JP2003348568A - System and method for stopping validity of nonpayment terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal validity stop system for stopping the use validity of a terminal device when a fee is not paid within a prescribed period by a host station monitoring fee payment of a terminal device side. <P>SOLUTION: The terminal validity stop system of present invention includes the terminal device and the host station connected to the terminal device and for transmitting to the terminal device requested information in response to a request from the terminal device. The host station monitors fee payment of the terminal device side. If the fee is not paid within the prescribed period, the host station stops the use validity of the terminal device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for stopping use of a terminal device under the control of a host station when a user of the terminal device fails to pay a fee within a predetermined period. This is a technology for the information provider, a bureau, to perform sound management.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the provision of information by satellite communication has become widespread. For example, in satellite broadcasting, various video information is provided from a specific broadcasting station to an unspecified number of viewers. It is also known to perform data communication using a communication satellite. However, since wireless communication does not have a configuration in which communication is performed by a shake hand like a telephone line and this can be managed by a telephone station, payment of an information use fee is exclusively left to the user of the terminal device.

Therefore, the inventor provides information from the host station by wireless communication such as satellite communication or terrestrial communication, while the terminal device uploads the type and number of acquired information to the host station via a wired public line. This has led to the development of a technique for grasping the information use situation (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-322615). In these technologies, the terminal device receives data by wireless communication in order to use paid information, and if all data is received, sends a completion signal to the host station via a wired line, and the host station completes charging confirmation It is anticipated that the system will transmit a signal to the effect that the information has been transmitted, and will be able to use the information when the terminal device confirms the signal. In this system, the media for supplying information and the media for reporting the usage status to the host station are different.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned example, since the confirmation that the fee has been paid is performed every time the information is used, it is very complicated and burdens the host station and the terminal device. large. Also, if such a procedure is required for each piece of information, even if continuous use of information is requested, the confirmation procedure must be taken each time, and the line connection time will be the same. This is extra, and the host station is forced to reduce the efficiency due to the deterioration of traffic.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned defect, and to upload a use situation from a terminal device at a time designated by a host station and to control the use of the terminal device on the host station side. It is.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a host station and a terminal device communicate with each other via a wireless line or a wired line. It has a unique ID of the terminal device and a customer database relating to the number of times of use of information and payment of fees,
The unique ID in response to a request from the terminal device
And a host station that wirelessly transmits the requested information, receives a signal transmitted from the host station, receives and processes only a signal having a unique ID owned by the host station, and uses an information charge via a wired line. A terminal device for performing bidirectional communication for confirming charging for the host device, wherein the terminal device transmits an ID unique to the terminal device via a wired line at an access date and time specified by the host station, and Accessing the station, the host station searches the customer database based on the unique ID, and when the fee payment has been updated, sends the next available period update and the next access date and time to the terminal device. On the other hand, if you do not want to confirm the renewal of the payment, specify the renewal of the short-term usable period and the access date and time after the short-term When the up access time not confirm payment, and when not verify access used a means of delivering the service suspension signal from the host station to the terminal device. A wired public line was used for access between the host station and the terminal device via a wired line.

[0007]

The host station communicates with the receiving terminal both wirelessly and by wire. The wireless communication performs a one-way communication function for information communication from the host station, and the wired line charges a proper information usage fee. Performs a two-way communication function for confirmation. Further, the customer database in the host station stores, as data, a unique ID management for each of a plurality of terminal devices, the number of requests, the presence or absence of payment of a fee until a predetermined time, and the like. Serves as the underlying data for the means. Then, the presence or absence of payment is confirmed by searching this customer database. When the payment is being performed, the terminal device has an effect of updating the available time at which the terminal device can make a request. Further, by designating the next access date and time, further confirmation of the payment of the fee proceeds. On the other hand, the update of the available time in a short time and the designation of the access date and time when there is no confirmation of the payment of the fee function for the final processing procedure leading to the suspension of the use.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a receiving terminal device. Reference numeral 1 denotes a terminal controller for controlling the entire device and simultaneously processing transmission / reception data, and performs processing and control for all the terminal devices. The radio wave received by the antenna 2 is subjected to frequency conversion and amplification by the converter 3,
The tuner 4 performs detection and channel selection. If the received signal has been scrambled, it is decoded by the descrambling device 5, and if not, the data is directly processed. When the signal is an analog signal such as a video signal or an audio signal, the signal is directly input from the tuner 4 to the video converter 6 or the audio converter 7 and output as it is to a display or an amplifier. On the other hand, in the case of a digital signal, the video data is processed by the terminal controller 1 and output to the video converter 6 as video data, and is converted into a video signal by the video converter 6. Also, MI
In the case of a DI signal or a PCM signal, the data is similarly processed by the terminal controller 1 and then output to the audio processing device 7, where it is converted into an analog audio signal and output to a display or an amplifier. If the signal is a digital signal of another form, it is input to a device suitable for data via the external interface 8. Here, whether the type of the received signal is analog or digital is determined by the CPU installed inside the terminal controller 1. Reference numeral 9 denotes a storage device that stores data and processing procedures unique to the terminal device,
Further, a buffer memory for storing transmitted data or for temporarily storing transmitted data corresponds to the buffer memory.

In this embodiment, various information requested by the terminal device is supplied from the host station by wireless communication means such as satellite communication, and the modem 10 is used to request information from the host station and exchange accounting information with the host station. This is performed by a wired public line 11 such as a telephone. FIG. 2 illustrates the configuration of the host station. In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes a database in which various information is stored.
Under the control of 3, the individual data is read out from the database 12 at random according to the order determined by the request from the terminal device or the order of the request,
The signal is transmitted to the ground station 15 via the dedicated line 14. Ground station 15
Then, necessary modulation and conversion are performed according to the type of radio wave, and the signal is transmitted as a transmission signal via the antenna 16. The database 12 has a database relating to customer information, and it is assumed that the ID of each terminal device, whether each terminal device has paid an information usage fee, and the like are appropriately updated.
Reference numeral 17 denotes a network control device, which is connected to the terminal device through either a dedicated line or a public line. The transmission / reception protocol of the line is arbitrary, and any of analog and digital signals can be transmitted.

In these devices, the host station and the terminal device perform a series of exchanges. Regarding the transmission of information required by the terminal device, if a request is made from the terminal device via the public line 11, The host station basically searches the database 12 and transmits the corresponding data from the ground station 15 together with the unique ID of the terminal device. If the ID cannot be verified, the received data cannot be used to prevent unauthorized use by a third party. In the present invention, instead of performing these operations unconditionally, a procedure for confirming that the fee has been properly paid is performed irrespective of a request from the terminal device. The procedure is described below in detail. First, irrespective of the information request from the terminal device, the terminal device periodically accesses the host station and sends out the terminal-specific ID written in the storage device 9. A flash ROM is appropriate as the storage device 9 in this case. The host station searches and confirms the customer database using the received ID as a search condition, and outputs the result to the terminal device. If the transmitted ID does not exist in the customer database and cannot be confirmed, the host station disconnects the line and ends the procedure.
If the host station confirms the registration of the ID, it is further confirmed whether or not the payment of the fee up to the previous time has been completed, and if the payment can be confirmed, the use period is updated and the use permission signal is sent to the terminal device. , And the access date and time for the next fee payment confirmation, and the terminal device updates these data in the storage device 9. As a result, the terminal device can access the host station and request a necessary information until the updated available period.

[0011] Next, when the unique ID of the terminal device can be confirmed, but the payment of the usage fee cannot be confirmed, the host station updates the available period for a very short time and responds to this. Specify the access date and time for confirming payment after a short period. Then, the same confirmation procedure is performed at the access date and time specified in this way, and if the appropriate fee payment has not been updated in the customer database, the host station sends a use stop signal to the terminal device. As a mechanism for suspending use, for example, means for rewriting a decryption program written in the descrambler 5 or a means for not transmitting any ID corresponding to a terminal apparatus suspended for use from the host station is employed. At the same time, in order to prevent unauthorized use of information, the descrambling procedure is also updated as appropriate, and by specifying the date and time when the new procedure starts, it is possible to decrypt only the terminal device that has been properly paid Become.

In this embodiment, the access date and time is an important requirement for confirming the payment of the fee, but the internal clock of the terminal device is adjusted to the internal clock of the host station every time the access is made. Therefore, even if an error occurs in the clock, the error does not become large, and the presence or absence of access from the terminal device can be managed by the host station. In other words, when the terminal device does not access the host station at a predetermined date and time, the terminal device controls the terminal device by actively transmitting a use stop signal from the host station when a certain allowable error time has elapsed. can do.

[0013]

According to the present invention, in parallel with the procedure for transmitting the requested information from the host station to the terminal device, the terminal device periodically accesses the host station from the terminal device.
Make sure you ’re paying for information usage,
If a confirmation is received, the usable period is further updated, and if payment is not confirmed, the access date and time after a short period is specified and the confirmation procedure is performed again. Since the suspension of use is performed, a grace period is given to the user, and the inconvenience of sudden suspension of use can be avoided. In addition, since the information provider can also perform the checking work periodically, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use for a long period of time and to provide sound information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal block diagram of a terminal device;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a host station.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Terminal controller 2 Antenna 3 Converter 4 Tuner 5 Descrambler 6 Video converter 7 Voice converter 8 Interface 9 Storage device 10 Modem 11 Public line 12 Database 13 Host computer 14 Dedicated line 15 ground station 16 Antenna

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] April 30, 2003 (2003.4.3.
0)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Patent application title: System for suspending use of a terminal for which payment has not been made and its method

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Claim 1 further comprising a plurality of information storing databases, and a customer database of unique ID and information use count and payment of a plurality of terminal devices, the unique ID
A host station that transmits information together with the terminal, and a terminal device that receives a signal transmitted from the host station, receives and processes a signal having a unique ID owned by the host station, and has a CPU. The device is connected by a dedicated line or a public line.Each of the terminal device and the host station is provided with an internal clock, and the internal clock of the terminal device is adjusted to the internal clock of the host station. The information transmitted from the host station to the terminal device includes a video signal and / or an audio signal, and the audio signal is a MIDI signal or a PCM signal. And the host station is accessed. Based on the unique ID, the host station searches the customer database and completes payment. When the payment is not confirmed at the next access date and time between the host station and the terminal device, when the payment is not confirmed, the terminal device is not confirmed by the end of the grace period of the terminal device. In this system, a terminal usage suspension system for which payment has not been paid will be suspended.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein a use stop signal is sent from the host station to the terminal device when the use of the terminal device is stopped.

3. The terminal use suspension system according to claim 2, wherein the use suspension signal includes a signal for changing a decoding program of a descrambling device provided in the terminal device.

4. A database storing a large amount of information, a unique ID of a plurality of terminal devices, and a customer database relating to the number of times information is used and payment of fees, wherein the unique ID
A host station that transmits information together with the terminal, and a terminal device that receives a signal transmitted from the host station, receives and processes a signal having a unique ID owned by the host station, and has a CPU. The device is connected by a dedicated line or a public line.Each of the terminal device and the host station is provided with an internal clock, and the internal clock of the terminal device is adjusted to the internal clock of the host station. The information transmitted from the host station to the terminal device includes a video signal and / or an audio signal, and the audio signal is a MIDI signal or a PCM signal. Access to the station, and the host station searches the customer database based on the unique ID and completes the payment. If the payment completion is confirmed, the host station and the terminal device can be updated at the next access date and time, and if the payment completion is not confirmed, the terminal device grace period A method of stopping use of a terminal that has not paid a fee, wherein the terminal device stops using the terminal device when payment is not confirmed by the end of the period.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein when the use of the terminal device is suspended, a use suspension signal is transmitted from the host station to the terminal device.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the use stop signal includes a signal for changing a decoding program of a descrambling device provided in the terminal device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A terminal device, comprising: a terminal device connected to the terminal device; and a host station for transmitting the requested information to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device. A terminal use suspension system for monitoring payment of the fee and stopping the use of the terminal device if the fee is not paid within a predetermined period.