JP2006165755A - Broadcast receiving apparatus, communication system, and reception state information management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a broadcast receiving apparatus, a communication system, and a reception state information management method for acquiring reception state information without going through a server and notifying a user of a good direction of reception state.
A reception state information management unit 104 acquires channel information from a broadcast wave reception unit 101, information indicating reception sensitivity from a reception sensitivity acquisition unit 102, and position information from a position information acquisition unit 103. Are stored in the storage unit 105 as reception state information in association with each other. The nearby communication unit 107 transmits the reception state information stored in the storage unit 105 to the nearby device, receives the reception state information from the transmission destination nearby device, and stores it in the storage unit 105 via the reception state management unit 104. Let Based on the reception state information stored in the storage unit 105, the reception state management unit 104 displays a direction with good reception sensitivity with respect to the current location.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving apparatus, a communication system, and a reception state information management method, and more particularly, to a broadcast reception apparatus that receives broadcast waves during movement, a communication system that performs communication between the broadcast reception apparatuses, and a reception state information management method. .

  In recent years, mobile terminals such as mobile phones capable of viewing television are becoming widespread, and a user can view television without being restricted by a location as long as the user can receive radio waves from the television while moving or moving.

  In such terrestrial digital broadcasting for mobile terminals, one channel (6 MHz) divided into 13 (one segment) is allocated for the mobile terminal and is scheduled to provide a service. .

  Terrestrial digital broadcasting for mobile terminals employs the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) method, which is resistant to fluctuations in the propagation environment, and employs strong error correction, etc., so that stable reception is possible even while moving. Although it is realized, stable reception is not always possible. For example, buildings such as buildings become obstacles, or reception becomes unstable due to climatic conditions.

  For this reason, when the reception state is poor such that the TV image becomes unclear, the user moves to find a place where stable reception is possible, using the clearness (the image quality) of the TV image as a guide. At the time of movement, the user cannot know where the reception state of the channel being played back is good, and therefore has to move at random. Also, in order to know the reception status of channels other than the channel being played back on the TV, the user must check whether or not all channels in the broadcast area at the current location can be received by performing a channel search. Performing at each position while moving requires a very complicated process and thus takes a lot of time.

Therefore, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is disclosed. In Patent Literature 1, a reception state at a position where a plurality of mobile terminals receive broadcast waves and position information indicating the position are transmitted as reception state information to a server, and the reception state information transmitted from each mobile terminal is transmitted to the server. Discloses a technique for collecting and managing and returning reception status information in response to a request from a mobile terminal.
JP 2004-165729 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1 described above, it is necessary to install and manage a server, and reception state information transmitted from a large number of mobile terminals is concentrated on the server, increasing the processing load on the server. There is a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a broadcast receiving apparatus, a communication system, and a reception state information management method for acquiring reception state information without going through a server and notifying a user of a good direction of the reception state. The purpose is to provide.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided reception means for receiving broadcast waves, reception sensitivity acquisition means for acquiring information indicating reception sensitivity of a predetermined channel of broadcast waves received by the reception means, and acquisition of the reception sensitivity. By position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of the place where the means acquired information indicating reception sensitivity, the channel information, information indicating reception sensitivity acquired by the reception sensitivity acquisition means, and the position information acquisition means Storage means for storing the acquired position information as reception state information; and receiving reception state information stored in the storage means; receiving reception state information from a transmission destination; and receiving reception state information for the storage means Communication means to be stored in, and display means for displaying a good direction of the reception state with respect to the current location based on the reception state information stored in the storage unit, A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising.

  According to this configuration, in addition to the reception state information acquired by the own device, the reception state information is received from other than the own device, so the reception state information can be accumulated, and the current location can be stored based on the accumulated reception state information. On the other hand, since a good direction of the reception state can be obtained, the user can be notified by displaying the obtained direction.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a broadcast receiving apparatus including a neighboring device detection unit that detects a neighboring device capable of transmitting and receiving reception status information in the above-described mode.

  According to this configuration, by detecting a nearby device capable of transmitting / receiving the reception status information, the detected neighboring device and the reception status information can be transmitted / received to / from each other.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the above aspect, the first reception state information is compared with the first reception state information stored in the storage unit and the second reception state information received by the communication unit. The second reception state information different from the first reception state information is stored in the storage unit, and either the first reception state information or the second reception state information having the same channel information and position information is selected and stored in the storage unit A broadcast receiving apparatus including reception state information managing means.

  According to this configuration, if the first reception state information stored in the own device is different from the second reception state information received from other than the own device, the second reception state information is stored, and the channel information and the position information are common. By selecting either the first reception state information or the second reception state information to be received, it is possible to efficiently accumulate the reception state information.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above aspect, the reception state information management unit selects one of the first reception state information and the second reception state information that share channel information and position information. This is a broadcast receiving apparatus that selects reception state information with a later time when position information is acquired.

  According to this configuration, since the reception state information with the later time when the position information is acquired is considered to be close to the reception state at the current time, the reception state is good with high accuracy by selecting this reception state information. The right direction.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the above aspect, the reception state information management unit selects either the first reception state information or the second reception state information in which channel information and position information are common. A broadcast receiving apparatus that selects reception state information obtained by an apparatus having a shorter distance to a common position.

  According to this configuration, since the reception state information obtained by the device closer to the common position is considered to be close to the reception state at the current time, it is possible to accurately select the reception state information. A good direction of the reception state can be obtained.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the above aspect, wherein the display means displays a direction in which the reception state is good with respect to the current location.

  According to this configuration, by displaying the direction in which the reception state is good with respect to the current location, the user can stably receive the broadcast wave if the user moves in the displayed direction.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the above aspect, wherein the display means simultaneously displays a direction in a good reception state with respect to the current location for a plurality of channels.

  According to this configuration, the direction in which the reception state is good with respect to the current location is simultaneously displayed for a plurality of channels, so that the user recognizes not only the channel currently being viewed but also the good direction of the reception state of other channels. can do.

  An eighth aspect of the present invention is the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the above aspect, wherein the display means displays the reception state around the current location in a color-coded manner for each level.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the user of a good direction of the reception state with respect to the current location by displaying the reception state around the current location in different colors for each level.

  A ninth aspect of the present invention is a communication system for transmitting and receiving channel information stored in a broadcast receiving apparatus that receives broadcast waves, information indicating reception sensitivity, and reception status information including position information between the broadcast receiving apparatuses. is there.

  According to this configuration, in addition to the reception state information acquired by the own device, the reception state information is received from other than the own device, so the reception state information can be accumulated, and the current location can be stored based on the accumulated reception state information. On the other hand, a good direction of the reception state can be obtained.

  A tenth aspect of the present invention includes a reception step of receiving a broadcast wave, a reception sensitivity acquisition step of acquiring information indicating reception sensitivity of a predetermined channel of the broadcast wave received in the reception step, and the reception sensitivity acquisition A location information acquisition step of acquiring location information of the location from which information indicating reception sensitivity was acquired in the step, the channel information, information indicating reception sensitivity acquired in the reception sensitivity acquisition step, and acquired in the location information acquisition step The received location information is transmitted as reception status information, and based on the communication step of receiving the reception status information from the transmission destination, the reception status information transmitted in the communication step and the reception status information received from the transmission destination, And a display step for displaying a good direction of the reception state.

  According to this method, in addition to the reception status information acquired by the own device, the reception status information is received from other than the own device, so that the reception status information can be accumulated, and based on the accumulated reception status information, On the other hand, since a good direction of the reception state can be obtained, the user can be notified by displaying the obtained direction.

  According to the present invention, a broadcast receiving apparatus that acquires reception state information without going through a server by notifying the user and other broadcast reception apparatuses, and notifies the user of a good direction of the reception state. A communication system and a reception state information management method can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, a broadcast wave receiving unit 101 is a tuner that extracts a frequency signal of a channel designated by a user from a received broadcast wave, and outputs the extracted frequency signal to the reception sensitivity acquisition unit 102. The broadcast wave receiving unit 101 notifies the reception state information management unit 104 of channel information designated by the user.

  The reception sensitivity acquisition unit 102 calculates reception sensitivity based on the frequency signal output from the broadcast wave reception unit 101, and outputs the obtained reception sensitivity to the reception state information management unit 104. Here, as the reception sensitivity, the C / N ratio (Carrier to Noise Ratio) representing the strength of the radio wave of the broadcast wave, or the BER (Bit Error Rate: representing the error rate of the decoding result). Bit error rate), and a value calculated by combining these may be considered.

  The position information acquisition unit 103 acquires position information (latitude / longitude) of the current location using GPS (Global Positioning System), and outputs the acquired position information to the reception state information management unit 104. As the position information, base station information may be used instead of latitude / longitude.

  The reception state information management unit 104 accumulates the channel notified from the broadcast wave reception unit 101, the reception sensitivity output from the reception sensitivity acquisition unit 102, and the position information output from the position information acquisition unit 103 in the storage unit 105. Also, the reception status information acquired from the proximity communication unit 107 described later is compared with the reception status information stored in the storage unit 105, and management such as updating the reception status information stored in the storage unit 105 is performed. .

  The storage unit 105 stores information such as a channel, position information, and reception sensitivity in association with each other. Here, the reception sensitivity is divided into levels for each predetermined range, and the level corresponding to the reception sensitivity acquired by the reception sensitivity acquisition unit 102 is stored.

  The proximity device detection unit 106 is a digital broadcast reception device (hereinafter referred to as “neighboring device”) in which a proximity communication unit 107 (described later) exists in the vicinity of the digital broadcast reception device 100 according to a predetermined period or a user operation. And detecting whether or not there is a neighboring device capable of exchanging reception status information. When there is a nearby device capable of exchanging reception status information, the nearby communication unit 107 is instructed to communicate with the nearby device. The nearby device detection unit 106 may use a specific sensor that detects the nearby device.

  When the proximity communication unit 107 receives an instruction from the proximity device detection unit 106, it is stored in the storage unit 105 using infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ad hoc communication of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), or the like. While receiving the reception status information to the neighboring device, the reception status information is received from the neighboring device. As a result, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can exchange reception status information with neighboring devices without going through a server, and the processing burden associated with management of reception status information compared to a case where reception status information is concentrated on a single station on the server. Can be dispersed. The proximity communication unit 107 may include position information indicating the current location in the header information when transmitting the reception state information.

  The display unit 108 displays a direction with good reception sensitivity with respect to the current location, or displays a map color-coded for each reception sensitivity level. The display unit 108 may be a main display that displays a television image, or may be a sub display other than the main display.

  Next, the operation of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 100 having the above-described configuration will be described using FIG. In step (hereinafter abbreviated as “ST”) 201 in FIG. 2, the reception sensitivity acquisition unit 102 acquires reception sensitivity based on the frequency signal output from the broadcast wave reception unit 101.

  In ST202, the location information acquisition unit 103 acquires location information of the current location using GPS, and in ST203, the reception status information management unit 104 collects information indicating reception sensitivity, location, and channel, and creates reception status information. Then, the created reception state information is stored in the storage unit 105.

  In ST204, the neighboring device detection unit 106 checks whether there is a neighboring device capable of exchanging reception status information. If there is a neighboring device (YES), the process proceeds to ST205, and if there is no neighboring device. (NO) Return to ST201.

  In ST205, the reception state information is exchanged with the neighboring device via the neighboring communication unit 107, and in ST206, the reception state information stored in the storage unit 105 by the reception state information management unit 104 and the reception state information acquired from the neighboring device And the reception state information stored in the storage unit 105 is updated based on the comparison result. Details of the comparison / update method will be described later.

  In ST207, the reception state information management unit 104 compares the reception state in the current location with the surrounding reception states, and in ST208, the display unit 108 displays a good position in the reception state based on the comparison result in ST207.

  Next, the reception status information comparison / update method in ST206 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a digital broadcast receiving apparatus A (hereinafter referred to as “apparatus A”) and a digital broadcast receiving apparatus B (hereinafter referred to as “apparatus B”), and an area corresponding to reception status information stored in the apparatus A. The area corresponding to the reception state information stored in the device B is shown. When apparatus A exchanges reception state information with apparatus B, reception state information corresponding to non-overlapping areas is stored as it is. On the other hand, it is necessary to select either information for the reception state information corresponding to the overlapping area (shaded portion in the figure) or to obtain the average of both.

  Time priority and distance priority can be considered as a method for selecting one of a plurality of reception status information. Time priority is a method of selecting information with the latest time information when a plurality of pieces of reception state information are the same position information and the same channel information. The distance priority is a method of selecting information stored in a device close to the position indicated by the position information when a plurality of reception status information is the same position information and the same channel information.

  Here, a case where the device A exchanges reception state information with the device B and acquires the reception state information from the device B will be described. It is assumed that device A has reception state information shown in FIG. 4, and device B has reception state information shown in FIG. Here, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the reception status information includes ID, channel information (ch), position information (position), reception sensitivity level (status), reception sensitivity, and time when the position information is acquired (time ), A combination of information (source) indicating whether the own device has acquired (self) or acquired from the desired device (ext).

  When the device A acquires the reception state information from the device B, the device A compares the acquired information with the stored information, and confirms the presence or absence of information that matches the channel information and the position information. If the acquired information does not match the stored information, the device A stores the acquired information. If the acquired information matches the stored information, the device A is either one based on time priority. Select the information. 4 and FIG. 5, the information that matches ID = 1 acquired from the device B is not stored in the device A, and the device A stores ID = 1 acquired from the device B. Also, since ID = 2 acquired from the device B and ID = 2 of the device A match, the device A compares the respective times and stores new information, that is, ID = 2 acquired from the device B. As a result, the storage unit 105 of the device A stores the updated reception state information as shown in FIG.

  Next, a display image of the display unit 108 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7A shows a state in which a good direction of the reception state is displayed, and the direction of the arrow, that is, the west side shows that the reception state is good. That is, if the user moves in the displayed direction, the broadcast wave can be stably received.

  FIG. 7B shows a state in which a direction with a good reception state is simultaneously displayed for a plurality of channels, and the user recognizes a good direction of the reception state of other channels as well as the channel currently being viewed. can do. FIG. 7C shows a state in which the reception state around the current location is displayed in different colors for each level. Thereby, it is possible to notify the user of a good direction of reception with respect to the current location.

  Here, in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the distance is represented by the length of the arrow, and the reception sensitivity is represented by the width or color of the arrow. Further, in FIG. 7B, if a lot of channel information is displayed at the same time, the screen becomes complicated and difficult to understand. For example, a predetermined number is displayed in order from the closest distance or from the higher sensitivity. May be. Further, the channel designated by the user may be preferentially displayed.

  In addition, when indicating the direction, by providing the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 100 with direction acquisition means such as an electronic compass, it is possible to more clearly indicate the direction in which the reception state is good with respect to the current location.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the reception status information including the channel information, the position information, and the reception sensitivity is acquired, and the acquired reception status information is exchanged with the reception status information acquired by the nearby digital broadcast receiving apparatus. Thus, the reception state information can be acquired without going through the server, and the good direction of the reception state is displayed by displaying the good direction of the reception state based on the stored and updated reception state information. Can be notified.

  In this embodiment, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an analog broadcast receiving apparatus may be used.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus, the communication system, and the reception state information management method according to the present invention have an effect of acquiring reception state information without going through a server and notifying the user of a good direction of the reception state, such as a mobile phone. It can be applied to a small portable terminal.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the digital broadcast receiver which concerns on embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the digital broadcast receiver shown in FIG. The figure which shows the area corresponding to the reception status information memorize | stored in the digital broadcast receiver shown in FIG. The figure which shows the reception status information which the apparatus A shown in FIG. 3 has The figure which shows the reception status information which the apparatus B shown in FIG. 3 has. Diagram showing updated reception status information (A) The figure which shows a mode that a direction with a favorable reception state is displayed, (b) The figure which shows a mode that a direction with a favorable reception state is displayed about several channels simultaneously, (c) The reception state in the periphery of the present location for every level Figure showing how to display

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Broadcast wave receiving part 102 Reception sensitivity acquisition part 103 Position information acquisition part 104 Reception state information management part 105 Storage part 106 Proximity device detection part 107 Proximity communication part 108 Display part

Claims (10)

Receiving means for receiving broadcast waves;
Reception sensitivity acquisition means for acquiring information indicating reception sensitivity of a predetermined channel of the broadcast wave received by the reception means;
Position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of a place where the reception sensitivity acquisition means has acquired information indicating reception sensitivity; and
Storage means for storing the channel information, information indicating reception sensitivity acquired by the reception sensitivity acquisition means, and position information acquired by the position information acquisition means as reception state information;
A communication unit that transmits the reception state information stored in the storage unit, receives the reception state information from a transmission destination, and stores the received reception state information in the storage unit;
Display means for displaying a good direction of the reception state with respect to the current location based on the reception state information stored in the storage means;
A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising:   The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a nearby device detection unit that detects nearby devices capable of transmitting and receiving reception status information.   The first reception state information stored in the storage unit is compared with the second reception state information received by the communication unit, and the second reception state information different from the first reception state information is stored in the storage unit. A receiving state information managing unit for storing and selecting the first receiving state information and the second receiving state information having the same channel information and position information and storing them in the storing unit; The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   When the reception status information management means selects either the first reception status information or the second reception status information in which the channel information and the location information are common, the reception with the later time when the location information was acquired The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein status information is selected.   When the reception status information management unit selects one of the first reception status information and the second reception status information that share channel information and position information, the reception status information management unit uses a device closer to the common location. 4. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the received reception state information is selected.   The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a direction in which the reception state is good with respect to a current location.   The broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the display unit simultaneously displays a direction in which a reception state is favorable with respect to a current location for a plurality of channels.   The broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the display means displays a reception state in the vicinity of the current location in a color-coded manner for each level.   A communication system, wherein channel information stored in a broadcast receiving device that receives broadcast waves, information indicating reception sensitivity, and reception state information including position information are transmitted and received between the broadcast receiving devices. A receiving process for receiving broadcast waves;
A reception sensitivity acquisition step of acquiring information indicating reception sensitivity of a predetermined channel of the broadcast wave received in the reception step;
A location information acquisition step of acquiring location information of a location from which information indicating reception sensitivity is acquired in the reception sensitivity acquisition step;
A communication step of transmitting the channel information, the information indicating the reception sensitivity acquired in the reception sensitivity acquisition step, and the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step as reception state information and receiving the reception state information from the transmission destination When,
Based on the reception state information transmitted in the communication step and the reception state information received from the transmission destination, a display step for displaying a good direction of the reception state with respect to the current location;
A reception state information management method.

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