JP2007189574A - Broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a receiver for receiving a corresponding signal cannot use frequency allocation information fixed to a channel number because the allocation of a signal frequency to a receiving channel is diversified according to an area in terrestrial digital broadcasting. <P>SOLUTION: A set value for acquiring regional information is set in the receiver, and a channel associated with the receiving frequency is selected to display a receiving level on the basis of the set value of the regional information so that a signal level corresponding to a broadcasting channel for each area can be displayed without requiring much time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a receiving apparatus (international patent classification H04N17 / 00) used for digital broadcasting.

  In general, in the case of satellite broadcasting, for example, digital broadcasting is composed of signals having a plurality of different frequency bands for each repeater (transponder) of a stationary satellite. Further, in the conventional satellite digital broadcast receiving apparatus, the signal quality such as the CN ratio at a specific reception signal frequency that is initially set or selected by the user is displayed as a predetermined level value for the adjustment of the installation of the reception antenna. Function is provided.

  A reception signal level display method for the conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus that performs the above functions will be described below.

FIG. 5 shows a circuit block diagram of a general digital broadcast receiving apparatus. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of conventional signal level display. As shown in FIG. 6, the signal levels are displayed in the following order. A signal from the receiving antenna 501 is selected by the tuner unit 502, the CN ratio of the signal is detected by the demodulator 503, and then sent to the arithmetic unit 504 as data. The arithmetic unit converts the data into a signal level based on a programmed conversion formula, and outputs and displays it on the image device 505. The signal level is detected again at a preprogrammed time interval and the value is updated. The received signal level is displayed on a screen (reception setting screen) where the received signal frequency can be set by operating a button provided on the receiving device or operating an attached remote controller. FIG. 7 shows an example of a reception setting screen, in which 701 is a broadcast service to be received, 702 is a channel number, 703 is a reception signal frequency (channel center frequency), and 705 is a signal level. On this screen, the reception signal frequency is selected, and the signal level at the specified frequency is acquired and displayed. Also, by displaying the signal levels for multiple specified frequencies within the reception frequency band on the same screen, it is possible to recognize the presence or absence of a received signal within the band or the difference in signal level at the same time without switching the reception frequency. There is also what realizes (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-218717 A (pages 4-6, FIG. 2)

  However, in the conventional example, the frequency of the received signal and the channel number are fixed in association with each other. However, in the terrestrial digital broadcasting scheduled to start in 2003, the allocation of the signal frequency to the received channel varies depending on the region. Therefore, the receiving apparatus that receives the signal has a problem that it cannot use frequency allocation information fixed to the channel number.

  Also, because the regional difference is not taken into account, when receiving the broadcast in the prefectural area, the reception of the radio wave in the adjacent area by mistake due to the difference in the antenna installation direction and the electric field strength of the received signal is received. There is a fear.

  Furthermore, the number of assigned signal frequencies is much larger than that of satellites. For example, in the case of BS broadcasting, there are 8 in the frequency band from 11.7 GHz to 12.0 GHz, whereas in terrestrial digital broadcasting. 50 from CH13 to CH62. Under such a reception environment, in each region, only about one fifth or less of the signal frequency can be assigned, so it is not necessary to search for frequencies for all channels when setting channels. A lot of time is wasted on signal detection.

  In order to achieve this object, the broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention demodulates a tuner unit that tunes a received signal, detects a received CN ratio of the signal, and detects it as predetermined data. A demodulating unit for outputting, a reception frequency list creating means for creating a frequency list for receiving a signal, and a channel selecting unit for selecting a channel based on the frequency list by controlling the tuner unit and the demodulating unit. It has a configuration with. In addition, a plurality of radio waves in a prefectural area and the like are provided by further including a calculation unit that converts the detected data into a predetermined level value and displays the data in a lump and area information setting means such as a postal code and a telephone number. Can be displayed on the same screen, and the reception state within the reception frequency band can be discriminated at a glance. Further, by further providing a function of displaying the received channel list, it is possible to determine which channel is received at which reception frequency.

  As described above, in the signal level display function mainly used for installation of the receiving antenna, the present invention creates a reception frequency list from the area information set in the receiver or the detected receiving channel, and those signals. By installing a function for displaying the levels in a lump, it is possible to immediately recognize the reception state of the currently receivable channel according to the reception area. In addition, by receiving the channel number and displaying it together when it is received, even if the reception frequency and channel are not always fixed, such as in terrestrial digital broadcasting, the channel number and its level display are paired. Display, and the channel number that can be currently received can be recognized. Furthermore, when the neighboring area is set as the regional information in the prefectural area, the reception status of the broadcast channel in the neighboring area can be confirmed at a glance.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tuner unit for selecting a received signal, and a demodulating unit for demodulating the selected signal, detecting a received CN ratio of the signal, and outputting it as predetermined data A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: a frequency list creating means for a received signal; and a channel selection means using the frequency list by controlling the tuner section and the demodulating section. Channel selection using the list has an effect that the channel search can be performed more efficiently.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is provided with a function of displaying a channel list of received signals, wherein the channel actually received is at a glance. Has the effect of understanding.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an arithmetic unit that selects a plurality of different received signal frequencies by controlling the tuner unit and the demodulator unit, and converts the detected CN ratio into a predetermined level value. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for collectively displaying the level values.
The reception CN ratio is converted into a level value based on a predetermined conversion, and the signal levels for a plurality of reception signal frequencies within the reception frequency band are displayed on the same screen, so that the reception frequency is not changed without changing the reception frequency. It has the effect that the presence or absence of a received signal in the band or the difference in signal level can be recognized at a time.

  The invention according to claim 4 of the present invention further comprises channel search means for searching for a receivable signal by automatically changing the reception frequency when there is no frequency list or when the received signal cannot be detected. The broadcast receiving apparatus is characterized in that it can detect a receivable signal without being aware of the value of the received signal frequency.

The invention according to claim 5 of the present invention is characterized by comprising limited channel search means for searching for a specific frequency range narrower than the search frequency range according to claim 4 by preset area information. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 2,
This has the effect that a receivable signal can be detected more quickly.

  The invention according to claim 6 of the present invention is a broadcast receiving apparatus comprising means for selecting the channel search means according to claim 4 and the limited channel search means according to claim 5, For example, in a prefectural area or the like, it is possible to search for a channel by receiving a signal in a specific area different from the signal that the user intentionally received by the channel search means in consideration of the area difference.

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of signal level display of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The following description will be made along the flowchart.

  When one specific channel is in a receiving state, a signal is selected by the tuner unit 502 in the broadcast receiving apparatus shown in FIG. 7, and demodulation by the demodulation unit 503 and detection of the received CN ratio are performed under the control of the CPU 504. . Thereafter, the output data of the demodulator is acquired by the CPU 504 and converted into a signal level based on a conversion formula programmed in the software. As for the reception state at this time, the state of one reception channel can be confirmed on the reception setting screen as shown in FIG.

  Further, FIG. 4 shows a software block diagram. Separately from the confirmation of the reception channel status described above, a reception signal frequency list is created to display the reception status of all or a part of the receivable channels at the timing when the broadcast receiving apparatus is powered on. . The broadcast receiver has area information setting means 407. The area information set here may be anything other than the zip code information and the outside line number of the indoor telephone as long as the reception area can be specified. For these pieces of regional information, the frequency allocation information is stored in a database in the receiver. Corresponding frequency allocation information is acquired from the database from the regional information set by the regional information setting unit 407, and a reception frequency list is created by the frequency list creation unit 406.

  Next, an outline of processing on the reception status screen is shown. When a button (cell) such as a reception status selection cell 704 is provided in the reception setting screen (FIG. 7) and selected, for example, the screen is switched to a reception status screen as shown in FIG. A processing flow performed after switching to this screen is shown in FIG.

First, the reception frequency list held during the operation of the receiver is read using the frequency setting means 403. (101 in FIG. 1)
When the reception frequency list is successfully read, the reception signal frequency is automatically switched at a predetermined time interval in accordance with the order from the top of the reception frequency list, and the frequency scanning is repeated for all receivable channels. Thus, the signal level 201 for each reception channel is graphed or displayed with a numerical value in the graph as needed by the arithmetic processing (102 in FIG. 1). This calculation process is performed until the reception status screen is closed (103 in FIG. 1). After the screen is closed, the screen returns to the original reception setting screen (FIG. 7), selects a predetermined signal frequency again, The signal level 705 is displayed. At this time, the channel number is detected and displayed below the signal level as shown in FIG. As described above, the signal level value is updated only for one channel at any given time in a certain time after the synchronization of the tuner unit is established as shown in the flow of FIG. 1 in the reception setting screen. As shown in FIG. 2, the level value of the reception status screen displays the area information set by using the area information setting means 407 as shown in 202 in FIG. After the channels held in the list are scanned at a constant period (104 in FIG. 1), they are updated as needed.

  As described above, by switching to the frequency described in the reception frequency list, the signal levels for a plurality of channels according to the reception area can be displayed on the same screen. In addition, it is possible to recognize at a glance how much signal level is in which channel.

  Further, the area information set by the area information setting unit 407 does not necessarily need to be set as determined area information. For example, when a radio wave in an adjacent area can be received, such as a prefectural area, the reception status of a channel broadcast in the adjacent area can be confirmed at a glance by setting the area in the adjacent area.

(Embodiment 2)
In the second embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the function of the first embodiment, when there is no corresponding frequency allocation for regional information, the reception frequency list is not created from the regional information without creating a reception frequency list. A function for searching a plurality of channels, detecting a plurality of receivable frequencies, and creating a reception frequency list from them is added. Specifically, scanning is sequentially performed while switching the frequency within the large reception frequency range, and when the synchronization establishment determination unit 404 detects that synchronization is established, the reception frequency at that time is held in the RAM 506. This is repeated, and all or a part of the reception frequencies established in synchronization, which are held in the RAM 506 at the end of scanning within the reception frequency range, are created as a reception frequency list by the frequency list creation means.

  Even when the reception frequency list does not exist or reading fails, the limited channel search cannot be performed because the frequency to be selected cannot be specified. Therefore, a channel search is performed by scanning the entire frequency band, and the reception frequency list is created by the frequency list creation means 406 by the same processing as described above. In this case, the channel search is a time-consuming process, and during that time, the user cannot freely select a channel. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Can be displayed to allow the user to select whether or not to perform a channel search. As described above, even if it is not possible to create a reception frequency list from regional information by creating a reception frequency list created by sequentially scanning all frequencies in the reception frequency large range, channels that can be received The received signal level can be checked and displayed.

  As described above, the functions in the embodiment of the present invention are realized through the CPU 504 by writing a predetermined program in a memory built in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus. In addition, screen display or selection can be performed by a hardware key of the receiving device or an accompanying remote controller.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention creates a reception frequency list from the area information set in the receiver or the detected receiving channel in the signal level display function mainly used for installation of the receiving antenna. By installing a function for displaying the signal levels in a batch, the reception state of the currently receivable channel can be immediately recognized according to the reception area. In addition, by receiving the channel number and displaying it together when it is received, even if the reception frequency and channel are not always fixed, such as in terrestrial digital broadcasting, the channel number and its level display are paired. Display, and the channel number that can be currently received can be recognized. Furthermore, in the prefectural area, etc., when the adjacent area is set as the area information, the reception status of the broadcast channel in the adjacent area can be confirmed at a glance. It is useful in the machine.

Flowchart of signal level display in Embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure which shows the reception condition screen in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the channel search confirmation screen in Embodiment 2 of this invention. Software block diagram in the embodiment of the present invention Block diagram of digital broadcast receiver Flow chart of signal level display in conventional example The figure which shows the reception setting screen of the signal level in the conventional example

Explanation of symbols

101 Signal Level Display Processing Step 1 in Embodiment 1 of the Present Invention
102 Signal Level Display Processing Step 2 in Embodiment 1 of the Present Invention
103 Signal Level Display Processing Step 3 in Embodiment 1 of the Invention
104 Signal Level Display Processing Step 4 in Embodiment 1 of the Present Invention
201 Signal level 202 Manual / automatic switching cell 203 Channel marker 501 Receiving antenna 502 Tuner 503 Demodulator 504 Arithmetic unit 505 Display device 506 Memory 701 Broadcast service (network)
702 Reception channel 703 Signal frequency 704 Reception status selection cell 705 Signal level

Claims (6)

A tuner unit that selects a received signal; a demodulator unit that demodulates the selected signal and detects a received CN ratio of the signal and outputs it as predetermined data; and a region setting unit for obtaining region information A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising channel setting means in which the reception channel and the frequency of the reception signal are related by the previous period region setting means. 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising channel list display means for displaying a channel list of the received signal. 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an arithmetic unit that converts output data of the demodulating unit according to claim 1 into a predetermined level value; and a level display unit that collectively displays the level value. . 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising signal search means for automatically changing the channel selection frequency when the frequency information for channel selection is not included or the received signal cannot be detected. 3. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a signal search means limited to a frequency specified by a reception channel setting within a previous search frequency range. 6. A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising means for switching and selecting between the signal search means according to claim 4 and the limited signal search means according to claim 5.

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