JPS61129991A - Receiving device for pay tv broadcasting - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to utilize the program without making reservation, by deducting program fee from the charge fee memory of user side each time when the user utilizes the pay-program. CONSTITUTION:A subscriber operate a ten-key and input the password code. The inputted code is sent to a pay-by-view microcomputer 31, and compared (checked) with the contents of password memory 32. When the pay-by-view program is received, the program fee is deducted from a charge fee memory 34. In the charge fee memory, payment (transfer) made by the subscriber is recorded each time when such payment is done. By depressing a balance button 107 of the operation panel, the balance of the charge fee memory is displayed on the screen any time.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a pay broadcast receiving device.

[Conventional technology]

A paid broadcasting system (pay-TV system) where you pay for the programs you watch.
Conventionally, in the per-view system, a center (broadcasting station) distributes a program list to each user in advance, and if there is something that each user wants to watch, they can schedule it in advance, such as one week or one day in advance. Make a reservation by calling the center before the specified deadline. When on-air, an ID signal is sent from the center to the user who has made a reservation, and the user's receiver or decoder in the receiver receives the ID signal and descrambles the scrambled broadcast signal.

In this pay-per-view system (Δ), users must make reservations by phone.

(B) If a time limit is attached to the reservation and the time limit is exceeded, viewing will not be possible.

(C) Fees will not be refunded even if you make a reservation and do not view it.

(D) At the beginning of each program, ID is given to all reservation users.
Since the signal will be sent, free time slots are required for this purpose.

It has the following drawbacks.

In another conventional pay-per-view system, the center first sends a status signal called ``pay-per-view,'' and each user, if they wish to watch, sends a ``pay-per-view'' status signal to the decoder attached to the receiver.・Press the “View” switch. As a result, descrambling is performed and viewing becomes possible. When viewing is performed, the viewing is stored in the billing memory in the decoder. The center periodically uses the telephone line to examine the memory contents and collect or bill a fee.

This system improves the usability problems of the above-mentioned system, but it is complicated because the center needs to periodically check the billing memory of all users, and it uses telephone lines. It requires an auto-dial device and a modem (transmission/reception modulator/demodulator), and has the disadvantage that user equipment and station-side equipment are effective.

Therefore, the user transfers the advance payment to the broadcast center through a bank etc., and the broadcast center attaches the payer's TD (or address) data and transmits the deposit data to the user side through the PCM area of the TV broadcast channel. Deposit data corresponding to the transfer amount is stored in the billing memory in the receiver, and when the user watches a paid program, the program fee and amount are stored in the billing memory.
A pay-per-view system that subtracts the amount is being considered. This system does not require a modem to connect the receiver to a telephone line, and also does not require a toll collection system using telephone lines at the broadcasting center, making it a very simple and practical system.

However, since this pay-per-view system uses a TV broadcast channel as a billing link, errors may occur in the transmitted payment information due to weather conditions, airplane noise, etc. Since the TV broadcast channel is a one-way communication path, the sending side (broadcasting center) cannot detect the occurrence of this error at all. Moreover, on the receiving side, the writing of the deposit into the billing memory and the billing when viewing the pay program are performed automatically, so when the user transfers the deposit to the broadcasting center, the deposit information is correctly written in the billing memory. There is no way to know how much money has been deposited, how much money is left in the billing memory, and whether or not there is a need to make additional deposits.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method for receiving payment (
Its purpose is to enable the management of bank transfers (transfers), withdrawals (billing), and balances.

[Means for solving problems]

The pay television receiving device of the present invention includes a billing memory (34) that stores deposit data corresponding to the user's remittance amount sent from a broadcasting center, and a billing memory (34) that stores payment data corresponding to the user's remittance amount sent from a broadcasting center, and a billing memory (34) that stores data from the billing memory for each pay program reception operation. Means for subtracting program fees (pay-per-view microcomputer 3.1)
) and an operation means (balance button 107) to be operated when displaying the balance in the billing memory (34) on the display screen.
).

With this configuration, the contents of the billing memory can be checked at any time, and it is possible to know whether the transfer amount has been correctly deposited or whether there is a balance and whether additional transfer is required.

〔Example〕

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an information transmission system using a satellite broadcasting channel will be described below.

Note that the present invention is also applicable to a normal TV broadcast system or a CAT■ system.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a pay-per-view system using satellite broadcasting (direct broadcasting) channels. Direct broadcast radio waves from the broadcasting satellite 10 are received by the receiving parabolic antenna 2, demodulated by the DBS tuner 1, and the signals sent after undergoing a predetermined scrambling operation are decoded (descrambled) by the decoder in the tuner. ) processed and viewed.

This pay-per-view system allows each user (
The subscriber) transfers a predetermined fee from the bank 3 to the broadcasting center 6 using a cash card 5, etc.
It is designed to be The transferred fee data is transmitted from the central processing unit 4 of the bank to the central processing unit 7 of the broadcasting center 6, and the transferred fee data is transmitted from the sender 6 to the user through the satellite broadcasting link. This is a PC
This is done using the M data area and the vertical blanking section of the TV signal, and the data is sent from the transmissor 8 to the broadcasting satellite 10 through the transmission parabolic antenna 9 with the ID code of each user attached, and then from the satellite 10 to the broadcasting satellite 10. The signal is sent to the tuner 1 through each user's parabolic antenna 2.

Each user's tuner 1 (decoder) has a memory for charging, and the transferred charge data is stored in the memory. Also, the data in memory is displayed on the display], 0
2. In the case of pay broadcasting, program status information called "Pay Bar View" is sent from the broadcasting center 6 to each user through a satellite broadcasting channel at the time of broadcasting. If each user wishes to view the program, he/she specifies the channel using the tuner's numeric keypad 101 or the like, and also inputs a password corresponding to the pay-per-view switch. Then, the decoder performs descrambling and viewing becomes possible.

At the same time, data corresponding to the viewing fee is subtracted from the charging memory in the decoder. This means that pay-per-view has been performed.

Note that when the data in the billing memory decreases to the value obtained by repeating subtraction by multiple Pay Bar Views, a message will be displayed on the TV screen or display unit 102 urging the user to transfer the fee from a bank etc. be done.

2 is a front view showing the arrangement of the operation panel of the DBS tuner 1 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the tuner 1 (indoor unit).

When the power switch 100 on the operation panel in FIG. 2 is pressed, the tuner 1 enters the standby state, and the display section
2, the standby LED 102f lights up.

In the standby state, in FIG. 3, the DBS received signal is introduced into the tuner section 12, where it is tuned and detected and output as a video signal, for example an NTSC signal, to a video processing system. Note that the output of the tuner part 12 is also led out as a detection output via the puffer amplifier 11 to the output terminal T7. Tuning is performed using the numeric keypad 101, and the tuning control microcomputer 13
A tuning signal is derived to the tuner part 2 via the PLL prescaler unit 14 based on the tuning operation information. Channel information is displayed on the channel display L of the display section 102.
It is displayed on the ED 102a (Fig. 2).

Note that the polarization polarity discrimination signal obtained from the tuning control microcomputer 13 is sent to the output terminal T8 as a control output via the polarization polarity control amplifier 21.
In addition, an outdoor unit (SHF-
(UHF converter).

The video signal output from the tuner section 2 is filtered by a low-pass filter 15 to remove the high-frequency PCM area transmission signal, and the scrambled signal is decoded by a descrambling circuit 16. The spectrum of the energy-dispersed and transmitted signal is returned to its original state by the anti-despersal circuit 17, and is led out as a video output from the output terminal T3 to the monitor TV via the clamp circuit 18.

Note that in order to connect to a VTR, the video output from the anti-despersal circuit 17 is converted into an RF signal at an appropriate channel number by an RF modulator 19, passed through an RF switch 20, and is led out from an RF output terminal T2 to the VTR. Ru. This RF switch 20 has VHF or U) IF T.
The antenna reception output of the V broadcast radio wave is also supplied from the input terminal TI, and is led out to the terminal T2 after switching the RF ratio output of the DBS broadcast.

The switching operation is performed using the DBS/TV switching button 103 in FIG. When DBS broadcasting is selected, this switch button 103
In conjunction with this, the DBS LED 104 lights up.

On the other hand, data in the PCM area included in the high frequency range of the output of the tuner part 2 is extracted by a bandpass filter 22, and the extracted 4-phase modulation data is subjected to 8 rotations by a QPSK decoder 23, and then sent to a PCM processor 24. be done.

Figure 4 shows the data format of the output of the decoder 23 (
This is a diagram showing the data sink (SYN
Following C), a control code for stereo/mono-sil, etc. is sent, and in the case of a pay program, a program number, charge data, and scramble status information are sent. Next, status information of the received program, that is, program status data that distinguishes free programs, paid programs by reservation, and pay-per-view programs, is sent, and then four types of audio data (1) to ( 4) is transmitted. In the next free area, messages addressed to a specific subscriber and subscriber's deposit (transfer) information can be sent to the subscriber's address (
It is sent with ID information). A program guide is also sent using this area. Finally, an error correction code is attached to one frame of data.

The PCM processor 24 first performs data dinterleaving on the data shown in FIG. 4 based on the output from the RAM 25 that stores interleave information, and further performs error correction based on the error correction code. Next, in the case of pay broadcasting, descrambling of the audio data is performed in the PCM processor 24 based on the scramble status information. At the same time, the scramble information is sent to the video descrambling circuit 16, and the video signal is simultaneously descrambled.

The PCM processor 24 processing output is processed by a D/A converter 26 and a stereo/mono-sil audio switch 27.
, low-pass filters 28L, 28R and buffer amplifiers 29L, 29R as L channel and R channel audio outputs at output terminals T5. It is derived at T6.

Note that by operating the audio selection i port 105 on the operation panel shown in FIG. 2, one of the four types of audio data can be selected. The selection number is displayed on the display section 102
This is displayed by lighting the LED group 102b. Also, the station number of the DBS broadcast being received at this time and the stereo/
Mono-sil distinction is displayed in LED group 102e.

When receiving paid pay-per-view programs,
Program status information called ``Pay Per View'' is sent together with the charge data for the program. Upon receiving this status information, the PCM processor 24 flashes the pay per view LED 102g on the operation panel.

This informs the subscriber that it is a pay-per-view program.

If the subscriber wishes to view this program, the subscriber operates the numeric keypad 101 of the tuner 1 and enters the password manually. The entered password code is sent from the tuning control microcomputer 13 to the pay-per-view microcomputer 31, and is compared (verified) with the contents (registration code) of the password code memory 32. If a match is detected, the descrambling described above is performed and viewing becomes possible.

In other words, only those who know the password can view the video. This can prevent children from watching adult programs or from being charged for their child's operations without their parents knowing.

Note that the sent fee data is stored in the fee memory 33 and displayed on the TV screen for a short time, for example, 3 seconds.

Furthermore, by pressing the charge button 106 on the operation panel shown in FIG. 2, the charge can be displayed on the screen at any time while viewing the program.

When a pay-per-view program is received, the program fee is subtracted from the billing memory 34. In this charging memory 34, the amount of money to be transferred is written every time a subscriber makes a deposit (including !). The deposit information is sent from the broadcasting center 6 using the free area of the PCM data and attached with the subscriber's address data, as shown in the data format of FIG. Once you enter this payment information,
As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the PCM processor 24 compares (verifies) the sent address data with the subscriber address data stored in the ROM 35.
If a match is detected, the deposit data and deposit date data are decoded and written into the billing memory 34.

By pressing the balance button 107 on the operation panel shown in FIG. 2, the balance contents of the billing memory 34 can be displayed on the TV screen at any time as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The displayed contents, as shown on the TV screen in FIG. 7, are the deposit amount, deposit date, and remaining balance for each channel. By looking at this display, the subscriber can confirm the deposit and can also determine whether additional deposit is necessary or not. The contents of the billing memory 34 are transferred from the pay-per-view microcomputer 31 to the message microcomputer 36, the output of which is converted into a display signal by a character generator 37 and then displayed on the screen. Character generator 37 is synchronization separation circuit 3
It operates in synchronization with the synchronization signal from 8.

When the balance in the billing memory 34 falls below a certain value $X due to viewing of a pay-per-view program, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The LED 102d lights up. Further, a retransfer request (insufficient balance status information) is generated from the pay-per-view microcomputer 31 and transferred to the message microcomputer 36. When the balance button 107 is pressed, the message microcomputer 36 outputs message data to the character generator 37 indicating that the balance is insufficient, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The character generator 37 generates a character display signal corresponding to the message data, and this display signal is superimposed on the video signal output from the anti-disversal circuit 17.
The message is displayed on the TV screen as shown in FIG. Then, for example, after 10 seconds, a balance table similar to that shown in FIG. 7 is displayed.

If a message (private message) addressed to a specific subscriber is included in the free area of the transmitted PCM data shown in Figure 4, the subscriber address and message are sent as in the case of payment information. Verification with the destination address attached to the data is performed by the PCM planner 24, and if a loss is detected, the message data is taken into the RAM 39 via the message microcomputer 36. Also, at this time, the display section 102 in FIG. 2 indicates that a message has been input.
The message is displayed by lighting the message LED 102e.

When the subscriber finds that the LED 102e is lit, he operates the message button 108 on the operation panel. Then, the message data is read from the RAM 39, the read data is sent to the character generator 37 via the message microcomputer 36, and the message (characters) is displayed on the screen by outputting a character signal. This display can be cleared by pressing the message button 108 again. Furthermore, by pressing the clear button 109 on the operation panel, the message data stored in the RAM 39 can be cleared.

The message RAM 39 contains information from the broadcast center 6 to the PC.
Programs sent using the M data free area (
An area for storing program guides is provided. When the user wants to view the program guide, he or she presses the program guide button 110 provided on the operation panel shown in FIG. The program guide data is then loaded from the PCM processor 24 into the RAM 39 via the message microcomputer 36.

The data read from the RAM 39 is converted into a character signal by a character generator 37 and then derived as a video signal, whereby the program guide is displayed on the TV screen.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention writes the fee transferred by the user into the user's charging memory based on information from the broadcasting center, and subtracts the program fee from the memory content each time a paid program is viewed. It is easy to use because you can watch the program at any time without having to do anything, and there is no need for the broadcasting center to configure an expensive fee collection system that uses telephone lines, for example. It can be configured with a simple billing system such as transmission.

In addition, since the contents of the billing memory can be monitored at any time, users can manage deposits (transfers) and withdrawals (billing), and if the balance is insufficient and they are unable to watch. Therefore, even though it is a simple billing system that uses a broadcast channel, which is a one-way communication channel, it does not make the user's usability worse, making it a practical pay-bar-view system. can be configured.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a satellite pay broadcasting system to which the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a front view of the operation panel of a subscriber's tuner, Fig. 3 is a professional diagram of the main parts of the tuner, and Fig. 4 is a Format diagram of transmitted PCM data, Figure 5.
Figures 6, 8, and 9 are flowcharts for explaining the billing function and operation of the tuner, Figure 7 is a display screen of the balance table in the billing memory, and Figure 10 is a message displaying an insufficient balance. It is a screen diagram. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1------1-------------DBS tuner 24-------P CM processor 3
1...-----1------Pay bar view microcomputer 34-------1 Charge memory 36-
−−−−−・−−1～−−−−−Message microcomputer 37−−−−−−−・−−−−1−Character generator 107−・・−・−) Press the Lance button be.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a billing memory for storing deposit data corresponding to the user's remittance amount sent from the broadcasting center; means for subtracting the program fee from the contents of the billing memory each time a paid program is received; A receiving device for paid broadcasting, comprising an operation means to be operated when displaying a balance on a display screen.