JP2002034012A - Catv equipment and broadcasting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide CATV equipment and a broadcasting method which can control and manage whether a viewer views a pay television broadcast program, when the toll television broadcast program supplied from other television broadcast supplier is supplied via a CATV network. SOLUTION: This CATV equipment, which broadcasts a television broadcast program via CATV network, is provided with a subscriber-managing means for managing subscribers who has signed a contract or viewing the television broadcast programs directly with a television broadcast program supplier, and a home terminal control means for controlling a home terminal for viewing the television broadcast program which terminal the subscriber, has so that the subscriber managed by the subscriber managing means is able to view the television broadcast program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a CATV (Cable TeleVision) program provided from another television station.
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a CATV apparatus and a broadcasting method for broadcasting using a cable (cable television) line, and particularly to a CATV apparatus and a broadcasting method for broadcasting a pay program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a conventional CATV apparatus and a broadcasting method. In FIG. 2, CAT
The V device 40 is normally installed in a CATV station, and is provided with a CA to a subscriber device 45 installed in a subscriber's house (a person who has applied for receiving a service provided by the CATV station).
TV broadcast programs and the like are provided via the TV network 44.

[0003] The CATV device 40 is a BS (Broadc).
asting Satellite) antenna 41,
A down converter 42 and a head end 43;
It retransmits the received terrestrial broadcast, satellite broadcast, and other television signals. On the other hand, the subscriber device 45 includes an up-converter 47, a digital tuner 48, and a television receiver 49, receives a television signal transmitted from the CATV device 40, and allows a viewer to view a television broadcast program.

In the above-described configuration, the BS antenna 41 is provided (broadcast) from a television broadcast program transmitted from an artificial satellite (not shown) and broadcasted from another television station or from another television broadcast program supplier. Receive a TV broadcast program. The down converter 42 is connected to the BS
1 converts the received broadcast program into a frequency band suitable for broadcasting via the CATV network 44. Headend 43
Is connected to a trunk transmission line composed of a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable or the like, and a trunk branch amplifier for distributing a signal to each subscriber is connected to the transmission line in a multistage configuration. The head end 43 generates and transmits a downstream CATV signal including the television signal and the pilot signal for level adjustment, and the trunk branch amplifier amplifies the downstream CATV signal and branches the same. The signal is supplied to each subscriber unit 45 via a branch amplifier or a distributor.

The up-converter 47 converts the frequency band of the received television signal into a frequency band suitable for the digital tuner 48. The digital tuner 48 tunes the converted television signal as a television broadcast program. The television receiver 49 outputs the television program so that the viewer can view the television program.

[0006]

However, in the conventional CATV apparatus, when the above-mentioned television broadcast program is a pay broadcast, the viewer (subscriber) is not allowed to use the other television broadcast program provider or the like. When a direct contract is made with the user to allow viewing of the pay broadcast, there is a problem that it is not known whether the viewer has watched the pay program.

According to the present invention, when a pay television broadcast program supplied from another television broadcast program supplier is supplied via a CATV network, is the viewer watching the pay television broadcast program? It is an object of the present invention to provide a CATV apparatus and a broadcasting method capable of controlling and managing whether or not to do so.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention employs the following configuration. That is,
According to one aspect of the invention, the CATV device of the invention comprises:
What is claimed is: 1. A CATV apparatus for broadcasting a television broadcast program via an ATV network, comprising: subscriber management means for managing a subscriber who has made a contract for viewing the television broadcast program directly with a television broadcast program provider; So that the subscriber managed by the means can view the television broadcast program,
Home terminal control means for controlling a home terminal of the subscriber for viewing the television broadcast program.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a broadcasting method of the present invention is a broadcasting method for broadcasting a television broadcast program from a CATV device via a CATV network, wherein a contract for viewing the television broadcast program is provided. To enable subscribers who have a direct connection with the TV broadcast program provider to view the TV broadcast program,
And controlling a home terminal for viewing the television broadcast program of the subscriber.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a CATV system according to the present invention provides a CAT for broadcasting a television broadcast program.
A CATV system in which a V device and at least one subscriber device that receives the television broadcast program mutually transmit and receive data via a CATV network, wherein the subscriber device establishes a contract for viewing the television broadcast program. The connected subscriber is provided with a home terminal for viewing the television broadcast program, and the CATV apparatus includes a subscriber management unit for managing the subscriber, and a subscriber managed by the subscriber management unit. Home terminal control means for controlling the home terminal so that the user can view the television broadcast program.

Preferably, the CATV device of the present invention,
In the broadcasting method or the CATV system, it is preferable that the television broadcasting program is a paid television broadcasting program provided from another television station.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the C
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an ATV apparatus and a broadcasting method.
In FIG. 1, a CATV apparatus 1 is usually installed in a CATV station, and provides a television broadcast program or the like via a CATV network 2 to a subscriber apparatus 3 installed in a subscriber's house.

The CATV apparatus 1 includes an antenna unit 11, a first converter 12, a head end 13, a subscriber management unit 14, and a home terminal control unit 15, and receives a received terrestrial broadcast, satellite broadcast, or the like. And re-transmission of the television signal. On the other hand, the subscriber device 3 includes a home terminal 30 including a second converter 31 and a digital tuner unit 32, and a television receiver 33, receives a television signal transmitted from the CATV device 1, and performs television broadcasting. Let viewers watch the program.

In the above configuration, the antenna unit 1
1 is transmitted from an unshown satellite or a TV tower,
A television broadcast program broadcast from another television station or a television broadcast program provided (broadcast) from another television broadcast program provider is received. The first converter 12 converts the broadcast program received by the antenna unit 11 into a frequency band suitable for broadcasting via the CATV network 2. A trunk transmission line composed of a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, or the like is connected to the head end 13, and a trunk branch amplifier for performing signal distribution to each subscriber is connected to the transmission line in a multi-stage configuration. I have. The head end 13 generates and sends a downstream CATV signal including the television signal and the pilot signal for level adjustment, and the trunk branch amplifier amplifies the downstream CATV signal.
This is branched and supplied to each subscriber unit 3 via a branch amplifier or a distributor.

[0015] The subscriber management device 14 manages information about the subscriber, including information on whether the subscriber has a contract to view a paid television broadcast program among the television broadcast programs. Home terminal control device 15 controls home terminal 30 so that only a specific viewer can view a specific television program. For example, only the subscriber can receive the CATV device 1 and CA from another TV station.
A pay television broadcast program broadcast via the TV network 2 can be viewed. Many paid TV programs are
Scramble (such as disturbing the raster of the TV signal by irregular arrangement conversion etc. by the scramble encoder)
It can be viewed by descrambling (returning to the original television signal by performing an inverse conversion of the above-described arrangement conversion performed by the scramble encoder) by a scramble decoder on the receiving side. This scramble decoder is provided with a descrambling function by an encryption key or the like provided by the television broadcast program provider based on a contract between the viewer and the television broadcast program provider.

In the information managed by the subscriber management device 14, if the subscriber has not made a contract with a CATV station to view a paid television broadcast program, the home terminal control device 15 Based on the information from the management device 14, the pay television broadcast program formed by the scramble signal is further subjected to control processing so that viewing and listening cannot be performed.

The second converter 31 converts the frequency band of the received television signal into a frequency band suitable for the digital tuner 32. The digital tuner unit 32 tunes the converted television signal as a television broadcast program.
The television receiver 33 outputs the television program so that the viewer can view the television program.

Although the present invention has been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. That is, the present invention can take various configurations, shapes, or methods without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a pay TV broadcast program supplied from another TV broadcast program provider is supplied via a CATV network, the viewer can use the TV program. It is possible to control and manage whether or not a pay television broadcast program is being viewed.

Therefore, even when the television broadcast program is a pay broadcast, even if the viewer makes a direct contract with the other television broadcast program supplier or the like so that the pay broadcast can be viewed. Since it is possible to grasp that the viewer is going to watch the pay program, it is possible to charge for the viewing based on the contract.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a conventional CATV apparatus and a broadcasting method.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a conventional CATV device and a broadcasting method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 CATV device 2 CATV network 3 subscriber device 11 antenna unit 12 first converter 13 headend 14 subscriber management device 15 home terminal control device 30 home terminal 31 second converter 32 digital tuner unit 33 television receiver 40 CATV device 41 BS antenna 42 Downconverter 43 Headend 44 CATV network 45 Subscriber unit 47 Upconverter 48 Digital tuner 49 Television receiver

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masao Yamada 2-9-1, Akebonocho, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo My TV Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C064 BA01 BB03 BC06 BC16 BC18 BC22 BD08 BD09

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A CATV apparatus for broadcasting a television broadcast program via a CATV network, comprising: subscriber management means for managing a subscriber who has made a contract for viewing the television broadcast program directly with a television broadcast program provider; Home terminal control means for controlling a home terminal of the subscriber for viewing the television broadcast program so that the subscriber managed by the subscriber management means can view the television broadcast program. CATV device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The CATV apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the television broadcast program is a pay television broadcast program provided from another television station. 3. A broadcasting method for broadcasting a television broadcast program from a CATV device via a CATV network, wherein a subscriber who has directly signed a contract to view the television broadcast program with a television broadcast program provider views the television broadcast program. A broadcasting method, comprising: controlling a home terminal for viewing the television broadcast program owned by the subscriber. 4. The broadcasting method according to claim 3, wherein the television broadcast program is a pay television broadcast program provided from another television station. 5. A CATV system in which a CATV device that broadcasts a television broadcast program and at least one subscriber device that receives the television broadcast program mutually transmit and receive data via a CATV network, wherein the subscriber device comprises: A home terminal for allowing a subscriber who has made a contract to view the television broadcast program to view the television broadcast program, wherein the CATV apparatus comprises: a subscriber management means for managing the subscriber; and the subscriber management means. And a home terminal control means for controlling the home terminal so that the subscriber managed by the system can view the television broadcast program. 6. The CATV system according to claim 5, wherein the television broadcast program is a pay television broadcast program provided from another television station.