JP2003273708A - Receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a receiver capable of excluding overlapped registration when automatically registering programs and shortening time to be required for registration. <P>SOLUTION: When a user continuously depresses an automatic M key formed on an operation part 10, a control part 9 extracts n broadcasting channels satisfying a prescribed standard from many receivable broadcasting channels without considering differences in the contents of programs, excluding channels having the same program contents from the extracted n broadcasting channels and finally registers m broadcasting channels smaller than the n broadcasting channels. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a receiver for receiving multi-channel programs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For various vehicles such as passenger cars and trucks,
Various receivers such as an AM radio receiver, an FM radio receiver or a radio data system RDS (Radio Data System) receiver are installed. In addition, many of these receivers have a so-called preset function that allows a predetermined number of pre-registered channels to be registered among a large number of receivable channels and that the registered channels can be switched by a simple operation. Have In particular, receivers equipped with a function called auto memory, auto scan or auto seek that automatically registers multiple channels in this preset function (hereinafter collectively referred to as "auto memory function"), Since it is not necessary to specify the channel to be registered each time, it is possible to register the channel and use the preset function with a simple operation. For example, the operation by the auto memory function is started by pressing a predetermined key provided on the operation unit, and a predetermined number of channels are extracted and registered in order of good reception sensitivity.

[0003]

By the way, there are cases where a plurality of broadcasting stations construct a network for broadcasting the same program content, and depending on the driving place of the vehicle equipped with the receiver, it is within the reception band. There are multiple channels with overlapping program content. Therefore, when the auto memory function is used in the conventional receiver described above, there is a problem that a plurality of channels having the same program content are registered. In such a case, the content of the program may not change even if the user switches channels,
This is not preferable because programs with the same contents are repeatedly received, which deteriorates operability.

Further, in the RDS receiver or the like, by checking the PI code (program identification code) included in the received program information of each channel, it is possible to know whether or not the received content of each channel is the same. Therefore, when extracting a predetermined number of channels using the auto memory function, it is possible to use this PI code to check the duplication of the reception information of each channel. However, this PI code can be extracted by 250 m per channel. Since it takes about a second, if the number of channels increases (for example, 10
If it exceeds 0), there is a problem that it takes a long time just to register a predetermined number of channels using the auto memory function, which is not practical.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is a receiver capable of eliminating duplicate registration when automatically registering a program and shortening the time required for registration. To provide.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the receiver of the present invention can receive the program information corresponding to the broadcast channel included in the reception band, and the receiver can receive the program information. Channel extraction means for extracting n broadcast channels satisfying a predetermined criterion from a plurality of broadcast channels without considering the difference in program content corresponding to each, and n broadcast channels extracted by the channel extraction means. Based on the program content determination means for determining the difference between the program content corresponding to each channel, and the determination result by the program content determination means, the program content is duplicated from the n broadcast channels extracted by the channel extraction means. The channel selecting means for selecting m less than n and the channel selecting means And a channel registration means for registering the-option is the m channels were. When the number of registered broadcast channels is m, a number n of broadcast channels larger than this m is extracted, and then broadcast channels having duplicate program contents are removed from the broadcast channels to finally obtain m broadcast channels. Since the selection is made, the time required for registration can be shortened as compared with the case where the difference in program content is determined for all broadcast channels included in the reception band. Further, since n broadcast channels, which are larger than the number of registrations m, are extracted so that duplicate registration can be eliminated, duplicate registration can be reliably eliminated.

[0007] Further, the reception strength detecting means for detecting the reception strength for each broadcast channel is further provided, and the above-mentioned channel extracting means is based on the detection result by the reception strength detecting means, and the n number of broadcasts in descending order of the reception sensitivity. It is desirable to extract channels. N in descending order of reception strength
By extracting individual broadcast channels, it becomes possible to register broadcast channels with good reception quality.

Further, the apparatus further comprises frequency sweeping means for sweeping the receiving frequency in a predetermined direction, and the receiving frequency is swept by the above-mentioned frequency sweeping means to thereby switch the broadcast channels to be received by the receiving means in order. It is desirable to detect the reception intensity of each broadcast channel by the intensity detection means. By detecting the reception sensitivity and sweeping the broadcast channel while sweeping the reception frequency, it is possible to reliably perform registration processing for all broadcast channels within the reception band.

Further, the reception information of a plurality of broadcast channels receivable by the above-mentioned receiving means is multiplexed corresponding to a received signal having one or a plurality of receiving frequencies, and the channel extracting means is provided for each broadcasting channel. It is particularly desirable to extract n broadcast channels in ascending order of error rate of received data corresponding to the channels. In various digital broadcasting receivers, etc., a method of multiplexing a plurality of broadcasting channels into one reception frequency and effectively using radio waves of each reception frequency is adopted, but in such a case,
Register the broadcast channels with good reception quality by checking the error rate of the demodulated data for each broadcast channel and extracting the broadcast channels in ascending order, instead of checking the reception intensity for each reception frequency. It becomes possible to do.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a receiver according to an embodiment. The receiver 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for receiving the program information of each broadcast channel included in the reception band, and includes an antenna 1, a front end unit (FE unit) 2, and an FM.
The demodulation unit 3, the RDS decoding unit 4, the audio decoding unit 5, the digital-analog (D / A) conversion unit 6, the amplifier 7, the speaker 8, the control unit 9, the operation unit 10, and the display unit 12 are included. .

The front end unit 2 extracts a desired reception frequency (tuning frequency) component from the broadcast wave received via the antenna 1 and also performs an frequency conversion on the extracted signal to obtain an intermediate frequency signal. Is amplified and output. For this purpose, the front end unit 2 includes a high frequency amplifier 22, a local oscillator 24, a mixing circuit 26, a band pass filter (BPF) 28, and an intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier 30. The high frequency amplifier 22 high frequency amplifies the reception signal input via the antenna 1. Local oscillator 24
Is composed of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 32 and a phase locked loop (PLL) control unit 34, and generates a control voltage based on the reception frequency setting signal output from the control unit 9 and the oscillation output from the VCO 32, The VCO 32 oscillates at a frequency according to this control voltage. PLL control unit 3
Reference numeral 4 internally has a variable frequency divider whose frequency division ratio can be changed. By varying the frequency division ratio in accordance with a reception frequency setting signal output from the control unit 9, the oscillation frequency of the VCO 32 is changed. Is changed.

The mixing circuit 26 performs frequency conversion by mixing the signal output from the high frequency amplifier 22 and the signal output from the local oscillator 24. The bandpass filter 28 outputs an intermediate frequency signal obtained by extracting only a predetermined frequency component from the frequency-converted signal. This intermediate frequency signal has a constant frequency irrespective of the reception frequency, and when the reception frequency is changed, the oscillation frequency of the local oscillation unit 24 can be changed by the reception frequency setting signal output from the control unit 9. Good.

The intermediate frequency amplifier 30 amplifies the intermediate frequency signal of a constant frequency output from the band pass filter 28, and AM-detects the amplified intermediate frequency signal to detect the received electric field strength signal corresponding to the tuning frequency. Is output. In addition, the FM demodulation unit 3 shown in FIG. 1 uses the FM demodulation unit 3 for the intermediate frequency signal output from the front end unit 2.
The detection processing is performed to separate the FM multiplexed signal multiplexed in the FM broadcast, and the separated signal is input to the RDS decoding unit 4.

The RDS decoding unit 4 performs differential detection on the FM multiplex signal output from the FM demodulation unit 3 to reproduce a bit clock and demodulate a bit data string. The audio decoding unit 5 performs a process of converting the demodulated data output from the RDS decoding unit 4 into, for example, PCM audio data. Digital-analog converter 6
Converts the PCM audio data output from the audio decoding unit 5 into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal. The amplifier 7 amplifies the analog signal output from the digital-analog converter 6, and the amplified audio signal is output from the speaker 8.

The control section 9 controls each section of the receiver 100 in response to an operation instruction given by using the operation section 10 to set a tuning frequency in the front end section 2, and
Various control operations relating to the receiving operation of the receiver 100 are performed, such as processing for realizing the auto memory function. This control unit 9
Has a configuration as a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and performs a control operation by executing a predetermined software (program) stored in the ROM or the RAM.

The operation unit 10 is provided with various operation keys for inputting operation instructions by the user. The operation keys include an "Auto M" key that is pressed when the user instructs registration of a broadcast channel corresponding to the auto memory function or calls each registered broadcast channel. The display unit 12 is for displaying the reception frequency of the broadcast channel being received and the operation status by the user, and is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display device (LCD).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the function of the control unit 9 by focusing on its function. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 9 includes a reception processing unit 91 and a channel extraction unit 9
2, a program content determination unit 93, a channel selection unit 94, a reception intensity detection unit 95, a reception frequency sweep unit 96, and a channel registration unit 97.

The reception processing unit 91 controls the front end unit 2 and the like in order to receive the program information corresponding to each broadcast channel and output the sound of each program. When the user presses the auto M key provided in the operation unit 10 to instruct the automatic registration of the broadcast channel by the auto memory function, the channel extraction unit 92 registers from among the many broadcast channels included in the reception band. N (for example, 2m) larger than the number m is extracted. The extraction of the broadcast channel is performed in the order of strong reception strength (reception field strength).
The program content determination unit 93 determines whether or not the program content corresponding to each of the n broadcast channels extracted by the channel extraction unit 92 is the same.
This determination is made by comparing the PI code included in the data demodulated by the RDS decoding unit 4. The channel selection unit 94 selects m broadcast programs from the n broadcast channels extracted by the channel extraction unit 92 based on the determination result by the program content determination unit 93 so that the program content does not overlap. Reception strength detection unit 95
Detects the reception intensity of each broadcast channel based on the reception electric field intensity signal output from the intermediate frequency amplifier 30. The reception frequency sweeping unit 96 displays the contents of the reception frequency setting signal to be input to the front end unit 2 when the automatic M key provided in the operation unit 10 is pressed to instruct the automatic registration of the broadcast channel by the auto memory function. The reception frequency in the front end unit 2 is swept in one direction by continuously changing it. The channel registration unit 97 registers the m broadcasting channels finally selected by the auto memory function.

The above-mentioned antenna 1, front end section 2, FM demodulation section 3, RDS decoding section 4, audio decoding section 5, digital-analog conversion section 6, amplifier 7,
The speaker 8 and the reception processing unit 91 serve as a receiving unit, the channel extracting unit 92 serves as a channel extracting unit, and the program content determining unit 9
3 is the program content determining means, the channel selecting section 94 is the channel selecting means, the receiving intensity detecting section 95 is the receiving intensity detecting means, the receiving frequency sweeping section 96 is the frequency sweeping means, and the channel registering section 97 is the channel registering means. Corresponds to each.

3 and 4 are flow charts showing the operation procedure of the receiver 100 which realizes the auto memory function. For example, when the auto memory key is pressed for a long time, automatic registration of broadcast channels by the auto memory function is instructed, and when the auto memory key is pressed for a short time, the m broadcast channels automatically registered by the auto memory function. Is to be read.

(1) Broadcast channel using auto memory function
Registration operation of channel When the power of the receiver 100 is turned on, the reception processing unit 91 in the control unit 9 determines whether or not the auto M key provided in the operation unit 10 has been pressed and held (step 100). When the user presses and holds the auto M key for a long time to instruct automatic registration of a broadcast channel using the auto memory function, a positive determination is made in step 100,
Next, the reception frequency sweeping unit 96 changes the content of the reception frequency setting signal input to the front end unit 2 and sweeps the reception frequency in one direction, for example, from the lower limit frequency of the reception band to a gradually higher frequency (step). 103). In parallel with this frequency sweep operation, the reception frequency sweep unit 96 determines whether the sweep frequency has reached the upper limit frequency of the reception band (step 104), and the channel extraction unit 92 determines whether a broadcast channel exists. It is determined whether or not (step 10)
5). Whether or not there is a broadcast channel can be determined based on the reception intensity detected by the reception intensity detection unit 95. If no broadcast channel is detected, the process returns to step 103 and the frequency sweep operation is repeated.

If a broadcast channel is detected during the frequency sweep operation, an affirmative decision is made in the decision at step 105, and then the channel extraction section 92
It is determined whether or not the reception intensity of this broadcast channel is included in the top n of the broadcast channels detected so far (step 106). If it is included in the top n, an affirmative determination is made, and then the channel registration unit 97 temporarily registers this broadcast channel (step 107).
After the temporary registration of the broadcast channel is completed, or when the received intensity of the detected broadcast channel is not included in the top n channels and a negative determination is made in the determination of step 106, the process returns to step 103 to perform the frequency sweep operation. Is repeated.

In this way, in parallel with the frequency sweep operation, n broadcast channels with the highest reception intensity are detected. Then, when the sweep frequency reaches the upper limit frequency of the reception band, an affirmative determination is made in the determination in step 104,
Next, the channel selection unit 94 uses the channel registration unit 97.
From the n broadcast channels temporarily registered by, one is read out in the order of strongest reception intensity (step 108).
Next, the program content determination unit 93 acquires the PI code for this read broadcast channel (step 10).
9). The acquisition of the PI code is performed by actually matching the reception frequency with the broadcast channel and receiving the data. Further, when the PI code is acquired, the program content determination unit 93 duplicates the PI code of the broadcast channel that has already been main-registered (this main registration means final registration, which is different from the temporary registration described above). It is determined whether or not (step 110). If they do not overlap, a negative determination is made, and then the channel registration unit 97 performs main registration of broadcast channels whose PI codes do not overlap (step 111). Thereafter, the channel selection unit 94 determines whether or not the number of broadcast channels main-registered by the channel registration unit 97 has reached m (step 11).
2) If not achieved, a negative determination is made, and then the channel selection unit 94 determines whether or not there is another temporarily registered broadcast channel that has not been read (step 113). . If there is another broadcast channel that has not been read, an affirmative determination is made, and the process returns to step 108 described above to perform the read process of the broadcast channel with the next strongest reception intensity.

The PI of the read broadcast channel
As a result of checking the code, the P
If it overlaps with the I code, an affirmative decision is made in the decision at step 110. In this case, since it is sufficient to perform main registration only on the broadcast channel that has already been main-registered and has a high reception intensity, the processing such as main registration of the newly read broadcast channel is omitted, and The process shifts to the presence / absence determination process for another broadcast channel 113. When the number of main-registered broadcast channels reaches m (in the case of affirmative determination in step 112), or when there are no provisionally registered broadcast channels that have not been read out (in the case of negative determination in step 113). The registration operation of a series of broadcast channels using the auto memory function ends.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of the registration operation using the auto memory function. In FIG. 5, horizontal arrows indicate the frequency sweeping direction, and a to p indicate temporarily registered broadcast channels (n = 1 in this case).
2, m = 6). Further, the numbers 1 to 6 attached to the broadcast channels indicated by a to p indicate the values of the PI code. As shown in FIG. 5, 12 broadcast channels are extracted in descending order of reception strength during the frequency sweep. At this stage, the difference in the program content due to the PI code has not been checked, and therefore multiple broadcasts having the same PI code are extracted. Even if a channel exists, if the reception strength is strong, it will be temporarily registered as it is.
Next, for the 12 temporarily registered broadcast channels, P
The same program content is excluded by using the I code, and among a plurality of broadcast channels having the same PI code, only the channel with the highest reception intensity is main-registered. In this way, finally, only the six broadcast channels indicated by A to F are main-registered.

(2) Registered using the auto memory function
When the user presses the Auto M key for a short time, a negative determination is made in the determination at step 101 described above. In this case, the reception processing unit 91 reads out one of the m broadcast channels registered by the channel registration unit 97 in the order of registration, that is, in the order of strong reception intensity (step 102). In this way, each time the Auto M key is pressed, the broadcast channels that are main-registered are read one by one, and the receiving operation of the corresponding program is performed. Instead of reading in the order of the highest received intensity, the broadcast channels may be called in the order of the lowest received frequency, or in the case where the numbers are assigned to the broadcast channels, the smallest number.

As described above, in the receiver 100 of this embodiment, when the number of registered broadcast channels (the number of main registrations) is m, a number n of broadcast channels larger than this m is extracted and provisionally registered. After that, the broadcast channels having the duplicated program content are removed from them, and m broadcast channels are finally selected, so that the program content using the PI code is selected for all the broadcast channels included in the reception band. The time required for registration can be shortened as compared with the case where the difference determination is performed. Further, since n broadcast channels, which are larger than the final registration number m, are extracted so that duplicate registration can be eliminated, duplicate registration can be reliably eliminated. Further, when performing the respective processes of the temporary registration and the main registration, the broadcast channels are extracted in descending order of the reception intensity, so that it is possible to register the broadcast channels with good reception quality.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in the embodiment described above,
Although the RDS receiver capable of determining the difference in program content based on the PI code has been described, the present invention can be applied to various receivers including a television receiver as long as it is possible to determine the difference in program content. Can be applied.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, n broadcast channels are extracted by performing frequency sweep, but in the case where a large number of broadcast channels are multiplexed on one or a plurality of reception frequencies. Specifies all the receivable broadcast channels in order by specifying the channel number, etc., checks the error rate of the data for each broadcast channel, and extracts n broadcast channels in order from the lowest error rate. register. Then, m may be selected from these n provisionally registered broadcast channels in ascending order of error rate and main registration may be performed.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the number of registered broadcast channels is m, a number n of broadcast channels larger than the number m is extracted, and then duplicated program contents are extracted from the extracted broadcast channels. Since the broadcast channel having is removed and m broadcast channels are finally selected,
The time required for registration can be shortened as compared with the case of determining the difference in program content for all broadcast channels included in the reception band. Further, since n broadcast channels, which are larger than the number of registrations m, are extracted so that duplicate registration can be eliminated, duplicate registration can be reliably eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiver according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control unit by functional blocks focusing on its function.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a receiver that realizes an auto memory function.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a receiver that realizes an auto memory function.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a registration operation using an auto memory function.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Front end part 3 FM demodulator 4 RDS decoding section 5 Audio decoding section 9 control unit 10 Operation part 91 Reception processing unit 92 Channel extractor 93 Program content judgment unit 94 channel selector 95 Reception strength detector 96 Reception frequency sweep unit 97 Channel registration section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving program information corresponding to a broadcast channel included in a reception band, and n broadcast channels satisfying a predetermined standard among a plurality of broadcast channels receivable by the receiving means,
Channel extraction means for extracting without considering the difference in program content corresponding to each, and program content determination for determining the difference in program content corresponding to each of the n broadcast channels extracted by the channel extraction means Means, and based on the determination result by the program content determination means, the program content is prevented from overlapping among the n broadcast channels extracted by the channel extraction means.
A receiver comprising: channel selecting means for selecting m channels, which is less than the number of channels, and channel registration means for registering the m broadcast channels selected by the channel selecting means. 2. The reception intensity detecting means according to claim 1, further comprising: a reception intensity detecting means for detecting a reception intensity for each of the broadcast channels, wherein the channel extracting means is based on a detection result by the reception intensity detecting means. A receiver characterized by extracting n broadcast channels in descending order of. 3. The broadcasting system according to claim 2, further comprising frequency sweeping means for sweeping the reception frequency in a predetermined direction, wherein the receiving means sweeps the reception frequency so that the receiving means sequentially receives the broadcast channels. A receiver characterized in that the reception intensity of each of the broadcast channels is detected by the reception intensity detecting means while switching to. 4. The reception information according to claim 1, wherein the reception information of the plurality of broadcast channels receivable by the reception means is multiplexed corresponding to a reception signal having one or a plurality of reception frequencies, and the channel extraction is performed. The receiver extracts the n broadcast channels in the ascending order of the error rate of received data corresponding to each broadcast channel.