JP2006279376A - Base station device of digital terrestrial broadcast - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a base station device of digital terrestrial broadcast, which is capable of delivering an area-limited broadcast effectively. <P>SOLUTION: In the base station device (mini TV broadcast) 1 of digital terrestrial broadcast, information which is used in a limited area 31 is acquired as an object of broadcast by an acquisition means 22, and a transmission means 21 transmits the signals of the acquired information by radio at a certain output power level just enough to enable the signals to cover the limited area. The transmission means 21 transmits the signals of the information, using a one segment broadcast in the digital terrestrial broadcast. A receiving means receives the signals of the digital terrestrial TV broadcast as an object of relay, an amplifying means amplifies the received signals, a compound means compounds the amplified signals with the information signals, and the transmission means transmits the signals of a compound result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a base station apparatus for terrestrial digital broadcasting, and more particularly to a base station apparatus that performs regional limited broadcasting.

For example, in digital terrestrial broadcasting, the frequency band of one channel is 6 MHz, and 50 channels from the 13th channel to the 62nd channel are arranged in the range from 470 MHz to 770 MHz.
One channel is divided into 13 segments (13 frequency bands), and one of the segments is allocated to terrestrial digital broadcasting for mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), and the rest The data such as television is transmitted using the 12 segments. With the implementation of 1-segment television (TV) broadcasting using one segment for mobile terminals, it is considered that the demand for viewing the TV broadcast by a terminal device such as a mobile phone increases.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-162818 JP 2004-260573 A

However, the one-segment TV broadcasting for mobile terminals as described above is still insufficient, and further studies and developments are strongly demanded.
In addition, when one segment TV broadcast for a mobile terminal as described above is implemented, the added value as a terminal device is improved when viewed from a business operator such as a mobile phone, but for example, when viewing one segment TV broadcast There are also disadvantages such as increased battery consumption of the terminal device and the possibility of no communication revenue while watching TV.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a digital terrestrial broadcast base station apparatus capable of performing effective broadcasting. As a specific example, an object is to provide a base station apparatus that performs regional limited broadcasting.
Another object is to enable implementation of a system that realizes an effective business form.

In order to achieve the above object, the digital terrestrial broadcast base station apparatus according to the present invention performs the following processing.
That is, information used in an area where the acquisition means is limited is acquired as a broadcast target, and a signal of the acquired information is transmitted wirelessly at a level that the transmission means reaches the limited area.
Therefore, since information used in a limited area is transmitted to the limited area, effective broadcasting can be performed for each area by such limited area broadcasting. In addition, such regional limited broadcasting can also realize an effective business form in each region.

Here, various regions such as municipalities may be used as the limited region.
Various information may be used as information used in a limited area. For example, information on shops and facilities existing in the limited area, disaster prevention in the limited area, etc. Information about the information can be used.
In addition, as an aspect of acquiring information used in a limited area as a broadcasting target, for example, by receiving or inputting information from a communication device or a storage device outside a base station device of digital terrestrial broadcasting, the broadcasting target May be used. Alternatively, an aspect may be used in which information stored in a storage unit such as a memory provided in a base station apparatus for digital terrestrial broadcasting is acquired as a broadcast target.
In addition, various levels may be used as the level when wirelessly transmitting a signal at a level that reaches a limited area, for example, the limited area and the level that is practically effective. There may be a shift (wider aspect or narrower aspect). Such a level is usually smaller than the radio transmission level from a broadcasting station that broadcasts in many areas.

The terrestrial digital broadcast base station apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration as an example.
That is, the transmission means transmits the information signal using one-segment broadcasting in terrestrial digital broadcasting.
Therefore, information used in a limited area can be transmitted to a terminal device such as a mobile phone system or a PDA, for example, using one-segment broadcasting in terrestrial digital broadcasting. For this reason, the user who exists in the limited area can view information using a portable terminal device, for example, the homepage provided in the mobile phone system etc. based on the received information, etc. It is possible to obtain more detailed information by accessing.

The terrestrial digital broadcast base station apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration as an example.
That is, the receiving means receives a terrestrial digital TV broadcast signal to be relayed, the amplifying means amplifies the received signal, the synthesizing means synthesizes the amplified signal and the information signal, The transmitting means transmits the synthesized result signal.
Therefore, it is possible to transmit a signal of information used in a limited area and a digital terrestrial TV broadcast signal to the limited area. For example, when an area where a terrestrial digital TV broadcast signal does not reach is used as a limited area, the terrestrial digital TV broadcast signal can be relayed and amplified and information about the area is delivered. be able to.

Here, the terrestrial digital TV broadcast signal to be relayed is transmitted by radio from another TV broadcast station and received by the antenna, for example.
Various signals may be used as a digital terrestrial TV broadcast signal to be combined with an information signal used in a limited area. For example, an information signal used in a limited area A signal having a frequency different from the frequency of is used. As an example, when transmitting a signal of information used in a limited area using a one-segment broadcast of a certain channel, a broadcast content signal of another segment of the certain channel or another channel Synthesize the broadcast content signal.
Even if the channel and segment (frequency) of the information signal used in the limited area are the same as the channel and segment (frequency) of the signal to be synthesized, they are synthesized by, for example, code multiplexing. As such, such an embodiment may be used.

  As described above, according to the digital terrestrial broadcasting base station apparatus according to the present invention, information used in a limited area is wirelessly transmitted at a level that reaches the limited area. Effective broadcasting can be performed for each region, and by such regional limited broadcasting, an effective business form can be realized in each region.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the information distribution system of this example.
The information distribution system of this example includes a small TV broadcasting station (mini TV broadcasting station) 1 having a function of performing one-segment TV broadcasting, an image storage distribution system 2 installed in an advertising agency, Disaster prevention information system 3 installed in the disaster countermeasure headquarters, other small TV broadcasting station (mini TV broadcasting station) 4 that performs 1-segment TV broadcasting, a base station device 5 of a mobile phone system, a network 6 An optical repeater 7 of a cellular phone system, a booster device 8 of a cellular phone system, and a portable terminal device 9 having a function of receiving a one-segment TV broadcast (a portable terminal device with a one-segment TV broadcast receiving function) 9 A TV broadcast receiver 10 having a function of receiving a one-segment TV broadcast and a tenant 11 are provided.

The mini-TV broadcasting station 1 includes a broadcasting device 21 having a transmitter for transmitting a 1-segment TV broadcasting signal, and a simple server device for storing and transmitting broadcasting images and sounds (server for storing / sending broadcasting images and the like). Device) 22. Here, the function of the base station apparatus of the terrestrial digital broadcasting is realized by the functions of the broadcasting apparatus 21 and the server apparatus 22. The server device 22 is connected to the network 6.
The mini TV broadcast station 1, another mini TV broadcast station 4, the image storage / delivery system 2, the disaster prevention information system 3, and the base station device 5 of the mobile phone system are connected via a network 6.
The base station device 5 and the optical repeater 7 of the mobile phone system are connected via an optical line.
Further, FIG. 1 shows an area (one-segment TV broadcast area) 31 through which a mini-TV broadcast station 1 transmits a one-segment TV broadcast signal.

An example of the operation performed in the information distribution system of this example is shown.
The image storage / distribution system 2 and the disaster prevention information system 3 store image and audio information for TV broadcasting in a memory, and store such information via the network 6 in the mini TV broadcasting station 1 and other mini TVs. Transmit to broadcasting station 4.
In the mini TV broadcast station 1 and other mini TV broadcast stations 4, the server device 22 receives broadcast information sent via the network 6, and the received information or information stored in the memory in advance. And the like are transmitted by radio from the antenna as a one-segment TV broadcast signal.

The base station device 5 of the mobile phone system communicates signals with the terminal device 9 directly or indirectly. Specifically, the base station device 5 of the mobile phone system transmits a signal wirelessly using an antenna or receives a wireless signal, and uses a signal communicated with the terminal device 9 as an optical signal. Communication is performed with the optical repeater 7 via a line.
The optical repeater 7 of the mobile phone system communicates an optical signal with the base station device 5 of the mobile phone system via an optical line, and wirelessly transmits a signal to the terminal device 9 using an antenna. connect.
The booster device 8 of the mobile phone system receives a signal communicated between the base station device 5 and the terminal device 9 of the mobile phone system from one side by an antenna and amplifies the received signal from the other antenna to the other side. The signal is relayed by wireless transmission.

The terminal device 9 of the mobile phone system is carried by a user, for example, receives a 1-segment TV broadcast signal transmitted wirelessly from the mini TV broadcast station 1, and displays an image that is the content of the received signal on a display screen. And the sound as the content of the signal is output from the speaker. In addition, the terminal device 9 of the mobile phone system performs packet communication or the like, and communicates signals with the base station device 5 directly or indirectly through the optical repeater device 7 or the booster device 8.
The TV broadcast receiver 10 is installed in a predetermined location such as the tenant 11 and receives a 1-segment TV broadcast signal transmitted wirelessly from the mini TV broadcast station 1 and is the content of the received signal. The image is displayed on the display screen, and the sound that is the content of the signal is output from the speaker.
In addition, although the case where the terminal device 9 of a mobile telephone is used is shown in this example, other terminal devices such as a PDA may be used.

Next, a specific usage example of the information distribution system of this example will be shown.
The tenant 11 asks an advertising agency or the like to create information for an image or sound desired for advertisement as information for broadcasting. The created information is temporarily stored in the server device of the image storage / delivery system 2. The stored broadcast information is transmitted to the mini TV broadcast station 1 via the network 6 and stored in the server device 22 of the mini TV broadcast station 1. This stored information is sent as TV broadcast material from the server device 22 to the transmitter of the base station device included in the broadcast device 21, and is sent out as radio waves of one segment TV broadcast by the transmitter. In this example, the transmitted radio wave has a transmission output level that can reach only within a predetermined broadcast area 31, for example, by setting the transmitter of the mini TV broadcast station 1.

The terminal device 9 or the TV broadcast receiver 10 existing in the predetermined broadcast area 31 of the one-segment TV broadcast receives the radio wave of the one-segment TV broadcast and outputs the content of the received broadcast material on a screen or the like. The user can view the content of the broadcast material output on the display screen of the portable terminal device 9 or the display screen installed in the tenant 11 or the like.
Here, in this example, the material broadcast by the one-segment TV broadcast is requested by the tenant 11, for example, introduction information or bargain information of a store or the like that is the tenant 11, or a food or drink that is the tenant 11. This information is useful mainly in a limited area, such as information on the congestion status of a store or reservation status.

  For example, when there is a store or the like that the user likes, the user who has watched such broadcast contents can obtain detailed information on the store or the like using the packet communication function of the terminal device 9 or the like. Make reservations for the store. As an example, information such as the name of a store or a homepage address is included in the information of a one-segment TV broadcast, and the mobile phone terminal device 9 obtains the name and detailed information of the broadcasted store or the like. By leaving the address of the home page or the like as the viewing history, it is possible to obtain detailed information on the store or the like using packet communication based on this information.

  When there is disaster information, broadcast material information having disaster information is sent to the mini TV broadcasting station 1 via the network 6 from the disaster prevention information system 3 installed in the disaster countermeasure headquarters of the local government. The sent information is received and stored by the server device 22 of the mini TV broadcasting station 1. The mini-TV broadcasting station 1 preferentially broadcasts information having the stored disaster information if it is urgent information.

As described above, in this example, the small-sized 1-segment TV broadcasting mini-TV broadcasting station 1 that broadcasts information in a limited area is installed, and the contents of the broadcasting are transmitted to the portable terminal device 9 or the installation type. The user views the TV broadcast receiver 10.
In addition, as broadcast materials such as advertisement information and disaster information such as stores, for example, information that combines still images and sound, information that combines moving images and sound, information of only still images or only moving images, Audio-only information can be used.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, a flow of business that can be performed using the information distribution system of this example is shown.
FIG. 2 shows a mini TV broadcasting station 41 that performs 1-segment TV broadcasting, a user 42 that has a terminal device that has a receiving function for 1-segment TV broadcasting in a broadcasting area for 1-segment TV broadcasting, and an advertising agency 43. In addition, a tenant 44, a mobile operator 45, and a municipality 46 existing in the broadcasting area of the one-segment TV broadcast are shown, and an example of a form of business performed between them is shown.
Here, in this example, the mini TV broadcasting station 41 corresponds to the mini TV broadcasting station 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the broadcasting area of the one segment TV broadcasting by the mini TV broadcasting station 41 is the broadcasting area shown in FIG. 31, the terminal device carried by the user 42 corresponds to the terminal device 9 shown in FIG. 1, and the advertising agency 43 is an advertising agent having the image storage / delivery system 2 shown in FIG. The tenant 44 corresponds to the tenant 11 shown in FIG. 1, the mobile operator 45 corresponds to the operator that provides the mobile phone system shown in FIG. This corresponds to a municipality having the disaster prevention information system 3 shown in FIG.

The tenant 44 requests the advertising agency 43 to produce a VTR or the like that introduces its own store or the like. Upon receiving this production request, the advertising agency 43 produces a VTR for introducing a store or the like as a tenant 44 or introducing a product. For this production, the tenant 44 pays the production cost (advertisement fee) to the advertising agency 43.
The produced advertisement material is sent to the mini TV broadcasting station 41 and broadcast as an area limited broadcast. This broadcast is, for example, a broadcast information service.
A user 42 having a terminal device existing in the broadcast area views or listens to the broadcast content of the one segment TV by the terminal device. Then, when there is a favorite tenant 44, the user 42 uses the packet communication function of the terminal device or the like to obtain further information regarding the information about the store, etc. Information on products in a store, etc., purchase information on the store, etc., reservation information, etc. are obtained or actually reserved. When the user 42 performs such communication using a mobile phone terminal device, a communication fee is paid from the user 42 to the mobile operator 45 as a line usage fee. The user 42 can obtain desired information by paying a communication fee to the mobile operator 45.

The user 42 who has obtained the desired information goes to a store or the like that is the tenant 44, performs shopping, eating and drinking, etc., and uses the service or purchases a product. Thereby, the tenant 44 receives payment from the user 42 and obtains income.
In addition, the tenant 44 requests the advertising agency 43 to produce a new broadcast material by using a part of the obtained revenue in consideration of, for example, that the viewer is bored with only the same broadcast content. In this way, a series of business flows is established.
Further, when a disaster occurs, the disaster countermeasure headquarters of the municipality 46 temporarily steals (stops), for example, a one-segment TV broadcast program, and broadcasts disaster prevention information about the disaster from the mini TV broadcasting station 41. To do. Thereby, 1 segment TV broadcasting is used as an information transmission method at the time of disaster. In addition, for example, the municipality 46 may provide subsidies for broadcasting materials broadcast in the area or as infrastructure for disaster information broadcasting for the development of the area.

As described above, in the information distribution system of this example, the base station apparatus of the mini TV broadcasting station 1 uses the terrestrial digital broadcast wave to perform broadcasting limited to a predetermined area. In terrestrial digital broadcasting, broadcasting that can be received by a portable terminal device that can be moved is performed. In such a terminal device, for example, it is not only possible to view a TV program from a TV broadcasting station, but it is also possible to view information unique to each region as a still image or a moving image as in this example. , Very useful and convenient for the viewer user.
In the terminal device, it is possible to view regional information as a still image or a moving image through a base station device of a mobile phone system, but generally a communication fee is required for that purpose. On the other hand, when receiving a broadcast from the base station apparatus of the mini-TV broadcasting station 1 as in this example, the user does not pay a communication fee to view information such as advertisements and disaster prevention. As a general TV broadcast CM, it can be viewed as flowing information.

In other words, in this example, by performing digital terrestrial broadcasting limited to a region, the user can basically view regional information such as store information for free (which may be charged), By using information such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that is broadcast simultaneously with images and sounds, the user can browse a homepage related to the broadcast and obtain detailed store information, discount coupons, and the like on the homepage. . Since an existing mobile phone system or the like can be used to access such a home page, there is an advantage that a mobile carrier can obtain information and communication fees.
In order to realize such area-limited terrestrial digital broadcasting, the mini-TV broadcasting station 1 of this example performs broadcasting at a relatively small output level so that the broadcast content reaches only in the limited area. In addition to the TV program produced by the existing TV broadcast station, or together with it, an area-limited TV broadcast station that broadcasts information unique to each region is realized.

As described above, in the information distribution system of the present example, the terrestrial digital broadcasting base station apparatus included in the mini TV broadcasting station 1 performs a one-segment TV broadcasting limited to a region with a relatively low output.
Specifically, the mini TV broadcast station 1 distributes information in the broadcast area 31 to the limited broadcast area 31 by one segment TV broadcast. This distributed information can be viewed by a terminal device 9 owned by a predetermined individual or a third party. The individual or the like can obtain more detailed information based on the viewed information by using the communication function of the terminal device 9 owned by the individual. In addition, when a disaster occurs, it is possible to steal information being broadcast by 1-segment TV broadcasting and broadcast disaster prevention information related to the disaster instead.

Therefore, in the information distribution system of this example, the base station apparatus of the mini TV broadcasting station 1 that performs 1-segment TV broadcasting can provide effective information for each region.
In addition, for example, even when a mobile phone terminal device 9 is provided with a TV reception function for 1-segment TV broadcasting, an advantage that communication revenue for information access is generated can be produced. In addition, since users who have watched the contents broadcast in the limited broadcast area 31 will visit the stores they are interested in, the ability to attract customers and customer satisfaction in the stores in each region will be improved. To increase sales. Furthermore, when a disaster occurs, it is possible to steal a one-segment TV broadcast and use it as a medium for transmitting disaster prevention information suitable for each region.

  In addition, in the base station apparatus of the mini TV broadcast station 1 of this example, the broadcast area 31 corresponds to a limited area, and the acquisition unit is configured by the function of the server apparatus 22 acquiring the limited area information to be broadcast. The broadcasting device 21 has a function of wirelessly transmitting a signal of the area limited information to a predetermined area by one segment broadcasting.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the information distribution system of this example.
In FIG. 3, the same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In this example, components different from those shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail.
In the information distribution system of this example, the configuration and operation of the mini TV broadcast station 51 are different from the configuration and operation of the mini TV broadcast station 1 shown in FIG.
The mini TV broadcasting station 51 includes a broadcasting device 21 and a server device 22 similar to those shown in FIG. 1, a booster device 61, and a combiner 62. Here, the functions of these processing units 21, 22, 61 and 62 constitute the function of the base station apparatus for terrestrial digital broadcasting.

An example of the operation performed by the mini TV broadcasting station 51 of this example will be shown.
In the mini TV broadcasting station 51 of this example, the booster device 61 is used to relay the terrestrial digital TV broadcast, and the synthesizer 62 is used to combine the content of the rebroadcast and the content of the one-segment TV broadcast. (Combined) and transmitted by radio.
Specifically, in the mini TV broadcasting station 51, a digital terrestrial broadcast signal transmitted from another TV broadcasting station is received by an antenna, the received signal is amplified by a booster device 61, and this is combined with a synthesizer By wirelessly transmitting from another antenna via 62, for example, the signal can be transmitted to a limited area such as a building or an underground shopping mall where signals from the other TV broadcasting stations cannot be directly received. Resend.

  In the mini-TV broadcasting station 51, information on the produced broadcast material of the one-segment TV broadcast is acquired by the server device 22, and the acquired information is transmitted from the antenna wirelessly by the broadcasting device 21 via the combiner 62. . Thereby, for example, it is possible to receive the TV broadcast signal even in an area where the TV broadcast signal does not reach from the other TV broadcast station, and effective information limited to the area. Transmission can be performed by one-segment TV broadcasting. Also, for example, on the terminal device 9 side, information such as the name of the broadcasted store or the URL, information such as the URL remains in the memory, and the history is displayed in a list by the user's operation. It is possible to easily access detailed information of a store or the like by packet communication or the like.

As described above, in the information distribution system of the present example, the mini TV broadcast station 51 can relay and amplify the terrestrial digital broadcast TV broadcast signal, and can perform broadcast limited to the area together with the TV broadcast signal. it can.
Here, in the mini TV broadcast station 51, various broadcast contents combined with the broadcast contents limited to the area may be used. For example, the contents of digital terrestrial broadcasts other than one-segment TV broadcasts, or The contents of a normal one-segment TV broadcast that is not limited to a region can be used.

  In the base station device of the mini TV broadcasting station 51 of this example, the receiving means is configured by the function of receiving the signal to be relayed by the antenna, and the function of the booster device 61 amplifying the signal to be relayed. An amplifying unit is configured, and a combining unit is configured by a function in which the combiner 62 combines the amplified signal to be relayed and the region-limited information signal.

Here, the configurations of the information distribution system according to the present invention and the base station device of the mini TV broadcast station are not necessarily limited to those described above, and various configurations may be used. The present invention can also be provided as, for example, a method or method for executing the processing according to the present invention, a program for realizing such a method or method, or a recording medium for recording the program. It is also possible to provide various devices and systems.
The application field of the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described fields, and the present invention can be applied to various fields.
In addition, as various processes performed in the information distribution system according to the present invention and the base station apparatus of the mini TV broadcast station, for example, the processor stores in a ROM (Read Only Memory) in hardware resources including a processor, a memory, and the like. A configuration controlled by executing the control program may be used, and for example, each functional unit for executing the processing may be configured as an independent hardware circuit.
The present invention can also be understood as a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a CD (Compact Disc) -ROM storing the control program, and the program (itself). The processing according to the present invention can be performed by inputting the program from the recording medium to the computer and causing the processor to execute the program.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the information delivery system which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a business form. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the information delivery system which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  1, 4, 41, 51 ··· Mini TV broadcasting station, ··· Image storage and distribution system, ··· Disaster prevention information system, ··· Base station device, ··· Network network, ··· Optical repeater device, ··· , 61-Booster device, 9-Terminal device, 10-TV broadcast receiver, 11, 44-Tenant, 21-Broadcast device, 22-Server device, 31-Broadcast area, 42-User , 43 ... Advertising agency, 45 ... Mobile operator, 46 ... Municipality, 62 ... Synthesizer,

Claims (3)

In digital terrestrial broadcast base station equipment,
An acquisition means for acquiring information used in a limited area as a broadcast target;
Transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting a signal of the acquired information at a level to reach the limited area;
A base station apparatus comprising: The base station apparatus according to claim 1,
The transmission means transmits a signal of the information using a one-segment broadcast in terrestrial digital broadcasting.
A base station apparatus. In the base station apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
Receiving means for receiving a terrestrial digital TV broadcast signal to be relayed;
Amplifying means for amplifying the received signal;
Combining means for combining the amplified signal and the information signal,
The transmission means transmits the combined result signal.
A base station apparatus.

Images