filter, and the like. Further, 11 is a broadcasting signal given from the terminal control device 71 to ANDK A1, 12 is a reception permission signal similarly given to AN';-If-)AL, and 728 is a signal sent from the flip-flop 722 to active filter F and terminal control. a receiving signal provided to the device 71;
725 is a broadcast wave given from active filter F, 731
is a selection signal generated when the receiver 73 selects to receive an independent broadcast.

In the above configuration, it is detected from the central management device 1 installed at the front desk of a hotel, inn, etc. that the independent broadcast transmitter 5 is operating (broadcasting), and check-in has been completed. A broadcasting signal indicating that an independent broadcast is being broadcast and a reception permission signal indicating that reception of the independent broadcast is permitted are transmitted via the control line 2 to the terminal device 7 of the guest room where check-in has been completed. shall be taken as a thing. (See Figure 1).

In the terminal device 7 (FIG. 2) in the guest room, the terminal control device 71 receives the above-mentioned broadcasting signal and reception permission signal, and when it determines that it is addressed to itself, transmits the broadcasting signal to the converter 72. 11 and a reception permission signal 12 are given. As a result, A1 becomes conductive, so L
ED indicator light 721 or knot gate (driver) Nh
The receiver terminal device is driven through the terminal and lights up to indicate that the receiving terminal device is ready to receive independent broadcasts.

Here, when the user selects the independent broadcasting band using the selection device of the receiver 73 and turns on the reception start switch SWL, the flip-flop 722 is set and the Q
A receiving signal 723 indicating that reception is in progress is generated from the output and is applied to active filter F and terminal control device 71. When the active filter F receives the receiving signal 723,
Until then, only free commercial broadcasting signals sent via Broadcasting Line 3 were allowed to pass through, and paid independent broadcasting signals were blocked from passing through, but independent broadcasting signals were now also allowed to pass, allowing commercial broadcasting and independent broadcasting signals to pass through. Both broadcast signals are guided to a receiver 73.

As a result, the independent broadcast is received by the receiver 73 whose reception band is selected as the independent broadcast band.

On the other hand, while receiving the receiving signal 723, the terminal control device 71 transmits a billing signal along with a code indicating its own terminal to the central management device 1 (FIG. 1) via the control line 2. The central pipe w1 counts the charging signals, performs charging processing such as determining the usage fee for independent broadcast reception on the terminal device, and prepares for collection of fees at the time of check-out. The terminal control device 71 may transmit the billing signal by transmitting it every time the usage time reaches a unit charge, by transmitting it at fixed intervals, or by transmitting it at the start and end of reception, etc. Any method may be adopted in the present invention.

If a user wants to stop receiving independent broadcasts, please use receiver 7.
Operate the selection device in step 8 to a location other than the independent broadcast band, or
All you have to do is operate the reception end switch 8W2. When any of these operations occur, flip-flop 722
Since a signal is applied to the terminal terminal B and this is reset, the receiving signal 72B generated from the Q output of the flip-flop 722 stops. As a result, the active filter F is again in a state of blocking the passage of the independent broadcast signal, and the receiver 73 is in a state of being unable to receive the independent broadcast signal. At the same time, the terminal control device 71 stops transmitting the charging signal to the central management device 1. As a result, the central management device 1 stops billing processing and holds the usage fee calculated up to that point until the fee is collected.

The reception of independent broadcasting can also be stopped by the central management device 1 stopping the broadcasting signal when the independent broadcasting ends, or by stopping the reception permission signal after checkout is completed.

That is, in such a state, the terminal control device 71
Since at least one of the on-broadcast signal 11 and the reception permission signal 12 is stopped, conduction of the AND gate A1 is prevented, and the flip-flop 722 is reset via the NOT gate N2 and the ORG 01.

Although the intended purpose of the present invention can be achieved by such a device, another embodiment of the present invention designed to further improve the convenience of the user is shown in FIG. 3, and will be described next.

In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicate the same or equivalent components.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 differs greatly from the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 in that timers 726 and 727 are newly provided.
Since the other configurations are almost the same, the functions of these timers will be explained.

Timer 726 has an input connected to the Q output terminal of flip-flop 722 which generates receive signal 723 . This timer 726 has a set time set to a relatively short time, for example, about 30 seconds, and generates the reception confirmation signal 724 after the set time has elapsed since the receiving signal 723 is added, and the terminal control device 71 send to After receiving this reception confirmation signal 724, the terminal control device 71 sends a billing signal to the central management device 1 (FIG. 1). The receiver 73 starts receiving paid independent broadcasting at the same time as the receiving signal 723 is generated, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. Setting time (
after a delay of 30 seconds). Therefore, reception is open.
You will not be charged for the first 30 seconds.

The reason for delaying the charging time in this way is to allow the user to confirm the content of the independent broadcast and then decide whether or not they wish to continue receiving it, or to allow the user to select the broadcast program. This is to give Therefore, while the user selects a broadcast program, the user will not be charged even if the user is receiving paid independent broadcasting.

The timer 727 is a timer whose set time is set to a relatively long time, for example, about 30 minutes. Similarly, the input is connected to the Q output terminal of the flip-flop 722, and the output is connected to the flip-flop 722 through the OR gate 01. connected to the terminal.

When the receiving signal 723 generated with the start of reception continues until the set time of the timer 727 reaches 30 minutes,
Since the timer 727 generates the reception stop signal 728 and resets the flip-flop 722 via the OR gate 01, the reception signal 723 is stopped. As a result, the area below the active filter becomes in a state where the passage of the independent broadcast signal is blocked, and the receiver 73 becomes unable to receive the independent broadcast and stops receiving the independent broadcast. When flip-flop 722 is reset, the Q output signal is applied to the reset terminals of timers 726 and 727, thereby resetting timers 726 and 727 and stopping their respective output signals. As a result, the terminal control device 71 stops transmitting the charging signal to the central management device 1.

Thereafter, when the user operates the reception start switch 8WL again, the flip-flop 722 is set again, a reception signal 723 is generated, and the receiver 73 resumes receiving the independent broadcast. Then, the terminal control device 71 receives the reception confirmation signal 724 from the timer 726 and sends the billing signal to the central pipe N1 again.

In this way, the timer 727 has the function of temporarily stopping the reception of independent broadcasting after a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

This is because, for example, if a user at a hotel or inn forgets to turn off the receiver and the receiver is turned off and the charge is not stopped, unexpected and excessive usage fees will be incurred. This is effective in preventing excessive charges due to forgetting to turn off the switch, etc., and is extremely convenient for users.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, a central management device is provided in the center, a terminal control device is provided in the terminal where the receiver is carried, and the terminals that are allowed to receive paid independent broadcasting from the central management device The receiver has been selected to receive independent broadcasts on the condition that reception permission has been granted and the terminal control device has received reception permission, so the receiver is enabled to receive independent broadcasts and reception is being performed on the receiver. For the time being, a billing signal was sent to the central management device, and this billing signal was counted by the central management device to perform the billing process, so terminals had to prepare a countermeasure in order to receive paid independent broadcasting. This also ensures that billing is done for the amount of time that is actually received. Therefore, the collection of usage fees can be done at a central management center such as the front desk of a hotel, inn, etc., which saves the trouble of collecting fees, and also prevents omissions in billing. All shortcomings can be removed.

Furthermore, in the present invention, it is possible to selectively grant reception permission to multiple terminals, so for example, when installed in a hotel, inn, etc., it is possible to enable or disable the reception of independent broadcasts depending on the user of each guest room. There are also effects that can be used or selected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing different embodiments of a terminal device according to the present invention. 1: Central management device, 2: Control line, 3: Broadcast line, 4: Commercial broadcast receiver, 5: Independent broadcast transmitter, 6: Mixed transmitter, 7
: 7-1, 7-2: Terminal device, 71: Terminal control device, 7
2: converter, 73: terminal receiver. Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] l) Transmit a mixture of free broadcasts and paid broadcasts from the center to multiple terminals via broadcast lines, select reception of both broadcasts on each terminal, and transmit paid broadcasts on each terminal. A central management device and a terminal control device are provided which are connected to the center and each terminal via control lines, respectively, and the central management device charges a fee for the reception of paid broadcasting. Only when each terminal is permitted to receive paid broadcasts, a pay broadcast reception permission signal is given to each terminal control device, and billing processing is performed based on a billing signal from each terminal control device, and each terminal When the control device receives the reception permission signal from the central management device, it enables the reception of pay broadcasts that were previously disabled at the terminals, and while the pay broadcasts are being received at each terminal, A cable broadcasting system characterized by sending billing signals to a central management device.