JP2004357124A - Broadcasting system and receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a broadcasting system and a receiver by which a user can utilize a broadcasting system suitable for reception without performing complicated judgment. <P>SOLUTION: A broadcasting station 100 of a mobile broadcasting system transmits information about programs with the mutually equivalent contents to a receiving terminal 700 as common programming information among programs to be broadcasted by the broadcasting system and other broadcasting systems, respectively. The receiving terminal 700 is constituted so as to detect an equivalent channel which broadcasts a program with the equivalent contents as a program of a specified channel which the user desires through a user interface 709 from the common programming information by control of a control part 720, detects the channels which can be received based on positional information which a GPS receiving part 706 detects among the channels, further detects the channel with satisfactory receiving quality among the channels and receives a channel with the best receiving quality among the equivalent channels and the specified channels narrowed down in this way. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a receiving device capable of receiving a plurality of broadcasts such as a terrestrial broadcast and a satellite broadcast.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a mobile broadcast system has been developed in which a broadcast signal broadcast from a satellite is received by a receiving device of a type mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile or a train or a type carried by a person. According to this mobile broadcast system, it is possible to receive a stable quality even with a mobile receiving apparatus as compared with a broadcast.
In addition, since there is a demand to receive other satellite broadcasts and terrestrial broadcasts with one receiving apparatus, development of a receiving apparatus capable of receiving a plurality of types of broadcasts has been considered.
[0003]
However, satellite broadcasts such as mobile broadcasts can receive broadcast signals over a wide area, but terrestrial broadcasts have a limited area where they can receive signals. It is necessary to determine the broadcasting system to be used based on the information, and the convenience is low.
[0004]
Also, as for the content to be broadcasted, a program having the same content may be broadcasted by a plurality of broadcasting systems, but the user does not always recognize this. For this reason, the user has to compare program listings of a plurality of broadcast systems and determine the broadcast system to be used based on the operating environment of the receiving device and the like, which is inconvenient.
There is a broadcast system that can provide effective information to a user even in a broadcast pause state in which a broadcast carrier is interrupted (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-57999.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when operating a receiving device capable of receiving broadcast signals of a plurality of broadcast systems, a user has to determine a broadcast system to be used based on an area where the user is present, and thus the convenience is low.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a broadcasting system and a receiving apparatus which enable a user to use a broadcasting system suitable for reception without making complicated decisions. I do.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1, a broadcast system comprising: a plurality of broadcast stations for transmitting broadcast signals; and a receiving device for receiving broadcast signals transmitted from the plurality of broadcast stations. , At least one of the plurality of broadcasting stations associates identification information of a program broadcasted by itself with identification information of a program broadcasted by another broadcasting station, and transmits the information as program information to a receiving device. Receiving means for receiving program information transmitted from the transmitting means, quality detecting means for detecting the reception quality of each broadcast signal transmitted by a plurality of broadcasting stations, and receiving a program from the user. Receiving means for receiving the designation; program detecting means for detecting, based on the program information received by the receiving means, a program broadcast by another broadcasting station associated with the program designated through the receiving means; Controlling the means to detect the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the program specified through the reception means and the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the program detected by the program detection means, respectively. And a reproduction control means for receiving and reproducing a suitable broadcast signal.
[0008]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving apparatus for selectively receiving a broadcast signal transmitted from a plurality of broadcast stations, wherein a plurality of broadcast stations respectively associate identification information of programs broadcasted with each other. Receiving means for receiving program information from at least one of the plurality of broadcast stations, quality detecting means for detecting the reception quality of each broadcast signal transmitted by the plurality of broadcast stations, and receiving means for receiving designation of a program from a user Based on the program information received by the receiving means, a program detecting means for detecting a program broadcast by another broadcasting station associated with the program specified through the receiving means, and a quality detecting means for controlling the receiving means. And the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the program detected by the program detection means is detected, and among these broadcast signals, the broadcast signal having the good reception quality is detected. Received and was as configured by including a reproduction control means for reproducing.
[0009]
In the broadcasting system and the receiving device having the above configuration, at least one of the plurality of broadcasting stations transmits program information in which identification information of programs broadcast by the plurality of broadcasting stations is associated with each other. Based on the information, a program broadcast by another broadcast station associated with the program specified by the user is detected, and the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the specified program and the program of the detected other broadcast station are detected. The reception quality of each broadcast signal is detected, and among these broadcast signals, a broadcast signal having good reception quality is received and reproduced.
Therefore, according to the broadcasting system and the receiving device having the above-described configurations, the user can receive a desired program by using a broadcasting station having the highest reception quality without determining whether reception is possible.
[0010]
Also, the present invention provides a receiving unit capable of receiving a broadcast signal transmitted from a plurality of broadcasting stations, a receiving unit for receiving a request from a user, and controlling the receiving unit to transmit from a broadcasting station designated through the receiving unit. And reproduction control means for receiving and reproducing the broadcast signal to be reproduced.
The receiving device having the above configuration receives a broadcast signal in response to a request from a user among broadcast signals transmitted from a plurality of broadcast stations.
Therefore, according to the receiving device having the above configuration, the user can selectively receive a broadcast signal from a desired broadcast station.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a broadcasting system according to the present invention, and shows an example in which the invention is applied to a mobile broadcasting system.
The broadcast station 100 is a broadcast station of a mobile broadcast system, and generates a broadcast signal in which a plurality of programs are assigned to a plurality of channels, respectively, and transmits the broadcast signal to the broadcast satellite 101. On the other hand, the broadcast satellite 101 relays a broadcast signal received from the broadcast station 100 and broadcasts it to a predetermined area.
[0012]
In addition to transmitting broadcast content such as programs and CMs, the broadcast station 100 also compares a program scheduling program of another broadcast system such as the broadcast station 200 or the broadcast station 300 described later with a program scheduling program of the mobile broadcast system. Then, a program having the same content is detected, and the broadcast of the detected program to the receiving terminal device 700 is performed by using information on the broadcast time and the broadcast channel in each broadcast system including its own system as common program scheduling information. Do.
[0013]
The broadcast station 200 is a broadcast station of a terrestrial analog broadcast system such as a television broadcast and a radio broadcast. The broadcasting station 300 is, for example, a broadcasting station of a terrestrial digital broadcasting system scheduled to start broadcasting recently. Each of the broadcasting stations 200 and 300 broadcasts to the receiving terminal device 700, respectively.
[0014]
The viewing program management center 400 includes a user management server 401, which manages the operation of the mobile broadcast system. In accordance with the viewing history notified from the terminal device 700, a billing operation is performed.
[0015]
In addition, the user management server 401 enables data communication through the mobile communication network 500, and performs data communication with the receiving terminal device 700 through a wireless base station (BS) of the mobile communication system.
Then, the user management server 401 issues the IC card 402 to the receiving terminal device 700. In the IC card 402, terminal identification information uniquely assigned to the receiving terminal device 700 is recorded.
The GPS satellites 601, 602,..., 60n are GPS (Global Positioning System) artificial satellites, and each transmit a GPS signal for the receiver to specify its own position toward the ground.
[0016]
The receiving terminal device 700 is mounted on, for example, an automobile or a train, or moves with being carried by a person, and receives and receives a broadcast signal transmitted from the broadcast satellite 101 or the broadcast stations 200 and 300. In addition to a function of demodulating and decoding a broadcast signal to reproduce video, audio, data, and the like, a function of performing wireless communication through the mobile communication network 500 is provided.
[0017]
The receiving terminal device 700 includes a receiving unit 701 including an antenna 701a, a receiving unit 702 including an antenna 702a, a receiving unit 703 including an antenna 703a, a selector 704, a reproducing unit 705, a GPS receiving unit 706 including an antenna 706a, and an antenna 707a. A wireless communication unit 707, an IC card interface 708, a user interface 709, a storage unit 710, and a control unit 720 are provided.
[0018]
The receiving unit 701 receives and demodulates a broadcast signal from the broadcast satellite 12 via the antenna 701a, and extracts broadcast data of a desired channel according to an instruction from the control unit 720. The receiving unit 701 outputs the received data to the control unit 720, decodes and reproduces broadcast content such as a video signal, an audio signal, or a data signal, and outputs the reproduced content to the selector 704. Further, receiving section 701 detects the reception quality of the received broadcast signal and notifies control section 720 of the detection quality.
[0019]
The receiving unit 702 receives and demodulates a broadcast signal from the broadcast station 200 through the antenna 702a, reproduces a broadcast content such as a video signal, an audio signal, or a data signal according to an instruction from the control unit 720, and outputs the broadcast content to the selector 704. . Further, receiving section 702 detects the reception quality of the received broadcast signal, and notifies control section 720 of this.
[0020]
The receiving unit 703 receives and demodulates a broadcast signal from the broadcast station 300 via the antenna 703a, and extracts broadcast data of a desired channel according to an instruction from the control unit 720. The receiving unit 703 outputs the received data to the control unit 720, decodes and reproduces broadcast content such as a video signal, an audio signal, or a data signal, and outputs the reproduced content to the selector 704. In addition, receiving section 703 detects the reception quality of the received broadcast signal, and notifies control section 720 of this.
[0021]
The selector 704 receives a video signal, an audio signal, or a data signal from the receiving units 701, 702, and 703. Then, the selector 704 selectively outputs a signal from any of the signals input from the receiving units 701, 702, or 703 to the reproducing unit 705 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 720.
[0022]
The reproducing unit 705 includes an amplifier, a speaker, and a display unit such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The audio signal is amplified by the amplifier, and then output from the speaker, and the video signal is output to the display unit. Is displayed. The data signal is output from an external output terminal to the outside.
[0023]
The GPS receiver 706 receives a GPS signal transmitted from the GPS satellites 601, 602,..., 60n, and, based on information included in the received GPS signal, obtains position information (latitude, longitude, Altitude). This position information is notified to the control unit 720.
[0024]
The wireless communication unit 707 performs wireless communication with a wireless base station (BS) 501 accommodated in the mobile communication network 500 via the antenna 707a, and the user management server 401 via the wireless base station 501 and the mobile communication network 500. And establishes a communication link between them and performs data communication according to a predetermined protocol.
[0025]
The IC card interface 708 is for reading data from the IC card 402, and reads terminal identification information from the IC card 402 under the control of the control unit 720.
The user interface 709 is a user interface including, for example, a plurality of key switches, and receives a request from a user by operating the key switch, and notifies the control unit 720 of the received instruction.
[0026]
The storage unit 710 includes, in addition to an area for storing a control program and control data of the control unit 720, a work area for temporarily storing data for performing various processes. There is provided an area for storing broadcast area information indicating a broadcast station that can be received in each area in association with the information. Recording and reading of data are controlled by the control unit 720.
[0027]
The control unit 720 controls each unit of the receiving terminal device 700 in an integrated manner, and includes, for example, a control function for receiving a broadcast signal from a broadcast satellite, and a control function for determining whether the received broadcast signal is permitted to be reproduced. It has a control function of judging whether or not reproduction is performed, a control function of communicating with the user management server 401, a clock function of measuring time, and the like.
[0028]
The control unit 720 also includes, as new control functions, common program scheduling information received from the broadcasting station 100, reception quality detected by the reception units 701, 702, and 703, position information detected by the GPS reception unit 706, and a storage unit. A control function is provided for selecting a broadcast to be received based on the broadcast area information stored in 710.
[0029]
Next, the operation of the broadcasting system having the above configuration will be described.
The broadcasting station 100 of the mobile broadcasting system obtains information of a program broadcasted by another broadcasting system in advance, and compares this information with information of a program broadcasted by its own system. Or programs of the same content, such as news programs, or programs of the same genre, and the information that correlates the program information (broadcast system type, broadcast channel, broadcast time, etc.) that can be considered to have the same content It is broadcast to the receiving terminal device 700 as common program scheduling information.
[0030]
The receiving terminal device 700 performs a receiving operation according to a flowchart as shown in FIG. The processing shown in this figure is performed by the control unit 720.
First, in step 2a, the control unit 720 controls the receiving unit 701 to receive the common program scheduling information transmitted from the broadcasting station 100 via the broadcasting satellite 101, records it in the storage unit 710, and proceeds to step 2b.
[0031]
In step 2b, the control unit 720 accepts, via the user interface 709, the designation of the broadcast system and the channel that the user wants to view, and proceeds to step 2c. The channel received here is referred to as a “designated channel” in the following description.
[0032]
In step 2c, the control unit 720 refers to the common program information recorded in the storage unit 710 in step 2a, and detects a channel of another broadcast system that broadcasts a program having the same content as the program broadcast on the designated channel. . Note that the channel detected here is referred to as “equivalent channel” in the following description.
When an equivalent channel is detected, the process proceeds to step 2e. On the other hand, when an equivalent channel is not detected and broadcasting is performed only on the designated channel, the process proceeds to step 2d.
[0033]
In step 2d, the control unit 720 operates only the receiving unit corresponding to the broadcast system received in step 2b among the receiving units 701, 702, and 703. Then, the reception of the designated channel is started, and the process ends. When the reception is started in this way, the signal obtained by the receiving unit 701 is output to the reproducing unit 705 and reproduced.
[0034]
On the other hand, in step 2e, the control unit 720 determines a receivable broadcast system channel among the equivalent channels based on the position information detected by the GPS reception unit 706 and the broadcast area information stored in the storage unit 710. Detect and move to step 2f.
[0035]
In step 2f, the control unit 720 operates the receiving units 701, 702, and 703 as necessary, and acquires the reception quality of the equivalent channel detected in step 2e from each receiving unit. Then, by comparing with the preset quality threshold value of each broadcasting system, a channel having good reception quality is detected from the equivalent channels detected in step 2e, and the process proceeds to step 2g.
[0036]
In step 2g, the control unit 720 controls the receiving units 701, 702, and 703 so as to receive the designated channel and the channel having the best reception quality among the equivalent channels detected in step 2f. The process is started and the process ends. When reception is started in this way, a signal obtained by the controlled receiving unit is output to the reproducing unit 705 and reproduced.
[0037]
As described above, in the broadcasting system having the above-described configuration, any of the receivable broadcasting systems is selected and received from a plurality of broadcasting systems in response to a user request.
Therefore, according to the broadcasting system having the above-described configuration, a receivable broadcasting system can always be selected and received even when a plurality of broadcasting systems are supported.
[0038]
Further, in the broadcasting system having the above configuration, the broadcasting station 100 of the mobile broadcasting system transmits to the receiving terminal device 700 a program having the same content among programs broadcast by the mobile broadcasting system and another broadcasting system. The information is transmitted as common program information.
[0039]
On the other hand, the receiving terminal device 700 detects, from the common program information, an equivalent channel that broadcasts a program having the same content as the program of the designated channel desired by the user. Those that can be received are detected, and those with good reception quality are detected, and the channel with the best reception quality among the equivalent channels and designated channels thus narrowed down is received.
Therefore, according to the broadcasting system having the above configuration, a user can view a desired program using the broadcasting system with the highest reception quality without recognizing his / her own position or determining whether reception is possible. Can be.
[0040]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the common program information is transmitted from the broadcast station 100 to the receiving terminal device 700 by transmitting the broadcast information to the receiving terminal device 700. Alternatively, the receiving terminal device 700 may receive the received signal by the wireless communication unit 707 and the control unit 720 may record the received signal in the storage unit 710.
In addition, it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, at least one of the plurality of broadcast stations transmits program information in which identification information of programs broadcast by the plurality of broadcast stations is associated with each other. Based on the information, a program broadcast by another broadcast station associated with the program specified by the user is detected, and the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the specified program and the program of the detected other broadcast station are detected. The reception quality of each broadcast signal is detected, and among these broadcast signals, a broadcast signal having good reception quality is received and reproduced.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a broadcasting system and a receiving apparatus that allow a user to receive a desired program using a broadcasting station having the highest reception quality without determining whether reception is possible. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a broadcasting system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the receiving terminal device of the broadcasting system shown in FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
100 broadcast station, 101 broadcast satellite, 200 broadcast station, 300 broadcast station, 400 viewing program management center, 401 user management server, 402 IC card, 500 mobile communication network, 501 wireless base station ( BS), 601 to 60n: satellite, 700: receiving terminal device, 701a: antenna, 701: receiving unit, 702a: antenna, 702: receiving unit, 703a: antenna, 703: receiving unit, 704: selector, 705: reproducing unit 706a ... antenna, 706 ... receiving unit, 707a ... antenna, 707 ... wireless communication unit, 708 ... IC card interface, 709 ... user interface, 710 ... storage unit, 720 ... control unit.

Claims (6)

In a broadcast system including a plurality of broadcast stations that transmit a broadcast signal and a receiving device that receives a broadcast signal transmitted from the plurality of broadcast stations,
At least one of the plurality of broadcasting stations includes:
Transmitting means for associating the identification information of the program broadcasted by itself with the identification information of the program broadcasted by another broadcasting station, and transmitting this as program information to the receiving device,
The receiving device,
Receiving means for receiving program information transmitted from the transmitting means,
Quality detection means for detecting the reception quality of each broadcast signal transmitted by the plurality of broadcast stations,
Reception means for receiving designation of a program from a user;
Program detection means for detecting, based on the program information received by the reception means, a program broadcast by another broadcast station associated with the program specified through the reception means;
Controlling the quality detection means to detect the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the program specified through the reception means and the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the program detected by the program detection means; And a reproduction control means for receiving and reproducing a broadcast signal having good reception quality. Receiving means capable of receiving broadcast signals transmitted from a plurality of broadcast stations;
Receiving means for receiving a request from a user;
A reception control unit for controlling the reception unit to receive and reproduce a broadcast signal transmitted from a broadcast station designated through the reception unit. Further, quality detection means for detecting the reception quality of each broadcast signal transmitted by each of the plurality of broadcast stations,
The reproduction control unit controls the reception unit based on the request received by the reception unit and a detection result of the quality detection unit to receive a broadcast signal with good reception quality. 3. The receiving device according to 2. Further, position detecting means for detecting position information indicating its own position,
Storage means for associating location information with receivable broadcast stations;
Receivable broadcast detection means for detecting a receivable broadcast station based on the information stored in the storage means and the position information detected by the position information detection means,
3. The reproduction control unit according to claim 2, wherein the reception control unit controls the reception unit based on the request received by the reception unit and a detection result of the receivable broadcast detection unit to receive a broadcast signal. Receiving device. A receiving device for selectively receiving broadcast signals transmitted from a plurality of broadcast stations,
Receiving means for receiving, from at least one of the plurality of broadcast stations, program information in which identification information of programs respectively broadcast by the plurality of broadcast stations is associated with each other;
Quality detection means for detecting the reception quality of each broadcast signal transmitted by the plurality of broadcast stations,
Reception means for receiving designation of a program from a user;
Program detection means for detecting, based on the program information received by the reception means, a program broadcast by another broadcast station associated with the program specified through the reception means;
Controlling the quality detection means to detect the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the program specified through the reception means and the reception quality of the broadcast signal of the program detected by the program detection means; And a reproduction control means for receiving and reproducing a broadcast signal having good reception quality. Further, position detecting means for detecting position information indicating its own position,
Storage means for associating location information with receivable broadcast stations;
Receivable broadcast detection means for detecting a receivable broadcast station based on the information stored in the storage means and the position information detected by the position information detection means,
6. The reproduction control unit according to claim 5, wherein the reproduction control unit controls the reception unit based on the request received by the reception unit and a detection result of the receivable broadcast detection unit to receive a broadcast signal. Receiving device.

Images