JP2006270776A - Digital broadcast channel selecting method and receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid selecting non-viewable channels such as broadcast stop channels, etc. and select viewable channels only. <P>SOLUTION: A CPU 6 in the receiver actuates a tuner 1 and a receiver IC 2 to retrieve and receive digital broadcasts in a specified frequency range one after another, acquires tag information sent from a broadcasting station from received signals to decide whether the received channels are viewable, based on the tag information, and makes a viewable channel list showing viewable channels in a RAM 8, based on the decision result. The CPU 6 is set to select only channels registered in the viewable channel list when selecting a digital broadcast channel according to the user's request. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting channel selection method and receiving apparatus that automatically search and store a viewable channel.

  In recent years, terrestrial analog television broadcasting has been shifting to digital, and practical broadcasting of digital radio broadcasting has been started for radio broadcasting. It is known that both digital TV broadcasting and digital radio broadcasting can realize multi-channel as compared with analog broadcasting. For this reason, it is convenient for the user to have a receiving apparatus with an auto-preset function that automatically searches for and stores receivable channels. According to this auto-preset function, it is possible to skip channels that cannot be received and select only receivable channels.

  Conventionally, receivers with such an auto-preset function have been proposed in analog radio broadcasting (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The receiving apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 automatically searches for and stores a channel having a large received signal strength. If such a receiving apparatus is applied to digital broadcasting, it is considered that an auto-preset function can be realized.

JP 2004-056500 A

  However, even if the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is applied to digital broadcasting, there is a problem that it is not possible to deal with a channel whose broadcasting is stopped. In other words, the receiving device disclosed in Patent Document 1 determines whether or not the channel is a receivable channel based on the received signal strength, for example. For this reason, in the case of a channel that transmits test radio waves, etc., even though broadcasting is stopped, the reception device side can obtain sufficient received signal strength by the test radio waves, and this channel is stored as a receivable channel. Therefore, channels that cannot actually be viewed are stored in the receiving device. Therefore, when a user selects a channel, there is a possibility that a channel that cannot be viewed may be selected. This reduces convenience for the user and prevents the user from viewing the channel that should have been selected. May cause discomfort.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and a digital broadcasting channel selection method capable of selecting a non-viewable channel such as a broadcast stop, and selecting only a viewable channel. An object is to provide a receiving apparatus.

The digital broadcast channel selection method of the present invention obtains a search procedure for sequentially searching for and receiving a digital broadcast within a predetermined frequency range, and tag information sent from the broadcast station from the received signal received by the search procedure. A determination procedure for determining whether the channel is viewable based on the tag information, a list creation procedure for creating a viewable channel list indicating a viewable channel based on the determination result, and a user request And a channel selection procedure for enabling only channels registered in the viewable channel list to be selected when the channel of the digital broadcast is selected.
In addition, one configuration example of the digital broadcast channel selection method of the present invention further includes a reception quality measurement procedure for measuring reception quality from the received signal before the list creation procedure, Only channels that are determined to be viewable in the determination procedure and whose reception quality is better than a predetermined threshold are registered in the viewable channel list.
In the configuration example of the digital broadcast channel selection method of the present invention, the tag information is broadcast stop information.
In addition, according to one configuration example of the digital broadcast channel selection method of the present invention, a procedure for creating an unviewable channel list in which unviewable channels and reasons for unviewable are registered, and in response to a user request When selecting the channel of the digital broadcast, the number of viewable channels and the number of unviewable channels are displayed based on the viewable channel list and the unviewable channel list, and the view is impossible. And a display procedure for displaying the reason why the channel cannot be viewed.
In addition, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention acquires search information for sequentially searching and receiving digital broadcasts within a predetermined frequency range, and tag information sent from a broadcasting station from the received signal received by the search means. A determination unit that determines whether the channel is viewable based on the tag information, a list creation unit that creates a viewable channel list indicating a viewable channel based on the determination result, and a user request. Accordingly, it comprises a channel selection means for selecting only the channels registered in the viewable channel list when selecting the channel of the digital broadcast.

  According to the present invention, it is determined whether the channel is viewable based on the tag information sent from the broadcasting station, and the viewable channel is registered in the viewable channel list. When selecting a channel, only a viewable channel registered in the viewable channel list can be selected, and a non-viewable channel such as a broadcast stop is not selected. As a result, according to the present invention, the user can smoothly select a desired channel, and the user's discomfort due to the inability to view the channel that should have been selected can be reduced.

  In the present invention, only channels that are determined to be viewable by the determination procedure and whose reception quality is better than a predetermined threshold value are registered in the viewable channel list. Can be removed from the viewable channel list, so that digital broadcasting can be comfortably viewed.

  In addition, the number of channels that can be viewed and the number of channels that cannot be viewed are displayed, and the reason why the channels cannot be viewed is displayed, thereby displaying the channels that the user can view and the channels that cannot be viewed Can be recognized, and the reason can be known when the desired channel cannot be viewed.

[First Embodiment]
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital radio broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a tuner 1, a receiver IC 2, a D / A converter 3, an amplifier 4, a speaker 5, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 6, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 7, A RAM (Random Access Memory) 8, a user interface (hereinafter abbreviated as user I / F) 9, and a display device 10. The tuner 1, the receiver IC 2, and the CPU 6 search the digital broadcasting sequentially and receive only the channels registered in the viewable channel list (to be described later) when selecting a channel according to the user's request. And a channel selection means that enables channel selection. Further, the CPU 6 constitutes determination means for determining whether the channel is viewable and list creation means for creating a viewable channel list.

  Tuner 1 selects only a signal of a desired channel from broadcast signals received by an antenna. The receiver IC 2 uses the decoder 20 to decode the broadcast signal selected by the tuner 1 and extracts digital data. This digital data includes audio data sent from a broadcasting station and tag information such as broadcast stop information (OFF AIR). Further, the receiver IC 2 measures information related to signal quality such as a bit error rate (BER) of digital data by a BER measuring unit 21 serving as a reception quality measuring unit.

  The CPU 6 operates according to a program stored in the ROM 7 in advance, and determines whether or not the selected channel is a broadcast stop based on the tag information acquired by the receiver IC 2. Further, the CPU 6 compares the BER measured by the receiver IC 2 with a BER threshold set in advance in the ROM 7 and determines whether or not the measured BER is below the BER threshold. When the CPU 6 determines that the channel is not stopped and has good reception quality, the CPU 6 stores the broadcast station identifier (Station Identification, hereinafter referred to as SID) of this channel in the RAM 8 as the SID of the viewable channel. . By repeating the selection of the channel and the determination as to whether or not viewing is possible, a viewable channel list (SID list) indicating the channels that can be viewed is created in the RAM 8.

  Hereinafter, the SID list creation process will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. First, the CPU 6 deletes all SIDs from the SID list stored in the RAM 8 and initializes the SID list (step S1). Subsequently, the CPU 6 initializes a count value NUM for counting the number of channels to 1 (step S2), and selects the first channel of all digital radio broadcasts within a predetermined frequency range to the tuner 1 through the receiver IC2. (Step S3). The receiver IC 2 demodulates digital data from the broadcast signal selected by the tuner 1 (step S4), and passes the selected channel number (SID) and tag information obtained from the digital data to the CPU 6 (steps S5 and S6). .

  Based on the tag information received from the receiver IC 2, the CPU 6 determines whether or not the selected channel is broadcast stopped (step S7). When the tag information does not include broadcast stop information, the CPU 6 determines that the channel is being broadcast, acquires quality information (BER) from the receiver IC 2 (step S8), and is set in the acquired BER and ROM 7 The BER threshold value is compared (step S9). When the acquired BER is smaller than the BER threshold value, the CPU 6 determines that the reception quality is good, stores the SID acquired from the receiver IC 2 in the SID list of the RAM 8 as the SID of the viewable channel (step S10), and step S11. Proceed to

  If the broadcast stop information is included in the tag information in step S7, the CPU 6 determines that the channel is a broadcast stop, and proceeds to step S11 without storing the SID in the RAM 8. Similarly, if the BER is greater than or equal to the threshold value in step S9, the CPU 6 determines that the reception quality is poor and proceeds to step S11.

  Next, the CPU 6 determines whether or not all digital radio broadcast channels have been selected based on the count value NUM (step S11). Here, since all channels have not been selected, the count value NUM is incremented by 1 (step S12), and the process returns to step S3 to select the next channel. Thus, the processes in steps S3 to S12 are repeated until all channels are selected. When the count value NUM reaches the value of (total number of channels + 1) in step S11, the CPU 6 determines that all channels have been selected and ends the SID list creation process in FIG. Note that when the user is not performing a channel selection operation, for example, the SID list creation process of FIG. 2 may be automatically started and performed at regular intervals.

  Next, processing when the user selects a channel will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the user operates the user I / F 9 such as the channel selection button of the receiving device to select a desired channel (step S21), the CPU 6 refers to the SID list in the RAM 8 and selects the user. It is checked whether the selected channel is registered in the SID list (step S22). When the SID of the channel selected by the user is registered in the SID list, the CPU 6 determines that the channel is viewable and causes the tuner 1 to select this channel (step S23).

  Further, when the SID of the channel selected by the user is not registered in the SID list, the CPU 6 determines that the channel is not viewable, skips this channel, and selects the next viewable channel for the tuner 1. (Step S24). If the channel selected in step S24 is selected in order from the lowest channel frequency, the channel next to the unregistered channel determined to be unviewable among the channels whose SID is registered in the SID list. If the channel is selected in order from the highest channel frequency, of the channels whose SID is registered in the SID list, the channel next to the unregistered channel determined to be unviewable. This is a channel with a low frequency.

  When the tuner 1 selects a channel in step S23 or S24, the decoder 20 of the receiver IC 2 demodulates the broadcast signal selected by the tuner 1, and the audio data included in the demodulated digital data is converted to the D / A converter 3. Output to. The D / A converter 3 converts the audio data output from the receiver IC 2 into an analog audio signal, and the amplifier 4 amplifies the analog audio signal output from the D / A converter 3 and outputs it to the speaker 5. . As a result, the sound of the selected channel is output from the speaker 5.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether the channel is viewable based on the tag information sent from the broadcast station, and the viewable channel is registered in the SID list. When selecting a channel according to the above, only a viewable channel registered in the SID list can be selected, and a non-viewable channel such as a broadcast stop is not selected. In the present embodiment, only channels with good reception quality are registered in the SID list. Therefore, channels with poor reception quality can be excluded from the SID list even during broadcasting, and digital broadcasting can be performed. You can watch comfortably.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, only the viewable channels registered in the SID list are selected. Therefore, when the channel requested by the user is not registered in the SID list, this request is met. I can't. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the CPU 6 creates an unviewable channel list indicating channels that cannot be viewed in the RAM 8 separately from the SID list, and the SID of the channels that cannot be viewed and the reason why the channels cannot be viewed in this list. And are registered. The reason for the inability to view is, for example, “OFF AIR” when it is determined that the channel is stopped in step S7 in FIG. 2, and “NO SIGNAL” when it is determined that the reception quality is poor in step S9. do it.

  Then, when selecting a channel in response to the user's request, the CPU 6 displays a list of channel numbers that can be viewed and channel numbers that cannot be viewed on the display device 10, and about channels that cannot be viewed. Displays the reason why it cannot be viewed together. Thereby, the user can recognize the channels that can be viewed and the channels that cannot be viewed, and can know the reason when the desired channel cannot be viewed.

In the first and second embodiments, digital radio broadcasting is described as an example of digital broadcasting. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is applied to digital television broadcasting. Also good.
In the first and second embodiments, broadcast stop information is described as an example of tag information. However, another example of tag information is R (restricted) designation information. The CPU 6 of the receiving apparatus acquires R designation information as tag information from the received digital data, and if the user's age is an age for which viewing is prohibited by this R designation information, viewing is not permitted in step S7 of FIG. It is determined that the channel is possible, and the process proceeds to step S11. As a result, when the user is restricted by age and is restricted by this restriction, the channel cannot be viewed.

  The present invention can be applied to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the receiver of the digital radio broadcast used as the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the SID list creation process of the receiver of FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing viewable channel tuning processing of the receiving apparatus of FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tuner, 2 ... Receiver IC, 3 ... D / A converter, 4 ... Amplifier, 5 ... Speaker, 6 ... CPU, 7 ... ROM, 8 ... RAM, 9 ... User I / F, 10 ... Display apparatus, 20 ... Decoder, 21 ... BER measurement unit.

Claims (5)

A search procedure for sequentially searching and receiving digital broadcasts within a predetermined frequency range;
A determination procedure for acquiring tag information sent from a broadcasting station from the received signal received in the search procedure and determining whether the channel is a viewable channel based on the tag information;
A list creation procedure for creating a viewable channel list indicating available channels based on the determination result,
A channel selection procedure for selecting only the channels registered in the viewable channel list when the channel of the digital broadcast is selected in response to a user request. Station method. The digital broadcast tuning method according to claim 1,
Furthermore, before the list creation procedure, comprising a reception quality measurement procedure for measuring reception quality from the received signal,
The list creation procedure includes selecting only channels that are determined to be viewable in the determination procedure and whose reception quality is better than a predetermined threshold in the viewable channel list, and Method. In the digital broadcasting channel selection method according to claim 1 or 2,
The tag information is broadcast stop information, and is a digital broadcast channel selection method. In the digital broadcasting channel selection method according to claim 1 or 2,
In addition, you ’ll need to create an unlistable channel list that lists the unlistable channels and why they ’re unviewable,
When selecting the channel of the digital broadcast according to the user's request, the number of viewable channels and the number of unviewable channels are displayed based on the viewable channel list and the unviewable channel list. And a display procedure for displaying a reason for the inability to view a channel that cannot be viewed. Search means for sequentially searching and receiving digital broadcasts within a predetermined frequency range;
Determination means for acquiring tag information sent from a broadcasting station from the received signal received by the search means, and determining whether the channel is viewable based on the tag information;
A list creating means for creating a viewable channel list indicating channels that can be viewed based on the determination result;
Receiving a digital broadcast, comprising: a channel selection unit that allows only a channel registered in the viewable channel list to be selected when the channel of the digital broadcast is selected according to a user's request. apparatus.

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