JP2004064590A - Digital broadcast receiver apparatus for mobile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast receiver apparatus for mobile equipment enabling instant area dependent switchover upon the receipt of a switchover instruction, taking into consideration a user's will in regard to the area dependent switchover. <P>SOLUTION: When a first receiver apparatus 30 for receiving digital terrestrial television broadcast waves is initiated by an user operation, operations of channel search and a information separation are performed by a second receiver apparatus 31 for receiving digital terrestrial radio broadcast waves, though these operations are inherently unnecessary. Namely, during the provision of a television program to the user using the first receiver apparatus 30, the second receiver apparatus 31 acquires information for receiving broadcasts so as to cope with the change of the receiving area. When the user issues the area dependent switchover instruction using a remote control transmitter 10, etc., a CPU 8 performs receiving frequency switchover processing in a tuner 2 based on information having been acquired for receiving the broadcasts at a location concerned. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting receiver for a mobile object which is used by being mounted on a mobile object such as an automobile.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Digital terrestrial broadcasting is scheduled to be broadcast by a plurality of broadcasting stations located in various places as seen in analog terrestrial broadcasting, and is not a unitary broadcasting like satellite digital broadcasting. That is, also in the terrestrial digital broadcasting, the broadcasting frequency arrangement is different for each broadcasting station as in the analog system. For this reason, when the digital broadcast receiving apparatus is mounted on a mobile object such as an automobile and receives broadcast waves while moving, the receivable broadcast changes one after another and the reception state is changed when the reception area overlaps. It is expected that the situation will not be stable.
[0003]
The navigation apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-300485 (IPC: G01C 21/00) is provided with a digital radio broadcast receiving unit and a GPS position detecting unit. And the traffic information acquired by the digital radio receiving means can be displayed on the display device.
[0004]
In addition, a receiving apparatus, a television receiver, and a receiving method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-169195 (IPC: H04N 5/44) include a digital broadcast receiving unit, an analog broadcast receiving unit, and position detection by GPS. Means for determining an optimum reception state based on the position information acquired by the position detection means and the reception strength of the analog broadcast wave and the digital broadcast wave.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-300485, the information obtained by the position detecting means is not used for the channel selection processing, and a receiving operation that can respond to a change in the receiving state cannot be performed. According to the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-169195, in a region where a plurality of broadcasts can be received, the user wants to continue to view the currently viewed broadcast, for example, but receives a signal from the reception level of the currently viewed broadcast. However, when the reception level of another broadcast becomes high, the user automatically switches to the reception of another broadcast.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a mobile digital broadcast receiving apparatus that can immediately perform regional switching when a switching command is issued while respecting the user's will for regional switching.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a mobile digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention includes two or more receiving units that receive terrestrial digital broadcast waves, and a receiving unit that presents information to a user. Means for performing a reception frequency switching process based on information for broadcast reception at the location when a regional switching command is issued, and reception of the broadcast at the location by a receiving unit that is not presenting information to the user. And means for controlling so as to obtain information for the above.
[0008]
With the above configuration, when the user issues a regional correspondence switching command, the information for broadcast reception at the location acquired in advance by the receiving unit that is not providing the information to the user is used. Based on this, the receiving frequency switching process is immediately performed. That is, when a switching command is issued while respecting the user's intention to switch to the regional correspondence, the regional switching can be performed immediately.
[0009]
Further, the mobile digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention, two or more receiving units for receiving terrestrial digital broadcast waves, and means for detecting a reception condition in the receiving unit that is providing information to the user, Means for presenting a message to the user in response to the change in the reception condition, and means for performing a reception frequency switching process based on information for broadcast reception in that location when a regional correspondence switching command is issued by the user, Means for controlling the receiving unit not presenting the information to the user to acquire the information for receiving the broadcast in the place.
[0010]
With the above configuration, if the reception condition deteriorates, for example, a message such as "The reception level has dropped and the area must be changed" is presented to the user. The receiving frequency switching process is immediately performed based on the information for broadcast reception in the place, which is acquired in advance by the receiving unit that is not providing the information to the receiver. That is, when a switching command is issued while respecting the user's intention to switch to the regional correspondence, the regional switching can be performed immediately.
[0011]
Preferably, there is provided means for displaying a list of broadcasts that can be selected on the screen. Further, in such a configuration, it is preferable that information on area identification is acquired from the broadcast wave and the area is displayed on a list of selectable broadcasts. For example, OO broadcast (Osaka) and OO broadcast (Kyoto) are displayed. In this case, if the moving object is heading from Kyoto to Osaka, the user can use OO broadcast (Osaka). By selecting), it is determined that appropriate regional correspondence switching has been performed.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a digital broadcast receiving system for a mobile object according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a reception area, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of reception intensity in each area. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation at the time of channel selection and the contents of the operation screen, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control contents.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile digital broadcast receiving system of this embodiment includes a first receiving device 30 for receiving a terrestrial digital television broadcast and a second receiving device 31 for receiving a terrestrial digital radio broadcast. .
[0014]
In the first receiving device 30, the antenna 1 receives a digital broadcast signal transmitted from a terrestrial broadcast station, and supplies the received signal to the tuner 2.
[0015]
The tuner 2 extracts a signal of a specific frequency from high-frequency digital modulation signals including video and audio data. Further, the tuner 2 includes a demodulation circuit, a deinterleave circuit, an error correction circuit, and the like, and thereby demodulates the selected digital modulation signal and outputs a transport stream.
[0016]
The demultiplexer (DEMUX) 3 receives the transport stream from the tuner 2 based on an instruction from the CPU 8, and outputs a video stream, an audio stream, and a PSI / SI (Program Specific Information / Service) of MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group2). (Information). The demultiplexer 3 supplies the video / audio stream to the AV decoder 4 and supplies auxiliary information such as PSI / SI to the CPU 8.
[0017]
The AV decoder 4 includes a video decoder that decodes a video stream and an audio decoder that decodes an audio stream. The video decoder obtains a quantized coefficient and a motion vector by decoding the input coded signal, and performs inverse DCT transform, motion compensation control based on the motion vector, and the like. The audio decoder decodes the input coded signal to generate audio data. The video data generated by the decoding is output to the video processing circuit 5, and the audio data is output to the audio processing circuit 6.
[0018]
The video processing circuit 5 receives the video data from the AV decoder 4, performs D / A conversion, and converts the data into, for example, an RGB video signal. The audio processing circuit 6 receives the audio data output from the AV decoder 4 and performs D / A conversion to generate, for example, an analog signal of a right (R) sound and an analog signal of a left (L) sound, or a main audio signal. And an analog signal of the sub audio. For example, a liquid crystal display is connected to the video processing circuit 5, and a speaker is connected to the audio processing circuit 6.
[0019]
The OSD (on-screen display) circuit 7 generates video data based on the character information and color information instructed by the CPU 8 to output the video data and incorporates the video data into the received video data output from the AV decoder 4. The OSD circuit 7 displays a menu screen, a message screen, and the like.
[0020]
The remote control transmitter 10 (see FIG. 4A) is a transmitter for sending a command to the broadcast receiving system. When a key of the remote control transmitter 10 is operated, a signal light (remote control signal) indicating a command corresponding to the key is transmitted from a light emitting unit (not shown). A remote control light receiver (not shown) receives the signal light, converts the signal light into an electric signal, and supplies the electric signal to the CPU 8.
[0021]
The memory (for example, an EEPROM or the like) 9 stores information for broadcast reception (channel search results, channel information in each network, and allocation information of frequencies corresponding thereto) and the like. A transport stream can form a plurality of channels in one stream, and thus a plurality of transport streams including one or a plurality of channels constitute one network. Further, the transport stream is provided with an identifier for a network or a channel in order to separate a desired channel for viewing. The network identifier is called a network ID. The channel identifier is given by the service ID. The transport stream has the service IDs of all the channels transmitted in the network and the allocation information of the frequencies corresponding to all the channels in the NIT (Network Information Table) in the PSI / SI.
[0022]
The second receiving device 31 includes an antenna 11, a tuner 12, a demultiplexer (DEMUX) 13, an A (audio) decoder 14, an audio processing circuit 15, and the like. For each of these elements, the same processing as that of each element in the first receiving device 30 is performed.
[0023]
The CPU 8 performs overall control in the digital broadcast receiving system. In particular, the CPU 8 executes the following processing as processing according to the present invention.
[0024]
Here, an example of the reception area is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows a receiving point A, a receiving point B, a receiving point C, a transmitting station D and its receiving area G, a transmitting station E and its receiving area H, a transmitting station F and its receiving area I. In FIG. 2, only the reception areas G, H, and I overlap, but actually, a case where more reception areas overlap may be considered. The transmitting station D, the transmitting station E, and the transmitting station F are assumed to be different broadcaster series, but it is assumed that the network IDs of the transmitting station D and the transmitting station F are the same.
[0025]
FIG. 3 shows the reception intensities of the broadcast waves from the transmitting station D, the transmitting station E, and the transmitting station F at the receiving point A, the receiving point B, and the receiving point C. Under the assumption that the first receiving device 30 has normally received the signal at the receiving point A, when the first receiving device 30 is activated, the CPU 8 receives the channel (last channel) that the user has watched last time. Start processing to make sure. If a signal cannot be received, the CPU 8 performs a channel search process based on a frequency list (physical channel list) registered in the memory 9 in advance.
[0026]
If the channel search result is the same as the content of the channel search result held at that time, it can be determined that the cause of reception failure is a reception failure, and if different, the reception area has changed. The decision can be made.
[0027]
By the way, since the TS (transport stream) can be obtained at the stage when the tuning by the tuner 2 is performed, the demultiplexer 3 separates necessary information. First, the PSI / SI (NIT) described above is acquired to confirm a change in distribution of service channels, a service list is generated, and each service list and a corresponding frequency (information for broadcast reception) are stored in the memory 9. I do. The service list of the transmitting station E that is currently receiving can be displayed on the screen based on the service list and the user can select the service list. For example, a screen is displayed as shown in FIG. 4B, the color change portion is moved up and down by the user operating the channel UP / DOWN key of the remote control transmitter 10, and the service of the color change portion when the enter key is pressed is provided. Is performed to perform reception.
[0028]
In the description here, it is assumed that the first receiving device 30 has been activated as described above (the user wants to watch television), and the operation of the second receiving device 31 is not necessary. At 31, the CPU 8 controls the energization of a functional part for executing channel search and information separation. That is, while the first receiving device 30 provides the television program to the user, the second receiving device 31 acquires and updates information for broadcast reception in response to the change in the reception area. (A service list and a frequency list corresponding thereto when the NIT is obtained as a result of the channel search) are stored in the memory 9. In addition, you may make it perform the determination process about whether the program currently being watched by the 1st receiving apparatus 30 (the transmission program of the transmission station E) is transmitted from another transmission station. This determination can be made based on the EIT (Event Information Table).
[0029]
When moving from the receiving point A to the receiving point B, the receiving point B is closer to the transmitting station D than the transmitting station E, so that the receiving intensity changes from FIG. 3A to FIG. 3B. However, since the reception strength of the reception point A satisfies the criteria (error correction possible range) that can withstand viewing, a state where the broadcast wave from the transmission station E is received even if the reception strength from the transmission station D is higher. Will be continued. Further, at this time, a message indicating that the reception area has been added or a message indicating that the reception level from the current area transmission station has decreased can be displayed on the screen using the OSD circuit 7.
[0030]
When the user issues a regional switching command using the remote control transmitter 10 or the like, the CPU 8 reads information for broadcast reception at the location from the memory 9 and causes the tuner 2 to execute a reception frequency switching process.
[0031]
When moving to the receiving point C, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the reception levels from the transmitting stations D, E, and F become substantially the same. Is received. However, since there are two transmission stations D and F as candidates for regional correspondence switching, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), for convenience of the user's regional correspondence switching command, selectable transmitting stations are selected. A list of information may be displayed, and when a desired station is touched with a touch panel, for example, a process of receiving a broadcast wave from the transmitting station may be executed. As described above, when it is assumed that the transmitting stations D and F perform information distribution using the same network ID, the receiving system determines that two transmitting stations DF exist. Becomes difficult. Therefore, it is preferable to determine the reception area by using a code indicating the area in addition to the network ID as the criterion (see FIG. 4C).
[0032]
Details of acquisition and update of information for broadcast reception in the above-described processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, a frequency list to be searched is obtained from the memory 9 (step S1). Next, it is determined which of the first receiving device 30 and the second receiving device 31 is used for presenting information to the user (step S2). When the first receiving device 30 is used, the control of the first receiving device is performed while the second receiving device 31 performs an operation of acquiring information for broadcast reception (step S3). That is, the tuner 12 of the second receiving device 31 performs tuning based on the frequency list. Then, it is determined whether or not this tuning is successful (step S4). If not successful, the operation is repeated from step S2 for the next frequency according to the frequency list. If the tuning is successful, a process for separating information by the demultiplexer 13 is executed, and it is determined whether the information has been acquired (step S5). If the information acquisition in step S5 fails for any reason, the operation is repeated from step S2 for the next frequency according to the frequency list. If the information acquisition is successful, the acquired information (information for broadcast reception at the location) is compared with the current stored information, and if different or not present, the information is updated (step S6). Here, when the information is read from the memory 9 at the time of starting the system and held in a temporary storage memory (not shown), and is compared with the information on the temporary storage memory, the memory 9 for which the hardware life is to be taken into consideration is read. The number of accesses can be reduced. When the update of the information is completed, the operation is repeated from step S2 for the next frequency according to the frequency list. By repeating such a processing loop, it is possible to cope with a change in the received information and switching of the used receiving device by the user, and it is possible to stably obtain the received information and present the information to the user. When the process proceeds to step S7, the original control is performed in the second receiving device 31, and the same processing as in steps S4 to S6 (acquisition and update of information for receiving a broadcast at that location) is performed in the second receiving device 31. This is performed in the first receiving device 30 for the second receiving device 31.
[0033]
In the above example, the first receiving device 30 and the second receiving device 31 acquire and update the information for receiving the broadcast in the place for each other, but the second receiving device 30 May include two sets of the tuner 2 and the demultiplexer 3, and one of the sets may be in charge of acquiring and updating information for receiving broadcasts in the area.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when a user issues a regional correspondence switching command, broadcast reception at the location previously acquired by the receiving unit not providing the information to the user is received. The reception frequency switching processing is immediately performed based on the information for the reception. That is, when a switching command is issued while respecting the user's intention to switch to the regional correspondence, the regional switching can be performed immediately.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a mobile digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a reception area.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying reception strength of each area.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation at the time of channel selection and contents of an operation screen.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing contents.
[Explanation of symbols]
1.11 Antenna 2.12 Tuner 3.13 Demultiplexer (DEMUX)
4.14 AV decoder 7 OSD circuit 8 CPU
9 Memory

Claims (4)

Two or more receivers for receiving terrestrial digital broadcast waves, and a receiver for providing information to the user, based on information for broadcast reception at that location when a user issues a regional switching command. Means for performing a reception frequency switching process, and means for controlling the receiving unit not providing the information to the user to acquire the information for broadcast reception in the place. A digital broadcast receiving device for mobile objects, characterized by the following. Two or more receivers for receiving terrestrial digital broadcast waves, means for detecting a reception condition in the receiver that is providing information to the user, and presenting a message to the user in response to the change in the reception condition Means for performing a reception frequency switching process based on information for broadcast reception at the location when a regional correspondence switching command is issued by the user, and a receiving unit that is not providing information to the user. Means for controlling so as to obtain information for receiving broadcasts in the local area. 3. The mobile digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying a list of selectable broadcasts on a screen. 4. The mobile digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein information related to area identification is obtained from a broadcast wave and the area is displayed in a list of selectable broadcasts. Broadcast receiver.

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