JP2002290427A - Cable television system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the connection to a management server by using a cable modem from a terminal regardless of either a LAN environment or a telephone modem environment in a topology of the management server, in a cable television system of allowing the two-way communication. SOLUTION: A relay device is installed in a center unit, and telephone numbers of managing servers in telephone modem environment and a database of IP addresses associated with the telephone numbers are retained in a storage device of the terminal device. When the terminal device is to be connected to a management server in telephone modem environment, data are transmitted to the IP address associated with its telephone number and are connected to the management server via the relay device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for connecting a terminal device and a center device in a cable television system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an early cable television system, a center device of a cable television station and a terminal device at a subscriber's house were connected by a cable line, and data such as video, audio, and information was transmitted from a distribution server of the center device to each terminal device. Had been delivered to.

When data such as billing information for pay broadcasting and key information for unpacking an encrypted signal is exchanged between the management server of the center device and each terminal device, a connection is made using a telephone line. .

FIG. 6 shows a first conventional example. Video, audio, and information are distributed from the distribution servers 106 to 108 to the terminal devices 604 and 605 in the subscriber's house via the cable line. 1
There are management servers 601 to 603 corresponding to the respective distribution servers 06 to 108, and manage accounting information and the like. The connection between the management server and the terminal device is made via a telephone line using a telephone modem built in or external to the management server / terminal device.

[0005] Further, the telephone number for connecting the terminal device to the management server corresponding to each distribution server is stored in an electronic program guide (E).
PG) is notified to the terminal device.

In recent cable television systems, two-way communication using a cable line has become possible with the improvement of technology and cable quality. Therefore, the connection with the management server can be made via the Internet without using a telephone line.

FIG. 7 shows a second conventional example. As in the first conventional example, video / audio / information is distributed from the distribution servers 106 to 108 to the terminal devices 110 and 111 in the subscriber's house. In addition, the cable modem termination device 109 installed in the center device
And data communication between the terminal device at the subscriber's home and a built-in or external cable modem, and the terminal device can be connected to the Internet via a cable modem termination device. .

[0008] The management servers 701 to 703 corresponding to the respective distribution servers are connected to a LAN (L) such as Ethernet.
An interface corresponding to an OA (Local Area Network) environment is provided, and by connecting the management server and the cable modem terminating device by 10Base-T or the like, the connection between the management server and each terminal device can also be performed via the cable modem terminating device. It is possible.

However, since the center device is very expensive, the central server is not switched to the management server corresponding to the LAN environment shown in the conventional example 2 all at once, but the management server corresponding only to the telephone modem environment shown in the conventional example 1. And are operated together. In this case, since the terminal device needs to be connected to both management servers, it is necessary to provide both a cable modem and a telephone modem.

FIG. 8 shows a third conventional example. Each of the terminal devices 801 and 802 at the subscriber's house is a cable modem 801 respectively.
1, 8021 and telephone modems 8012, 8022,
Management servers 101 and 10 corresponding only to the telephone modem environment
2, a telephone modem is used, and when connecting to the management server 103 corresponding to the LAN environment, a cable modem is used. Information about each management server is E
Each terminal device is notified by a PG or the like.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a cable television system capable of two-way communication, regardless of whether the connection mode of the management server is a LAN environment or a telephone modem environment, a cable modem can be transmitted from a terminal device. And to provide a cable television system that can be connected to a management server using the same.

[0012]

In a cable television system in which a cable modem can be used, a center apparatus includes a management server 1 having a telephone modem section and a management server 2 having a LAN interface section. , A LAN interface unit, a relay device including a data conversion unit for converting a part of data, a cable modem termination device, and a distribution server for distributing video data and the like to a subscriber's home. 1 is connected to the cable modem terminating device via the relay device, the management server 2 is connected to the cable modem terminating device in a LAN environment, and includes a center device and a cable modem unit installed at the subscriber's house. A telephone number of the management server 1;
When a terminal device consisting of a storage device that holds in advance a database in which the IP address of the relay device associated with the management server 1 is associated is connected by a cable line, and when the terminal device connects to the management server 1, A cable television system, wherein an IP address of a relay device corresponding to a telephone number of a management server 1 is read from a database held in the storage device, and connected to the management server 1 using the cable modem unit.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. Regarding the drawings for describing the embodiments, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention. Management server 101, 102
Have telephone modems 1011 and 1021, respectively, and the management server 103 has an Ethernet 1031. Each of the terminal devices 110 and 111 at the subscriber's home has cable modems 1101 and 1111, respectively, and can access the Internet by connecting to the cable modem terminal device 109 of the center device. Management server 10
3 is connected to a cable modem termination device in a LAN environment such as 10Base-T,
Reference numeral 102 is connected to the cable modem termination device via the relay devices 104 and 105, respectively. The management server and the relay device 1 are connected by telephone lines, respectively.
And a cable modem connection device such as 10Base-T
Connected in AN environment.

When each terminal device is connected to the management servers 101 and 102, it is connected via the cable modem terminating device / relay device 1. When each terminal device connects to the management server 103, it is connected via a cable modem termination device.

When connecting to the management server 103 from the terminal device, the management server 10 provided by means such as EPG is used.
3 using the IP address 3
9 to the management server.

Next, a management server 101 for the telephone modem environment,
In the case of connecting to 102, the telephone number of the management server is given by means such as EPG, but an IP address for identifying the management server is required to connect from a terminal device using a cable modem. Therefore, a unique IP address is assigned to the relay device 1 corresponding to each management server, and a database in which the telephone number of the management server is associated with the IP address of the relay device 1 in advance is stored in the storage devices 1102 and 1112 of the terminal devices. Keep it.

When connecting from the terminal device to the management server, the telephone number of the management server of the connection destination given by EPG or the like and the relay device 1 corresponding to the telephone number of the management server from the database stored in the storage device. The IP address is read, and a message is transmitted to the relay device 1 using the cable modem.

The relay device 1 having received the message from the terminal device connects to the corresponding management server using a telephone modem, and transmits the message from the terminal to the management server.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the relay device 1.

The relay device 1 has a telephone modem interface for connecting to a management server and an Ethernet interface for connecting to a cable modem terminating device, and a storage device for holding an IP address assigned to the relay device 1 itself. From the Ethernet packet input from the cable modem termination device.
The packet is extracted, the destination address in the header of the IP packet is replaced with the address of the management server, and the telephone modem of the management server and Point-To-PointProt
An ocol (PPP) connection is made and an IP packet is transmitted to the management server.

The data from the management server is the same as the IP packet received via the telephone modem.
The data is transmitted to the terminal device via the cable interface terminating device via the net interface.

By installing such a relay device 1 in the center device, it becomes possible for the terminal device to perform connection regardless of whether the connection destination management server is in a telephone modem environment or a LAN environment.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 illustrates Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the second embodiment, a dial-up router is used as a relay device. In addition, each terminal device stores in advance a database in which the telephone number of the management server and the IP address assigned to the management server correspond to each other in a storage device. By comparing the telephone number of the management server described in (1) with the database held in the storage device, the IP address of the management server to be connected is read, and the data is transmitted to the read IP address using the cable modem.

Although a dial-up router has been described as a relay device, the present invention is not limited to this as long as the relay device has a telephone modem function and an Ethernet interface and has an IP packet routing function.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 illustrates a third embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that if the management server in the telephone modem environment is connected to an external telephone modem by a serial cable as shown in FIG. The point that the connection with the relay device 2 shown in b) is performed by a serial connection instead of using a telephone modem.

When a router having a serial interface and an Ethernet interface is used in place of the relay device 2, the second embodiment is followed.

(Fourth Embodiment) In the fourth embodiment, the telephone number of the management server in the telephone modem environment, which is previously stored in the storage device of the terminal device in the first to third embodiments, and is assigned to the relay device. IP address or telephone number of management server and IP assigned to management server
By incorporating the address into the EPG information distributed from the center device, it is possible to manage the telephone modem environment without having a storage device in each terminal device and from a terminal device having a telephone modem or a terminal device having a cable modem. It is possible to connect to the server.

(Embodiment 5) In Embodiment 5, the telephone number of the management server in the telephone modem environment, which is stored in the storage device of the terminal device in Embodiments 1 to 3, and is assigned to the relay device. IP address or telephone number of management server and IP assigned to management server
The address can be dynamically given to the terminal device by placing the DHCP server on the center side. Although terminal devices are used in various regions, the capacity of a storage device may be small because only necessary region information is received from a DHCP server.
Address changes can be easily handled.

In the second to fifth embodiments, the management server in the telephone modem environment and the IP assigned to the management server
When connecting a terminal to a management server by associating an address with the management server, if the relay device such as a dial-up router / router has a plurality of management server-side interfaces, it is not always necessary to associate the management server with the relay device one-to-one. Instead, one relay device may be used for a plurality of management servers.

[0030]

As described above, by using the present invention, a management server having a telephone modem function and an Ethernet server are provided.
Even in a center device in which a management server having an et function is mixed, the terminal can connect to the management server using only the cable modem function without having a telephone modem.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a relay device 1 used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates Embodiment 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating Embodiment 3;

FIG. 5A is a configuration diagram of a management server used in a third embodiment. FIG. 5B is a configuration diagram of a relay device 2 used in a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining Conventional Example 1;

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining Conventional Example 2;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a third conventional example.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takahiro Uohashi 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C064 BA01 BB05 BC16 BC18 BC20 BD02 BD09 5K033 AA09 BA07 CB09 DA01 DA05 DA16 DB09 DB12 DB14 DB18 EC04 5K101 KK18 LL01 LL05 LL06 MM05 MM07 PP03

Claims (7)

[Claims] In a cable television system capable of using a cable modem, a center apparatus includes a management server 1 having a telephone modem section and a management server 2 having a LAN interface section.
An interface unit, a relay device having a data conversion unit for converting a part of data, a cable modem termination device, and a distribution server for distributing video data and the like to subscribers' homes. The management server 2 is connected to the cable modem terminating device via a device, and the management server 2 is connected to the cable modem terminating device in a LAN environment, and includes a center device and a cable modem unit installed at the subscriber's house. A telephone device and a terminal device including a storage device that holds a database in which the IP address of the relay device associated with the management server 1 is previously stored are connected by a cable line, and the terminal device is connected to the management server 1. When connecting, the IP address of the relay device corresponding to the telephone number of the management server 1 is obtained from the database held in the storage device. It reads the address, characterized in that connected to the management server 1 using the cable modem, a cable television system. 2. In a cable television system capable of using a cable modem, a center device includes a management server 1 having a telephone modem unit and a management server 2 having a LAN interface unit.
An interface unit, a relay device having an IP packet routing function, a cable modem terminating device, and a distribution server that distributes video data and the like to subscribers' homes, wherein the management server 1 is connected via the relay device The management server 2 is connected to the cable modem
Is connected to the cable modem termination device in the LAN environment,
A cable line unit is provided between the center device and a cable modem unit installed at the subscriber's house, and a terminal device including a storage device that holds a database in which the telephone number of the management server 1 is associated with the IP address of the management server 1 in advance. When the terminal device connects to the management server 1, the IP address of the management server 1 corresponding to the telephone number of the management server 1 is read from the database held in the storage device, and the terminal is connected to the management server 1. A cable television system connected to the management server 1. 3. The control server according to claim 1, wherein the management server has a serial interface and is serially connected to a relay device having the serial interface.
3. The cable television system according to 2. 4. The cable television system according to claim 2, wherein the relay device is a dial-up router including a LAN interface unit and a telephone modem unit. 5. The cable television system according to claim 2, wherein the relay device is a router including a LAN interface unit and a serial interface unit. 6. The cable television system according to claim 1, wherein a telephone number of the management server 1 and data of an IP address corresponding to the telephone number are distributed to a terminal device by an electronic program guide. 7. A DHCP server is arranged in a center device, and data of a telephone number of the management server 1 and an IP address corresponding thereto are dynamically notified to a terminal device by a DHCP protocol. The cable television system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.