JP2001251604A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast receiver that can cancel or discount charging imposed on a pay broadcast that is purchased by a user but which the user cannot have normally viewed or recorded because of the effect of radio disturbance. SOLUTION: The digital broadcast receiver is provided with a detection means that detects occurrence of radio disturbance in the case that a pay program purchased in the unit of programs is received, a calculation means that calculates a ratio of a radio disturbance occurrence time to a program continuation time of the pay program, and a report means that reports the ratio of a radio disturbance occurrence time to a program continuation time of the pay program to an enterprise center.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In digital satellite broadcasting, for example, in a bit stream transmitted from a satellite, in addition to video and audio data of a program, information for viewing or purchasing the program (hereinafter referred to as PSI information), and EPG. And other service information (hereinafter, referred to as SI information) such as a program name, time information (start time, continuation time), and viewing fee.

[0003] Since video and audio data of pay programs such as PPV are scrambled and transmitted, it is necessary to perform a descrambling process for presentation. In the case of a CS digital broadcast receiver, if it is discovered that the program to be presented is a scrambled program, it obtains contract information from an IC card and checks whether or not the program is subscribed. If the program is a program of a channel to which a contract has already been made, information (cancellation key) for canceling scramble is notified from the IC card. And the release key is set to the descrambler,
The scramble is released. Therefore, the user can view the program.

[0004] If the program is a program on a channel to which no contract has been made, the release key is not notified and the scramble is not released, so that the program cannot be viewed.

[0005] According to the contract information obtained from the IC card,
If it is determined that the program to be presented is a PPV program that requires a viewing fee for each program, the receiver notifies the user that the viewing fee is required and presents a selection screen as to whether or not to purchase. . When the user decides to purchase, if the purchase is notified to the IC card, a release key for releasing the scramble can be obtained, and the PPV program can be viewed. Since the specific processing in the IC card is a black box, the description is omitted, but the information of the purchased PPV program is notified to the broadcasting company via the modem.

[0006]

In the case of digital broadcasting,
Compared to analog broadcasting, the effect of reception disturbance due to rainfall is small, but viewing cannot be performed at a certain standard. In the case of current CS digital broadcasting, PP
Once a V program has been purchased, the purchase of the IC card cannot be canceled, so the broadcaster is notified that the user has watched the content even though the user could not view it at all.
There is a problem that a viewing fee is charged.

[0007] In the case of satellite broadcasting, since it can be received in various parts of the country, it is difficult for a broadcasting company to grasp the situation that any area has a reception failure.

[0008] The present invention provides a digital broadcast receiving apparatus capable of canceling a charge or reducing a charge for a pay program which cannot be normally watched or recorded due to a reception failure despite being purchased by a user. The purpose is to provide a machine.

[0009]

A first digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention comprises a detecting means for detecting that a reception failure has occurred when a pay program purchased in units of a program is being received; Calculating means for calculating the ratio of the reception failure occurrence time to the program duration time of the program, and notification means for notifying the business center of the ratio of the reception failure occurrence time to the program duration time of the pay program. It is characterized by having.

As the notification means, for example, means for storing the ratio of the reception failure occurrence time to the program continuation time of the pay program in association with the purchase history information for the pay program stored in the IC card. , And means for notifying the carrier center of the ratio of the reception failure occurrence time to the program continuation time of the pay program when notifying the purchase history information recorded in the IC card to the carrier center. Is used.

[0011] A second digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention includes a detecting means for detecting that a reception failure has occurred when a pay program purchased in units of a program is being received, Calculating means for calculating the ratio of the reception trouble occurrence time during that time; and, when the ratio of the reception trouble occurrence time to the program continuation time of the pay program is larger than a predetermined value, calculating the ratio of the pay trouble program stored in the IC card. It is characterized by comprising means for deleting purchase history information.

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a digital television broadcast receiver.

The digital broadcast wave is sent to the tuner 1 via an antenna (not shown), where high-frequency processing and demodulation are performed. Data output from the tuner 1 is sent to the descrambler 3.

The CPU 15 determines whether or not the data input to the descrambler 3 is scrambled.
The contract information for the selected program is confirmed with the C card 13. If the selected program is subscribed, a scramble release key is obtained from the IC card 13 and the release key is set in the descrambler 3.

The CPU 15 includes a ROM 17 for storing the program and the like, a RAM 19 for storing necessary data, and an EEPROM 21 for storing necessary data. If the release key is set, the descrambler 3 releases the scramble and outputs the MPEG data to the DEMUX.
Send to circuit 5. If the descrambling key is not set, the descrambler 3 sends the MPEG data without descrambling to the DEMUX circuit 5.

For a pay program such as a PPV program for which a viewing fee is charged for each program, a selection screen as to whether or not to purchase is generated by the on-screen generating unit 23. If the user decides to purchase, an IC card is displayed. 13
By notifying the user of the purchase, the release key can be obtained from the IC card 13.

The DEMUX circuit 5 receives the input MPEG data.
The necessary video / audio data, SI data and PSI data are separated from the data. The video / audio data separated by the DEMUX circuit 5 is decoded by the MPEG decoder 7. The video signal decoded by the MPEG decoder 7 is combined with the data of the on-screen generation unit 23 by the multiplexer 9 and output to the video output terminal 11. The audio signal decoded by the MPEG decoder 7 is sent to an audio output terminal (not shown).

The SI separated by the DEMUX circuit 5
Data and PSI data are stored in RAM 19.

This digital television broadcast receiver includes a modem 25 for notifying the purchase center of a pay program stored in the IC card 13 to a customer center (operator center) 27 of a broadcaster via a telephone line. Have.

In this embodiment, the reception failure is monitored from the moment the purchased pay program is received. As a method of determining that a reception failure has occurred, for example, the tuner 1 may lock to the frequency of the selected channel and monitor whether or not the tuning has been normally performed. Further, it may be determined whether or not a reception failure has occurred based on the AV error detected by the MPEG decoder 7.

The ratio of the reception failure time to the pay program continuation time (reception failure ratio) is calculated, and the obtained reception failure ratio is stored in the IC card 13 in association with the purchase history information of the pay program. In this manner, the purchase failure information stored in the IC card 13 is notified to the customer center 27 via the modem 25 via the modem 25. At the time of uploading, the reception failure rate can be notified simultaneously. The customer center 27 calculates the viewing fee with reference to the reception failure ratio. For example, for a paid program (paid program that has been purchased) with a reception failure ratio larger than a predetermined value, the charge for the pay program is canceled or the charge is reduced.

If the ratio of the reception failure time to the pay program continuation time is larger than a predetermined value, the CPU 15 notifies the IC card 13 of a request to stop the purchase of the pay program, and the IC card 13 notifies the IC card 13 of this request. May be deleted, the purchase history information on the pay program stored as already purchased may be deleted.

As another method, the reception failure rate for the purchased pay program may be notified to the broadcaster customer center 27 via the modem 25 without being stored in the IC card 13. In addition, if the reception failure ratio for the purchased pay program is stored in the EEPROM 21, it can be used as evidence for a claim against a broadcaster.

[0025]

According to the present invention, it is possible to cancel the charge or reduce the charge for the pay program which cannot be normally watched or recorded due to the reception failure despite the purchase by the user. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital broadcast receiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 tuner 3 descrambler 5 DEMUX circuit 7 MPEG decoder 13 IC card 15 CPU 17 ROM 19 RAM 21 EEPROM 23 on-screen generation unit 25 modem

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Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A detecting means for detecting that a reception failure has occurred when a pay program purchased in units of programs is received, and calculating a ratio of a reception failure occurrence time to a program continuation time of the pay program during the reception. A digital broadcast receiver, comprising: a calculating unit that calculates the ratio of the reception failure occurrence time to the program continuation time of the pay program, and a notification unit that notifies a provider center. 2. A notifying means for storing a ratio of a reception failure occurrence time to a program continuation time of the pay program in association with purchase history information for the pay program stored in an IC card, and Means for, when notifying the purchase center information recorded in the IC card to the provider center, notifying the provider center of the ratio of the reception failure occurrence time to the program continuation time of the pay program. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to 1. 3. A detecting means for detecting that a reception failure has occurred when a pay program purchased in units of a program is received, and calculating a ratio of a reception failure occurrence time to a program continuation time of the pay program during the reception. And calculating means for deleting the purchase history information for the pay program stored in the IC card when the ratio of the reception failure occurrence time to the program continuation time of the pay program is larger than a predetermined value. Digital broadcast receiver.